Category: other

from Macworld 2007

我的電影劄記 1
讀田壯壯訪問談德拉姆 , 有一些話和電影一樣 , 讓人特別明白 , 輯錄在這裡 , 好做為自勉 :

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一個有號召力的人 , 比如大導演 , 為什麼有號召力 , 因為他是金字塔的尖 , 要有一個塔來支撐這個尖 , 不能懸著 . 問題就在於這尖 , 最容易鈍 , 尖一鈍 , 不銳利了 , 雖然形還在 , 但力量感沒有了 , 而尖是需要去磨的 , 才能保持銳度 .
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故事片本身是一個虛擬的夢幻世界 , 當人們入世生活的時候 , 是如此之現實 , 之冷漠 , 之殘酷 , 其根本是為了生存 . 故事片的產生虛擬了另外一個世界 , 有愛情 , 悲劇 , 各式各樣的東西 , 但它是虛擬的 , 它給入世的人一個真空的時刻 … (電影產生了一種新的敘述語言) , 記錄片更多地是利用這種語言來介紹一個真實空間而不是虛擬空間 , 這是一個基本的分別 … 記錄片可能在拍攝構想 , 拍攝過程中都不會引起多少人的關注 , 但這是人類文化的一個軌跡 , 這鏈環不能斷 … 這鏈環一丟就有問題了 , 所以老有人去幹這樣的工作 … 做這個事情的人 , 需要更耐得住寂寞 , 相信自己工作的價值 . 記錄片和故事片之間 , 作為作者 , 也有這種分野 . 而且故事片的浮華程度 , 越來越變本加厲 .
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生命的意義太豐富了 , 人活一輩子 , 我就希望看到更多的原生態的人 , 不是克隆 (clone) 的 , 不是經過製造的 , 是元氣十足的能給你生命活力的東西 .
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記錄片更多地依照原始的拍攝對象 , 慢慢觀察周邊的氣氛 , 自然的氣場 , 表達人的喜怒哀樂 , 生存的狀態 . 記錄片可以沒有政治觀點 … 你也可以有一個主體 , 比如跟著一個考察隊，一個考古學家 … 但沒有故事片裡的那種人物性格發展的線索 … 很多人沉溺於記錄片的原因也是在於他有一種快感 , 他操作起來不被任何東西所束縛 , 他自由了 . 這自由實際是人最本性的東西 . 中國沒有記錄片市場 , 沒有地方播 , 也沒有地方看.
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一塊好石頭 , 雕成玉 , 你認得它 , 是石頭的時候你不認得它 .
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每天晚上 (我和攝影師) 都會交談 , 我和他講不能把任何東西拍實了 , 這裡面應該有意境的東西 , 好看的東西有很多種拍法 , 情緒的表達也有很多種拍法 , 就是你拍的所有東西要留一點空間 …
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我和攝影師談得最多的就是你不要看見美的東西就拍 , 在美的背後找到一種感受的東西 , 就是讓你心裡有一種震動的東西 . 後來他講的一句話很好 : “我現在也記不清那個鏡頭我為什麼要這樣拍 , 只覺得當時我所有的東西都房在影像中了 .” 聽起來挺虛的 , 可你只要找到這種感覺 , 除了眼前是很實的 , 你的焦點和技術之外還留有什麼東西 , 就夠了 .
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山和水是不動的 . 你說山高也好 , 水長也好 , 你不看 , 不走 , 山永遠不去湊合你 , 就是你只能去看它 , 拜訪它 , 就和以前咱們去求個道 , 跟山裡的老和尚學禪一樣 , 你去了 , 老和尚不理你 , 你坐到那兒兩三年突然間頓悟了 . 就是這個感覺 . 這東西不能教你 .
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悟東西有兩種 : 動悟和靜悟 . 搞電影是不能靜悟的 , 你要在動中感受 , 你要吸所有人的精華來充實自己 , 來填補自己沒有感覺到的東西 .

