Things usually get worse before they get better... right?
Take a look!
-Katie
Monday, April 27, 2009
Saturday, April 25, 2009
While I render...
For anyone who has ever used FinalCut Pro, you know where I'm at. Clip something here, move something there, and you have to render CONSTANTLY.
The current render (for my second draft of my video) is taking a bit, so here's a bit of how things are going.
I got great feedback from these folks, who have made this project/life so sweet:
Dr. Wesch and Shane aren't pictured, but click that for an overview of our conversation with NMC!
On an exciting note, Dave Nadleberg has given me official permission to use footage from the Project Mortified shows, AND he subscribed to my YouTube channel! But... after watching my first draft, sent me some feedback calling it a "trailer"... oops. Now I REALLY know that I need to go more in depth.
Render finished.
-Katie
The current render (for my second draft of my video) is taking a bit, so here's a bit of how things are going.
I got great feedback from these folks, who have made this project/life so sweet:
Dr. Wesch and Shane aren't pictured, but click that for an overview of our conversation with NMC!
On an exciting note, Dave Nadleberg has given me official permission to use footage from the Project Mortified shows, AND he subscribed to my YouTube channel! But... after watching my first draft, sent me some feedback calling it a "trailer"... oops. Now I REALLY know that I need to go more in depth.
Render finished.
-Katie
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Video Draft 1 (We're all entitled...
...to shitty rough drafts. So says one of my English professors.)
After a mini-crisis at a ridiculous hour of the day, my first draft is finally done. (about 25 hours late... eek.) Oddly enough, it's probably the most simplified version of my conclusions yet. I guess most of my effort went into figuring out how to move around in FinalCut Pro.
Learning the language of video editing is like trying to carve wet soap. You may have a very clear idea of what you want it to look like, but sometimes you do one little thing wrong, and several things happen at once that you don't understand and possibly can't fix. Well... soap doesn't have ctrl+z. Nevermind.
I'm not very happy with the end result, so it's on YouTube, and the link has been distributed to only a select few. If you'd like to give me some criticism and tell me what I can improve, ask for the link, and I'll welcome your comments!
-Katie
After a mini-crisis at a ridiculous hour of the day, my first draft is finally done. (about 25 hours late... eek.) Oddly enough, it's probably the most simplified version of my conclusions yet. I guess most of my effort went into figuring out how to move around in FinalCut Pro.
Learning the language of video editing is like trying to carve wet soap. You may have a very clear idea of what you want it to look like, but sometimes you do one little thing wrong, and several things happen at once that you don't understand and possibly can't fix. Well... soap doesn't have ctrl+z. Nevermind.
I'm not very happy with the end result, so it's on YouTube, and the link has been distributed to only a select few. If you'd like to give me some criticism and tell me what I can improve, ask for the link, and I'll welcome your comments!
-Katie
Sunday, April 12, 2009
A Video Storyboard
Who would have guessed that the video/song I shared in class would provide me with an entire storyboard worth of inspiration?! I ended up completely visualizing all of this about an hour after class... and I'm really excited about making it happen.
How to read this storyboard:
Italics = my main points as listed in the post below.
* = description of visual elements
♫ = self-explanatory, I think. (see footnote)
& = word-for-word voiceover, (if I've thought of it yet)/talking head voice
1: New media create new ways of knowing ourselves.
-we can experience our past selves as strangers and contemplate their "artifacts"
*Since this bit will be mainly about how Project Mortified illustrates this view of "the past self as a studyable stranger", there will be footage of someone pulling out old picture albums or shoeboxes from a closet, followed by clips from Project Mortified shows
♫ set to the simple piano intro of the song, looped as long as necessary to make this particular point
& explanation of this view if the bifurcated/fragmented self, possibly a review of points already made, just to put things in context, a "refrain", if you will.
2: We experience ourselves as anonymous in many contexts
-we often feel like strangers
-when we feel like strangers, that is who we need to connect with
♫ This section will cover the most complexly layered parts of the song, letting each part build up until it's thick with noise and melodies... and ideas. ("You are in the way/I don't want to be a bother/don't get bent out of shape" all at once.)
