Due: Wednesday, April 29 (11:59PM)

The final projects will focus upon further development of a previous discovery from our video, textile, and mechanical based explorations. You and another student will work collaboratively to practice refinement and further exploration of an element found within your previous assignments. This element could be, but is not limited to, a: wearable mechanism, particular movement of a piece of fabric, content or topic, or a video premise. Because we are now a web-based course, you will present a video as your final product.

Reflection and Selection

Over the last semester you and your partner have, individually and/or collaboratively, created over a dozen experiments. The results of the experiments were unique to each person or pair while still having material commonalities. Your own interests hopefully became more clear over through the experiments over the course of the semester. Reflect back on your experiences and discoveries within this class to answer these questions:

  • What was most exciting to you?
  • Which experiment opened up questions for you that you would like to revisit?
  • What formal elements do you want to explore the meaning of more?
  • What content elements do you want to try another way to present?

Choose and element that you and your partner feel excited and curious about to develop further.

Process and Approach

We are asking you to engage in a process of iterative creative development based upon your past work. There are multiple ways to do this. We offer two ways that we could like you to try:

  • How – Why
    • Choose a singular formal element within your works, this is a HOW(1).
    • Reflect and write upon this formal element to explore its meaning or metaphor, this is a WHY(1).
    • Now that you have a WHY(1), brainstorm how you might formally create and present this new idea. This new physical presentation is a new HOW(2).
    • Reflect upon this second HOW(2) to discover its new WHY(2).
    • Repeat this cycle of HOW(x)-WHY(x) to further morph and develop your project into something you were not initially expecting.
      • Also, instead of starting with a HOW, you could start with a WHY. This process works either way.
    • Stanford d.school reference
    • notes on Why-How from 16-223
  • Past – Future
    • Choose one moment from one of your videos. Brainstorm backwards and forwards from this moment to extend the length of the moment.
    • What happened prior to this moment?
    • What happened after it?
      • The development could be either or both narrative and abstract.

Elements of the Final Video

  • final video should be no more three minutes in length
  • mechanics do not necessarily need to work multiple times, but DOES need to work at least once for the video documentation.
  • remember that sound is an important element, and we would like you to try something other than a professionally recorded song.

Objectives

  • Use reflection to find inspiration within your own work
  • Collaborate remotely on a project
  • Iterate on an element or idea within your work so as to develop your work to find new discoveries.
  • Use video as a final product to explore or convey your ideas
  • Create a working structure with your collaborator so that you both can work simultaneously.

Deliverables:

By beginning of class on Thurs., April 9:

  1. A one line statement about the element and approach you are taking with your final project.

After the first week, we’d like to see a short progress blog post from each pair with the following:

  1. A single video showing the first iteration of your developed moment.
    1. Either a new HOW-WHY or one direction of the PAST-FUTURE
  2. A brief statement about your project, including: a plan of how you are approaching your project, and why you have chosen this element and approach.

For the due date, each pair should please create a single post on the course site with the following:

  1. One edited video.
    1. (see elements of the final video, above)
  2. A paragraph or two reflecting upon your explorations: meaning, intended effect, surprises, discoveries, successes.

Criteria

The spirit of the course remains focused on discovery and creative exploration. So please keep in mind the same principles we have emphasized in every assignment:

  1. Stay open and go with your discoveries.
  2. Experimentation and creative exploration is more important than refinement.
  3. Make clear documentation compelling images. We are now treating the ‘documentation’ as a primary creative element in the form of narrative or non-narrative cinematic production.