#9 Extension

Hey, sorry, I forgot to comment on your presentations guys, but better late than never.

Casen- I really liked your presentation and even though you just used your brother, it didn't feel like he was a cop out artist. I would have even loved to have done a podcast about his work. Especially because its so unique. He's even more awesome than I thought. I really liked how you overlaid the part where he says he sees the world differently now over some really cool photos of landscapes that extenuate how unique the landscape can appear to be.

Rhonda- Can I just say that your artist was honestly my favorite of the day. At least your presentation was the most inspiring to me. He was a young mormon artist whose art makes more sense to him than I feel like mine has in a long time. I want to emulate what I saw when I raise my own children. He certainly wouldn't have such a unique creative talent at such a young age if it hadn't been cultivated in the right environment, and I think that says a whole lot about what a mormon artist really is.

Mormon Artist Reply

Rhonda: I loved your project! It was a unique and refreshing project to see your young son as a Mormon Artist. I was impressed with his spiritual maturity, his deep thinking, and his sculpting talent at such a young age. How old is your son? How long has he been modeling with clay? At this point in his life, does he want to pursue sculpting as an artist? Your project definitely stood out and caught my attention! Yours was so different than the rest of the interviews, which I think is a positive thing; it will not be easily forgotten.

Nicholas: What I really liked about your project is the questions you had prepared going into the interview. I like how you asked questions about how being a Mormon has influenced her artwork and then countering that with questions about how her artwork and perspective would be different if she wasn't a Mormon. I enjoyed hearing her responses because both answers were interesting. Part of what makes a Mormon Artist interesting is their set of beliefs that influence their art. I noticed the distinction between the two most readily in your interview. How do you know her? She is very talented!

Someone to read my draft

One of my biggest weaknesses in my writing is just plain old everyday grammar errors. So, if I don’t have someone look over my writing, I just end up looking like a total idiot. Luckily, I married a man who is kind of geniusey when it comes to writing and I’ve always had him check my work for basic grammar errors. But, when it comes to him checking whether the subject matter in my writing was strong or weak or what not, that’s a different matter, I tend to get a bit upset when I feel like he’s criticizing my work.

In the reading the author mentions the fear that people have that if someone looks at your writing that they might think that it was so bad that you would have to totally start over again. That is actually a huge fear for me. Having to take something that you have already written and completely change it is the scariest thing in the world to me and I’m not sure why.

I guess that at some point in my life I must have gotten the crazy idea that writing was something along the lines of an abstract painting; the kind where you throw a bunch of paint on a canvas and then just see what happens and where everything falls and that once all the splattered paint is in place that you can’t change anything because… then it wouldn’t be art. At some point I got the idea that the more planning and structure that you put into your writing the less magical or spiritual that it would be but that’s obviously not true.

Since I’ve been in the media arts program though, I’ve had the opportunity to have a lot of my work be viewed by other people and it was kind of hard at first but now I’ve come to really appreciate it because most of the time it is meant well and has actually helped me to do better work.

So, after reading the reading and after having experienced how valuable my peers’ feedback has been this semester, I’m going to try and be more open to showing my work to other people because all it can do is help me do better work.

9?!?!

Someone To Read Your Drafts is one of the best and potentially the most useful thing I've read this year. I am not much of a writer, myself, but I suddenly have the urge to write a story just so that I can find a person who fits well with me who will criticize my work honestly and gently. I remember Amy saying something about this a couple of weeks ago, telling us to, "Find someone whose work we admire and try to collaborate with that person."

This article tells us to find someone of our same level. That is a really good idea, come to think of it. I've always assumed that I want a professional to edit my work since that is what I aspire to. I think that it just may work out better for me in the long run if I am a bit more consistent in who I have edit my work. If it is someone who is learning and growing with me, they will be more likely to have the time to edit something I write, and will be much more understanding about my own shortcomings.

I think that collaboration is the greatest thing ever invented. I love piecing together a story with several other people whom I respect and admire. I have been doing this a lot lately, and feel that it increases the odds that the final creation is actually awesome. I always thought that if one person thinks a thing is cool, then it may be, or it may not be. But if two or three people think that the same thing is cool, odds are it actually is cool.

I like to cite Star Wars as an example of this. George Lucas did a ton of collaborating one the earlier IV V and VI films years ago. He did not direct the fifth or sixth films, and had a lot of help with the creation of his story. However, on the more recent films I, II and III, he is listed as the sole writer, director and executive producer of all three films. Let me just say that I did not enjoy the more recent three films near as much as I did the initial three. Collaboration. That’s where it’s at.

Someone to Read Your Drafts

“Someone To Read Your Drafts” was an interesting article. Personally, I (slightly) thought the author seemed quite overly sensitive. But then again, having someone critique your work is terrifying, but very necessary. Skipping 185 is a VERY common thought that pops into my head. It’s embarrassing to show my films, and have them be critique in front of the whole class. And it’s hard to hear “the bad.” But, I have to force myself to get over that fact.  

