STAC has been pretty interesting over the past week or two. We've done and seen a lot of new stuff, had more in depth discussions about art, and even went on a field trip. So, naturally, I have a lot to write about.
Last week we watched a movie called Hanna. It was pretty interesting. While I was watching, to be perfectly honest, I was so lost. I felt like I was the only one in the class who didn't get it. After we started to tear it apart the next couple of days however, it started to make a little more sense. Like Luke said, we need to learn to watch movies differently. Before STAC, to me movies were just fun pastimes. Now I'm slowly learning how to take things from movies, and how to be a good audience through them.
After watching Hanna, we had to do an assignment as a group. Luke gave each of us four index cards with parts of the plot at random, and we had to go outside and tape them all up on the wall in chronological order. At first, the people who usually take charge tried to do that, only it didn't work. For a while, we had no idea what to do. 36 kids with 4 index cards each that had to go up onto a wall in two periods. That is not easy. We managed to finally pull it all together when everyone broke into groups and started taping their index cards in chronological order on different parts of the wall. And soon it all came together as one movie plot.
We also started to look at different ways to film different parts of movies, using Hanna and many other short clips from other movies as examples. We learned about all different kinds of shots, and I thought it was really cool. Now while I'm watching TV, I start to notice these kinds of shots, or even think about why the director chose to use a certain angle or something. By tearing apart a movie or a movie clip, I realized that you really look at all filmography a completely different way. And I like that new way a lot.
We had STAC art and STACting as well in the duration of these two weeks. In STAC art we started working on futurism. At first, when Mr. Ganes was explaining it and showing examples, I had no idea what I was going to do. He said that futurism should show some type of movement. So, for a good 10 minutes I sat there, looking at my blank piece of paper, thinking of what I should do. I started to think of music, and how most people don't see that music can be movement. So, I finally decided that I was going to draw piano keys with the music moving and floating out of them. I'm really happy with the way that it's turning out. I can't wait to work on my piece again this week.
In STACting, we started with miming, and ended with arguing. It was a really interesting class for me because when we were arguing with each other, I found myself starting to get really angry about the silliest things. Like, if we should not get off of a spaceship on a planet filled with vampires who would kill us. It was stupid little arguments that weren't even real, but I found myself getting kind of angry. I'm not sure if that was a good sign or a bad sign, but it surprised me.
We also continued with working on our projects. As I mentioned in an earlier blog post, I'm in dance once again, with the same group. As a group, we all have fantastic chemistry, so things were going great. We took Luke's advice and started from nothing, and soon, it actually became an organized dance that we started to put together.
Then sometime last week, Luke gave the entire class the same advice he gave us on our first day of working. So, things started to get kind of confusing for us. We felt as if we had already passed that stage, and we didn't need to repeat it. Most of us agreed, some did not. So, a couple of minor problems started to formulate with ideas. Thankfully though, we managed to finally agree that what we had seemed good, and that we needed to work from what we had. And we did, and we got a ton more ideas to add into our general outline. I think we're on the right track, and that we're going to have a phenomenal final product.
And lastly, our field trip. We went to the city again, and made our first stop at MoMA. Truthfully, that was my first time at MoMA and I liked it. I thought some stuff in MoMA was a little weird, and I was thinking a lot about how it actually made its way into the museum, but I liked a lot of stuff as well. The de Kooning exhibit was a little to abstract for my taste, but I really enjoyed the photography exhibit and the video art exhibits. I thought those were very cool.
Next we went off on our own, and I had a ton of fun. Since I got sick on the first STAC trip, I missed the part where we could stroll around the city. Friday was my first time, and it was probably one of my favorite parts of the entire trip.
At night we went to a show called "Bill Bowers: Beyond Words." I really enjoyed the show a lot. I thought that Bill was extremely talented in miming, and his story was really beautiful and fun to watch. I was amazed at how well of a mime he was and how he was so not afraid to say anything and everything. As an audience member, I felt completely connected to him and felt like I was in his story, because he told it so well.
As a performer, I really enjoyed the way the theatre was set up (the audience being super close to the stage), because it really broke the fourth wall. I love being downstage because I'm closer to the audience. That makes it feel more real to me, so I liked that a lot.
All in all, these past two weeks in STAC have been (as usual) a ton of fun, and I can't wait to see what we're going to do this week!
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Monday, October 17, 2011
Families Fight Too, And My Week In Review
Wow, I haven't blogged in a while! A lot has happened since I last blogged in STAC.
