M&J - Installation set design and Technical aspects

At another group meeting that took place today we had discussed and planned our installation further. We looked into the set design of the installation and the technical aspects of the installation.

We aim to build a set that would isolate the audience from everyone else. Placing them in a small surrounded area. The area will have four different doors that would allow access to the space. Depending on which door you choose to walk through will depend on which sound piece/environment you will get.

If you walk through;

Door 1: you will trigger a sound piece of a mountain environment.

Door 2: you will trigger a sound piece of a outdoor field/grasslands environment

Door 3: you will trigger a sound piece of a City environment

Door 4: you will trigger a sound piece of a volcano environment

Triggering the sound piece

The sound will be triggered when a door is opened. There is two possible ways we could do this.

The first being through a motion sensor. As seen below in the diagram. The motion sensor would be placed at the top of the door, while the other half of the sensor will be placed beside it on the structured wall, and when a member of the audience walks through one of the doors the motion sensor will trigger the sound piece.

The second possible trigger would be to have a button trigger. As seen in the diagram below. The button trigger would be placed on the side, near the door of the structured wall, and when the audience opens one of the doors the door would push down on the button trigger. This would trigger the sound piece. The only problem we thought we would encounter with this specific technique is the audience not fully opening the door causing the sound piece not to play. But this all depends on the size (Measurements) of the overall space, as if we have a smaller area this method could work whereas a larger area we would be better off with a motion sensor.

Equipment needed:

For the set:

• mdf board or osb board for the main structure x4 (Measurements will be prepared once we know the size of the space we have available to us)
• Speakers x4
• LED or Bulbed lights x10 (2 lights per colour, all depending on the size and power of the light)
• Doors x4
• Trigger x 4 (Either motion or button)
• Standard building equipment (Drill, screws, door hinges etc)  

For the sound

• Marantz recorder
• Boom pole
• Pro Tools software for the editing

M&J - A new approach to Maps and Journeys...AGAIN. A four door installation.

The first group meeting took place the other day at the library. Diallo, Sahir and I tried to solve a problem and tried to get the concept of the £20 note into a more experimental approach, as the story to the concept was gravitating more towards a narrative. Even though that was the approach I wanted to take, I thought an experimental approach would ruin the film, and instead we decided to take a completely different approach and go with a idea that Sahir had in mind.

Here is the concept of Sahir's idea and he's inspiration;

ScreenShot taken from Sahir's blog (http://sahirrahmandfsablogyear2.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/innovation-and-interference.html)

In another group meeting that took place today. We had discussed the concept and how we could present the sound piece. After a brainstormed discussion we had come up with the idea to present the sound piece a an installation.

we will incorporate the idea of journeying through different climates and environments through the use of sound. This will give the audience an immersive experience in which they will imagine and interpret which environment they are hearing.

The installation piece will include a small, boxed room which has four doors on four walls and four speakers inside the room. Once a door is opened, this will trigger the sound of a location (Snowy Mountain, Outdoor field, Volcano and City environment), and each door will be assigned a specific environment with its matching sound piece. In addition, a specific coloured light will shine whilst the sound is playing, reflecting on the different environments etc, snowy mountain will incorporate a cool, blue colour. This will allow the audience a sense of interactivity, as they have to open each door and figure out what location is behind it.

Here is the four different environments and a rough detail of the sounds we will be capturing. 

Screenshot taken from our presentation we had prepared

M&J - Research and Inspiration

The idea came when I was having a conversation with a few mates. We had been talking about work and problems we face in our society, in regards to my spoken word piece, and the thought of money being a main issue that has to some extant ruined our society. For some random reason a video I had seen last year came into the conversation, so I decided to put it on as it was a good inspirational video, and here it is: http://vimeo.com/12497654

After watching the video I thought it would be a good idea to come up with something similar through the concept of copy, combine and transform that I saw in a 4 part series 'Everything is a remix' - http://everythingisaremix.info/watch-the-series/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jeCEtGwuk0 - This is a video that gave me some inspiration to go ahead with the idea. It's the perspective that Bob Marley thinks about money and being rich. It was inspiring to watch because I know to some extant money is everything to a lot of people, and because of that it has defined the word wealthy and rich in a negative way. Contrasting people who have a lot of money to people who have little or no money.