The author is certainly right. It is absolutely important to have other eyes, minds, and hearts to read a work that was created and cherished by that one creator.  I tend to think of the writing process like the whole filmmaking process itself. For instance in a documentary (not that I know much about it, but…), as the filmmaker you conceptualize, you experience the footage; you are immersing in the footage. When it comes to editing it, the cuts, the hours of watching the footage, rearranging, undoing, copying, pasting, redoing, eventually I loose sight of the world I’m creating. I lose context to if the film makes sense, if the cuts are appropriate, etc. I ultimately become so comfortable in the footage I’m working with that I forget the newness that stranger will experience when watching the film. I think this goes for writing, and the numerous drafts we create. For me, the characters, the plot, the themes, settings have been simmering and rendering in my mind, on my paper forever, and I forget the actually reader.

With this in mind, I think it so important to have a fresh reader, who ever they may be, to read my script. For me, it is really embarrassing to have someone read anything of mine- since I’m pretty sure it’s not good to begin with. So, their critiques help me mold my writing for improvement. I love asking the reader how they feel, what they felt, who they connected to. That, to me, is exciting. Having someone else get involved in my creating is really cool, to say the least. 

Project Podcast Response: Collin Barkdull: Your podcast was enlightening. The insight that your father (right?) provided on talent, and the essential element of work ethic as a Mormon Artist was so helpful for an aspiring artist like myself. From your podcast, I also found that responsibility is another important aspect as an artist. I learned a lot!

#9

Finding someone to review your work really is crucial, though it does take a lot of courage...especially someone you respect. It's so much easier to hold your breath and turn it in, hoping for the best. Unfortunately, that's not the best way to improve or succeed in the creative industry.

I think the use of hyperbole is genius. It might be an overstatement of what anyone would actually verbalize, however, when someone tears down an individual's creative works (especially those that are near and dear), the gut reaction is to imagine the worst things possible about that critic before calming down and accepting that nothing is perfect on the first shot. Finding someone who is willing to confront us with that fact and help us improve is invaluable.

Blog 9

While a little bit melodramatic, she's right. I though there was a whole bunch of truth to be had in Anne Lamott's “Someone to Read My Drafts.” While its one of the hardest things to do, we need to have someone to look over our unfinished work to help it get to where it needs to be. I know first hand how emotional you can get while waiting for others to read your work. Especially when its the first time anyone has laid eyes on it.

I think the real key, and what I've taken from this more than anything else is how vastly important it is that take caution when picking those that are going to be our critics. We need to find someone that will tell us the cold hard truth, while still expressing it in a kind and respectful manner. I've had a close friend read my work and tell me it sucked, and then tried to make up for it by reassuring me that I'm a great writer. I guess that she didn't really understand how a great writer is judged by his work.

In many cases, I feel I can use my mother as she herself has had some experience writing and years upon years of reading. Yet, when I know I've written something that is blatently not her style, I don't try and waste both our time by having her read over it. The best part is that she is totally understanding of this and supportive. I really haven't found that person that could be there for me 100% of the time, and I'm not so sure they exist. If they did I'm pretty sure I'd marry them as fast as reasonably possible (that is if they were female of course, but I'm assuming it would be).

Someone to Read Your Drafts

The article, "Someone to Read Your Drafts" hit close to home. I can relate to the several situations this author presented about the difficulties and rewards of sharing your written work with others.

A little over a year ago, I was studying film at Utah Valley University. I had a pleasant experience in their program but I am now grateful to be studying at BYU; I feel it is a stronger and more rewarding program. Notwithstanding, I had a painful yet meaningful experience with one of the professor's at UVU. Our final project was to write and produce a ten minute film. Our teams were made up of small groups so we shared in some responsibilities. One of my responsibilities was to write the script.

The story I wrote was very personal to me and as a result I poured my heart and soul into this script. I fell prey to a weakness that many writers experience, and that is hesitating to show your work to anyone until it is complete or perfected. Me, being inexperienced and somewhat prideful had thought I had perfected my script by the time we were required to bring it to class and read it before the professor. I had made a few revisions of my own prior to this time but I had never let anyone else read it. After reading the script, I was expecting the professor to praise it and green light the film for production. Oh how I was disappointed! In front of the entire class he projected his digital copy of the script and tore it to shreds! I had never seen so much red marking on paper in my life! At this moment, I felt much like the author of this article when someone honestly critiques their work. I hated this professor's guts. I kept thinking to myself, "What does he know? He is completely wrong! He's just trying to find any excuse he can to criticize my work because he hates me. It's all personal to him. I know I'm right and I know he's wrong!"

After I regained my composure a few hours later, I lowered my pride and read my script with the professor's remarks in mind. A painful but marvelous experience began to take place: I came to the realization that he was right. I began the arduous and creatively liberating journey of rewriting and rewriting and rewriting my script. I shared my script with a few key people that I respect and trust and through this collected effort, the professor finally approved the script. I believe I had gone through about fifteen major rewrites of that script. I love to compare the final script to the first draft -- there is a huge difference! It was an amazing and humbling experience for me.

