Thoughts on the Process Piece

I thought I'd send you a few suggestions when developing your process piece, to make sure we're on the same page, and to help jump-start your creative process...

When creating this piece, consider the following...

• Selection - Films aren't made by just flipping the camera on and pointing it in the general direction of some action, are they? No, even with documentary, the filmmakers carefully select subjects (events, characters, actions, environments, etc.) and shots (establishing shots, close-ups, even specific interview questions, etc.). The same should go for your audio docs. Don't just switch on the recorder and call it good. Carefully consider what you're documenting, why you're documenting it, and then decide how best to document it.
• Composition/Juxtaposition - For example, just as shots are composed and then juxtaposed with other shots, consider how you're composing a piece of audio. Consider what's 'in the frame' and what meaning it communicates. Then consider how these meanings can be multiplied by juxtaposing certain sounds with others. Remember the Kuleshov experiments? Consider the potential power of dialectical montage of sound.
• Narration/Observation - Some documentaries are strictly observational, containing no acknowledgement of the filmmaking process. Others rely heavily on narration to guide the viewer through their navigation of the images and information being represented. In most documentary, there are elements of both approaches. Consider your subject--would one or the other approach (or a combination of both) more effectively communicate what you want regarding your process?
• Stylization/Manipulation - Just because we're documenting something, doesn't mean it isn't creative. Documentary is commonly defined as the 'creative treatment of actuality,' so consider how the aesthetic style might contribute to your piece. Does your subject (or your particular perspective on this subject) lend itself to a specific stylistic approach? For example, would your piece be improved by an overt manipulation of your audio footage?
• Probably most importantly, think outside the box. If I hear another 'getting ready for the day' process, I might barf. We saw more than 30 different processes in the in/out of class viewings this week. Make this a fun, interesting adventure in audio documentary making. And that means selecting an interesting subject and creatively representing it.

Things Having to do with Processes

Here's Mr. Rogers and Mr. McFeeley teaching us about how construction paper is made.

Here's the Louis CK clip that I mentioned in our conversation about products vs. processes. [Disclaimer: There are some bleeped swears in the clip.]

And here's a favorite of mine.

Jack White make guitar from GorWo4ek on Vimeo.

Process Piece

Today, we talked about the importance of process and the value of representing process in art. First, here's something lovely, and nicely represented, but what problems does it pose for our discussion of process?

We talked about process vs. product, mediation vs. immediacy, and then we applied these things to not just work, but also the working out of our salvation. Notice the emphasis of process here as well.

Anything of lasting value requires some work, and as artists, we may find value in representing that work. So, here's the assignment description for the Process Piece:

Students will work in pairs to produce a 1-2 minute audio piece documenting some type of process. In this case, a process is an act of human labor with a beginning, middle and an end. Students should consider both form and content in their creations, as well as both the process and the product of their own creative efforts.

And for Thursday, a few things:

• Come prepared to discuss the viewings that are assigned. There are many and they are pretty diverse, so pick the ones that look the most interesting to you, and consider how they relate to our discussion.
• Come prepared with some audio footage of your process. It doesn't matter if it's rough. This is test footage. This is to get you thinking about sonically representing an act of human labor. We'll use this for our workshop.
• Come prepared with a 30-elevator pitch for your Historical Story. Here's that description:

Students will work in pairs to write a 4-6 page film script that takes place around some historical event (which took place before the students were born), and focuses on a character(s) who is either based on someone they know OR of their own creation (BUT is NOT a famous historical figure). Scripts are to utilize standard screenplay formatting. Students should consider the dynamic between character (attitude, belief, behavior, etc.) and context (cultural practices, political climate, etc.). Students must reference at least 2 legitimate historical sources in their artists’ statement, discussing how the information they gathered in their research informed the creation of their script (including dialogue, scene descriptions, etc.)

Tiny Stories

Here is the assignment description for the Tiny Stories from the syllabus:

Each student will write and illustrate a series of five ‘tiny stories.’ By tiny story, I mean a narrative, (with something that might resemble a beginning, a middle and an end) usually less than 30 words, accompanied by an illustration. By series, I mean an assemblage of stories that have some underlying, unifying principle (by theme, style, approach, subject-matter, etc.). Students should consider how form and content, narrative and theme, individual story and series correlate and compliment each other.

In class today, we considered the various sources of inspiration for our stories--objects, places, people, processes, etc. etc. For example, I shared a particularly fun story from my genealogical history.

We also looked at a number of different series of tiny(ish) stories and discussed the unifying principle underlying these stories. For example, we imagined what our friend Tim Burton might create in response to this assignment.

You might consider theme, character, style...

We also listened to the following song from They Might Be Giants.

You might consider tone, intent, duration...

We looked at the collaborative, online project Six-Word Memoirs at Smith magazine.

You might consider punctuation, capitalization, word choice...

