-
another website for funsies
-
Wabi-Sabi-ness
Wabi-Sabi seems to me not only a way of approaching art and design, but life in general. In that sense, I am not surprised that it has been associated with Zen Buddhism etc. Also, it makes sense that it is more a more philosophical stance towards life, as it stems from Ancient Chinese tea rituals. As the book describes, it is a state of mind!
The notion of non-completion makes a lot of sense. It is particularly relevant in creating media. When working on a film for example, there is a point where one needs to stop and be content. Because, there are always things that can be better and parts that won’t be absolutely ideal!
I also really like the slightly political dimension, when Koren mentions that the tea room has an egalitarian atmosphere inside. I am sure that Wabi-Sabi could be used as an influence in the political arena and somehow, the egalitarian ideas suggest a form of communism, but I am probably being too skeptical and reading too much into it.
It reminds me of Feng Shui and how everything is placed according to the energy fields in order to create a calm atmosphere in the room. Every object counts. I am a very big fan of Feng Shui, if my room is not arranged correctly and most important, when my bed stands in the energy stream between the window and the door, I will not sleep for months on end. Maybe I should also delve into Wabi-Sabi more.
It also reminds me of my parents. They are architects and very particular about what house we live in and what furniture we buy. We move a lot, so this is often an issue. When we moved to Tunisia, they searched for about a year and a half for the ideal house. Their broker constantly tried to show them white shiny modern houses in American compounds, but they searched until they found an old French colonial house which wasn’t falling apart, but which definitely showed a lot of character and wear and tear. The same with all the furniture!
I do think that one must be careful with using Wabi-Sabi. At some point, it sounds like it could be used as an excuse, especially when beauty comes out of ugliness. These days, everything can be called modern art, and sometimes I do have a little bit difficulty with that.
-
Final Blog Entry: Bridge to next semester
o What is it that I am trying to investigate in my practice? What I am most passionate about?
Perhaps, telling other people’s stories. There are a lot of interesting people out there, and they need to be heard, whether it is fictional or not. I am also interested in the stories of institutions and for example the political aspect of documentaries etc.
Also, developing artistic skills. Being a filmmaker or a photographer would be amazing.
o What are my strengths and weaknesses?
I am not sure about strengths. I think that one of my skills is that I work quite hard, and I am pretty determined to get what I want to achieve. Maybe also having the ability to approach, take photographs of, and film strangers. I really enjoy it too!
Weaknesses, are definitely technical! It is so frustrating, but I find it really hard to explore how all these ‘machines’ work and how all the programs on the computers work! It took a lot of time to get a hang of the basics! The worst was initially the audio recorder, but I had some serious issues with final cut (managing my files and rendering mainly) and with flash!
o What are the core elements missing from my practice? How will I obtain them?
The big core element missing from my practice is being entirely confident with the technology and programs. However, I think that in order to obtain them I will have to struggle just a little bit more and found out that way. However, I should perhaps take a final but pro tutorial, since I will be using it a lot and I am not confident enough to use it.
o What was my preferred medium before the course? After the course?
Before the course, I am not sure it is a medium, but ‘writing’ as I didn’t know any better! But now it is tough choice between photography and video, so the visual ones. I really liked doing the photography assignment and I was happy with the results. I also liked photoshopping the photographs. I also enjoy filming, but I feel a lot less successful in that medium. More reason to keep trying!
o What is the next topic, theme, or question I would like to investigate in my next project?
I really am not sure. Perhaps make a documentary, I really enjoy the process. However,I also really think that I need to explore more options first, as I am new to all of this. I want to try narrative filmmaking first. I am not strong on inspiration, but I have to try!
o What is something I learned in this class that I can teach someone else?
Probably basic technical skills with a photo camera, such as shutter speed etc . Or if not that, I probably learned most about obvious things like eye-tracing, vectors, composition etc. I am not sure if i could teach someone that though. I will however teach my friend Laura, who is in the media studies program too, how to use final cut pro, as she didn’t learn that in her concepts class!
o What is something I will try to do next semester that I have never done before?
I want to try narrative and fiction filming, but since I am not signed up for that, I will have to change one of my courses!
o What is something I will try to do every day or every week that I did not do before this course?
Take my camera to a lot of places and make sure i can always ‘capture’. And maintain the blog with what I do of course.
o What is a creative project that I would do with a budget of $150 million?
I would probably make a film or do a documentary about something controversial and dangerous. I would want to unravel all the evils about Diet Coke and infiltrate in the Diet Coke industries.. or pay people to do it. And perhaps hire an editor to sort out problems!
o How I could do the same project with a budget of $150?
With a smaller budget I will probably tone down the scale of the film and the industries I would infiltrate in or do it all myself!
-
-
Understanding media studies academic plan
By the time I have completed the MA program I hope to have an overall understanding of media theory and to have a profound grasp of international media and media between different countries. Discussions about Marshall McLuhan and other theorists should come natural. I also hope to have the practical skills to make films and to be able to use and produce other media, particularly photography. In addition, I hope to have a good understanding of media management and marketing, as I think these are the basis for being successful in the media business. Ideally, I will have general and profound media knowledge as I am still undecided what field interests me most.
Towards the end of the program, I would like to have a portfolio with small documentaries and other media projects. These would be useful to apply for jobs in the industry. I have a few ideas of which direction I want to follow after the program. Perhaps working for a broadcasting company in New York City, for the BBC in the UK or for TV1 in Belgium. I may consider continuing my studies while I have job after the Masters program. I would also be happy working in the marketing business or making documentaries.
In order to achieve my goals, I will need to take the management courses, several production courses, documentary courses and theory classes. During the following semester, I am taking three seminar courses and one production course. The seminar courses are Media and Critical Theory from the sociology department; Media, Culture and Power and International Communication; and News Media and Culture, cross-listed with international affairs. These courses are of a more theoretical and political nature, which are two of my areas of interest. I am particularly interested in the media across different countries and cultures and the portrayal of political events as this is related to my undergraduate studies, namely international relations. During the course of the program, I would also like to do Interactive Media Studies, Political Communication, The Fundamentals of the Sociology of Media, Sexual Persona and next year perhaps Film Criticism, and New Media and Global Affairs and Death and Media.
The production course I am taking next semester is Media Practices: Time-Based (doc.). This course will help me develop my practical skills as well as further my knowledge about making documentaries. Other production courses that interest me are Directing Documentary, but also The Producer’s Craft, and Visual story telling. I have been focusing on documentary this semester and will be next semester, so it would be interesting to explore fiction story telling as well as non-fiction.
I am also interested in the marketing modules, and I think they are a crucial factor in order to understand the media. After all, media is a business. If time will allow me, I would like to take Media Management and Leadership, Film Distribution and New Media and Media Ethics. Although I am particularly interested in Market Research for Media Managers and Media, Corporate Responsibility and the Law, I would prefer to take them if there was an on-campus option for these courses.
Courses I am interested in outside of the media studies program generally overlap with the Sociology Department and International Affairs. For example, Media and Globalization is interesting as well as World Television in Comparative Perspective.
In addition to all these courses, I will choose the thesis option, which will hopefully be a documentary that will be a crucial part of my portfolio. In order to include this in my timing, I will take the proposal session in fall 2010 and take the thesis tutorial and supervising session in spring 2011.
The selection of these courses will be guided by both a time and financial limitation. My father’s job offers financial aid until I am 24 years old, which only gives me two years to complete the program. As I want to do the thesis option, which is estimated to take me two and a half years, I will have to take more credits per semester to finish the program, including the thesis, in two years. If I include the thesis option in these two years, I will need to take 12 credits per semester and perhaps take some credits during the summer. Ideally I will start my thesis in my fourth semester. If possible, I would also like to combine an internship or job with the program. This would be ideal regarding the financial realities of living in New York City. However, regarding my time limitations and full workload every semester, a job or internship would fit in better in between semesters or after the program.
At a certain point during these two years, it may be interesting to work with Ken Wark from the Eugene Lang department. Although he is not part of the Media Studies Department, I find the courses that he teaches particularly interesting, as they come from a sociological perspective. His course Cinema and Social Action is particularly appealing. He was one of the reasons I wanted to do media studies at the new school, as I came across him during research. I am also very excited to work with Jaeho Kang because of his theoretical expertise and also Elizabeth Ellsworth as she has experience in media theory and criticism, documentary film and social change, which are my areas of interest as well. I also enjoyed her lecture in Understanding Media Studies. In order to establish connections within the program, I plan to work hard and do my best, therefore I hope my hard work will pay off and be noticed by fellow students as well as faculty.
I think that the media studies degree is preparing me well for my future course. What would perhaps be more useful is to have media studies career sessions or more guidance with what to do before the end of the program in order to be successful in finding a job.
