This is our final interactive live discussion looking at the in process work of Jake Powers and Jesse Melanson with comments by Brian and Stephan from NMD 430and a general discussion of the work for the final project. Please watch and post a short comment.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
NMD 304 Lecture 11 Final's in process critique
This is our final interactive live discussion looking at the in process work of Jake Powers and Jesse Melanson with comments by Brian and Stephan from NMD 430and a general discussion of the work for the final project. Please watch and post a short comment.
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12 comments:
Well I got some good feed back today in class. I was really out of ideas. My video was linear and I couldn't really think of a way to break that but still get my concept across. I went out and shot a little more footage to better get devotion.
I really liked Jessie's piece, trippy.
I enjoyed the discussion that we had at the end of class. The blog I think was quite helpful. It was nice to be able to watch the class and have sometime to formulate good responses. Although some of mine weren't spectacular. I don't think I wrote the 40 pages Raph mentions. And I can't find Ilans responses on the blog, it might be on the 430 page.
I think Raphael enjoyed doing this class he seems to get a real charge from this. His enthusiasm keeps me interested. I found this class to be beneficial and I would take another class like this.
Hearing feedback on both Stephen and Brian's project provided me with a better understanding of what is to be expected of this project. I thought Stephen's idea/project was a good starting point, but I must agree with Raph in that since the general idea of the project, that of audio effecting visual has already been done, the project could be taken a little bit further. However, since the project is already in its beginning stage, to take it further would not be an insurmountable feat. I know that the VJ software Modul8 has a built in effect where when nearby sounds are picked up, certain effects are then applied to a video clip(s). To take this general idea "further" would be great to see.
I also liked Brains idea because he is using sources, like the disney movies etc. which should be "trustworthy" but have shown a dark side through the impact of the media and society. The messages that are displayed throughout the visual society and culture are often ones which impact us greatly when in actuality, these messages of "super slim beauty" and the like are ones we should ignore. Definitely an interesting idea that I'm sure Brian will explore and execute well.
The feedback that was supplied was interesting and seemed to tie together everything that we have been learning this semester. Frame, Clip, Sequence as well as poetic structure are very good things to consider when working on this final assignment.
I thought Jessie's piece was very interesting and if it was a take on the 3600 image project plus really cool visual effects I want to see how it ties into the three words were incorporating.
I'm not sure how much i wrote for this class during the semester but it is definitely the most i have ever written in a New Media class and I think that is a good thing. It has been nice to be able to think about what's said in class and then discuss it on the Blog. Also I would say this class has been quite a success and should seriously be considered again next semester.
I think this was the first time in college that I actually felt like I was taking a New Media class, with 304 and also collaborating with nine other students in 306 to conceptualize and build a prototype. It shouldn't have happened only now. And like someone said in the discussion, professors don't really practice what they preach. This was a good opportunity to see how the world is responding to new media and what our options can be when we graduate.
I like the idea of a decentralized classroom. I think new media is about being subversive and challenging the existing paradigm. This type of course definitely allowed for deeper reflection and understanding. We experienced all different means of communication.
It would be really amazing if other professors were able to virtually transport us around the world. The possibilities are limitless, especially with students in Maine who probably haven't done a lot of traveling and are naive to the world around us.
I had forgotten about structuring the final into stanzas. That certainly helps to think in that way. Raph said "sweeten the image" which is a nice way to look at it.
Heres w what I would have said in class about my video:
I am using the faces in the video to represent people and how everybody has their own things they devote too, their own rituals and their own things they sacrifice.
The designs on the screen that are composited with faces are supposed to try to represent the feelings that come out of devotion, sacrifice and ritual, which all can be quite intense and very complex and different in there own ways depending on how people interpret them. I thought Stephens project looked really cool and it sparked ideas of how I could maybe incorporate something along the same lines into my piece eventually.
Jacob had some cool ideas in his video too. I thought that the diagram with the oil that kind of animates worked real well! It would be neat to see more of that in the video. The filling up oil at the end was real cool too.
