Mediaworks
Program Evaluation
Jesse came to Mediaworks in his last year at Evergreen
to pursue his interest in experimental film. He has indicated that he hoped to
exercise more creativity in this program. As I review his creative work this quarter,
I believe he has made a lot of progress in all areas, including developing creative
skills with media. He has been a diligent, intellectually committed student in
the community. He attended program activities regularly and completed all his
work on schedule. For his excellent work this quarter he earns full credit.
In seminar, Jesse made some very significant contributions, often relating his
knowledge from other fields to the ideas we were studying. He frequently cited
the text to illustrate specific points in discussion, something I wish more students
would do. He obviously put a lot of energy into preparing for seminar. He also
volunteered to facilitate a seminar during which we were discussing some challenging
issues raised by Home Movies and Other Necessary Fictions. He and his co?facilitator
did an excellent job, gathering research on child abuse/incest and showing home
video to frame the discussion.
Jesse's writing is always a pleasure to read. His first essay about Berger's Ways
of Seeing included an eloquent explication of Berger's ideas, but less of
Jesse's own thinking about it. His second essay focused on the voice of Battle
of San Pietro and offered a very refreshing, detailed analysis. He addressed
the voice of the documentary and strategies in the film that imply an antiwar
subtext.
Video Project: In "Elemental Confusion," Jesse edited visuals that portrayed
the beauty of the natural landscape with audio that represented human destruction.
Slow pans and tight close?ups of river rapids, lichen?covered boulders, and mossy
tree trunks abstracted the objects, foregrounding textures found in nature. The
sound of a toilet flushing denoted water consumption, chainsaws referred to logging,
and the sounds of war spoke to human acts of destruction towards each other. The
ticking of a clock addressed how short on time we are to correct these abuses.
So often audio in video projects is an afterthought, so I really appreciate Jesse's
efforts to work with the audio?visual relationship. However, I also urge him to
refine his sound a little more. 'Dead air' between sound effects made for distracting
interruptions.
Performance: Jesse worked with three other collaborators on this performance
in which Tyler sang the lyrics of a popular rap song, "Gin and Juice," in a folk
style, the end of which got interrupted by Dan and Aaron's a rap version of a
folk song. The folk version of the rap song profoundly altered the context of
the rap lyrics, and created a jarring effect because such offensive lyrics seem
anathema to the folk genre. It really underscored the very different expectations
we have of these two different types of music, one predominantly grounded in African
American culture and the other in Anglo culture. The rap version, however, seemed
less effective because of the type of song chosen, a song about beer drinking.
The idea for this performance was provocative, but ambiguous in its intent without
a more thoughtful framing. Although Jesse felt that his own role in this project
was compromised and struggled with the collaborative team, he directed with confidence
that included attentive dissolves.
SUGGESTED COURSE EQUIVALENCIES (in quarter hours) TOTAL: 16
3 - Experimental Video Criticism and History
3 - Documentary Film Criticism and History
2 - Public Art
4 - Analog Video Production
4 - 16mm Film Production