Artist Statement Process Piece        

Midnight Snack 

https://soundcloud.com/hadderbean/midnight-snack

        The process we chose to present this week in our audio process piece is the act of going out for a late night snack. We tried to present the major steps involved in one leaving their home, long boarding to a nearby gas station, purchasing a candy bar and soft drink then going home to enjoy the treat. Both the form and the content involved in this project stretched our conception on the importance of the individual steps involved in processes. We drew from many of the videos studied in class and also saw connections with other audio presentations such as Fantasia 2000.

          The form of this assignment, which forced us to view things simply through audible sounds, specifically expanded the way we view processes. While brainstorming what to select for our process, we realized all the various steps involved in every process. For example, after deciding on our specific process, we discovered that in order to fully present our process we had to break it down into over fifteen different steps. As far as the content involved in this assignment, we had to take a deeper look into how each step could be presented through just audio. Therefore, we had to isolate the individual steps into specific noises that would successfully represent that action. Using a mixture of objects—including cups, plastic wrap and even elevator music, we were able to create the individual steps of our process, and ultimately present the overall activity. 

          We found a tie in with the film production Fantasia 2000 made in 1999 by Walt Disney Studios. This film took classic song pieces and devised stories based solely on what the creators heard and could visualize from the notes. While listening to all the different process pieces that come out of this assigned project, each individual will visualize different images even though everyone is listening to the same sounds. This helped us contextualize what story we could tell with our piece. When it came to deciding on a process we looked to the recommended videos as references of what a process meant. Each process was unique in its purpose and execution allowing to stretch our imaginations a bit to come up with something that was both creative and feasible. A midnight snack seemed fun and also left room for interpretation to the audience. Everything we do is a process and through artistic talent we can find the beauty in these everyday events. 

Artist’s Statement

Round Robin


As we all have looked over each other’s contributions, the overall plot arc for each story suffered a dramatic change. Looking at them all lined up next to one another, we can see where we wanted each story to go and contrast that with where the stories actually went. For example, Colton’s story started out following a detective and his wife, but when it got to Parker, it suddenly switched to a story about a lover with a raccoon addiction.


DJ Spooky discusses this disconnect in his article. He presents an important example involving the children’s game Chutes and Ladders. This game was originally played in India, around 2nd century B.C and was called “despada.” We now play this game for entertainment, but in its earliest form it was designed to teach morals and the classes of reincarnation in the Hindu religion. The British adopted the game in the 1800’s and slowly morphed it into the game we play today. This is a prime example of how different cultures and ideas will influence media, and slowly alter it into a very different form. We saw this happen in our tiny stories, where almost none of them ended as we would have guessed. Similar to the Chutes and Ladders example, we all separately added our own insight and good ideas and guided the stories in the direction that we wanted, without any concern for the original authors. However, just like in this example, each new element we introduced was something that somehow connected to our group as a whole, being middle-class, LDS, film students—such as the wedding in the temple, film noir references, or even our generation’s fascination with super heroes. All of these elements were familiar to us due to our shared culture.


From an author’s perspective, it was also slightly upsetting. (We should note that not everyone was upset with the changes, but some people – Sarah – were.) That facet of this experience reminded us of Joss Whedon’s words on his experience writing the screenplay for the film Alien: Resurrection, which was drastically changed from his original treatment:
“It wasn't a question of doing everything differently, although they changed the ending; it was mostly a matter of doing everything wrong. They said the lines...mostly...but they said them all wrong. And they cast it wrong. And they designed it wrong. And they scored it wrong. They did everything wrong that they could possibly do.”

He wrote a script, sent it into the world, and it was transformed into something he barely recognized. As future filmmakers and artists, we will most likely experience this feeling again and again. We will have to learn to work with others and accept that when we collaborate with others, our original ideas will inevitably be altered by their creative contributions.

Colton’s Story

Day 1 

The detective hurried toward the old warehouse, to close in on the infamous Red Bandit. He smashed the door open, but the culprit was none other than his own wife.

Day 2

His wife was waiting in the interrogation room, but the detective wasn't ready. He supposed the obvious question was, "Why?" But did he want to know the answer?

Day 3

"I don't need to tell you anything, Darling. You were there the whole time."

DAY 4

“Wearing your kimono and slippers you two-timing raccoon lover.”

DAY 5

It was unfortunate that his wife leaving him was the thing that drove him to go, he thought, but he was glad to finally do something about his raccoon addiction.

Her Hand Awaiting Mine

The selection that I choose for the music mosaic is the song “Your Hand in Mine” by Explosions in the Sky. The song is a mixture of slow guitar melodies mashed with up beat rhythms that seem to disrupt the calm feeling at times throughout the song. Although these up beat rhythms periodically are weaved throughout the calmer, slower tune, the song ends where it began, with a slow, peaceful feel. The song creates—in a sense—a story within itself. The pictures I created were meant to match that story, as the calm, present theme passes through chaos and commotion, only to end back at the simple, peaceful beginning.