Money should not be a necessity 

M&J - A new approach

So after a few days of trying to further develop my idea. I run into a few problems which changed my perspective of this specific piece. The spokenword artist was having trouble trying to relate and place the piece together, so after brainstorming to get around the problem we encountered a completely different idea that would work with the brief.

I have now completely scrapped the idea of this dystopian world. I have undertaken an idea that would have an easier approach to filming, as I am working within a small group, and have a big cinematic and meaningful impact to the audience.

Possible title: Noted

 Synopsis

A message documentary following the life of a £20 bank note and narrated by the £20 note’s perspective. We are taken on a cinematic journey, as the note travels from person to person, and despite its socially conscious message it has a resolute narrative.

The message I’m trying to portray

• ●  To show both good and bad motives money has on us
  
• ●  How as humans we’re more concerned about wanting rather than being
  
• ●  To show how far one note can actually travel
  
• ●  How we all as individuals spend/need money
  
  
  
• How I plan to portray the message
• 
  
• ●  Through cinematic visuals
  
• ●  Socially conscious messages placed within the Mise en scene
  
• ●  A voiceover from the notes perspective.
  

Themes

• ●  Motivation
  
• ●  subtle and wry humour
  
• ●  Sadness
  
• ●  Mythical
  

Overall I want the story to characterise the bank note as if it is human, through the means of a voiceover that will represent the notes perspective, and the journey it goes on should create awareness of the message I'm trying to send to the audience. 

M&J - Spoken Word. A narrated video performance

I've been trying to develop the idea further, as I wanted to try write the spoken word piece myself, and I have been stuck in doing so as there is quite a broad amount of subjects to write about.

So I have been brainstorming, in which I have come up with a couple of different approaches, and also been talking to a few writers that could hopefully help develop the spoken word further.

First Approach

This would be to have one writer to write and narrate the whole video "Journey" performance using the variety of subjects he has to talk about. He can then use the subjects that could relate more closely to each other in order to maintain sense within the video and the spoken word piece.

Second Approach 

This would be to have a variety of writers in order to write the spoken word piece. As there is a broad amount of subjects, I thought it would be easier to have several writers write about a subject each or a couple of subjects each. The writers when narrating the piece would drift in and out of the video once they begin and finish there spoken word.

Third Approach 

This approach would be to narrow down the broad amount of subjects featured, and use the subjects in one overall theme of Life and Death. The journey we take within our time and the experiences we have. Those experiences will be the broad amount of subjects mentioned previously, and would consist within a narrative form. Within this approach it wouldn't matter whether or not there is one writer writing the spoken word or a variety.

Overall I have been trying to narrow down the approached before I start development. The first approach is something that I have taken out of the picture, due to the fact it would be a difficult task for the writer. I am slightly leaning towards the second approach at the moment, as I like the whole idea of having a variety of writers/artists undertaking this journey to deliver the message I want to put out there. This is something I will be thinking about before further development.

Professional Toolkit - Studio shoot (GROUP A)

After separating into two groups we had a team meeting within the library, in which we discussed the development of the studio shoot further, and created a synopsis of the story we are to produce.

The whole idea is about consumerism and how are society is constantly wanting rather than being, how we rely on social statues within social networking to make us happy, and how we tend to advertise our consumed products in order to gain popularity through social networking.

Here is a rough synopsis and studio layout:

Using the synopsis and layout we will develop the idea further in order to finish all of pre-production. To start the process I had used the synopsis as a guideline and created a script. The script is just a rough draft at the moment. We will be having a group meeting today at the library to discuss development further, and during this meeting I would like to get the inputs and approval of my group members of the script so we can decide wether or not it will be used within production. 

