Thinking about titles...

Looking at photography related words. Wondering if there might be sub-sections with their own titles.

Underexposed

How to fix an underexposed ___________

Underexposes

Underexposing

Insufficient exposure

Indistinguishable

Shadow detail

Exposure Settings

Crushed Shadows

Shooting to the right

Shooting to the left

Manual exposure

Automatic exposure

Emulsion

Reciprocity Failure

reciprocity refers to the inverse relationship between the intensity and duration of light that determines the reaction of light-sensitive material.

For most photographic materials, reciprocity is valid with good accuracy over a range of values of exposure duration, but becomes increasingly inaccurate as we depart from this range: reciprocity failure, reciprocity law failure, or Schwarzschild effect.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reciprocity_(photography)

Text to put in the piece somewhere?

The Schwarzschild solution, which makes use of Schwarzschild coordinates and the Schwarzschild metric, leads to the well-known Schwarzschild radius, which is the size of the event horizon of a non-rotating black hole.

Exposure Words

• Multiple exposures
• Double exposure
• Indecent exposure
• Partial exposure
• Sun exposure
• Over exposed
• Under exposed
• Dodge & burn
• Film speed
• Density
• Chemical processing: developer, fixer
• Exposé
• Exposition
• Expositor
• To reveal
• Revelation
• To lay bare

Rehearsal #3 - 11/14

This rehearsal left me in awe of what can be created cooperatively when you have a group of smart, open and engaged dancers. I think we made a stunning, quirky, moving section simply by building it one piece at a time.

To back up to the beginning though, we began by fine-tuning the Patsy Cline improvisation. Now there is a foreshadowing of movement that happens later, marker points in the music, Molly must get down to the floor (and back up again) without moving her hands from her tush, and some little jumps in the second half. I'm completely in love with this section. The dancers are creature-like.

We quickly ran through the Jillian/Nola duet and Julie's solo. We added Molly into it at the end, and due to the fact that she is so much taller than me the partnering sections was adjusted and is now much more exciting!

The bulk of rehearsal was spent working off this Tom Chapman image:

At first we tried to recreate it with bodies in place of the sticks, but it wasn't very easy or exciting. Standing on the other side of the magazine, which was open on the floor, Nola noticed how interesting the image was upside down:

So we tried to emulate this image, to much more success. Jillian is in the place of the woman, on top of Julie who supports her shoulders. Nola, seated by Julie's feet, supports Jillian's feet on her shoulders. Molly stands behind, stroking Jillian's hair, lifting it up and letting it fall.

From the tableau we created I asked how might we get into this? So we played with that, adding Nola running her fingers through her hair as she waited for Jillian & Julie to roll into her. From here, Molly uses Jillian's hair to manipulate the rest of her body, and to set the tableau into motion. We kept repeating and experimenting with what should be the next moment. What ensued captured and sustains the feeling and mood of the image above.

Rehearsal #2 - 11/7

First we worked on a duet for Nola & Jillian, and a solo for Julie that will become a duet with Molly.

Nola & Jillian started out exploring an image that came out of an improvisation at the first rehearsal: a dancer with her elbow stuck to the middle of the other dancer's back. We improvised around this until we arrived at set material. I also added a text improvisation where Jillian would state factual information and Nola would disagree by saying things like "not true", "false", "impossible". This idea was sparked by thoughts about what it means to expose a fraud. A personal fear of being thought a fraud or wrong when I know I am being truthful was also woven in. We decided that this duet, which travels the diagonal from upstage right to downstage left, will happen twice during the piece. The first time Jillian will be listing true facts about film exposure, and the second time she will be telling a personal story (personal meaning true of her character, drawn out of material generated by cast personal experiences, not necessarily the personal experiences of Jillian herself).

Nola, Jillian, Julie & I all wrote in response to the following creative writing prompt I came across:

Write a formal complaint letter to your deepest, darkest fear.

With Julie, we used her writing about fear of open water to each generate a movement phrase. We mixed the two phrases together and toward the end segued from solo to duet, adding some brief partnering material. The movement draws on the idea of the horizon, and of breath in relation to fear and to water.

Rehearsal #1 - 11/4

In this rehearsal we began working from the image below, from the August issue of French Vogue. The fashion spread had a number of dresses styled with the theme of partial bodily exposure.

We started by improvising around the model's physical position, with hands on the butt, backs arching, hips thrusting forward. The directives were awkward feet, start in your own sphere and then move into interactions with other dancers, and get into a line somewhere in the middle, which will disperse. Through this we identified effective moments to keep (like Jillian getting her head to poke through someone's elbow, ending poses and Nola spazzing out). The duration was determined by the Patsy Cline song "You're Stronger Than Me (non-orchestra version)".

We also improvised around 'exposing' or 'showcasing' a selected body part, and then selling that body part verbally. We ended up with a line across the back of the space that would be a great backdrop to a solo. As the soloist exits the back line could add their vocal 'hawking' of their body parts simultaneously.

