Categories
Methods of Translating

Translation – Development

Following the final week of feedback, I found that again, my project lacked enough context to be understood, especially by those who were not familiar with the film.

I also found that while I was successful in translating the medium of the source material from film to illustration, the meaning remained essentially the same.

One really useful piece of feedback pointed out that the way the coloring book was structured was reminiscent of playing cards.

This led me to the creation of my own version of a Loteria, a Mexican game similar to bingo played with 54 cards. Each card depicts a single item or person, and while some subjects are generic (sun, tree, watermelon), others are quintessentially Mexican (nopal, flag, chalupa).

Seen from a foreign perspective, Clueless could be perceived as a tale about a girl living the American Dream. Cher, in a sense, has won the lottery. Her world is made up of the wealth and material possessions that people dream of.

In this project, the illustrations of the film becpme icons of her existence, things that as a whole painted a picture of a life lived in American privilege.

Creating the Loteria it became possible to transcend the narrative of the film itself, to capture more than just the zeitgeist of the 90s, but a more profound truth of the aspirational nature of the lives depicted.

By keeping the cards in Spanish and using Mexican slang specifically for various cards, the game also became a social commentary, poking deliberate fun at the world of the film while also acknowledging it as something to aspire to, like winning the lottery.

Categories
Methods of Translating

Translation – Feedback I

Based on the feedback I received on the original experiments, I decided to take a chance and explore the illustration path more deeply.

I began by working through the script, drawing each item that I thought was key to the universe of the film. 

I arranged them in the same order as the film and began to create a small format coloring book that would tell the story of the film through illustrations and short quotes.

Categories
Methods of Translating

Translation – Experiments

For this project I chose the 1995 film Clueless directed by Amy Heckerling.

I began by considering the ways in which the film could be translated into new material. 

My first thought was to create an illustrated diary, written from the perspective of Cher Horowitz, the main character of the film. 

I then explored the idea of creating a yearbook using a series of polaroids that were taken of the cast both in and out of costume.

I then turned to the films’ soundtrack and thought that it would be interesting to translate the soundtrack into a narrative of the film.

The idea would be to replace song lyrics with dialogue from the script, and cast the characters as bands and singers.

The form of the project would be a series of album covers, front and back, inspired by the genre of the original song.

Categories
Methods of Translating

Translation – Written Response

What’s Wrong with TED Talks? as an Exercise in Style

Notation

On a TEDx stage in San Diego, in front of a large audience. A middle-aged man stands in a suit, his hands behind his back. He paces back and forth. The man begins a monologue accusing TED Talks of being oversimplified, cynical, and myopic. His voice a monotone meant to be taken seriously. When he pauses, it is for effect.

For eleven minutes he speaks. He concludes TED Talks are another version of right wing media, a harmful, self-aggrandizing affectation.

Titotes

A man was on a stage. He looked serious and spoke about TED Talks for eleven minutes, pacing back and forth. He concluded TED Talks were cynical; an exercise in empty, oversimplified ideas.

Retrograde

TED Talks are a forum for oversimplified ideas that solve nothing, the man concluded. His talk ended after eleven minutes in which he explained the fundamental problem with TED Talks was their lack of depth and engagement with ideas that offer real solutions. He protested against their artifice, calling their content infotainment, words without value or substance. This middle aged man wore a grey suit. His talk took place on a stage during TEDxSan Diego.

Surprises

How serious the middle-aged man! Why was he pacing so? Well, if he wasn’t being so very critical of the very forum that gave him a platform to speak – it is an empty platform! So he claims! And then he gives examples as to why TED Talks are so harmful! They pretend to present world-changing ideas when really they just publish middlebrow drivel! Instead they should do the hard work of investing in ideas that actually solve problems!

Eleven minutes of criticism! The main in the suit! Giving TED Talks a piece of his mind! You’d never believe it!

Bibliography

Queneau, R. and Wright, B. (1998) Exercises in style. London: John Colder.

TEDxSan Diego, 2013. New Perspectives – What’s Wrong with TED Talks? Benjamin Bratton at TEDxSanDiego 2013 – Re:Think. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yo5cKRmJaf0 [Accessed 21 November 2021].