Most importantly, this is an exercise in exploring new sources of inspiration for storytelling and creative expression. This is an opportunity for us to develop our abilities to...

• closely read the world around us
• document our observations/experiences/interpretations
• conceptualize our stories
• realize our expressions
• contextualize our creations

So, consider these points during your creative process, and reflect on these points when writing the artist's statements.

Music Mosaic

Here's the assignment description for the Music Mosaic (20 pts.):

Each student will create a series of 8 - 12 images that visually complement a piece of instrumental (w/o lyrics) music. Images may be drawn, painted, photographed or created digitally, but must be the creation of the student (not thieved from Google Images). Students should consider both form (line, color, composition, etc.) and content (representation, narrative, etc.) in their creations.

Now, let's discuss some potential approaches to this introductory assignment. The dynamic between image and sound can be navigated in a number of ways. We're probably most familiar with the approach that starts with images (or more appropriately, moving images) and then composes music to accompany these images--film scores. Or on the other end of the spectrum, we're familiar with the approach that starts with music and then creates moving images to accompany the music--music videos. I find the approaches in-between most interesting.

For example, the following video started as a fan creation, and then became a collaboration between the composer and visual effects artist. And the composer attributes his relative success largely to the success of the video.

Or, you're probably familiar with the music/design/performance art project that is the Gorillaz. Here, an artist and some musicians have collaborated to simultaneously create these characters that navigate this cool transmedia narrative (oftentimes, in a cool, camouflage dune buggy). Here, neither image nor music has primacy--they're simultaneously produced and thoroughly interdependent.

One is more abstract; the other is more narrative- and character-driven. One attempts to visually represent tone, pitch, rhythm, instrumentation, etc.; the other is interested in using the combination of image and music to build a world. I invite you to do what you think most authentically expresses your reading of the music.

I know that that's kind of vague, and the examples we've used so far are moving (not static) images arranged in time (not space). So I'll attempt to be a little more concrete (as concrete as abstract expressionism can be, I suppose). I recently found a cool Swiss artist named Karina Wisniewska. Here are a few works of hers that I especially like.

Flowering Season, 2011

Field Lights, 2012

She also creates paintings inspired by, and often named for, her favorite pieces of classical music. For  example, here are two works inspired by a composition by Isang Yun.

Colloides Sonores I, 2010

Colloides Sonores II, 2010

And here's another piece inspired by a composition by Debussy.

 Cloches a Travers les Feuilles, 2010

Imagine if Karina was in 112, working on her own Music Mosaic. She might pick a piece from John Cage or Bach (both of whom she especially likes), and create a series of 8-12 images, translating her experience listening to the piece to a visual medium. Remember though, that you will need to justify your particular approach to this assignment in your artist's statement--whatever the medium, form, content, etc. of your mosaic, you'll need to be able to explain their significance.

So, refer to the description of the assignment in the syllabus, our discussions in class, the feedback you got during the workshop. Then get to work. Remember that your completed assignment will include a 300-500 word 'artist's statement' that contextualizes your mosaic within the week's topic--in this case, this delicate process of creative inspiration and execution.

On Inspiration

Here's a quote from Elder Bednar's conference talk that I referenced in class today.

I invite you to consider two experiences most of us have had with light.

The first experience occurred as we entered a dark room and turned on a light switch. Remember how in an instant a bright flood of illumination filled the room and caused the darkness to disappear. What previously had been unseen and uncertain became clear and recognizable. This experience was characterized by immediate and intense recognition of light.

The second experience took place as we watched night turn into morning. Do you recall the slow and almost imperceptible increase in light on the horizon? In contrast to turning on a light in a dark room, the light from the rising sun did not immediately burst forth. Rather, gradually and steadily the intensity of the light increased, and the darkness of night was replaced by the radiance of morning. Eventually, the sun did dawn over the skyline. But the visual evidence of the sun’s impending arrival was apparent hours before the sun actually appeared over the horizon. This experience was characterized by subtle and gradual discernment of light.

- Elder David Bednar, Apr. 2011

The Power of Story

"Stories are the secret reservoir of our values: change the stories individuals and nations live by and tell themselves and you change the individuals and nations. Nations and peoples are largely the stories they feed themselves. If they tell themselves stories that are lies, they will suffer the future consequences of those lives. If they tell themselves stories that face their own truths, they will free their histories for future flowerings."

 - Ben Okri

And here's a story I like...

the Scared is scared from Bianca Giaever on Vimeo.

Toulmin Model of Argumentation

Once upon a time, there was a British philosopher and educator named Stephen Toulmin who was interested in the construction and analysis of arguments. He introduced what's now recognized as the Toulmin Model. I think it'll provide some helpful direction in not only our Thinking & Writing assignment but any critical analysis of media or communication we engage in. Here 'tis...

