#sequence project

Looking at my older photographs, I realized I had sorted all the photos from the shoot into two categories: serious and silly. The serious ones were the only ones I put together and showed to the class, though I still edited some of the silly ones. Looking back over them, they (the serious vs the silly) provided an interesting contrast. I like the idea of messing with the idea of authenticity, in the way that the first series (my sequence project) was very posed and presented in a manner that was fairly creepy. The silly photos offer a different version of that same event, a more honest version. I’m still not sure what my concept is but I like looking at the comparisons

After the presentation and critique on Thursday, I am overall pleased with the results of my project. I think the overarching theme of it became not only to provoke a story or imagination, but to ask questions and further complicate a problem that I’ve set out for the viewers. My favorite questions were ones like “doesn’t this remind you of...” and “why did you choose...”.

The point was raised about the project as to how to present a future, similar, further work like this in the most effective way. Whether this being to reorganize the images in a different way to be viewed or to present the prompt for viewers in a specific way, I should consider these aspects in the future.

Last, but not least, here are the stories that were generated from the prompt I gave to a couple willing viewers. I appreciate their truly imaginative creations and the themes they instill, all from a couple of photographs.

Again, here was the prompt:

1)Background. For my project I was inspired by an children’s storybook illustrator and writer who I researched. People always asked him about what order his bookmaking came in: which came first the illustration or the story. And this wasn’t as interesting to me as when he described where he got inspiration for the storybooks. 2) My Project. For this project I’ve wanted to ask people for stories based from imagination of images I set in front of them. These pictures I’ve taken all feel like they have some sort of story you can imagine from them, but that’s just me. 3) Your part. I’m asking for a story of your own creation based from as few or as many of these images as you choose. It can be as long or as short as you wish. I originally intended for you to choose from within one of the 3 sets of 4 pictures, but if you happen to draw from each other, so be it. 

Story 1

It's January 29 and quickly turning into one of the worst winters ever.  The lack of snow is critical and the natives are panicking.  

"When will the snow come?"  

"We need snow now".

"It's not even cold enough to make snow".

These were the plaintive cries of the villagers.  President's day weekend was around the corner and the lack of snow was freaking people out....no snow means no skiers, no snowboarders.....no tourist dollars.  

Desperate times call for desperate measures. One by one the lift attendants and snowcat operators began leaving offerings to Ullr, the Norse god of snow. A  beautiful  and lovingly hand knit mohair scarf left on a piney alter,  a cozy hat, a boot; anything to leave oneself vulnerable to the elements and at the mercy of the gods. Ullr we give our most prized possessions to you....now bestow upon us SNOW

The End.

Story 2

One early morning, in a metropolitan area probably quite similar to yours, a boy left his two-story bungalow home, with the ultimate destination of Goodwill Inc. Over the past few years, he had accumulated quite a few clothing items, and was intent on donating his winter apparel to the less fortunate. However, this boy was not aware of how aggravating it would be to haul his outdated wardrobe the excessive distance (seven hundred fifty-three feet) all by himself. He decided to periodically lighten his load by dropping various garments along the way. Unfortunately, he dropped so many things, he did not have anything left to deliver. Despite this, he boy was not concerned.

Unaware of plate tectonics and planetary geology, he was sure that this was for the best, as the earth must get chilly during the winter. Comforted by knowing his good deed was still accomplished for the day, the boy awarded himself with an only slightly used candle from the same Goodwill he aimed to donate to. Thus, the earth was a bit warmer than it was before, and the boy’s room smelled like fresh linen for many days; this scent eventually gave way to another, as the candle was tipped over, burning his bungalow to the ground. Despite this, the boy was not concerned, as he enjoyed watching fire. It was calming.

Story 3

I know these footprints are hers. I know it. She’s leaving hints for me to come find her. Everyone, my friends and family, say I need to leave her alone, that she isn’t interested. But why would she distinctly leave footprints and...Oh! She even has left me a glove and another glove! What game is she playing with me? I will find her. I know she wants to be with me. Hmm...it’s odd though that I’ve never seen her wear these gloves or this hat, and the tree is an odd hiding place. But they seem so familiar, as if all winter as I walk this same path through the neighborhood I have seen them. The purple scarf! I know that scarf! It is her scarf!!!...oh wait..wait a minute..no I am such a fool. These garments are from the melted neighborhood snowman, not my love.

Story 4

One day, it was discovered where all of the missing socks had been going. For millennia humans have thought, "Where the hell did the matching sock to this go?" Or, "What happened to my other glove?" Then, then figured it out.

Deep in the government laboratories found in Area 51, they were experimenting. By leaving socks, gloves, and various items which have a tendency to wander away, out in the open for extended periods of time, they hoped to discover what was making them disappear. With cameras trained on all of the items, and massive sticky rat traps all over the floor, the scientists sat in wait of the creatures. They waited and waited, until one day, some six and a half years after the onset of the experiment, they discovered that they had caught something in the traps!

