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H o m E Week 1 / Reaction to Poetry/Aristotle Week 2 / Reaction to Backwards and Forwards/Ball Week 3 / Reaction to Story/Robert McKee Week 4 / Reaction to Brecht on Theatre/Berthold Brecht Week 5 / Reaction to Understanding Comics/Scott McCloud Week 6 / Reaction to Multimedia From Wagner to Virtual Rality Week 7 / Reaction to The Poetics of Interactivity/Marie-Laure Ryan Week 8 / Week 9 / |
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WEEK 1 ////Sep. 10 //// Reaction to Poetry/Aristotle |
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Every time I read ancient philosophy I struggle, being that English is my second language. I can really understand only a portion of an ancient philosophy book or an article unless I read it at least twice or more. But every time I start reading the philosophy, I am drawn to its great depth. Although the classical music I was listening to as I was reading the Poetics by Aristotle was helpful, unfortunately, I didn't get everything I would have liked to from this article, nevertheless I enjoyed the little I got. I really liked the way he analyzed poetry by "breaking it down" into fragments of language, acting, the character of the poet, which I felt he treated as an actor just like the people he writes about. reading this and thinking about the class we had, which is so different than anything I've done in ITP so far, starts to draw a clearer picture to what a story is, and what can make or break it. As Aristotle mentioned, a story can change completely through different use of language, and it really starts with the details of each word within a sentence (not that I know what the hell he was talking about when he gave those strange examples, but I got the point...) This part of his article connected with the practice we had in class, where we needed to make sense out of words and sentences that don't relate to each other. As an artist/designer, I especially relate to the part where he writes that poetry is all imitations, just like other forms of art. This concept became apparent when I studied art history and realized - not only does art is a personal interpreted mirror for all that surrounds us, it also imitates itself. As a result, nothing is really new, all has been examined in the past, hence, any new form of any art is merely a new interpretation of the old. Back to Top |
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WEEK 2 ////Sep. 15 //// Reaction to Backwards and Forwards/Ball |
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Last time I watched Hamlet was a long time ago. Longer then I can remember. I had hoped to have the chance to watch it prior to tomorrows class, but I may. However, reading Backwards and Forwards provided an extensive summary of Hamlet, which helped refresh my memory.
The book was a nice, easy read. It is well organized, and clear about all the steps one should take in order to either recognize or write a successful play. I especially liked the simple examples that are given throughout to emphasis each concept discussed. My favorite phrase in the book was on section 9 "Forwards: Hungry for Next", page 47 - "Half the pleasure is in the anticipation". I find it to be quite powerful. Half of one's pleasure is a big percentage of one's experience during a play, and because of that I feel that the idea of creating a script that causes anticipation at every scene, is one of the most important concepts. The other half of one's pleasure relays on everything else. However, from a personal experience, the concept of forwards, when over done, can also take away from the pleasure. In movies I've seen, there are sometimes situations when a screenplay writer takes the forwards too far; as a result, rather then anticipation, I found my self with too many question marks, and so many ambiguities that ended up stretching for too long and made it difficult to enjoy. Throughout each chapter I realize that, indeed, a play imitate life. Each concept presented in the book is a method of how one acts in everyday life. When we want to better examine event occurred in our life, we look back at it and examine each moment; we all have static situations when nothing much happens; conflicts and drama are always attracting people's attention, etc. The one concept that would not imitate life is giving up too much information regarding events that will take place in the future. Well, maybe one day we'll be able to, and then as we, somewhat already do, we can completely mess up our "play". Back to Top |
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WEEK 3 ////Sep. 22 //// Reaction to Story/Robert Mckee |
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Wow, that was some assignment, to read an over-400-pages-book in a week (full of crazy assignments). It was clear to me that I won't be able to read it thoroughly cover to cover, but I was glad to find that it was an interesting subject matter, combined with captivating writing style. I love it when writers write about writing (!) So as I start reading, if the writing is good, than the content will probably be satisfying. Yeah, so I didn't read it thoroughly, but I read enough to get the major points he discussed. At times he got a bit too technical for me. Not that I have a problem with technical concepts, but it was a bit more than I was interested in knowing about screenplay writing. The book appeared to be beneficial for me on a personal level. These days I am digging the deepest darkest corners of creative