*What follows is an opinion based statement.
Shaving my legs on stage was not 'plan A.'
I originally had another, more subdued, idea for my fireside chat but decided to change it at the last minute. Why? Because I had the wonderful experience of being told, again, by a man what I needed to do to be attractive. One of these 'requirements' was to be clean shaven, and so I decided to oblige.
We have reached a strange time in society with the expectations of women. While we have been trying to reject the constraints of the past new ways of putting people into generalized boxes have emerged. There are so many online 'resources' detailing out how to be visually acceptable to society and they have begun to conflict. We are stuck between differing visions of the overall 'ideal woman.' The problem is this does not exist.
I wanted to communicate two main ideas in my presentation. First, that the expectation of women's appearances are lofty and draining. The idea that all women have time to constantly have perfect hair, makeup, fitness, and not hair an inch of body hair is unrealistic and damaging. We are human beings and we are not here as a gender solely to put all our effort into being judged on a sliding scale that often isn't our own. Secondly, I wanted to communicate that these things are choices and should not be dictated either way. I would never tell the world of women they need to stop shaving or wearing makeup. These things are sometimes things we do have time for and want to participate in. I definitely shave my legs, at home and on stage. The idea isn't that we shouldn't do these things, its that it should be a personal choice based on who that woman is. I prefer less makeup and to be clean shaven, because this is how I feel most confident. If another woman feels confident wearing a lot of ostentatious makeup and never shaving, then she has succeeded because the hope is that every woman can find a state where they feel comfortable and confident. This is what matters, not societies perceived standard of appearance.
So whether there are enough hours in the day to look perfect or not, it should be a personal decision not a general rule. While the opinions of others fall short in many ways, the idea that we can have these constraints assigned to us all so generally, and that we do these things to be attractive for men, are what I consider the most harmful. Preferences are okay, Sharing those opinions as rules or facts for all, is not.
I am glad to have been afforded the opportunity to express my opinion in a safe environment. I felt I could put myself out there in a somewhat vulnerable way and come out of the experience empowered. I am additionally glad for the opportunity to hear my classmates passionate opinions. While I may not have agreed with all of them, discussion was prompted and ideas shared. This community feeling of sharing is a way for all of us to get to know each other on a deeper level and hear how each of us views life and our place in it.
Tuesday, December 9, 2014
Monday, November 17, 2014
Food Truck Roundup
Maslow's hierarchy of needs states that in order to feel fulfilled as a human being, one must first satisfy physiological needs, then find safety, then actualize oneself within a social setting, and then top off their satisfaction with esteem and self-actualization. We chose to focus on the creator of the food truck roundup because we believe in the importance of communion in achieving the third level of Maslow's pyramid. The sharing of meals is such a vital aspect of humanity and community because it supports the idea that human beings should care for one another and ensure that each person survives not just physically, but mentally and emotionally and spiritually. Events such as the food truck roundup serve as a shared experience that helps individuals orient themselves in their social environment.
For example, Claire experienced something unexpected as she worked to film different aspects of the roundup. She was given free food and told to relax and enjoy the people around her. She was sent to a seat by one of the fires and instead of eating alone and returning to work, found herself included with the group. People became truly invested with how she was doing and wanted her to know how they were doing. She held pets and took group photos and truly felt a part of this group of perfect strangers that felt like family.
In Arlene Goldbard's essay, she says, "Every year more and more artists work in community cultural development, in participatory projects in which artists collaborate with others to express concerns and aspirations, recovering histories, beautifying communities, teaching, expressing cultural creativity as a universal birthright and a bottomless source of resilience." The food truck roundup is one of these participatory projects that seeks to inspire and uplift the community. The strong sense of community present in this event is due to the man who created it. Anders Taylor grew up with food truck roundups in California, and, upon moving to Utah, missed the sense of community they brought when found there was no such thing. He has worked hard to foster this community spirit and avoid a competitive atmosphere.
What we found special about the food truck roundup was the inclusive nature of its setup. The trucks were arranged in a circle pointing inwards, the fires had chairs encircled around them, and the stage was at the forefront to invite all to enjoy the entertainment. Because of these circles, the participants were welcomed to enjoy the company of others and relish in the warmth of community. The communion we can share at the food truck roundup gives us a sense of social belonging here in Provo.
