I chose film as the medium that I was going to emphasis a specific aspect of. One of the most fundamental units in film is the visual image displayed before an audience. A camera, a filmmakers main tool decides what will be seen on screen and what it can hide just out of frame. In my project I emphasized the fact that so much more can be going on in a scene that the audience has no idea about because they are only seeing the part the filmmaker has decided to show them.
My project celebrates the art of filmmaking because it shows the true power that the cameraman behind the scenes has. He chooses what is on screen and what is kept secret from the audience. Without a viewer knowing there can be a crew member holding a flashlight right out of frame, a flower pot under the camera to give the border an extra touch, or actors five feet to the left reading and totally out of character. The filmmaker decides.
In my case I began with a close up on a girls face and kept that image for a time. Then, in the next shot I zoomed out a little to provide more context to the scene. After that I zoomed out further so more characters were exposed and additional information could be gathered by the audience. Finally, I zoomed out entirely so that every action within the scene was exposed and the story could be fully understood. Even in this case, the audience does not see the one filming (even though my shadow is visible a couple of times), they do not see what the actors do as soon as they are off screen, and because of editing choices, they do not see the times that the actors and camera person messed up while scenes were being recorded.
This type of "aim and shoot" action is a critical element of filmmaking. The filmmaker decides everything that will be in the shot: the actors, the set pieces, the props, the lighting, etc. It makes film a distinct art form and it is a great power that is a huge influence to mass audiences around the world.
The
historical event we chose for our script was the Northridge, California
earthquake which occurred on January 17, 1994. We incorporated this week's
reading in trying to display how this historic event would affect individuals
on the family level. Just as the 1980 cultural conflict affected the girl and
her family in our reading of “The Veil,” we contemplated how an earthquake, and
potentially deadly situation, would affect individuals in a family. While “The
Veil” presented the relationship between the cultural conflict in a comical
view, from the child's perspective, we tried to explore the sentimental route
of the earthquake's effect on a dysfunctional family. We took advantage of the
opportunity to present a story based around the facts of when and where the
earthquake hit and what could happen. In this sense, we explored the dynamic
relationship between how our fictionalcharacters acted—initially the classic
angry son who learns his responsibility in the family—with the fictional, but
common family situation, in therealenvironment that we placed them in. In
other words we tried to explore how the life-threatening situation of the
shattering earthquake would effect an already broken family.
The initial
idea for the historical script was a mom and son surviving the earthquake and
becoming closer because of it. In the collaboration process we created a script
that depicts a mother and son struggling to overcome the recent abandonment of
the father and husband. The earthquake comes to be a metaphor for how the
characters felt internally during their emotional struggle, and provides a
medium for them to symbolically let go of things out of their control. Once the
mother and son decide to move on and work together against the uncontrollable
situation they have been placed in, they become a stronger, slightly more
functional family unit.
A movie that
shares a similar theme of disaster bringing family together is the filmDeep Impactproduced in 1998. When news of a
meteor possibly crashing into Earth hits the inhabitants of our planet, we see
the "impact" it has on a father and daughter, as well as a newly
married husband and wife. Each character has their internal struggles that
shine through and must be resolved before their ultimate physical destruction
takes place.
The sources
we drew from for this assignment helped us gather the facts regarding the
earthquake. We learned the location, covering the San Fernando Valley community
of Northridge, and the time it hit, around 4:31 in the morning. The Los Angeles
Daily News was a close to home report on the event and the NBC timeline article
also gave us a detailed timeline of the events, such as the initial quake and
many of the devastating reports—including widespread fires and floods, some of
which we incorporated into our story. It was a devastating event, but like all
others had some positive repercussions: bringing families closer and reminding
people in general how important others in their lives truly are.
The process we chose to present this week in our audio process piece is the act of going out for a late night snack. We tried to present the major steps involved in one leaving their home, long boarding to a nearby gas station, purchasing a candy bar and soft drink then going home to enjoy the treat. Both the form and the content involved in this project stretched our conception on the importance of the individual steps involved in processes. We drew from many of the videos studied in class and also saw connections with other audio presentations such as Fantasia 2000.