sense in my brain to form a solid idea for my thesis project. I am leaning towards one idea that will be based on a linear/non-linear story telling through a computer screen. Most of the chapters contained some important points that I can apply later as I develop my story. I found it very helpful that McKee included so many visual aids (implicit and explicit) to "draw" the reader a clearer picture of the ideas he is trying to convey. Some of these aids are expressed as actual scene structures, like in chapter 11 - Scene Analysis (Page 252 on), where he provides some examples of actual scene writing and how to break it to beats. He uses different fonts sizes to emphasize certain parts. In another example he uses a diagram, like the one on page 45, where he is describing probably one of the most important parts in story telling - The Story Triangle. The diagram is the mapping of the limit of event design within a story, which illustrates the difference between Archplot, Miniplot and Antiplot. Of course with the respective differences, some of his points are similar to Aristotle ideas in the poetic. He describes the importance of climax in a story and explicitly specifies the progress (up the Aristotle curve) to such climax. Also, in regard to Aristotle's point of life imitation, although Mckee at times emphasize the importance of being able to separate the story from real life, as in the segment about character description, he constantly provide examples of real-life situations, and how they inspire a story. From some of the similarities I can learn that some basic concepts will always be there to help achieving the ultimate final goal of satisfying the reader/viewer. The unexpected element in my reading this book is its affect on my reaction to movies. I watched a movie at home last weekend, after reading a few chapters, and felt that in my mind I started analyze the screenplay qualities and limitations. The movie I watched was Haunted, with Benicio Del Turo. I thought that the screenplay was terrible; the scenes were choppy lacking with solid connecting points. The script wasn't that sophisticated. Climax wasn't very high, and conflicts were not conveyed in a clear manner. I ended up buying the book since it wasn't available in any library I searched. I changed my plan of returning it to the store, since I realized, it is a great reference book for many types of story telling. Back to Top |
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WEEK 4 ////Sep. 29 //// Reaction to Brecht on Theatre/Berthold Brecht |
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Finally, we get an analysis related to an aspect that is close to us at ITP, science and technology. I like reading Brecht's book (well, partially), because I could identify. He takes the complicated concepts of theatre/story and simplify them to our simplest patterns of behavior. It almost reminded me of a reference to the basics of a small child's behavior (p.183 "...Think of ourselves as children of a scientific age."). He also finds the connections and implications of science on art. At first, it was surprising to me that he actually touched upon the science and art relationship since it seem like very forward thinking for this period of time. This fact became more understandable to me since I spoke with someone who is German and familiar with Brecht, and he told me that Brecht was known as a radical figure, which explains his forward thinking. From his writings, he does seems as one who is there to experiment, and get unpredictable result, and reactions. His radical means are expressed also through his language, as he uses harsh terms like "Shaw as Terrorist", although in a positive context, still is there to stir some emotions, I'd assume. I agree with his point of getting further away from reality by many means in today's theater (i.e. spectacles). Indeed, today's Hollywood films are full of spectacle to a point that the spectacles almost become the story. In European films, on the other side, the enjoyment is much deeper and meaningful since the story is closer to reality and almost never disappears behind unrelated, or un meaningful elements. Finally, I need to express that I greatly enjoy reading these diversity of opinions concerning classical theatre and story telling, but at this point (...and as a practical person as I am), I feel ready to move on to concepts that are more directly related to my interests in the technology realm. I am hoping that the following readings assignments fulfill my desires. Back to Top |
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WEEK 5 ////Oct. 6 //// Reaction to Understanding Comics/Scott McCloud |
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Wow, so this is what comics is about. Until now, comics, for me, was synonymous with children stories portrayed through simple line drawings. I've just realized how wrong I was. Comics is the reflection of who we are. Our past experiences come alive as we read through comics illustrations. There is something extremely powerful in reading through iconic elements that are sequentially ordered. A picture is better than a thousand words. This book, has not only introduced the world of comics, but further, it has shed a new light on the process and the hierarchal aspect of telling a story. It includes many important elements, like actors and the messages they convey, the stage, the atmosphere and many more. In some way, this book is expressing some ideas that are similar to those in the previous readings, in a more