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Study Hal: Week 36 – Green Thumb

March 2, 2021March 2, 2021 Leila Mullison Leave a comment

Houseplants are a joy, especially for college students. Hal has had this little snake plant since he moved into his dorm freshman year. He keeps it by the window so it gets a lot of sun, but that doesn’t stop it from being… dramatic. Hal is well acquainted with the theatrics, but his heart still drops every time he finds the poor fella flopped over! Hal knows there isn’t much he can do expect give it a little water and wait for the sun to rise. Does that knowledge stop him from worrying? No, never.

Hal wants me to ask: do you folks name your house plants? Hal feels like he’s had this one for so long that it deserves a name, but he’s not the most creative with names. (For example, he named his childhood dog Sparky.) Leave your suggestions in the comments and Hal will take them into consideration. If you need inspiration, he likes classic horror movies and electrical engineering.

If this is your first time here, welcome! Hal is a U-Mich senior studying remotely from his childhood home. He’s back on Tuesdays, but if you’re craving more, check out the backlog on the Study Hal tag!

Milelong Mixtapes: Ep. #5

March 2, 2021March 2, 2021 Kellie M Beck 1 Comment

“Mile-Long Mixtapes”: Ep. #5

Getting Older & Feeling Younger

by Kellie M. Beck

“Woke up, I’m in the inbetween, honey.

All the hope I had when I was young,

I hope I wasn’t wrong.”

Jack Antonoff’s Bleachers sophomore album, Gone Now, begins with a whisper and grows quickly to a roar; Dream of Mickey Mantle sounds like the kind of song that starts off a coming-of-age movie with teen heartthrob, “Enter White Suburban Male Name Here”, but it echoes throughout the rest of the album as a call to arms– a call to let go and accept our past selves.

I guess that’s what I’ve been trying to do lately.

In isolation for a year, facing college graduation, and hoping and praying that theatre gets back up on its feet in time for my Brooklyn move this August, I’ve been thinking about who I’d be if the pandemic hadn’t happened. I know we’re all sick of it– sick of talking about it, sick of dealing with it, just sick of this sickness. But anniversaries are nostalgic, and I’ve been hungry for an explanation of how I’ve changed over the past year– maybe if I can define it, I can live with it.

Gone Now came out in 2017, three years after Bleachers’ debut Album Strange Desire. Antonoff has been candid about his first pass at an album– he has explained in several interviews that the album has a lot to do with learning to accept and cope with his sister’s death. But Gone Now, despite its recognition of grief, feels optimistic. I’ll take a crack at Gone Now’s thesis– growing up means accepting that things– sometimes horrible things– will happen to you. Growing up is accepting that who you are is who you’ve always been. And that most of our life will be an attempt to undo the ugly habits that those horrible things have caused in us. But if we can accept the horrible things for whatever they are– that is, random and inevitable, and yes, often quite painful, then they don’t have to become a part of us.

It helps that Bleachers gets this message across in a series of anthem-esque, 80’s reminiscent tracks. Everybody Lost Somebody is, in my opinion, one of the albums strongest tracks in terms of concept.

I think pain is waiting alone at the corner,

I’m trying to get myself back home, yeah,

Looking like everybody,

Knowing everybody lost somebody.

The undercurrent of Antonoff’s album is a deep desire to move on. I think it’s important to differentiate the difference between wishing to start over, and wishing to move on. Perhaps that’s the biggest difference between his two albums. Strange Desire wishes certain things never happened. Gone Now wishes to not be hindered by them.

So how do we accomplish Antonoff’s lofty goal?

He offers us a hint in the above excerpt, and in just about every track on the album. Despite our current isolation, it is important to remember that the human condition is something we have all lived. And although the details of our lives may differ, everybody has lost somebody, something. Every problem we have has likely been had before, by someone, at some point. Let’s Get Married says it plainly (over and over again, in the chorus): “don’t wanna walk alone”.

The long winter’s ending. A terrible thing has happened to all of us over the past year. Whatever comes next, I don’t wanna walk alone.

I’ve been walking circles

Lost on Sunday morning

Tryna find my way back home

‘Cause I know I’ve been a stranger lately

I’ve been a stranger lately

I know I’ve been a stranger lately

Everybody passing

Can’t make out their faces

I’m tryna find a way back home

‘Cause I know I’ve been a stranger lately

I’ve been as tranger lately

I know I’ve been a stranger lately.