The form of this assignment, which forced us to view things simply through audible sounds, specifically expanded the way we view processes. While brainstorming what to select for our process, we realized all the various steps involved in every process. For example, after deciding on our specific process, we discovered that in order to fully present our process we had to break it down into over fifteen different steps. As far as the content involved in this assignment, we had to take a deeper look into how each step could be presented through just audio. Therefore, we had to isolate the individual steps into specific noises that would successfully represent that action. Using a mixture of objects—including cups, plastic wrap and even elevator music, we were able to create the individual steps of our process, and ultimately present the overall activity.
We found a tie in with the film production Fantasia 2000 made in 1999 by Walt Disney Studios. This film took classic song pieces and devised stories based solely on what the creators heard and could visualize from the notes. While listening to all the different process pieces that come out of this assigned project, each individual will visualize different images even though everyone is listening to the same sounds. This helped us contextualize what story we could tell with our piece. When it came to deciding on a process we looked to the recommended videos as references of what a process meant. Each process was unique in its purpose and execution allowing to stretch our imaginations a bit to come up with something that was both creative and feasible. A midnight snack seemed fun and also left room for interpretation to the audience. Everything we do is a process and through artistic talent we can find the beauty in these everyday events.
Upon walking into F201 to hear the forum last friday, I recognized a man sitting in the corner of the room as someone I knew from my home ward in Valencia, CA. Then that man got up, sat next to Tom Lefler, and introduced himself as Bill Draper, Production Manager at Warner Bros. Studios. I recalled my dad telling me about a guy in our ward that worked in the film industry, but I was shocked to see him sitting in front of my department discussing in detail the big bad world of Hollywood. Bill is an alumni of BYU and was a part of the film program with previous experience in the business major. He said that studying both fields helped him to get ahead in LA, for down there the act of film making is not "show art" but rather "show business." It takes a certain A type personality to make it in that part of the world, and according to Bill, you either have it or you don't. He scared half the students in that room to death and the other half, like me, with plans of going into non-Hollywood lines of work, were at ease knowing they'd never have to adapt to that kind of lifestyle. With all the success that Bill Draper has had in his career, he said the one thing he wish he would've changed was to have married earlier and to have spent more time with his children. It was very interesting having a peek into that multi-billion dollar industry and comforting to know that there are people out there that can handle all the stress necessary for entertaining America and allowing everyday people an escape from reality through blockbuster films.
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 influenced. 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.
Members of group:
Olivia Taylor
Hadley Scholz
Caitlin Stratton
Cody Mondale
Claire Nielson
The words on their door read "toddlers' toys and clothes for sale," and that night in bed I thought "I swear they had a toddler of their own."
After a sleepless night I took their sign, replacing it with my own. It read "Well behaved toddlers wanted. Inquire within." (caitlin)
3.I started to feel the guilt of what I had done. So I put on my trousers, made my soup and started on my way to canada. (olivia)
That's my I never wrote to my love. Distance made the guilt stronger and I could never bring myself to ask forgiveness. (cody)
I decided the best course of action was to fake my own death and move far away. Erasing myself was the best chance for my love's joy. (claire)
For this project I chose the song Nuvole Bianche by Ludovico Einaudi and posted twelve pictures telling a story of one shaping themselves without the approval from others. For me the song drew the emotions of gaining something and
then losing something, only to gain something stronger in the end. Personally I
have been struggling to define myself without the aid of another. When I began
dating my husband, he really emphasized the need for the both of us to be able
to stand on our own, or shape ourselves without anyone else doing it for us. For my photos, I
whited out myself in the first few images to represent a blank canvas that had
yet to be created into anything substantial. When I fall in love with this man
that comes along, he shapes me and I feel important. Once he leaves, all
that definition that I had felt be established, disappears as well. The end
result is that I discover that I can shape myself on my own and feel at peace
with who I am without the approval of anyone else. I am standing on a curved
path in the photos, which I felt represented the path of life that I am
traveling, and the greenery surrounding me was meant to stand for the Earth
that I live in. In the reading “Seeing” by Annie Dillard she went into great
detail about some of the beauties of the Earth that we often take for granted.
