Narrative Piece

The main character of “Orange is the New Black”, Piper, is a lesbian. She is sent to prison for being involved in a drug trafficking business. She faces many challenges in her time in prison, especially because she is engage to a man, but surrounded by numerous females throughout the precinct. She defies the pre-conceived ideas of her sexuality by attempting to not be a lesbian, and facing many sexual advances throughout the pilot episode. She is cut off from all communication and society, which makes this process even more difficult. She is “supposed to be” forward with women, but she is shy, timid, and secluded and it dramatically impacts her time in prison.

music video

http://vimeo.com/81546722

RADIO PEICE

child reaction to quicksand thinking piano soundtrack crickets classic scary movie music movie excerpts saying “quicksand” struggling voices crying silent film over-laid music bells crescendo piano orchestra scream slowly decrescendo television laughs scripted voices my little pony theme song speeches references to vietnam and movements 80’s music galaxy sounds star wars theme song Throughout the piece, there were many different sounds incorporated to enhance the speakers point of the ages of “quicksand” and how it has marked time periods in film, community, society, and fear. The most effective use is the appropriated sounds from films. The soundtrack to star wars and clips from dated movies in the age when quick sand was considered “scary” enhance his point of its important in the mid twentieth century. The use of these also show the progression from fear to quicksand being made a joke of. Throughout the entire piece the chaos gives the dynamic and feel of anxiety, which is a point the speakers address greatly. It creates an tense and stressed atmosphere through sound and puts you in a plane of anxiety which i find to be an important quality of the piece.

DOCUMENTARY FILM

Adam Curtis’ The Century of the Self is a high ranking and award winning documentary film about the Freud family and their contribution to analyzing government, corporation, and business. Their main objective being the methods of controlling people. As the founder of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud altered the notion of the human mind and way of thinking. From his base ideas, the majority of this documentary is about others taking such ideas and using them to created the idea of “public relations”. The direct correlation of Freud's ideas to consumers, entrepreneurs and advertisers is what made them so important. Almost ever human falls into one of the 3 categories, making his ideas widely influential to the public. In the first episode, Edward Bernays is the person of interest. Being Freud’s nephew, he applied many of his uncles ideas and strategies to manipulate his way into having a great reputation in the manufacturing and business world. Of many of his accomplishments, his biggest success may have been known as the reversing of the taboo against women smoking cigarettes. He manipulated the public into believing that this was a symbol of freedom and strength. He related it to a mans genitals, evening the playing field for women. This was a common theory for Freud and Bernays. He would “Forge the mind of the nation” to take meaningless objects and connect a powerful idea or meaning that related to personal identity to it. This episode continues to develop upon eras and major events like The Great Depression as well as contrasting the effects of their theories in Germany as well as the United States. Freud’s psychoanalysis in the united states is introduced as the second episode begins. Conveniently after the war, this type of manipulation was necessary for the mental problems of all of the returning soldiers. By dissecting their emotional trauma, psychoanalysis was moving forward in America. Also at the time the nation was moving into an age of consumerism. People were subconsciously buying things based on impulses and fears that advertisements aroused. By adopting the ideas from psychoanalysis into the the production and consumption business, the economy was slowly improving. Slowly the documentary moves into talking about Ernest Ditcher using these theories in business to increase sales for common products, such as something as simple as cake mix. Other abstract ideas such as brain washing are analyzed as well as how psychoanalyst’s went back to the early stages of psychoanalysis and fixed many of the beginning failures. Towards the end of the episode, we see people challenging psychoanalysis and claiming it was false propaganda and “planned obsolescence”. Although some people thought it was dangerous, in my opinion it was an important and great influence as well as an enormous movement in history. Controlling people is the basis to so many industries and organizations. It almost has a snowball effect that we have all fallen into because we are all conformed to these ideas in business and advertisement of pleasing the consumer, giving them what the want to hear, and convincing them of what we want. The Freud’s created a strategy, theories and ideas that will forever be influential on the human race.

Separate Photos

"Another Fine Product of a Dysfunctional Family"

Summary

Far more than a flat surface upon which to dine, the kitchen table can be the heartbeat of a family. It’s a place to gather, to talk and to reconnect. But what, exactly, is it that makes the kitchen table so important to the family? Even in today's contemporary world, the modest kitchen table continues to be a center of activity. Meals are prepared at it, homework is done under a mother’s watchful eye at it and games are played around it. A seamless representation of the life that inhabits around it. However, the way one envisions the kitchen table isn’t always an accurate depiction of the family status. Appearance is everything, and insecurities lead us to put on an act to create the illusion of a perfect american home. In reality, the divorce rate in the united states is over 50%, more than four children die every day as a result of child abuse, and 15 million people are currently affected by alcohol abuse or dependency. Through this project, i’d like to depict the truth behind the mask families put on to hide the truth. Corruption in the home is something almost everyone can relate to, affecting a majority of our generation. This project is inspired by “The Kitchen Table” series from 1990 by Photographer Carrie Mae Weems. Weems, through a collection of black and white film prints, accurately depicts what she says to be "the battle around the family", between men and women, friends and lovers, parents and children. Each moment captured is a glimpse into the relationships that exist in an attempt to expose a broader truth. As she plays heavily on the depiction of African Americans in her work, I strive to play more on the ideas of deception. Through a diptych comparing the “appearance vs. reality” motif present in many american families, I plan to play on the idea of a social documentary style of work. The photo will be inhabited with subjects and objects, central to a kitchen table. The tone of the first photo in the diptych, being light, pulled together, inviting and inhabited, will be representative of the “appearance” pole, while paired with a second image, being bare, cold, and expressive of the “reality” of struggling families. The contrast of the two images will create a powerful dynamic, because the scenes will be exactly the same, but the inhabitance of each kitchen table will show truth and debunk the illusion that fools so many. I plan to create an atmosphere that reflects the structure of a family, and exemplify that as it collapses, the heartbeat of the family does too. 