In order to be great at any craft, I have learned that you must be humble. I got used to my professor consistently beating me down, giving me constructive criticism, and telling me "try again", that on the final draft, I was ready for him to give me ten more things to fix. How thrilled I was when he not only said the script was finished and ready to shoot, but his appraisal of the script. His high compliments of my work on this script meant the world to me, especially coming from someone who gave an honest and sometimes harsh critique of my work.

Finding people you can trust to criticize your work is always a bit painful, but the rewards are far superior.

Someone to Read Your Drafts

I really enjoyed the reading this week. Not only was it entertaining, but it was definitely full of useful advice for artists hoping to create brilliant pieces of art. I found myself being able to really relate to the author. She constantly talked about how she feels anger and sometimes even hatred to those who are not entirely thrilled with her work. I think that this is true for all artists. Artists whether they are writers, painters, or filmmakers, are extremely vulnerable. This is because we are putting our hearts and our souls into our work and we want others to accept, appreciate, and love what we do. However, people will not always love what we do and sometimes it takes an outside perspective to point out what we are missing in our pieces that would make our art more understandable and gratifying to an audience.
It has been very challenging in Brad's 185 class to screen everyone's work. We do this routinely and although it is very helpful, it is also pretty scary. I feel very nervous every time one of my films comes up for everyone to critique and view critically. Sometimes I am offended, hurt, or even mad when the feedback I receive is not what I was expecting or hoping to hear. It is hard to put yourself out there and show an entire classroom or even one person something that is so close to you and that is apart of you because what if they don't like it? But the thing is, it is necessary. Other people's opinions, although hard to digest sometimes, are extremely helpful in the artistic process of creating something meaningful and beautiful.
It is important for me and for other filmmakers to remember to be open minded and appreciate comments on our work. It is also important to remember that critical does not have to be cruel. This is important to remember when we are critiquing other people's work. Our perspective and suggestions for others' work can really help them and it is not necessary to be hurtful. It is very difficult for you to hand your work to someone else and wait anxiously while they meticulously read or view what you have created, but it is an essential step in the process of perfecting your piece. For this reason my goals for responding to feedback would be to stay positive and open-minded and not be offended by suggestions for improvement but really consider them and incorporate them into my work. I am asking for feedback so I should listen to it and use it. If I didn't do that then my work would never be nearly as good as it could potentially be.

Finding Critique: A Moby Dick of Text

Gaining a constructive critique for your art is certainly a hard process. Generally we are exposed to sticker comments, ‘Awesome!’ or ‘Good Job’ that offer no specific outlook on your work. Eventually we become exposed to impersonal formats like the Internet or a College course, places that typically esteem to vicious comments that are not meant to help the artist, but rather show the grand intelligence of the reviewer. Both forms of feedback may be lacking, yet they can retain truth regarding the work in question. However these crude forms of critique tend to not help the artist in question…why?

Why does an artist ever want a critique? Is it to improve their work, to expand their general sense of talent? Yes, and no. This question is too general. All an artist really wants is to better communicate with their audience. Communication. An artist in theory tries to bridle raw emotions; they want others to feel what they are feeling. They must in a sense successfully transplant their heart into the body of another being. Some donors simply will not match other needing bodies, but in the case of a match it needs to be in healthy working order.

I liked how the writer referred to finding an honest critique to the pains of finding a mate. I feel it may extend further than this. It is hard finding someone you can love forever, but it is even harder making sure that love lasts. The only way it will remain compatible is if you are willing to adapt and change as you live your life. As an artist we have to be open to this dynamic exchange. You may have a certain audience, but you need to make sure you are doing your best to meet their needs. A critique will most likely not change garbage to gold, but rather raise decent work into fully appreciated art.

As far as writing goes I think it can be quite hard to get a worthwhile critique. You can have people critique grammar, sentence structure, and screenwriting structure. This is all technical stuff that should be addressed to help the viewer. Then there is the artistic, emotional spacing of dialog and action. People will not identify with your motivations with certain elements and may hand you suggestions…all of it is pure opinion. People after all critique professional work; at some point you have to do what you feel is best. The reason outside views are so great is it gives your work a new perspective, and you need to weigh whether that perspective needs to be addressed. While you may have the final edit in your own work it is probably best to remember that your own words are your own stated opinion. Your opinion in the end will always be right for your work, but that doesn’t make it true. It is within these grounds of uncertainty that outside opinions are worth considering.

It is incredibly hard to be rebellious and daring with your work while still retaining the viewer. Modern art demands the viewer to come to the artist’s understanding. Commercial art demands the artist to come to the viewer’s understanding. I feel that great art seeks the turbulent ground found somewhere in-between. It is something that both the artist and the viewer may struggle to grasp without serious, meaningful consideration to the body of the work.

With that stated, obviously it would be hard to find others willing to really give you great critique. You have to find someone that has an understanding of the medium and also has a personal ability to sense real emotion. Sometimes these are other artists, in other cases they are analytical geniuses that have an eye for greater communication. The general public lacks this talent, and so do many artists.

