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MA Blog - Week 4 - “AOTW - Putting the Afro in Surreal”

Hi guys. It’s Kayla! This week's Article of the Week is titled “Afrosurreal Manifesto.” In this article, D. Scott Miller explains the core values of Afrosurrealism. The term was founded in 1974 by Amiri Baraka, following his analysis of Henry Dumas’ “Ark of Bones and Other Stories.” Afrosurrealism does not have rules, but it does have core values. It is based on the present day, which is a combination of surviving past values and future expectations that are occurring now. It is fluid and whimsical, similar to the nonsensical feeling of a dream. Similar to dreams, Afrosurrealism is metaphorical, and the absurdity of it all sparks controversy. But it all has a deeper meaning, hinting at the absurdity of the post-radical Black experience.

This article is probably one of the most crucial sources for my paper, for it is the article that is often referenced by many other academic Afrosurrealist authors. This is because D. Scott Miller is considered to be the founder of the Afrosurrealist movement. He essentially serves as the catalyst for every article, video, or project in the genre. It would be unproductive of me to not have D. Scott Miller’s “Afrosurreal Manifesto” in my project centered around Afrosurrealism. 

Progress Report:

Last week’s goals have been met. I have found three committee members who I have already met or plan on meeting in the upcoming future. I have also found 10 initial articles to read and review for the upcoming weeks. I actually did a bit more than I planned, since I already started taking notes on some of my sources, which will make my future literature review easier. This week's major goal is to decide on my video’s “theme.” As mentioned earlier, Afrosurrealism is metaphorical, so I cannot base my video’s theme on the concept itself. In order for this project to work, a particular theme of the Black experience is needed. My main goal for this week is to look at other Afrosurreal performances and decide on my project's “theme.” 

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MA Blog! - Week 3 - “Looking for Words. Looking for Texts.”

The first article that will be featured in my project is an article from Black Camera titled “Close-Up: Afrosurrealism - Introduction: The No-Theory Chant of Afrosurrealism.” In this article, Terri Francis analyzes the nature and history of Afrosurrealism. Surrealism starts beyond reality and it is often understood to be dreamlike. The art also gives the creators the ability to convey stories, messages, and emotions through its use of obscurity and consciousness. Afrosurrealism separates itself from European surrealism by putting the experience of blackness as the basis of the art. Afrosurrealism continued to flourish throughout the Black Arts Movement and eventually made its way to video as a form of experimental film.  

It is relevant to my project because it covers my project’s foundation. Surrealist messaging can be quite difficult to both portray and understand. So, I want to learn about the multiple analytical perspectives of Afrosurrealism to help me direct my own Afrosurrealist project. While I explore the concept further, I have to consider how to portray my project’s message throughout the “nonsense.” This article also introduced me to the topic of “Experimental Film/Video,” which is meant to break the fundamental rules of traditional cinema. In my previous post, I mentioned that one of my inspirations was ENA. ENA breaks those rules by functioning as a video game despite being an animated video. So, taking the experimental route for my project will amplify the surrealism.

As for my progress, I have mostly been brainstorming and searching for articles that will support my paper. My main goals for the upcoming week are to narrow down who I want in my committee and create a general outline for my paper. 

Sources: Francis, T. (2013). Introduction: The no-theory chant of afrosurrealism. Black Camera, 5(1), 95–112. https://doi.org/10.2979/blackcamera.5.1.95

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MA Project Blog! - Week 2 - “I May Be Weird, and My Mind May Be Shifting, but I Am Free!”

Right now, I think one of the pieces of media that is inspiring me the most is “ENA.” ENA is a surrealist web series on YouTube and it is one of my favorite web series of all time. It follows a girl named ENA and each episode has her embark on an interesting adventure. The episodes function similar to an old, first person video game and each character has an unexpected design and movement on their own. ENA is unique because she has multiple personalities with different faces and voices. The episode “Extinction Party” is a prime example of what the average ENA episode looks like. I personally do not think that full animation is the project I want to make. So I may also take inspiration from creatives such as Donald Glover to make a live action video instead. 

I plan on making either a narrative or web series. For this project, I will need knowledge in surrealism, as well as skills in critical and analytical research. Not only do I need to understand surrealism as a concept, but I also need to be able to express surrealism in my visual project. As mentioned before, I will be focusing on live action video rather than animation. So I will also need knowledge in media production, which would include camera, audio, lighting, editing, and so on. The best course of action here is to start training and brainstorming the execution of this project as soon as I can, so I have time to let my project bake in the oven.

Sources:

G, J. (2020, September 15). ENA - Extinction Party. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Td7CBNu0914

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MA Project Blog! Week 1: "Every Journey Has to Start with a Step!"

Hello there! My name is Kayla Owens. Please refer to me with She/Her pronouns. Welcome to my first MA blog post. Before I talk about my upcoming project, I would like to share some of my background. I achieved my undergraduate degree at Temple University under the Media Studies and Production major. It had always been a dream of mine to achieve my masters program, which is part of the reason why I decided to join the Plus One Program at Temple’s Klein College of Communication. 

One of my biggest goals for my MA project is to do something that I haven't done before. I am currently fixated on making a narrative video project called “BrainRot!” It will have the main theme of online community discourse as an entertainment forum and its effects on the world around us. I must admit, I am quite nervous about setting this to be my path to my masters degree. Is the premise interesting? Will I have enough research to support my claims? Do I have the ability to make a compelling story that matches my research? I want to make sure that I am able to bring a new idea or perspective. However, knowing that I want to push myself and try new things makes this entire journey exciting.

Out of all my previous projects, I think that “BrainRot” will resemble one of my previous works called “I Spent My Rent Money on Pixels and Polygons!”: An existential analysis on the relationship between Genshin Impact’s characters and selling tactics.” One of the core analyses on the gambling game’s effect on the community. I do like the section centering around the Theory of Cultivation, however, I do think that this paper wanted to cover too many topics within the subject. For my MA project, I will make sure to narrow the talking points. 

Sources:

Owens, K. (2023, December 11). “I Spent My Rent Money on Pixels and Polygons!”: An existential analysis on the relationship between Genshin Impact’s characters and selling tactics.