[ I. THE FILM ]

To begin, I've kindly asked my references, and additional professors Sr. Ivan Pintor (narrative theory) of Pompeu Fabra University in Spain, M. Joseph Moure and M. Frank Pecquet (art creation theory) from the University of Sorbonne in France, international UK cinema scholar and founder of Open Access Film Studies Dr. Catherine Grant, former head of BBC and chair of Media Arts at Royal Holloway University Dr. Jonathan Powell, author/professor of psychology Dr. Judy Sundayo, and Mr. Fritz Friedman, former global marketing VP to Sony and current commissioner of Arts & Culture in San Diego, to provide relevant professional and academic input regarding cinematic interpretation/effect via intermittent consultation (cited appropriately within final dissertation) during the first two years of this studies' visual and literary observation processes. 

Regarding the option of a creative project to accompany my critical research, I'm interested in completing several montage collections to archive this study stylistically and historically - specifically showcasing female directors, along with male film directors who capture of the female subject in non-traditional ways. The collection of images and scenes are not to be arranged in a way where I use special effects, but juxtapose different images and scenes as a curated collection to reflect the broad findings during the analytical process of doctoral study. This collection would serve to present a kaleidoscope of ways that same gender or "same agent" filmmakers communicate and also showcase how dynamically that same female subject has been filmed by "others"; opposing or "opposite-agents". This is just the foundation to create a framework where other same-agent/opposite agent group comparisons can be explored in the future -- such as specific gender, ethnicity, nationality, migrated, socio-economic and other groups of shared identification.

Below I've put together a sample reel as an example of the type of collection I'd like to create over the period of research. Each film is significant for its style and story narrative involving the female subject. Although this reel reflects films I am aware of, the final project will mirror the broader selection of films explored for this study. In reference to the visual exploration, I first encountered haptic, performance and sensorial cinema through music and commercial directors such as Dave Meyers, Andrew Huang and Khalil Joseph. I was also familiar with similar styled photo collection books from Anna Atkins and contemporary photographer Vivane Sassen. Regarding literary insight that will inform the narrative structures of these films, I've included non-linear films, adapted novels, stage plays, and semi-scripted content by female creators, in order to reflect the range of participation of the female "as creator" in our observations of "same-agent" perspectives. The reason for this project came about because I've admired female multi-media artists who capture themselves (the female as her own subject), however I've not easily located moving-image styles of montages without special effects, nor within and extensive collection of cinematic styles and stories.

For example, female installation artists such as Tracy Emin, Vanessa Beecroft and Cindy Sherman, create visually striking installations in large and small spaces by using their own image  (or extensions of leave "a presence" of their own image). They are essentially creators of "their own gaze". Thus, to arrange a stream of unmanipulated visual segments, apart from how they were created for performance, has the potential to stand as a body of work on its own. Moreover, in an age inundated with visual content, a collection of this type can be done with many other specified groupings to achieve meaningful results as well. The aim of this complimentary creative project is to represent more than just an "image stream of consciousness," but something encompassing an archive of collective memory, feminine experience, and of course demonstrates the variety of the "females' own gaze" and how "she" exists within a research-based "selection of gazers" (in segments where the director is not female).

With access to visual material, now mostly digitised and covering nearly a century of film craft, this artistic project serves also serves as a landmark where 1920 and 2020 can meet. The film Fantasia by Disney comes to mind; a dreamy compilation of animated work set to a symphony of music for a family audience. What also comes to mind are the jarring series of images and video streams of cinematographer Arthur Jafa's in Love is the Message. However, my project isn't intended to be an exact comparison nor guided by the elements of Fantasia or Love is the Message. The final projects' style will be determined by the research and new perspectives learned. The sample reel below is just an idea of what a collection may look like over three or four years of concerted academic guidance. Additionally, its resulting complication adds to existing networks of researched film record, such as the recently launched Directed by Women initiative www.directedbywomen.com and Professor Laura U. Marks' Substantial Motion Project www.substantialmotionproject.org -- and hopefully, more. Current conferences from Fall 2021 to Summer 2022 addressing intersectionality between Narrative Literature, Cinema and New Media Communication can be downloaded just beneath the viewing screen below. 

If the goal of same-agent narrative and performance based communication can be fully explored, my hope is that this creative supplement to my formal research can bring viewers into an historical stream of "immersive thought" in a safe and inviting space (or, "world"). Yet, unlike a structured film and more like an installation, the final presentation should have no forced momentum, plot or premise to drive it. If the supplemental aspect of my research goal is met, the archive can serve as "historic installation" easily shared across online media. And the visual experience may feel haptic, performative, sensorial, surreal, realistic, historic, neo-expressionist, or none of those. Theoretically, what should remain present is the "element of the feminine" in "her own words"; albeit visually. Apart from a fantasy of dancing brooms with Mickey Mouse in a wizard's hat (Fantasia), or a stream of photography and visual clips exploring histories of love and violence (Love is the Message), my own complimentary project, alternatively, aims to represent subtle observations within a chosen collection of films that address feminist narratives and symbolism expanding across journals, conferences and growing online academic spaces -- an appropriate compliment to a broad study of performance literature and its visual craft from 1920 to 2020.

Please feel free to grab a coffee. Or, some wine. Or, leave it on in the background. 

This may take a minute -- and shouldn't hurt at all.