You may have noticed less posting this year by the CMC Collective. It is not because we have gone away, but that we have been so busy we have not had time to post updates. That said, be on the look out for more blogs in the coming weeks and months updating everyone as to the success we have been having both as a collective and individuals.
If you are interested in working with the collective or being a part of it, we have started having monthly meet ups that are organized through our facebook page. So make sure to visit our page and check out when the next meeting is. We are also working on a talk series for 2018, so stay tuned!
In the mean time here is a picture from our Spring 2017 CM UIW Final Presentation Day.
The Convergent Media Collective would like to recognize Erika for her work this past Fall 2016 in the UIW Convergent Media I class.
Erika came into the class ready to try new things. A regular DJ for KRTU 91.7 and music lover, Erika explored her creative side through two awesome projects. The goal of Convergent Media I is for students to: Make Stuff, Take Risks and Be Awesome. Having a solid grasp of traditional production, Erika decided to take the motto literally and Make Stuff. The results were two awesome projects!
EL Wire Sculpture Project- Having an affection for neon signs, but being a college student on a budget, Erika decided to sculpt her project out of EL wire, a low cost luminescent wire. The process was as amazing as the results. It is always great to see students learn through their process and attempt different techniques. Erika’s ability to problem solve along the way is amazing! Check out her documentation video:
Sonic Pi- Erika decided to really challange herself by not only constructing a Raspberry Pi setup, but also installing Sonic Pi, a sound programing language. Her ability to create unique compositions, as well as familiar ones was amazing, especially since she was doing it with all open source software. This kind of project is what Convergent Media is all about, aka exploring spaces that require risk and exploration to even dive into yet, yet master.
I would like to thank Erika for not only making great projects, but documenting them with such compelling videos and enthusiasm. It is students like Erika that have made the CMC so proud of the UIW CM concentration!
I was also able to capture some in class footage of her presentations, which you can watch below:
For the 3rd year in a row professor joey lopez attended the academy word sanctioned Ann Arbor Film Festival. Last year he had the pleasure of including students Terrance Raper and Josh Lightner and moderated of diverse group college students who shared their insights into film making. You can read all about it here.
This year, joey’s panel pertained specifically to women and abstract film making in the 21st century. Using the format from the previous year, joey worked with the AAFF administration garner women film makers from Universities across the US to be on the panel. UIW’s Communication Art’s sponsored three students to go on the trip, Brittany Dieke, Brittany Nelson and Mercedes Esquivel. Each of the students produced works for the festival to show at the panel.
The panel went very well with all the students showing their work and approaches to ideating, creating conceptual works and producing final products. They also spoke about what it is like to be a women film maker and the challenges and stereotypes they deal with.
In addition to the panel, joey and the convergent media students were able to attend other sessions and film presenations, as well as tour a bit of Michigan, making their way to both GM and Ford factories, as well as the Henry Ford Museum, which provided a great overall experience, though it should be noted the KKK exhibit was disturbing.
We also found a makerspace much like our own, 10bitworks, called All Hands Active. We literally happen to run into a member on the street and we got a full tour even though they were not officially open, it was awesome to see that makerspaces are developing all over.
We have high hopes for professor joey lopez to put on another great panel in 2017, we hear it deals with civic engagement and film making. So stay tuned!
