Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Case Study No. 1039: Staff of the Cleveland Institute of Art Library

Catalog Card Concerto
3:49
Have you ever wondered what happened to all those old library catalog cards when libraries went digital? At the Cleveland Institute of Art, students in Professor Richard Fiorelli's foundation design class got creative and transformed boxes of catalog cards into an orchestra of noisemakers. Freshman Christopher Ramos '14 recorded the sounds, manipulated them, and created this sound piece. Then, using photos by librarian Cristine Rom and photographer Rob Muller, junior Michaela Lynch '12 (T.I.M.E.-Digital Arts) produced this video featuring CIA's Gund Library. "I used the outdated analog slide projectors as an aesthetic starting point and went from there," said Michaela, "adding stop motion, still motion, and all sorts of mayhem." The video premiered to a packed auditorium as the featured musical interlude at CIA's 2011 commencement celebration.
Tags: CommencementVideo2011 Version2 H264
Added: 2 years ago
From: cleinstituteart
Views: 2,455

[scene opens with several still images of the "noisemakers" created from pieces of old library index cards (in the shape of drums, combs, whistles, and so on), as the "music" being produced by those noisemakers can be heard in the background]
[cut to several still images of the students "playing" these noisemakers]
[cut to the stacks area of the Cleveland Institute of Art Library, as stop-motion animation is used to make it appear as if several books are moving in and out of the shelves (of their own volition) to the sound of the music]
[cut to more still images of the students, as they stand next to the old card catalog while wearing the index cards as pieces of clothing (hats, earmuffs, earrings, etc.) ... one male student has even constructed a knight's helment and chain-mail armor out of the cards]
[cut to more still images of the students in the library with their noisemakers]
[cut to a still image of a sign in the library ("Cool people go to the library. CIA Gund Library")]
[cut to more stop-motion animation from the stacks area, as books slide in and out of the shelves by themselves]
[cut to stop-motion animation of a large dictionary turning its pages by itself]
[cut to various still images of the spine labels of books in the library]
[cut to stop-motion animation of a row of statues in the library, as they turn their "heads" by themselves]
[cut to more still images of the students in the library with their noisemakers]
[cut to stop-motion animation of the card catalog, as drawers open and close by themselves, while metal bookends (with eyes drawn on them) slide back and forth]
[cut to more still images of the noisemakers, then to the students playing the noisemakers (including one student who's just flipping a stack of cards back and forth, while another plays a blue recycling bin like a drum)]
[cut back to the stop-motion animation of the books moving in and out of the shelves]
[cut back to the still images of the students in the library with their noisemakers]
[cut back to the stop-motion animation of the statues moving by themselves]
[cut to a closeup of a drawer in the card catalog ("42 QL-S") opening by itself, then a card pops out with the credits printed on it]

Ramos, Christopher.
Catalog card concerto [musical composition]
Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Institute of Art, 2011.
Inspired by Professor Richard Fiorelli & the Gund Library Staff.
Video production by Michaela Lynch

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From vimeo.com:

(Here's why I love art school.)

A freshman foundation design class was required to use the old cards from the no longer used card catalog system to create noisemakers. During National Library Week, they brought noisemakers to the library and performed for us (another reason I love working in the library). One student recorded the sounds, manipulated them, and created this sound piece.

For the 2011 commencement ceremony, the musical interlude plans fell through, and it was suggested that this be played. But since you can't just play an mp3, they asked me to make a video for it. They asked for a slideshow of images, handing me tons of jpegs featuring the library. But I couldn't just do that.

I used the outdated analog slide projectors as an aesthetic starting point, and went from there, adding stop motion, still motion, and all sorts of mayhem.

I made this during my shift at the library. I spent only 20 hours on it. And hey, I'm pretty impressed with what I accomplished in just 20 hours.

Stop Motion & Editing: Michaela Lynch
Photography: Rob Miller & Cristine Rom
Music: Christopher Ramos

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