Production – Foley Final

Working as a team in Group X, our goal was to create a live Foley orchestration to a 3-minute clip from  “Wallace and Gromit”.

This final production project was definitely an interesting way to combine all of the topics we have learned this semester into one collective assignment. While the project was mainly focused on the production of Foley, we still had to focus and incorporate costuming, lighting, and music. I was one of the Foley artists in charge of producing the sounds of the penguin’s footsteps and the tape measure. Our group was known to have more realistic Foley sounds, and that is mostly because the items we used to produce those sounds were parallel to the items we saw in the clip; for example, using actual tape measures and cutting cardboard with a pocketknife. We had the thought that they would provide the most genuine sounds. Our group was very dissatisfied and surprised to find that the actual audio of the clip sounded dissimilar to the sounds we produced. We also found that there were sounds that our group added that were not even present in the actual clip; for example, the alarm clock and blinking. From this project, I have gained a greater understanding of the background work to create what we see on screen – I will never be able to see films in the same way.

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Moving Space – Stairwork

My Moving Space project, titled Stairwork, is a collaborative dance installation residing on the stairwell of the rotunda in Sullivant Hall created by Hazel Black, Lisa D’Onofrio, Grace Robinson, Brianna Rhodes, and myself. This location, upon of first learning about the project, was one of the first that came to mind of wanting to choreograph into the space. Oddly enough, that was what most of my group members had admitted to as well, therefore it was easy to come to a unanimous decision on the location. I believe that the stairwell appealed so much to me because there are various planes for movement to be performed on. Compared to a typical place where dances are performed – otherwise known as a stage – the stair well allowed us to use the landing, each step, and even the railings as platforms for our movement. The stairwell was also a great structure to draw inspiration for movement. For example, traffic on a stairwell typically flows from the top to the bottom or from the bottom to the top and our piece demonstrated that by dancers coming into the space from the top steps and exiting at the bottom. Inspiration was also taken from the architecture of the stairwell: there were many geometrical patterns seen in the stairs, the landing, and railings, and that translated into many shapes and patterns that can be seen in the movement.
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Contemporary Journals 1-3

A collection of journals from my fall semester Contemporary dance class and a video of the showcase from the last day of classes.

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Oct. 11 – Body Organization

I am a very structured person: I prefer math and ballet, lines and maps, and knowing that an ‘x’ will always yield a ‘y’. The Bartenieff Fundamentals taught in this contemporary class seemed to be just the opposite of everything that I knew and loved; it, at first, looked like a free-for-all on the floor, and I knew that it would be a challenge to execute all of the movements correctly. Entering this contemporary class was like entering a stage of entropy, and the only thing that my mind wanted to do was create order.

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Learning & Creating with GarageBand

As a solid PC user, I have had very little experience with Mac’s software and its applications. I believe that the closet that I have ever gotten to using GarageBand is watching my peers in the sixth grade play around and make beats in class instead of doing the required assignment. I remember being fascinated by the ability to make numerous, unique songs from one beat, and I also remember being entirely confused in the process of making them. Upon learning that we would be getting an introduction to the GarageBand application in freshman seminar, I had mixed feelings of excitement and of nervousness. Finally, I would be able to have a chance at something I have only ever admired, yet I was also afraid that I would be extremely untalented at it.

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as part of a creative process

I am currently working with MFA student Kristina D’Onofrio as a second cast and understudy for her piece to be performed for this year’s Winter Concert. The process for the piece started about a month ago, however I just recently got asked to join rehearsals. As of today, I have completed my second rehearsal. While I find that the piece concept and movement are interesting, I also find that the creative process, while enjoyable, is slightly frustrating to me. Continue reading as part of a creative process