View from The Bridges -Class Performance Project- #2

Back again.. to get a better picture of who was doing what there is a dedicated list which we
followed except when that person did his or her "segment" - it is as follows :

Andy/Jane - audio
JoEllen - video mixer/audio
Sunmin - camera
Laura - camera
Julie - computer
Scott - computer/ video mixer/ director
Jane - overall stage manager/MC/ video

*The order of segments were those done by the following


Scott's: Blocking The Block
Laura: View from Under the Bridge
Jane: What's Up With Talking?
JoEllen: Ethersketch
Sunmin: Bridge of the Moments
Julie: Dreaming of Going to Korea
Andrew: Andy will be putting together 5 30-60 second transitions that will separate each piece.

Although we had a false start, our first segment by Scott went off pretty well. His collaborator - a guitarist,was on another floor-and was ready to start again. We had, it seemed, taken off without Andy's tabla playing which I really thought added so much-- I was responsible for the on-stage patter, and a Master of Ceremonies ' "act" -

Laura's piece worked well.. she had a dancer at another local location- waiting to dance via skype
and they did well... they danced simultaneously

Jane: I had the most complicated film and skit - I think it went OK- although it needed precise timing to really make it effective.. my long distance collaborators were able to get through
Mariangeles read the excerpt from Luciano Berio's Sinfonia -( very highbrow) and she would lapse into Spanish-
Then my segment went on - me trying to write a song but not wanting to get hung up in words..
Then Ernesto came on board - he had found a way to load in his pictures into the Skype program
as a slide show.

In between the segments came Andy's Tabla

Next was Joellen's Ethernet painting that used the Coccinella server - that has a chat room where you set up a "white board" and various people in different locations can create drawings simultaneously. I did my best with that...

Sumin - used Julie to sing an original piece and she composed something for the piano as well

Julie had a skype collaborator, Myung, from Korea - playing the theme from The Titanic on
a whistle type instrument

It ended nicely - it went over time however and through the whole presentation, we had a n audience person, Synthia - projected on the ceiling through a computer/projector combination.

It was a great experience to work that hard to create something that short!- with collaborators from nearby localities to Buenos Aires and Korea - but we did it and it had a lot of substance...
One has to know the entire production -) - it was experimental - it would have been really awesome if we had had the time to make it "really seamless" -

Our class performance for the final project "View from the Bridges" -was scheduled for Dec 15th at 7PM. As I was driving downtown, with my on stage script, additional papers for the skit and the DVD made from the .mov file, my mind was going through the last details I would need to accomplish for my segment as well as envisioning the set up schematic drawing sent out by Scott. The class needed to arrive between 4-and 430
for our set up and possible trouble shooting

We had decided to scale down some of the equipment after a meeting held two weeks previous to the 15th. Here is the list of the equipment that would need to be in place, based on the needs of each performer.


3 projectors
3 computers
2 cameras
1 video mixer
2 switches
2 VDAs
2 canopus'
3 computer connections
4 composite cables*
10 s-video cables*
Power strips as needed
Extension cords (power) as needed
Converter connectors as needed
1 audio mixer
2 microphones
Audio cables as needed
AND a DVD player

All the class members worked together to bring the equipment into the studio from different locations: Tom Beyer's office, 7th floor and the Monitor Station on the 8th floor. There was trouble getting the ether connection for Dr. Gilbert's Lap Top- (which was dedicated to the "skype" collaborators ) it's connectivity remained unsolvable until Tom Beyer came to check it out- and it appeared that there was something wrong with the school's Ethernet connection- so we moved to wireless for the "skype Computer" -- Meanwhile,I brought in cables, and Projectors, Vda's and switches...made contact via skype with my own laptop to check on my collaborators, Mariangeles Rajoy, and Ernesto Lacalle in Buenos Aires ( they were two hours ahead and waiting patiently for us to contact with them)

We accomplished our set up in approx 1 1/2 hour - and at that point - we had to re-test the Ethernet connection and as mentioned earlier, we switched to wireless. -The DVD player was brought in by Tom Beyer at approx 615 PM..we connected that,
and by 630 were pretty much up and running.

Besides helping with the overal set up, I had to experiment some with Coccinella - which has an interactive paint program with a white wall room -where many collaborators can draw/paint using the tools on the left - Jo Ellen had envisioned this as her segment- and I was to be part of this effort.

To Be Continued: stay tuned

Simplify and Know What You Need

More on the process of developing our production:

We all had to rethink our set up and that process was very positive.
Tuesday, the class was given a deadline - the setup with cameras, projector, audio and computers had to be set and functioning by 8PM - we were not able to make the deadline, hence, the rethinking that went on until 10:30--

The outcome: Simplify and really know what you need for what action TB made three columns on the board and each class member made their choices of "where" they wanted their movie, their Skype, their "live" shots to be projected to..and from that simple thought process, we could then see better, what pieces were needed to accomplish this.

We got a lot closer to realizing the setup and the performance as a whole. We also have a tentative order for each class members' piece.
Here is a list of what we will need "for sure"- as simple organization will save time in the end.

