The Open Studios show represents the culmination of the intensive summer semester at SVA’s MFA Visual Narrative program. This daring body of work by first and second year students explores how narrative paths can be created across the spectrum of genre and media. Through a broad range of new media techniques—from live action video, to storyboards and visual mapping, to animation, game design and sequential art—these students share a common goal of exposing truth by giving it narrative motion. The summer semester at the program is a two-month period of collaboration and active experimentation. Students take on assignments aimed at broadening their skillsets, honing their storycraft, and developing their personal voices. In completing these projects, each student adds a new chapter to their own story, in which the constraints of their assignments give birth to new ways of constructing narrative. This summer, each and every one of these emerging artists has risen to a new kind of challenge, as classes moved entirely online. Within the context of rapid and unexpected alteration of structures, they have found new ways to think of story as an immersive environment, and new ways to bring their fresh and unique voices to the world.

Misbelief

A series of short narratives illustrating the surreal world of childhood through the narrator’s lens of misbeliefs that informed their worldview as a child. 

One Minute Mood

In this project, students were challenged to employ filmic devices learned in an intensive week-long video workshop to create a piece that communicates a specific tone or mood (i.e., romantic, comedic, suspenseful, etc.). Students developed and planned a narrative in pairs, then filmed and edited their pieces individually to showcase their unique perspectives. Each piece had to be one minute long, revolve around the subject of food, and contain little or no dialogue. 

Life of/ is an annual visual prototyping challenge. This year, we present "The Life of Wade ‘Vicious’ Dengel," a collection of visual stories based on randomly selected "defining moments" in the life of a character borrowed from a world and story created in the first-year Narrative Writing class. Students told visual stories demonstrating how these defining moments helped shape or reinforce Wade's character motivations and core disciplines throughout their life line. The class was tasked with working efficiently to convey an engaging visual narrative by being resourceful, working non-preciously, and scoping the presentations of the stories to the short amount of time at hand, letting story lead the way!

Utilizing their research and development in the visual/compositional techniques of Lighting, Atmosphere, and Mood, students were split up into groups of two and tasked with creating an original character and short story that treats light as a character unto itself. Each group’s original character had to have an established Want (misbelief), Need (what their character discovered, earned or truly needed), and a Core Discipline (a defining motivation or limitation/fault that must be overcome). It had to be designed with a specific silhouette that would reinforce their character’s personality traits and scale. Each short story had to also establish a unique Story Point, relative to their character and their character traits (Wants, Needs, Discipline), and each group then had to pit their original character (the protagonist) against some form of light (the antagonist) and visualize it all within the genre of Noir. 

The results of this iterative project are presented in the following original Noir: Character Vs. Light short stories.

Catching the Sun, Binhua Chen & Lixiaoyue Liu

Want: To capture the light so the day won’t end

Need: Let the sun go for others’ betterment

Discipline: Regardless of the challenges, he always chooses fun or active option rather than the hard thing

Story Point: Sometimes, letting go of things you love is the best way to love it

Light In The Dark, Nick Rampasaud & Steff Bradley



Want: To be accepted by society

Need: To accept himself

Discipline: Always gives to others instead of themselves

Story Point: If you're constantly trying to be a good person, despite your differences, you'll find your place

Runt, Oret Peña & Po Gasan-Zade



Want: To return to his family where he is safe and protected. He thinks the world outside the pack is dangerous. Believes he is weak

Need: He is more capable then he has been led to believe. To be more independent. The world outside the pack is not as bad as he was led to believe

Discipline: To always seek safety from others because he doesn’t believe in himself. Doesn’t believe he can survive on his own. To hide in small spaces for protection

Story Point: To find understanding from others who share your situation and become self-assured

The Seedling, Morgan Sawyer & Raiza Feroz-Ahmed



Want: To stay safe

Need: To Grow and change

Discipline: Will always attempt to avoid change

Story Point: Change is nothing to fear

Stella & Mr. Light, Laura Brown & Yulia Ruditskaya



Want: Recognition and artistic success

Need: To be loved

Discipline: Prefers darkness, looks "artsy," hiding her dissatisfaction with herself behind the decor. She always presents a false persona in order to hide who she really is.

