Maya Deren was an experimental American filmmaker who created avant-garde work in the 1940s and 50s.
In her article, Creative Cutting, Maya Deren discusses effects you can create in film using certain types of cuts. She shares how time is malleable in film, and can create tension if extended. For example, in her film A Study in Choreography for the Camera, the dancer is filmed leaping. Rather than an extended long shot, the leap is filmed from different angles and put in slow motion. This orients the viewer's perspective in that the leap is more dramatic than it would be in just one shot.
Deren claims that "whenever the duration of the shot exceeds the duration of the action, there is a decrease in tension, and vice versa. It is a phenomenon of duration as tension which explains why slow motion-- which may have in it very little activity--often makes for greater tension than normal or rapid motion."
Deren gives the example of a person being filmed while falling. If the same shot is taken in multiples and put together, it seems as if the person is exiting one frame and entering another, thus falling much farther than in actuality. Another example involves a person climbing a tree. You can use different angles and multiple shots to make the tree look taller than it actually is. In both cases the background needs to be somewhat neutral and unrecognizable.
Deren also explains intercutting, a "method that assumes that the action is understood to be continuous even during the period when it is not being shown." The most recognizable example of this is dialogue in film. When cutting back and forth between characters speaking, the audience assumes they are talking to each other.
Lastly, you can use intercutting to make different periods of time look like they are happening at the same time. For example, in a chase scene, you can cut back and forth to characters who may be filmed in a different location or at a different time.
How might you implement a found footage video project in a K-12 classroom? What challenges do you foresee?
I feel a found footage project in an 8-12 classroom would be very successful. Students are highly intuitive to technology, and often film using Snapchat or Instagram regularly. I would love to have students use footage they already own to edit and implement an idea or intention, with giving the option to use film found online. I don't think found film online would be as personal, depending on the objective of the film. I foresee challenges of how to get students to bring in film, or edit properly. When teaching a photoshop project with students, many were uninspired by the content and never saved work properly.
How does video editing relate to the youth of today, or why should they care about video editing?
Video editing relates so much to the youth of today! They are constantly viewing videos on social media, television, YouTube and with friends. Many students may even possess an intuition on film editing from viewing videos online. I feel that students would be excited to learn strategies to edit film. They should care about video editing because it is useful to know how to read certain media, and know how it was created, so one can accurately analyze it.
Deren claims that "whenever the duration of the shot exceeds the duration of the action, there is a decrease in tension, and vice versa. It is a phenomenon of duration as tension which explains why slow motion-- which may have in it very little activity--often makes for greater tension than normal or rapid motion."
Deren gives the example of a person being filmed while falling. If the same shot is taken in multiples and put together, it seems as if the person is exiting one frame and entering another, thus falling much farther than in actuality. Another example involves a person climbing a tree. You can use different angles and multiple shots to make the tree look taller than it actually is. In both cases the background needs to be somewhat neutral and unrecognizable.
Deren also explains intercutting, a "method that assumes that the action is understood to be continuous even during the period when it is not being shown." The most recognizable example of this is dialogue in film. When cutting back and forth between characters speaking, the audience assumes they are talking to each other.
Lastly, you can use intercutting to make different periods of time look like they are happening at the same time. For example, in a chase scene, you can cut back and forth to characters who may be filmed in a different location or at a different time.
How might you implement a found footage video project in a K-12 classroom? What challenges do you foresee?
I feel a found footage project in an 8-12 classroom would be very successful. Students are highly intuitive to technology, and often film using Snapchat or Instagram regularly. I would love to have students use footage they already own to edit and implement an idea or intention, with giving the option to use film found online. I don't think found film online would be as personal, depending on the objective of the film. I foresee challenges of how to get students to bring in film, or edit properly. When teaching a photoshop project with students, many were uninspired by the content and never saved work properly.
How does video editing relate to the youth of today, or why should they care about video editing?
Video editing relates so much to the youth of today! They are constantly viewing videos on social media, television, YouTube and with friends. Many students may even possess an intuition on film editing from viewing videos online. I feel that students would be excited to learn strategies to edit film. They should care about video editing because it is useful to know how to read certain media, and know how it was created, so one can accurately analyze it.