This course has given me a new comprehensive understanding of the concept of a forest, both plants and animals included. Last fall I took an Ecology course and found out the hard way that I was not going to get away with knowing so little about plants anymore. In all my time studying animals I sadly found myself with the tendency to ignore the greenery around them. My goal for this course was to change that once and for all. Being out in the woods working on plant ID and learning with hands on experience was motivating and immersive for me. I do not think this course would have been as effective in communicating so much information in a lecture setting and I am appreciative of the ability we have to avoid that. I feel as though I came in to class ready to contribute whatever I could to the discussion or assignment.

In addition to taking the course I also met with the students working on the Hampshire Forest Stewardship Plan in order to produce a short film about our woods and general student opinions of its state. In addition to the completed piece there is also an Instagram page with special feature advertisement clips for the film that doubles as a place to notify students of how they can get involved. I am grateful to have been given the opportunity to produce a piece that conveys our forest's importance to the community we have here on campus. Here at Hampshire thanks to courses like this, I have been able to seamlessly merge both of my interests, film and biology, in individual assignments for the first time in my life. I am proud of the effort I put in and how much I learned in this course.

“Sidney St. Ives applied keen observational and interpretive skills to this course on forests. In this course, through reading, writing, discussion and field work, students discovered their own and others’ cultural connections to forests, explored the forest ecosystem, learned a few plant species, and researched and produced natural history reports on topics of their choice. Sidney participated actively in class discussion and enthusiastically in the field-based learning components of the course. Sidney's major work in the course and contribution to the Hampshire College forest project was to go beyond the class assignment of interviewing peers about their relationships to the campus forest to shoot and produce a short video. This was excellent work. Sidney demonstrated new knowledge about the forest ecosystem, with a special focus on plants, through interactions in the forest, group projects and class discussion. Sidndey's interventions in class discussion reflected intellectual maturity and critical thinking. Sidney's written work did not reflect the same level of attention or care. Sidney's first essay, a reflection of Sidney's own relationship and experience in the forest, was quite good, but virtually no work was put into a required revision in which students were to integrate other authors’ perspectives on nature. Sidney's natural history reports were poorly organized and quite difficult to read, though the second one was better than the first. Sidney has drive, interest and knowledge about the forest as a socio-ecological system, which, in the right medium, comes out strong.”

Writing and Research Cumulative Skill

Sidney will want to work on polishing Sidney's writing, organizing papers and using the published literature. Sidney is quite good in social research.

Quantitative Cumulative Skill

Sidney demonstrated competence in handling field-based data.

Before this semester, I had very little experience with photography as a medium and had never worked in analog at all. Access to the darkroom was the biggest motivator for me to enroll in this course. It was my goal to become comfortable enough with the analog processes to gain a perspective that could then be applied to my digital work. I do not feel as though I have completely succeeded in this. However, I was provided with enough basic knowledge, and the accessibility, to begin this exploration myself. This course was not what I expected it to be. Instead of the technical darkroom introduction, I had predicted, I was thrown way out of my comfort zone with critique on a medium I do not yet feel comfortable with, in a format that was entirely new. A different sort of perspective came from all this. Talking about my work has never been a strength of mine. I have a lot of work and very little experience sharing it. These critiques highlighted this weakness and motivated me to take more theory classes and focus less on production in the spring. Amongst all the new things happening, the moments where I felt confident in what I was doing affirmed for me that I was learning and growing as an artist through this course. As my experience in the darkroom accumulated, I was able to get past the process a bit, disregard the format, and glimpse at meaning.