I tried to approach the script in a humorous, piss taking but yet gets the message across clearly type of video, and obviously interesting also.  Here is the first rough draft of the script: 

M&J - Spoken word. A narrated video performance

Another idea that I would like to approach relates to the metaphor of 'Journeys' through a narrated spoken word journey through this dystopia world.

What is spoken word?

Spoken word is a performance based poetry that focuses on the aesthetics of word play and story telling. Spoken word also can contains collaboration and experimentation with other art forms such as theatre and music. Spoken word tends to focus on the performance of the words themselves, the dynamics of the tone, gestures, facial expressions and rhyme.

The spoken word would consist of problems we face in our society today and a narrated video as the performance. The video performance would take us through a journey of this dystopia world we live in, which contains the problems our society faces today, and would be narrated by the writer/s.

Spoken word is something I recently got into several months ago and have attempted to write one myself, and will continue to write. I am not sure yet if I will be writing the piece myself or getting someone more experienced to write it, as I want this work to be inspiring.

Spoken word artists - Examples of various work

Kate Tempest - Balance
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJB7_faR9Es)
Anthony Anaxagorou - This is us - This is not a poem - The Pathology of like
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psftXEB55a8)
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXohqBX9xck)
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjllsZdMPkE)
Jon Jorgenson - A 'Godless' generation  - Who you are
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zng2piCy4RA)
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTAn-tk2pDA)
Clayton Jennings - What will you do - Get this off my chest
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9usS--6i7Ko)
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCt-BRq9Zus)
Brandon Wellington - America in 4 minutes
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZDNUGMMxLk)
Suli Breaks - I will not let an exam result decide my fate - Why I hate school but love education
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D-eVF_G_p-Y)
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y_ZmM7zPLyI)

Here is one of the first spoken word poems I have written; Titled: The Worlds Still Turning

The worlds stills turning

I see the people start a revolution. 

But why start if theres no tender solution. 

Caused by evolution, our minds grew in disillusion. 

Money and greed isn’t the resolution. 

Governments and politics be the reason for the worlds stubbornness. 

No logic in what they do and yet we turn a blind eye to what they do. 

No quality with the knowledge they advise. Like kids they need to be supervised. 

Because at the end of the day  

America be the victim, self deceiving, so stop all this terrorism. 

Like muslims are the reason.

So close to committing treason, the worlds hit a dry season. No age of reason. 

Disbelieving our world is leaving.

OBLIVIOUS TO THEIR LIES!

Their putting fear in your mind and wasting your time, like your death, dumb and blind. 

Treating you like you’ve committed a crime, Fuck sake, which religion this time.

Ill sit on this rhyme until one day you’ll perceive these lines and realise. 

This guy is right. 

The truth is out and now your in doubt. 

Whats wrong is right, and whats right is out.

So with all your might fight, till all is right. 

No matter how long to keep the peace.

Starving children at the kings feet while the king feasts on deceased dreams. 

Dystopian ideology. 

Look what all this foolery has done to me.  

Never knew it would be a burden to live in a place powered by hurting. 

Feeling like I’m constantly cursing, the worlds still turning.

M&J - The London Underground

One idea that had sparked into mind when looking into maps and journeys was dissemination of the London Underground spread through a documentary style video. I know this would be a great film to work on because there is history behind the London underground, and the fact that there is over 255miles (408km) of trackway built. Some in use, some left abandoned. I want to explore the history of both as they are what makes the underground what it is today.

I mostly got inspired when I found a website with details of the abandoned underground stations

http://underground-history.co.uk/front.php

If I can get access to some of the abandoned stations, maybe a front row view within the drivers pit, some interviews with the London underground team and passengers. I could document the memories and history through a documentary that would fit the concept of psychogeography, and a interpretation of journeys.