我的電影劄記 2

史高西斯如是說

整理雜物時，發現原來還保存了馬田．史高西斯 (Martin Scorsese) 的幾段雋語。那是美國「滾石」雜誌在千禧年來臨前，邀請了150名演藝界人士，選出二十世紀對他們影響最大的事情、展望未來世紀的社會面貌、和選出一件他們會放進時間錦囊裡的東西。史高西斯語重心長，雖然只針對美國，但卻放諸天下而皆準，值得不時重溫，作為對我們的告誡。

對社會的冀望 我希望在下一世紀見到尊重 (respect) 的重臨。在過去二十年來，在美國肆意輕蔑其他人，甚至是總統，都不是什麼問題。誠實的批評是一回事，輕蔑不恭卻是另一回事。但後者卻充斥著現在的傳媒，還有是互聯網。那裡沒有對或錯，只有一種「把它放上去就算，管它會否傷害別人」的態度。這樣子下去，未來不會有什麼希望。

文化大事 我自拍電影以來見到最糟糕的事情，就是票房統計數字變得橫行霸道。每星期一你只需扭開電視機或打開報紙，便可讀到上周末那些電影最賣座。你讀的不再是要你動腦筋的文章、或是影評人在說些什麼。我在過去曾與影評人有過很激烈的意見分歧。但他們卻驅使我去思考。我們現在有什麼？數目字。人們只根據有多少人買過票或沒買票來決定他們是否要去看某部電影。這是叫人震驚的。這是一套完全不一樣的價值系統，一個不一樣的世界。我會聽到有人談到…舉例說像 水壺出英雄 The Waterboy這樣的電影。他們告訴我應該去看看。我說：「為什麼呢？我能學到什麼呢？我會學習到做人的一點道理嗎？我會學習到怎樣拍電影嗎？」這所以我近日開始變得沒耐性。我看著今天的電影，好想開開心心的 － 我們總不時想看一些瘋狂喜劇 － 但卻就是不行。根本就毫無裨益可言，毫無啟發性。

時間錦囊 太多電影了。我每星期六都在我的放映室裡看電影，看一些在我決定要當導演的年代裡拍攝的電影 － 即四、五十年代的電影。上周末我看到了一部在1947年拍攝的西部片 － 安德里．狄．托夫 (Andre De Toth) 導演的 Ramrod －的復修拷貝。影片的原裝版本被染上了深竭色，所以他們也替我洗印了一個深竭色的拷貝。它漂亮極了，給了我一次美妙的官能經驗，令我的腦袋變得清醒，好使我知道怎樣去拍我自己的電影。它送我重返年輕的年代，那時我要看這樣的電影得進電影院裡看。今天你踏進電影院，每個人談的都是糖果、爆谷、看完電影後去那裡吃飯。永遠不會是電影。這實在粗野。

給千禧班的忠告 學習外語電影的歷史，來教育你自己。我們極需容納來自其他文化的意念。我覺得我們需要聆聽來自東歐、法國、義大利和日本的人說些什麼。我們在美國十分的盛氣凌人，這是很危險的事情。互相交流使我們得以生氣蓬勃。

from musician’sfriends.com
Find Your Own Voice With Vocals
Reprinted from harmonycentral.com with the permission of the author and publisher Craig Anderton

Yes, you already know about equalizing voice and how to choose the right mic to flatter a singer. But you’re an esteemed visitor to Harmony Central…you want more, better, bigger, and further. This baker’s dozen of tips will help take your vocals up one more notch.

1. THE COMPOSITE VOCAL FIX

You want a doubled vocal part, and have loop-recorded a vocal on multiple tracks so you can pick and choose among the best bits to create two killer tracks. Unfortunately, for one short phrase, only one track has the perfect take—maybe the others have flaws, or the singer “hit the jackpot” and couldn’t duplicate it properly. Don’t worry: Copy the perfect part into the other track, shift its pitch a tiny bit, then delay it by 20-35ms.

2. OPTIMIZE REVERB DIFFUSION

Great vocals demand great reverb, so try low diffusion (“density”) parameter values. Here’s why: Diffusion controls the echo “thickness.” High diffusion places echoes closer together, while low diffusion spreads them out. With percussive sounds, low diffusion creates lots of tightly-spaced attacks, like marbles hitting steel. But with voice, which is more sustained, low diffusion gives plenty of reverb effect without overwhelming the vocal from excessive reflections.

3. OPTIMIZE REVERB DECAY

Many reverbs offer a frequency crossover point, with separate decay times (RT) for high and low frequencies. To prevent too much competition with midrange instruments, use less decay on the lower frequencies and increase decay on the highs. This adds “air” to the vocals, as well as emphasizes some of the sibilants and “mouth noises” that humanize a vocal. Vary the crossover setting to determine what works best for a particular voice.

