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Jeff Buckley // "I have no advice for anybody; except to, you know, be awake enough to see where you are at any given time, and how that is beautiful, and has poetry inside. Even places you hate."

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Days of Night project has started a new chapter-- it’s postproduction time. Now it is my and Luka’s turn to work our magic on the short movie.

Along with the edit, I have enjoyed creating content on our Instagram page. This experience has thought me the basics of Photoshop and some insights into the business side of Instagram. Also, I like the idea of posting every time three pictures which make a great and cohesive feed. Moreover, I decided to use black as a general colour palette along with our pictures and elements of sun, moon, stars. Before posting, I always like to test photos in the Preview App. It helps me to rearrange the photos to make a better theme.

If you haven’t started following our short film, then hey... it’s really time to do it: https://www.instagram.com/daysofnightfilm/

Hopefully, our Instagram page will have someday aspects of our transmedia project. As written in the package, we would like to create an interactive game in the example of Rick and Morty Rickstaverse. 

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A couple of weeks ago I visited my childhood friend in Luxembourg. It was quite dull there, even though they speak three languages (French, German and Luxembourgish), have beautiful Mullerthal hiking track and fascinating Modern Art Museum - Mudam. I started to realise how massive and entertaining Estonia next to Luxembourg is. But in Estonia, you really can't travel to three different countries just 30 minutes away...

Anyway... This microstate has a museum which reminded me of Ruben Östlund's film called "The Square" (2017). Everything is carefully arranged and doesn't say much, even the work descriptions don’t elaborate on the meaning behind the artworks. 

However, my favourite exhibition was by Anri Sala. Anri Sala (b. 1974, Tirana) creates films and installations in which sound, music, and the projected image come together to express themes of lived and historic time. I felt like an active component of the exhibition and just enjoyed how all the works were presented, that was like another experience.

The exhibition's title Le Temps coudé borrows from the French phrase 'faire un coudé' and refers to warps or bends in our experience of what we see, hear and know.

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I was curious about trying HP Reveal since my brother used to work with augmented reality (AR). HP Reveal is an application where you can set up "auras" which trigger images behind photos or videos.

HP Reveal works on smart devices and I decided to download their app on my phone. I created an account to start constructing some cool cards, posters and more. I have always liked arts and crafts thus I was excited about all these creations you can put together. Also, it sounds just really easy to create AR yourself. Sadly, the app crashed when I started designing. Only once I got that far that I actually could take a picture and add an aura. The only aura that appeared was the artist called PSY who sang “Gangnam Style.” However, nothing happened when I tried exporting it. Unfortunately, HP Reveal isn't stable and has a lot of background download which takes literally hours.

I'm not sure why this experience failed. Maybe because it doesn't have good support of the iOS system or this app is just nonfunctional, unimproved. It's a pity since this function could add a lot of value to printed physical content through some visual interactivity.

I remember from my brother's example that he was very passionate about the value that AR can add. He worked in Arilyn, Finnish augmented reality company. For instance last year in Estonia, they added AR function to Tere milk packages where everyone could scan the package and see, hear their favourite Eurovision singers. In the same year in Finland, they created another campaign with Arla milk packages where kids could play football, namely shoot penalty kicks. Both of the campaigns were undoubtedly successful, for example, milk sales in Estonia grew by 34 percent in last year. 

My favourite AR experience is related to film and again, milk packaging. I might be influenced since this movie is close to my heart... However, what a great and simple way to promote your movie. Your audience is about to enjoy their breakfast, drink coffee with milk and watch a trailer from the Finnish war drama film, "The Unknown Soldier" (2017). Video added above.

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“Benjamin McMahon photographs famous people for a living. For five years now, he’s asked each person at the end of a shoot if they wouldn’t mind taking a quick self portrait in a mirror using his Leica. Most of them agreed, and Ben now has over 100 photographs of celebrities being vulnerable, silly, or self-aware.”

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Piet Mondrian on How to Be an Artist

https://www.artsy.net/article/artsy-editorial-piet-mondrian-artist

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Gertrude Stein // “Everybody gets so much information all day long that they lose their common sense. They listen so much that they forget to be natural.”

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“Beautiful block of granite. He chips away, chips away, and in the end, he has a beautiful sculpture. But it takes time. It’s bit by a tiny bit. And you’re never sure what form the sculpture will finally take.”

French writer, director and producer Jean-Xavier de Lestrade described editing process in the Capturing Reality

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Capturing Reality - An Interactive documentary experience

I have realised that I prefer listening to filmmakers talking about their experiences rather than watching their movies. My heart sings and I feel whole-- there’s just so much magic and a lot of teamwork behind that process. 

