Class Notes, 14 Nov
Appropriating technology for form, retaining functionality
“Dazzle” was invented in WWI to protect ships from being seen by observers
Automobile designers have used it to protect/hide the shapes of new cars while they are tested on public streets. Dazzle also prevents digital cameras with auto focus (like your mobile) from focusing on the car.
Now, dazzle is used to modify makeup and hair styles to protect individuals from facial recognition by systems using machine learning/AI software.
Applying one field’s form to another field
In the early days of music video and MTV, many videos were awful. Video equipment was expensive and out of the budget of bands, but you have a friend who can “borrow” some equipment over the weekend…
The Toy Dolls, “Ellie the Elephant” (which is a classic punk/skater track)
Or you shoot your band playing live in a garage(?) then mix it with footage from movies, Dead Kennedys’ “Holiday in Cambodia”
Or you hire an up-and-coming filmmaker and let them do what they do, make a movie, not a “music video”.
Jonathan Demme: New Order, “The Perfect Kiss“, shown in movie theaters after trailers and before his Talking Heads Movie, “Stop Making Sense“.
Other movies made about music worth watching, Laurie Anderson, “Home of the Brave” and Tom Waits, “Big Time“.