I had a party last night. It turned out to be rather hilarious, as my decision to make it an evening of arts and crafts led to the creation of a menagerie of little fimo creatures. Once I download the pictures, I will most certainly post them on here. Nothing like a group of intoxicated creative types to make certain that arts and crafts leads to absolute ridiculousness.
I also didn’t drink too much, which made this morning all the more pleasant. AnarchoFem slept over, and impressed me greatly with her consumption of the entire SuperBeautys breakfast this morning (eggs, bacon, sausage, pancakes, bagel, home fries), while I struggled to get through my extra sides of bacon and sausage. Mmm… nothing like greasy breakfast meats in a stomach filled with alcohol. I can’t believe that Mark just went for the french toast. How boring.
And today I am supposed to spend a good chunk of time brainstorming for the various creative projects that I have to complete over the course of this semester. I can’t believe that I have so much control over what I produce this term. It just scares me a little because I really want to come up with some ideas that will run away with me, rather than becoming heavy and sluggish and needing to have the shit kicked out of them in order to get any sort of impetus.
My projects are as follows:
1) Scriptwriting:
I have to produce two pieces of writing. I will most likely write a couple of short films, although I have been toying with the idea of perhaps doing one short film and a tv show, or even doing the pilot for a tv show, as well as the first episode. This is as far as I have come with my thinking for this class. My proposal/treatment/draft is due in just over a week.
2) Journalism:
This class will probably be the most time-consuming of all. I need to write a long piece, as well as two short ones. I think that for the long piece, I will write about my experiences in Burma earlier this year, although I am having a hard time figuring out what angle I want to go from. Should I write about the trip itself, about the people I met, the lack of electricity, the heat, the poverty, the beauty? It’s so hard to decide where to even start. Part of me thinks that perhaps I should just sit down and start writing it, and see what comes out of me. Once I have a lot down on paper, then I can go through it at pick and choose what it important, which bits I want to include and exclude. The query for this article is due on Tuesday, so is something that I should really be doing today. (In fact, I think it will be what I do after I have finished writing this blog entry). Perhaps I’ll even do the brainstorming on here.
3) Sound Production:
There are two assignments in this class; one 2-minute piece, and another 5-7 minute piece. Edy and I are going to be partners. After discovering that all of the other people I would be interested in working with in the class had already converged into groups, I did the only thing I could think of. It was like asking him to prom.
“Hey… do you want to work with me on the sound project? Everyone else seems to already be in groups, and I just thought…”
“Yeah, that sounds like a great idea.”
“Uh…cool…well…”
“Yeah, uh…”
“Well, I guess, think about what you want to do and we can talk in class on Thursday.”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Talk to you later…”
So silly. I felt like a kid, although for no good reason. Yes, Aussie Guy is the only attractive male in the class. But no, I doesn’t mean that I would get with him. Well… if the only people in the world were my classmates, then perhaps. But I think that I would most likely sleep with the Angsty German Philosopher before touching Aussie Guy. Mmm… she’s a tricky one that one. I really would love to a spend a night with her.
How did I get so off topic? So anyhow, the sound project is up in the air. I know who I’m working with, but don’t really know what I would like to do. I will have to sit and think about that one for a while. I would quite like to make a documentary of sorts, not just make some strange soundscape. There is something about language and the spoken word that gets me. I’m sure we could do something extremely interesting.
And finally…
4) Definitions of Media and Tech II
Our “practice-based assignment” in this one is really interesting. The topic I chose is to do something with an obsolete medium, and find an interesting way to either bring it back into use or to explore why it is obsolete, or a combination of the two. I am going to go on a mission to find a typewriter ribbon for my beautiful Royal typewriter. The project will be documented in various ways: photographic, audio, film, written. I think it’s going to be a good one. I just need to allocate some chunks of time in which to go on said mission and bumble around the junk shops and on the internet. Fingers crossed, I will find it and be able to use it!
So that’s what I need to do. Primary goal: brainstorming for Journalism and then for Scriptwriting. The fact that I’m writing on here is a good step in the right direction. At least I’m putting my figurative pen to paper (finger to keyboard definitely doesn’t have the same ring to it) and getting some of my thought out.
My life is beginning to come together and make a little sense. It’s taking shape in a good way, and although I foresee an extremely busy, potentially manic time, I think that the creative energy coming out of me is going to be channelled in a highly productive manner for a change. Woohoo!
