Cameraless Filmmaking Thus Far

First off, I have to start by saying that this has been a completely new experience for me.  I have thoroughly enjoyed it, and have been thinking about other opportunities to incorporate these techniques into my repertoire.  After taking History of the Avant-Garde with Dr. Kase, I was very curious about how exactly some of the films were made.  Of course, we discussed some of the techniques in that class, but I really wanted to get a hands-on appreciation for how difficult, or easy, some of the films would have been to make.  That being said, I must say that most of those films must have taken many many weeks if not months or years of constant work.  Now that I have worked in some of the ways that the filmmakers did, I have a serious appreciation for their craft and talent.  Most of all, I have gained a new appreciation for pre-visualization.  It is one things to sit down and begin to scratch film, but it is entirely different to scratch film in order to realize an abstract vision.  

Sequential animation of natural forms is logical; however, organic shapes and forms interacting with each other on a frame-by-frame basis is all together something much more intensive.  First, it seems there must be a solid vision or idea.  Then, you must be a skilled enough craftsmen to create that.  Anyone can animate a person walking from left to right if they take enough time.  The keyframe techniques we discussed last class allow for a concrete and mathematical formula to rigidly outline the art.  What though does it take to create something outside this formulaic realm?

This seems to be where the real craft comes into play.  Taking that into account, this whole experience has actually given me a new appreciation for narrative filmmaking pre-production.  Of course, I valued the time it took to sit down and draw overheads or storyboards.  But, taking this new concept of abstract implementation of formulaic practices seems like it could lead to promising new visualizations of storytelling in both the narrative and avant-garde realms.