“Sidney St. Ives is an exemplary student and a real joy to work with. Despite some initial technical difficulties and some trouble with the critique format, Sidney’s engagement and efforts were always solid. I appreciated their enthusiasm and participation in our course discussions and critiques as they could always be counted on to make insightful comments or ask constructive questions. Their work in the course was excellent overall. Their writing was clear and did a good job of explaining the intent of their images. Sidney’s presentation on Atget was a standout as well. Well researched and informative, they presented a holistic view of Atget’s history, work, and the artists who championed his photographs. Sidney’s own photography, it is fair to say, struggled technically this semester, but it is also important to note that the images they presented despite these issues, were some of the most compelling and intimate shown in the class. As I looked through Sidney’s portfolio, I was reminded of how poignant and personal much of their subject matter was. They portray their friends often, and their images describe their character and circumstances with care and attention. In discussing and unpacking their photographs, Sidney made great progress as well. Their final critique in particular showed the growth of their ideas and the playfulness of their practice. I sincerely hope to see Sidney in future courses, and I encourage them to continue making work in the same vein; their photographs feel genuine and significant, something that is not easy to do.”

Independent Work Cumulative Skill

Sidney fulfilled the rubric as outlined for this skill

For the start of my second year, I have made an effort to concentrate my learning path by filling my schedule with courses in the photo building. This course is my only exception. My goal for this class was to communicate scientific ideas that I am not very familiar with through my filmmaking perspective. Having a team of people to work with to split up the project was a benefit for this, but as someone who usually does everything myself, it was also a challenge to learn how to do that seamlessly.

Part of the reason I am taking film classes this fall is that I felt that there were a lot of resources on campus that I had not gotten the chance to use. Through the film program, I wanted to gain access to these spaces. I had not expected it, but this course was a great motivator for me to accomplish this goal. More than once I found myself having to spend extra time in spaces getting trained on how to use unfamiliar equipment.

Overall, I learned a lot more in this class than I expected to. Although I often took a leadership role on the set, I worked hard to make room for the whole group to be involved. We shared responsibility and workload fairly evenly.

“In this course, students worked in small groups to create a short, informative science video for a YouTube audience. They started with an idea, developed a script, shot the video and edited it to produce a final product suitable for uploading.

Sidney St. Ives’s major contributions included directing and lighting, editing, including animations, transitions, and Sidney found a majority of the images used in the video. Sidney is described by group members as very hardworking, very determined, possibly too ambitious (i.e. in taking on more responsibility than sometimes her time allowed). But Sidney often took a leadership role on the set and worked hard to make room for the whole group to be involved.

Sidney's group worked together to create a 6-minute video on the future colonization of Mars. They took a bold step of creating a live-action video centered on an android instructing new recruits to the Martian colony. They made extensive use of green-screen in the Hampshire studio.

The video is set in several decades after the supposed first human mission to Mars. In order to think about the challenges, the group did a good amount of research on what a future Martian colony would look like and what their needs would be. This information became the foundation of the video. For example, the android (played by one of the group members) introduces the recruits to a water salination plant and how this water on the planet is procured in the first place. Similarly, health services are mentioned along with the psychological issues of living on Mars. There is a good sense of humor in the video (Aidan shows up in different guises in almost every segment of the video) and that helps with the pacing of the video.

Technically, the video makes good use of the green screen. The group reshot the video a few times, and that helped solve some of the technical issues. They made excellent use of fair-use stock footage to set the context and explain some of the science in the video. The quality of lighting, sound, and editing is good. While the video is good, there is room for much improvement. The script, in particular, could have been tightened further. However, there was justifiably more focus on getting the visuals right and that came a bit at the expense of the scriptwriting.

Nevertheless, this was an ambitious undertaking and their final product is very good! Overall Sidney did good work in the class and always provided excellent feedback on other videos as well.”

Independent Work Cumulative Skill

Sidney satisfied the independent work cumulative skill.

“Ecological Soundscapes focused on the interface between music and ecology including the fields of ecological sound art, acoustic ecology, and soundscape ecology. Students explored a range of sound artworks and the primary scientific literature on the ecological role of sound. They also learned field recording and audio processing techniques and tools, and created their own field recordings and sound art. Each student developed a project representing the soundscapes of a living building, a midterm project consisting of an in-depth treatment of a local ecological soundscape, and a final project in their area of interest. This class was interrupted midway by the Covid 19 epidemic, causing an abrupt shift to remote learning and a substantial disruption to students’ studies.

