brainstorm

A short, experimental film exploring/questioning the idea of "reality" as a construct, using repetive motions-both fluid and machine-like as metaphors for this idea.

2 parallel videos running on loop (either on two projectors or split screen)
one video "organic" the other "artificial"

both videos begin with a shot of a black and white cat with 3 balls of yarn
the "organic" video zooms in on the cat, transitioning into a dancer dancing in a forest.
the "artificial" video zooms in on the yarn balls and cuts to a scene where 3 pairs of hands are rolling the yarn back onto the balls and slamming the yarn balls down the line (at the same time) in sort of a machine-belt motion.

as this is going on in the "artifical" video, in the "organic" video, the dancer is dancing to the same rhythm as the hands moving the yarn, but the dancer is alone and her movements are much less rigid than those of the hands.

after a while of establishing the rhythm of the yarn motion, 2 pairs of hands slam the yarn down like usual, but the 3rd pair, the one on the end stops and begins to open up the yarn, discovering fragments of mirrors inside of it.

while this is happening, the dancer (in the "organic" video) stops, and begins to dig in the dirt, eventually discovering the same mirror fragments.

the films both end on the same shot of the cat playing with the yarn. (maybe the yarn is all over/entangling the cat now)

inspiration:

suburban lawns

about a week ago, my neighbor mowed our lawn.

thinking it was a random act of kindness, I made plans to bake him cookies.

Later, I found out that our landlord charges us an additional $12.50 every time this neighbor mows our lawn.

I cancel plans to make him cookies.

Our landlord says that this neighbor is permitted to mow our lawn every time he deems it below par of the neighborhood.

A few days later, another neighbor gave us a weed eater; he said he had an extra. Sensing a growing discontent in the neighborhood regarding our lawn, and feeling a bit confused about what the neighborhood lawn expectations are, I set out to find the most perfect lawn in my neighborhood.

As I walk, I'm thinking about the lawn as a sort of transitory space between public and private, sometimes showing a sense of welcome, defensiveness, or indifference.

I begin to get bored with lawns, (they're all starting to look a little the same) and I start to wander.

I haven't seen anyone in a while; only remnants, little displaced ghosts.

Feeling frustrated about my inability to find the perfect lawn, I decide to go home.

On the way home, I think more about transitions, about things that aren't meant to stay static, or even stationary.

I think about how every moment seems to balance on a series of fragile transitory motions, and I'm not sure how comfortable I am with this revelation.

science is fiction/fictions do exist

so, first of all, best night ever ^^^^^

the next screening will be Taste of Cherry + a Kurosawa short at 8 on Sept 11th

The Dairy 2010 Court Street

-------

Glass Jars from Little Brown Mushroom on Vimeo.

Up to a Certain Point, Panleve, Alec Soth (Glass Jars), and Superstar are the almost-documentaries that interest me the most (so far). All of these films merge documentary with experimental narrative fiction. As far as an "actual" documentary goes, Hearts and Minds is probably the best one I've seen. It contextualized interview footage with soldiers and civilians from both sides within a larger context of what was going on in pop culture to influence the war.

As far as what I want to make goes, I'm interested in the idea of competition.

some forms of competition I'm thinking of (these could benefit from some specificity):

craigslist singles ads

dating as a competition for romance, for an idealized, marketed "love"

america's obsession with football/sports/celebrities/fights

"reality" shows

make over shows

competition freewrite-

cyclical, marketed, promotes the continuation of capitalism, dating, images of what love should look like, how these images benefit the elite-ex. disney relies on promoting family values, these values produce generations that believe them, and these generations buy/support disney, same theory for how women should appear/behave, football, pageants, american idol, the standards for success, how these standards effect not only america, but all of the countries with american/western influence, women/"others" cast as performers, performers, performers, stages, curtains, desire, projections, the could be should be would be, the subjunctive, the reason reality shows are so popular, this pretend freedom as a form of oppression, how to make this real, not existent only in theory, this is real, the theory comes from the real, this happens to humans, FICTIONS DO EXIST, and they do influence the lives of people who live them, how long can we lie, how long can we perfect lying, how long can we find the lie in someone else, and what "truth" do we have to compare the lie to? how do we find a specific question to ask? commodified identities, how do we even begin to address this?

blow up, a history of bombing and all that heaven allows

Responses-

BLOW UP-

"nothing like a little disaster to sort things out"

