Selfless Self-Portrait Project
Video by Paris Woodhull, 2014, for Intro to 4-D Design, with Jonathan Lisenby, at University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
The challenge of the Selfless Self-Portrait Project is to describe the subject without utilizing figurative elements, without showing one's face. There's a common party game that asks the participants to describe themselves without using their name, occupation, or looks. The most successful of these video projects answer that question with abstract imagery, visual-associative references, meaningful pacing, and self-reflexive strategies, like the use of 'interlocutor' characters. One of the main goals of this assignment is to showcase the benefits of 'showing' versus 'telling' in creating a profile/characterization.
Video by Brynn Yeager
Video by Anna Weible
Video by Byeol Shim
Video by Billy Wright
Video by Erik Vass
After the assignments are completed, turned-in, and critiqued by the class, I often present the students with an option to turn-in another version of their project, utilizing the same footage or materials, but to alternate affect - a 'remix'. A second try brings the benefit of past experience, and familiarity with the subject and materials - in this case, the same raw video footage.
Video by Conor Cook
Video by Billy Wright
Advanced 16mm Film & Video Projects
Video by Andrew Gross, 2013, for Advanced Film and Video at University of Tennessee, Knoxville.
Film by Georganna Green
Film by Allan Namkowitz