TimeLine for Joan Holloway Project

Design Process – Part I

Design Challenge or Concept

How does one make a documentary about burlesque in New York City?  What is my focus?  What has already been done?  I would like to explore the NYC burlesque scene from a new angle.  The concept would be to demonstrate the community of burlesque from the perspective of a few dancers, possibly looking more at the resurgence of cabaret style burlesque.  I’d like to possible “Design” a burlesque character as part of the process.  Finding what is out there, what has been done, and what new characters can come into the mix.  A lot of feminist discourse surrounding women and burlesque is out there in academia, but the subject has only recently become popular with the help from artists like Dita Von Teese, Margaret Cho, and other performers.

Choice of Media

As a documentary style, I would like to possibly work in video & audio format.  I like the idea of webisodes versus a full on traditional documentary style.  That way, there can be coverage of the different styles of burleqsque in nyc in shorter 5 – 20 min. segments.  The theme connecting each webisode could be my own journey into designing a character.

Audience

The primary audience would be fans of burlesque, NYC evening enthusiasts, YouTube members, and hopefully potential media interested in distributing the project through TV, radio, or long film formats.

Clients

The project is mostly a creative pursuit to hopefully distribute through a few channels, such as YouTube.

Short and Longterm Goals of

our design team

The short-term goals include determining an appropriate format, style, and themes of the shows/ webisodes.

our clients

Clients may include promoters, managers, and dancers of Burlesque interested in getting their name out.

our audience

Fans of burlesque may want to see something new, get to know the artists a bit more, and possibly consider performance like burlesque is worthwhile

Motivation and Benefits of the Design

My motivation is to promote the art of burlesque from a perspective that challenges notions of gender, rather than reinforce, through play, storytelling, and online blogs that construct a story – both fiction and non-fiction.  Part entertainment, part educational, the design would take the stage performance backstage, expand on character development, and create a “world” where burlesque is queen.

NY Times Word Scan: “The Almost Naked City”

What words does the NY Times use to describe burlesque?  Here’s one example from their May 18th, 2008 article, “The Almost Naked City”.

Burlesque Sketches

Major TO DO list for Research & Design of this Project (in no particular order):

1. Attend Shows
2. Meet Performers
3. Meet choreographers, producers, stylists, designers
4. Conduct interviews
5. Get video/audio clips
6. Determine venues, understand permissions
7. View films & videos (Wink & a Smile)
8. Determine the proper format/ medium (thinking webisodes)
9. Get video/audio chops up
10. Research music
11.  Analyse Research (word matrices)

10 things about my design process: Pleasures, Values and Skills

10 Pleasures, Values and Skills Related to Design

1. Color & Repetitions
2. Attention to Detail
3. Textures
4. Travel & exposure to new designs
5. Symbols & Meaning Making
6. Listening to Details
7. Nuanced designs
8. Engineering and construction
9. Craftsmanship
10. Research, research, research