Current London Underground Map

1930 London Underground Map

The above two maps are two very different underground maps. One which was one of the first London unground maps to be released. The other is the current London underground map. Within the old map actually feature some of the old closed down, abandoned stations which the current map doesn't feature. 

Down Street featured on the first London Underground map between Hyde Park Corner and Green Park.

Down Street was one of the earliest stations that was closed down. Seven years later after the stations closure. The station had a pivotal use during the Second World War. A important war committee took place on several occasions here with The railway executive committee, Winston Churchill and his cabinet. 

No Down Street featured in the current map. 

This is just some of the history behind the London underground. As there is so much to document, and being in a city in which I grew up in as well as used on a regular basis. This would be a good dissemination of psychogeography, heritage, memories and journeys all interpreted through documentary.   

Psychogeography - Anna Lucas

I had been given the artist Anna Lucas to research in order to find a piece of work she had produced, and that related to psychogeography. At first I was a bit dazed and confused on the whole concept of psychogeography but eventually got the grip of things. After researching about it I had found that the word itself has a lot of history and art behind it.

Example of Psychogeography work.

ANNA LUCUS 

http://annalucas.co.uk/work/lost-2/  

The above video is a piece called Lost by Anna Lucas. The film portrays a group of young people interpreting their idea's of lost.

From the link above you can see a range of work by Anna Lucas. I found that this film unconsciously fitted in the genre of psychogeography, as the film was actually in response to a exhibition called Lost curated by Tania Kovats.

I believe that being Lost is another interpretation of the whole concept and genre of Psychogeography and Journeys. Relating this film to psychogeography.

Overall I had the chance to exchange emails with Anna Lucas in which she has been very helpful with explaining the film herself. I wasn't expecting her to reply but when I had checked my emails her reply was sitting there.

Email received 02/10/14 at 10:16

Email I had sent Anna Lucas on 30/09/14 at 15:19

The email I had sent Anna Lucas was very basic, explaining who I am and why I was emailing her. I Had asked Anna three questions as I didn't want to bombard her with question after question.
I asked Anna;

• How does Lost relate to Psychogeography? 
• What made you want to create that specific piece? 
• Whats the meaning behind it? 

Anna's response

This is what she had to say; 

"Hi Dowan

Thanks for your interest in my work. I would be interested to know how you found out about me in the first place. Have you had a tutor recommendation?

In answer to your questions:

I was not concerned with Psychogeography particularly whilst making the work although I am happy to consider some of the concerns within the work in the context of pyscho-geography. As it mentions on the website, the work was a commission in response to an exhibition curated by Tania Kovats at ikon Gallery around ideas of what 'Lost' might mean. I worked with the curator Michael Prior who supported me through discussions and advice as I had not worked with a school group in this way before. We interpreted the idea of the exhibition to encompass being physically lost, but also lost in thought, or time, as a mode of escapism, perhaps loneliness and thus a sense of being lost even in familiar surroundings, or lost in the mode of being engaged in play, or in your surroundings in such a way as to lose sense of time perhaps. 

I worked with the young people on these ideas through visiting the exhibition, creating objects and having discussions about the ideas of being lost. I interviewed them within the school environment, and then had meetings at their homes or in local spaces to make the film. It was a real privilege to have access to the young people and their lives outside of school. I met their families and spent time with them in their community spaces, learning about how they used and experienced their environment.

At that time I was working a lot with Super 8 film as I found it an immediate and cheap medium and i like slight uncertainty of the outcome through the materiality of the film and the quality of timelessness and response to light. In some ways the qualities of the film also augment or focus attention on unspectacular, everyday spaces. I liked the possibility of drawing attention to these young people and their position within their urban environment, particularly in the rare moments they were unsupervised and free to do what they wanted.

I do not have a specific meaning behind the work, but suggest it as an observation of these children and their location at that time. I hope it is charged with an atmosphere and qualities that a viewer may relate to and be curious about, that extend beyond the moment of making the work and it's specific participants.

I hope this helps.

Best wishes

Anna"