Calendar

Week of November 17

• Sketch  different scenes, each displaying a family dynamic
• collect equipment (camera, lights, memory card, camera)
• travel home and begin acquiring props for shoot

Week of November 25

• Conduct all shoot, creating two different scenes in the same kitchen; keeping camera on tripod to maintain consistency
• begin editing and post production

Week of December 1

• Finish editing and creating diptychs
• export all images
• upload 

Budget

List of equipment already owned: Canon EOS 7d, Canon D1 Mark V, Alien Bee Studio Lights, PocketWizard Remotes, SD and Compact Flash Cards, Card Reader, 17” Macbook Pro, Aperture, Photoshop, External Hard Drive, Kitchen tables, props for scene set ups

If decided to use people as subjects, incentive to make them help me, i'll probably bake them something

The Music Never Stops

The Music Never Stops from sydneyannemonahan on Vimeo.

Single Shot Video

Old Skin from sydneyannemonahan on Vimeo.

Rough Cut

Rough Cut from sydneyannemonahan on Vimeo.

separated

Diptych

The Medium is the Massage

Throughout the Medium of the Massage there is an extreme sense of disconnect throughout. I think this is the authors way of creating a visual metaphor to his whole idea of showing how the media is scattered and rapidly progressing in possibly not a positive way. He not only plays on the impact of electrical technology which is what most people view technology as, but also as the technologies progression through history. He stressed the importance of how connection and being connected was changing our society. it is so simple to connect to one another that we are virtually living. Also, he believes the way we communicated is crazy and i think the way he lays out the book is a metaphor of that. Chaotic and outlandish as well as confusing is how our society is progressing. 

Surveillance Through Articles

Surveillance is an interesting and dynamic technique that many people explore. The ways people use, combat, and understand the idea of surveillance are just as dynamic as the subject. Through reading the two articles The Art of Peeping, and 

How Laura Poitras Helped Edward Snowden Spill His Secrets, it has become apparent to me that surveillance is not only more wildly used but also creates a very strong reaction. 

The Art of Peeping is a subtler approach to the idea of surveillance in my opinion. Watching people through their windows, which they leave themselves subjected to, is a way to really understand them and see who they really are. Believing that they are completely with themselves and alone is when true character comes out. In an artistic way, Arne Svenson uses this vulnerability to capture moments that can not be encountered in many other ways. As subjected to privacy as these people believe they are, Svenson was merely looking through the glass they installed and subjected themselves to. I don’t think the people he photographed had any right to sue him, not only because they left themselves open to the public, but also because it was his form of art. 

How Laura Poitras Helped Edward Snowden Spill His Secrets is a completely different view on surveillance. The people in this article are subjected to government surveillance and are combatting it with careful proximateness and silent travels. Trying to expose aspects of our government created many hardships for these almost “Spies” and gave them and many who side with them, a bad interpretation of surveillance. As a journalist, Poitras believed she had every right to her actions and the government doubted her, oppressed her, and surveilled her against her will. I am outraged by the actions of not only military officials for reporting her for no reason, but for the government to take such extremes for no reason. They were basically asking her to rebel and expose them. 

SURVEILLANCE Part Two

September 4, 2013
Choose one gesture from your list and document it for an additional 24 hours

Outfit changes

• woke up and changed out of pajamas into jean shorts, a tank top and a overskirt
• came back from class, realized it was too cool for shorts and changed into jeans
• came back from my last class and changed into comfortable shorts and a tshirt
• changed into jean shorts and a hoodie to go to diner
• changed into a tank top and shorts due to heat in dorm room

SURVEILLANCE Part One

Tuesday, September 3, 2013
Make a list of everything you do for 24 hours

• woke up
• used bathroom
• brushed teeth
• put in contacts
• applied make up(mascara/eyeliner)
• picked out an outfit
• brushed and straitened hair
• changed outfit
• walked to ernie davis
• pick out meal 
• ate meal
• listened to music
• walked to art photograph
• learned about film 
• went out into campus to shoot with our film cameras
• walked back to class
• developed film
• walked to dining hall
• met with 2 friends from dorm
• ate lunch
• walked to dorm 
• took elevator 2 floors past mine
• unlocked door
• changed outfit redid hair
• painted nails
• fixed make up
• took out digital camera
• walked to colloquium
• bumped into roommate on way
• met with friend before class
• listened to lecture
• took a break and sat in VPA lounge area
• went back to meet with discussion group
• left after class to walk to dorm
• changed into comfortable clothing
• went to dining hall for diner
• bought ice cream
• walked to dorm room
• wrote english essay
• painted and repainted nails 3 times 
• drew an elephant
• started watching a new series (Orange is the New Black)
• read and annotated an article
• took out contacts
• removed make up
• showered
• blow dried hair
• downloaded new music
• went to sleep

Person who has the same amount of power

These are my classmates who are doing the same assignment as me and are in the same situation as me

Person who has less power than me

This boy has less power because he does not speak English and not communicate what he wants to say here

Person who has more power than me

This boy is above me because he has the confidence to walk around campus like this (and the strength)

The selfie

I took a picture of someone else taking "a selfie"