Twyla Tharp's Art Biography

For this assignment, we have been asked to reframe the questions from Twyla Tharp’s, “The Creative Habit” questionnaire, in the context of our Spring 2010 projects for DXARTS 202. This is an exercize that is intended to create a reflection of our experience in this course.
I will answer the questions regarding the course project first, then in italics, I will explore them in the context of my life as a whole. My answers to these questions are a reflection of this moment, and are only the beginning to a lifelong answer.

1. After peeling away some of my initial desires in the original concept for my work, I was able to experience a moment where all the different facets of my emotional system, were linked, and fed each other. The different terrains of my psychological life, were now unified in their dependence on each other.

When I was 4-5 years-old in pre-school, there was a student volunteer instructor who was an illustrator, and he would sit with me for hours. We would create stories and characters, and I remember being mystified by how our imagination could be realized on a piece of paper. This was the first moment I remember experiencing an artistic translation – that a vision could be brought into the world.

3 & 4. The best idea from my work for DXARTS 202 is the image and sound of water pouring over the Man’s face to express his renewal. Although this image and gesture is symbolic throughout the history of religion and art, my piece captures a special moment when the Woman becomes water and splashes down on His face, creating a turbulent sense of purification. This scene also gives me insight into a feature of cinema, where an image or gesture in common use, can take new form because of the uniqueness of the actor’s performance and the images’ marriage to sound.

The best decision that I have made thus far in my life was returning to school about four years ago. Although I feel I have led an interesting life colored with characters, experiences, and creativity, none could have brought so much joy to myself, and the others around me, as being a part of my Community College and University communities. My best idea, was to explore more ideas.

5, 6, & 7. The idea that I felt was the weakest/dumbest for this project was the literal and linear flow of the piece from one state to another. This segmented approach does not express my own fluid and non-linear landscape of emotional experience. This feature still remains in the work today because I didn’t see it in time to change it, and it originates from my exposure to linear/literal form in consumer media. It is my job now to seek out more interesting and personal ways of expressing ideas – a closer examination of form.

8, 9, & 10. My creative ambition for this project was to experiment and learn new tools, and digital composition techniques/concepts, and discover new creative nooks within myself. One obstacle that stands in the way of the latter, is my tendency to settle on an idea without allowing it to breath and grow longer. For example, I was very quick to start shooting content, and was very attached to sme of my initial ideas, so when it came time to compose the material, some of my ideas had changed - but I was stuck with the old material to achieve the new ideas. Although I feel like my ability to organize and produce quickly is a handy commercial trait, I believe I should have waited another two weeks or so to start shooting with my actors – giving more room for the journey.

Ideas come to me in the form of stories, some stories are one-second long and others are three-years long. Some ideas appear to me as forms independent of narrative and psychological logic. There are also some moral concepts that appear within myself that are deeply important to me, such as beauty, love, irony, conflict, environmental awareness, spirituality, interconnectivity, and transcendence/embracing of our human condition. It is my ambition to bring these things out of the realm of imagination, and mold them into experiences on our planet and in our psyche. To achieve this, I will need to continue to engage with the world, explore myself, and master the appropriate tools.

12. I created a folder for this project, and during the quarter, I would add a piece of sound or video nearly each day. I would dedicate a week or so to each segment in the piece, collecting appropriate media for that particular motion. I also experimented with effects and composition tools everyday to eventually build comfort with AfterEffects. With a recorder and a camera, I eventually had a nice bank of materials to use for the piece, although very little of it made it into the finished work. I would also look at my day’s work every night so I could consider things as I fell asleep.

13, 14, & 15. My first successful act of creation for this project was the storyboards I built for designing the piece. It was in this process of visualization and composition, that I was able to start seeing the manifestation of the idea. The second successful creatinve act was deconstructing and stripping away everything that was in the storyboards so I could see where the essence of the piece was. Both of these acts were equally important, and their polarity allow for two key approaches to my art-making. The first is the act of adding everything to the pot, and gives me a large platter of options and directions. The second act is subtraction, and this allows me a discovery process to find my voice more clearly.