Claire Vogel- SHE

March 2, 2021March 3, 2021 Sara Fox Leave a comment

Claire Vogel is a third year acting major from Athens, Georgia in the school of music, theatre, and dance, she is also minoring in playwriting and dance. She recently created a very moving work entitled SHE. This work was created in support by the Basement Arts here at Michigan. This organization is a student theater organization that is an outlet here at the University to allow students to create, develop, and produce theatre works. This organization is available to all students here at Michigan. They are producing multiple shows throughout this semester, you should definitely go check them out!

I have the amazing opportunity to work with Claire in class this semester, and have heard about her creation process for SHE a small bit, however, after watching the hour long incredible work I wanted to the opportunity to sit down and ask her questions about the production, concept, and editing processes as well.

What inspired you to create SHE, and what is the story behind it? “In quarantine, I began writing lots of poetry about the contradictions I was feeling in my own femininity. Those poems were the germ of an idea that grew into SHE. Going in to the process for SHE, I knew I wanted the piece to simply be a presentation on ideas of what a woman experiences, rather than any linear storyline.”

What was the creation process like during a time of COVID? How did you navigate rehearsals? “All our rehearsals were via Zoom. We spent a large amount of the rehearsal time on focused free writes, for example, “you have 20 minutes to write about how you experience anger/relationships with food/relationships with other women, etc…” and then the conversations that came out of sharing what everyone had written. I actually think Zoom may have been helpful to our process, because we were so often referencing many documents at once. I also think myself and the cast all felt very close very quickly, and were willing to open up and be vulnerable. I think this may have been aided by the fact that everyone was in the comfort of their own homes, and felt distanced in a way that made sharing difficult or personal experiences easier.”

What was the filming process like? “When I processed SHE to Basement Arts I knew that a short film was the medium that would be best for what I imagined. Because so many ideas were covered in just over an hour, I think a film gave us the opportunity to very quickly set scenes and moods, in a way that may have been difficult in a live performance medium. Many of the sequences were self taped by actors in their homes. For the in-person filming, we split filming between University spaces and peoples own homes, depending on people’s comfort level. All the actors and the crew were tested within 48 hours of filming, and remained masked unless they were actively performing. I couldn’t have accomplished the final product I did without the help of three fabulous film students, Kaley Mooney and Lara Graney who did a good amount of our filming, and Rachel Ienna who helped me complete the final editing of the piece.”

Did you have a clear idea, or as you began to collect footage did the story begin to come together? “I’m a very visual person in terms of creating. All my writing comes from very clear things I see in my head, so many images were set in stone from the very beginning of the process. For example, the image of a woman running towards the beautiful lit up Michigan Theater on State Street, only to be engulfed in a celebration with a group of women dancing in the street was an image I knew I wanted before the first rehearsal, but many of the sequences in the piece were ideas that everyone collaborated on throughout the rehearsal process!”

What was your favorite part of this process? “Oh god, working with these incredible women!! I told the nine of them in our first rehearsal that if all that comes of this project is a couple hours a day for a group of young women to discuss whatever the hell they want, I will be satisfied, and we really did that. It’s incredibly comforting to know that the things that you’re struggling with or wishing you had more of or wondering about are things that people around you are thinking about as well, you just need the space to share them!”

What does the title mean to you and why is your work entitled SHE? “For the title, I wanted something simple that centered the subject matter I hoped to focus on without making it seem romantic or flower-y. Because the piece is about the female experience, SHE seemed to be perfect.”

What was an unexpected obstacle you had to overcome when creating this work? “Because we couldn’t film more than one person unmasked at a time, due to Covid procedures, we had to be creative with creating group sequences that could be filmed individually and be edited to look as if they were together. I think it challenged us to think differently about what together-ness can look like.”

What can we expect to see next from you? “I will be performing in Basement Arts’ production of Slut premiering March 19! I also choreographed a short film titled Emotional Creature, featuring the women of the Senior acting class that will be premiering March 19th!”

Here is the link to watch this work. I recommend you take the time to sit down and really watch it!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=-WVPIIn94N0&feature=youtu.be

TikTok Songwriting Trends

March 1, 2021March 1, 2021 Josie Faith Leave a comment

Yes, I know. TikTok is in my blog post title. How very Gen Z of me. However, I think there is something to be said about a trend I’ve been following on the app for the last few months. It’s been super cool to watch, and has taken off quickly in the TikTok community.

The first time I saw a TikTok of someone playing original music, I didn’t think all that much of it. Sure, it was cool, but people post original music on SoundCloud, Youtube, Instagram, etc. I didn’t see how TikTok could do anything more for creators than these other platforms. I think it’s safe to say now that I was wrong.

Since I joined the app in September, I have witnessed songwriters years younger than I am blow up for posting just 15-60 seconds of a song.