For example, Claire experienced something unexpected as she worked to film different aspects of the roundup. She was given free food and told to relax and enjoy the people around her. She was sent to a seat by one of the fires and instead of eating alone and returning to work, found herself included with the group. People became truly invested with how she was doing and wanted her to know how they were doing. She held pets and took group photos and truly felt a part of this group of perfect strangers that felt like family.
In Arlene Goldbard's essay, she says, "Every year more and more artists work in community cultural development, in participatory projects in which artists collaborate with others to express concerns and aspirations, recovering histories, beautifying communities, teaching, expressing cultural creativity as a universal birthright and a bottomless source of resilience." The food truck roundup is one of these participatory projects that seeks to inspire and uplift the community. The strong sense of community present in this event is due to the man who created it. Anders Taylor grew up with food truck roundups in California, and, upon moving to Utah, missed the sense of community they brought when found there was no such thing. He has worked hard to foster this community spirit and avoid a competitive atmosphere.
What we found special about the food truck roundup was the inclusive nature of its setup. The trucks were arranged in a circle pointing inwards, the fires had chairs encircled around them, and the stage was at the forefront to invite all to enjoy the entertainment. Because of these circles, the participants were welcomed to enjoy the company of others and relish in the warmth of community. The communion we can share at the food truck roundup gives us a sense of social belonging here in Provo.
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
Game for Change
http://www.philome.la/CaitStratton/under-pressure
A problem I see in our society today is the result of conflicting opinions on motherhood. It seems that no how you choose to parent, someone is adamant you are running your children’s lives. Often time this judgment comes from other mothers on the blogosphere. There are a few terms for this such as ‘Mom vs. Mom’ and ‘The Mommy Wars’.
I am not a mother, but as someone who has a mother and the potential to become a mother there are aspects of this that bother me. The fact that so much of this judgment comes from other moms is, to me, a shame. Instead of supporting each other in what is probably one of the hardest jobs, people are attacking each other’s style of parenting. One issue in particular resonates with me. Some people say a mother cannot work outside the home without neglecting her children. Others, who are working moms, push back saying it is working for them.
My mother is a woman with more than one story, a concept explored by the TED talk we viewed. She is mother, a wife, a teacher, and a working mom since I was 12 years old. Previously a stay at home mom, when my father was laid off she went back to teaching speech therapy at a local elementary school. After this she never again was without a job. It wasn’t that added income, my father found an excellent job not long after; it was that she loved the challenge and helping children. While she was originally worried about the change, it worked for our family.
In this game I focused on showing the issue through a mother who had seen both sides. Having no experience as a mother I drew from my own mother’s experience and some of the stories expressed online. You begin as a stay at home mom heavily involved with her son’s school life with a social circle of similarly occupied moms and end as a working mother dealing with a new set of challenges. I wanted to giver her more than one story and show her emotional conflict over how to move through this transition. Problems such as judgment from other moms, pressure to put work first, and the guilt over leaving your children with another person are addressed. There are also issues such as the conflicting emotions of enjoying being at work and missing your children.
My aim was to show both sides of the story, with maybe a leaning towards the sympathy for working moms as it provides a basis for crafting a set of choices to incorporate in a game. I also wanted to show some of the judgment stay at home mothers receive by giving them one story and portraying them in a negative light. In this way I hoped to show how both sides are often perceived and help people understand that we should be supporting each other in our individual family choices and not tearing each other down.
Sources
http://nymag.com/nymetro/urban/family/features/n_7837/index3.html
http://www.focusonthefamily.com/parenting/parenting-roles/value-of-stay-at-home-moms/the-value-of-stay-at-home-moms
http://drphil.com/articles/article/284
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/welcome-to-overwhelmia-the-modern-day-madness-of-working-mothers/2014/03/13/1dd71bc8-aabf-11e3-98f6-8e3c562f9996_story.html
A problem I see in our society today is the result of conflicting opinions on motherhood. It seems that no how you choose to parent, someone is adamant you are running your children’s lives. Often time this judgment comes from other mothers on the blogosphere. There are a few terms for this such as ‘Mom vs. Mom’ and ‘The Mommy Wars’.
