Autobiographical / Essay piece: due next week & notes

Hi all,

The final for your first assignment is due next week (autobiographical / essay). Please make sure you bring these in—complete narrative, in sequence, with sound / in-formed by your 3 words—. 'Quicktimes' are preferred as they are easier to view. Make sure you include a slate at the beginning or end of your piece with the project name and your name (a slate is usually a black or white screen with text on it). We will allow 10 minutes to upload all work on my station for review.

Some of you have not presented work as of yet, needless to say this sets you behind in our process and ultimately plays against you, so make sure this is resolved with resonant / cohesive work next week. If you need feedback use this blog, that's what it's for, however it should not replace or stand in for work that is due each week.

There were improvements to your pieces today; all have potential but some still feel like fragmented studies. Now is the time to actualize that potential. I am looking for eloquent, evocative and unified narratives that immerse us into their language, mind, space and emotional landscape. Claire's project is a great example of the caliber of work I am looking for (setting examples is not ideal but I feel it can help here). Her piece speaks for itself, carrying time & thought within it. It is a reference as to how verbal & cinematic language converge in an autobiographical essay that presents us with a 'state of being,' a glimpse into someone else's reality through an articulated point of view that requires no further description. You are all capable of this, push it.

Keep in mind the readings we have discussed and the work samples we have reviewed: ask yourself, does this work make me momentarily 'forget' time? does it carry me within it? Is this something I am happy putting my name next to?

In relation to spoken or voice over segments (essay) and their image counterparts please take a look at this film:
"2 or 3 things I know about her"—Jean-Luc Godard.

This film is quite fantastic in how it is narrated by a silent and almost suspicious voice, its use of landscape as an extension or contraction of human emotional space, and its discussion on language, being and sensuality. It also poses the question: who is speaking to whom? who constructs this story? what role does the camera play in unveiling or concealing people and events? etc

I am available for feedback, reviews and any questions you might have
As my good friend Jenna Didier says "Let's make something beautiful"

Thank you,
carolina

nb: I will post more work samples here in the upcoming days. You will receive a reading assignment next week.

nb2: Claire: would it be possible for you to post your piece here? if not in totality then excerpts, for people who were not able to make it today...thank you

crickets

referential thought

hodological space

In the topological psychology of the Polish/German-born US psychologist Kurt Lewin (1890–1947), a special form of topological geometry in which paths and vectors are defined psychologically, the distance between one hodological region and another being not the shortest path but the path of least effort given the attractive and repulsive valences of the regions making up the space. See also principle of least effort.[From Greek hodos a way + logos word, discourse, or reason + Latin -al from -alis of or relating to]

[...]

The term 'hodological space' is derived from the Greek word 'hodos', path, way. In contrast to the mathematical concept of space as presented on maps, plans, etc. 'hodological space' is based on the factual topological, physical, social, and psychological conditions a person is faced with on the way from point A to point B, whether in an open landscape or within urban or architectural conditions.

worth looking into & exploring with

online film source

great source...
http://www.ubu.com/film/index.html

Atom Egoyan

I would love to see Speaking Parts again, it is a great film about technology, film , recording , alienation , questioning the real amongst other things. I am going to see if I can get it from netflix, it would be great to discuss either here or in the class. It could also be great to watch  his short films , wish I haven't seen

http://hcl.harvard.edu/hfa/films/2000janfeb/atom.html

artists for reference

more to come, here are a few

doug aitken (for you liz!)
http://www.dougaitkenworkshop.com/

vito acconci
http://www.vdb.org/smackn.acgi$artistdetail?ACCONCIV

jeremy blake
http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=jeremy%20blake&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wv#

paul chan
BAGHDAD IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER is fantastic
http://www.vdb.org/smackn.acgi$artistdetail?CHANP

jonas dahlberg
http://www.jonasdahlberg.com/

cheers
c

next week

Hi all,

Brief re-cap on what's due next week:
-- rough cut for project 1: this entails a full sequence for your essay / autobiographical project.
things to consider are: camera angles, lighting, sound; as integral components to cinematic language. keep in mind the readings we have been discussing as trigger points for thought and execution. for instance: how does the 'black screen' enunciate the absence of body and the presence of sound, possibly emanating from a body or environment? how do camera angles relate to how characters / situations are portrayed? (intimate as in a close, encompassing as in a long shot etc...how do these 'follow' each other sequentially to unveil the story or emotional landscape, mood of the film) abstraction & representation, depiction & evocation etc

use the words you selected as materials that can inform your work; these can serve as structural paradigms or 'mood' paradigms: for instance, libido can allude to intensity shifts in your piece (through colour, sound, pacing, rhythm etc), error can present itself as a discontinuity in sequence, or a form of rupture that presents an alternate possibility for the viewer; excess can be perceived as a structural element: for instance, the film gradually becomes more populated in form or action or presents an increment in sound etc

we will review your pieces next week & will go over some technical aspects of recording image,
these are: exposure, white balance, colour temperature and aperture
(below are some wiki posts that can get you started)

any questions welcome / will be out this weekend returning monday

kindly,
c


this link give you a brief intro to all below:
http://www.homephotog.com/tutorials/shutter-speed.shtml

cinematography:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinematography

perception:
http://super.nova.org/DPR/Perception/

exposure:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exposure_(photography)

aperture:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exposure_(photography)

white balance:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_balance

colour temperature:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_temperature

doug aitken @ regen projects

Anyone interested might want to see Doug Aitken's video installation (shows nightly, projected on the front of the building) at Regen Projects in W.Hollywood.
http://www.regenprojects.com/
It's only up for a short time, few more weeks, maybe...
Worth seeing, I think....

CRYSTAL-IMAGE TEXT SCANS

Hi all,

For your deleuze readings:
here are some scans that clarify / speak of the what deleuze refers to as the 'crystal-image.' (in case you were curious about that definition)
If you'd like more info on this pls let me know and I'll scan further, this gives you an idea though

begins on page 68
nb: the underlines are not mine (library book)

thank you
c

threads

for you to peruse at will... random inspiration

http://newvideoart.com/

below a good source for reading, research etc
http://www.medienkunstnetz.de/themes/overview_of_media_art/forerunners/1/

http://www.we-make-money-not-art.com/

some installation work scrolling down..
http://butdoesitfloat.com/

this one's quite good
http://synapticstimuli.com/

more to come
c

Welcome!

hello all

this is our class blog, aimed at continuing our discussion & process online
post thoughts., threads, ideas, questions etc
—perception requires participation—

best,
carolina