"Pteradactyl," comprised of Mike Lee, Yusuke Watanabe, Meredith Upchurch, and myself, set out to create a project that blended expertly our four varying artistic specialties. We had Mike the photographer, Yusuke the musician, Meredith the production kid/ editor, and me the writer. We arrived at the idea of a series of photographs, mimicking stop action, that could be edited with music and based on a story.
I found my part in the assignment to be fairly enjoyable. I had very few limitations of what I could write, aside from the fact that we wanted to use as few real actors as possible, so one afternoon I hunkered down on my bed and looked around me. I had suggested my teddy bear as the subject because he's very cute and has a lot of character for a stuffed animal. In my imagination, Teddy started doing my laundry. Then he tired of that, and picked up a book. Kurt Vonnegut. Teddy longed for connection, for distraction during the long hours that I was away from him. Something catches his eye then, something sparkly thrown from above. A new friend perhaps? Someone to share the long days with? The story grew from there.
My own contribution was both the first step and the through -line for the piece. We couldn't start working on the project without a script that told the story, and as production moved on we had to make sure the story was being told. When Mike was taking his photos, or Yusuke writing his music, or especially Meredith editing the clip, they all had to remind themselves of the original intent of the script and the character of Teddy. My work was not the flashiest part of the collaboration, but I might call it the starting point or backbone.
I was particularly pleased to see something I wrote being brought into a visual form. I don't have the skills or tools to create my own visual art, so it is a really exciting experience for me to see what my fellow artists were capable of creating.
We did not set out with the fine ideals of creating the ultimate artistic statement, but we did collaborate fully to produce a short, enjoyable presentation, and I could not have asked for more.
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I have to start out by saying that your project was the sweetest and most clever one I have seen! It was so refreshing to have a great collaboration of all of your different art forms into a cute story. I really loved that the story was about longing and connection. I used to always wonder what my teddy bears and stuffed animals would do when I left my room. I used to be deathly afraid that my chucky doll would devise some plan of attack when I reentered my room..really! So it was so cute to see a story about the teddy bear doing things while the owner was away. I loved the part when he tries to give the frog the pineapple. It was so cute. I think your idea was amazing and without your story, this story would have never been told. You brought your teddy bear and frog to life! I am sure they thank you for it. I thought everyone in your group contributed a great amount to the story that you created. You were the mastermind behind the whole venture. I really liked how you guys were able to take the story and create a "movie" with the photos. I think the whole project was very clever and well thought-out. I think you guys should create more art together!
ReplyDeleteIt is always so interesting where our inspiration comes from. You said in your presentation that it wasn't "creative" because you looked down and saw your laundry and a book. However, inspiration comes from anything. It can come from a thought, a glance, a tree, an object, a sound, or anything else. It may seem that you were not "creative," but I would say that you were. The whole premise of the story was your creation. The little additional things that he did was inspiring to watch because it was so cute to think that a teddy bear would be doing those things. I think you didn't give yourself enough credit. It was a great concept that turned into a sweet story because of your ability to tell a story that has meaning. The bear was longing for a connection. Hmm..aren't we all?