Story Point: Art is a dark and dirty business 

RPG

The Game

Character choices create plot and together they tell a story. What a character wants is based on the character's experience. In the first half of the course, students rapidly create characters through a series of prompts and improvisation exercises. Over the second half of the course, they create and refine an original character. In the final project, the students embody these characters within the form of an interac­tive improv exercise we call THE GAME. This exercise forces them to act out their character and their choices in moments of crisis. The result is an unpredictable narrative experiment. The resulting narrative moments are achieved through a col­laboration of imagination focused on narrative obstacles. This year THE GAME is led by Bob Walles.

Background:

Cedric was born to superstar artist parents in Upper Manhattan in the late 1940’s. While attending his father’s first solo show at MoMA at the age of five, he overheard Pop Artist Robert Rauchenberg discuss his morally grey art piece “Erased DeKooning” and has followed the appropriative aspects of the fine art movement ever since. In the 70’s, Cedric got expelled from art school in Providence RI for plagiarism and moved to TriBeCa in Lower Manhattan to reintegrate himself into the local art scene; a process Cedric is currently struggling with due to the fact that his status as an art school reject is well-tracked by the art world due to his star-filled parental lineage.

Is Good At: 

Delegation

Analysis

Stealing

Is Bad At:

Keeping his temper under control

Languages:

English

Background:

46 was an orphan raised by the government’s Orphan Program in Zone 2 of the slums of Metabo City, which in essence means that he raised himself alongside with all the other orphans in the slums. He’s not a huge fan of the Orphan Program administrators, but he had a close bond with the people of Zone 2. At age 15, he “graduates” from the Orphan Program, and in order to not starve or start doing petty crime, he joins the Liquidator Force. His time in the Force has been rocky, he doesn’t like being told what to do and the protocols of the Force often disagree with his own moral compass, but he sucks it up because he doesn’t have any other options. 

Is Good At:

Fighting/striking

Trash talking

Keeping secrets

Is Bad at:

Following orders

Language:

English

Background:

Growing up in a well-to-do family in the mid-1800s, Gwendolyn Wells (known as Dolly to her family) did not fit in. She wasn’t polite enough, feminine enough, or quiet enough for her prim and proper family. At sixteen she was forced to marry an abusive, older man and when she turned seventeen he attacked her and she smashed in his skull with an andiron.

She ran away to New York, with the hope to find a new life and identity. She met a charismatic scoundrel and pirate named Albert “Bert” Hemmings and she joined him on a pirate ship. After Albert died of typhoid, Gwendolyn found her true calling as a Pirate Captain. She was also several months pregnant with Bert’s baby. No one questioned her authority or rights to the ship. Captain Hemmings, as she was known, continued her career as a ruthless pirate mother, bringing her baby along on all of her pirate attacks (working mother). 

When she got into a skirmish with the Navy, she placed her two-year-old daughter in the heavy iron diving suit and tied it firmly to the gunwale for safekeeping. She was known for her expertise with knots and this one would hold. When the rogue wave washed over the ship and pulled it under, Captain Hemmings was tossed into the ocean and the diving suit (and baby) went down with the ship.

Is Good At:

Tying or Wielding Ropes, hooks and knots

Manipulating people

Strategizing

Piloting a ship

Is Bad At:

Following any one else's orders/taking advice

Languages:

English and French

Background: 

After working in scientific research and development for nearly a decade, Lydia discovers her hydrotherapy studies are being secretly re-engineered as a tool to stun and immobilize human muscles. Lydia is horrified at her own part to play in this as well the general overlap in bioengineering and biowarfare. After pushing past some levels of bureaucratic red tape, Lydia is able to put in a request to switch fields -- anything but STEM. A few weeks later, Lydia is denied and immediately feels suffocated and trapped like a cog or wheel in the larger machine. She is trying to find reason in her life and simultaneously hoping for escape. 