4. THE BEAUTY OF AUTOMATED PANNING

With doubled vocals, panning both to center, or panning one more left and one more right, gives a very different overall effect. For example, if background vocals are part of the picture, I almost always put the voice in the center. If I want the voice to cede some of its prominence to the instruments, I’ll spread the two tracks out a little bit to “unfocus” the vocal. Use automated panning to set the vocals as appropriate for particular parts of the song.

5. CREEPY VOCALS

Remember those creepy, whispery type vocals that Pink Floyd used to do? Try this one on vocals that are more “spoken” than sung, e.g., rap. Plug in your vocoder (software or hardware), and use voice as the modulator and pink noise as the carrier. You may need to reduce the pink noise high frequencies somewhat. Mix it well behind the vocal—just enough to add a creepy, whispery element. Also try delaying it by some rhythmic value, then adjusting its level as appropriate.

6. SELECTIVE ECHOES

I very much like synchronized echo effects added to voice, but only for specific words and passages. You can do this with automated aux send controls; put synchronized delay in an aux bus and turn up the fader when you want delay. This is best if you want apply the same effect to multiple tracks. Or, cut the parts you want to echo, paste them in another track in the same position, and add synchronized delay to that track. This is preferred if you have a limited number of aux buses.

7. STEP UP TO THE PLATE

If your digital reverb has multiple algorithms, try using a plate-based preset for voice. In the “old school” days of recording, plate reverbs were often favored for vocals over chamber reverbs, which were used on instruments. “Real” plates have a tighter, somewhat brighter, less diffused sound that works well with vocals. Of course, there’s no guarantee your reverb’s plate algorithm actually sounds like a real plate, but give it a shot.

8. SHIFTY PITCHES, PART 1

If your studio has digital tape (e.g. ADAT), there’s probably a variable speed control. Use this to thicken doubled vocals; when you record the doubled vocal, speed up or slow down the tape a bit so that this vocal has a slightly different timbre when you play it back at the normal pitch. One caution: if you speed up the tape for a lower-pitched sound, the timing of the performance had better be extra good. Slowing the tape down magnifies any timing discrepancies.

9. SHIFTY PITCHES, PART DEUX

This trick is as old as the Harmonizer (trademark Eventide), when engineers discovered that shifting pitch downward 10 to 15 cents and mixing the harmonized signal behind the straight vocal added a useful thickening effect. You can do this with any digital pitch-shifting processor, hardware or software. If you’re planning to triple the vocal, shift up the second pitch shifter by an amount equal to the downward shift. When tripling, you may want to increase the overall amount of shift.

10. GET DOLBY OFF UNEMPLOYMENT

At one time, Dolby Noise Reduction units were used in studios to reduce noise with analog tape. But they also were used on a lot of background vocals to give an airy, bright sound by encoding with Dolby (usually type A) while recording, but not decoding on playback. What Dolby did was compress above a certain frequency and add pre-emphasis, which is ideal for souping up a vocal’s intelligibility. It’s not all that easy to find old Dolby units, but when you do, they tend to be dirt cheap.

11. SAY HELLO TO VOCAL PROCESSORS

Vocal processors, by companies such as TC-Helicon, Antares, and DigiTech, provide a whole bunch of vocal effect functions from harmonies to weird vocal formant shifting that can turn choirboys into crusty blues singers (and vice versa). The harmony functions are also useful, and few people are aware of what these things do with toms. If you record a lot of vocals, or do voiceover work, these powerhouse processors offer a really deep bag of tricks.

12. MAXIMIZE OR COMPRESS?

It’s common knowledge that most pop vocals are compressed to some degree. Lately, though, I’ve been doing very light compression while recording (just enough to smooth out some of the more abrupt level variations), then using loudness maximizer-type processing (e.g., Waves, iZotope Ozone, or Wave Arts processors) on mixdown. To my ears, this gives a more “raw” sound (as opposed to “smooth”) than using compression alone. This seems particularly effective on rock vocals.

13. MODULATION ECHOES

Okay, we like echoes on voice. A somewhat rare feature in digital-land is the ability to modulate delay time slightly. This “feature” was an inherent part of tape echo, as the tape speed was never perfect. If your delay doesn’t offer modulation, you can simulate the same effect by splitting off the delayed sound through a chorus or flanger set for a short delay, with a very slight amount of modulation (try a random modulation source if possible).

Tech Tip – Avoiding Hum
By Dennis Kambury from Musician’s Friends

The prime reason for hum is the ground loop, caused when the sound system has two or more different ground points. This is easy to do if, for example, you plug your guitarist’s amp into the onstage socket, and your mixer into the socket at the back of the house. These separate points will have different electrical potentials, causing electrical current to flow. The result is easy to hear, but how do you fix the problem?