Inventory- Views from the Bridges

7^Th Floor TB’s Office

3 Projectors w/cables

2 switches (Radio Shack)

1 (or possibly 2) VDA ‘s

2-3 DVI Mac Adaptors

1 Tom’s Bag of Tricks

2 Canopus

---------------------------

2 Mac laptop COMPUTERS

--------------------

8^Th Floor Monitor

Mackie Audio Mixer Onyx 1640

2 Sony Video Cameras

2 tripods

2 Microphones

4 XLR Cables

2 Mic Stands

2 mic clips

Ederol Video Mixer

Assorted S-Video, B&C,

RCA connecting cables

Tape

Artists tape

Gathering the Puzzle Pieces

More about the process of gathering ideas, materials, technical knowledge and collaboration; I have completed my photography jaunts...taking the Canon SX120
with me on several dedicated "shoots" looking for the perfect "talk" for my short
"mini film and stills" - Then, uploading from the Canon into the Mac Book was much simpler than I anticipated..as I went along, I learned more about I Photo and how to
store previous pics as well as the newer ones within dedicated folders.

From time immemorial,man has also been fascinated with animals "talking" - therefore, I had to grab a little of Mr. Fox being shown on a wide screen television in the Best Buy Store - (I was on a TV talk show excursion -so you will hear the sound of Best Buy)- With all of this done, I set about opening I Movie - and importing all the files I decided upon. I spent several days exploring different transitions and video effects and as this was progressing, I realized that it wasn't enough - and that certain "live" segments would need to be intertwined as action against the background of images and sound track.

I am now working on a script- for myself, the solo performer, and my two collaborators from out of the country who are long time friends and artists of the spoken word, and architecture. They are from Buenos Aires Argentina, and now, we have decided to collaborate using Skype.

My next hurtle, then, is to "time" my little spoken parts and at what point, they will come in to speak theirs... and also how to end it. This is a very complex process indeed-as this must be accurate cues for the class members at the tech table .

Economic Strings of Talk -A Gaggle of New Companies

As I went searching for a few vocabulary "help"words, I found more acronyms in one paragraph,than ants on an ant hill - how interesting it is to see the new companies which deal with imposing standards on "talk".


Jingle is an extension to the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP). It implements peer-to-peer (P2P) session control (signaling) for multimedia interactions such as in Voice over Internet Protocol or videoconferencing communications. It was designed by Google and the XMPP Standards Foundation. The multimedia streams are delivered using the Real-time Transport Protocol (RTP). If needed, NAT traversal is assisted using Interactive Connectivity Establishment (ICE).

Blue Streak II - The Anatomy of Talk

OK... so it's create time--
Each of the class members are now envisioning their own Mini "Across The Ether"
A Multimedia Five to Six Minute Moment to be placed within the larger piece called Views from the Bridges.

I have always been very aware of the sound or timbre of peoples voices...hence, talk and it's function in life. Since our theme is "the bridge as a connector", then "talk " itself has a life of it's own within the Big Picture and certainly fits right in...it functions as a bridge between people... although it can be combustible, inefficient, over used...and folks aren't always on the same "page", it still is a treasure trove of connectivity. Talk also has many technical companions; the cell phone being one - not to mention the Pod cast and streaming talk shows. Other new formats such as Twitter, I Chat, and Face Book are here to stay, and it's where your finger tips do the talking.

Here are the steps I need to make to produce my segment:
1) I am inspired to take a song I wrote and produced called "Blue Streak" - which is a pop type song about "talking" - In this track are Ham Radio recorded segments - and they were mixed in with the instrumental tracks. as well as lyrics
that pertain to the subject matter-)

2) Load it into Logic ( and for this I went to work with another musician- we
took sections of the original track and created loops -and made an Mp3file
3) I loaded the Mp3 of Blue Streak II into Garage Band , where I did further editing, then into I Movie. With this , my project had begun.

4) Choosing a new Camera - It's time to have a tool which I can easily carry -and spontaneously capture videos - purchased a Cannon 10Pix SureShot for this and other
upcoming things - took the camera out for a few excursions- attempted to capture random people talking - but it was rather difficult !!

5) I then set up a few appointments with some fellow grad students, friends etc.to
film them on their call, having a conversation- I gave them a lot of freedom --

5) Collecting photos and videos to import into I Movie using the Cannon - almost finished with this process./

6) Deciding on Live Script and contacting possible overseas collaborators -
Several People come to mind and I have contacted then via email. I would like them to contribute using the "art form of talk" - A funny phone conversation, read poem... speak of something in a different language, etc.

7) Now ,I need to decide what format of web-based application for instant messaging and voice over internet protocol (VOIP) I will need to accomplish this...and that will depend on the persons involved and their physical location.

Class Project- View from the Bridges

Across the Ether and the work we, the class, did to help make it fly left me with an interesting impression: Once I had some working technical knowledge of "camera one", my body changed into a camera man's/woman's body ! -At one point I was crawling underneath seats pulling on cable and for a moment, I fit right in ! No one is just one thing -

One cannot grasp immediately the depth of information needed for all the mechanical and technical details one has to have to set up a project such as Across the Ether...it kept unfolding layer upon layer - yet, we worked together and shared information to make each of our jobs comprehensible.

Now, we are embarking on our own production and are confronted with using/choosing technical knowledge that will be needed for View from The Bridges (the title we decided upon). A Bridge is symbolic of bringing together two lands....

A thread is forming ; a creative idea for my contribution : My recording of an original song..entitled Blue Streak is about "talk" and the proliferation of it as society gobbles up wireless communication - and even now it's dated yet it's my creation and can be the sound track for mini movies of the many ways "talk" has a life of it's own.

* Today I planned to film some of the 59th Street Bridge,however, the weather and wind were slightly daunting - oh well.....