I am not a mother, but as someone who has a mother and the potential to become a mother there are aspects of this that bother me. The fact that so much of this judgment comes from other moms is, to me, a shame. Instead of supporting each other in what is probably one of the hardest jobs, people are attacking each other’s style of parenting. One issue in particular resonates with me. Some people say a mother cannot work outside the home without neglecting her children. Others, who are working moms, push back saying it is working for them.
My mother is a woman with more than one story, a concept explored by the TED talk we viewed. She is mother, a wife, a teacher, and a working mom since I was 12 years old. Previously a stay at home mom, when my father was laid off she went back to teaching speech therapy at a local elementary school. After this she never again was without a job. It wasn’t that added income, my father found an excellent job not long after; it was that she loved the challenge and helping children. While she was originally worried about the change, it worked for our family.
In this game I focused on showing the issue through a mother who had seen both sides. Having no experience as a mother I drew from my own mother’s experience and some of the stories expressed online. You begin as a stay at home mom heavily involved with her son’s school life with a social circle of similarly occupied moms and end as a working mother dealing with a new set of challenges. I wanted to giver her more than one story and show her emotional conflict over how to move through this transition. Problems such as judgment from other moms, pressure to put work first, and the guilt over leaving your children with another person are addressed. There are also issues such as the conflicting emotions of enjoying being at work and missing your children.
My aim was to show both sides of the story, with maybe a leaning towards the sympathy for working moms as it provides a basis for crafting a set of choices to incorporate in a game. I also wanted to show some of the judgment stay at home mothers receive by giving them one story and portraying them in a negative light. In this way I hoped to show how both sides are often perceived and help people understand that we should be supporting each other in our individual family choices and not tearing each other down.
Sources
http://nymag.com/nymetro/urban/family/features/n_7837/index3.html
http://www.focusonthefamily.com/parenting/parenting-roles/value-of-stay-at-home-moms/the-value-of-stay-at-home-moms
http://drphil.com/articles/article/284
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/welcome-to-overwhelmia-the-modern-day-madness-of-working-mothers/2014/03/13/1dd71bc8-aabf-11e3-98f6-8e3c562f9996_story.html
Monday, November 3, 2014
World Building
Our main idea was to look at a world that shines a spotlight on the everyday, average person. In a Disney movie, both a street rat like Aladdin and a princess like Jasmine get equal time to sing and dance their way through life. Everyone is the star of his or her own story. This is a well-known idea and a famous way of looking at life. William Shakespeare said that “all the world's a stage, and all the men and women merely players.” The world that we have created makes this a reality. In our society everyone shines through their ability to sing and dance about their lives. This has some unfortunate drawbacks however. If everyone is a star than who is there to fulfill the supporting cast and backup singing? The truth is that we are all the supporting cast to those around us. We are the harmony to each other’s lives and others are the support for us. So in this vein, we have created a world in which spontaneous musical numbers are performed daily and those who shine brightest are the most talented performers.
Even a society based on spontaneous musical numbers needs infrastructure. Musical numbers are an addition to their everyday lives which will inform their performances. But, since jobs must continue to be completed, the musical numbers will in turn influence how they perform those jobs. For example, a street sweeper might break out into a Stomp number as he cleans the roads. This was in part why we chose newspaper as a medium. It is a media form consumed by the masses which allowed us to represent diverse elements of society. We wanted to show as many aspects of our proposed society as possible. This included the singing woodland creature advertisement, the need for a confetti blower operator, and even the report on a baseball game. All these articles were influenced by the fact that musical numbers dominate every individual’s life. Even the court cases revolve around the musical aspects of life. With this in mind the newspaper's formatting is inspired by musicals. The title font is large and cartoony, and the fonts themselves differ as we wanted it to have a whimsical, creative look.
The reading described the process of designing as an “exploration” in which the imagination is “link(ed)...to its material form.” We experienced this exact process in the construction of our world. An interesting part of that was making sure that we were all “grab(bing) hold” onto the same vision. At one point we had to decide whether this world would be Musical centered or Disney centered. We determined that because we wanted to explore the idea of a musically saturated world, that this would be our focus. From this point, our alignment actually led to a deeper exploration that yielded more physical material forms. Therefore, this homogeneity of vision was an important principle in our design, and essential to holding a concept as big as a designed world together.