I remember scrolling through my For You Page and coming across a video of a blonde girl singing an original song into a microphone. It was a simple video. The lyrics started “I’m mad at Disney, Disney / They tricked me, tricked me / Had me wishing on a shooting star”

Chances are, if you have ever spent time on TikTok, you are familiar with those words. The song blew up big time, and now serves as the audio for over three MILLION videos.

“How can you miss someone you’ve never met / Cuz I need you now but I don’t know you yet” (IDK You Yet Alexander 23)

“Low key f*** 2020” (F2020 Avenue Beat)

“Don’t stay away for too long / don’t go to bed / I make a cup of coffee for your head” (Death Bed Powfu)

“Now I could write 10 songs about 9 ways you ****ed me over” (Never the 1 ROSIE)

“I would rather be distant with you / than feel distant with someone who / is standing in front of me” (Long Distance JORDY)

“Cuz I never meant to fall out of love with you” (Out of Love With You Avery Lynch)

I’m betting you’ve heard at least one of these lyrics before. Each and every one of these songs was written, posted, and born from the TikTok platform. This just goes to show that the world of music is changing RIGHT NOW. The artist ROSIE, for example, posted “Never the 1” on TikTok after her boyfriend broke up with her less than a year ago, dropped out of school a few weeks later, signed with a major record label, and is now recording music for a living. Social media has such power in all aspects of life–and songwriting is no different!

Other notable examples of TikTok music include Ratatouille the Musical–a full musical written/created by TikTok users, Bridgerton the Musical–a musical in progress being written and scored by @abigailbarlowww and @mlebear, song-a-day challenges like the one being undertaken by Vaultboy, and many more super cool projects. If you’re already a TikToker, I recommend checking all of these people out! If you’re not, I still recommend giving at least some of their content a listen! TikTok can be a time-sucking addictive mess, but there is definitely good to come out of the platform.

Round green shapes of varying sizes glow against the black background. The text reads, "Immersive."

Immersive #3: Birds Aren’t Real

March 1, 2021April 24, 2022 Liana Leave a comment

Currently, information on the internet spreads at a rapid pace. One small comment on social media can snowball into an entire movement, mobilizing hundreds, thousands, and even millions of people for its cause. However, for every good outcome that arises from the power of internet solidarity, there is an opportunity for misinformation to be spread and acted upon as well. This is the power of conspiracy theories and falsified information.

Conscious of these absurd movements that are able to captivate people into supporting its goals, Peter McIndoe created the Birds Aren’t Real conspiracy to provide a satirical perspective and commentary on conspiracy theories and the spread of misinformation in general.

In the Birds Aren’t Real campaign, it states that the government ordered the execution of all birds from 1959 to 2001 and replaced them with replica surveillance drones, which forms the foundation of the campaign’s “activism” to inform the public that birds aren’t real. This urge to make the public aware of the falsehoods of birds is highlighted in the campaign’s debut video that opens with a supporter shouting, “There’s a birdemic happening! Birds are a myth. They’re an illusion. They’re a lie. Wake up America!” However, while the Birds Aren’t Real campaign runs the risk of gaining true believers as it grows in popularity, the purposeful absurdity of its falsehoods and understanding of its roots as a parody movement in the end gives it the balance between reality and fiction that is needed to prevent serious harm from happening in the future.

Pigeon drone with labeled parts called camera, speaker, cpu, battery, inductive charging coil, microphone, and wireless antenna — Pigeon Drone Diagram

Additionally, because of the campaign’s reliance on the internet for exposure, it’s able to take advantage of insider culture where everyone is “in on the joke” through its usage of popular meme formats and through its merchandise line, which appeals to those who are aesthetically motivated. As a result, having the origins of its satirical purpose be public information to those in the know allows for more people to get involved with the campaign and interact with its lore.

Valentine's message saying roses are red, violets are blue, don't trust the birds, they're watching you. — Valentine’s Message

In the end, the Birds Aren’t Real campaign presents a compelling conspiracy theory that allows for its supporters to treat the movement’s goals as both real and fictional without presenting real harm to societal institutions that seek to do good. Even though the nature of it being a conspiracy that purposefully perpetuates falsehoods still raises ethical concerns about how we should spread information on the internet, I must applaud the Birds Aren’t Real campaign for its clever usage of internet culture to capture the influential power that extreme beliefs have on the public from a satirical perspective. But in the end, I must make note that it is important now more than ever to be aware of how conspiracy theories, satirical or not, can generate skepticism that harms relationships and perspectives towards certain institutions or individuals.

Witness Birds Aren’t Real: HERE