“Sidney (Sid) St. Ives was a valuable member of the Ecological Soundscapes class and an excellent student! Sid had strong attendance, was attentive in class, participated actively and thoughtfully in discussions, provided helpful feedback on classmates’ work, and met or exceeded all expectations of the course. Despite the challenges of the abrupt transition to remote learning, Sid continued to engage strongly with the course materials online. Sid's work demonstrated a clear understanding of concepts presented in the primary ecological literature and a growing knowledge of acoustic natural history. In a synthetic and creative execution of the final project, Sid created a compelling sound artwork featuring a sonic map of Broad Sound, an area off the coast of Massachusetts - one of the most well thought out pieces in the class. This work combined Sid's passion for photography and video with a clear focus on the role of sound and soundscapes.”

“Sidney St. Ives, who goes by Sid, did satisfactory work in this course. They attended class consistently and participated frequently in both large- and small-group discussion, raising good questions of their own and engaging thoughtfully with their peers’ comments. Their viewing journals demonstrated a keen eye for detail and a laudable attention to issues of representation in the history of US cinema. Sid’s first essay, an analysis of a key sequence from Charlie Chaplin’s Modern Times (1936), offered a good reading of plot and theme, but needed to focus more closely on the film’s visual language – shot distance and angle, transitions, and mise-en-scene. However, this was a fine first effort at cinematic analysis. For the final research project, Sid constructed a syllabus for a course on science in film, focusing on the communication, accuracy, and accessibility of scientific information. Sid’s chosen texts included nature documentaries, Cosmos and Planet Earth, historical dramas such as Hidden Figures, and the role of YouTube and streaming platforms in the science classroom. Sid responded well to suggestions for revision, but the final version of the project lacked an accompanying explanatory essay detailing the rationale behind their choices and the connections between the film/media texts and readings. Nonetheless, this seemed to be a useful project for Sid, and a productive conclusion to the semester. I appreciated Sid’s contributions to this course.”

Independent Work Cumulative Skill

Sid made good progress in this area, but can continue to work on meeting assignment expectations and deadlines.

Multiple Cultural Perspectives Cumulative Skill

Sid did very good work on race and racism in US cinema in this course.

Writing and Research Cumulative Skill

Sid is making good progress in this area, though they can continue to build their research and analytical writing skills, particularly with respect to argumentation and citation.

“Sidney St. Ives is an experienced video maker and a gifted editor and cameraperson. Sidney took the opportunity of the class to create projects that would enhance their Division II portfolio and job opportunities. Sidney's attendance and participation decreased after the extended spring break and COVID-19 quarantine that I found justifiable. Despite the isolation, Sidney was still happy to help others in the class, collaborate, and created an excellent music video in collaboration with their younger sister who is a hip-hop artist about their community of Lynn, Boston.

Before COVID-19, Sid's participation was stellar. Sid kept up with the assignments and followed the prompts with an impressive series of videos that in my opinion are at a festival submission level. But Sid also understands the importance of feedback and was open to being challenged. Sidney was the happiest when they felt productive and used the class to seek opportunities within and outside class to achieve growth and gain experience.

Sid also made progress in making experimental work. For the assignment on the depiction of place, Sid made a beautiful piece about the hut at Hampshire College. For this video, Sid experimented with the time-lapse mode on the Go-Pro Hero 4 Silver and used a non-sync sound that would match the reverse and blurb visual effects. The video depicts the hut as a quiet but also full of energy site, which Sid conveys with a blurred out human body in dance-like movement. The hut then becomes a symbol of joy, playfulness, contemplation, and beauty for the students on campus. The group project, an assignment on the 180˚ line rule of editing and composition, was followed exactly with great success. The success of this project, early on in the semester, animated the students to keep making work that challenged them technically but that was also exciting and fun and helped them approach the following projects with more confidence.

