We kicked off the first meeting of the documentary production team today with some laughs and some serious conversation about the nature and ethics of documentary work. The class will be co-taught by Jori and Justin Rosengarten, a RISD-trained filmmaker.

We talked about what it means “to document,” the Latin root of documentary (docere, which means “to teach or instruct”), and about a documentary continuum that ranges from simply capturing reality (like videotaping the Super Bowl) to the way TV news channels often slant stories to a particular point of view. We talked about filming surreptitiously (and about what surreptitious means) / the ethics of recording when someone doesn’t know you’re recording.

We arrived at a definition of a documentary as “a film about something real you want to explain/talk about/explore that you present with a particular point of view.”

After talking we practiced interviewing each other, something we will do more of as the semester progresses, which we prepared for by talking about “closed” vs “open” questions and figuring out how to use the audio recorders.

The rest of our time together was spent watching short documentaries complied by Justin here:

http://cmwdocclass.tumblr.com/

We’re all looking forward to next week! Special thanks to Justin, Laura, and to sound artist Stephan Moore for hanging out with us today.

Here’s Natasha’s performance of “The Swan,” from Saturday’s Performance Party, as captured by a visiting audio engineer.  Enjoy!

[audio:http://www.communitymusicworks.org/medialab/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/TheSwan.mp3|titles=The Swan Jan. 22, 2011]

At our last class we reflected on what we did over the last several weeks together by writing and talking about the below questions. Then our family members came to a special screening of our final pieces at CMW. We also showed our pieces at the CMW All-Play on December 17, 2010.

Check out some photos from this semester on flickr
and view our videos at this link or watch here:

And here’s what students had to say about the class and their pieces, based on the following questions:

If your piece were posted on the CMW website, how would you introduce it?
If you were going to tell a friend about this class, how would you describe it? What did we do? What did you learn?
Has this class affected the way you think about music? About film/video? About the relationship between sound and image? If so, how?
Has this class affected the way you play, study, or think about your instrument? If so, how?
Any recommendations for the future?

Elvis R, 18
My Lonely World

My piece uses the dark low light areas to its advantage with its dissolves and music to make you feel what the person in the video feels.

This class has shown me how to edit a video and music, and use effects to make a series of clips into a movie and also the amount of cuts and fixing that has to go into something to be presented to everyone.

I think it has shown how much work goes into a movie.

I feel the same about my instruments.

Alana P, 12
Her Bracelet and Her Community

During my 11-12 weeks here at Media Lab, everyone started on their audio part to their projects. In the audio we answered three questions: Where are you from? Where do you want to be from? And, Where are you going? After, we cut, looped, and did whatever we wanted to do with it. We recorded video footage and put both together to get our final project.

If I were telling a friend about this class I would say that we do track and video editing. We learn how to do this by using programs Logic Pro and iMovie. We watch different types of movies in class and that gives us ideas for projects we’re doing.

The class affected the way I think about music because you can change it into whatever you want. It also changed the way I think about film and video because there are a lot of ways you can make film that I didn’t know of before.

This class has affected the way I think about my instrument because I can record myself playing my violin and make it sound completely different.

I think a project for Media Lab classes is to make a film/video to a favorite song.

Anthony D, 13
My Voice

This was a part of it calm and peaceful. The other part is fun, exciting, and energetic.

It’s very fun. We learn how to make videos and music. We also learned about Logic and iMovie.

It has changed the way I think about music. I really didn’t think you could make a song out of regular talking.

Angel V, 10
Fun House

My piece was made in November and I call it Fun House because of some of the effects that make it look like a fun house.

I would say that it is a great experience and that you learn many things about audio and video.

Malachy H, 12
The Moon

This piece is named The Moon. It is made out of an interview that has been cut up and made into a song. The instrument in the background is a cello played by me. The video is shot outside and it is of my friend jumping and running. Some of this video has been slowed down/reversed. Please enjoy!

We did interviews and cut them up using Logic which is a music program. We also filmed outside and recorded on our instruments by playing to songs.

This class taught me a lot about transitions and timing in music and film.

It has made me listen to the sounds and play it on my instrument.

