Final Reflection

Over the course of my time in DMA I have learned a lot about the course goals. First, I have begun to understand and analyze the contemporary cultural contexts of UNCSA and beyond. By learning about all five schools on campus and more about the Winston-Salem area in general, I have begun to realize more about the world around me. I know that we are all composers because we are always making something. Whether it be making music, dance choreography, or making things we do in everyday life like emotions, we are all composers. In each artistic domain, creative processes are different due to their art forms, but they always have a period of rest before their composing. I tried to remember this when composing in other art forms like video or acting, and it was a little hard. However, I was able to over come these challenges and create a piece of art that I could be proud of. Finally, when first-generation multimedia meets second-generation multimedia we have composed something new. We have created something with our own unique perspectives that has never been seen or thought before because it's from our own experiences. 

Composing in Movement and Performance

In Unit 5 we looked at Composing in Movement and Performance by looking at the contemporary context of these mediums. We looked at these context through by reading Marvin Carlson's Performance: A Critical Introduction and a lecture by Dean Wilcox, Dean of Liberal Arts.

Before this unit I knew a lot about performance and movement. I have worked many dance shows and during The Nutcracker I do most of the dances back stage with the stage crew. In my high school years I was in many smaller theatre shows like The Complete Works of William Shakespeare Abridged and directed other shows like Elephant's Graveyard that had both acting I had to block and dancing I got to choreograph.

From my journals this unit I learned that movement and performance are essential to the work of a stage manager. One of our basic duties is being in charge of managing performance. Without actors, dancers, singers, jugglers, acrobats, performance artists, speakers, poets, or any other type of performer, we would not have a job. The performance of the artist allows us to perform off of them in more subtle but very vital ways. From my online discussion forum I though that Erin Burt's statement, "In my opinion, anyone or anything can perform, however, a certain quality must be present, whether it is music, artistic finesse, rehearsal or improvisation, to be considered a performance," was very accurate. This is why I think UNCSA is so special, we have all these performers who have a special quality to them. From Performance: A Critical Introduction by Marvin Carlson I learned about the two types of performance, one having to do with the display of skills and the other having to do with the display of skills that are less particular than of a recognized and culturally coded pattern. From Dean Wilcox's lecture I took away a lot from his Art History references. Seeing how life influences art which influences life is very important to me as an artist, so to hear how the Dadaist saw the chaos of the world around them in WWI and then created art reflecting that chaos seems very emblematic of the contemporary movement. From my Conversations video (can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3r5N-Y4uCE) I learned more about parallel editing like last week, but I also learned about writing a script and forming two different characters out of the same person, me.

I would like to learn more about composing in movement because we did not get to hear Brenda Daniel's lecture due to conflicts. I can and have been learning more about this throughout my time on The Nutcracker through ballet masters like Jared Reddick, Laura Martin, Dayna Fox, and Jenet Zerbe.

Overall, Composing in Movement and Performance is a very complex topic that has to do with the ideas of performance and all of it's facets. 

Composing in Film, Video, and New-Media

In the fourth unit of study, Composing in Film, Video, and New Media, our class focused on the contemporary context of these mediums. We researched the historical sequence and interactive synergies between these three mediums through looking at Lev Manovich and listening to lectures by John LeBlanc and Julian Semilian. 

To begin, before this unit I knew a few things about composing in video. I had made many short videos for high school projects since my school used iPads. I also had created a Harlem Shake for my stage crew and a senior goodbye video for my theatre senior class. I did not know much about film or new media however, but I did like going to see films by my favorite directors like Wes Anderson or John Carney. 

From my journal writing and in the assigned reading I learned about Lev Manovich's principle of modularity. For instance, because new media follows the principle of modularity, new media bits can function as stand alone objects or come together in a multitude of different ways to create something new. However, even when they do come together to create something new, they are able to retain their individuality as an object. From my online discussion forum with my classmates I saw something interesting that Julia Dietsche said, "I think the boundary between new media compositions and pieces of film and video is a line that is very easily blurred by the perception of the viewer or listener.  Much like a perceiver defines art, it is that perspective that makes the piece what is." I found this to be very inline with what I though to be true about perception as well. From the lecture by John LeBlanc I learned that we always need to be willing to collaborate and with Julian Semilian I learned about how we sometimes need to sit on moduls for a while and come back to it later to create art. From my channel surf video (can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33N8I4pOqF4) I learned a lot about parallel editing and using different resources of new media and video to create a film. 

I would like to learn more about editing films and what it takes to create a movie. I also wish they explained how the film school here at UNCSA works and what majors they offer. To find out more about these things I am going to talk to my friends in the film school and see how their school works within the UNCSA context, and where they will go afterwards. 

In conclusion, Composing in Film, Video, and New Media is a very modular and precise art form, but can become anything it wants through collaboration.