Leonards 2 from Alexa Bay on Vimeo.

Grand Editing for a Grand Hotel

The Grand Budapest Hotel, directed by Wes Anderson, uses seamless jump cuts to propel the narrative. Throughout the trailer, the sequence of shots are composed in quick and short snips which consequently show the urgency that is present throughout the film itself. Beginning with a simple, centered establishing shot, it is clear that the hotel and its employees are full of color. The quick jump cut to a low angle close up immediately increases the tension and magnifies the nervousness felt by the Lobby Boy as he begins his job.

The narration and constant conversation, layered with the fast pace of the music underneath, furthers the sense of urgency. The cut, to the Lobby Boy walking through the lobby is great at establishing the scene. It displays the bright colors present throughout the film, as well as the motion and bustle that the Lobby Boy experiences daily. It places it in perpetual motion, a busy hub for its tenants.

The shots then become more seamlessly edited. With shots where characters step into the frame, there is usually less motion to accompany the contemplation of the situation. Then, the rapid succession of shots immediately afterward jarringly displays the number of women Gustave H. was involved with. Then, throughout, it is clear that the cuts made show the motion throughout the scenes and reinforce the colorful place the Grand Budapest Hotel is.

Art and Sports- Speaking with Aaron

Museam Mile

The Museum of the Moving Image had incredibly interesting interactions. My personal favorite, the Automated Dialogue Replacement, was an interesting display of the true works of the audio of films. Before the tour I was never aware of the actual workings of ADR, let alone its use throughout films and TV shows. It was funny to see the actual workings of ADR by the examples with students. It also was a great display of how difficult it is to align dialogue that was filmed with the dialogue that replaced the previous sound.

It was also interesting to see a movie, such as the Titanic in each of the steps of adding audio. Starting from only the dialogue, then adding on layers of sound effects, then music to complete the whole piece. Overall the museum was an interesting adventure to Queens!

The streets in Bushwick, Brooklyn buzz with schoolchildren skipping down the concrete sidewalks. Mothers speak rapid-fire Spanish as the children squeal. In the background, construction workers start up a concrete machine that rumbles for minutes. Car tires rumble by slowly.

Somewhere behind a trashcan there are rats rummaging and pushing through cans. The crunch of shoes walking down the steps to the streets are muffled, but after listening for a while you can hear them more clearly.

Then finally after even a longer amount of time you can hear the brief small whispers of the wind and the creaks it makes when it hits the doors and windows of the apartment building. The smaller sounds of the wind and rats get louder, even though they originally were unnoticed.

Then finally my neighbor slams the door behind me and a car horn blasts. More kids go skipping down the block as I walk back upstairs. 

Exploring Hunter

MorangQT from Alexa Bay on Vimeo.

https://vimeo.com/88754856

Alexa Morang Artist Statement

Growing up between trees and streams, Alexa Morang takes the cold bite of Maine winters and the warm spray of ocean water with her to her current home in Bushwick, Brooklyn. She spent her childhood with her three siblings building teepees, which has since translated (she's convinced) to her love of lines.

She uses those lines throughout her work in Cult. Magazine, a culture publication she founded in 2012. Cult. aims to display the diverse experience of individuals throughout Hunter College, and the experience within a city as fast-paced as New York. Cult. is a forum for discussion of art, music, style, health and beauty, as well as a creative outlet for up-and-coming journalists and photographers.

Now, Morang walks on concrete sidewalks and is inspired by the right angles of Manhattan. She hopes to take those lines in her work in media and film, maybe even include some scenes of the places she is so passionate towards. She fell in love with the Empire State Building and its art-deco style ten years ago, and has since returned year after year to marvel at its size. Now, her work as a Creative Writing and Media majors focuses on finding the happy medium between nature and industry, a fixation within her prose.

For now the city streets and magazine industry will hold her hopeful dream of an editor. Eventually she hopes to build a legacy in the publishing world (Vogue, here I come) that can stand 101 stories high, but for now a rooftop in Brooklyn with the single tree outside is quite enough.