I would like to relate this to a class structure, whether this is found in church or school. Most classes are filled with facts, and safe thoughts. The instructor provides truth, and then asks for pat/seminary answers. This is ordinary and impersonal. It becomes the learner’s responsibility to make the information personal by creating inner dialog with their mind or spirit. A greater class structure provides discussion, volatile expressions that do not find answers but simply urge extra effort between everyone involved. My mind is invigorated; my spirit enlarged; when people refrain from giving answers, and rather give me their thoughts and feelings.

It is hard enough to find art among students that seem to hold nothing back, how can I expect them to provide meaningful critique? A real critique makes that person feel just as insecure as the actual artist.

Last Fall I posted a 9-page short story in a general e-mail to my fellow animation students. I had been working on this story for the previous four months. Out of this group I would guess about half of them actually read it. Reading is hard after all. Of those that read it a handful said they liked it. Two gave nice story suggestions. Then out of the blue, one student the following week handed me a print out of my story with a considerable amount of hand written notes. It is the most tremendous gift I had ever received and it was from someone I had barely said anything to beyond mere daily salutations. He had put a few hours of thought into my work and I took almost all of his suggestions seriously and made the appropriate changes. He helped my work reach the threshold of expression I had been seeking.

People generally won’t do this for you. They just want to eat your sweet things, and sit around accruing any additional fat provided to them. They don’t want to explain why they enjoyed your baking, how it could be better, and heaven forbid they do the dishes for you! That is what a critique requires. Good luck finding it.

As the reading suggests finding a person to help you critique your work before passing it on to an editor or publishing house, perhaps it is best to also pass it through your own mind several times before shoving it on to anyone else. After all this schooling and media consumption I would hope I could have a fairly clear objective eye when going over my own work.

-Nephi Hepworth

Someone To Read Your Drafts

I found this article very helpful and extremely insightful. I have never even considered myself much of a writer, yet this article seems to apply to more than just writing. It is so true that when you start on a creative venture of any kind, it is critical to find ways to improve. Often our own insights are insufficient to fill the gaps and we must draw on the experience of others. But what about when we are working professionally? It was very intriguing to see a real writer tell us that even she asks for the critique of others before submitting a final draft. I have often been the kid that was too shy to show my works to anyone because I didn't feel that it was good enough. Reading this article, it dawned on me that that is the point. It shouldn't be good enough to us, if we truly want to improve. In striving to improve our own work, we must submit it for an outsider's opinion.

This is not to say that we should open ourselves up to abuse. I am reminded of when Jesus explained that we should not cast our pearls before swine. Why show our work to someone who will only berate it and belittle us? This author had a great point that life is too short to let little things get in the way of us seeking our greatest potential. There will always be ways in which we can improve ourselves, and we want to find others who will help us reach that, not so they will condemn our work unnecessarily. The article was comically extreme in its advocation of totally dismissing these pessimistic people, but really- there is no reason to surround ourselves with such garbage. Time is too limited. So, I guess the moral of the story is that we should let others read our work and allow for mistakes to be fixed, but there's no place for pessimism. I found myself very motivated after reading this article.

Mormon Artist Interview

Spencer Johnson,

I thought it was awesome that you were able to interview the founder of "They Might Be Elders". I had heard of them before, and it was really cool to hear the artist's perspective and what he hopes to be doing with his music. I absolutely loved his comments on how we don't need foul references in a song, and how if the music is good, the song will be good. I agree that in some cases the music is fantastic, and all that the lyrics do is degrade that. That was a great and insightful interview, thank you for sharing it with us.

Useful Critique

I'm not sure that I can add a lot to the reading today. I really feel that the lesson she taught is so important, and it is something that I have known is important, but haven't realized how much I need until I read the article. I've worked in writing groups before and I've really struggled with how to get valuable critiques. The author of our reading captured the struggles of reviews so well. Our creations are so valuable to us that it seems no matter how hard I try I cannot emotionally remove myself from the comments that are given to my work. Yet that is something I really need to straighten out, because to be an artist you have to share. You have to let other people in and there will always be those who don't like it. More importantly, though, are those who do, but can still see its shortcomings and I think that is the most important lesson I learned.

She really helped me see what is required in a good reviewer of your work. First off, they have to love you. If they don't care about you, they they will either a) tell you what you want to hear because they don't really care what happens to you, or b) they will tell you what they want to say regardless of how it makes you feel. However, someone who really cares about you will want to be honest and yet help you succeed at the same time. I really liked that she said to stay away from all other types, especially the destructive ones who take pleasure in your failures. Secondly, you have to admire this person's taste. In other words, you both have to be into the same kind of things, or at least you must like what they like, because otherwise they will critique your work, but not really care or know how to improve it. It's not their fault and they will try and be helpful if they care about you, but they won't be able to because the decisions they tell you to make will not be right for your work. These two qualities are a must!

This article really opened my eyes to the importance of review, but even more importantly to the importance of the reviewer. As a hopeful writer I plan on searching until I find someone who possesses these qualities, someone who can invest in both my work and me as a writer, and hopefully I can help them in return. It helped me get even more excited to write.