Even a society based on spontaneous musical numbers needs infrastructure. Musical numbers are an addition to their everyday lives which will inform their performances. But, since jobs must continue to be completed, the musical numbers will in turn influence how they perform those jobs. For example, a street sweeper might break out into a Stomp number as he cleans the roads. This was in part why we chose newspaper as a medium. It is a media form consumed by the masses which allowed us to represent diverse elements of society. We wanted to show as many aspects of our proposed society as possible. This included the singing woodland creature advertisement, the need for a confetti blower operator, and even the report on a baseball game. All these articles were influenced by the fact that musical numbers dominate every individual’s life. Even the court cases revolve around the musical aspects of life. With this in mind the newspaper's formatting is inspired by musicals. The title font is large and cartoony, and the fonts themselves differ as we wanted it to have a whimsical, creative look.
The reading described the process of designing as an “exploration” in which the imagination is “link(ed)...to its material form.” We experienced this exact process in the construction of our world. An interesting part of that was making sure that we were all “grab(bing) hold” onto the same vision. At one point we had to decide whether this world would be Musical centered or Disney centered. We determined that because we wanted to explore the idea of a musically saturated world, that this would be our focus. From this point, our alignment actually led to a deeper exploration that yielded more physical material forms. Therefore, this homogeneity of vision was an important principle in our design, and essential to holding a concept as big as a designed world together.
Monday, October 27, 2014
Textual Poaching
Which one is the real woman? In this case the picture on the right most accurately represents the revered form of Marilyn Monroe we are familiar with. Her image has recently made rounds on the Internet sometimes paired with the phrase, "Real women have curves." While this message was meant to promote the idea that skinny isn't the only beautiful body shape and as a woman, I find it just as exclusive and potentially harmful.
For years there has been a dialogue on the harm Photoshop and the effect impossible images of toned, skinny women have on the self-image and esteem of girls. The negative option women can have about themselves is not a new issue; it has been discussed at length in all forms of media from blogs to Dove soap commercials. Despite this people still insist on telling us how we need to look and think to be a ‘real woman.’ Recently there has been an interesting trend where now it is shameful to be skinny. The recent single “All About That Bass” by Megan Trainor promotes the idea of being comfortable in your own skin, but not without slamming all the “skinny bitches” for being “stick figure silicone Barbie dolls.” I find this flip of extremes troubling. It seems we as a society still feel we need to define what the ideal woman should be by her body shape and yet can’t agree what that is. Are these messages really that harmful? After all Megan Trainor supposedly means well. As Jenkins explores in "How Texts Become Real" it is the meaning attributed to a text that gives it weight. In the Velveteen Rabbit, the boy's investment gave the toy added significance. It is a similar situation to all texts with this dual message to women. They may mean well at face value, but those whom are excluded from this new 'correct' view of womanhood might see their perceived faults mirrored in the text.
I presented the two images above, one the true image of the famously voluptuous Marilyn Monroe and the same image I doctored to flatten her all of her curves, to show that both images represent real women. Women come in all shapes and sizes, and not fitting someone’s ideal shape cannot take away our womanhood. Our gender is not dependent on whether we have an hourglass figure or are flat as a board. I used the images of Marilyn because she is an icon of female sexuality. The original photo shows her true curves and true self and the second, while obviously changed, is still clearly of a woman. She may not have” all the right junk in all the right places” but that doesn’t warrant the shame of being told she isn’t woman enough.
I do not condone the practice of photo shopping a person to completely change their figure. In fact, even the action of shaving off Marilyn Monroe’s curves bothered me. It was so easy and by the time I was done it really wasn’t her body any more. This is a common issue discussed among women, but its unoriginality does not invalidate the emotions each of us feel facing these conflicting messages. As a woman in this environment I have felt pressures from both ends of the spectrum. I am neither curvaceous nor petite. So if a real woman is petite and small or has bodacious curves, what does that make me?
Monday, October 20, 2014
WebSpinna - The Wrap Up
We decided to explore the concept of dreams vs. nightmares because of its ability to be interpreted in many different ways. We didn’t want to be limited by something too specific; we wanted to be able to use a wide array of clips. We were able to use sound effects, music, and voice-overs to express our specific vision of what happens to dreams when nightmares creep in. This included our ability to take clips out of context to portray our vision. For instance, the “It’s a Small World” song was created for a children’s ride to convey joy; however, we took the annoyance of hearing it repeatedly and turned its effect from joy into fear.