The film posed a question of perception, of what "really" happened, and who has the authority and the facts to prove it.
photography's literal role-to become a sort of proof of reality. He discovers the murder by blowing up the picture.
the "explosion" in the film happens when he meets the woman in the park, when she attacks him for the film.
The role of women in this film was very problematic for me. They are portrayed always as objects for a photograph, even when they are not being photographed. Could this be Antonioni's critical commentary on a trend in society? or is he also subscribing to that dehumanizing trend? Women are completely at the mercy of the photographer, he does whatever he wants with them.
The tennis match at the end became sort of a metaphor for the entire film. A group of mimes are miming a game of tennis, while the photographer stands and watches. Maybe this symbolizes the question of how "real" our perceptions are, and how photography mimes this perceived reality.



A HISTORY OF BOMBING-
The structure of the book seemed to aim to mirror the content. While the different sections appear to fragmented, they are connected in a linear sense by the dates, and in a conceptual sense by following the section map along a common string of stories. The book goes between factual history and personal narratives, giving the structure a much more "people's history" approach, rather than a textbook history approach.

The book focuses heavily on the "morale effect" or "terror effect" of bombing, and how this was (and is) a frequently used military tactic. The book also emphasises the two-faced war "rules" of bombing, that if followed at all, were only applicable to "civilized" countries, "savage" or "barbaric" populations did not fall under this protection, and therefore were frequently bombed without a second thought in order to further the European economic agenda.

"We blow it to bits. We civilize with explosions.
Here lie the civilized, in long, quiet rows."
-p.69

Civilians, especially the working class, were the most common targets for bombs. If one could destroy the moral of a country, one could control the country.

"For the colonial powers the idea was to capture the prey alive and exploit him as labor, but the American strategy lacked all colonial ambition and therefore ought to be aimed at a war of elimination, a task for which bombing from the air was especially suitable."
-p.106

"People got used to the unthinkable"


ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS-

Sirk subtly explores the savagely power and money hungry structures of bougeious society through a romance between a gardener and a wealthy widow. The "explosion" in this film happens when Carrie accidentaly breaks a teapot that Ron had recently fixed. From this point, the film spirals into conflicts, eventually becoming paritially resolved when Carrie reunites herself with Ron, despite the unapproval of her children and her friends. Sirk makes use of the cutaway from the melodrama with shots to a deer, to the snow, to the window, etc. Also, the lighting is insane. Completely oversaturated, and in scenes of conflict, one character is darkly lit, and the other is only lit through bands of light. Red and blue seem to be the dominating color scheme. There is an extreme contrast between natural scenes-Ron and Carrie at Ron's house, in Carrie's front yard-and "unnatural" scenes-Ron and Carrie at the cocktail party, Carrie at the club.

independent study syllabus map

why? why? why?

poetry

Cesaire-

• beat language, rhythm,
• metaphor-political/social context
• discourse on colonialism, addressing the idea of self, identity, black identity
• "decolonization of the mind" relationship between the colonizer/colonized

Anne Carson-

• focus on human problems within the rhetoric
• storytelling with conscious of the politics created by images
• feminist
• uses photography and film metaphor
• searching for identity-ex. autobiography of red

Lorca-

• mirror, galaxy metaphors
• using metaphors on a grand scale (the cosmos) to address something very immediate, very human (like an argument)
• short, visual imagery driven poems

Calvino-

• Invisible Cities
• referencing something without showing it
• constructing a system

Ginsberg-

• rhythm of language
• notion of travel/exploration in work
• movement, awareness of the body

Philosophy/History

Zizek-

• psychoanalysis in film
• analyzing politics from a philosophic standpoint
• constant questioning of what is real/Real

People's History of the US

• especially the civil rights chapters, the feminism chapter
• read alongside theory? contextualize the ideas within history

A History of Bombing

• bombing= destruction of life and all of the things we have constructed
• understanding a history of how humans can so easily destroy each other, how these developments have affected the way we view/treat ourselves and others

MLK Speeches

• more understanding of the civil rights struggle, the working class struggle, the vietnam war, how this affects/applies to our present situation

Film Theory

I need more ideas for this category. I've seen/read both of these. but I want to see/read them again. I just need more stuff along these lines.