Tuesday we picked our t-shirt design. Although mine wasn't voted the t-shirt, I was still proud of what I accomplished, and I absolutely adore both designs that got chosen. I would love for either to be the STAC 2011-2012 t-shirt! I can't wait to see which one it is!
Thursday people from the country (not the state, but the country) of Georgia came to film us all day in STAC. I felt like a Kardashian! No, totally kidding, forget that reference. But in all honesty, it was fun. Or at least, to me, and my group.
We were all split up by grades to start working on new projects focusing on power. As a sophomore, I was placed in the sophomore group (which makes sense, obviously). All of the sophomores in STAC happened to all be girls! An even funnier coincidence is that half of the sophomore girls are under the art discipline, while the other half are music and dance disciplines. So, naturally, we got split up by that. In my group, it was all 4 dance girls, and Ellen, who was said to compose original music for us to dance to for this project.
To be perfectly honest, we all worked together really well. Most of us had worked together for Dada dance in September, so we all knew each others dance backgrounds and ideas from last time. That made it a little easier to work together. Also, we are the same age, all of us are friends outside of STAC, and we've all been going to school together since 6th grade. So, it worked out really well. We all considered Thursday a huge success, and we were all excited to see what was going to come on Friday.
... And Friday was pretty interesting. We started out with defining what art was to us. I really liked that conversation because it really opened my eyes to a lot of aspects of art that I never really thought of before. I really hope we have more conversations like "What Is Art?" because it gets you to think a lot. Like Luke said during the conversation, "this entire lecture/conversation is a gift." And it really was. It got me thinking all weekend what art really was. It made me think about how I can go around saying "I love the arts, they're my passion," and yet not have a personal definition for them. So, as a result, I'm working on my definition of art, and what it means to me. I'll blog what it is when I get to it, I promise.
Anyway, after a while the conversation escalated into the subject of power, which brought us to our projects. I was excited to share with the class how well we were doing, and excited to hear how everyone else was doing too. But, let's just say things didn't work as great as they did for us, for everyone else.
The freshmen and the seniors both said that they had a ton of problems, and things started to get really intense. The seniors said how they were fighting amongst themselves, and soon the fights became a part of the discussion. Of course, no one picked sides, because no one was right and no one was wrong. It was just a matter of them having to work together, and work things out.
There was a lot of what felt like hatred in the room when I left on Friday, and everyone was tense. You could tell that people were mad at each other. And that's okay. People who love each other fight, it's healthy, it's human nature, and it'll resolve, I'm sure of it. I really want to see how this resolves and what the final product is in their project (because we've seen the process that it took to reach that).
Today we worked on dance again. I can honestly say, we've made a ton of progress. I don't wanna post any ideas yet, because they're changing by the minute, but once we're sure of what we're doing, I can't wait to blog about it. And I most defiantly cannot wait to show what we have to the class because I think it'll be something really great. Even better then Dada Dance!
Next Friday we have a field trip and I'm like, super excited. I can't wait to stay for the entire field trip this time and enjoy the entire thing! It's going to be a ton of fun, I know it!
Tomorrow we're rotating between STAC Art and STACting and I'm excited for both (as usual). I can't wait to get back into the general swing of things in STAC and start working on my acting again, and learn a new type of art form. This week should be a good one, but then again, what week isn't good in STAC?
Tuesday we picked our t-shirt design. Although mine wasn't voted the t-shirt, I was still proud of what I accomplished, and I absolutely adore both designs that got chosen. I would love for either to be the STAC 2011-2012 t-shirt! I can't wait to see which one it is!
Thursday people from the country (not the state, but the country) of Georgia came to film us all day in STAC. I felt like a Kardashian! No, totally kidding, forget that reference. But in all honesty, it was fun. Or at least, to me, and my group.
We were all split up by grades to start working on new projects focusing on power. As a sophomore, I was placed in the sophomore group (which makes sense, obviously). All of the sophomores in STAC happened to all be girls! An even funnier coincidence is that half of the sophomore girls are under the art discipline, while the other half are music and dance disciplines. So, naturally, we got split up by that. In my group, it was all 4 dance girls, and Ellen, who was said to compose original music for us to dance to for this project.
To be perfectly honest, we all worked together really well. Most of us had worked together for Dada dance in September, so we all knew each others dance backgrounds and ideas from last time. That made it a little easier to work together. Also, we are the same age, all of us are friends outside of STAC, and we've all been going to school together since 6th grade. So, it worked out really well. We all considered Thursday a huge success, and we were all excited to see what was going to come on Friday.