16. In the context of this quarter’s work and my own thoughts, I will address possible issues concerning the topics listed on #16 of the questionnaire: I think that the skills taught in this class, such as personal expression, are valuable to fulfilling art creation, but am convinced that they are also profitable in a commercial sense as well. The competitive nature of commercial media creates tough odds for artist to just show up and “make it”, but if someone can position themselves as a unique voice, I think they can create a specialized demand for their aesthetic. If you look at artists like Chris Cunningham, or Barry Adamson, they have created cult followings by persisting with their own voice and not compromising. I think artists and people in general should assess their power carefully so as not to abuse it or waste it. In this class, the critiques went fairly smooth because the TA’s did not abuse their power, but instead, tried to create a healthy exchange and offer their experience and honesty. Praise should be accepted humbly, and considered gratefully by the receiver, and constructive and honest when given. I see rivalry as healthy sport, and see competition as a motivation to push myself further. Work should replace entitlement, and play should come often. Work is in front of me to do, and play is right behind it. Art is the perfect marriage between work and play.

17, 18, &19. During this project, I was able to research a few artists, and the most impressionable (no pun intended), was Edvard Munch. His works were produced at the tail end of the Impressionist Period and are said to be one of the driving forces into Expressionism. The forms, gestures, and ambiance in his work, displays tangible forms injected with strong abstractions. Munch and I share a respect and drive to study and emulate tradition, but an even stronger need to explore and examine our own annals of expression.

20, 21, &22. For this quarter’s project, I would say that the entire class played the role of a muse for creating the work. Each person played a special role as a guiding spirit throughout different stages.

The muse is a guiding force, a relection pond, and a conversation surrounding the work at hand. I have several friends that engage me in discussion, not necessarily about art, but about desires, ideals, morals, hates, and love. My father always guides me to look deeper at my life and my work, and inspires me to truly engage with whatever is in front of me. He gives me love, criticism, and support on a regular basis.


23, 24, & 25. In the context of this quarter, instances of high-intellect, talent, stupidity, laziness, etc., were not put on a pedestal, but instead, addressed respectfully in critiques. During the critiques, I tried to remember that I was in the middle of a process, and that criticism was a supportive gesture, not an antagonizing one.

There are many times where I feel the pressure of success or failure looming over me, but I always try to remember that who I am and what’s important, is not eligible to scrutiny or glamour. It is important for me to succeed, but I’ve also started-over many times. I’m not afraid to consider what’s really important in this existence.

26. This project was more about the process of creating than it was about the result, although the final piece must faithfully represent my journey throughout the class. I am not as proud of the final work as I am of the discussions and discovery made during the course.

27. In the beginning of this project, my reach exceeded my grasp, but I tried to see it as another step closer to the final experience. I tried to allow myself zealous ambitions, while keeping reality close by for padding.

28. My favorite creative acts dring this project was the period when I was shooting the content and starting to compose it on the screen. The experience of shooting is so exciting, intuitive, and physical, and it gives me great pleasure to take that experience and mold it with the prescision of post-production. I love detailing and sculpting the chaos obtain during shooting.

29. I am scared of exposing myself, and losing control of my universe.

32. Mastery is a comprehensive knowledge of the tools and theory of a discipline, but more than that, I think mastery is seeing your specialty from many angles. This allows us the ability to challenge our own field, helping it to evolve. Mastery is openness, and adaptability.

33. It is my dream to laugh, love, and transcend our world through art.

Finale Process

After the critiques of my final demo, I have a much greater desire to find my voice, and discard some of my tendencies toward cliche imagery. In the last two weeks of assembling the footage and creating effects shots, I have discovered the art of subtraction in art making - although adding many elements into a composition at first has led me to discovering the method of subtraction.

It is encouraging to know that my work comes across as being well-crafted, and now my focus is definitely steered towards finding more unique ways of expressing myself in my work. For example, I think that creating a river of blood to portray anger in my project is still typical, but I am on the right path to finding more originality and abstraction. I also exaggerated the greens and brought up the reaching hand in the beginning, again cliche, but much closer. For my next project, the process of designing my shots, and examining my own vision will be a much more important part of the work.

The critique of my demo was an important moment in my life - it sets the course to a deeper examination of my potential in the arts.

Update

Not all of the themes and features that I initially set out to include in my final piece, are going to be there. This is not due to a lack of time or technical challenge, it is because these features are not appropriate for this work. My ideas about a machine attacking our humanity are important in my work moving forward, but seemed to crowd this piece. The essence of this work is an expression of humanness, love, and form. Through the course of this quarter, I have stripped away many layers of material from this project, in an attempt to reveal what I'm really interested in, and this is happening all the way to the end.

