NATURALIZING THE FRINGES OF OUR CITY, BY ALEX PARESI

5/24/2015

Pleasure spending the week in NYC with everyone. Martin's class reaffirmed my appreciation for what can be interpreted as the art of place-making. As for the film, I focused on the peripheral structures we saw and the ongoing efforts to naturalize them, for purposes of storm water abatement, coastline protection, public education, and aesthetics. Enjoy!

9 Comments

5/25/2015 02:46:29 am

film does no play, make sure the link works before posting.

Alex P.

5/25/2015 04:26:15 am

The video link should be active now!

Joanne Pereira-Melo

5/25/2015 06:27:33 am

At first, I was not sure what your theme was but then I read your blurb about the film and everything fell together. I thought it was a very clever idea to focus your idea on an issue that we heard about so much throughout our trip. I was sort of disappointed in myself for not thinking of it first! One final recommendation I would make is that I wish you added more video footage instead of just images.

I would have recommended you used subtitles and captions to explain not only what the space was, but how it related to the runoff issue. Maybe something a long the lines of, "grass planted here to collect any runoff that would have accumulated in the nearby walkway" just so the function would be clear. Also, I would have understood your topic quicker if you had added a tittle or question in your beginning shots to explain what the viewer should be expecting when they watch the film.

In closing, I was impressed to see you ass blueprints/ design graphs that showcased how water would be taken in and distributed by plants in a green space. Great idea overall.

Crystal Peritz

5/25/2015 10:42:29 am

I agree the blueprints and designs really did help strengthen the video.

Crystal Peritz

5/25/2015 10:41:38 am

Your video has some really great shots and your theme is consistent and clear. The headings really helped make that apparent and I honestly thought they helped the video. I do think that the music was a bit to much and gave it a music video feel but other then that good job!

Jinsung

5/25/2015 02:52:33 pm

I like you put some diagrams to explain the strategies of landscape. But, I think if you insert related shots for each part of diagram, it could be more effective way to explain urban landscape. The sound track of your film look not related to your shots.

Tong Zhao

5/25/2015 04:01:44 pm

Putting diagram is a smart way to present the idea!

Some suggestions, I think you may try to use one effect on the images or shots. And some font and color on the text. Nice work!

Yangluxi

5/26/2015 02:06:58 am

I was not very sure about your theme after I read the text~ Combining with the diagrams is a really great idea!! But I think maybe you could add more diagrams for each site or have some transitions in between or adding some actual sound clips. Because for me the theme is a little bit general. But i do like the background music a lot!

5/26/2015 11:07:24 pm

[7 days of criticism bunched into one]:

the first question i might have is the issue of the "fringes". at first, the topic seems to reflect water edges, but soon the sites you depict move from the water and into the city. in a city when even the smallest sites can be worth more than a single family home in syracuse, i would try and define the idea of the fringe more carefully and comprehensively.

as a result, my first impression (once i turned of the music) is that your film may be another case of a broadly focused film that tries to do too much. let's take a look at the written script for the film:

ecological improvements visible to all
as seen on promenades
marginal parks
repurposed piers
rooftops
for purposes on storm abatement
commecial balconies
(machinery required)
street meridians
vacant lots turned urban ooasis
backyard swales
below overpasses
culinary venues
refurbished walkways
refurbished railways
the highline
fostering public awareness
urban beautification
utiliing bioretention
intended to mitigate industrial contamination
fin

i think the text is trying to grab a series of very different ideas, and that any one or two of these themes could be developed with greater depth. like others, you end up trying to cover too many areas with far less depth.

as i've mentioned with many other films, the choice of popular music as a soundtrack is a poor choice since it comes across as a music video. this selection by jefferson starship is particularly poor for a number of reasons: as you surely know, the song refers not to new york city but san francisco. secondly, i doubt that rock n roll had anything to do with the development of new york city. thirdly, the song is just... bad.

finally, i am not in agreement with my colleagues in the class re: the use of landscape diagrams to help illustrate ideas in the work, UNLESS these were produced by the author (you). yu-chi did some great hand sketches of the relationship of the whitney to the high line on wednesday 5.13, and drawings like these are completely appropriate to include in a short film since they help further the study of sites in another medium. the beautiful axon in brooklyn bridge park is a moment where the drawing is telling us far more than the images in the film, and this should tell you something about the need for stronger visual images of your own.

NATURALIZING THE FRINGES OF OUR CITY, BY ALEX PARESI

Leave a Reply.

Author

Archives

Categories