to... (drumroll)
gertrude stein's tender buttons is famously believed to be an exercise in sound over sense, and meaning through repetition. i graphed her words by their grammatical parts of speech to see, visually, the repetitive structure of her syntax. the poems are graphed using a system constructed to maximize readability from left to right while the y-axis is organized top to bottom as follows:
articles
adjectives
nouns
conjunctions
prepositions
pronouns
verbs
adverbs
this structure i could convert into do re mi scales, apply to a musical key, and in so doing, produce the music of stein's poetry. a music box come to life!
that! my first ever after-effects trick. hopefully the first of many in a series of ever-increasing impressiveness, complexity, and technique.
as for an obligatory "what did you learn at school today, sweetie?" address: over the course of this project, i have gone from opening after effects once or twice by accident and panicking when i saw its icon bouncing on my dock to being able to actually do a handful of things in it with some level of accuracy and understanding! i've also really experienced for one of the first times how well a legitimate concept can carry you through an execution without as much waffling as when you're less sold on your own idea, which itself was a lesson about a new way to generate a concept: what kind of information can i extract from this source? through what new system can i look at this information? what, then, can i do with that information in the system? i would love to think gertrude stein, with her highly, dazzlingly combined analytical and instinctual creative method would be intrigued.
This clearly communicates the sense of music, not only through the sound of each key but through the orientation in which each form takes in relationship to the music played. You are effectively generating noise through a pattern. Because I have heard your concept, I understand where the music derives from, but if I did not know I may not quite understand how you arrived at the composition and form. I am not sure if it is necessary for the reader to know but it may lead to a more interesting narrative rather than words flashing with a musical note.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy this Jessi! I think that even without explanation due to the length of the animation that someone would pick up on the sound aspect of what is going on. With the notes for each of the parts of speech. I think that the way it's set up sets a good tone and mood. I think it has improved a lot in small ways since last critique. The words are more visible and easier to follow. I like the details of this like in the beginning/middle when you have the crank noise. I think it is a good set up for what is to come. Each time I watch it I pick up on something different. First it was the sounds, then the words, then I see the small changes within the type that you have called out(italic titles etc.).
ReplyDeleteI think that the simplicity of the transitions just the fade in and out is nice. With the addition of the music it makes it a lot easier to understand what is going on.