Pervert's Guide to Cinema-Zizek

• addresses the metaphor of desire in film and how this relates to psychoanalysis
• desire is constructed, the film adds another layer of construction

Laura Mulvey

• Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema
• "A political use of psychoanalysis"
• more understanding of psychoanalysis and how it applies to cinema

CONCLUSION:

there are themes of construction/sudden deconstruction (explosion), identity, a concept of "reality", social structures, and forms of control.

there also seems to be an attempt to understand psychoanalysis, to relate it to film, and to better contextualize my work and the work of others within history, especially within a social-political context.

12/2 performance

Honestly, I can't believe the performance went as smoothly as it did. I felt that each part was played out very believably, especially the moment when Jill entered (watching the faces in the crowd at this point was really funny) I did feel guiltier than I expected to, I felt pretty bad for the people standing on the "if you drank" side. I'm glad that people talked about it as much as they did, people were coming up to me all day telling me how much they believed the situation. It's funny how much adrenaline people seemed to get from this, myself included. ha. I think it was a great break in the usual ways for presenting art, or having openings. I feel like it was much memorable than most art events are, simply because it involved the audience so much. I also think that our "advertisement" performance at the community dinner was a good, unusual way to promote the event.

okay, so the criticisms. we absolutely did not have our shit together in documenting the event. which is no good at all, because we need that footage. Also, we had some communication issues as to who should be doing what and it felt really rushed and scattered close to show time. all things considered though, I think we did a great job working together (with ourselves and the MCA faculty and administration) to pull this off. Next time though, I'm going to overestimate how stupid nervous I'll get right before showtime and make myself a dummy checklist.

outline revised

1.film presentation-we could probably talk while the film is running, because most people will have already seen the film.

discussion of concept/process-four different perspectives on the idea of "absurdity", we each wrote our own character and had a different person direct our scene.
dinner scene-questions of American "normality" how we should act a certain way in certain situations, even if this way is completely against how we would feel most comfortable acting.

2. stunt documentation
show documentation, discuss concept behind deliberately lying about "free wine"
why does it take a "reward" for people to view art?
what happens when this reward turns into a problem?
who do we let define reality? authority figures? (reference ideas of different perspectives present in our film)
what does it take to make us believe something is real?

success and such

I will consider this event a success if even one person comes to the screening/happening. I think it is already a success in the sense that we have collaborated and created not only a film, but also a series of events surrounding the film. We've proven that students can collaborate and create something together, even if that something we've created doesn't necessarily make the viewer "happy". It feels like we have actually created something with a very strong statement, and we haven't been caught up in what the general acceptance level will be for the piece. As an artist, I believe in developing ideas and letting those ideas grow into a project that will create discussion. Based upon this definition, I think that our project has been successful. we haven't limited it, and we've followed every seemingly crazy idea we've had about it. These ideas have produced discussion about things we didn't even know we were addressing when we began the project. (the entire debate about motives behind viewing art)

In order to create discussion about our "wine stunt" we will need to have another event, this time, an event to discuss what happened and our motives behind it.

This is the outline for our artist presentation so far:
we will serve "real food"-$75 of pizza
we will sit at a table and hold a discussion/presentation of the film for anyone who would like to come
this will probably need to take place in callicot or myers during the evening. or maybe lunch again.
it will be relatively quick-probably no more than 30 min.

film presentation-both film and documentation of wine stunt
discussion of concept of film, of concept for wine stunt, community dinner,importance of collaboration to our concept.
questions from the audience.

a more detailed outline-
1.film presentation
discussion of concept/process-four different perspectives on the idea of "absurdity", we each wrote our own character and had a different person direct our scene.
dinner scene-questions of American "normality" how we should act a certain way in certain situations, even if this way is completely against how we would feel most comfortable acting.

2. stunt documentation
show documentation, discuss concept behind deliberately lying about "free wine"
why does it take a "reward" for people to view art?
what happens when this reward turns into a problem?
who do we let define reality? authority figures? (reference ideas of different perspectives present in our film)
what does it take to make us believe something is real?


