Author: Haya Arabi-Katbi

• She works with projections and light to encompass and utilize all of her surroundings
  • Creating space
  • VJ?
  • Charismatic
  • Very interesting capstone
  • She stated that her ideas ping pong in her brain so when she has one she goes for it
  • Pieces inspired by nature

Manipulating Minds

Throughout the years, the concept of cinematography has continued to fascinate me every day. The art of cinema can manipulate minds in mysterious ways, as it urges the audience to feel with each films’ characters, whether they are delighted, devastated, or even perplexed. One of the creative films that move me is Damien Chazelle’s film “Whiplash”. As simple as it may seem on a screen, films tend to adhere to a specific set of laws that help entertain the audience. For instance, some films contain an archplot, which is a story built around an active protagonist, and others may contain an antiplot. An antiplot is a plot that throws away all the main rules of storytelling and twists each story into its own, as it ridicules the very idea of formal principles. The film “Whiplash” essentially fascinates me as I feel like it contains both an archplot and an antiplot at the same time. The archplot is Andrew’s (the drummer’s) story and the trials and tribulations that he faces at the hands of his mentor. The movie then doesn’t follow a traditional storytelling method, as it feels almost backward but still moves in a forward fashion simultaneously.  

               In addition, Chazelle studies the psychology of color in films before deciding on the scene of the set. The use of color as a scene to adhere to the character portrays a specific image in the viewer’s mind for the rest of the film. I believe his great amount of care and use of color is what fascinates and moves me throughout the film. For instance, he makes sense that the background or undertone of the scene is yellow, orange, or green. These undertones change and develop throughout the film. For instance, the color orange may be used to show courage, confidence, friendliness, and success, but at the same time, it may show ignorance or sluggishness. An orange undertone is found many times throughout the film to represent the constant changes of emotions that Andrew goes through while facing immense amounts of pressure from himself and his mentor. We can view the fears that Andrew, as an artist, faces such as fears of self-doubt and his worth. Chazelle tends to portray the image of the “starving artist” in a couple of his films. The fears and emotions that these artists and creators face allow viewers and individuals to connect with Chazelle’s characters in a profound way.

               Chazelle also uses a specific type of technique to film the changing scenes throughout the ending. This technique is called a whip pan or swish pan, and it is an intentional camera rotation on the x-axis that is so fast it creates an often disorienting blur effect. He also uses this technique in several other of his notorious films such as La La Land and Babylon. Throughout the film Whiplash, Chazelle uses several schematics such as changes in lighting, sounds, music, and color to sway the audience in a different direction to feel with the main character and react to his emotions.

               The art of cinematography captivates me in many ways, as it provides an endless number of new topics and ideas to learn about, whether it be the angles of a camera or the color scheme of a film. Damien Chazelle’s film “Whiplash” has specific techniques and well-thought-through tactics that move me throughout the film. Additionally, some films tend to just have a simple and overlying feeling which allows you to flow with the film. Some of these cannot be explained why, but it’s more of a superficial level; for instance, through similar emotions and experiences.

In Chapter 3, the authors talk about the different types of fears that the authors encounter and some tactics to get over the fears. Bayles and Orlando point out that artists are constantly faced with self-doubt and fear of not being enough. They highlight the paradox that while fear is a natural part of the creative process, it can also hinder artistic expression if not managed effectively.

Additionally, they discuss the topic of “blank canvas syndrome”, which is faced when artists run out of ideas and are blocked for a period of time. Usually, artists do so as they focus on the final product of their creation and not on the creating process. I believe that if we were to enjoy and focus more throughout creating, then the final outcome would always be good enough for us.

The authors also mention several other topics such as fear of rejection, fear of not living up to your own potential, and the pressure to gain recognition. Additionally, they emphasize that fear is part of the artistic journey and that artists must confront and embrace their fears to continue evolving. Artists and creators have to push through their fears to begin their creating process, regardless of what they think of themselves or what others may think of them.

• Sensing the invisible
• Global and local data
• Space projects vs nature projects
• Speculum, solaris
• Solar wind?
• Satellarium II
• Satellarium II first started off with video projections and their latest projects include laser projections.
• For the environment projects there were modules placed on trees with lights, gas, smoke, etc.
• Uses polycarbonate
• Underground communication w trees.

For my make assignment, I decided to draw a sketch of a dream I had that contained a plethora of things. For instance throughout the dream, I was in Berlin witnessing the graffiti, in Italy roaming around and having olives, and in Dubai going to a concert in the Coca Cola Arena.

