Short Films by Karolina Novitska
In the fall of 2004, while attending
the graduate design program at the Massachusetts College of Art,
I was deeply absorbed in my
thesis investigation. During that
particular semester, I experienced a major breakthrough in my work.
I was fortunate enough to be part of a class called "Design for
Motion and Sound" taught by an extraordinary professor -
Jan Kubasiewicz. This was the first time in my career where I
was introduced to the cinematic language. I completed my first short
film, "Mashed", in this class.
Part comedy, part tragedy, the film visualizes the last moments of a
dying potato which is being boiled for a Thanksgiving dinner.
Throughout this 3 minute film, we witness the potato's life flash in
front of its "eyes" shot from its perspective.
My second film, was even more playful and experimental in nature. In a cinematic adventure titled "PhonOpera", I visualize a phone conversation between a violin and a piano. My next step in the language of cinema, "Crossword", was an exploration of the mysterious and sad world of the Alzheimer's Disease. The film eventually won the 2006 Adobe Design Achievement Award in the Live Action category. The most recent film, "Sound.InsideOut" dives into the realm of sound visualization and is featured in Jon Krasner's book "Motion Graphic Design: Applied History and Aesthetics".
My second film, was even more playful and experimental in nature. In a cinematic adventure titled "PhonOpera", I visualize a phone conversation between a violin and a piano. My next step in the language of cinema, "Crossword", was an exploration of the mysterious and sad world of the Alzheimer's Disease. The film eventually won the 2006 Adobe Design Achievement Award in the Live Action category. The most recent film, "Sound.InsideOut" dives into the realm of sound visualization and is featured in Jon Krasner's book "Motion Graphic Design: Applied History and Aesthetics".
Sound.InsideOut, 2006 view
film »
Sound.InsideOut is an experimental approach to
visualizing music. The concept for the film was to translate
elements of sound into elements of human motion. Written,
performed, filmed, directed, and edited by me.
Sound.Inside.Out is featured in a book by
Jon Krasner "Motion Graphic Design: Applied History and
Aesthetics".
Crossword, 2005 view
film »
"Crossword" is a visualization of the
Alzheimer's Disease achieved by exploring digital and analog
manipulations of handwritten typography. Using a stop-motion
technique, I sequenced over 2500 still images to create a
flowing cinematic experience. The soundtrack plays a major role
in the film where it serves to accentuate the effects of the
disease by playing in reverse during the dream sequence and
forward during the "reality" sequence. The original song is
"Don't Look Back" by Telepopmusik.
Crossword is a 2006 ADOBE DESIGN ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
WINNER in the Live Action category.
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PhonOpera, 2004 view
film »
The film visualizes an emotional glimpse of a
relationship through a phone conversation between a violin and a
piano. The idea of masks can be viewed as a metaphorical
representation of hiding one’s identity while talking over the
phone. I created the soundtrack by digitally mixing over 15
pieces from classical solo violin and piano compositions.
Mashed, 2004 view
film »
The given objective was somewhat comical - to
represent a dramatic transformation of vegetable. What we are
witnessing is a tragic fate of a potato, being boiled for a
Thanksgiving dinner. Moments before the potato is boiled, its
life flashes before its “eyes”. The entire film is shot from the
perspective of the potato.