An archive is a collection of documents or records that provide information about a place, institution, or group of people. MoCap has made it possible to preserve and reconstruct movement as data. However, data requires context to tell a story – and ethnographic insights can bring a narrative to life.
In groups (of up to 3 people) or independently, choose a movement, practice, tradition, performance, or ritual that resonates with you. The goal is to combine ethnographic and motion capture techniques to create a cohesive movement archive.
The final project is divided into weekly exercises that are woven into the syllabus; these build on each other week by week.
You are responsible for reflecting on your progress via a blog post. This includes describing and documenting your research, design, and technical processes through writing, audio, or visual documentation. You must publish your own blog posts, even if you are in a group.
On December 12, you will give a presentation about your projects to the class; everyone will have 6-8 minutes to share their movement archives and discuss their processes.
The class will be split up into production teams. If you are working on a group project, your production team will be your other group members. If you decide to work alone, you will be teamed up with others working independently; each team is responsible for scheduling studio sessions.
The studio sessions are intended to help you (help each other) advance your projects. They encourage learning best practices for planning and collaborating on professional motion capture shoots.
You will work together to complete exercises, conduct shoots, troubleshoot, experiment, and offer feedback. You must alternate between different roles to experience the entire motion capture pipeline: