Fifth Day of Induction at Edinburgh College of Art

The end of the week is near, we will have been matriculated and inducted.

So to celebrate this there is...

Freshers party tickets

The freshers party on Friday is a ticketed event you can purchase tickets at...
The Freshers Fayre -SRC stall
The SRC office
The wee red bar on Tuesday night.

£4 for freshers

Featuring 'The EGG' live plus djs -
Brainstorm - Edinburgh
Brookes - Bristol
Steve Cato - Manchester
The Corndog - Leith

But before all this party pleasure I received following message that caused me to go see the film:

Woody Allen's Manhattan and is being screened this Friday evening in the George Sq Theatre for free. Anyone can come along to this screening, there is no charge, in fact there is a lot of free stuff - a goodie bag for all attending and a competition to win a digital freeview box.



Synopsis of the film Manhattan:

Issac Davis (Woody Allen) is torn between two girlfriends: the very young and earnest Tracy (Mariel Hemingway), and indecisive pseudo-intellectual Mary Wilkie (Diane Keaton). During this time, Keaton also has an on-off affair with Michael Murphy (who had just played another philandering husband in "An Unmarried Woman"). To complicate things further, Allen quits his day job to write a novel, all while he is trying to stop his ex-wife (Meryl Streep) from publishing a tell-all book of their marriage.



Manhattan is remarkable for many things - its glorious all-Gershwin score, its breathtakingly elegant black-and-white, widescreen cinematography by Gordon Willis (best-known for shooting the Godfather movies); its deeply shaded performances; its witty screenplay that marked a new level in Allen's artistic maturity; and its catalog of Things that Make Life Worth Living. But Manhattan is also distinguished in the realm of home video as the first motion picture to be released only in a letterboxed version. You wouldn't want to see it any other way.

Allen's "Rhapsody in Gray" concerns, as his own character puts it, "people in Manhattan who are constantly creating these real, unnecessary, neurotic problems for themselves, because it keeps them from dealing with more unsolvable, terrifying problems about the universe."



It's a romantic comedy about infidelity and betrayal, the rules of love and friendship, young girls (a radiant and sweet Mariel Hemingway) and older men (Allen), innocence, and sophistication. (a favorite phrase is used to describe a piece of sculpture at the Guggenheim: "It has a marvelous kind of negative capability.") The movie's themes can be summed up in two key lines: "I can't believe you met somebody you like better than me," and "It's very important to have some kind of personal integrity."

OK, so they may not sound like such sparkling snatches of brilliant dialogue, but Manhattan puts those ideas across with such emotion that you feel an ache in your heart.

Fourth Day of Induction at Edinburgh College of Art

Today is the Fourth Day of Induction with lecture on Visual & Cultural Studies:

The Freshers Fair - Thursday 29th September

All day Thursday 29th September 2005
Wee Red Bar
Albertinas and outside

Loads of Freebies and useful Edinburgh Information
10am - 4pm

Afterwards I had lunch with Maya Hayashi who recommended me to watch the Japanese movie "Tokyo Story" by director Yasujiro Ozu.



Synopsis of the film Tokyo Story:

The Japanese family’s transformation by modern, Western culture formed the core theme of director Ozu's work, and this motif is crystallized in an exquisite, intimate story of alienation and reconciliation in TOKYO STORY. An aging couple, living in retirement in rural Japan, decide to visit their married children in the bustling metropolis of post-war Tokyo. But once they arrive, they find that the children no longer have room for them in their busy lives. Shuffling their parents back and forth between each of their houses the couple is eventually shipped off to a health spa.

Only the couple's daughter-in-law, widow of their son who died in the war, shows them any kindness. The parents return home lonely and disillusioned, and the mother soon falls sick. The children arrive too late, and have lost their chance to make any reconciliation. The patterns of movement, dialogue and nature combine with a scrupulous attention to character under Ozu’s masterful eye and create a subtle yet overwhelmingly emotional drama.

And I filled my plastic bag with materials I had purchased at the Student Shop such as erasers, pencils, a drawing book etc.

Third Day of Induction at Edinburgh College of Art

Today is the Third Day of Induction with lectures on Visual Communication:

Photography

ECA Student Melanie Schullhammer, Germany

Film/TV

"Suspense is like a woman - the more left to the imagination, the more exitement."
Alfred Hitchcock, Master of Suspense

Illustration

Graphic Design

Animation

ECA Student Selina Cobley

THE MOMENT OF TRUTH, I have submitted my prioritized selection of subjects to study as Core:

1 - Film/TV, without any doubt
2 - Animation, see the difference?
3 - Graphic Design... to face-lift my Weblog, right
4 - Photography... where are they by the way?
5 - Product Design... does that work for infants too ;o)

Visit to the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art



Here we saw quite some impressive work of Jannis Kounellis - Works 1958-2005 about subpression, war, and resistance (his father taking part in the resistance during the Second World War).



Visit to the Dean Gallery


"The marvellous is always beautiful, anything marvellous is beautiful, in fact only the marvellous is beautiful."
Andre Breton, Surrealist

This is when I could hardly walk any longer. So I hopped on the Bus and me and fellow Art student Kosho Nishimura eat out, a full plate of Nachos (from Japan... no, not the Nachos). I had to brush up my foreign languages anyhow.

