All hail the fail. So said my friend Terry the other day as part of his response to my post about a digital composition that I attempted that just did not work for me. But part of failing can also perseverance (a theme which we did a whole lesson around in the classroom the other day) and as I took in Terry’s comments via Vialogues (see below) and then read some reactions from another friend, Molly, I began to rethink how the piece might yet come together.
Here’s Terry’s comments on the composition and some of my responses:
Here is Molly’s tweet:
@dogtrax PicPlay may not be the best tool. Video fade in/outs (keeping digital and your voice) would work. Keep fades close (reduce pauses)
— Molly Shields (@ShieldsMolly) February 13, 2014
It was a combination of both of their voices, plus my own doubts, that stuck with me, and as I was out shoveling last night (for the fifth time that day), it dawned on me how I could maybe “fix” the failure, and it required moving away from the video app that had inspired the composition to begin with. I realized that the PicPlayPost app was one of my problems. It was Molly’s comment about finding a way to cut and connect that made me realize that I could use Popcorn Maker, perhaps, to re-engineer the video sequences, and cut out the Tellegami ads at the end of the videos, too. (which Terry agreed gave the composition a very halting effect).
@dogtrax Would hack but can't remove from PicPlay w/out sacrificing video quality 🙂
— Molly Shields (@ShieldsMolly) February 13, 2014
So, here it is.
What’s interesting is that my original intention was to try to avoid a sequential left-to-right kind of video message and that is what I went back to. But with Popcorn, I could add another layer of music, and the project is now remixable by anyone who wants to give it a whirl. That was something that Molly could not do with PicPlayPost, although that was her first instinct (which I applauded). Popcorn can still act quirky at times, and is periodically laggy. But, if not completely at ease with how it came out, at least it better matches my vision.
Peace (in the remix),
Kevin
I have a love/hate relationship with the act of composing on paper. I need to do it – there is an organic quality that I produce only with paper – but I always eventually turn to the computer to finish a composition. I’ve tried eliminating paper, but I can’t. I need both to produce; it’s my particular method. Perhaps you needed the first method and subsequent failure to produce the latter (?) which is why I almost find the method more telling than the poem itself (almost). Streamlining, reconfiguring, revising. Art is in the process, not the product.
*And it works. The music helps with the flow, the digital presences balance the meaning, and the fades help with connections. Plus, now I can hack 🙂
I find I need the paper element, for planning. When I wing it, I find myself regretting not taking that step. It’s like toggling between two compositional worlds.