One of the things that I would have to say I am most excited about in Thesis is the fact that after four years we are coming together in larger group with all disciplines working together. (ok so freshman year we were mixed in foundations classes- but now we are back together). It is great to be meeting new classmates and reconnecting with others. I drew Tiffany Dodson for my interviewee whom I had never met. Friendly and enthusiastic, she was a great person to work with.
MS: So Tiffany, you are a video major right?
TD: Yes
MS: And before you came to mason gross were you set on video first or did you fall into it once you got here?
TD: I was actually looking for film and I was sorta fooled, kind of like everyone else in the video department, that we have a film program. But we don’t, so then it just ended up being video. Technically its video art it’s not really film or narrative or things like that.
MS: So what is it about film that you were looking for?
TD: I wanted to be taught I guess how to edit. Editing programs and how to put together a story kind of. And I have been taught editing and stuff so I am glad about that at least.
MS: Were you interesting in film in high school? Did you have any sort of TV program?
TD: I actually was interested in film critiquing in high school, I still kind of am, but uh didn’t really have - we had tv stuff but not really. We had one film and literature course which I took.
MS: So was there a particular teacher or person who influenced your decision to come here?
TD: No.
MS: How have you felt about the other fundamental courses?
TD: At mason gross?
MS: Yea. Did you enjoy taking classes like drawing- cause you had to take that right?
TD: Yea. I’m not really a drawing person but it was ok. It depended on my teacher really. My sophomore teacher for drawing was really good and I learned a lot from her.
MS: What kinds of themes are you interested in- doesn’t have to be specific to thesis, but in your video work what do you find yourself focusing on?
TD: Race and gender mostly
MS: And has that been consistent since you started here?
TD: Not really. Well somewhat, yea. I kind of fluctuated between body image and sexuality- not like gay or straight but more like - I did a video piece freshman year about these prostitutes and they were picking up a guy or whatever, and we followed this one and she went to this guy’s hotel room and started doing stuff but then he kind of abused her and she stole his money and she kind of became more spiritual and stuff like that. So it’s kind of I don’t know. I kinda play with lots of themes. But I like to think of myself more– I would say a minimalist but I don’t like to use a lot of after effects, like you know - a lot of different effects and stuff in my videos, I’m more like a straight on person.
MS: Shoot it and use it kind of?
TD: Yea
MS: That’s cool. So do you think you will continue along those lines with your theme for thesis?
TD: Well last year I kind of played with stop motion a little bit. It was kind of random- I was just like “oh let me try this” and I started to like it. So I might do a stop motion video for thesis.
MS: Can you kind of explain stop motion- I have an idea of what it is, but just to clarify.
TD: Stop motion is basically a series of photographs used to make a motion. Essentially that is what video is or film. Millions of different photographs or frames to make that. Let’s say you wanted to move your hand it’d be like a lot of different small pictures.
MS: So kind of choppy?
TD: Well it kinda depends on how many picutures you take. If you take 100 it will be pretty smooth and fluid. It you take 50 it will be you know kind of choppy.
MS:Which do you prefer?
TD: More smooth but it takes a long time. So it depends on how I feel.
MS: Fair enough- that could get really lengthy.
TD: Yea. Last year my stop motion project took about I dk, a week and a half and it was only 3 minutes long.
MS: Wow.
TD: Yeaa and I took over 500 pictures. It was ridiculous.
MS: Sounds it. I’m kinda stealing a question you posed to me- but do you have a theme in mind that you would like to see for the group thesis show as a whole?
TD: Maybe something that shows that we’re all different but all similar at the same time. Something that. I don’t know shows that we’re all connected but then we’re all diverse you know? I don’t really know what exactly but something along those lines?
MS: Sounds fitting. What are you most excited about for thesis?
TD: I guess showing my work really. It should be cool.
MS: So you mentioned you are doing an internship? Where is it?
TD: At WBGO FM 88.3
MS: And what are you doing these?
TD: I am working with the news department, So I’m basically helping to cover stories. I am learning Pro Tools which is the music- A lot of music recording artists use it for that, but also its used to radio- obviously- so it’s basically to edit voice. So I’m learning that. And eventually I have to have my own feature which is a news story I am interested in personally, it could be anything. It’s 7-10 minutes long and I have to interview people.
MS: That’s exciting. Do you have any thoughts on what you wanna do yet? Or still too far off?
TD: Not really. My supervisor keeps telling me “oh you have to start thinking about it cause it’s going to come up really fast” but I really have no idea.
MS: Ok well there is no way to ask this really since you already told me, but so readers know- you’re a double major?
TD: Yes.
MS: And your other major is?
TD: Journalism and Media Studies
MS: So do you have any thoughts or plans to combine your two majors after you graduate and what do you think you want to do?
TD: I don’t know. I’ve thought about a few different avenues. One was art director- that could be for a film company or for a magazine or I could do work for production like CNN or something like that. You know video and journalism. Or I could even do radio if I wanted. I mean that’s audio so it still has to do with video, but I dk if I wanna do that.
MS: Lots of options
TD: Yea.
MS: What has been your best experience at mason gross, or well Rutgers in general? First academically.
TD: I’ve had some interesting professors that some of them made me want to learn more, encouraged me to learn more. And sparked interest in my two majors. I’ve had at least on in both majors so that’s a really positive thing.
MS: That’s great. You can answer it non- academically as well if you want.
TD: I guess meeting new people, new friends, stuff like that. And growing as a person from being away from home and having different experiences.
MS: Do you want to tell me a little bit about the videos you are going to have me watch?
TD: There are only two videos on youtube right now. The first one is called Hiku and that’s one I did junior year. It’s off of a poem I wrote and it has to do with race relations kind of between blacks and whites. Sort of. It does but it’s not wordly, it’s sort of about my experiences. It’s a poem, so you see a lot of the text, the actual poem. And you see images that are shown in stop motion. In the background the audio is sort of an upbeat- children- you hear children’s voices. So it’s sort of a strange parallel between what i’m talking about and what you are hearing. And I did that intentionally. People are always like “oh why does it sound like that” No. it’s supposed to be like that. That’s basically what that one is.
The other one, Cameo, is very very short. That’s why it’s called cameo. And it deals with stereotypes that are prevalent in the black community like being over weight, or fried chicken and kool-aid- stuff like that. It’s stop motion again but it’s more just photographs. Like there’s little pieces where its actually stop motion – you see me eating the paper kind of. And that’s what that one is.
MS: You said the first video is a poem that you wrote- do you do a lot of writing?
TD: Yea, especially with my other major being journalism. I like to write.
MS: Would you say it’s about equally creative writing vs. news pieces? Do you have a preference?
TD: Yea, I do have a preference, I’m more into the creative artistic writings. I told you before about the film critiquing- I’d rather do a creative opinion pieces vs. a news story. But I’m kind of getting used the news stories now, I don’t really mind them as much as I did.
MS: But your interest started and lies in the creative side?
TD: Definitely.
Due to technical difficulties, I watched Tiffany's videos after the interview. I was glad to watch them after having all of background information on the style that she likes and the types of themes she tries to portray. All of the elements fit well together and I could see her vision as she described it. I especially enjoyed watching Haiku and being able to see all of the parts Tiffany worked on, especially a sampling of her creative writing. She has alot to bring to thesis, and I am excited to see more of her work as she continues this year.
Haiku
Cameo
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