I think that we should all talk about a specific portion of it, maybe whichever portion we feel most comfortable speaking on. and maybe if one of us is absolutely not into the idea of talking in front of a bunch of people, then that person could be in charge of all the technical-getting the film to screen, etc.

list of stuff we need for screening
1. laptop
2. projector
3. 4 casseroles
4. turkey
5. plates
6. napkins
7. cups
8. utensils
9. serving utensils
10. tablecloth
11. table
12. red chairs
13. candles
14. portrait
15. cups
16. napkins
17. rolls?
18. grape juice
19. mint extract
20. wine bottles
21. leaves
22. microwave

also
2 video cameras and 1 stills camera for documentation

performance review

Overall, I felt that the performance went according to plan. I was pleasantly surprised with the amount of people who attempted to interact with us and with the guesses people were making about what we were doing. Generally, people seemed a bit confused/surprised by what we were doing, but they made guesses about us commenting on Thanksgiving, or the idea of a family dinner. Something I think we could further exploit/explore was this idea of "privileged" that we set up. We sat at a fancy "reserved" table, we could get our food first, and we didn't bother interacting or even acknowledging anyone else. This seems like it could lead to further performance/commentary on the way that certain people in society are given special rights compared to the general public. As far as my individual performance goes, I felt that I did alright. I almost broke character after Wesley screamed, but aside from that I felt that my character's general annoyance with the rest of the "family" was well portrayed throughout the dinner, and the interactions between me and the rest of the table seemed appropriate for the characters we set up. We documented the performance with stills, but in hindsight, it would have been a good idea to have it filmed as well. Especially for the scream portion, and the reactions to it. In the future I would like to incorporate performance, especially performance that interrupts people's "normal" routines. I thought that the timing was the most successful part of our performance, and I'd like to continue to explore ways to create work that goes outside of traditional art gallery boundaries.

what monday means

We will sit in between the two buffet tables facing the guests of the community dinner. They will have to walk by us in order to get to the food. They will have to notice us, to confront us, and possibly interact with us, ultimately realizing that we will not speak to them or acknowledge them. In a sense, we are like an advertisement. Since this action is out of the ordinary for the community dinner, it will hopefully cause the people at the dinner to question and discuss what is going on/why it is going on. They will more than likely question the more obvious absurd things about us first-why we are dressed the way that we are, why there is a microwave at the table, etc. Hopefully these questions will lead them to discuss what these different costumes and our actions mean. Our act of eating on display will create a sort of small commotion; it will interrupt the normal routine of the people who come expecting a “normal” dinner. The dinner that we eat is symbolic for our piece, as it represents the idea of a “normal” family and all of the fronts that acting like what we are told is “normal” comes with. The performance comments upon the ideas of reasonable versus absurd. Where do these ideas come from? What officials/voices in society do we let determine our ideas of normalcy? For example, reality shows seem to be gaining popularity over sitcoms because they claim to show us what people are “really like.” They show us a side of “reality” that we cannot normally see, and this further influences our opinion of what is real and what is staged. Since our “family” will be on display and undoubtedly looked at, we will be commenting upon this idea of privacy and reality. What is real and what is staged? What does this mass marketed idea of a normal family mean, and what happens when that idea is exposed and deconstructed?

oh, just, you know.

some more performance stuff i've been lookin' at





Chris Burden
http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/artworld/2007/05/14/070514craw_artworld_schjeldahl

storyboards, rehearsal notes

Rehearsal Notes-
for Wesley's scene (the scene I'm directing)
maybe one extra light for the bathroom-most lights will come from the mirror
a bit cramped, so higher camera angles will probably work better
use sink to ice beer, dye tub blue, put fishing pole in tub
get tons of shots to use for montage. multiple angles.
maybe an handheld shot for the telephone scene-contrast the rest of the shots which are from a tripod

for the dinner scene
all of us on the same side of the table, centered under portrait
microwave in the middle of the table
film will end with wesley passed out and crawling, credits roll over this, then my character will walk into the screen (clicky shoes) and shut the microwave, this will be when the film cuts to black.
we might need a sheet to make the wall the table will be situated against a better color/look longer. the other doorways and such might be distracting.

character studies: Jane Davis

1. How does your character think?
She thinks in a very compartmentalized, guarded way. She is scared to believe certain things because of what others may think of her. She tends to keep different situations completely separate from one another and she likes to organize and hide away certain thoughts. This organization system she has built for herself makes her very good at remembering. She is very scared of forgetting.
2. How does your character think he/she thinks?
She thinks that she is very free-minded and open. She prides herself on her ability to remember everything, and she is constantly convinced that her thoughts are messy and unorganized.
3. What does your character want?
She wants to be remembered. She believes that people will not remember or even like her if she doesn’t keep her composure and mental structure intact in the most aesthetically interesting and pleasing way.
4. What does your character think he/she wants?
She thinks that she wants the best for other people. She thinks that she wants to be the epitome of likeable and in order to achieve this, she strives to appear flawless, every aspect of her day is well designed.
5. What does your character believe?She believes in organization, in compartmentalizing her logics, and in separating and dividing her thoughts/emotions/feelings in order to deal with them in a more effective manner. In short, she believes in detachment and productivity.
6. What does your character think he/she believes?
She thinks that she believes in
7. What is your character’s truth? Mythology?
She prays frequently to a god she can’t name. She relies heavily on her ability to see multiple angles of a situation, and sometimes she suspends this ability in order to “pray.” These prayers consist of her quickly asking/confessiong something in order for her to feel okay about forgetting it.