I had a great semester, I think this is one of my only classes that really pushed me too the limit on the lines of deadlines, and guidelines to have presentable work . The rules to the class are stricter then others and the work load is heavier, which I like because when you put alot of time and effort into something, you end up putting a piece of yourself into your work and become all that much more proud and satisfied when completed. I also learned alot on self discipline and getting things in on time and efficiently. The class gave me alot of opportunities I wouldn't usually have time for too experiment. I hope to pursue the same idea of experimental video/graphics into eventually my capstone project. I found all assignments easy to get excited about.
First of all I'd like to say that out of everyone in the course, Jacob and Jesse really got a good jump by getting in progress pieces in before the actual due date. What I wish could have happened in this course, seeing this, was that we, as a group of new media students, could've formed our own groups together to go over in progress works. As adults and interested students (we wouldn't be interested if we weren't in this major) can form our own social gatherings to discuss different ideas and collaborative efforts. I feel far too often everyone in this major is in fear. Fear of their ideas being stolen; fear of rejection; and even an ego about their own personal projects. Look at the settings that Raph interviewed many of the artists from Mapping festival; they showed people discussing media projects and conceptual ideas in a social setting of like minded people. If people are not willing to share, not willing to collaborate, in fear of losing their ideas, then honestly, get out of new media.
The class itself went very well looking back on it. From the first lecture, as Crowley mentioned, to how comfortable we've come with video lectures is really a vast span of time and understanding. The visiting artists and social settings that we were able to see outside of Maine really allowed for everyone to see what's going on outside of this university. As a program, we're years behind where people are because we're teaching the same things that have been taught year after year. If we are going to call ourselves a new media program, why is there a box curriculum that we are working within for 4 years? Creativity cannot exist within the walls of a curriculum but must be discussed, must be analyzed, must be questioned, must be conceptualized, and must be passionate. Those students who are truly interested in the dialogs that we've been having throughout the semester are getting the most out of a course like this, and I'm sorry to say that it's probably not everybody.
Recently Crowley and I were having a conversation about the course and this what really brought on this blog post. We are in a department that has been standardized an reused in ways that seems to hinder the creative projects that we see. The efforts of many students within the major represented less a sort of intended finished project and more of works of happenstance. I will agree on occasion I have had works on courses that happened while editing, I liked the effect, and left it. While there is validity to this, i.e. experimentation, without intent or integrity, how would you defend that piece? I personally feel that often times students rely on outside influence, such as professors, to suggest to them what the work might mean, and then they decided that's what it means, because their conceptual development on the project was less than desirable. As mentioned above, is this because of ego or fear? If not either of these, than what is it? Where does laziness and lack of interest fit in a program that is intended to be innovative and inspiring?
As jess stated before, I feel that, portfolio-wise, the first 2 years in new media for me were throwaway. I say this because most of it was spent learning software and not really producing anything that I felt was of artistic merit. Until the mode that this course was presented, and our 10-person collaborative project in 306, I have never experienced a new media course or project.
While I would say there were a few bugs in the course at times, I think that fit into it's intent. Who would have honestly predicted that this course would run perfectly? For it being a first run production, I think it came out well. It also goes to lead as an example that not every project that we ever create or conceptualize will come out perfect the first time. This is where collaboration, idea sharing, open environments, and deployments come into new media works. (Sadly we don't see this as often as we could).
The main thing that I will take away from this course were the discussions. Many of my own discussions on the curriculum, the program, the idea of new media in other areas of the world, and the creative process, I believe happened not only here in these blog posts, but also in conversation outside of class, often times with students outside of this course. Many of the ideas covered from lecturers around the world sparked my own individual inspired conversations with family and friends outside of this course that I've never had before from a new media course. (Or course in general really).
I'll end this hear really because it's gone on long enough but I ask everyone this: If you truly believe you have an idea and a passion and that all of your work up until this point has been an intended piece that didn't occur on happenstance, why doesn't this program share in my own ideals of sharing and collaboration? Overall the collaboration from the student body is relatively weak to nonexistent and the protection of ideas is almost unbearable. I ask everyone to read these discussions, watch these lectures, talk to people outside of your comfort zone, meet at social gatherings and discuss your ideas, challenge yourself in multiple environments, and ultimately find your passion while your hear because right now none of us have anything to lose.