Sofie L, 11
Scary Stuff

This weird and a little scary piece will leave you mystified. Please enjoy it! First I took pieces of audio from an interview. Then I took some video clips. I used iMovie and Logic to make it. My music was about vampires so it was a little scary.

Media Lab is fun. We learned different filming techniques. We made videos and put music to them. Now I want to do it again.

Now I want to do more stuff with film/video because it’s fun and to make a short or long clip is really cool to see. Laura and Jori were great and I had a fun time.

Gabriel V, 11
Funky Town

I would say who helped me do all of this and gave me ideas on what to do and how to start it. I would say with this name and on what to take videos of.

I would describe it as funky and amazingly interesting to do. I would say that you have to think of what kind of music you like. Then I would say about the cool and amazing ways you can edit it.

Yes I’ve realized its not only hard work but also having fun and learning stuff. I also realized film is fun and easy to make. I’ve realized it by doing it myself.

Yes it has I’ve realized that music isn’t only made up of one long piece but a bunch mixed together.

David D, 10
Jump Cut

This is an awesome movie! Watch it! It’s about some guy jumping from place to place.

Cool and weird at the same time but mostly cool you should try it it’s awesome. We shoot videos and make our own songs.

I think we should have more freedom like last year not make a song out of an interview. I don’t like how my voice sounds when you record it.

Brian R, 13
Differences

The way I would introduce it is I would talk about how we went outside in front of CMW and the park. And what programs we used for the audio editing (Logic) and video editing (iMovie). Also what kind of cameras we used to film. Also what kind of recorders.

The way I would describe it is we recorded audio and video and edited it to see how they connect to each other. I learned what programs to use to edit audio and video also how to do it.

Yes this class has affected me that way because every time I see a music video I look and try to see how the music and the video relate.

Yes I listen closer when I play my instrument to see if it sounds the way it’s supposed to.

Aiden Sullivan, 12
Untitled

This piece is a fast piece. The audio is very fast and the piece is fast. This piece can probably be described as a very interesting piece because it has no meaning. It’s just a video with music.

In Media Lab we make music and videos and we combine them as one.

Sound can affect an image in many different ways like if the music is fast and the video is slow then they won’t really go together.

I just think about images in different ways not really music.

I would like to make another video but record downtown because there are many different sights.

Liam H, 15
Lights

My piece, “Lights,” is an audio visual work filmed here in Providence, Rhode Island. I played the music for “Lights” on my viola in a minor key. I wanted the music to provoke a sense of mystery or instill a kind of feeling that maybe something’s not quite right, which is why I chose the minor key. Hence the title of the film focuses on various lights from neon signs to street lamps to car headlights.

We:
– watch videos
– listen to music
– edit movies
– compose our own music
– film
– work in Logic to edit music

Because of this class I’ve begun to play much closer attention to the way sound corresponds to image in movies that I watch.

This class has affected me because I’m now aware of different ways I can combine sound. For example trying a pizzicato bass line over a drone with a melody on top of that.

I think we should have a composition class and work in Sibelius.

We are deep in final project production mode!

Our first steps (on Day 7) included collecting video and recording ourselves playing on our instruments.

Before we started shooting video footage we did a little planning based on all the different videos we have seen and talked about. We wrote down ideas for specific shots and for general moods we wanted to create in our pieces. We also re-listened to our audio pieces with shooting video in mind.

The we split into groups – one to do recording in the Media Lab with our instruments and the other to go outside and shoot video footage.

The next step has been to work on integrating our instrument recordings with our existing audio pieces and to import and sort through our video footage in preparation for editing everything.

On Days 8 and 9 we did a lot of editing, taking breaks to look at each others’ work and offer feedback, and we focused on how to make editing choices about the relationship between our audio and video pieces. On Day 9 we also talked a lot about transitions, in video and audio. We watched a lot of videos to study the way other people have dealt with transitions as well as looked at some common transitions like match cuts, jump cuts, cross dissolves and how (and why) to fade in and out. We revisited videos we watched earlier to think about how they were edited, with special attention to the relationships between sound and image and to particular kinds of transitions. We also learned a few ways to create a few different kinds of fades in Logic (fade in, fade out, and crossfade).

We’d really like to thank volunteers David Lee, Lucia Lopez, and Justin Rosengarten for their wisdom and support!

