Creative Process- Drowning

https://soundcloud.com/billy-knowles-302568983/tma-112-process-piece

Alex and I decided to attempt to record the process of someone falling through ice and drowning. The person drowning is eventually saved by another person who dives in after them and drags them to the surface where they begin CPR. The piece begins with someone walking on ice, the ice breaking through and them crashing into the water. They fight for a time to stay afloat but eventually their muscles collapse due to the extreme cold and they go under. Then, a second person enters the process and dives in after the subject drowning. This person drags the person out to hard ice and then begins to perform CPR. At the end of the piece you can hear a defibrillator charging. We tried to create a process that was both interesting and unique. The water creates a rhythm that draws the listenere into the piece. Most everyone has been underwater and so at first the piece is dream-like and enjoyable. It begins to become unnerving when we hear the struggle of the subject to gasp for air and suddenly go quiet. The process mode that most closely represents our mindset as creators is probably the observational mode. We decided to become active participants in our piece but allow the camera to become a “fly on the wall” and create an aspect of direct cinema in our piece. The audience can hear what is going on but they are given the liberty to decide for themselves what is happening and eventually whether or not the subject lives. We decided to make the ending of this process ambiguous to heighten the freedom of listeners and the story. Alex and I had hoped to add some conversation to the piece to give the audience a little more information as to what is originally happening but were unable due to technical and audio difficulties.

Billy and I decided that in order to get our desired vision we needed to work with a pool. We went to the heated pool at The Village and shot it there. We used a GoPro underwater to capture the sound and process so we had great underwater sound but the sound above water was rendered somewhat unusable. Our idea was a person that was drowning and he/she broke through ice and was drowning under the cold water. Three takes and observing the village’s hedonistic environment later and we got what we wanted. We decided that I would be the one to edit most of it out. Looking through the footage I noticed that our technique to recreate this vision worked but had some flaws. I tinkered with the audio and saw that the best way to persuade the audience in believing the subject fell underwater through the sounds of splashing. I also added in some sound effects like ice cracking through the floor, a dragging body, a man panting and a defibrillator. Putting these things in a sequence that was coherent made me think how powerful the effects of editing are. I really liked working on this project because Billy and I got to swim in a pool and we got to actually edit something out that’s substantial and means something to us. 10/10 would recommend doing again.  

Exquisite Text

Courtney: 

In developing the narrative of this project, we knew that we wanted to construct a story based on some of the outrageous dreams that we were hearing from classmates.  One idea that came to mind was a zombie apocalypse-type story.  We decided to have it take place in a familiar location, the HFAC.  We mapped out a general circumstance in which our narrative could take place, but we did not want the specific texting to seem too contrived, so we left the details up to improvise as we began texting each other back and forth.  We felt that this spontaneity would inspire more creativity in the details, even though we’d already planned out the beginning, middle, and end.  Because the characters in the narrative are in two different locations of the same building with the same event happening, the audience gets two different perspectives of this zombie-attack event: one from inside the building in the Nelke The other from outside,  travelling towards the HFAC and eventually being outside in the halls being chased and subsequently “turned” by the undead. The narrative leaves the audience with a feeling of mystery, as they don’t get all the details of what the scene is simply because the characters themselves aren’t positive as to what exactly is happening.

Billy:

In crafting the apocalyptic zombie narrative, Courtney and I explored many avenues in hopes of achieving something unique and intriguing. It’s no question that the story of a zombie takeover has been so beaten and bloodied that it is difficult to create new and exciting media within that medium, at least to those outside of the faithful fan base. Something that struck me was how the Walking Dead, which is definitely new and exciting for this medium, used the concept of recurring characters returning as zombies. They also seemed to normalize the existence of the zombies, which allowed the audience to focus on the development of the characters. The intimacy and the vulnerability this created was something that I attempted to pursue in the text narrative from my perspective. It was difficult. I wish that I had been more patient and waited for replies from Courtney. In my opinion, there are too many 2-3 text spurts between the two of us. It could have been interesting to limit that and focus on slowly developing the narrative imbued with fresh ideas and perspectives from the both of us. I wanted to recreate a story similar to the kidnapping story we read on the app, which engaged the audience. I'd hoped to do this without too many:“Why are they texting right now!” moments experienced by the reader. As we discussed in class, I thought the limiting nature of this medium actually enhanced our story. If you pay careful attention to the textual cues given by Courtney and I, this intriguing narrative begins to take shape. This really helps to draw the reader into the narrative and use their own imagination to derive meaning and mood from the action occurring. I really enjoyed this assignment and working with Courtney as we attempted to bring this creation from the graveyard of ideas to life.