Here is a shot of my water woman - from the scene where the male character's cleansing, summons love through the water that washes him:

Samples...

Timeline Deux

Since nearly all of my video content is shot, my main goal now is to have edits of each scene done so I can create scores for the piece scene-by-scene. I have scheduled extra days with the camera and marked them in blue, although I don't think I will need all of them. I will commit to working on my piece 5 days per week for the next three weeks as follows:

5/17 - Video edit/effects, audio scripting

5/18 - Video edit/effects, audio scripting

5/20 - Audio Composition

5/22 - Still Photography, Shoot last footage

5/23 - Still Photography, Shoot last of footage

5/24 - Video edit/effects, audio scripting

5/25 - Video edit/effects, audio scripting

5/27 - Audio Composition, Final Camera Day

5/29 - Audio Composition

5/30 - Video edit/effects

6/1 - Final touches

6/2 - Final touches

More Again...

Here's the same scene with a little more activity...

Week 6, I think...

I have shot all of my principle footage with my human subjects, and all of the pre-production storyboarding and scheduling made everything go smooth and fast, like $%#!& out of a duck's #$!*&.

After shooting with the actor on Friday, I decided to utilize my camera rental time today and yesterday to get ready for some of the effects I want to try. I painted a green plate so I could shoot small scenes with objects:

I recorded some audio as well, and started to put it with some imagery. I found a nice audio tool, TimeStretch, that extends a sound without changing its pitch, but I can hear some distortion. Some colleagues suggested a tool that was designed by Karpen, for this very thing, so I'm going to look into this further...

Composite Test - Faces

I also started to compose possibilities for the 1st scene. This comp stays pretty true to the storyboard - minus the character in the middle:

Rough Assemblage

Now that I have some content shot, I have started playing with some rough compositions. I am dedicating time to testing compression codecs, figuring out ways of switching footage between software, playing with different frame rates, and learning some simple graphics tools in AfterEffects.

Here is my first attempt at a scene:

Day One

Today, I was able to work with an actor and get some initial footage shot.

These are photos of my green screen set-up, and a quick composite using a still pulled from the footage...

STORYBOARDS

I am posting these again to improve the visiblity...

Proposal

ABSTRACT
This work is a self-exploration into instances of isolation, turmoil, and joy, and how they feed one another and flow together.

OVERVIEW
I often feel like my true human spirit and body is repressed by social structures, automated systems, then detached as a result of our communication technology. The abundance of electronic social networking and telecommunication makes my relationships virtual and distant. These relationships to people, become relationships to machines and computing, and my isolation boils into aggravation. It is through this anger and turmoil that I am able to smash out - through my expression of violence, I can release this rage. This brings me back to my raw human condition - bringing me back to my flesh, and clearing way for my ability to love. It is in love that I am free. I am using two human characters to represent different stages - the male performs the state of turmoil then transforms into a free being, represented by the female.

The crowds swarm in the world around me, whispering a language I cannot understand, looking at me with expressions I cannot decode. I reach out for a connection, but they remain in a mist of distance – I am becoming smaller, the darkness bigger. The more of them there are, the more alone I am. My fellow human beings loose their form becoming one distorted mass of noise and soulless automation – their whispers become an engine, their bodies a machine that surrounds me. My detachment from the social umbilical causes my anger to build. I am a wild organism that is shackled to the structures of Society. My spirit becomes more restless the longer I remain in the machine. My spirit forms a rage strong enough to shatter the physical world – this wild rage suddenly spews from my body, casting away the industrial form that surrounds me. The tentacles of technology reach for me again, but my flesh fends-off their strike. My fury is released and freedom appears in its place. The heat of my frenzy cools, and I have departed from the rigid grip of human construct. I am moving like life now, joy builds, and my body is loose – free to move. Clearness comes, and I am a channel of light and love in nature. The Sun’s light creates her, warms her, and she runs free through the Earth’s natural beauty. She is love, her eyes look into me and pull the darkness away.

TIMELINE

My project was approved by CARTAH, so I was able to reserve all the necessary equipment early on. This will also add incentive to make sure I’m prepared during each stage of production.