... And Friday was pretty interesting. We started out with defining what art was to us. I really liked that conversation because it really opened my eyes to a lot of aspects of art that I never really thought of before. I really hope we have more conversations like "What Is Art?" because it gets you to think a lot. Like Luke said during the conversation, "this entire lecture/conversation is a gift." And it really was. It got me thinking all weekend what art really was. It made me think about how I can go around saying "I love the arts, they're my passion," and yet not have a personal definition for them. So, as a result, I'm working on my definition of art, and what it means to me. I'll blog what it is when I get to it, I promise.
Anyway, after a while the conversation escalated into the subject of power, which brought us to our projects. I was excited to share with the class how well we were doing, and excited to hear how everyone else was doing too. But, let's just say things didn't work as great as they did for us, for everyone else.
The freshmen and the seniors both said that they had a ton of problems, and things started to get really intense. The seniors said how they were fighting amongst themselves, and soon the fights became a part of the discussion. Of course, no one picked sides, because no one was right and no one was wrong. It was just a matter of them having to work together, and work things out.
There was a lot of what felt like hatred in the room when I left on Friday, and everyone was tense. You could tell that people were mad at each other. And that's okay. People who love each other fight, it's healthy, it's human nature, and it'll resolve, I'm sure of it. I really want to see how this resolves and what the final product is in their project (because we've seen the process that it took to reach that).
Today we worked on dance again. I can honestly say, we've made a ton of progress. I don't wanna post any ideas yet, because they're changing by the minute, but once we're sure of what we're doing, I can't wait to blog about it. And I most defiantly cannot wait to show what we have to the class because I think it'll be something really great. Even better then Dada Dance!
Next Friday we have a field trip and I'm like, super excited. I can't wait to stay for the entire field trip this time and enjoy the entire thing! It's going to be a ton of fun, I know it!
Tomorrow we're rotating between STAC Art and STACting and I'm excited for both (as usual). I can't wait to get back into the general swing of things in STAC and start working on my acting again, and learn a new type of art form. This week should be a good one, but then again, what week isn't good in STAC?
Monday, October 10, 2011
Be Kind, Rewind
Be Kind, Rewind. Those three words mean a lot. In some ways, they mean a learning experience. In other ways, they can possibly mean a work out. In some ways, they can mean just pure insanity. In some ways, they can mean rushing. So, you can pretty much say that Be Kind, Rewind means a hell of a lot of things. Especially to me.
A "Be Kind Rewind" is a film in which is shot in only one take. No rewinds. No retakes. What you have is what you have, and that's it. If you mess up, it's part of your film. Rule number one of a "Be Kind Rewind," don't try to outsmart the system and be perfect, because you'll look a whole lot worse if you do.
When Luke first said that this week we were working on "Be Kind Rewinds" the entire STAC room erupted into cheers. I just looked around thinking "Am I really the only one here who has no idea what the hell a Be Kind Rewind is?" Once Luke explained it, to be honest, it still didn't make much sense to me. What were we supposed to learn from this? It seemed like just a fun activity, nothing more.
Once we actually started to get to work on our films, it made a lot more sense, and it became a lot of fun. The day of filming had to be the best part. We only had 1 hour to shoot our entire movie, so naturally, we were all running around the school, in our various costumes, trying to get from place to place. This taught a lot of discipline, and it taught that shooting a movie in an hour even with mistakes can actually look pretty good.
I honestly think the best part about this entire experience was the looks we got from people in the hallways. They looked at us like we were insane. It was the funniest thing ever.
Our film was a little out there, but then again, so was everyone elses, and I think that's what made it fun. In all honesty, did I think that the idea of an OCD germaphobic serial killer was insane? Of course I did. But it was just fun to film, and to watch.
I think that watching all of them at the end of the filming was the most rewarding part. Watching 2 minute long videos that seemed so effortless, but in reality took much more effort then anyone could ever imagine.
The Be Kind Rewinds kind remind me of our mural on the first or second week of school. In the beginning, Luke told us that the mural had to be "Factory" and perfect, but after we finished we realized that it was really "Laboratory" and a learning experience. I feel like it didn't even matter what the Be Kind Rewinds looked like, so long as we learned something from them. And I think that I did learn a lot from them. I think we all did. And I can't wait for the chance to make another one.
A "Be Kind Rewind" is a film in which is shot in only one take. No rewinds. No retakes. What you have is what you have, and that's it. If you mess up, it's part of your film. Rule number one of a "Be Kind Rewind," don't try to outsmart the system and be perfect, because you'll look a whole lot worse if you do.