Music Mosaic II

“How to Build a Home” is a beautiful piece done by The Cinematic Orchestra featuring Patrick Watson. I recently discovered this piece on my return to Utah and its wintry tundra. The climate change was quite a contrast from my home in sunny South Florida and so thus my mind has been impressed upon the emotions evoked within me from the winter climate surrounding me. The photos I have taken represent to me the feelings connected to the Utah landscape and the subtle emotions within the music. My central point is that while my youth in South Florida has shaped who I am as a person, I have begun to build a home in the vastly different Utah. As my time in Utah has progressed, I have developed an affinity with its scenery and cultural landscape. I have begun to “Build a Home” during my time here serving on my mission and attending BYU.

I tried to use several visualization techniques such as color, shape, line, tone, and depth. To begin, I shall speak about the color I used in my photos for this assignment. Much of the color in the photos is either completely saturated with a blue hue to the photograph, or has contrasting elements of orange and blues. Although blue is an inherently cool color, the more I used it in my photography of these beautiful landscapes, the more I had hoped to create an affinity between blue and the concept of beauty. Some of the photos have strong orange color within them. These photos were taken at places that I associate with feelings of warmth and love. The first photo with the orange saturation was taken at my work, where I have made friends and found a sustainable means of providing for myself. The second photo with the strong orange color was taken outside my apartment complex, a place where I have literally built a home and developed strong connections with friends, new and old.

There are some photos that have strong contrast in tone, particularly of the ‘skeleton’-esque trees. I find that these tonal differences paint the aspect of the strings used within the musical piece. They also tie into the monochromatic themes espoused within the music and my feelings towards the harsh winter climate. It’s a strange feeling to recognize that Florida is no longer my home, and that I have begun to build a home here in Utah. I’m not quite sure that I am completely happy with this new revelation, hence the contrast of tone.

The depth is a manifestation of my introspective self during the Winter season. I often find myself peeking inside my soul, questioning the world around me, and am generally a bit more introverted. The cold seems to have this effect on my Spirit and pushes me each day to ask myself difficult, yet necessary, questions. Perhaps it’s due to where I’m at in my life currently as an aspiring artist, but I find that this musical piece is symbolic of the depth I constantly seeking.

The shot of my feet and the camera strap is simply a nod to Agnes Varda and her deeply emotional narrative style of filmmaking. I also tried to use shape in my images that contextualize the shape and movement that the musical piece evokes. Whether in bokeh, shape of image, or eye-line I feel these are visual representations of the minor tone of the musical piece.

I would hope that one could tie the themes espoused within the music and the photos but understand that it may be a stretch. The musical piece is imbued with emotional chords played through piano and strings slowly building towards a climax. I would freely admit that my pictures may not best capture that climax. However, I feel that the subtle colors, shapes, and tones of the images represent a slow emotional climax that I feel occurring within myself. 

World Building

Our world started with the question, “What if the earth rotated so that one night and one day were each a year?” Much like the reading Design Fiction, we realized that, in order to develop a believable world, scientific fact would influence the fictional world, which in turn influences culture, technology, etc. We considered physical implications: long days and nights would lead to deserts during noon and tundra during midnight. How would people survive this world? Here we drew from Garth Nix’s The Seventh Tower. That world is without sunlight. One tribe lives in permanent migration following prey. Another group creates sturdy buildings to survive the cold. That idea sparked a realization that, in our world, the most habitable places would be close to the twilights: average temperatures and a better environment for plants and livestock. While there may be some tribes that settle and wait out the days and nights, others would be circumnavigating the globe in fleets of amphibious vehicles, following the path of the sun. When brainstorming our ideas, we were not able to coordinate together due to different schedules, so we passed on the general idea, and then each separately thought of the implications and added our own insight. The result was a diverse take into the culture of the world.

