Process Doc

The sounds involved in a haircut are almost universally recognizable. We’ve all had our hair cut and the sounds of scissors cutting and hair dryers blowing conjure memories of sitting in a chair with a cape wrapped around your neck. That is ultimately what we wanted our project to be - a collection of sounds that would evoke the atmosphere of a hair salon, in the same way that the acoustic guitar in The Smokehouse blends together all of the disparate mechanical sounds into a rustic atmosphere. Or in the way that the simple, straightforward images of Brittle elicit memories of our own home kitchens.

To create and hold that atmosphere in the minds of the audience, we didn’t want to linger too long on any one sound. We wanted to hear each individual sound long enough that the audience could recognize and process the sound, but not too long that their attention would start to wander away. There are many films/commercials/etc. that use this kind of sound editing philosophy, and one scene that we had in our heads comes from the BBC show Sherlock. In the third episode of season two, Sherlock makes tea in anticipation of a visit from his archenemy Moriarty. The process of making tea is condensed into a few seconds of time using very quick cuts: push button, cut, set platter down, cut, clinking cups, cut, boiling water, cut, push button, cut, platter, cut. Even reading this sentence takes longer than the scene took in the show. The quick cuts advances the story without wasting much time and contributes to the anticipatory atmosphere of the scene. And while it was partly an inspiration for our process doc, without the aid of images, we didn't think we could cut quite as fast as Sherlock did and not confuse our audience.

Looking back on the project, we wish we would have prepared better. We used a phone to record the audio, because we forgot to bring batteries for the audio equipment we had intended to use. Using better sound equipment would have given us clearer sounds to edit. However, the background noises of people talking and other haircuts adds to the atmospheric quality we were aiming for. Also, we wish we had thought to give the hair salon a little more advanced notice of our arrival and exactly what we wanted to do. Although, it should be noted that everyone we worked with was very accommodating and friendly.

Overall, we’re still happy with how our project turned out, even though it wasn’t exactly what we envisioned.

Olivia Taylor, Sarah Foley, Morgan Akana

Round Robin

AlienZ

All Zib wanted was to play baseball. 

Even though baseball is for humans, 

he wanted to prove to his friends that 

it was more fun than toxic toss. 

Toxic toss was a violent game for violent little aliens. 

Zib loved baseball because there was no chance of decapitation. 

Of course, like always, 

Toxic Toss was the game of choice. 

And, like always, Xenon lost another eye.

Xenon's third eye was her most precious,

 for with it she could see the past and future.

And with it she saw the pain of the past, 

present, and future. Eventually, overwhelmed, 

her third eye lost its sight and she lived forever in darkness.

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.  

Music Mosaic

The Natural Woman

       For my Music Mosaic, I chose the song, “Ali Farka” performed by Monsieur le Maire de Niafunke. When I listen to this song, I automatically think of our world and how worldly it is. The eccentric melody creates this harmonious feeling of diversity. While I listened to this song over and over again, I looked back on our required reading.  In Anne Dillard’s, “Seeing”, I came to discover a reoccurring theme of nature. She fills her story with all types of wildlife. I loved this idea of nature combined with diversity. For in nature there are so many contrasting forms of life, while in humans, there is also so many contrasting forms of life. I saw that Dillard promotes this worldly feeling, that seems very similar to the feelings that I received from, “Ali Farka”. When I was finished with analyzing both my song and the reading, I chose to express my perception through a handcrafted collage. I wanted to reveal the combination of nature in Dillard’s story and diversity in Monsieur le Maire de Niafunke’s compostion, “Ali Farka”. I decided to create a face that would involve all races and have it be illuminated with all the elements of nature. 

      My first picture, I left my characters face and neck blank, awaiting the colors that would provide it life.  I started by surrounding the background with neutral soft colors that we see everyday in the nature. For these peices, I used sharper lines that were more abstract. I wanted to create a distinction between the lines of my nature and the lines of my face. After I organized my background, I began with the neck of my character. I then went to adding different colored skin tones for my face. The lines that I used for the pieces of paper skin were more curved. I then proceeded with adding eyes, then a nose, lips, ears, and finally hair. I used many different colors in my characters face, because I wanted to get the idea of diversity across. My end product reveals a woman that is filled with many different races that is enclosed with many different elements of nature. I chose a women, because I admire the particular strengths that they conceive. I also wanted the beauty of all the different races of woman to be portrayed. 