This week we viewed experimental videos made by Matt Flowers, Éder Santos, Kevin Gallagher and Nic DeSantis with music by sound artist Stephen Vitiello. We also watched an excerpt from a performance of Different Trains that included video and a unique stage set-up.

Editing then continued working on videos begun last week, with a focus on practicing looping clips and adding special effects. We also learned how to add a soundtrack to our pieces, blending recorded sound from our cameras with music from freemusicarchive.org.

We shared our pieces and discussed what we found interesting, surprising, or unexpected about them.

At the end of class we revisited our audio work from the first few classes and brought out our instruments to practice phrases based on selections from our pieces.

This semester CWM students are spending time in the Media Lab with Steve Reich’s Different Trains, a piece the PSQ is performing in February. Classes will study the piece and produce their own “Different Trains,” using sounds and images they collect and edit in Logic Pro and iMovie.

On the first day of class students did a “listening walk” to attune to the everyday music we hear when we slow down enough to pay attention to the world around us.

After discussing our walks, we oriented to the Media Lab (a new space for most students), exploring the Lab’s various equipment and how to use the space.

Then we settled into the Listening Nook of the Media Lab for some deep listening to the first movement of Different Trains. After listening we talked about what we heard, how it made us feel, and how the piece is constructed.

After listening, we transitioned to the computers where we explored Logic! We learned how to import files and select, move, copy, and loop audio regions. We then completed a short assignment, using a pre-recorded audio file (Laura saying, “Welcome to the Media Lab. Have fun making your own music.”) to create new audio pieces. The results are below!

Sophie L
[audio:http://www.communitymusicworks.org/medialab/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/SofieL9-20-2010.mp3|titles=Sophie L]

Malachy H
[audio:http://www.communitymusicworks.org/medialab/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/malachy9-20-2010.mp3|titles=Malachy H]

Liam H
[audio:http://www.communitymusicworks.org/medialab/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/liam9-20-2010.mp3|titles=Liam H]

Justin C
[audio:http://www.communitymusicworks.org/medialab/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/justin-9-20-2010.mp3|titles=Justin C]

Gabriel V
[audio:http://www.communitymusicworks.org/medialab/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Gabriel9-20-2010.mp3|titles=Gabriel V]

Elvis R
[audio:http://www.communitymusicworks.org/medialab/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/elvis-9-20-2010.mp3|titles=Elvis R]

David D
[audio:http://www.communitymusicworks.org/medialab/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/david9-20-2010.mp3|titles=David D]

Anthony D
[audio:http://www.communitymusicworks.org/medialab/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/anthony9-20-2010.mp3|titles=Anthony D]

Angel V
[audio:http://www.communitymusicworks.org/medialab/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/angel9-20-10.mp3|titles=Angel V]

Jeffry S
[audio:http://www.communitymusicworks.org/medialab/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/092110jeffry.mp3|title=Jeffry S]

Alana P
[audio:http://www.communitymusicworks.org/medialab/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/9-21-10alana.mp3|titles=Alana P]

Aiden S
[audio:http://www.communitymusicworks.org/medialab/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/9-21-10aidensullivan.mp3|titles=Aiden S]

Brian R
[audio:http://www.communitymusicworks.org/medialab/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/9-21-10-Brian.mp3|titles=Brian R]

First day of class!

Here’s to a great year!

“I feel like a mechanic.” (Said in reference to taking different pieces of a song and figuring out how to fit them together into a remix.)

“I’m pretty proud of myself – I always wanted to make my own drum kit.”

“This remix project is great; it makes us practice everything we know.”

“This class saves me from trouble.”

Hey its April 26. My name is Josh and today I used a new trick I learned from Henry using the flex option in Logic. It allows me to chop up sounds almost perfectly. The purpose of this was to create my own drum kit off of the free sounds off the song O.N.E. by a band. Today I felt accomplished and more professional since I had a goal of remixing a song and using things I learned to do so. I chopped up the samples and made my own drum loops in 3 with a meter of 4. Please listen =).

– Josh

Josh Loop
[audio:http://www.communitymusicworks.org/medialab/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/Josh-Loop.mp3|titles=Josh Loop ]