Review on Mormon Artist Interview

So first off, great job too everyone. It was fun to see different perspectives into what it means to be a Mormon Artist. Now to the two interviews that I am supposed to review:

Nephi,

So it was fun to see that you also chose to interview an animator. It was interesting to me to contrast the animation student with my own interview of an animation professor. I really liked how your interview touched on understanding the way people understand and accept art and how that understanding is vital to produce appropriate art. A large part of the art we create, at the very least much of the meaning that can be drawn from it, is unintentional and so it was really cool to see that he understood that and was going to create what he felt he needed to regardless. It's really interesting to think that being a Mormon Artist requires us to be bold in our desire to share what we can create, even though it might offend someone who interacts with it. Thanks for sharing that with us.

Rhonda,

I really enjoyed the interview of a child. I hadn't even thought about how a child views himself or herself as an artist. Like all things childlike, it felt very pure and very right. I really liked his focus on the idea that he believed he was good at art, and sculpting in particular, because God wanted him to be and so he had a purpose to use that talent correctly. That just really struck out to me and I realized that I also need to use the talents God has given me for his purposes. Thanks!

Mormon Artist Interview Review

Sophia Borich,

I think you did an excellent job with your Mormon artist interview. Not only was the type of artist that you chose interesting and unique, but the artist herself was quite the character. I loved how you could hear how passionate she was about her work in her voice. We didn't need to see her on film to hear how she felt about her art. She was very original and intriguing. Also, from the pictures I can tell that she is very talented. Her personality is the perfect type to interview. Not only is she spunky and fun, but she is also very serious about her work and you can tell that she is just in love with her art, the way an artist should be. She seems to embrace the diversity of her art work. I love how connected she is to her work since her canvas as she said, is a living, breathing, human. She really seemed connected to the spirit as well. The simplest example is her awe and appreciation for the human body. I really enjoyed your interview and I think that the Mormon artist that you chose is a wonderful example of a Mormon who is also a powerful and talented artist.

Media Artist Interview - Spencer Humphry

Interviewed Disney Animator

I enjoyed the collection of artwork you were able to use, showing some of the films she has helped animate. The questions were thoughtful, and she had some interesting insights on being an LDS animator. I liked the sentiment that the animation industry needs more LDS artists. We really do have a lot to bring to the table, and our values are much needed in the world today.

Screenplays

I find both of these screenplays interesting. I found the Untitled screenplay a bit disorienting at certain places but after reading through to the end, most of the unclear passages begin to make sense. I'm not entirely sure if I am interpreting either of these stories in the same way the writers intended, but here are a few of my thoughts:

The first thought that came to my mind when trying to make connections with Grace's hair was the passage in the New Testament when Christ talks about forsaking sin when he tells us to figuratively cut off our hand if it offends us; for it is better that the hand is severed than that the body be destroyed by the hand. Throughout the story, Grace grapples with her struggle of cutting her hair off. She knows she needs to because it is causing her harm, but it is hard to let go of some things in life. It's not until she nearly dies that she has the courage to do what needs to be done.

I found it interesting that the hair had a will of it's own (I wonder how long this hair is? It would be interesting to see it played out on screen). There seems to be an internal struggle of discernment in Grace's character. When she is in her room she is about to cut off her hair, but then the hair "lovingly wraps around her fingers and snuggles up against her head." At this point she decides not to cut her hair. It seems events like this happen to many of us. We know we need to change or do something through inspiration, and moments later, Satan comes and proposes an alternative. His subtle tactics are convincing and difficult to discern from God's answers at times. I enjoyed this theme that was threaded throughout the script.

There was also some nice imagery of Grace walking into the wind while everyone else tried to find shelter from it. Clearly, Grace, like all of us, needed to fix some things in her life. An interesting thing I though about was the possibility of how Latter-day Saints view one another. There are a couple scenes that may suggest that Grace loses hope as she sees the good people around her. First, in this scene when she is walking against the wind as well as in the classroom; Grace struggles with her modeling as students around her seem like they are doing a perfect job. Many members of the Church negatively compare themselves to other members whom they think are more righteous then they are. Because we are a people striving for perfection, it is a natural inclination for us to focus on our weaknesses and perhaps see a misguided perfection in others, when in all reality, all members of the Church struggle in some way or another.

The screenplay about Mr. Bellpond reminded me of an independent film I recently saw called "The Ghost of Dicken's Past". The story is about how Charles Dickens's painful and suffering experiences in creating his famous story, "A Christmas Carol." In a similar way, Mr. Bellpond needed to learn the principle that in order to contribute goodness to the world, you first need to live a good life -- meaning God and family comes first. That is a lesson I think all Mormon artists should really think about. We cannot put forth quality material unless we qualify for the spirit in our lives through righteousness. If we put work or anything else above priorities of God and family, then life becomes a tragedy as it did for Mr. Bellpond; after his wife was missing, he stopped his career, he became a hermit inside his home, and wasn't able to enjoy life and move on.