WEEK 3: Finishing IDEATION, shoot test footage

WEEK 4: Storyboard/script, hire/meet actors, shoot initial scenes with male

WEEK 5: Schedule/prepare for female shoot, plan effects shots

WEEK 6: Shoot female scenes, schedule shoot for faces, audio recording for turmoil

WEEK 7: Audio recording for isolation, shoot faces and human figure for isolation

WEEK 8: Audio recording, effects photography and video

WEEK 9-10: Pick-up video/audio, Post-production

BUDGET
Stage Rental: $650/day x 4 days (hourly rates avg. $140/hour) LINK
Camera Rental: $70/day x 8 days LINK
Light Kit Rental: $35/day x 8 days
Audio Rental: $15/day x 8 days

Effects Materials: Machine Junk $100

Talent: $50/hour x 9 hours (3 hrs Male, 3 hrs Female, 3 hrs pick-up)

Craft: $20/day x 8 days

Screening Space: $250 for 4 hours

TOTAL: $4520.00

STORYBOARDS

BACKGROUND

Edvard Munch was able to express himself by painting hmself or characters in different situations - each painting has a story that in combination with imagery, communicates his psychological state. Munch use of color, abstraction, and simple narrative is important to my piece.

Terry Gilliam's Brazil is a reference work because it explores the haunting presence of technology and civilization, and a human being wrestling to escape it all. In the end, love wins, and the machine crumbles, and not only is this concept moving, the imagery is great reference for this piece.

Artists like Picasso, Matisse, Ingmar Bergman, David Lynch, and Edvard Munch, have developed an individual voice n their work, and this is the most important referential material.

REFERENCE

EDVARD MUNCH Spring, Jealousy

INGMAR BERGMAN

PABLO PICASSO Process 

MATISSE

PRESENTATION

This is a video/audio piece to be looped on a monitor with speakers.

FABRICATION

Although this work does not have an installation feature, I will need to craft several things for the effects.  I will be creating green sheets of paper that I can shoot different colors being painted on in real-time - creating layers of media that I can composite over the imagery.  I will also be constructing the machine elements with various electrical components and scrap metal, and I will have to make special wiring to use as the tentacles.

Camera/Effects Test #1

Again, in anticipation of my exploration into some simple composite effects, I am testing camera settings, and FCP settings - and am gaining some great practice in these intro tools.

After watching several tutorials, I decided to start testing techniques last night. Playing with FRAME RATE, SHUTTER, FCP SEQUENCE, and LIGHTING, I have found one that will composite smoothly on a green screen, and will give me enough elasticity so I can manipulate the FPS's with minimal loss.

Below is last night's camera test of my hand in front of blue which was composited over green screen. There is compression noise since it is for internet:

Green Screen Tips

In preparation for some simple effects I want to shoot, here is some pop-info on Green Screen:

THE RIGHT COLOR

LIGHTING/SHOOTING

In the pursuit of more expression in my work, I am adding animation/composite elements to the piece.

Project

I will portray four basic inner states of the human being, using audio/video tools to explore an Expressionist approach. I am most interested in how areas like Isolation, Fear, Rage, and Fulfillment are present to us today, and how I can use digital media to express these conditions, as artists used their tools at the turn of the century. I am fascinated by what Expressionist artists might have done with the new-media tools of today.

In my initial research, the work of Munch, Matisse, and Picasso are informing my process: Munch's ability to capture mood and psychological states, Matisse's use of color and shape, and Picasso's ability to create a visual poetry. They all have the ability to see the world through their own thick lens of expression, and that is something I aspire to.

I shot this video to see if this idea could work, and to test some video and audio tools.

After creating the video, I see that I want to add a symbolic element to accompany the human form. For example, in this video, I feel that his Rage is a symptom of his human spirit being repressed by technology, so I want to add a swirling web of wires and electronics that the face could slowly burst out of:

Week 3: Shoot Test footage, and finalize Concept for Piece

Week 4: Storyboard Piece, and Schedule equipment/actors

Week 5: Shoot Content for RAGE

Week 6: Shoot Content for ISOLATION, Plan Audio Components

Week 7: Shoot Content for FEAR

Week 8: Shoot Content for FREEDOM, Audio Recording

Week 9-10: Pick-up Audio/Video, Post-Production

Strippin it down...

Like most of the students in 202, I started with an ambitious undertaking and a lofty dream. But after my initial research, critique, and reflection, I have stripped down my idea. As Maja pointed out, our robust starting ideas hold much truth about our course of study for years to come. In the big picture, I see this moment in 202 as an opportunity to explore more aesthetic and personal expressions - the development of voices for future works.