We realized these large migratory vehicles require energy. They would need to have permanent energy stations around the globe that harness gas, solar power, tides,etc. Due to temperatures and harsh conditions, working at these stations wouldn’t be popular. The circumnavigation also means workers would only reunite with their fleet every 2 years. They would determine who would go by draft, and, just like the drafts during our wars, people who went would be encouraged to do so by society, like it is heroic. Hence the poster by Brendan.

Secondly, if society is traveling along in large fleets, they need to communicate. Since you can’t string wires between ships, they would have focused more on radio technology. This society would thus have developed radio-show style entertainment. That is why Kaily and Brendan created such a radio show from this world, talking about a ship’s captain who has driven farther into the hot day to find an energy station.

When considering the dullness of life on the ships, we also decided that artistic endeavors would likely be abstract. For one thing, the landscape would remain desolate and the lighting wouldn’t change as they remain in the twilight, nearly eliminating drive for representational art. Also, since they solely live on the same ships in the same situation, there wouldn’t be much room for diversity. Thus, for some there would likely be a feeling of entrapment and stagnation that would provide drive for some mode of creation. Kaily created a possible piece that would result from this need--a glass vase filled with unraveled audio tape. This reflects the lack of resources for creation, and the emotion of entrapment. The individuals in this society all receive the same stories and interviews through audio communication, furthering the absence of diversity. However, they cannot escape this void because they are retained in their ships by necessity, represented by the glass vase. The long process of unravelling the audio tape reflects the sluggish rotation of the earth and the unhealthy mindset of this flat society.

In the last artistic piece, we decided to follow the nomadic tribes of the people who became accustomed to the dark. That being those who were unable to create sturdy buildings and closed societies therein, but perhaps had become over exposed to the harsh elements of the tundra atmosphere associated with the night. Immediately, I was reminded of the Native American folk legend of the skin-walker. A person, who exists and functions primarily in the dark, and has the perceived ability to transform into animals or more scientifically plausible, walk on all fours. Again we draw on elements of science and exploration to create this last wild element of our harsh world. I was reminded of the old “Twilight Zone” Episode The Midnight Sun. This narrative explores, very scientifically I might add, a scenario in where the Sun and the Earth are drawing closer to each other. This results in a much hotter days with completely no night. So naturally we wanted to explore the opposite effect of this scenario- the night. If a people were completely shrouded by night for a seemingly endless amount of time, would they in fact become a skin-walker? It is entirely plausible that their eyesight would gradually begin to degrade and as a result, other senses would become enhanced. In order to successfully navigate terrain and seek sources of food and water certainly the indigenous people of the night would require use of all fours, creating a more animalistic evolutionary species. In this last piece, Billy decided to explore the idea of a young person aboard one of these migratory ships who decides to explore the world of the night. Using a camera that is unable to record the images of the night due to a faulty lens, we follow the narrative of a curious scientist seeking to discover if there’s truth to the fear of the indigenous Night dweller that is ingrained into the people of the Day.

Overall, each piece explored a different portion of societal trends whether it be the practical aspect of the science and logical reasoning behind travel and communication, the artistic expression among the people, or the innate curiosity that leads human being to explore dangerous new frontiers.

Textual Poaching

You may ask why I chose to poach an image of a young black man? And not just any young black man, but Tupac Shakur, one of the most iconic Americans of the 20^th century. This assignment took me what seemed like eons to discover what I most identified with. Perhaps it’s just been one of those weeks where I listen to a lot of 90’s rap and its on my brain. I grew up in Miami, Florida but currently reside in Provo, Utah. Provo is somewhat culturally ignorant, at least from my viewpoint. This is certainly my own bias that affects my perspective but the more I analyze what goes on around me, the more I am lead to believe this a product of the societal conditioning that occurs in the "bubble."

You see in Miami you cannot afford to be culturally ignorant. A multiplicity of cultures surrounds you and shapes you as a human being from an early age. Latino, European, and various American cultures and traditions seem to blend to create a diverse balance. And on top of that, if you are ignorant to culture you will certainly feel the proverbial slap coming your way. Anyone from South Florida will testify to this circumstance. I love rap music and especially Tupac, but I feel like if I, a white male, were to state that at BYU it would certainly mean some raised eyes in my direction. I cannot express how many times I’ve heard the ignorant question: Why do you listen to rap music? You’re not black.” Or even worse off: “Why do you sometimes act black?” I don’t even know what the hell that means to be completely honest. I think it’s coming from a place where that person feels they are defending the culture, while they are actually making an inherently culturally ignorant as well as pretentious statement. It’s similar to when we state that an athlete has just performed a great feat because he is the first “African-American” to do so. Why can’t we just celebrate him? You may say: “Oh but we’re celebrating the triumph of this African-American,” to which many of my childhood friends would reply: “I am not an African-American. I am an American who happens to have initial African roots.” Rap is just a simple example to the product of a societal conditioning which I perceive, but it means something specific to me because I have actually experienced this judgement too many times over the course of my college career.