Film Nights - Wee Red Bar Wednesdays from 28th September

Film Night - Wee Red Bar
from Wednesday 28th September
starting 5pm
and then every Wednesday this term

Open to all students and their friends

Edinburgh Movie Production Society (EMPS) - The Meadows Bar Wednesday 28th September

This evening I visited the Edinburgh Movie Production Society, part of the Edinburgh University. It was a surprise to see over thirty people being present at the first lecture about Script-writing. We gathered around in small groups and my group decided to write a short story about "Class". It is a story about an upper-class passenger having to sit in a standard class train cabin and what it does to him/her... or more interesting what it does to the standard-class passengers in the cabin. Interesting subject for a class-minded UK society.

My group members are: Sam (who writes scripts), Joseph (who shoots around), Chris (who does animations), Sandy (who majors in film history), and Liz (who is off to New York). Then there is Filip from Poland, who says there is no such thing a class in Poland.

We set out to write about 5 pages of script and meet next Wednesday at 8pm same place, I'll bring my DVD player and we are going to watch some of our home-made movies and get to the next step of our CLASS IC (=Inter City)!

Second Day of Induction at Edinburgh College of Art

Today is the Second Day of Induction with lectures on Design and Applied Arts:

Furniture & Product Design

Interior Design

Textiles

Fashion

Performance Costume

Glass & Architectural Glass

ECA Student Elin Isaksson

Silversmithing & Jewellery

And again, beers to get acquainted !

Freshers Welcome Drinks - Wee Red Bar Tuesday 27th

Freshers Welcome Drinks - Wee Red Bar
Tuesday 27th September
5pm - 10pm

Open to all new students and their friends

The Wee Red Bar is one of Edinburgh's best kept secrets. Small and intimate, this great venue is in the Edinburgh Art College complex, on Lauriston place.

Today is the First Day of Matriculation and Induction at Edinburgh College of Art.


Part of Edinburgh College of Art

I am thrilled and get up early with all my signed papers of SAAS sponsorship, passport, and health papers. Before walking up to the College I decide to buy a 9 Pound do-away Kodak HD camera to take snapshots of this weeks events.

- You have to wait for them to be developed and put on my Blog later on -

Matriculation at Edinburgh College of Art

A long queue of new students that have been allowed to start the BA (Hons.) Art & Design First Years Program in front of the service desks.

=picture following=

I have met with many kind and enthusiastic youngsters that went through the Matriculation with me. Names, names, names and faces... all to remember as best as I can.

Here is my proof of being an Art student:



First Day of Induction at Edinburgh College of Art

We continued with a lecture in the Main Building Theater by Director of First Years, Brigitta MacDonald

=picture following=

and many lectures to follow...

As well as a tour around the College

=picture following=

Then at around 3.30pm back home to make dinner and get dressed for an evening out.

Freshers Pub Crawl - Monday 26th September 2005

Freshers Edinburgh Tour Pub Crawl - Monday 26th September 2005

Open to all new students and their friends
Start at the Wee Red Bar at 7pm and then onto the Hogshead, Bread Street at 8pm.

The Hogshead is a chain of pubs that have a contemporary style. Each outlet has a selection of real ales and an extensive range of Belgian beers. They also serve traditional food and wine.

After the Hogshead we moved on to the Beehive at Grassmarket.


We then strolled on to Biddy Mulligans nearby...


But it was decided that we should crawl... so off to Nectar, a place neither shown on picture nor found on Google.

This is where my memory got a bit rusty ;o*

I ended up with a belly full of Lager and a group full of friendly Freshers. Set the alarm clock to 8.00 am to not be late for the second day of Induction.

Meeting the UNITE Student Acommodation Students

This night we had a flat party with some of the students in my acommodation.
There were crazy reefers, strong drinks, and fine music.
One of the Norwegian students recommended watching the movie called "Kitchen Stories" by director Bent Hamer.

Synopsis of the film Kitchen Stories:

The film, which takes place during the 1950s, introduces a Swedish scientist, Folke (Tomas Norström), who travels to Norway to observe how a volunteer, Isak (Joachim Calmeyer), functions in his kitchen. It is Folke's job to map Isak's every movement in the kitchen so the results can be used to determine how to engineer a kitchen to best meet a single man's needs. (Similar studies really took place in Sweden and the United States during the 1950s, albeit with married women.)



Before beginning his work, Folke is given strict instructions not to interact with Isak. He is to sit in a high chair (one that looks a little like a lifeguard's perch) in a corner of the kitchen and watch. The theory is that Isak will go about his business as usual, oblivious to Folke's presence. The reality is that the presence of an observer - even a silent one - influences Isak's every action. This raises questions about how legitimate any study can be that relies upon supposedly impartial observation. Not only is it impossible for a human observer to be objective about a subject, but the subject will almost always act differently.



As one might readily anticipate from a movie of this sort, Folke and Isak, both of whom are loners, develop a friendship. It begins with a few innocuous questions and ends with Folke buying Isak a birthday cake and Isak letting Folke listen to the chatter of radio station broadcasts that can be heard coming through the silver fillings in his mouth.

Hans Zijlstra and Tjitske van der Zanden have delivered a baby girl by the name of Loes!

Congratulations, she has the beauty of the mother and the favorite performance of the father that is ;o)

Hi, my name is Willem van Heemstra

I am on the verge of crossing the North Atlantic to pick up on what I do best... studying ;o)

My family organized a small get together before me and my aunt took off for the boat to the United Kingdom.