Thesis Project Outline

This is a formal outline I made to share ideas with my commitee members and to prepare for the thesis proposal due on December 1st.

Description: This dance theatre work asks questions about what it means to expose or to be exposed. In relation to a person this exposure could be emotional or physical. I am interested in juxtaposing the human and the technical, thus I intend to look at aspects of film exposure. The piece has six female performers, who will perform in various states of dress and undress, against a set made of pristine white dresses lit from underneath. Integrated into the work will be projections that play with points of light against darkness, and explore video exposure, to create an immersive environment for dancers and audience. Research supporting this process began in France during June and July of 2010 and consisted of viewing performances and museums in Montpellier, Marseille and Paris. In particular I was interested by dance theatre performances that explored the use of nudity, eroticism and the moving body onstage. Images forming the base aesthetic for the work were gathered from sources like magazines, but primarily come from photographs I took. While traveling I also journaled daily, intending to bring a collage of images and words into the studio upon return to the states. I found the thread tying images and concepts together in the realization that I would find it easier to be naked on stage rather than share my summer writings. Each type of exposure – of the body of or the mind/heart, brings forth a different kind of vulnerability, which seems a rich source for exploration.

Topic:

• Exposure
• Internal – i.e. emotions, private thoughts, vulnerability, secrets
• External – the physical body, nudity, nude vs. naked
• Technical – film exposure: aperture, film speed, shutter speed

Influences:

• Important Images (gathered)
• Infinity Mirror Room – Fireflies on the Water (installation I saw in Marseille)
• White light of Parisian Ferris Wheel against black night sky
• Misc. images from France & the U.K. where bright light (white, yellow, multi-colored) is contrasted against the night sky.
• White dress lit in dark storefront (set idea)
• St. Agatha – breasts were cut off due to religious persecution (painting in Montpellier)
• Various painting from the Louvre where one breast is exposed or breasts are being manipulated.
• Fashion photos from French Vogue – dress with many holes, dress with breasts exposed.

• French Dance (Nudity & Eroticism in movement based pefromrance)
• Paquerette by Cecilia Bengolea & Francois
• Liquide by Christophe Haleb / La Zouze

Projections: To be created based on images of lighting, with the aim of creating an immersive experience for dancers & audience, via independent study with Terri Sarris. Also will play with ideas of exposure. Will have up to 4 projectors across back of space, 1-2 projectors on the floor, and possibly one mobile projector following dancer bodies.

Set: White dresses (either suspended or on dress forms) lit from the inside. Up to six.

Process:

• Word based explorations
• Physicalizing aspects of camera exposure.
• Exposure word associations as source for
• Image based explorations
• From influential images listed above
• Physicalizing a pose from Vogue
• Entering an environment
• Images from my head
• Spot light searching in dark, catching parts of dancer’s bodies
• Set made of dresses juxtaposed with unclothed dancers
• Pina Bausch – draw on her process of asking questions to performers about memories and experiences related to the theme to generate material.
• Collaborative
• Dancers will contribute experiences, movement, text ideas, etc.
• Potential collaboration with composer(s)

Structure:

• Overlapping & superimposed vignettes (solos, duets, trios)

Costume to go with the set?

I saw this photograph on the cover of Color Magazine's November Special Issue. The photographer, Tom Chambers, had multiple images in the magazine that I connected with, and his website is full of gorgeous images: .

Set Concept

Wandering Paris at night, very near my hotel, I came across a tiny shop off the Rue Dauphine, one or two blocks from the river Seine. The darkened storefront was aglow from a pristine white dress displayed at back of the shop. The image stuck with me, and as I think about my project, I become more and more certain I want to have white dresses onstage, either on some kind of dress form or suspended, that are lit from within. I'm not sure how many are necessary yet. One could be striking. Six could create a terrain. They can become projection surfaces, or be juxtaposed with bare bodies, or in contrast to bodies in tattered costume, etc. Budget, as always, will probably be a determining factor...

Infinity Mirror Room: Fireflies on the Water

I saw this installation by Yayoi Kusuma during the Festival de Marseille at la Vieille de Charite. The installation is entered one at a time and the viewer stands on a platform, which protrudes peninsula-like into water. The walls and ceiling are covered in mirror, and the water on the floor is reflective. Hundred of wires hang from the ceiling, each with a different colored light at the end. The effect - "fireflies" that go on forever, in every direction.





Here is a linke to video of the installation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KVkXxtcszc

In the projections for my thesis performance I'd like to play with points of light against a black backdrop, but perhaps something more sparse, and also play with moving light.

MFA Thesis Project

Transcribing the daily handwritten entries from journal to blog was not the most compelling way to spend my time traveling, thus I ran out of steam with it on day three. Instead, I think a better use of this space would be as a place to gather images and ideas, based in my travel in France, for my thesis collaborators and committee. Soon to come: project description, images, etc!