We especially liked our battle because we took care to provide a strong narrative. We took common nightmare scenarios such as drowning and falling, and incorporated them into a dream sequence that was continuous. We then used the abrupt ending to snap the audience out of the nightmare and remind them it was only a dream.
One of our pivotal sound clips (which ended up not playing) was from the movie, I, Robot. Referring to the robots, Dr. Lanning says, “One day they’ll have secrets, one day they’ll have dreams.” This film prompted us to consider what dreams are, and what it means to have dreams. Our dreamer became aware she was fighting a nightmare and recognized that she could manipulate the scenario. This idea came from our consideration of dreams relating to sentience. Another influence was the film Inception and how the dreams become more complicated as the dreamer’s subconscious fights back against the protagonist. This film helps to indicate that while the dreamer fought and lost, it does not mean that the dreamer cannot fight again.
It was nice to see everyone’s live battles on Thursday because while we chose a specific, narrative path, it was interesting to see the directions that the other battles took. It reinforced our appreciation of the unlimited creative possibilities the project offered. This helped us to see that creativity is such a fluid thing which can be formed into many different things and portray the feels.
WebSpinna - The Game Plan
http://audiojungle.net/item/children-playing-at-the-beach/4406798
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9vrfEoc8_g :43
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItjXTieWKyI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gq_bjaI0NTo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7FWXSLq7-s 1:35
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
Medium Specificity - Movement Illustrated
My first ballet instructor used to tell us stories of how, as a child, she would practice her barre work in the dirt and how her movement became visible. Dance is about lines. In ballet there are specific degrees and lines you must create to achieve correct form. Often times these lines are created through movement and are essentially invisible. They also require a great amount of strength to hold, strength that translates to bold, powerful movements. For this project I wanted to showcase these qualities in an effort to celebrate the balance of grace and power ballet requires by finding the lines created by movement, and making them visible.
I was originally inspired by
reflecting on the choreographed battles in Zhang Yimou’s film Hero, especially Flying Snow’s battle
amount the leaves. The leaves become a visual tool as they also swirl around
the women’s movement, creating a way for the lines drawn by her sword work to
be seen in a new, artful way.
I wanted to accomplish something similar, but on
a less grand scale. I choose paint as my tool to express my medium for its
bright colors and its ability to visibly react to pressure. Additionally, an
unanticipated upside was the layering quality paint possesses. While these qualities drew me towards using
paint, it was still only a tool used to showcase my true medium, the dancing. I
could have easily chosen charcoal or mud to get similar effects.
Classical ballet is an art form that
strives to achieve the illusion of weightlessness and ease. While a dancer may
look like she floats through the air, the impact she has is carefully
controlled punch to the ground. It is a heavy and powerful sport that aims to
appear light. Martha Graham said, “Nothing is more revealing than movement” and
I wanted to represent this idea in my project. The lines are continually
informed the weight and controlled power of the dancer. This is visible on the
finished canvas through the hard, bold lines created by the most forceful
gestures and the distinct prints and tracks made in the paint from walking on
point. The weight of the dancer caused the paint to be pushed away from areas
of impact and the these interactions reveal otherwise overlooked properties of
dance.
Like Scott McCloud’s discussion on form and content in Understanding Comics addresses, there is more than one flavor to an art form. Although the classical ballet might
have created the clearest lines, I decided early on to direct my dancer to
incorporated modern elements into the choreography. Ballet is
one ‘flavor’ of dance and I wanted to expand our palate for this experiment.
As I directed my dancer through the process I also experimented with different ways
of getting the paint on paper. Sometimes placing paint where I wanted her to
move, and sometimes following her lead. This way there were a variety of
movements represented and both classic lines and broken lines became visible.
Monday, October 6, 2014
Historical Script
The years of Prohibition in the United States are a fascinating piece of history from which many writers, artists, and musicians have drawn from . Behind the scenes, speakeasies reigned supreme and organized crime blossomed. The scene is familiar, but we wanted to take a different angle and show what might have happened as those glory days came to an end.