“Social conditioning is defined on the web as the sociological process of training individuals in a society to respond in a manner generally approved by the society in general and peer groups within society. The concept is stronger than that of socialization, which is the process of inheriting norms, customs and ideologies.” So in this case I have most definitely been conditioned by the society in Miami. In my opinion Miami has more pros than cons but it is my home and I cannot overstate my bias.

I felt that combining the images of a contemplative Tupac, the words societal conditioning, and an image from the March on Washington during the Civil Rights Movement, I hoped to push forward the point that it is imperative for us to move past the figurative chains that bind us in order to pay tribute to the monumental moments and figures of American society. There are essentially two trains of thought when it comes to race relations and the mixing of cultures in America. We can either acknowledge what has happened in past American history and choose to see race and culture as a poignant reminder of how to avoid this or we can choose to wipe it aside completely and not see race at all. Honestly, I believe we need a little of both in order to progress as a society. Rap should not be defined as African-American music; in that it limits the medium. Nevertheless, it is crucial that the cultural roots of the music are not swept aside. Instead, let us embrace all cultures that make up the greater American culture. We should point out that we are all Americans. Whether you are black, brown, yellow, whatever skin color you are labeled as, you are an American, and your uniqueness, your culture, and especially your authenticity contributes to the beauty and greatness of this country. Instead of labeling certain aspects of culture present in artistic mediums as distasteful or ‘bad’, we should aim to thoroughly examine and look to appreciate these mediums. Pretentious is not a word with which one should hope to become associated with.

I love rap music because I relate to it. It paints the reality which I knew as a child growing up in Miami in an impoverished area and home. It paints my reality of a father who left my mother and I, for another woman instead of taking the accountability that is associated with fatherhood, which is a common theme in Tupac’s Dear Mama and many other musical mediums. Much of Tupac and his artistic medium is derived from his own reality. Jenkins, in How Texts Become Real, explains how different media creates different meaning based on the connection that someone develops to that specific media and meaning. As a child, I developed this unique connection with Rap music and with Tupac’s poetry because it represented a significant portion of my reality. I hope that I can grow past my social conditioning and appreciate everyone for their own individuality and unique culture. I hope that I can succeed in not casting that very same judgement on others for who they are, that I have felt time after time cast upon me. Instead, I plan to cherish and embrace the cultures around me while striving to rise above the effects of societal conditioning present in my life, mainstream media, and the areas I choose to inhabit.           

Medium Specificity

What is art? How do we define art? A quick search on Google would define it as: the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power. An even broader definition is: the various branches of creative activity, such as painting, music, literature, and dance. The art form of painting, which was my medium of choice, is a vessel which can hold any number of ideas and messages. 

For the medium specificity assignment, I chose to model the work after the artwork of Piet Mondrian. Piet Mondrian was a Dutch painter in the early 20^th century famous for his works involving primary colors and geometric shapes surrounded by vertical and horizontal black lines. His style was influenced by Picasso and Braque as it morphed into his signature non-representational form which he termed Neo-Plasticism. Neo-Plasticism experimented with elements of cubism which would follow soon thereafter. 

I personally love art that has been produced from the Northern parts of the world such as the Netherlands, Norway, or other Nordic countries. The soft light associated with that region of the world as well as the use of that light in art is fascinating to me. The flat picture and structural lines were also particularly drawing to me as an aspiring cinematographer due to the use of line and depth of filed in film. Another huge aspect of cinematography is the use of shape and color to develop mood and tone throughout a narrative. 

