Variations on a Theme

The California Technology Assistance Project (CTAP)- Regions 2 and 10, are looking for creative students to participate in a collaborative multimedia project. Students with interests in music, dance, visual art, creative writing, and audio-video production are encouraged to participate.

The Variations on a Theme Project begins with participants listening to a common piece of music.

Musicians- students with musical interest are then encouraged to create and record their own interpretation of the piece on any instrument of their choosing. Along with audio recording of the music, participants are also encouraged to video themselves or have someone video them playing the piece. Participants are encouraged to video themselves or have someone video the from a variety of perspectives using multiple angles, camera shots, and video techniques. Completed audio and video projects are uploaded to a collaborative web site.

Once audio files are uploaded to the site, participants with interest in visual and performing arts, and creative writing are encouraged to download and listen to a number of variations of the music.

Audio/Music Producers- students with interest and skills in audio production can download musical interpretations and re-mix, or add additional elements and effects to existing variations and upload new variations.

Visual artists- painters, animators, photographers, illustrators, and videographers will download audio and video files. Participants are encouraged to listen and view multiple interpretations. After experiencing one or more interpretation, artists create their own visual interpretation of one or more of the variations. Artists may create in any medium, with final work being digitized and uploaded to the collaborative site.

Dancers are encouraged to choreograph an original performance using one or more of the audio files. Once the performance is choreographed, dancers will video their performance. Once again the video/dance projects are uploaded to the collaborative site.

Creative Writers are encouraged to view and listen to multiple interpretations of multiple perceptions and then create a verse or other writing sample that accompanies one or more of the musical, video, performance, or visual products. writers upload the text and identify the audio or video file in which it accompanies.

Singers and Orators- are encouraged to download written interpretations or create there own interpretation and record themselves presenting an oral/auditory variation of the theme.

Multimedia Producers- Once audio, visual, and text-based products are uploaded; multimedia production participants create a single product combining visual, auditory, written, and physical interpretations into yet another product, presenting multiple variations of the other works.

Throughout the process, project participants are encouraged to contact and work with the creators of the various elements.

The culminating project will be a "live" or "produced" performance including a select set of participants representative of each medium, accompanied by the multimedia projects demonstrating student’s artistic, creative, academic and technology skills. This performance will be shared for the first time at the CTAP Region 2 STLC- Variations on a Theme Conference at California State University, Chico, August 5-7, 2008. Additional performance opportunities include the CTAP Region 10 Summer Event in San Bernardino, CTAP Region 11 events in Los Angeles, possibly CTAP Region 8 in Santa Barbara, and some of the other CTAP Regions throughout California. The "produced" version of the final project will also be available through each of the particpating CTAP Region websites as well as the Variations on a Theme Project website.