I really like the ending of this script. I love that we don't have the complete resolution of the story, and because of that, Mr. Bellpond must take a leap of faith and move forward in hope believing that will see his wife. Faith and hope are key players in this story. The process of Mr. Bellpond receiving letters from an anonymous source that inspired him to work and exercise his faith reminded me of something that the Bible Dictionary states: "Faith is kindled by hearing the testimony of those who have faith." Even though the anonymous writer was kind of a jerk, he offered an outlet that provided Mr. Bellpond some "kindling" to get his faith moving in the right direction. Some people can't be expected to make giant leaps of faith without some prior kindling experiences to build them up beforehand. It could have been easy for the wife to write something on the blank paper or to have written more details about her life and things like that, but Mr. Bellpond needed to discover these things for himself so he could grow.

Again, I could be completely off in the way I interpreted some of these stories but I enjoyed both of them a lot.

screenplays from our friends

I think that A. Todd’s screenplay shows us how important hope is. Even in desperate times, hope must always be prevalent in order for humans to survive emotionally. There has to be something to look forward to. A way he held on to his hopes was with the arm of the gramophone. Hope is a key point in the gospel of Jesus Christ. We all must have it if we are to progress. Todd uses a very effective imagery of the man standing at the edge of a sea dock, packed for a journey. He is finally getting up and doing something. He wouldn’t have before, but he has been inspired, and is now in search of the truth.

Chloe’s screenplay seems like a take on personal imperfections. People aren’t perfect. They often have little quirks or things about them that make them self-conscious or make them feel stupid and guilty. Lewis sees her in her struggle and offers his hand to help. This is as Christlike as it gets. He lets go of his fear and initial impressions very quickly and still treats Grace like a human being. It seems obvious, but that can really be hard sometimes. In the end, her hair is truly beautiful and enlightening (get it?). She writes that Grace floats up, looks skyward, smiles and the image fades to white. This is a very clear way to represent virtue and peace. After this girl takes care of her issues on earth, she is free. This was all about seeing past peoples faults, and I relate to that very well, hoping others can do the same for me and deciding to make the attempt to do that for others. I don’t know much about artistic techniques yet, though I do feel that it was very well written, and its theme is very obvious.

Screenplays

These two screenplays obviously were written by two students with a strong understanding of gospel principles. What a relief that they didn't need to be didactic in nature to convey a strong moral message. Yet, the ideologies of the perspective authors were very clear in their works. Take A Todd's for example. He obviously believes strongly in receiving inspiration from living life. That we can only learn about ourselves by going outside of ourselves. Outside our comfort zone. You don't learn how to apply the gospel by sitting in your house studying the scriptures all day but by going to some foreign land and trying to teach it to strangers. And suddenly we have a gospel principle oriented theme.

This is how I'd like to someday convey the gospel in my own media. I'm to much of a fan of force feeding my audience a message. I like the idea of letting them get there on their own. Chloe's screenplay could be interpreted thousands of different ways. What does Grace's hair symbolize to you? The natural man? An addiction? A negative relationship? Our own interpretation of the symbol ends up telling us more about ourselves than about Chloe.

I want this someday for myself. As a writer by nature (maybe someday by career) I make a constant effort to write something that is received differently by everyone. To incorporate gospel principles on any level is to invite antagonists from across the demographic spectrum. You'll have some of the church's worst enemies and best friends banging down your door to call you out. Yet I plan to try and express the ideology I have inherited from the church as much as possible.

Wow! I found Chloe’s script to be extremely compelling. What a great way to take a look at this mortal existence. When we think of hair, we don’t always think about it being a living part of us, we think of it as something that is dead and something that we can get rid of if we want because it will always grow back. Why is it so hard for us to think about death in this same way?

So what I’m thinking is that Chloe was using hair as a symbol for our carnal selves and how we literally need to cut ourselves off from it if we are to be free and happy. Other’s I think mistakenly see this as death of sorts; they feel sorry for us because we can no longer take part in worldly things but we know that we are better off because we were ready for the change. We were tired of the fight and see that the worldly fun was becoming more pain and regret then pleasure.

I love how in the end Grace floats away…I know some might find that ending cheesy but I liked it. I thought that it was wonderfully able to show how there are many different deaths in our existence and they should all be seen as being wonderful because they are always a start of a new journey on a new road to better places.

Screenplays- Investigating Gospel Principles

            The screenplays written by Chloe Huber and A Todd are truly bold (not even considering the general opinion/favor of their scripts). I really respect their artistic endeavors. And, perhaps these screenplays do investigate gospel principles, which can be seen through their artistic techniques in the script.

            I had the chance to closely follow these directors throughout (and still) their production of their films. As I have watched them visualize and conceptualize their scripts, I recognize the deep concern, and excitement they have to carry out their screenplays. The screenplays really do speak their styles.

