To the Beat and 1st class

I have mixed feelings about the film “To the Beat” by the Scratch Film Junkies. I enjoyed a number of elements of the film, including the variety of random and interesting images and I especially like the soundtrack. But by the end of the film I felt like it was a very long experimental film. Usually my attention span for films that do not have some form of narrative only lasts for about 4 to 5 minutes, so they were losing me toward the end of the film. I did like the soundtrack, though. I have seen a number of experimental films that are either silent or the soundtrack is overwhelming, sometime to the point of distracting from the film. So I thought the Scratch Film Junkies did a good job of creating an experimental film with a soundtrack that does not distract from their film. The soundtrack also coordinated very well with the movement of the random images. I liked the combination of painted film surrounding the filmed images, especially of the people. For some reason a few of the shapes popped out at me as well, especially the star and heart shapes. And I really liked the circles, they looked like bubbles. The colors they use are intense and I really liked the blues. Images in the film moved rapidly I feel like I missed a lot and I would like to see the film again. I am sure that once I have completed a few class assignments, I will more fully appreciate all the work, time and skill it takes to create a film like this. I am looking forward to learning some of the techniques used to create a film like this. I loved scratching the film with sandpaper during the first class. The colors are great.