1st Assignment for ARTS 105: Participatory Media Production. I, along with 3 other Williams College students filmed the following short sequences. Participants were required to follow these 3 rules-
Rule 1: No Dialogue
Rule 2: Each film must be some sort of interpretation of the quote by
Aitareya Upanishad: "We are like the spider. We weave our life and then move along in it. We are like the dreamer who dreams and then lives in the dream. This is true for the entire universe."
Rule 3: Each sequence must be about a minute.
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9 comments:
1) Text cards by the mountains, writer walks away (30 secs)
2) Football practice. Eventual emphasis on children playing with football. (60 secs)
3) Silent, glass jar rolling about on ground. (60 secs) – Out of focus shot of man In green (part of this sequence?).
4) Woman drawing quietly from life. Camera moving subtly around the artist. (60 secs)
5) Shot of window with curtain blowing in the breeze while something is happening just offscreen (why do I think it’s someone doing dishes??). Is this also part of #4 or a new sequence?
This left me wondering if #1 was a title sequence, or actually one of the participants’ vision? Wasn’t always sure when one ended and the next began; not sure if this mattered or if you wanted me to be able to tell when the camera had been passed along.
I like the rules you set out for your camera people, but will admit that I would never have guessed upon watching w/out the background knowledge that anything linked these sequences together! Interesting how abstractly people interpreted your given quotation. The lack of dialogue across all of them provided some continuity for sure, possibly much more than the given quotation.
Each sequence is very successful in its own way, and each one is shot and edited very tightly and with good attention to aesthetic details.
Perhaps another sequence added to the end (along the lines of #1, more specifically attending to the words given) would have “bookended” this piece and grounded it more thoroughly in the theme of the quotation. But then, by giving such broad range of interpretation to your participant-camera people you relinquished your control of such things. Can you tell us how you conceived and executed this project? What did you expect and how did the product compare to what you imagined?
1/ Opening with explanation of concept on posters/cards. Shots of football coach(?), then glass jar from many angles, then walking person in green shirt, then woman drawing, also from many angles. Curtain blowing through window facing brick building.
The shots don't display an obvious connection, even after seeing the quotation and explanation at 1. Each sequence was cut together from many shots, using many angles, showing many views of the subject. Colors seemed natural in each sequence, no particular continuity of them.
The piece was meant to provoke thought, perhaps about how different each view of the world is. However abstract, each shot was meant to allude to a common idea, stemming from mentioned quotation.
Some of the sequences were great even as stand-alone shots. The vast differences between the shots, in all aspects, create an enigmatic feeling. As though the pieces must be reconciled, solved.
My main confusion was the short interruption of the blurry man in green. Whether or not that was a part of the sequence of rolling glass or drawing is unclear.
I enjoyed the quietness of the piece. The space allows viewers to put in their own thoughts and able to observe and not be distracted by voice and complex sounds. I especially find the shot of the two boys fighting wonderful. It seems to be a natural event instead of acting, and allows me as a viewer to image and interpret much better. It adds a new layer of intrigue in the quiet sequence of the football practice.
The opening and the closing of the film works nicely together. The leisure matter of the man (Robbie) displaying the text outdoors is echoed by the quietness of the flowing curtains, suggesting a nice, quiet, relaxing day outside.
I really like the presentation of quote at the beginning of the project. I think the majority of my confusion came from the fact that I didn't really understand the quote itself. :)
The video is very free and it looks like participants had ample room to express their creativity. I had a little bit of trouble figuring out when one person's interpretation ended and another began. There could have been a more cohesive element, such as returning to the opening style of words written on paper, in this case that would give a more concrete explanation of each interpretation.
It was a very creative and artistic concept and must have been fun and therapeutic for those who participated.
I appreciated how each shot was of something essentially in its/their natural setting. Even though you taped things that were actually going on (such as Coach McCormick's sons) the shots feel planned in that the transitions are splendid, while the naturalism of the shots does not suffer.
1. Description: Please refer to first two comments above.
2. Analysis: Without previous knowledge, perhaps arriving at an overall them for the work may prove to be difficult. The rhythm was fast paced...no blatant breaks in between sequences; I agree with other comments that it was difficult to know for sure where some ended and others began, but perhaps this was a desired affect.
3. Interpretation: Certainly you received a broad range of responses to your quote. Were you planning for this or did you expect a consensus of some sort? Why did you select this specific quote? I think it would be nice to know something about what you thought was important about this quote in relation to how others may respond to your interpretation requests of them.
4. Final Opinions: A nice sense of mystery, maybe even suspense ran throughout the work in light of the serious quote each was asked to interpret.
The video begins with an individual using paper cards that reveal the development of a poem. We then move to what would seem this individual's elaboration of the poem on a football field. As the video progresses it appears that each segment is the visual representation of someone's interpretation of the poem we saw at the beginning.
What I like most about this video is the variety of shots that composes it. There are shots that are wide and expansive, as in the beginning. Then there are shots that are intensely focused and narrow, like the scene with the glass cup.
The approach Ariel took here seems to be one of the riskier, but I think its fantastically interesting in that it really allows us to see the multiply creative was in which people interpret a given text.
I do think that if I were to do this project over again, I would make the transitions more clear, by repeating lines from the quote. I chose not to do this for simplicity's sake.
As for there being no consistency, this was my decision (or not). I wanted to give complete creative control to the participants. I didn't want to tell them what to shoot or how to interpret the quote. I was surprised by how my friends shot their sequences and in some cases, their choices did not make sense to me.
But, it was more important to me that they had complete control.
I think if I were to do it again I would instate more rules so that more consistency could be reached.
Otherwise, my inspiration came from both the "Tommy Hilfiger" ADs we watched in class, and came from the quote itself. I love Art and I love Philosophy (it's my major) so I try to combine them whenever possible and appropriate.
The creativity was apparent throughout this film. I especially like the contrast in shots. I'm also a fan of the football -> glass -> engineering progress. It seemed like there was some interesting continuity of thoughts, along the lines of football players rolling around in the play, and then trying to "draw up" the right path for the glass. The difference in lighting also adds great texture.
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