Each picture depicts a certain scene I had throughout my dream, so I decided to create a collage of all of the instances throughout to portray my subconscious.

On the right side of the page, you can see the Coca Cola Arena, a view of Berlin, some Easter eggs, as well as a cup of chocolate pudding. I then moved on to draw a depiction of some graffiti, olives, a hamburger, whiteboard, and an aerial view of Florence.

In Chapter 1, Bayles and Orland discuss the challenges and fears that artists face throughout their creative process. They state that art is filled with uncertainties and that artists should emphasize these uncertainties to overcome their fears and obstacles throughout their creative process. Some common fears that artists face are fear of failure, the unknown, and judgment.

They state that fear is an initial part of the creative process and is necessary for growth and progress. To increase creativity, individuals must go through this cycle of trial and error to achieve self-discovery. According to the authors, the willingness to confront and work through these difficulties is what separates successful artists from those who give up. Additionally, Bayles and Orland touch upon the notion of expectations. When artists set high standards, they tend to receive disappointment in return as well as self-doubt. They encourage artists to focus on the act of creating itself, rather than being fixated on the outcome or recognition.

In these pages, de Bono discusses the concept of suspending judgment and its relationship to lateral thinking. He states that traditional thinking relies on the evaluation of thinking, which stifles creativity and the creative process. On the other hand, lateral thinking relies on going against judgment to enhance creativity and explore ideas.

He highlights the concept of “po” which focuses on a state of open-mindedness and non-judgment. With this strategy, one enhances the use of lateral thinking and allows one to delve into deeper ideas and thoughts that could not happen with the use of vertical thinking and judgment. Additionally, he introduces more techniques to break away from fixed patterns of thinking and uncover hidden possibilities.

Moreover, he highlights once again the importance of working in group settings to generate new ideas. He states that individuals should refrain from criticizing or evaluating ideas prematurely. With a new and open-minded environment, individuals are able to explore their creativity without the pressure of judgment from themselves or other people.

• Fit Bit
• R&D based
• Focused on creating graphics and visuals using computer technology
• Have created projects for Adidas, IBM, and google
• They use abstract art to generate emotions

• The visuals were very cool.
• I enjoyed the outside projection in the environment, especially in the rain as it added a very interesting element to the projection that was not initially planned.
• The projection onto the cloth was interesting as I never thought of it as a medium of creativity in that way
• At one point in the videos I thought one of the audios resembled the U-Bahn at the station
• Once your attention would start to drift, the visuals would change along with the audio to catch your attention once again.
• Trippy

Topic: GRAFFITI

Why do people do graffiti outdoors?

So people can see it

Why do we want people to see graffiti?

Because we like showing off and we love attention

Why do we love attention?

Because were narcissists

Why are we narcissists but don’t like narcissists?

Because we don’t like seeing our reflection on others?

what about your reflection in the water?

Because water is trippy

Why is it trippy?

It just is.

We initially decided to do our “Why” question as a pair to generate more ideas and move more into lateral thinking. Working on our own resulted in a more vertical way of thinking and we wanted to stay away from that. We did several iterations of the “Why” questions with different topics, but we only chose one at the end.

For our topic, we chose graffiti because it is something that we have been seeing around on a daily basis. From there, we somehow branched into narcissism, reflections, and water. We started with one idea, but we ended up combining several of the topics that were mentioned in the questions. 

We brainstormed the projects we could make with the topic of narcissism, and what’s more narcissistic than portraying ourselves. We went around the city to find reflective surfaces such as windows and fountains to portray our narcissism. Then, we ended up with three different surfaces and reflections, one in the fountain, one in a window, and one in a building. 

When discussing the “reflection” part, we explored different reflective surfaces, and water got our attention since we even mentioned it while doing the questions. We then realized that this should be the central image since it goes back to narcissism as the origin. Since this world comes from the story of Narcissus that drowned while admiring his reflection. Good news is, we did not drown (because we are not actual narcissists). 

Our initial fountain was not as reflective as we expected it to be, therefore, we walked around the city, beside the Brandenburg Gate and Friedrichstrasse to explore other fountains and options. At the end of the day, we went back to our initial fountain to where our idea was inspired (the sun was at a better angle then so it was more reflective). 

Photos only reflect one part of our narcissism, and we decided to take this matter into our hands. What’s more narcissistic than photos of ourselves? Photos of ourselves merged together and “edited” to show our best self. We then went back to the concept of graffiti and decided to draw over our pictures and around in order to better represent our project.