Although our main characters aren’t exactly role models to BYU students striving to live the Honor Code, their struggles to adapt are relatable. Additionally, they are similar to the experiences told by Satrapi in The Veil. Just like Satrapi had to change her way of life to adhere to stricter guidelines, our characters found their lives changed by adjustments made to the laws of the land. When eluding the clutches of the 18th Amendment, they find themselves free to party as hard as they wish. Already breaking the law they disregard all restrictions. However, once the 21st Amendment is passed, they find the new additions to their crowd less than enthusiastic.
This is reflected in a modern example observed among non-LDS peers. It’s one thing to party with friends after high school graduation, but it’s a different feeling to legally sip a beer with your parents when you’re twenty-one years old. There’s something about the forbidden that encourages further reckless behavior and results in a very different mood.
Lacking personal knowledge of the twenties speakeasy underground, we turned to several outside influences to inform our portrayal of a saloon atmosphere. The Great Gatsby was a major source in understanding how gratuitous the partying may have been back in the day. In that film, modern music is used to compare our day with the twenties, which we might make the mistake of assuming could never be as sinful as our day.
Another source of influence was the self-titled album, Tumbledown House. This music has been described as “gritty saloon jazz” and “modern speakeasy music.” The first track is titled “Midnight at the Openly Lewd” and is simply a snippet of what a speakeasy might sound like in the throes of a party. Laughter, cash registers, and clattering is heard with a jazz piano playing over the din. It gives the feel of heavy smoke and questionable behavior. Fraught with gambling, murder, prostitution, and booze their songs describe the life of unrepentant sinners. Heavily coloring our depiction of a speakeasy party, this also informed our creation of Dixie’s character. The decision to make her unrepentant and confident in her life choices came from various ideas and characters portrayed in the songs “Brothers McGhee” and “Jug O’Rossi.” Besides these three tracks, the entirety of the album speaks to a romanticized version of what sort of characters you would find in this situation. This fit our script well as we wanted to romanticize the prohibition parties to reflect how they were viewed by those who had to adjust their lifestyle after the ban on alcohol was repealed.
Other characters helped represent reactions to the new laws. The gangsters Rudy and Vincent represent how the bootleggers themselves may have reacted to the loss of business. Helen provides a contrast to the mischievous and spirited saloon characters, serving to ‘rain on their parade’. The Mistress, although commanding, is quieter than the other characters in order to be a surrogate for the audience and observe the action. While these characters all possessed attributes that informed the theme, it was their interaction that presented the contrast between an underworld upset and a stiff class mixing with a new, unsavory crowd.
Monday, September 29, 2014
A Clean Sound
The lights are dimmed, audience hushes, the orchestra tunes. It’s a wave of discordant noise that finally rests into a clean, purposeful sound. As the movement begins, the audience hears the euphonious sound made possible by this effort. Consider the lone instrument: carefully brought out and tuned to perfection in a cacophony of noise to add to the clarity of the whole. These small processes are what allow the larger task to succeed, and developing an appreciation for these will increase the perceived value of the completed product.
The opening scene in Moonrise Kingdom reflects this idea as the family listens to “A Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra.” It explains how the individual families of instruments make up a complete orchestra to fully realize the complex orchestral movement. Similar to this, micro processes are important to the overall, larger process. It is especially important that these microprocesses be done correctly, so not diminish the intended product, such as an orchestra tuning to achieve a “clean sound” at the beginning of every live show. What sounds like a chaos eventually allows the orchestra to faithfully represent the vision of the original composer. This concept is what led us to consider the individual instruments in an ensemble, such as the viola. In our piece, we focused on the tuning of this one instrument. Within this smaller process, there are more microprocesses. We hear a case being unzipped, the bow being tightened and rosined, and an annoying tuner tone. All leading up to the tuning of the instrument itself. Because of its preparation, it will be able to blend seamlessly with the rest of the group and produce striking sounds which will inspire many. We felt this exemplified both the idea of smaller processes adding to larger ones, and the principle that these microprocesses need to be done well in order for the whole to succeed.
In Smokehouse, we see a man tell the tale of how he built his smokehouse. More importantly, we see him take time to describe in detail the tiny processes that went into the construction of his structure. As he describes his mistakes in the events leading up to the finished product, the audience sees a sort of pride from the man as he recognizes that despite all of the mishaps, he accomplished something great for himself and his community. Because of his labors, his lifestyle was improved as he became self-reliant and closely bonded to his community through the smokehouse. This construction process ended up initiating a routine that would inevitably improve his life. After watching this video, we learned that the micro processes which so interested us were not just gears in the mechanism, but intrinsically valuable to our lives. As we come to value our mundane routines and tiny processes, we will be able to complete better products--whether that be a smokehouse, or a beautiful symphony.