*I'm going to need stock footage of crowded city streets for this part, maybe some footage in the library of so many people in a small space, but none of them interacting with each other. White text on black between video clips will detail where "feeling like a stranger" comes from and when it happens. The interest in things made by strangers (Found Magazine) will come into this part. Screen recordings of comments on that site will appear here.
3: changing realization of the self in this context (like in the PostSecret community), the consistent sense of self is violated.
♫ As the layers fade out, going back to the solo piano part, (giving it a simple, but empty sort of feeling).
* the more insightful postcards will appear, followed by clips from a few of Frank Warren's talks, explaining the connections on PostSecret. Text (white on black again) will explain my insights of those connections. A screen shot of the "I had all the support I needed in the heart of a stranger" text will also appear.
& "In the presentation and maintenance of all of these facets of the homeless, flattered, saturated, and re-coded self, it is no wonder that there are things we might not know about ourselves."
4: art, creativity, and community then become necessary to bring about and express these changes in our identity.
♫ At this point, the electric guitar part bursts in with the repetition of "you see me/you see me, yeah" and goes on til the single end note.
* With the guitar riffs, a sort of rapid-fire photo montage of "connections"... The YouTube vlog from my trailer will appear here. Not completely sure what else yet, but it will contain my points about our ability to connect deeply AND ambiently/pervasively through the media of online art. If I can figure it out, I'll go back to the "city crowd" shots, and zoom in on certain faces in between showing secret postcards. I'd like to end it with the same "we're all so connected... I desperately wish we knew it" postcard with no sound but the final notes of the song.
& "All of a sudden, it just woke me up! And I was like... oh my god, this is real! There are real people out there, those people on the street have feelings and thoughts too, and they have secrets too."
Footnote: I chose "In the Way" by Two Seconds Away because the words seemed to fit so well with this idea. The first layers of lyrics are very reclusive. I feel that they emphasize the distance and isolation that come with feeling anonymous.
The powerful ending verse reverses that, and reveals a direct connection to the listener... or whoever the song was written to. Since that part of the video will show how we're connecting, how we're noticing each other, it (like I said) just fit. (By the way, if any of you were interested, that music is available here.)
-Katie
How to read this storyboard:
Italics = my main points as listed in the post below.
* = description of visual elements
♫ = self-explanatory, I think. (see footnote)
& = word-for-word voiceover, (if I've thought of it yet)/talking head voice
1: New media create new ways of knowing ourselves.
-we can experience our past selves as strangers and contemplate their "artifacts"
*Since this bit will be mainly about how Project Mortified illustrates this view of "the past self as a studyable stranger", there will be footage of someone pulling out old picture albums or shoeboxes from a closet, followed by clips from Project Mortified shows
♫ set to the simple piano intro of the song, looped as long as necessary to make this particular point
& explanation of this view if the bifurcated/fragmented self, possibly a review of points already made, just to put things in context, a "refrain", if you will.
2: We experience ourselves as anonymous in many contexts
-we often feel like strangers
-when we feel like strangers, that is who we need to connect with
♫ This section will cover the most complexly layered parts of the song, letting each part build up until it's thick with noise and melodies... and ideas. ("You are in the way/I don't want to be a bother/don't get bent out of shape" all at once.)
*I'm going to need stock footage of crowded city streets for this part, maybe some footage in the library of so many people in a small space, but none of them interacting with each other. White text on black between video clips will detail where "feeling like a stranger" comes from and when it happens. The interest in things made by strangers (Found Magazine) will come into this part. Screen recordings of comments on that site will appear here.
3: changing realization of the self in this context (like in the PostSecret community), the consistent sense of self is violated.
♫ As the layers fade out, going back to the solo piano part, (giving it a simple, but empty sort of feeling).
* the more insightful postcards will appear, followed by clips from a few of Frank Warren's talks, explaining the connections on PostSecret. Text (white on black again) will explain my insights of those connections. A screen shot of the "I had all the support I needed in the heart of a stranger" text will also appear.
& "In the presentation and maintenance of all of these facets of the homeless, flattered, saturated, and re-coded self, it is no wonder that there are things we might not know about ourselves."
4: art, creativity, and community then become necessary to bring about and express these changes in our identity.
♫ At this point, the electric guitar part bursts in with the repetition of "you see me/you see me, yeah" and goes on til the single end note.