In my initial idea, I was attempting to visually and aurally express emotional states connected to social and geological data. Now, I will only be looking at the emotional states, and develop a series of video portraits expressing these emotions. I am interested more specifically in what Anger, Isolation, Joy, Sadness, and Peace mean to a modern human.

Through the late 19th century and early 20th century and artist named Edvard Munch produced works of art that conveyed deep emotional meaning with very simple techniques. His use of color, light, brush, and subject illustrated what he thought was the powerlessness, turmoil, and existential horror of society at that time. He practiced both in and out of academia, taking useful technique from the Impressionists, but discarding their themes.

The reason I discuss Munch is because his work has always fascinated me - especially his paining "Jealousy", and "Spring". He is able to capture emotional states in a simple and primal way. He used traditional techniques to establish his own voice, and even embraced new technologies like etchings and print-making. What would Munch create today if he had our tools available to him? What would a Munch audio work sound like? A Munch video?

I am interested this approach: Exploring a few basic emotions in a simple way with modern tools in audio and video.

Dr. Tool Vs. Mr. Art

There are many ways to generalize about the artistic process, and define specific systems of media creation. In our department, I have seen varied approaches - some artists explore the tools and find artistic vision through experiments, and some carve their statements with the tools after establishing a vision. What comes first: the pencil or the concept?

The issue is not black and white - research in technology and searching for something to say, weave in and out of each other. Interesting ideas glow while testing technology, and technology colors the concepts, but there is a dialogue - there is a conversation happening, and snowballing.

I am taking advantage of this moment in my life to examine my own process, and learn how to channel the creative juices into a more distinct stream of experiences. I want to look deeper at what I want to say.

PROJECT IDEA: The raw natural emotions of our masses are being restricted by our use of automated systems of communication, convenience, and our aversion. I want to cut a hole in this confinement, and let the anger, sadness, joy, and peace pour out.

Concerning my own process right now, it is apparent through this blog that I splatter buckets of conceptual directions onto the wall, and find the good morsels after the dregs drip out.

Back to the drawing board...

Exploring & Experimenting

This week, I experimented with some of the interactive tools in video - namely Processing. This is my first exposure to a responsive video tool, and I was able to trigger video events through placing color data under conditionals. This experience in writing code, problem solving, determining parameters, and getting the system to work and see how it behaves, was a great experience for me. It is one thing to imagine something as being possible, and it is something else to have it materialize.

I am also getting more comfortable in approaching this project. After the critique by Hugo, and some helpful conversations with peers, the idea has taken new forms. I am going to seek out a simpler interaction between the movie and the environment - and this weekend I will even start learning a simpler tool for video called PD(Pure Data).

I would like to explore a social space - and build a visual poem that conveys human interaction with that space.

Artist Process - David Byrne

One avenue of David Byrne’s artistic pursuit has been the use of PowerPoint software, an idea of his that I chose to look at for this assignment. This endeavor illustrates an artist researching a tool not usually used for art, and creating expressive works with it. Over the past few years, Byrne has been exploring the use of PowerPoint, and the idea came to him while working with the program to give presentations.

He found that the media tool actually had a negative effect on communicating his ideas instead of aiding him, and it was this very opposition that he found inspiration. After experimenting, with different uses of the program including some heavily satirical presentations making fun of PowerPoint itself, he was able to form his main idea for a new project: Take the rational forms and structures of this business tool, and use them in an irrational way.

Byrne studied corporate culture to find his pallet, and began to compile cliché images and jargon commonly used. “I love to use clichéd phrases, and cut them loose from what they are associated with”, he says, “…use them as free-floating poetic elements.”

For example, he took a look at phrases like “economic indicator” and “global initiative” and searched for a dialogue between these bits of jargon with more emotional phrases like “let yourself go” and “feeling really good”. In trying to discover any emotional connection between the two types of speech, he started arranging them on slides and presenting them graphically.

Using his collection of bar graphs and charts as reference, he began creating his own set of data visualization that was totally nonsensical – global trends modeled by arrows pointing and curving in chaotic directions, layers of corporate jargon phrases in bold fonts spread over the page, and emotionless corporate portraits of well-dressed people, distorted with shapes and discoloration.