            In terms of investigating gospel principles, I believe Chloe Huber’s script is this engulfing, dominating aspect of Grace’s Hair. I believe that her hair represents the natural man. Grace is under-shadowed by her hair, a living character itself. Perhaps, maybe a foil that reveals the duality of any individual? Thus, in the script, there are scenes that bring the hair into humanly characteristics: eating popcorn, being concerned with the mustard on her face, tuned to the whistles, sounds of the outdoors, etc. But eventually, her hair visually becomes rattier, messier. The hair is no longer polished, glossy, or trimmed. The hair carries her misdeeds, her mistakes (like the dried up paint, the popcorn, etc). Grace becomes burdened, and alienated. The rooftop scene reveals redemption. As she falls off the roof, she finally has the chance to cut her hair. She isn’t fearful anymore of this malicious hair, this living “thing.” And, with that, the ratty hair, the dirty hair is cut and away with. She is left with “her”— polished, cut, neat hair. Now, the wind can carry her away.

            In Todd’s screenplay, I find it may touch on the subject of “home.” Perhaps, Bellpond’s home (his type of Eden) was taken away from him, and like all of us we are continually searching to return back to our home. Yuridia becomes his “Ithaca.” And his writer’s block, and his challenge to compose this “masterpiece” is the raging sea (that of Odysseus’s travels). Bellpond doesn’t recognize his home until it is lost, and he cannot return to his home unless he is renewed. Perhaps, it’s the “broken heart and contrite spirit” motivation. We all must be broken before we can be repaired. 

The Screenplays

How do these screenplays investigate gospel principles? What artistic techniques are used to accomplish this invetigation?

The screenplays were definitely interesting to read. They both had very diverse qualities that set them apart from other screenplays that I have read or movies that I have seen. I believe that the main quality that set the screenplays apart was the presence of gospel principles strewn through out them. The presence of the gospel was never obvious, but the screenplays were tinged with hints of gospel principles. In Smith's screenplay, the main character suffered a great loss and chose to fall away from his work and his talents instead of holding strong to them and working through the pain of his loss. This often occurs to members of the church. It is very easy for people to fall away from the church when experiencing hardship even though staying closer to the gospel will only lighten the burden of suffering. There were many parts of Smith's screenplay that I was confused about but I could tell that the screenplay will be very visually effective. The audience will be able to see for their own eyes the shift from complete happiness to great despair. However, there are also elements of repentance and the atonement. If Smith completes another masterpiece and abandons his sorrows then he will be rewarded with not only excellent work but also a letter from his love. His despair will be forgotten and he will have the chance of happiness once again.
Huber's screenplay was very different than Smith's. The screenplay reminded me a great deal of Tangled. I was slightly disappointed at the unoriginality of the story, but I think that Huber added some extra stuffing to the story which elevated the symbolism and level of importance for telling the story. The main character was weighted down by her hair. Her hair had a life of its own but it was also a part of her. Her hair symbolized different emotions that she feels in an external, physical way. It is almost as if her hair represents the little angels and devils that are floating around buzzing in the ear of each and every one of us. The hair causes her a lot of grief, but at times it also helps and assists her. It is as if she has a love/hate relationship with her hair. She is torn in multiple situations internally and we see this struggle by the actions of her hair. By the end of the story it is as if her hair has control over her instead of the other way around. In the end her hair represents evil that has gotten hold of her. By fighting back and cutting her hair off she is regaining control of her life and she is cutting off all forms of evil in her life. That is why she is exalted and lifted into the air. Because she has overcome adversity and evil. The Screenplay plays with ideas of sin, repentance, exaltation, and achieving the highest level by overcoming the will to do evil.

The Scripts

These scripts that we said were.. interesting, to say the least. I had to abandon my traditional view in order to even somewhat understand them. The best I can figure, both scripts are purposely asynchronous with traditionally understood themes and motives. I was reminded of the farcical acting styles of "Moulin Rouge" and Phil Goodwin's "Bread to Kill".

Smith's "Mr. Bellpond's Masterpiece" seemed to me to be a look at insanity. At least, I would hope that the events of the script are only occuring internally in this Bellpond character's decent into madness over his wife's death. If I were to choose a gospel principle explored by this script, it would be hope and faith. The overarching sense of the story is that this man has lost his purpose in life, and it is found again in his renewed search to receive his wife's letter. I thought that the best artistic choice made in the screenplay is to show the man going off in search of his wife, having not even read the letter he received. There is some meaning attributed to this that I'm sure will show up in the production, like faith or the need to continually seek hope.

I don't have any idea how to analyze the Huber script. I can't figure out what possessed hair has to do with anything, let alone something gospel related. It seems that Grace finds some sort of redemption in cutting away the possessed hair and dying (I think she died..). There really isn't much else I can say on a subject that I really don't understand.

To be totally honest, I did not like these screenplays. They were too obscure for me to relate to them on any level, so I found no meaning in them. Obscurity can be good in allowing the audience to find ambiguous truths for themselves, but I just found these stories to be ridiculous. I hope no one is offended by this, but I just can't pretend to find meaning in something which I did not connect to at all. I hope that someone else found more to these than I did.