The head researcher was named Mr. Neal MacNealson, a portly man with a flowing red beard, merry disposition, Scottish brogue, and head as bald an egg. He came out first into the chamber, to investigate. Roughly twenty feet from the central table upon which the clothing articles rested was a small, green creature stuck to a rat trap. Mr. MacNealson went up to introduce himself and determine the identity of the intruder. He said, "Hello there, my name is Mr. MacNealson and this here is my laboratory (pronounced lah-bore-uh-tore-ee)."

The creature responded by saying, in a high, nasally voice and an interesting accent, almost like an Indian man who had inhaled far too much helium. "My name is ¥©π¶∆✓£ and I seem to be stuck. I was merely attempting to gather materials with which to construct my home." Sure enough, in the monster's hand was but a single pink, frilly sock with leopard spots. MacNealson said, "What kinda home do ya be buildin' with that ya wee beastie?" The creature said, "well I was planning on making ranch style home. There were going to be white shutters with a blue coat on the outside and the inside is going to be nautical themed.”

Story 5

There once was a girl named Elle. Elle was special, so special that she was born with purple hair that glowed at night. When she was little she used to love her purple hair. As she got older, her peers got meaner and some started to tease her for her long purple locks. She became ashamed and wanted nothing more than for her hair to look like everyone else's.

One day while Elle was crying because of her hair, her fairy godmother appeared. She asked, "what is wrong my dear, do you not like the magical hair I bestowed upon you as a child?" "I don't want it anymore, all I want is to be invisible," responded Elle. Her fairy godmother, looking surprised and rather hurt told her, "whatever you wish my dear," and with that, she made Elle invisible. Elle was so relieved to finally be freed from her purple hair. With that, she could walk around town free from judgemental eyes, but what she didn't realize is that while she was invisible, her clothes were not. People were beginning to stare at the floating ensemble of clothing and she had become again what she had feared most, a reason for people to stare. She began to run and frantically throw off her clothes, her scarf, her hat, her boots, her coat and her gloves until she was completely naked and all one could see is the footprints she left behind her. In her haste, Elle never realized how cold it was outside. When she slowed down, she started to freeze.

Emilia and I began our project by researching Martha Jouard, a French transfer student who attended the University of Michigan in 1918. We discovered Martha while looking through old issues of The Michigan Daily, where we found several articles focused on her. An article that we found particularly interesting was one in which Martha shared her opinions on World War I based on her perspective as a French citizen--many of which seemed controversial. This led us to research the political climate at the University of Michigan while she was a student there, which we obtained information about mostly from the book University of Michigan 1918-1919. This book helped us understand the strong presence of pro-war propaganda at the University of Michigan, which led us to consider the opposition or lack of acknowledgement Martha’s public anti-war statements would have been met with. This prompted us to question the idea of trying to express yourself in an environment where you are unheard or deliberately ignored by others. 

To explore this theme, we decided to photograph ourselves displaying different interactions that play with the power dynamics present when trying to share your ideas in front of this type of unreceptive audience. I played the protagonist character based on Martha, while Emilia played an intentionally vaguely defined character meant to represent this audience. As our project was rooted in the idea of speaking publicly, we decided to set our project in an auditorium. However, we decided to have Emilia’s character be the only member of the audience, as this allowed us to more clearly display these interactions, as well as add an unsettling tone. We photographed and filmed many interactions, arranged them throughout the process to construct a story. We originally had planned on transitioning from stop motion to film throughout the piece, though we decided to use only stop motion and experiment with varying speeds to highlight important moments in the sequence, and to increase the tension of these moments. For example, we chose to linger on the images shown below as we felt they were critical parts of the interactions between our characters. We also used a song that Emilia selected and performed that we felt reflected the tone of the interactions, and set the sequence to the song to give the piece a fluid pace.  

Overall, I think Emilia and I worked together really well on this project. We were both driven to create a well crafted and interesting project, and I believe this shows in our final product. We both brought our individual talents and interests to the project, especially with Emilia’s photography skills and musical abilities, and my interest in video editing. Looking back, I am impressed and surprised by how our project grew from the starting point of Martha Jouard.

Reflection

Reflection:

The character Christian and I decided to focus on was Mike Kelley, more specifically his mindset when coming up with work and the process of said work. Originally, we had discussed that we wanted to do a series of images illustrating an artist’s process and mind when creating. But, after further consideration we went on to do the route of film instead. When deciding how to execute the mood of the film christian and I agreed to use ourselves as artists throughout the film, also describing our individual differences and similarities as creators, and the failures we endure in the art world and in the world in general. We wanted videos of our personalities and tendencies when working, combined with elements inspired by Mike Kelleys work and thematic elements of failure.