Moonrise Kingdom “A Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra”-
Symphony getting a clean sound-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfSH1ezevjM
Tuesday, September 23, 2014
Forum Extra Credit
The topic that impacted me the most during this forum was the emphasis on the Hollywood lifestyle. Bill Draper, an executive at Warner Brothers, stressed that he didn't get a job. He adopted a lifestyle. The Hollywood life takes a certain personality and sacrifices, especially when it comes to family time and vacations. This only makes it more apparent that to do what he does, you need to love it. If you don't love it then the job will not be worth all the hard times and the sacrifices it requires both physically and emotionally. I think this translates to film life in general. Production and deadlines always cause late nights and early call times. If you aren't enjoying the process, then why do it? The road to Hollywood sounds too long and hard to be something you don't want. Too many people are passionate and want it, there will always be competition that has just as much talent as you. If you don't think you want it, or don't think you have the stamina to live it, then there are other roads to explore. Hollywood isn't the only destination worth considering.
Monday, September 22, 2014
Tiny Stories: Steps Not Taken
Steps Not Taken
by Caitlin, Olivia, Cody, Claire, and Hadley
The lightbulb in his ceiling burned out. He contemplated the chore of replacing it and decided he liked living in darkness better anyway.
As he sat in the darkness, he realized that he was hungry. So he started to crawl. He kept searching for the door but found himself lost.
Content in his solitude, he breathed in deeply... absorbing the rich nutrients of the dark, making his wings stronger and his talons sharper.
He didn't need her, anyway. The games were tomorrow and he was most definitely going to win.
The forecast was cloudy with a chance of crushed dreams as all sporting events were cancelled.
Artist Statement
Though each of us went to different schools, we all share a collective dread for group projects. The fear that fueled this ranged from doing all the work to not even being heard. The “Tiny Story” assignment allowed us to experience group work in a different way. Instead of picking apart each other’s visions, we were allowed more individual freedom for creativity. Influenced only by a few lines and picture, we made each new addition our own. This form of collaborative art leaves room for a more chaotic form of creativity, which provides a more unique and spontaneous outcome than the Hunger Games of opinions that traditional group work dictates.
A film that immediately comes to mind is Adam Shankman’s Bedtime Stories. While Skeeter attempts to control the outcome of his stories, it is the children’s input that matters. His stories become the basis for their additions that end up coming true. Similarly, we were each given a section of text and one image to influence our own contribution, but it could be taken in any direction we chose. Our stories were created by combining everyone’s different interpretations. This kind of collaboration gives the artist control only over their designated portion. The story is meant to grow like a completely separate entity, similar to the ideas set forth in the “Exquisite Corpse” article. As the article explores, many works today are collaborative and are affected by works we have previously experienced. The idea of original work has to account for the truth that we cannot escape these influences. Additionally, as we see in both Bedtime Stories and “Exquisite Corpse”, the creators of media must set free their direction and control. They sometimes have to trust that their vision will still be acknowledged, but the path may be altered. We must also accept that our vision might never turn out how we originally plan it.
The twitter account gives a strong example of the Round Robin stories technique in new media form. While the exquisite corpse is the more traditional version of the project we attempted, the twitter account shares short stories with people around the world, and thus receives varying feedback. The public forum in which art is shared today allows for even more creativity and development than was available to generations past. It also speaks to the influence that so few words can have on readers. Short stories are powerful no matter the setting they are shared in, and the Short Stories Twitter Account proves that.
None of these stories concluded the way we originally intended. Once a story began, the original author relinquished all control over the outcome. You can’t guarantee a positive outcome in a group project, but we’ve found that this project had a surprisingly good ending, proving that putting faith in each other’s creativity can pay off in the long run.
Group Members
Cody Mondale
Claire Nielson
Hadley Scholz
Caitlin Stratton
Olivia Taylor
Claire Nielson
Hadley Scholz
Caitlin Stratton
Olivia Taylor
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