Byrne presented this work in a book, a DVD, and a gallery exhibit displaying his slides on multiple screens throughout the room. For the DVD presentation, Byrne composed three electronic scores for the images, giving the piece an extra dimension for the experience. He used melodies that were mechanical, but have a bubbly, happy feel to them to create the contrast between a rigid corporate aesthetic and an emotional aesthetic. For the production of the book presentation, he collaborated with an artist on design. Byrne has built several pseudo PowerPoint presentations that he also performs across the country.

What Will the Darn Thing Look Like?

All this thinking about concepts and tools...

What will it look like? What is the "flow" of the piece? What is the "look" of the piece?

An INTERESTING IDEA for pseudo corporate symbols/charts, and simple approach to visualization.

Mulling It Over

This is a late night entry to log the dialogue I am having with peers and with my own head. My idea, as seen in my last blog entry, could be approached, created, and implemented in many ways. I am searching for a method that will be both realistic AND challenging.

My research thus far is looking at both technical and expressive ways of harnessing data. The RSS feed is an accessible form of information that can stream in real-time, so how do I convert this data into usable or readable material for a programming tool like Processing? This research is already expanding the possibilities of expression, and it's only been a week!! Here is information on and access to one tool being used to manipulate streaming material: proXML

The main question I am facing at this moment, is whether to pursue a real-time implementation, or to create a static simulation. Over the next week, I will explore more tools and ideas, and decide which approach to take - where is the balance between creating a challenge for myself and being realistic?

The one-sentence project-pitch:

An expressive cinema story who's script is written by the emotional, biological, and elemental status of our region.

...more to come as it comes...

Solidifying

To further firm and develop this dialogue between myself and and the embryonic idea, here is a formal pitch:

Over the course of the next few weeks, I will be developing a generative cinema piece – a branch of new-media art that I feel is an evolution and expansion of traditional cinematic narrative. This project will in part use my existing skills in video production, but will also introduce me to new ideas and experiments in developing systems work and expressive aesthetics. Specifically, I will become acquainted with Processing to develop the relationship between image and data, and familiarize with effects tools provided in After Effects to create an expressive landscape. Additionally, the genre of generative cinema leads to interesting and relevant ideas in new media work – this project is a vehicle to become more familiar with interactivity, data visualization, synthesis, computing, system aesthetics, and expressiveness in digital work.

...as I sink deeper into the creative process, the ocean of reference work becomes more dense. Contrary to my initial discussion, this piece uses a piece of traditional cinema to guide an abstract sequence of computer animations...

"Silica-Esc" 2010, Vladimir Todorovic

...looking beyond the literal appearance, channeling symbols and processes...

What Are Other Artists Doing?

From my initial aesthetic research, it seems that many generative cinema installations are both interactive, abstract, and use sound at the forefront of their experience. Here is what I'm chewing on right now...

"Memoria" 2006, Springer/Parker

"Generating Live 2" 2001, Geert Mul

"Probe" 2008, Boris Debackere (and others)

Article about Boris Debackere

"Soil" 2005, Ulf Langheinrich

Great quote by the artist, Geert Mul: "...I'm not too interested in the great static narrative. But my films should bear no trace of the other extreme: arbitrariness. So I look for as much coherence as is necessary to envoke an atmosphere or a theme without it immediately becoming a story."

"Memoria" gives me some nice ideas on how to approach the construction of a piece like this. I like how the artists collect images, sounds, and etches from real locations, then process the content into expressive materials. Maintaining and/or respecting the aura, geist, and integrity of materials and processes in my work is something I wish to explore and practice.

It has Begun - Starting Thoughts...

The process will start with the idea of generative cinema - a responsive cinema experience that is expressive of external, real-time data. There is a tendency to look into a type "click" cinema, where a user is choosing different paths and guiding a narrative, but this too closely resembles the video-game. In fact, I would like to steer clear of explicit interaction with human users, and only interact with data collected from organic or social forces - a cinematic experience being led by weather, socio-economics, crime, peace, etc.

Over the course of the next week, I will determine my aesthetic and technologic starting points. Questions like: What type of imagery will be used? What types of data will guide my piece? How will I access and express this data? Real-time or Static? Installation, Web-based, Auditorium? What other artists have created generative cinema, and how are my ideas different? What new tools do I need to learn?

The movie plays different everytime, because the world is different at every moment.