When Luke first said that this week we were working on "Be Kind Rewinds" the entire STAC room erupted into cheers. I just looked around thinking "Am I really the only one here who has no idea what the hell a Be Kind Rewind is?" Once Luke explained it, to be honest, it still didn't make much sense to me. What were we supposed to learn from this? It seemed like just a fun activity, nothing more.
Once we actually started to get to work on our films, it made a lot more sense, and it became a lot of fun. The day of filming had to be the best part. We only had 1 hour to shoot our entire movie, so naturally, we were all running around the school, in our various costumes, trying to get from place to place. This taught a lot of discipline, and it taught that shooting a movie in an hour even with mistakes can actually look pretty good.
I honestly think the best part about this entire experience was the looks we got from people in the hallways. They looked at us like we were insane. It was the funniest thing ever.
Our film was a little out there, but then again, so was everyone elses, and I think that's what made it fun. In all honesty, did I think that the idea of an OCD germaphobic serial killer was insane? Of course I did. But it was just fun to film, and to watch.
I think that watching all of them at the end of the filming was the most rewarding part. Watching 2 minute long videos that seemed so effortless, but in reality took much more effort then anyone could ever imagine.
The Be Kind Rewinds kind remind me of our mural on the first or second week of school. In the beginning, Luke told us that the mural had to be "Factory" and perfect, but after we finished we realized that it was really "Laboratory" and a learning experience. I feel like it didn't even matter what the Be Kind Rewinds looked like, so long as we learned something from them. And I think that I did learn a lot from them. I think we all did. And I can't wait for the chance to make another one.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Elements and T-Shirts
Yesterday in STAC Art we started to work on our designs for the STAC 2011-2012 T-Shirt. Mr. Ganes told us to reinvent what the STAC t-shirt means and to make the STAC t-shirt something that everyone will start to look forward to designing in the coming years.
As of right now, the t-shirt idea that I had in mind is kind of a secret, but after the voting I'll post pictures to the blog (just like I do with 99% of my STAC Art projects). I'm really excited to present it to the class and really really really proud of it!! Even if it doesn't get voted as the t-shirt, I'll still be proud of my hard work, and maybe even bring it back next year!
Acting. Today was completely different then acting ever was before. Usually I'm a little timid and embarrassed when Luke tells us to do some things (for example, walking around like primal apes), but today I really wasn't. For the most part I wasn't embarrassed at all. I was just having a good time and let myself really feel. And that totally made the difference.
Today had to do a lot with movement. Luke told us to move as if we were different elements (Fire, Water, Air, etc.) That was really interesting for me.
At first, I was kind of shy and timid but after a while all of it just came out. It was almost scary in a way because I didn't know I could feel that much while acting. It really opened up a lot of things for me. And I think I have Dada to thank for that.
Like I mentioned in an earlier post, Dada really taught me to be myself and to be free, and I think that the Dadaism concept was subconsciously applied to acting today. I just didn't feel afraid to express myself and be myself. It made everything so much easier.
I'm really excited for acting next week because of the great progress I made this week. I can't wait to see what we will tackle next and how we can approach feeling things differently. These classes have honestly made a difference in my acting, and I'm so glad. They're really helping and they're really fun! Next week should be awesome, and I can't wait!
As of right now, the t-shirt idea that I had in mind is kind of a secret, but after the voting I'll post pictures to the blog (just like I do with 99% of my STAC Art projects). I'm really excited to present it to the class and really really really proud of it!! Even if it doesn't get voted as the t-shirt, I'll still be proud of my hard work, and maybe even bring it back next year!
Acting. Today was completely different then acting ever was before. Usually I'm a little timid and embarrassed when Luke tells us to do some things (for example, walking around like primal apes), but today I really wasn't. For the most part I wasn't embarrassed at all. I was just having a good time and let myself really feel. And that totally made the difference.
Today had to do a lot with movement. Luke told us to move as if we were different elements (Fire, Water, Air, etc.) That was really interesting for me.
At first, I was kind of shy and timid but after a while all of it just came out. It was almost scary in a way because I didn't know I could feel that much while acting. It really opened up a lot of things for me. And I think I have Dada to thank for that.
Like I mentioned in an earlier post, Dada really taught me to be myself and to be free, and I think that the Dadaism concept was subconsciously applied to acting today. I just didn't feel afraid to express myself and be myself. It made everything so much easier.
I'm really excited for acting next week because of the great progress I made this week. I can't wait to see what we will tackle next and how we can approach feeling things differently. These classes have honestly made a difference in my acting, and I'm so glad. They're really helping and they're really fun! Next week should be awesome, and I can't wait!
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