PRESENTATIONS

 

Like our guests I was totally ‘blown away’ by the creative range of my entire class. Their presentations were so well conceived and developed that the time passed unnoticed. This exercise was certainly valuable as an experiment before final assessment. We had an opportunity to try out our presentation styles, use the technology and see how it all works. In watching other presentations we may discover some useful tips we may apply to our own work, or remember things we intended to include and later forgot.

What did I learn most significantly: never tell actors how to read lines. I’ve always done the first read-through myself with actors. I’m determined not to do that again and if I present in a powerpoint format – get a narrator. The sound, expression and tone of the voice in your head is quite different to your recorded expression and can be quite misleading to the result you are looking for. I also thought about my script, and thought later that the use of swearing totally unnecessary when dealing with photojournalists who would have a sophisticated, extensive and forceful vocabulary at their disposal.

As I further developed the short scene, I was working on, I realised where I lost my audience.. probably completely. In choosing to use a powerpoint presentation I thought I could regulate the time and get through the material within the time restriction of 3 minutes. In fact I was so devastated by the technical problems of my presentation I almost changed stories. Without the help, and patience, of my fellow students I couldn’t have done my presentation at all. It is my commitment to the importance of the project that helped me to persevere and stay with it.

In approaching the very broad story of the Vietnam War, I have been exploring the small worlds, ‘worlds-within-a world’, where my overarching stories and themes could be told.. mind-map time. One idea I was working on for my presentation was a bar where photojournalists would meet when they returned from the field. Another ‘world’ was the interior of a temple where they could discuss with Buddhist monks the oppression and violence of the Diem regime leading into the ‘self-immolating’ monk photograph. My Buddhist centre in Brighton has a beautiful ‘gompa’ with large statues and elaborate colours and textures. It would be a powerful representation of the callous and brutal destruction of Diem and the American regime.

Originally, for my presentation, I modelled the bar scene on an actual bar in Saigon. This changed dramatically as I  scouted for possible locations to ‘actually’ film my scene. The 2 bars I was looking at were much more vibrant in colour and ‘Asian looking’. I will need to delineate this idea of a ‘world-within-a-world’ more clearly in my final presentation. I also find I get caught up in the ‘authenticity’ of locations. For my presentation I find this not totally essential. A Vietnamese temple, for instance, would look very similar and I would be able to easily film in Brighton. Perhaps it was the dynamism of my fellow students presentations which encouraged me to be more adventurous. However that creative development works, I find the progression in my work is much more pleasing and inspiring.