I'd just like to start off by saying that Jake, that's a really interesting post. It was long but really insightful and raises a lot of interesting questions. As far as responding to the lecture goes, it was nice to hear from Brian and Stephen, they both had very articulate responses to Raph's questions about the class in general and whether or not it was successful or not. I think that what made this course so interesting is that whether or not it was successful relied heavily on the students involved. I know myself personally had a tough time keeping up with the blogging and writing mostly because of lack of motivation during the sparse free time I have as a student athlete, but because everything is posted I was still able to take in all of the content that was presented to the class. While I wasn't able to contribute as effectively as most, I still had a very good understanding of what was going on in the course throughout. The blogging has been interesting and I agree with Brian and Stephen that the ability to critique is enhanced by this process. As for the question of whether or not a centralized atmosphere works compared to a decentralized, I think it depends on the person. Some people are easily able to self motivate without a teacher around to personally interact with and some people aren't. I think that for the most part the freedom given in this class is a positive and only the individual them self can turn it into a negative. Anyways, I'd like to say that I enjoyed everything that I got out of this class and am happy with everything I've produced. Thus I feel it was successful.
I agree absolutely with what Jake has said. I think the special thing about being in new media as opposed to art or graphic design or something else, is that it's grounded in communication and collaboration (though debatable). I feel like art classes are solely a personal experience and you're forever putting yourself out there everyday during critiques, having to defend your work and watch it get ripped apart. If we practiced collaboration more frequently, got to know everyone in the major, we could all collectively benefit from that experience. I can't imagine graduating and walking into a job interview unable to really understand or explain what I've done for the past five years.
I do however believe that if everyone in new media spent less time complaining about the program and more time making an effort to change it, things would look a lot different.
This class has been very informative and quite the learning experience. I have gained a lot from the lectures and listening to other artists, but I find I have really missed the normal interaction of a class setting. I participated in a few online classes, but due to technical difficulties, I couldn’t always he there, or something went wrong. I never got any feedback on my work, and I found that the hardest part of the class because the interaction with students and looking at each others pieces in a class setting helps me a lot. Interaction is key for me, and it is scary to see the direction that media is taking us, call me old fashioned but I like human interaction, and I respond to facial expression and body language and i learn lot form people and what the think by being around them. The use of the computers limits and strips that interaction most of the time, and limits you. There are the positives of the web and the class, but I feel I benefit a lot more when I am within the same room and able to discuss with fellow students/lecturer then via online or a later lecture, I'm more responsive and in tune to what is going on, I found myself detached from the lectures and watching them by force instead of participating, because I lacked the ability to discuss and question.
Overall I enjoyed the class, at times stressful, but unique, especially being abroad, I have enjoyed viewing and creating from a different perspective. I feel I am more prepared for capstone and look forward to next year.
I would to like further explain what I said at the final critique about sacrifice and devotion. Raph, I know you not agree with me, but hopefully this will show you more of what I was trying to say.
After I first read the assignment for the final, I brainstormed words that came to mind when I thought about devotion. The first two words I came up with were dedication and loyalty. You cannot be dedicated and loyal with out work. If we lived in a perfect world, than maybe, but we don’t. Work is when you give up something for a reward. Work is a sacrifice. With out the sacrifice there is no reward. Although there can be rewards that do no not require work, but I will argue that you are not devoted to them.
Devotions requires work. You cannot be devoted to anything unless you have invested something. Devotion and sacrifice cannot exist without each other. Try for a moment to be devoted to something if it did not require any effort. If you do not put any effort in then why would you care about it? However once you have sacrificed your efforts for something you will care. And in return you will be devoted to it. This is not to say that at any point you can change this. Once you stop putting in effort and sacrificing for something you are no longer devoted to it.
Hopefully this explains more clearly why I think sacrifice and devotion go hand in hand.
In my piece the burning of the wood is the sacrifice and therefore the devotion. Although what the devotion is, is up for interpretation.
The most important thing this class did for me is force me away from traditional narrative. Although my future works will likely have strong narrative structure, it was though provoking and educational to think almost completely in terms of style. To see if style could become substance. I have mixed feelings about these blog comments. Sometimes they feel phoned in, like we shouldn't even bother. Other times, we strike on profound chords that will change he way we think about what we're doing. THe drudgery of assembling posts is worthwhile for these gems.
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