The Worst Scripts I've Ever Read

Wait...I thought Saw VII was the 'Final Chapter', and yet here I am being tortured all over again. These are by far the worst screenplays I have ever read. I got through about five pages of 'Smith' and eight pages of 'Huber'. I don't know who I should pity more, myself or the authors who didn't take these to a level worth making public. There general ideas carry the potential for an interesting narrative, but their current drafts are still trying to find the necessary thoughts to convey their potential goals. These stories are weighed down in pages of fat. I could not find cohesiveness in their stories, and was left wondering what they were trying to achieve outside of utter nonsense. They have no clear story structure and visually the stories make little sense. Is Mr. Bellpond suppose to be a comedy or a tragedy? The self indulging tone of the voice over and the coupling of 'spooning' and depression feels horribly artificial. Meanwhile Grace shows no mentally capacity to process what is happening to her, and the world in general breaks any form of plausibility.

I'm hoping these screenplays were primarily intended to 'investigate gospel principles' because that may explain why they feel so completely forced. The characters are put in wildly imaginative situations but then they just sit and mope while the authors try and find what the point of their writing may be.

I cannot take this blog prompt seriously. These scripts need real editing and revisions that I do not have time to preform. After all, I have my own horrible scripts to write.

-Nephi Hepworth

Screenplays and the Gospel

It was interesting to think about the gospel principles that were addressed/part of the screenplays that we read this week. I think I will discuss each of them separately and talk about what I felt they were trying to say and how they accomplished that goal.

Mr. Bellpond's Masterpiece focuses on the principle of hope and how hope affects and is a large part of our lives. In Mr. Bellpond's case we are given a negative example about what happens to our lives when we live without hope. This screenplay suggests that hope is an important part of what helps people do what is right. This is especially important to our faith as hope is mentioned frequently in the scriptures. In Ether 12:6 we are taught that hope is an anchor to the soul and that idea is reflected in Mr. Bellpond's life. A. Todd Smith did some interesting things with this screenplay to argue for the need for hope and how that applies to each of its readers/viewers.

Mostly I want to talk about how Mr. Bellpond is narrated. Thus, although Bellpond is given a personality, he seems to be less of a character and more of a character type. We don't really get to hear what he says and we aren't given the chance to try and interpret him...we are given access to his thoughts and emotions directly. This method helps the viewers, in a didactic sense, understand what the "moral of the story" is.

For Chloe Huber's story, I believe a gospel principle she tackles is the danger of refusing to prune ourselves. In other words, just like we are taught in the scriptures, especially in Jacob's allegory of the Lord's vineyard, we must be pruned to be shaped correctly. This pruning takes the shape of discipline and righteousness in our lives and is always difficult to deal with. Grace's hair might represent her desires and her refusal to cut that hair represents her inability to discipline herself. Likewise, if we refuse to undergo the pruning we require, we can never become who the Lord wants us to be. Yet, as soon as she prunes her hair, she is carried up. It is an interesting allegory. I liked that artistic method of presenting the story allegorically to real life and I think that helped the story teach about this gospel principle.

blog 8 (light and darkness)

The concept of light and dark narratives is a playful matter, but also a very serious one. Reading books and poems have helped me to best identify the workings of light and dark narratives.  I guess the most common answer about this binary is probably: “there is opposition in all things.” Which is, of course, true. But these binaries, such as light and dark, aren’t mutually exclusive. There seems to be one that dominates. Take the terms “male and female” or even “up/down,” “on/off” “left/right,” “raw/cooked,” “nature/culture.” “Right” seems to be the dominate of “left,” “up” more so than “down,” and “male” more so than “female.” I noticed that narratives could be the same way when it comes to light and dark. In narratives, sometimes lightness prevails, and other times darkness becomes the greater half.

The challenge is simply that “darkness” seems to outweigh the light in many narratives. Especially now, I find this to be true. I don’t think darkness or lightness is absolute, or solid “white” or solid “black,” because there is a lot of “gray.” Perhaps, this grayness leaves this binary ambiguous (which could be effective). But dark narratives seem to appeal to audiences these days. Darkness (in my terms) blackens the hope, the warmth of love, and suffocates the “light” into total blackness. Ultimately, the character is trapped in this blackness (the fall) forever.

So, basically, the challenge is to outweigh the darkness with the radiance of light within our storytelling. For example, in the book (not the film) “The Road,” the story is placed in absolute darkness— the human race as clearly been wiped out. It’s dreadful. However, McCarthy brings this incandescent relationship between the father and the son to outweigh the darkness. Perhaps, this is still too “dark” but I think that’s the challenge. In order to reach the audience, connect with them— we have to be able to confront our very own binary, our very own darkness. But, for me, I have to careful that the darkness doesn’t outweigh the light. Light must prevail.

The poem “Invictus” perfectly suits this binary. “Out of the pit that covers me, black as the pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be for my unconquerable soul… under the bludgeonings of chance my head is bloody, but unbowed.” I love how William Henley takes darkness very seriously even to the point where darkness may prevail, but he assures us that light we’ll find us, and be the captain of our souls.