I loved the stories she shared of medical operations that were performed
allowing the blind to see for the first time. Many thought the new sight was
overwhelming and preferred their blindness. Sometimes we would rather shut out
the new rather than embrace a truth we have discovered. Change is difficult but
the effects of positive change can mold you into something greater than you
thought possible.
A few months ago while partaking in the daily scrolling of my Facebook news feed, I happened upon this video entitled "Sorry Not Sorry." It was an ad campaign created by the company Pantene and I became obsessed. I showed this video to all my friends and praised its overall goal of boosting women's self-confidence. Pantene has created a handful of other videos that share a similar theme of aiding the feeling of being a "lesser" gender that women deal with. Messages such as this one that point out and pose solutions to the weaknesses found in minority groups are beneficial to our society.
It was almost revelation worthy for me to happen upon this video. I could personally relate to the habit of apologizing every time I encountered another individual. When I was growing up it was such a habit for me that my dad made a point of telling me not to say sorry "all the time." It would frustrate my father that I would begin every statement with that word and as I think back I cannot pinpoint the reason I had started doing that. I must conclude that it was my surroundings that influenced me to act in such a way: possibly my mother might have apologized frequently or I saw the way women acted and were treated on TV or in movies I watched. Anyhow it was something I desperately wanted to change if not only to stop hearing my dad sound so annoyed with me. As I grew older and recognized the issues and trends of the world around me and why they came to be, I have a developed a great desire to alter my image of myself and become a more confident individual.
I believe that in general the individual that has the most say in our world is a wealthy, white, male. While attending a University for the last year I have discovered that this assumption is backed by evidence millenniums old. Men have always had more control than women, and because of that trend have always been placed as leaders over their counterparts. This allows women to hold the title of being a "minority" group. I do not believe it was ever an intentional goal to put women down or to have such an everlasting effect on the image of women. Men need women and women need men. I do believe in the separation of roles that men and women serve, but I also recognize that throughout history women have been subject to men's decisions. Only within the last century have women been given the opportunity to have a public influence on the world around them. However, it is an ongoing process, and not everything was resolved by allowing women the opportunity to vote. A culture as old as human kind itself is going to take a long time to alter, and I am not suggesting we alter it entirely. I do support efforts such as this post from Pantene, which encourages women to stand up for themselves and go against trends that otherwise would have women believe they must apologize for not being a man.
My interest and excitement in this cause that Pantene has taken a part in was frustrated by the amount of negative feedback I read from the general public. Many people posted angry comments stating that the video was rude and ineffective. Some of the reasons these people had for their opinions were that the video created a weak image for women, in todays world men apologize as well, and it seemed that Pantene's solution was to push women to be rude to those they come in contact with. I believe that Pantene was pointing out an image that had been established for women a very long time ago and was only trying to suggest a solution for how degrading it is to women of all ethnicities. Men do apologize and that is a polite thing to do. However, for a large industry to utilize their campaigning strategies towards pointing out this trend among women, and for so many individual women that I know to relate to this feeling the need to always apologize it is evident that the habit of saying sorry has developed as a defensive mechanism for females everywhere. Finally, that these people view the women who do not apologize, but instead are taking a stand for themselves, as rude, is the root of the problem. It is not "rude" and uncalled for when a women does not apologize and instead is confident in what she is saying. That is only what societal patterns have shaped the minds of its members to believe.
I appreciate this statement made by Pantene as I myself am a part of the women minority and have the desire to change the way I treat others so to have a more positive and confident lifestyle.