In conclusion, I discovered the theme of diversity in my composition of choice and combined it with the theme of nature that I extracted from Dillard’s story. I gave this combination life with a self made collage.I provided my first image with the pictures of nature that I believed to be relevant, and followed it with images to fill my nameless woman’s face. I wanted to display my progress of adding features onto my woman’s face in a way that you can notice the different colors and shapes. My end product was a satisfying representation of what happens when you blend nature and diversity.

Thinking and Writing

         The American Horror film, “The Purge” was released in the year 2013. Writer and Director James DeMonaco used his film to tell a story of a catastrophic event that would allow the government to encourage it’s citizen to participate in an annual purge. This story was supported with the idea that if people were given the choice to cleanse all their law breaking desires in this one day, then crime would decrease for the rest of the 364 days of the year. This film was disturbingly intriguing, in which it drew in audiences all over the world. Despite its mixed reviews, this low budget horror film sparked an interest in different parts of the United States. Obviously our Government today would never allow such an idea to become a historical event, however cities like Phoenix and Louisville decided to reenact the film for their own enjoyment. So even though these cities do succeed in initiating a mass hysteria, our country is smart enough to not allow this fictional tragedy to change our long lasting stability that our government has established.

Today we are constantly absorbing everything that we encounter. Films have always been a great way for people to share their popular interests and passions. It also was created to entertain us with new and interesting ideas that keeps us coming back for more. “The Purge”, showed us an alternate reality that has the ability to cleanse ourselves with the sins we want to commit. Many people, including myself was entertained by this film but was also traumatized by the amount of violence and twisted humor that our world has or could have. In Peter Forbes, “The Power of Story in an Age of Consequence”, he goes onto state that it is “... our ability to judge between what is real and what is artificial”. One would see this film and say that it is artificial, and then another would look at this and think of how it could possibly become reality. In the cities of Detroit and Louisville, young adults abused this story and began to threaten it’s town with a date of their own, “Purge”. The weekend it was suppose to occur, mass panic broke out, making families flee to their homes. This was all thanks to a flier that was posted around the neighborhoods. Even though Vierira’s, “Will The Hunger Games Spark a Revoluion?”, argues that, “There is clear evidence pointing to the fact that the movies are meant to be a call for action”, we can say that DeMonaco had no intention of using his twisted film as a suggestion to moderate our existing government. 

The film was mostly shot in one house where the masked villains broke into, in order to satisfy their desire to purge on this innocent family. Personally, when I watched this horror film, I admired the unique aspect to it’s story, however, I did not leave the theater thinking of a way to make this false reality a true reality. Forbes later states, “Stories help us to imagine the future differently and thereby change the way we act in the world.” This was the case for the people who decided to threaten our authority and participate in actions that they copied from this horrific blockbuster. I believe that many films today are invented because the creator wants his story to be shared and remembered. I do not believe that DeMonaco was aware of the influence he had when he was creating this alternate structure of our government. Culturally the film did not concentrate on a certain race or religion to partake in the Purge. He seemed to keep his characters neutral in this aspect and not have their choices be chosen because of what they ultimately believe in. Vieria explains that, “The hunger that gives the movies their title is and has always been a powerful incentive for political action”. The title “The Purge” truly sums up the entire idea of this film. Very much like the film, “The Hunger Games”, the whole idea was an initial bash on the worlds political government. Both films allowed their government to become corrupt , and utilize their power in a way that portrays a negative effect on it’s citizens. When Forbes describes that, “Stories help us to imagine the future differently and thereby change the way we act in the world,” we know this to be true by the events that occurred because of  this toxic film. 

In conclusion, I believed that, “The Purge” did have a tremendous influence on our modern world today. Even though our Government would never support such a barbaric way of living, the idea of having people given the choice to break as many laws as possible for one day is very plausible. Cities used the story to create a panic for pure enjoyment. It maybe a artificial way of looking at reality, but it’s influence truly engaged many people. It makes you rethink what type of films should be allowed to be shown and what shouldn’t. So unlike Viera, I do not foresee future reenactments continuing on behalf of this film. However, I choose to support Forbes accusations on how the stories that are created for this life will initially effect our future, even if it may be unrealistic. So in the end, the story of “The Purge”, will be soon forgotten and those who found it entertaining, will move on to the next haunting story that they can use to fuel their distorted image of life.