visual way. I really like the diversity of our readings so far. It allows me to compare and distinguish between the different means of communication; theatre, film, and written material. Interesting how a movie is like a very slow comics; nevertheless, the fact that comics has bigger leaps between each image, is not in the way of still creating an engaging, emotional and comprehensive story. I also see a play to be a "heavier" experience than a film. The fact that you are at a perceivable distance from the actors and the set, make you feel a bit more obligated to be engaged in the experience, as apposed to a movie theatre, where you feel a bit more relaxed and watch under your own terms of enjoyment. I mentioned in class before that a viewer always brings a whole new meaning to any play/movie/story they watch or read, derived from past experiences. With comics, the meaning we bring with us seems "louder", due to the fact that no words are being said although the images appears as though much is being said. I find this book to be quite beneficial to my thesis development, since my idea is related to the effect of deconstruction of a visual story on the reader and his/her understanding of the story. Understanding Comics has given me (and giving me) some insight as to what works and doesn't work in a sequential representation of iconic elements in certain situations. For example, the more descriptive an image/icon is, the less it leaves room for the readers interpretation, hence, it leads the reader through a specific path, which would or would not be successful, depending on the author's intentions. |
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WEEK 6 ////Oct. 13 //// Reaction to Multimedia From Wagner to Virtual Reality |
At the beginning, Myron Krueger's projects appealed to me since I have an architectural/interior design background. The way he was experimenting was by creating convoluted, maze-like areas that somewhat manipulate people's paths and directions. In a way, such pattern of thinking was at time what I would use in my conceptual designs during my undergrad. As I read further, I was a bit disappointed and surprised of how similar today's interactive installations are. It really seems like not much had changed, maybe only the technology involved did, but the users reactions remain the same. I realized one difference in his experimentation as oppose to current ones. At first it seemed as if the participant are described as lab rats, possibly because it seemed like they are confused and quite clueless as to what is going on around them, and that is completely understandable considering the level of exposure to technology advanced installation back then. In today's installations, the audience are mostly at a different technical abilities and of course much more exposed to new technologically advanced equipment on a daily basis, hence the reactions are more in the appreciation of the art rather then amazement by technology. |
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WEEK 7 ////Oct. 20 //// Reaction to The Poetics of Interactivity/Marie-Laure Ryan |
At one point, during the first weeks, I almost regret taking this class. It was very interesting, and I enjoyed our discussions, but I felt that it wasn't practical enough. Well, today I know that not only have this class inspired me towards a thesis idea, it is also now giving me some tools to pursue it. I found The Poetics of Interactivity to be a great resource for my thesis thoughts. My main concept is to take a given story (specifically a historical timeline) and deconstruct it in a way that users will be able to manipulate it as they wish. In the article I found Ryan's terms and metaphors very helpful and quite inspiring. For example she describes the aspect of reading as a jigsaw puzzle, where the jigsaw pieces represent segments of the exploded story the reader is trying to put together in their mind. For my thesis, the story I am telling is going to be broken down to multiple segments and each will have to relate to the adjacent one regardless of which segment the user will choose. Her exploration of hypertext cannot answer all my questions, especially since my idea is about stories in an animation form, not read; nevertheless, when she focuses on the context rather than the physical activity of reading, it becomes valuable information for me. As we read a story, hypertext or not, we are never really conscious to what we think about the story, we just do it. Michael Joyce's Twelve Blue made me realize how much we think about when reading a story. Not only about the content of the story but about everything around it. Where it is, how we connect it segments, how we should read it, etc. This creates the distinction between reading a book and hypertext so much clearer. I've tried to find Michael Joyce's web site but unfortunately he has not longer web presence. But there are some links to related students theses. One of them, although a bit outdated created by Shari Margolin, was interesting and well written. The student was exploring the new media poetry and she included a quote I found interesting and powerful:
I feel that her final thoughts in the article, don't really represent today's notion of interactive experiences. My thoughts are that the reason for that is the fact that it was published in 2001. She gives the theater immersive environments as support to the notion that too many users interacting is not successful, but in today's vast network environments the more users - the better. |