As an inspiration for this project, I am proposing a modified use of presentation styles from two sets of documentary films: “La hora de los hornos” and the “Qatsi Trilogy.” “La hora de los hornos” (The Hour of the Furnaces) is a three part documentary film created in Argentina in the 1960s. It was a film developed with specific intentions to evoke discussion and debates. Fernando Solanas and Octavio Getino were trying to create a new kind of non-narrative filmic style that used an interplay and juxtaposition of images with title cards, narration, soundlessness and motion overlapping to create or spark reflection and critical analysis – in essence, to help create a kind of democratic forum of teaching.
Similarly, the “Qatsi Trilogy” (Koyaanisqatsi, Powaqqatsi, and Naqoyqatsi) by Godfrey Reggio combines visual-spatial stimulus with musical stimulus to evoke reflection and thoughtfulness. As they say on their website, “Not for the answers that might be given, but for the questions that can be raised…” was the project created.
I am proposing a project that uses media in a similar vein to the above examples to raise questions, teach principles from our text, and access such multiple intelligences as visual-spatial, musical, interpersonal, intrapersonal, and linguistic. The subject of “arousal,” the ongoing need for either physical or cognitive stimulation, would be my intended focus. I would juxtaposition video footage from online and other sources, interspersing footage with pictures, and overlapping layers of music and dialogue with title overlays and different sections. The idea is to demonstrate different kinds of stimulus that our students receive in their home and personal lives and in their classrooms. I would seek to have three different multi-tasking videos at once on three different screens with three different projectors in a meshing of stimulus and arousal. The full purpose is to ask the questions: “What is the optimal level of arousal?” and “What activities are most likely to help keep students sufficiently aroused that they have little need to look elsewhere for stimulation?”
For further detail, see the following clips:
The Hour of the Furnaces:
The Qatsi Trilogy:
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Sounds fascinating. I'm looking forward to seeing it.
ReplyDeleteI don't have this finished although I'm working on it a lot - gotta love film editing and v.o. Anyhow, I was wondering if it were possible to ever test this presentation out before the actually date so that I am not fighitng with equipment the day we all present. And also, the time cap is 5 minutes? Is that right? I don't want to plane for more time than I have.
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