-
Animation of Lincoln Karim
-
Animation week: analysis of the websites
http://www.yanim.net/ilotm/ilotm.htm
I think ‘I Lived on the Moon’ is beautiful. I didn’t think I would like animation that much but I liked so many of them. What I like about this one especially is the perfect coordination between the rhythm of the music and the movement in the video. I also thought the main character and the branch he flies on was great and his expressions were interesting. I do think, compared to the other animations, that this project approaches a fantasy reality though. The other animations are more ‘drawings’.
http://www.blublu.org/sito/video/muto.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBvDm_JLEcI
I particularly liked ‘How we met’ and the Muto project. How we met is definitely inspiring to do something similar because it appears to be simple. Muto on the other hand is impressive and very original with great sounds effects, I however don’t like the esthetics of it as much as the other projects. I still am not sure animation is what I want to get into per se after working with flash myself, but if so, this would be the style I would like to approach, using photographs.
http://www.hoogerbrugge.com/work/animation
I thought the interactive ‘button’ dimensions of the Hoogerbrugge project were entertaining.
AISK one was the one that stood out as ‘art’ compared to the other ones. The emphasis was on the art of drawing, rather than using the techniques that computers and animation software offer us.
After having struggled around with Adobe Flash, I have to admit I really appreciated the work put in these projects. I spent hours and hours on my animation and I pretty much have 30seconds of very basic moving objects.
-
Chasing Pale Male: Video project for concepts class
-
Concepts class assignment: film/video production
I decided to make a film about one the strangers I interviewed for my audio recording, Lincoln Karim. As he was very interesting and had a lot to say, I decided to narrow down the story to the struggles he encountered when Pale Male’s (the red-tailed hawk he photographs) nest was removed.
I begin explaining who he is and what he does, and how I see him. I see him as a misunderstood, caring and friendly person. When the nest of Pale Male and his mate Lola was taken down by the residents of 927 fifth avenue, Lincoln and many others protested as a result of misunderstandings he was arrested. After enough protest, the nest was put up again. In hindsight, the situation still isn’t ideal as the nest is man-made and has several flaws that still need fixing, but the residents won’t listen.
Approach: In the short video, there are a few themes: nature and the beauty of central park as Lincoln sees it, the problems of Pale Male, his nest and living in the city and the gap between the powerful rich of number 927 fifth avenue versus the small and powerless activist. I started off with a voice-over narration and photographs from Lincoln’s website and the internet. However, after showing a friend the results of this approach, we concluded that it was too cheesy. As an alternative to explain who Lincoln is, I used text. The second part is quite different and is based on the interview footage of Lincoln, as well as photographs from the internet and his website again. I also decided to use background music which is Moby - Everloving and Boards of Canada - Amo Bishop Roden. I need to thank Timothy Michel for his advice on the audio.
Technicalities: I tried to explore different shots and angles. I used long shots and close-ups to introduce the topic and to focus on the topic as well angles for setting style and over the shoulder shots.
Problems: Problems I encountered was mainly time-related, and I also had technical problems with the audio. Going to central park to meet up with Lincoln was time-consuming (but fun and worth it!), plus whether or not Lincoln was taking photographs depended on the weather. I also had time issues with the video itself as I went over 2 minutes (its 3:41). The technical problem I encountered was with the audio, as I was under the impression that my camera’s audio was broken, so I didn’t use an external microphone. This was problematic as there is a lot of noise and wind in central park. Apart from the crazy wind at points and some difficult moments to understand what Lincoln says, I think most of it turned out alright.
-
UMS Class: Capturing and Performing Reality in Documentary Film
Introduction
‘Personal Narrative, Dialogism, and the Performance of “Truth” in Complaints of a Dutiful Daughter’ by Teresa Bergman investigates the ways in which truth and knowledge are represented, and the social implications of such practices. Bergman uses the case study of Complaints of a Dutiful Daughter by Deborah Hoffman as an example of these representations. After a brief description of terms such as the social construction of ‘knowledge’ by Foucault, Bergman outlines Hoffman’s claims to ‘truth’ through a dialogical relationship with the audience by her narration, self-disclosure and performance, and through the use of humor, confession and camera (2004, 26). She addresses the taboo topics of Alzheimer’s and lesbianism and creates a new definition of Alzheimer’s disease. These present an ideological argument introducing a powerful political debate within the film as well as reconstructing the perception of her identity. The methods used by Hoffman categorize her film as a self-reflexive documentary, a term outlined by Bill Nichols. Bergman provides a convincing critical analysis of the techniques that Hoffman uses to convey her ‘true’ and ‘real’ message to the audience. The strengths of her analysis are the use of her case study as well as engaging the reader on a critical level, however her argument would be more convincing when supported with a more detailed discussion of the terms and techniques she describes as well as other concepts such as the voice of documentary, doubling and redoubling.
