My PowerPoint Presentation
I attempted to include all of the necessary things to not only get my interests and points across, but also to try and engage the class in the four ideas that are floating around in my mind. I included the main facts of each topic, why I have chosen, its appeal to me and possible questions which could be taken forward for further development.
The Class Feedback
The majority of the votes were for jazz and blues which is great because it is between that or mystery fiction for me. I like jazz and blues because it covers so much ground in that it spans generations and years of political, social, musical, economical and personal aspects of life which leaves so much room for expansive idea generation and points of interest to be developed on. Mystery fiction is interesting because it invites me to explore a really fun platform which could be built upon in the classic way mystery is usually done, as seen in my presentation, but this also means I could find other ways of going about it and that really interests me. I especially love the feelings that mystery fiction can stir up in the audience. It is something I would be tempted to push the boundaries with in relation to mystery and psychology? It’s something I would like to explore.
Where to next?
After careful deliberation (and the polite pressure of our tutor telling us to get on with choosing a topic) I have chosen…
JAZZ AND BLUES!
I chose J&B because:
- It is a topic which I know could sustain my interests for the researching part of the year
- I love everything about the music – any thoughts and feelings that come from it come easily to me, so diving into it won’t be difficult
- There are many social issues which could be explored in the serious game genre, so I would like to see where I could take that and what could come from that.
- I would like to do something different and really take on the musical aspect of it – maybe I could write my own music? Or research how jazz and blues music affects the brain?
- These genres have an aspect of mystery to their history so there is still a possibility I could combine my ‘mystery fiction’ interest with this topic -see research above and superstitions/Robert Johnson
- My research provided me with so many questions such as:
- 1. What societal and personal situations formed the blues?
- 2. How did it inspire jazz?
- 3. What issues within society led to the rich, immediately-recognisable sounds of these genres?
- 4. What is the history behind it all? The music and the people?
- 5. How do we still feel the effects, the emotions produce by certain chords, the bending of guitar strings or the improvisation of voice?
- 6. These two genres are all about feeling and visualising – so what could we feel if we knew about the stories behind such powerful pieces of music which evoke such feelings and visuals? Would the feelings run deeper? How would we discover this?
- 7. Where could the knowledge of these genres take us in regards to preserving history in a creative way?
Takeaway from the class review of the jazz and blues section of my presentation:
- Look into how different folklore, genres and rhythms have developed as a result of cultural development/influence
- Is voodoo related to jazz culture?
- Jazz was one of the only arts that the African Americans got respect for in American History
- Are there any games that focus on jazz music exclusively for audio?
- Dive into the superstitions in jazz and blues music
I will take these points into consideration within my research! I find them very helpful in providing possible starting points when I start diving into this topic more.
I’m very keen on doing something which highlights particular issues faced by African-Americans around that time and how music was used as an avenue of expression or documentation of real life events. I am now going to do further research into the history of these genres – the eras they lived through, issues they have faced – and meaning behind songs and see what will come out of this. I will be doing this research in sketchbooks so I will reference them when necessary.
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