[Image Credit - 夏 功仁](https://www.pexels.com/photo/man-and-a-dog-standing-in-the-street-in-an-indian-city-8973860/)

Started a project with final year (7th Semester) students of Srishti Manipal Institute's DMA Department. DMA stands for Digital Media Arts and is a space for learning a wide range of things, from animation, to concept art.

{%hackmd theme-dark %}

This year the project is facilitated by [Deepak Verma](https://srishtimanipalinstitute.in/people/deepak-verma) and [Chaitanya Krishnan](https://srishtimanipalinstitute.in/people/chaitanya-krishnan) who envisioned the theme together. The Title of the project is **"Being, That I am not."**
You may read the project brief here:
<iframe src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HKzub66Mp8-XvEkcPmpPbfRiu3UHhvuE/preview" width="640" height="480" allow="autoplay"></iframe>

# First Day - Introduction and Initiation
(7th Aug)

We met with our students and started a conversation around their hopes and fears going into this project space, which is going to be a new form of working for a lot of them. They are used to attending classes that lasted 4-5 weeks, a few days a week. With a very standardised assignment and assessment structure. This Project will span months and will be 5-6 days a week. The Assignment structure is replaced with a set of milestones and 2 review seminars, followed by a final seminar for the final submission.

# Become the being
Students were instructed to make a mask of a being, that they could then become as they read the project brief.
<iframe src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Vri_jirJdmXVN3npriYowsvetD043Aic/preview" width="640" height="480" allow="autoplay"></iframe>

# Immersion begins
Watched films and discussed ideas around the periphery of this space around collection and colation of data.
[Agnès Varda](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agn%C3%A8s_Varda) - The Gleaners and I
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Jn8nHJTb_LY" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>

---
A couple of videos by [Laurie Anderson](https://laurieanderson.com/).

[Language is a Virus](https://www.youtube.com/embed/KvOoR8m0oms) - Performance

[Birds](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mj_JN1delKU) - Talk

# The Project Structure
We presented an overview of the 7th semester, including the timeline as well as assessment criteria.

# Group Meetings and Introductions.
Deepak and me created a schedule and met students in their groups to learn more about them.
Points covered:
- What medium do you want to work in?
- What films, art, music inspires you?
- What is you creative process?
- What challenges do you need help with this semester?
- The reason for the groups

# Zoo Immersion
On 14th Aug we decided to make a trip to the zoo. Students were instructed to do a "deep hangout" and observe not just the inmates but also the visitors and other humans in the space. They also had 15 postcard size pieces of paper and had to document visually or textually any observations they made.
<iframe src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1fJXVPxwx399nJE5UxEkU4aqpNJ2rvvQH/preview" width="640" height="480" allow="autoplay"></iframe>

We were not the only humans to visit on this odd Monday. A contingent of 4 busloads of school kids and their teachers were also present.
Heres an audio recording of the kind of sounds in the space.
Tiger enclosure soundscape:
<iframe src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JxTODcOPMwMVPF4qWUhZCPL4SOhslL6U/preview" width="400" height="60" allow="autoplay"></iframe>

Crocodile enclosure soundscape:
<iframe src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JwgujLB9qB3wys-jyrc-zaEboU2Th5Y2/preview" width="400" height="60" allow="autoplay"></iframe>

We took a much needed break at around 12 and met up at a hotel in the zoo.

<iframe width="100%" height="640" frameborder="0" allow="xr-spatial-tracking; gyroscope; accelerometer" allowfullscreen scrolling="no" src="https://kuula.co/share/5YK58?logo=1&info=1&fs=1&vr=0&sd=1&thumbs=1"></iframe>

Deepak briefing the students during lunch break. When we met up after everyone had been around the zoo once. We set goals and talked about ways of observing and what to keep an eye open for and document. They had to write postcards to someone(human or other) and describe their experience at the moment in text (and visuals if possible)

<iframe src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1D3BoLFaykFw7aYm7DC2an8orO3KChclm/preview" width="640" height="480" allow="autoplay"></iframe>

Bird Enclosure soundscape:
<iframe src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1K0246yHvVVEerPhiSYEGoa7_nquX44k1/preview" width="400" height="60" allow="autoplay"></iframe>


A few students visited the butterfly park that was next door.
<iframe width="100%" height="640" frameborder="0" allow="xr-spatial-tracking; gyroscope; accelerometer" allowfullscreen scrolling="no" src="https://kuula.co/share/collection/7J68l?logo=1&info=1&fs=1&vr=0&sd=1&thumbs=1"></iframe>

# Zoo Follow up

Postcards were handed out at random, and participants read out and described each of them to the cohort.