This medium serves as a celebration of the Neo-Plasticism and work of Mondrian. I would say this piece serves as a celebration of the life and work of Mondrian because it incorporates the stylistic use of black lines, geometric shapes, primary colors, and even elements of nature. In the piece, there is the shape of a lily that outlines the majority of the shapes and colors that exist within. I wanted to experiment with the fundamental shapes- triangles, squares, and circles that stemmed from the base of the flower, mirroring the veins of an organic flower. I thought that the use of text within the piece also lent some mood and overall theme of the piece.What I found most interesting is that in the earlier and later life work of Mondrian, Piet explored naturally occurring shapes both in nature and geometric's. Evening: Red Tree is an example of this mesh of primary colors and a shape found in nature, blended by bold, blackened lines. This earlier work signifies the beginnings of Mondrian towards his later artistic style. 

I wanted this piece to tie back to the abstract use of art and qualities within the medium. Similar to the 4'33" by John Cage that spoke about the use of sound in a live performance and the qualities associated with that medium, I wanted to create a discussion centered on the emotions evoked by different mediums within art. In this piece, I wanted to explore the themes derived from Mondrian's style and using a medium that was rich with his signature. What does this piece say to the individual? What are the themes that one can derive from piece? Would it be more similar to the wintry climates of his earlier work or the exploration of space and shape in his later work? These are questions I hope that would spark a discussion from the piece.  

It’s important to note that this piece breaks the rules as exemplified by Mondrian’s style. The blend of naturalism and realism incorporated into the lily illustrates Mondrian’s roots meeting his signature Neo-Plasticism style. The geometric shapes filled by primary colors, and, connected through curvy black and bold lines, breakaway from classic Neo-Plasiticism by using the background lily shape. I thoroughly enjoyed this specificity assignment. It helped me to appreciate the exploration of different mediums to voice my artistic voice and draw parallels through a variety of art mediums. 

Historic Piece- Man on the Moon Script

Just about everyone on planet earth is intrigued with the historical moment in which man first walked on the moon. The event itself is shrouded in both controversy as well as mystery. Thousands of questions are asked, from debating whether or not the event actually happened to questioning the motives of the mission itself. For our Historical Story, we decided to beg the question, “what if the astronauts who went to the moon found something they had to keep top secret? What if they found life?’

Obviously, in tackling a story such as this, we needed to have two real life historical figures play integral roles in our script. It was a no-brainer to have both Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong assume the vital role of discovering an egg within the surface of the moon. The focus, however, is mainly on a NASA official named John Carson and a headstrong reporter named Nancy as the two of them discover the truth with differing attitudes.

After doing some research we discovered that there were multiple articles that did nothing but incite controversial ideals. Many gave detailed description of what Neil Armstrong “really” saw on the moon while others debated periods of radio silence and erased tapes.

According to an article on exopolitics.org, Neil Armstrong claimed to have seen “other space craft out there… lined up on the far side of the crater edge… on the moon watching us.” Now, it’s important to note that exopolitics.org is a site dedicated to proving alien life as fact by any means necessary, therefore it cannot be taken too seriously, but it is a fun idea to play with nonetheless.

Another interesting article we found on the Apollo 11 mission was that there were allegedly over two minutes of tape that was “lost” – which is really just a nice term for “erased.” According to an article on npr.org, the tapes were erased “during a period when NASA was erasing old magnetic tapes and reusing them to record satellite data.” It makes you wonder if they might have been hiding something?

As the writers of this particular script, we decided to have some fun with these two interesting theories and make our own little spin on the historical event. We decided not to go with an outlandish vision of other spacecraft being out there, hovering over the moon, but instead the idea of alien life growing just beneath the surface of the rock. We decided to have our characters John Carson and Nancy play off of those few minutes of information that the government would have wanted erased, as well as the minutes of radio silence. It is during this time, that true interest is peaked in Nancy’s character as she goes about searching for truth.

In the end, we also used another allegedly factual historical event of the time – the use of cocaine in experimental memory loss – to cover up all loose ends. This also spells out a rather unfortunate conclusion for not only Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, but for Nancy as well.

All in all, it was fun to play off of real life events, just like the texts we read about Hurricane Katrina and the Islamic Revolution. Obviously our script plays off of the fantastic more than other stories do (such as Persepolis). Our creative process was perhaps a little more inspired by the outlandish nature of “My Grandmother Ironed the King’s Shirts.”

Sources:

http://exopolitics.org/first-man-on-moon-dies-along-with-secrets-of-what-he-saw/

http://www.npr.org/2009/07/16/106637066/houston-we-erased-the-apollo-11-tapes