Material Choreographies

Attached is Me, Lucy and Ada's presentation for brief 2. We decided to create a theatre performance inspired by 'Potato' one of the short films from the other class. The hands washing the potatoes in milk, with the fake blood mixing with these textures reminded me of Shakespeare's Macbeth, in particular the scene in which Lady Macbeth is sleepwalking and trying to wash the blood off of her hands. We decided to present this piece of work in a classic theatre setting, with classic red theatre chairs, with red and gold trimmings. The seats would be in a semi-circle, with the stage elevated. The performance would feature Lady Macbeth in white clothing, with the projection of Potato over her figure. We also decided to simplify the plays language in order for it to appeal to a larger audience, and to give the audience a different Shakespeare experience than what they've ever had before. Below is our presentation. https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1-SYq5zcWU96Ce

I found all of the short films interesting to watch, but two that inspired me to write things were Logan and Ava's film, and Nhu, Terance and Alicia's film. Mannequin: Sometimes I feel so fake, so manufactured. I feel as if my thoughts and ideas are not original, as if I have been programmed to say what I say. That my decisions are being made for me. I feel like I am a follower. That I have no control in my life. I see my reflection. I stare at my face. Who am I? What makes me unique? Why do I sometimes strive to be the same as everyone else? I don't want to be a mannequin. Designed to be identical to so many others. Made to be placed somewhere and be forgotten. I don't want to be a plastic clone. I want to be me. Movement: Eyes closed. Still. A lifeless body sprawled on artificial lawn. Arms and legs unmoving. Eyes open. Awake. Blinking eyes. Looking around. She coughs, and takes a deep breath. Moving limbs. As if she can't keep still. She is a

Attached is a link of Qing and I's experimental film.  We had fun creating it. Throughout the process we didn't have a  clear idea of what we wanted our end product to be. We just experimented with different ideas.  When we showed our film to the class, we experimented again by showing the film twice, once with volume, one without (on Smilijana's request). Both times, the film had a different meaning to me, and made me feel a different way. https://vimeo.com/282793176

Recipe for our film: 1. Decide on a movement or gesture that captures our attention/interests us.  Some ideas we had were: - Falling on a bed - Lighting things on fire - Laughing or screaming - Watching something (on a laptop, and then using the facial reactions we shot) We eventually decided on the last gesture as the one we wanted to focus on. 2. Expand on our initial idea We became interested in someone watching a sequence of videos that we have chosen, and filming their reactions. We decided we were going to film my roommate, and use a number of Youtube videos for her to watch.  Some videos included: - Funny animal videos - Vines - Laughing compilations - Pimple popping  - ASMR - Veterans coming home from war and their animals seeing them for the first time in ages 3. Begin filming We were very spontaneous in the way we filmed (with an iPhone) and decided to keep filming until we thought we captured a wide array of emotions. 4. Edit the

In the first studio this week, we watched many short creative pieces. They were all very different, but the majority of them lacked a narrative, or dialogue. I found these pieces interesting and sometimes quite jarring as they are very different to the short films/movies that I would generally watch.  I noticed that with the absence of dialogue and clear narrative, the viewer pays a lot of attention towards the movement and choreography of the bodies within the frame. As we can't rely on the typical conventions of films, we as an audience find meaning through movement. -what are you most excited about? I am excited about this semester as we are learning about something that I'm not very familiar with. It goes against my usually interests, especially as I enjoy screenwriting. -what are you most nervous about? I am also nervous about this semester as I am learning something new, and sometimes I find the screenings that we have seen as quite  repetitive and sometimes confu