Is Good At:

Strong intuition in regards to reading people as well as data (oftentimes these two areas collide for her). 

Problem solving/conflict resolution.. Handles unforeseen situations quite well, with the exception of her own emotions. 

Designing and conducting case studies 

Life sciences

Is Bad At:

Not the most observant when it comes to trivial concrete details (ex. doesn’t pay attention to what people are wearing). Easy for Lydia to get typecast as “ditzy” and “in her own world”. She only sees the data and mostly her interpretation of it. Can meditate on her own for hours because of this. 

Letting her feelings have the chance to surface. It’s hard for Lydia to explain how she is feeling about something. Her whole life has been about math and numbers as the primary language. Lydia needs to live in the grey more. 

Language

English

Most surveys can be completed with just text and Lydia’s higher-ups prefer it that way. Isn’t a big talker. Every once in a while, formal evaluations are made in person (depending on the nature of the experiment). 

Formal presentations

Background:

Elena is an Inuit scientist, the first and youngest Scientist of Nation, serving the King and the Kingdom. Due to her suffering from bullies in her childhood, she is extremely self-restrained and ambitious to prove herself while there exists a soft place in which she stores the innermost emotions and moods. Besides, she is smart, upright, cautious, and has a social responsibility.

Is Good At:

Leadership

Problem-solving 

Science/high-tech knowledge/know-how

Is Bad At:

Interpersonal skills

Language:

Can communicate with any creature thanks to her high-tech glasses

Background:

Daisy is a petite human female, 5’3”, aged around 33 with natural pink hair. Her wardrobe consists mostly of simple green clothing. From the outside, she appears to be a serious person, but she is curious and good-natured underneath. She has had almost no interaction with other humans because she was removed from Society for being an Empath. Empaths are kept in The Home under observation due to their powerful intuition and general air of melancholy. 

Is Good At:

Empathy, she can always find something to relate to with others (soft).

Observing, like passive perception. She is always alert and sensitive to her environment (soft).

Foraging and Gardening-with her knowledge of plants and propagation, she could turn very little organic matter into sustenance (hard).

Is Bad At:

Has agoraphobia. She is prone to distress when she feels stuck in a situation, or is around a lot of people and can’t be in control of her environment. If this is triggered, she will lose her passive perception skill, as most likely the anxiety is blocking any awareness beyond herself. 

Languages: 

Daisy only speaks English. But she is highly attuned to body language.

Background:

Lily is a high school junior who lives in Walcott, MA. She’s kind of a loner, doesn’t really make friends easily, keeps to herself most of the time. She has been able to see and talk to ghosts for as long as she can remember, and she mostly socializes with them. She lives with her dad- her mom died last year in a car accident. Lily’s at the point in her life when she’s supposed to be planning for her future, but she has no idea what kind of future she wants…

16 years old, a Cancer

Junior at Walcott High School

Chinese parents, born in Massachusetts

Is Good At:

Physical speed and nimbleness

Being Book-smart

Creative thinking

Is Bad At:

Public speaking

Asserting herself (can be a pushover)

Languages:

Mandarin (enough to get by)

English-Can Speak with Ghosts

Background:

Lily is 20 years old and is an artist about to graduate from undergrad. She is experimenting with vampirism and is a low-ranking member of a vampire cult. She’s caught between the two worlds of vampires and humans. Lily has trouble opening up to other people, she’d rather keep them at a distance, it feels safer that way to her. She is suspicious of most people. She uses her relatively innocent appearance to manipulate people to get what she wants, usually blood. 