8. What is your character’s real truth? Mythology?
Her truth is in separation and boundaries. She is scared to be close to anyone, anything. At the same time, however, she takes everything very
personally, and holds onto memories in a compulsive way.

9. What does your character need?
Other people to recognize some of her efforts, but also a good amount of time alone to build up her ideas. A space to organize her thoughts/ideas. A means to remember these things. Video cameras, cameras, journals, etc. She needs to feel a sense of accomplishment, a sense that she is not forgotten. This, however does not always rely on other people.
10. What does your character think he/she needs?
She thinks that she needs very little. She thinks that she mostly just needs a space to live, and a means to record/organize her thoughts.
11.What actions does your character undertake?
Obsessive organizing, cleaning. Also, obsessive recording of thoughts, memories, ideas.
12. Why does your character think he/she does what he/she does?
She sees it as a simple way to remember and to honor memories. She doesn’t view her compulsions as problematic, even the ones that may seem absurd to someone else. She thinks they are simply a means to organize.

assignment write up/re-edit

I felt that these additions to my first stop motion film improved/expanded upon the original. I would have liked to have been more successful in a few places, especially the part where the tinfoil is supposed to come out of the tin. Conceptually, I wanted to expand upon this extremely artificial world that I built in the first project. I wanted to show this world imploding on itself. This project became one about "escape hatches" and that an idea I would like to further develop and explore. This idea-the idea that we can create these artificial means to escape reality is completely fascinating to me. For this project, I specifically focused on the idealistic world that the magazine National Geographic creates. I liked thinking about this idea of traveling without actually moving, and I feel like the shots with the plane and the scrolling conveyed this idea alright. I'd really like to add sound, but I'm not quite sure what I want yet. I think it would really add something to the piece though.

storyboards, revised concept, etc.

So here are the storyboards-as far as location goes, I'm planning on using the stop motion room. I'd like to build all of my sets from magazines and cellophane, like I did on the "one frame" project.

I really wanted to think in a literally "vertical" way, so make sure to read the storyboards from bottom to top for each column. As far as the concept of the piece goes, I am wanting to create poetic filmmaking by analyzing the "vertical" approach. Deren describes this approach as investigating a single mood, as opposed to relying on plot to drive the film forward "horizontally". I'd like to use cut-outs from vintage magazines to explore the "artificial" mood/feeling. I'll use mostly cut outs from advertisements, because these seem to be the most artifical. I'd like to also touch on the idea that national geographic creates an artificial world for the reader, in the sense that it allows the reader to believe they know a particular place that they may or may not have experienced, so I'll also use photographs from the actual magazine portion as well. So the film will explore a pretend world built by only the elite travel magazine ideal, and items that relate to these advertisements. (i.e. cellophane, tinfoil). This absurdly structured world will disenigrate into chaos and implode in a foil explosion, hopefully causing the viewer to feel the absurdity that is created by the idealized standards.

response to reading

"The distinction of poetry is its construction (what I mean by a "poetic structure" ), and the poetic construct arises from the fact, if you will, that it is a "vertical" investigation of a situation, and that it probes the ramifications of the moment, and is concerned with its qualities and its depth, so that you have poetry concerned in a sense, not with what is occurring, but with what it feels like and what it means."

This reading felt like somewhat of a debate between the idea of "horizontal" filmmaking -filmmaking which uses plot as its driving force, and "vertical" filmmaking-poetic filmmaking that focuses on meaning and mood. I don't really believe that these things are mutually exclusive. While I respond very strongly to the images and exploration of detail/mood in the more "poetic" films (like Deren's) I also respond very strongly to storytelling to create detail and mood. Is there a way to combine "horizontal" and "vertical"? I feel like many films do this. Just the idea of image and words combined for me creates both poetry and a story. Or a story with poetry?