The content of each photo, as presented in order of thematic progression, matches the progression of the song. The photos, like the song, start simple and present a common theme—being that each picture is of the same person. This essential attribute is toyed with, again to follow the nature of the song, presenting in each phase an older version of the main subject, just as the song's calm melody slowly changes. As the song begins to become loud, confusing and complicated, we see similar complications introduced in each individual picture, all of which correspond to life's many distractions, and trials. The distractions grow from needs, such as that of food, to other struggles—issues with money and employment, and, of course, broken hearts. Like the different guitar rhythms, these distracting elements all fight for the audience's attention, clouding the once white scene with each progressing picture.

The form of each picture also mirrors the song. The objects are initially introduced symmetrical and clean, but soon scatter across the blank slate creating confusion and disorder, until the end when the cycle resets. The disruption of the peaceful structure reflects the song's similar structure in beginning and ending clean, and simple.

 Connections to this specific artistic representation of “Your Hand in Mine” can be drawn from both the class reading, and another short film called Into the Labyrinth. Dillard's essay expressed several concepts regarding analyzing each thing we see. She says, “Seeing is very much a matter of verbalization.” She makes note of the importance of analyzing each element within sight to truly understand what we are seeing as a whole. If we lack this quality many aspects will not go simply “unnoticed , but...unseen.” Likewise, as I set up for each image, I had to put into a literal sense the desired impact, and then select each individual component. Literally, and often verbally, conceptualizing each shot, helps us understand the message. This also relates to Into the Labyrinth, because it, like the film, expresses the struggles that we all face during our human trial. Both the film, and the photos present these trials as universal, and of a cyclical nature. Birth, life, struggle, and death are universal, but end with a new life. We pass through the fire, only to start over once again. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdiY6kijYHE

  

“500 Days of Reality”

The film 500 Days of Summer is a romantic comedy released to theaters in 2009, directed by Marc Webb. Taking on the male's point of view, the film was the presentation of an alternate perspective on common, modern day love relationships between men and women. The film gives a very honest presentation of the male's point of view in relationships, and was successful in presenting the reality of love through his eyes. The film did this by exemplifying not only the ecstasy of their highs, but also the dread of their lows, as well as the harsh reality of their cyclical nature. While the film itself was able to successfully combine several different textual characteristics, it also utilized contextual aspects in its attempt to express this honest portrayal of love relationships, and all their many consequences.

500 Days of Summer utilized many basic textual elements to present the true reality of relationships. On the surface level of the film, the director presents the basic plot story of 'boy meets girl.' The boy, Tom Hansen, soon falls for the girl, honestly believing that she is—as the narrator quotes, “the one he has been searching for.” Here is the presentation of one of the first realistic aspects, that Tom, our male representation in the film, falls head over heels for the girl. He honestly believes he has found the answer to all of his love-life questions in the form of Summer, the woman. Its important to notice that Tom's initial destiny defining moment comes when he barely meets Summer, expressing the idea of “love at first sight.” He begins to feel that Summer will solve all his problems, and cure his love-less, and un-eventful life. This story element combined with later plot points; primarily when Summer leaves him, and when he meets another woman, help express a reality of love. Love can often come out of nowhere, unexpected and unplanned. It can appear to be the answer to all of our problems. Love can convince you to be stuck on one person, that they are somehow different than all the others. As his sister explains to him after the initial breakup, Tom has had several other girlfriends before. Some have left him, and he has left others, but for some reason he feels stuck on Summer, thinking that she is the only one. The film expresses the harsh reality of 'more fish in the sea' when Tom meets another girl. Both the pun of the film, and its success in showing the true cyclically nature of love and relationships comes when he discovers her name is Autumn.

Several other strong characteristics, both textual and contextual, of the film help portray the reality of relationships. One primary textual attribute was the aesthetic choice to show the whole story from Tom's perspective. We see his happy mood reflected in scenes immediately following their first date, to express the high of love life and the joy it offers. The juxtaposition of this scene combined with a flash-forward to his dreaded, and dreary state after the break up, express the reality that while love fills you up, it also tears you down. Combined with the contextual aspects of the film's authorship and genre, considering this romantic-comedy film was written and directed by men, we are given a strong view on the males' side of the playing field in romantic life. Tom, the male, is the one who falls for Summer. We can also view a reality of the film in the relation to the contextual, modern sense of cultural trends where men are often the enemies, or the ones on the offense when it comes to love. However, 500 Days of Summer exemplifies a reality of love when flips this idea. Tom is the one who wants the relationship so badly, and the one who can't get over her when she leaves. Tom is the one making constant effort, and the one who seems to be hurt when the dust settles. This aspect of the film helps shatter other ideas of men being the heartless-heartbreakers in this game called love. It helps show a reality that men also can be victims of loss, and heartache, correcting many common Hollywood and contemporary ideologies of quite the opposite belief toward males.

500 Days of Summer is a romantic-comedy film which took on the task of expressing a truer version of love life, and adult relationships, from the male point of view. The film combined several textual aspects, using its basic plot and aesthetic presentation, alongside contextual elements, such as the film's all male authorship and genre, in context with culture trends to present a more correct and honest reality of love. From the film, we see that men are also victims of puppy love, and that as such they can be the ones wounded as well. The film also expressed that love has a cyclical nature, and we seem to get stuck on one person, there are in fact “many other fish in the sea.”