* With the guitar riffs, a sort of rapid-fire photo montage of "connections"... The YouTube vlog from my trailer will appear here. Not completely sure what else yet, but it will contain my points about our ability to connect deeply AND ambiently/pervasively through the media of online art. If I can figure it out, I'll go back to the "city crowd" shots, and zoom in on certain faces in between showing secret postcards. I'd like to end it with the same "we're all so connected... I desperately wish we knew it" postcard with no sound but the final notes of the song.
& "All of a sudden, it just woke me up! And I was like... oh my god, this is real! There are real people out there, those people on the street have feelings and thoughts too, and they have secrets too."
Footnote: I chose "In the Way" by Two Seconds Away because the words seemed to fit so well with this idea. The first layers of lyrics are very reclusive. I feel that they emphasize the distance and isolation that come with feeling anonymous.
The powerful ending verse reverses that, and reveals a direct connection to the listener... or whoever the song was written to. Since that part of the video will show how we're connecting, how we're noticing each other, it (like I said) just fit. (By the way, if any of you were interested, that music is available here.)
-Katie
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
The Logical Argument
"Be the dying chorus of this song." -Prof. Wesch's (rather poetic) instructions to me. Ok, I get that!
*New media create new ways of knowing ourselves.
-we can experience our past selves as strangers and contemplate their "artifacts"
*Our identity, as we come to understand it, can work across multiple contexts without violating our sense of self
*We experience ourselves as anonymous in many contexts
-we often feel like strangers. "In the presentation and maintenance of all of these facets of the homeless, flattered, saturated, and re-coded self, it is no wonder that there are things we might not know about ourselves."
-when we feel like strangers, that is who we need to connect with
*changing realization of the self in this context (like in the PostSecret community), the consistent sense of self IS violated.
*art, creativity, and community then become necessary to bring about and express these changes in our identity.
You following me?
-Katie
*New media create new ways of knowing ourselves.
-we can experience our past selves as strangers and contemplate their "artifacts"
*Our identity, as we come to understand it, can work across multiple contexts without violating our sense of self
*We experience ourselves as anonymous in many contexts
-we often feel like strangers. "In the presentation and maintenance of all of these facets of the homeless, flattered, saturated, and re-coded self, it is no wonder that there are things we might not know about ourselves."
-when we feel like strangers, that is who we need to connect with
*changing realization of the self in this context (like in the PostSecret community), the consistent sense of self IS violated.
*art, creativity, and community then become necessary to bring about and express these changes in our identity.
You following me?
-Katie
Sunday, April 5, 2009
A Harvest
Of everything I wrote last week, Prof. Wesch has asked us to take out the 3 "core" paragraphs that will make up part of our collaborative paper.
That part is in the works, but I'm still trying to figure out how to incorporate an insight I had during our class discussion last week. My main argument so far has been that anonymity opens up creativity that allows us to connect deeply with ourselves and others. But I've been overlooking the effects of *feeling* anonymous. Deep connections with strangers happen because we feel like strangers. C.S. Lewis wrote, "True friendship is born in that moment when one person says to another, "Really? You too? I thought I was the only one."
We spend more time around people we don't (and will never) know than people who have known us since birth. Of the people you are closest to now, it is likely that you have known most of them for less than five years. It is also likely that you have not yet met the people to whom you will be closest five years from now.
Neolocality. In our current state, it is something we all have in common. So we use it to connect.
This is really changing up my basic argument. And now I need to start thinking visually! Oh my.
-Katie
That part is in the works, but I'm still trying to figure out how to incorporate an insight I had during our class discussion last week. My main argument so far has been that anonymity opens up creativity that allows us to connect deeply with ourselves and others. But I've been overlooking the effects of *feeling* anonymous. Deep connections with strangers happen because we feel like strangers. C.S. Lewis wrote, "True friendship is born in that moment when one person says to another, "Really? You too? I thought I was the only one."
We spend more time around people we don't (and will never) know than people who have known us since birth. Of the people you are closest to now, it is likely that you have known most of them for less than five years. It is also likely that you have not yet met the people to whom you will be closest five years from now.
Neolocality. In our current state, it is something we all have in common. So we use it to connect.
This is really changing up my basic argument. And now I need to start thinking visually! Oh my.
-Katie
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