Andreas Thesis Outline

Thesis Outline Second Draft

what stance do I want to take on the brevity discourse exactly? My body of work will influence what I want to communicate. For example setting up a film in a gallery would be a different take on brevity than showing the same film in a cinema. An installation in a gallery space will not guarantee that the viewer will watch the work from start to end (not even to mention that they very likely would start watching in the middle of the film instead of watching it from the very beginning). But these decisions are actually very interesting since they connect to the historic brevity discourse to keep the audience interested throughout the speech of the narrator. How does setting up Tarkovskys film in a three-panel installation change the temporality and narration of his work?

Inspiration – Metahaven

https://prostory.net.ua/en/9-publikatsii/krytyka/300-imaginary-motherland-some-notes-on-the-sprawl-propaganda-about-propaganda-and-a-google-doc-conversation-with-metahaven released 2018 by prostory.net.ua

Lesia Prokopenko interviewing Methaven LP: ‘Technology, that is, the internet, has been changing our relations with language and information similar to how the invention of printing changed them, and, later, the invention of photography — and this inevitably implies transformations in the perception of time. Film, as a medium, is one of the ways to explore and manipulate time, which is, at the moment, a more appealing idea than ever. How do you treat temporality in your work?’

MH: ‘(...) In our films, including Information Skies, but also in our new essay, Digital Tarkovsky—which is to be out soon with Strelka Press—we address duration or temporality. Andrei Tarkovsky and Aleksandr Sokurov are heroes of ours who used, and use, time as their primary instrument. But we want to look at this through the lens of platforms, and in the digital age (sorry for the term), where duration is associated with Facebook, Instagram addiction, and Netflix binge-watching. We are convinced that there is a cinematic core to our time spent on the smartphone—if only because it is banned from most movie theatres.’

I. Introduction

Background:
Many people of the western first world state that they do not want to talk about nowadays news/politics because they know too little about it. They are overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information that they cope with. Does society really have a lower attention span because they are exposed to much more information?

I want to find out whether the concept of brevity – applied to the moving image – can help the viewer regain attention for information that matters.

Thesis Statement:
The acceleration of society is affecting the movie. Properly applied to the moving image, the concept of brevity can help the viewer regain attention for information that matters.[<Steve: is this a modernist solution? (See, in the early 20th century, Otto Neurath on the use of visual information or gestalt theory) in which we consider an 'economic use of information' against an 'overabundance' of information'. You need to be clear about what you know and where you stand on it.]

II. Body

First Topic: The history of the brevity discourse
Different kinds of historical accounts shape our understandings and assumptions about technology.

1. Cicero vs Quintilian: boring the audience vs keeping something from the audience
2. Aristotle: brevity in an appropriate manner
3. Scientific communication

Second Topic: How the human brain processes information
The Science of Gaining Focus

1. The two brain systems (according to Daniel Kahneman)
2. How distraction works (according to Daniel Goleman)
3. Regaining focus (Meditation, Nature and Joy)

Third Topic: Applying the brevity discourse to the moving image
How do changing parameters in the moving image affect communication

1. The fast image in advertising
2. Density of information in news programs
3. The moving image in social media

III. Conclusion

From ancient times to the modern era the rhetoric has been the binding and constant guideline of communication. Nowadays there is less new in the rhetoric, even though the complexity of content has increased. Also, there seems to be a dominance of the visual in the ‘screen-’ or ‘display culture’.
There is a need for tools, methods and infrastructures to ensure that we can regain focus and fully take part again in a political discourse

Thesis Outline First Draft

I. Introduction

Background:
Many people of the western first world state that they do not want to talk about nowadays news/politics because they know too little about it. [<Steve asks: is this anecdotal or is empirical data informing this statement?] They are overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information that they cope with. Does society really have a lower attention span because they are exposed to much more information? [This is a good question. can we assume this? is there empirical evidence? If so what is it? If not, why do we assume it to be so?] And how does this affect the movie?

Thesis Statement:
The acceleration of society is affecting the movie. Properly applied to the moving image, the concept of brevity can help the viewer regain attention for information that matters.[<Steve: is this a modernist solution? (See, in the early 20th century, Otto Neurath on the use of visual information or gestalt theory) in which we consider an 'economic use of information' against an 'overabundance' of information'. You need to be clear about what you know and where you stand on it.]

II. Body

First Topic: The history of the brevity discourse
Different kinds of historical accounts shape our understandings and assumptions about technology.

1. Cicero vs Quintilian: boring the audience vs keeping something from the audience
2. Aristotle: brevity in an appropriate manner
3. Scientific communication

Second Topic: How the human brain processes information
The Science of Gaining Focus

1. The two brain systems (according to Daniel Kahneman)
2. How distraction works (according to Daniel Goleman)
3. Regaining focus (Meditation, Nature and Joy)

Third Topic: Applying the brevity discourse to the moving image
How do changing parameters in the moving image affect communication

1. The fast image in advertising
2. Density of information in news programs
3. The moving image in social media

III. Conclusion

From ancient times to the modern era the rhetoric has been the binding and constant guideline of communication. Nowadays there is less new in the rhetoric, even though the complexity of content has increased. Also, there seems to be a dominance of the visual in the „screen-“ or „display culture“.
There is a need for tools, methods and infrastructures to ensure that we can regain focus and fully take part again in a political discourse