Is Good at:

Drawing / painting / sculpture

Hiding in plain sight / looking inconspicuous / near invisibility

Manipulation

Is Bad At:

Casual socializing

Languages: English

Background:

Richard Wallace was born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada. Dreaming of becoming the next American Hero, Richard attempts to enlist in the Army, but is disqualified due to his dyslexia. After a close encounter with what Richard believes to be an alien, Richard opens up an Alien Novelty Shop in the suburbs on the outskirts of Vegas. Gaining huge popularity, Richard imagines himself finally fulfilling his dreams until the government announces they will no longer be investigating UFO’s, stating there is no evidence of their existence. Richard, questioning his own experience, begins to resent his now-lucrative alien novelty shop. 

Is Good At:

Structural Drawing Maps/Blueprints etc

Innovation/Creativity

Being Electronically Savvy (for the 90’s)

Is Bad At:

Reading

Languages:

English and Klingon

Background:

Tommy looks like the cross between James Dean and a KPop star. I’d call him a poser if he wasn’t also the real deal - sometimes you try so hard to be cool that you end up a cursed biker riding across America, which is, undeniably, actually cool. He got sucked up by the supernatural motorcycle gang “The Wild Hunt” seven years ago and hasn’t aged a day since. Now that Tommy wants to leave the Hunt he realizes he can’t, not as long as The Queen of the Wild Hunt still wants him. He suspects the only real way out is to die young and leave a good looking corpse, which ain’t great. 

Is Good At:

Flirting 

Rule-Breaking

Racing (Motorcycle)

Is Bad At:

Leadership 

Languages:

English, just enough Chinese to disappoint his parents

Background

After a traumatic childhood event, Richard Harding has been wanting to become a detective all his life. Now he has been a sex crime detective for almost 10 years. He has been in a relationship with his husband for 12 years and married for 5. He has been investigating a series of crimes with sex toys that opens the door into a supernatural world that he didn’t know existed. He realizes these toys can be used for good and bad, they amplify emotions and project the users’ good or evil powers. But because he is obsessing over these crimes, his marriage suffers. He is trying his best to fix his marriage and solve the crimes. 

Is Good At:

Investigation 

Supernatural/Occult knowledge 

Combat (physical and magical)

Is Bad At:

Stealth

Language

English/Mandarin/Detective

The Great Picture Conversation

A class project exploring the art of storytelling through photography. Each student shared one photograph from their phone archive to every classmate. The goal was then for every student to form a visual response to the image they were sent with the idea that it would become a conversation.

Bio Folio

When students come out of school they start sending links to their sites to potential clients. Today most of the stuff is visually saturated—clients, agencies, and studios get to see similar stuff from almost everybody. The target for this assignment was for the student, as a storyteller, to come up with a visual biography. It was for the student to show the tone of her/his voice translated into a grid, fonts, and images.

Selfont

Is the student a Serif, a Sans-Serif or a Script? The students tell the class the Type of person they are, how they typographically see themselves. The target for this assignment was for the student to come up with different typographic concepts to describe themselves to the rest of the class.ription

Kinetic Typography

With the advent of technology, most printed words can be moved around. Students took the art/typography from an artist who inspired them and set the type in motion. Students made 20-second motion-based animations inspired by an artist/designer of their choice.

Podcasts

Over the course of the summer, students developed one common narrative as a class. With a focus on how language and sound can be used as imagery to achieve narrative goals, the students worked in small groups to tell the entire story through three separate podcast segments. Each segment tells one part of the story—essentially beginning, middle, and end. While these three segments link into one cohesive narrative, the groups could design their podcast segment in whatever style they chose.

Zine Project

This is a collection of micro-fiction created by the Narrative Writing class. Inside is a variety of short works—six words, three sentences, or one paragraph long—relating to an immortal warlock warrior named Quinn. The shared aspect of the work is a character the class came up with as a group, though each interpretation is unique. While one piece may focus on Quinn's cunning and power, another may look at her descent into despair. Please enjoy our micro-fiction zine. 

Collected Archives

MFA Visual Narrative students applied creative research techniques to investigate subjects and locations around the world (online and off). From their collected multimedia archives, they produced a series of visualizations to communicate the spaces and objects that their thesis stories will inhabit, as well as resources to utilize in their projects' development.