response to meshes

The film seemed to be an exploration of duplicity, manipulation, and perception. In both technique and "story" these themes are reinforced. The film begins with the viewer being in the position of the main character, immediately causing the viewer in to participate in the film, to be a part of the film. The film continues to build layers on the idea of perception by showing the same sequence of actions with different views each time. The repetition of mirrors throughout the film also suggest the idea of "looking" or perceiving. Maybe this film is an extended metaphor for the idea that there is no absolute truth, there are multiple truths. Multiples are used repeatedly throughout the film. Multiple keys, multiple mirrors, multiple knives, multiple characters. The film causes the viewer to question. "is it a knife or is it a key?" Maybe the film is also addressing the questions "is it truth or is it cinema?" or "Am I you? or am I me? who was just killed?" The film seems to address ideas of self and other, it tears down the distinguishable walls around the idea of self.

responses, etc.

still-

MESHES IN THE AFTERNOON

The thing that stuck in my mind the most is the use of the nun-like character with a mirror face, that image is striking and unforgettable. The character's face is anonymus and unknown, therefore it is absolutely terrifying. I could imagine many different faces behind the mask, and each was more terrifying than the last. This image does a very good job of NOT showing the viewer something that they are terrified to see. It makes it even scarier. The sound helps carry the emotion in the film, and it is also very difficult to shake from my memory. The compositions of the shots were always contrasting. She would contrast a linear, harsh black and white contrast shot of a staircase with a shot of a window with smooth, billowing curtains. The tricks of story are also interesting to me, the overlap of characters, and how the main character could see herself. The end feels like a twist, maybe she was supposed to wake up from the nightmare but she never really did. The film has an unsettling feel to it, the entire time I felt scared, it was incredibly suspenseful.

AT LAND

My favorite parts of this film were the ways she transitioned between different scenes, and the end shocker when she completely obliterates any concept of time the viewer had. The first cut between the scene at the beach and the scene at the dinner party had the strongest impact on me. Maybe it was the complete contrast of the scenes, or the way that the people at the dinner party completely ignored the girl crawling on the table. I am also very interested in the performance aspect of her work, the films are largely focused on her actions, and the way that she interacts with her environment.

Miniature project stuff

SNYOPSIS

This film is a series of moments to study the question: “What defines someone?” These moments purposefully lack the typical identity of the person-the full face/body is never shown. This creates a character sketch without the typical establishing shots of the character; it leaves space for the viewer to put the pieces together.

ARTIST STATEMENT/BIO

I am currently a photography/filmmaking student at Memphis College of Art. My work focuses mostly on portraits, not only portraits of people, but also portraits of ideas, places, and things. I strive to create character sketches for these concepts, and to study their fragments to learn how they fit together to create new meanings. By using multiple images next to each other, I can create a dialogue between the images. Filmmaking lends itself to these concepts, as I can create new conversations between images using editing and montage techniques.

final edit, titles etc.

How do I set the poster image for this? I keep trying to in final cut but it still won't set correctly when it is viewed online. hmm. also, quality seems a little bad. maybe it was exported wrong?

project 3 shot sequence

this is the setting for the nighttime shots-

here's the shot sequence

I'd like this film to focus on one character remembering something, and the film will be told through a series of up close views of everyday motions (for this character).

distilled

so a quick word choice correction-when I called smoking and applying makeup "mundane" I meant to call them motions that involve very small amounts of movement as compared to a more "active" movement like running or climbing a tree.

As far as distilling my idea, I've decided that this film should be a short character sketch made up of small movements. I'd like to focus on hands and on the things they are interacting with. Maybe if she is smoking you don't see her mouth like most smoking shots, but you see her hands spill the box of cigarettes. Another shot could be her trying on different rings, and choosing one. I'd also like to incorporate "passenger seat actions" the way people act when they are in the passenger seat of a car, does she put her feet up? hand out the window? holding a cigarette? As far as the model being aware/unaware of the camera, I'd like to get to the point where I can shoot scenes and she's somewhat forgotten that the camera is there. So maybe this is a matter of quantity. I feel like overcoming the awkwardness of the camera will be something I need to deal with without resorting to a surveillance type camera. I think there are other ways to do this, it might just involve a ton of time. I really want to start to solve the problem of creating a character or a sketch of a character without showing too much or saying too much. I'm also wondering if I should cross cut between two characters performing mostly the same task (maybe getting ready to go out) and having them meet at the end. It sounds a bit cheesy, but I think it could be pulled off, and it would be interesting in an editing sense as far as transitions go.