German-Canadian filmmaker Manfred Becker opened the idea of the editor in the interactive documentary called Capturing Reality. Sure, we all know that editor is there to serve the director but more importantly, they should have a creative and open dialogue -- it’s a back and forth process. There shouldn’t be a hierarchy between the director, writer, and editor. It has to be an open communication because the main goal is the make the best possible film. Also, editor’s responsibility is to encourage and embrace what we already have in our cut, he or she not only has to serve the filmmaker but also the material.

Furthermore, Manfred Becker added that editor’s role is to show what dreams his/ her director can chase. We might not be able to chase the exact dream as we had at the beginning of the process but we can build that house, that view... And it will be as pretty, deep and rewarding to an audience.

I genuinely like this kind of a platform where filmmakers can share their ideas and reflect on their previous work. This feels real and I don’t sense any pretentiousness which can easily be seen in the world of film industry. 

Red Cabin Forest Print by Raahat Kaduji / Film Roll Illustration by Tom Weimer / Collage by Em.

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A lovely thought that our editing tutor Mark Jenkins shared with Mariana and me...

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Interview with German-born composer, storyteller Max Richter in Estonian Public Broadcasting. It’s in English with Estonian subtitles. Go ahead and give a listen to his beautiful thoughts

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I visited “Olafur Eliasson: In real life” exhibition last Monday. It wasn’t as fascinating as expected, however, I understood that I prefer to listen to his beliefs and ideas behind his artworks rather than experiencing his work. 

There’s a great episode of Olafur Eliasson in the second series of Abstract: The Art of Design on Netflix. It brings you to the actual waterfall in Iceland that inspired the iconic waterfall that he installed at the Brooklyn Bridge. It also describes the concept of the monochromatic light and how the basalt columns inspired to design the facade of the Concert Hall in Reykjavik. In addition, this episode opens Olafur’s mindset about turning thinking into doing and so much more. I like how he designs things that have a positive narrative and makes us not only think about nature but also about ourselves. 

https://olafureliasson.net/

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John Stezaker on the creative  flow

For a long time, he worked long into the night fuelled by strong coffee. “In the early hours, through tiredness, the unconscious takes over and that is when the real creativity happens.” Since his illness, though, he has had to adjust to normal working hours. “When I'm deep into my work, it's like my alter-ego takes over and all I am doing is witnessing the creativity,” he says, smiling. “That's what I love about what I do. I am nearly always the viewer; I'm only a producer at the moment of the flash of the knife.

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/australia-culture-blog/2014/mar/27/john-stezaker-sydney-biennale?CMP=share_btn_link

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Artwork by Andriy Gazin

“I’m steady, calm. I slept well, no bad dreams. I am active and engaged. I’m aware of my surroundings and those in my immediate sphere. I’m attentive. I am focused on the essentials, to the exclusion of all else. I’m unsure of the future, but I’m not concerned. I will rely on those closest to me, and I will share their burdens, as they share mine. I will live and love. Submit.” 

A monologue from the movie AD Astra (2019), directed by James Gray

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Pain & Glory (2019) by Pedro Almodóvar

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The Way I Think Is Collage

This weekend I visited the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art which had an exhibition called “Cut and Paste | 400 Years of Collage.” 

It was an eye-opening day for me -- I understood why I adore editing that much. Before Sunday I couldn’t really verbalise my admiration for editing magic. Louise Nevelson, one of the presented artists, has said: "I love to put things together. I've come to recognise that the way I think is collage." 

I have attended numerous art classes, music lessons, sports activities but none previously mentioned didn't bring me so much joy as editing. Also, I wasn’t good at any of these classes. Now I can see how all my past hobbies have blended in the editing. For instance, I like the magic when you put some music and picture together the first time, each one just multiples another.

Kurt Schwitters, German Dada artist stated in an essay written in 1920: "The medium is as unimportant as I myself. Essential only is the forming. Because the medium is unimportant, I take any material whatsoever if the picture demands it. When I adjust materials of different kinds to one another, I have taken a step in advance of mere oil painting, for in addition to playing off colour against line, form against form, I play off material against material. 

Scottish artist Eduardo Paolozzi described "discovery" of collage thus: "My anxiety and anguish in 1946 was resolved by this magic process of picture-making. Of introducing strange fellows to each other in hostile landscapes... Unlike the world of school where the universe was systematised in a certain order, the reassembly of this disparate material reflected a true state, both autobiographic and dynamic."