Deux Amériques

Deux Amériques (Two Americas, 2AM) - description

Two Americas (2AM for short) is a project whose aim is the creation of a dance, music and video performance by Tom Mays (composition and computers) with Milena Gilabert (choreography/dance), Xavier Rosselle (saxophones), Samuel Allain (sound engineer) and youth from the School of the Second Chance of Châlons-en-Champagne in France. The youth meet with different members of the professional group (Tom, Milena, Xavier and Sam) for workshops in Reims approximately two days a week from February to June. The performances will be on the 10th, 11th and 14th of June in France. The project is produced by Studio Césaré in Reims.

The main idea behind the piece is to explore communication in its purest form using sound, image and gesture in independent ways. How do we share ideas or feelings using only our voice, or only recorded sounds, video images, movement, gestures? The background for these explorations will be the two Americas, north and south, and residents of each continent will participate in an exchange of sound, image and text elements with the people working on the project here in France (See “call for participation” further on).

In the 2AM performance the youth will play virtual multimedia instruments based on movement tracking with cameras placed above the stage, as well as electronic instruments for sound and image played on keyboards and touch screen devices. Milena will be present as a dancer, Xavier on saxophones and guided improvisation, and Tom on real-time sound and image computers.

The dance workshops are oriented towards the movement tracking environment, but also towards recording video with mobile phones - the size and simplicity of which enable the images to be in a close relationship with the body movements.

The music is created through guided improvisation with voice, instruments and simple objects, as well as using electroacoustic techniques. This involves sound recording (inside and outside), selection and editing of sounds on the computer, and learning to play virtual electronic sound instruments built upon these sounds. The composer will create a base of electroacoustic and instrumental music, as well as base of video images.

The videos will be based primarily on images recorded using mobile phones undergoing real-time processing before being projected.

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2AM - call for participation

In order to develop this performance, we need to work with overseas residents of both North and South America. The ideal situation would be to work with youth from a school similar to the one involved in the project in France. This collaboration will take the form of sounds and video images exchanged using electronic means or possibly by data stored onto cdrom or dvdrom.

The participants of each continent will draw from the indications that follow in a sort of “treasure hunt” to capture sounds and images and fabricate something like “electronic post cards” that can be uniquely sound, uniquely images, or a mix of the two.

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Sound recording

Digital sound recording (preferably stereo, but can be mono) to be done in professional quality if possible (44.1kHz or 48kHz, 16 bits or 24 bits - preferably 48kHz and 24 bits) on memory cards, DAT, minidisc, or something similar. In the end, the sounds will be sent either as a sound file onto an ftp site to be determined, or else burned onto cdrom. Contributions must always include with the files the names of the people who recorded and or edited the sounds, the recording place, the indication used, and if possible the equipment used.

sounds to record

ambience - sound post cards of the city or town
(30 seconds to 1 minute each one)

– cars passing by on a major city street
– indoor ambiance with people, lively
– indoor ambiance with people, calm
– indoor ambiance with machine noises (wood or metal shop, print shop, etc)
– outdoor ambiance, aggressive
– outdoor ambiance, calm
– indoor ambiance of footsteps
– outdoor ambiance of footsteps

isolated sounds (up to about 10 seconds, but preferably short)

– a calm, quiet, pleasant sound
– an aggressive, violent sound
– a typical city sound
– a strange, unidentifiable sound
– a distant sound
– a very close sound
– a sound you like
– a sound you don’t like

voices, languages

– interviews, questions asked to the people participating, or other random people
- “When you think of France or Europe, what comes to mind?”
- “When you think of the other America, what comes to mind?”
(South for residents of North, North for residents of South)
- “What do you like about your country or your city/town?”

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Video recording

For the video images, use a small portable digital camera such as in 3G mobile phones or digital cameras. The desired resolution is 320 pixels X 240 pixels, and they can be in some normal mobile phone or small camera format like mp4 or 3gp.

– cars passing by on a major city street (10 seconds to 1 min)
– feet walking by on a busy sidewalk or pedestrian street (10 seconds to 1 min)
– “portraits” of the people participating (10 to 20 seconds)
– “self-portraits” taken while walking or standing still (10 to 20 seconds)
– panoramic of a place in the city/town or one’s environment
(hold the camera still and turn slowly around one point)
– use 2 or more cameras recording at the same moment by different people
(start and stop each camera at the same time to make synchronizing easier)
(do this while performing communication/movement exercises to be determined later)
(The idea is to have different perspectives on the same people/event)

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Creation of a reporting sequence or a videoblog, with sound and image

Record sound and image at the same time of someone speaking about something that they observed or experienced - short accountings like a story, a report or a videoblog.

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The result and the website

All of the sounds and images received will be placed on the 2AM website (this is why clear info on credits and subjects is needed), and a certain selection of them will be included in the performance in June. Sounds and images from the youth in Reims, France will also be on the website. The website also functions as a blog and any participant can join the blog and post articles and commentary, thus creating a space for exchange amongst the participants.

The website address is :
http://2ameriques.free.fr

All questions or requests for info can be sent to
2ameriques@free.fr