1. Claim - AKA the thesis, the main idea, the primary point you're trying to make. What's the claim that A.O. Scott makes about Avengers in the review we read? In your own work, is there a primary idea driving your writing?
2. Data - the grounds for your claim, your proof. The type of data you include (in our case narrative elements or aesthetic attributes of a media text, our personal experiences with it, our knowledge of the author or the institution behind its creation, our analysis of audience responses to it, etc.) will depend on your claim. What evidence does Scott provide to support his argument? Is your own claim grounded in some kind of proof?
3. Warrant - the link between your data and your claim, proof that your proof is relevant and proof that your claim is justified based on your proof. (And sometimes you even need to prove that your warrant is legit as well--that's called Backing--but we won't go that far down the rabbit hole yet). Does Scott justify how his data supports his claim? Can you articulate why the evidence you provide legitimately supports your argument?
4. Rebuttal - disclaimers, qualifiers, acknowledgments of any exceptions to your initial claim. Does Scott respond to any possible counter-arguments? In your writing, do you consider opposing claims or at least acknowledge potential limitations to your argument.

Now, let's argue about something together.

I'm Glad I'm a Boy! I'm Glad I'm a Girl!
By Whitney Darrow Jr.

Boys are Cub Scouts. Girls are Brownies.

Boys invent things. Girls use what boys invent.
Boys are strong. Girls are graceful.
Boys are handsome. Girls are beautiful.
Boys have trucks. Girls have dolls.
Boys are doctors. Girls are nurses.
Boys are policemen. Girls are metermaids.
Boys are football players. Girls are cheerleaders.

Boys are pilots. Girls are stewardesses.

Boys are heroes.
Girls are heroines.
Boys are Presidents. Girls are First Ladies.
Boys fix things. Girls need things fixed.
Boys can eat. Girls can cook.
Boys are grooms. Girls are brides.
Boys are fathers. Girls are mothers.
Boys build houses. Girls keep houses.
I'm glad you're a girl! I'm glad you're a boy!

Does anyone care to make a claim about this little story? Let's use Toulmin's model to guide us in drafting our own argument.

Cornel West from Examined Life

Here's the extended clip of Dr. West I promised. Hang in there. This man's intelligence and eloquence astounds.

Welcome to 112

Hey everybody! Glad to have you in 112 this semester. It should be a lot of fun.

To start, let's make sure we're on the same page and talk about some of the purposes of 112. Here are a few quotes from Harvard's 2007 "Report of the Task Force on General Education" that I'm drawing from.

Their aim was to "enable undergraduates to put all the learning they are doing at Harvard, outside as well as inside the classroom, in the context of the people they will be and the lives they will lead after college." To do this, the report stated students need a liberal education,

...an education conducted in the spirit of free inquiry undertaken without concern for topical relevance or vocational utility. This kind of learning...heightens students' awareness of the human and natural worlds they inhabit. It makes them more reflective about their beliefs and choices, more self-conscious and critical of their presuppositions and motivations, more creative in their problem solving, more perceptive of the world around them, and more able to inform themselves about the issues that arise in their lives, personally, professionally and socially.

In persuasive language, the report declared that a liberal education's purpose is

...to unsettle presumptions, to defamiliarize the familiar, to reveal what is going on beneath and behind appearances, to disorient young people and to help them to find ways to re-orient themselves. A liberal education aims to accomplish these things by questioning assumptions, by inducing self-reflection, by teaching students to think critically and analytically, by exposing them to the sense of alienation produced by encounters with radically different historical moments and cultural formations and with phenomena that exceed their, and even our own, capacity fully to understand...The historical, theoretical, and relational perspectives that a liberal education provides can be a source of enlightenment and empowerment that will serve students well for the rest of their lives.

So, let's talk about how stories can help us to that end...

Damon from Benjamin Thevenin on Vimeo.

Before Thursday, be sure to do the following:

• Read over the syllabus carefully (to get it, go to learningsuite.byu.edu, find 112 in your courses, and the good-looking syllabus with links will be under the "Content" tab as "Good-Looking Syllabus with Links").
• Set up your own blog on which you'll post your creative projects this semester and then email me the link. For accessibility’s sake, please use Blogger to create your blog. And blogs urls should be “firstnamelastnameyearadmittedtotheprogram.blogspot.com”. Example: “joshuahall2009.blogspot.com”.
• Read Forbes' "The Power of Story in an Age of Consequence" & Scott's "Superheroes, Super Battles, Super Egos"
• Lastly, read over the following description for the "Thinking & Writing" assignment and select a media text to write about. 

Thinking & Writing (20 pts.)
Each student will choose a media text (film, book, comic book, video game, TV episode, webisode, podcast, music video, album, etc.) and write a scholarly essay (of 750-1000 words) in which they make an argument (using the methods discussed and practiced in class) about that text. Students should consider not just textual characteristics (story, theme, aesthetics), but also contextual characteristics (authorship, genre, technology, industry, audience responses, personal experiences, cultural trends, etc.) in their essay.