The best solution is to ensure that all AC power is supplied from one single circuit from the power mains. If that’s not enough juice, at least make sure that all your circuits come from the same panel with the same ground.

The ground loop can also be broken by the use of a ground lift adapter, but it’s not a very good idea, as this method is potentially fatal — breaking the ground means that the signal could potentially find its way to earth directly through YOU!

Poor or damaged cables can also be a source of problems as hum can be picked up from light fixtures, motors, and other common electrical sources. Avoid cheap molded-head connectors, and take time between gigs to check your cables for good solder joints, clean connectors, and undamaged shielding.

There is another cable-based source of hum induced from power cabling into signal cabling. Briefly, when the two types of cables are running parallel, the AC signal can be picked up by the signal cable, amplified, and broadcast for the world to hear! Keep your power and signal cables well separated; and, if they must cross, always cross them at right angles to each other.

刘小东
from 艾未未’s blog

我认识刘小东是在1992年。当时小东和喻红旅行结婚，借住在纽约的下东城区。在陈丹青42街的工作室中，小东完成了几张有关”美国经验”的油画，这些无忧无虑的作品给我留下了深刻的印象。后来在他的回顾性的展览中，有机会看到他许多的作品。

小东的绘画源自西方绘画深厚的传统。这个传统曾经是人们解读世界、历史的视觉途径，并构成了人们对精神世界的表述和记忆。在中国百年的油画实践中，由于传统文化的败落和艺术思想体系的政治化，中国油画始终没有走出学院派的幼稚习作或伪文人的虚情假意的泥潭。在漫长的意识形态绘画和今天的审美实践中，有关现实主义的绘画从假大空的宏大叙事蜕变为充满着欲望的妩媚和娇情。

刘小东的绘画则是一个例外，并最富有代表性和完整性。在如同电影情节的片断的画面中，他痴迷的世界中没有虚伪做作的美学的陈词滥调和通常艺术家所特有的可疑的文化立场和策略。这种没有立场的立场，更真诚、自由、坦率地谈着一个个生活的故事，而这些故事中的人物和事件镜像了现实，陌生又遥远、疏离若隔世，使看似坚实的世界又多了一层含义。

对世界独特角度的观察、真诚和同情的气质、与自在的无聊无奈的心情构成了更深的矛盾；对普通人生活的人性的感受、对生活常态的表述和对表述本身的痴迷使这个没心没肺的世界变得不可知和神圣起来。

刘小东的目光所及，自然地构成了他的绘画世界。它们自然和真实的属性使人们解脱，使观者无语。这不仅仅来自他的观察和感悟的方式，更来自于他独特的绘画语言的消解性，使现实在他笔下如同冰遇到火一般融解。这个绘画性如同行云流水一样魔术般地承载和包容着不容置疑的现实世界，使艺术的片断成为了另一种平行的现实，使人们在困难的无能为力的生活常态中变得有可能以另一种方式来接近、关怀和同情。

“三峡大移民”是小东的新作。在中国油画史中，这幅作品所涉及的题材和规模都是无可比拟的。作品的复杂含义和在绘画形态上的令人震撼的强大的力量、作品充满人性的立场和高超的语言方式使每一个看到它们的人感动和不可忘记。这组作品和小东以往的作品一脉相承。在平凡的细节中诚实而高尚，使画面现实真实到令人不愿相信的地步。它们的史诗般的情感和鬼斧神工的表现力令人对小东的品质和手段望而生畏。

“三峡大移民”展示了一个艺术家对世界的看法。这个看法如同围绕着三峡所发生的一切不幸的历史史实、被移走的人群、被拆迁的村落和发生在三峡的家庭、个人的故事、意识形态之争、历史之变一样确凿地和无奈、一样地诡异和荒诞、支离破碎、无恩无怨。一草一木、一禽一兽、一砖一瓦，构成了中国当代艺术史中最令人难忘的画面，呈现出一个国家的伤口和一个艺术家的无言的立场。

绘画在这里展示了它可能的全部力量。时间停止，让无言者诉说，让没有可能和机会的人们有机会看着这个默许了这一切发生的世界。”三峡大移民”无论从作品的艺术观和立场上都使它们成为这个时代极为稀有和最为重要的作品。

2004-11-6