Discussion over the postcard observations. And a task was assigned.

# Viewing of Zoo themed films
**Madagascar**

Discussion notes:
- Stereotypes
- Anthropomorphism
- Use of human constructs such as Bday

**Zoo** - Bert Hanstra

Discussion notes:
- role of music
- juxtaposition
- point of view
- mimicry
- tension

**Creature Comforts** - Nick Park, Aardman Studios

Discussion notes:
- jusxtaposition for effect, in this case a socio-political issue is represented with the voices of inmates of a zoo
- making connections

# It takes a Village
Students organised the space so that each group had their designated spaces and the entire room was more efficiently organised.



# 6 Frame exercise
Using the masks created earlier, aspiring practitioners had to stage some shots of their creature reacting to the project brief.





# Recap and discussion on research
Research as/and making



# Animal Farm (1954)

Animal Farm is a fascinating book by George Orwel, published in 1945.
It tells the story of a group of anthropomorphic farm animals who rebel against their human farmer, hoping to create a society where the animals can be equal, free, and happy. Ultimately, the rebellion is betrayed, and under the dictatorship of a pig named Napoleon, the farm ends up in a state as bad as it was before.


An film adaptation Animal Farm (1954) was directed by documentarians John Halas and Joy Batchelor. It was produced by Halas and Batchelor and funded in part by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), who also made changes to the original script.[7][8][9] Based on the 1945 novel of the same name by George Orwell, Maurice Denham provides the voice for all the animals in the film.[10]

We watched the film and discussed with our aspiring professionals.
- Representation of Communism
- Treatment of different animals..
eg: the small duckling was initially helped by the horse, but later when all the animals are preoccupied with the revolution, the duckling has to fend for themself.
- Animal "Voice"?
- Animal "Gaze"?
- How do we experience animal gaze while watching the film?


We also went over some exerpts from The Animated Bestiary by Paul Wells, that touched upon the film.

# Screening of 2min Edits

We screened most of the 2min edits and took comments and feedback from peers.

# Setting tasks around an adopted being

Each student had been tasked with selecting a being(animal, plant, virtual) that they would "adopt" in whatever sense is practical. ie: in a lot of cases it would not be possible to take a pet home, hence the option of a daily interaction with a being one finds in their daily routine, in their surroundings.

Task 1:
1) Select the being
2) Daily documentation using small cards on which you write or draw observations, minimum 2 a day.
3) Display these on the wall in the studio space everyday

Task 2:
Look through newspapers, online, etc and find news items about animals, cut/print these out and populate the **Daily Beings Post** (a pillar) in the middle of the studio space.

Task 3:
Document through photographs/video the use of animals and animal inspired forms in your urban surroundings.. be it art, religious iconography, signage, etc.

# Text Composition and Visualisation exercise

Using random pages from books(that have been ripped apart) using randomised logic to come up with nonsensical prose.. and visualise the feeling it evokes.. in a short animation






Here are a few of the outcomes

<iframe src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FUWBc4BGo8VTlFIw-ckNheftdGa9RZR_/preview" width="640" height="480" allow="autoplay"></iframe>

<iframe src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/17ecsTey0T-QsxLOEEcRgsZXTL_iqf_xZ/preview" width="640" height="480" allow="autoplay"></iframe>

<iframe src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/1z46-oZLZZPiU_rVntRWOXgtzX2F0AZoc/preview" width="640" height="480" allow="autoplay"></iframe>

# Poetry Reading

POEM 1
W B Yeats To a Squirrel at Kyle-Na-No