Critical level
Upon watching the documentary for the first time, the interview with Hoffman appears genuine, particularly towards the end, when Hoffman nearly sheds a tear. But Bergman clarifies that the lines were written and practiced beforehand in order for Hoffman to appear natural (Nicholls, 1983, 24). She therefore encourages the reader to question the reflexive nature of this documentary: “When analyzing a text’s discourse, the challenge is to find those moments that reveal the author’s point of view and referential relationship” (Bergman, 2004, 26). By raising the critical level of awareness, Bergman indicates that Hoffman made the documentary not just about her mother, but also about their relationship and the controversy of coping with someone who has Alzheimer’s disease. At the end of the article, Bergman restates the purpose of her paper that ‘[the film’s] persuasiveness and its performance … require critical engagement in order to highlight its normalizing effects as well as its instances of progressive representation’ (2004, 35).
Voice of documentary
In addition to Bergman’s description of a personal representation, it would be interesting to relate the documentary to Garnet c. Butchart’s idea of ‘truth as a matter of perspective’ and Nicholls’ ‘voice of documentary’. The perspective of Complaints of a Dutiful Daughter is the filmmaker’s point of view. Through a selection of methods, the voice of the documentary filmmaker is dominant and appears to be straightforward and transparent. Although Hoffman is very present in the film, as it is an autobiography, Bergman clarifies the way Hoffman convinces the reader and gains their trust through an analysis of her techniques to persuade the reader that she deals with her mother in the correct way. Nicholls says: ‘fabrications exist to serve the purpose of the film’ (1983, 29). She therefore positions everybody as an audience member and addresses them as if they have no choice but to agree with her (Bergman, 2004, 34). Bergman is successful in exposing this technique, by discussing the implications of voice, the extent of her opinion and the filmmaker’s manipulations. However, Nicholls’ use of ‘the voice of documentary’ is evident in Hoffman’s film through the narrative and interview, but also as the general textual voice, through subtleties such as editing and the style of the film. (1983, 25-27). In relation to Nicholls’ other ideas, Hoffman’s oral history to reconstruct the past is more a personal testimony than an authority of historical judgment, which renders the personal political (1983, 22). However, Hoffman assumes at the same time the omniscient voice of authority, which creates suspicion among the audience (Nicholls, 1983, 23). By applying the reflexive technique, she diffuses that authority to win the audience’s trust (Nicholls, 1983, 23).
Techniques of truth
It is interesting to compare and contrast those techniques used to practice truth, which Butchart suggests with those that Bergman outlines. Butchart talks about doubling, redoubling and the consistency of ethic. Doubling and redoubling are techniques also used by Hoffman, as highlighted in Bergman’s article. Hoffman consistently talks into the lens of the camera, and the camera is also passed along so the subject (Hoffman’s mother) films Hoffman as well as Francis, the camerawoman, which is very cinema verité. According to Butchart, these techniques ‘bring the visual mode of address more into view’, which is what Bergman assesses in her article (Bergman, 2004, 443). Butchart describes the process of truth as a matter of perspective by describing ethics in documentaries as ‘situated ethics’ and to define a documentary as a depiction or interpretation of the real (2006, 441, 443-444).
Definition and use of terms
With regards to Butchart’s article, Bergman misuses her terms of truth and reality. Butchart makes extensive distinctions between ethics versus morality and she explores the depths of the ideology of ethics (2006, 431-433). In addition, although Bergman bases her argument on Foucault’s conception that knowledge is socially constructed; she doesn’t elaborate on it any further than in one paragraph. Hence, I find for example Butchart’s analysis of truth and reality based on Alain Badiou more convincing (Bergman, 2004, 21 & Butchart 2006, 432).
Conclusion
In conclusion, Bergman provides a successful critical argument demonstrating the performance of truth in documentary through the use of Complaints of a Dutiful Daughter. She could have elaborated more on her use of terms and techniques to support her argument. In addition, it is compelling that the discussion in the article is about truth and its performance, while Hoffman had been insisting on truth and reality in the beginning of the film, but halfway through she explains why she gave up on that.
Bibliography
Bergman, T. (2004) Personal Narrative, Dialogism, and the Performane of Truth in Complaints of a Dutiful Daughter. Text and Performance Quarterly, 24(1), 20-37.
Butchart, G. C. (2006). On Ethics and Documentary: A Real and Actual Truth. Communication Theory, 16, 427-452.
Deborah Hoffmann. (1994). Complaints of a Dutiful Daughter (motion picture). Women Make Movies, 44 mins.
Nichols, Bill. (1998). “The Voice of Documentary” in Alan Rosenthal (ed.) New Challenges for Documentary, Los Angeles: University of California Press.