Take Your Mark [1:40] (GoPro Hero 4 Silver time-lapse) is a perfectly edited video shot at the pool in Hampshire College that captures the bottom of the pool as Sid's body submerges. The editing included a verity of underwater and above water, close-ups and long, moving, and still shots. Sid pays particular attention to the bubbles, the lines created by the tiles, in contrast with the body moving in the frame. The underwater sound is outstanding. Sid is experimenting not only with the capacity of multiple camera gear (iPhone + Go Pro Hero + hydrophone) gear and time-lapse, but also the relation between the lines and color and the static walls of the pool with the fluid movement of water and slowed down the body. Sid is inkling to conceptual artwork with this piece and I would encourage them to continue pursuing it.

In quarantine, Sid made a wonderful collaboration video of young people's phone videos of themselves brushing their teeth. The video is a reflection on the fact that no matter the boredom and uncertainty of isolation washing our teeth in the company of our friends on the phone is a way to cope.

Sound (Es)cape [2:08] is a video in which the sound design drives the narrative to depict escaping isolation through sound.

Finally, In My Shoes [3:11] is the music video of Sid's younger sister Samantha performing a song through the streets of their neighborhood of Lynn. "Take a walk in my shoes and then understand why there is always fire in my feet," a line of the song tells us. Sidney masters the tropes of the music video genre to portray the aches and pains of youth in isolation in the urban environment.

In sum, despite the absences in the last weeks of the semester that were deeply felt in class, as we missed Sid's input and positive contributions, Sid excelled.”

Independent Work Cumulative Skill

The student demonstrates progress/proficiency

Multiple Cultural Perspectives Cumulative Skill

The student demonstrates progress/proficiency

The virtual learning aspect of this course proved to be even more difficult than imagined. How do you make a film during a pandemic? Where can you film, who can you film, what equipment is readily available to be used? Then while making this work you are sharing and receiving feedback over a virtual platform. All these challenges presented by being socially isolated proved to be the most beneficial part of this course for me.

When I shot the interviews for my project about tattoos, I had to be extremely resourceful: Getting equipment in advance, finding a safe method and location on campus to interview the few community members I was allowed to have even the most minimal interaction with. I had to find a way to connect with the Hampshire community in order to find people who had tattoos and were comfortable being interviewed about them. Reaching out on social media through a profile that many Hampshire students follow gave me an overwhelming response, giving me an opportunity not only to get some great interview footage for my project, but also to make connections with new people on campus in a time where that's really difficult. My biggest regret in the work is not getting more help in the actual production. I would have liked to have utilized my classmates more had it been possible.

The in class critique was my favorite part of this course. Getting to see the work that everyone was making and be able to interact with people creating under the same virtual conditions was really helpful to me. I think there was oftentimes a bit of confusion about assignments that got in the way, but participating in the discussion that I was able to in class was a great way to be able to analyze the work other than just responding on my own online. I think we had a thoughtful and comfortable class dynamic that I was able to become a part of.

“Sidney St. Ives was an active and engaged member of the class. They attended on a regular basis and provided fellow students with informed critical feedback on their respective works-in-progress. Most of the assigned weekly written responses to our screenings were submitted for review indicating a close and attentive response to each screening. That said, there was no indication that Sidney engaged in the assigned corresponding readings.

Working diligently throughout the semester on a portrait of Hampshire College students who have tattoos and were willing to be interviewed about the lingering impact of that form of body modification, the piece is still a work-in-progress. At semester's end, we viewed several segments edited in a yet-to-be-determined form. Primarily utilizing a fish eye type of lens format filmed from a distance, the various segments also include close-ups that illuminate details of various tattoo designs. For this viewer, most noteworthy are the direct address stories that convey each social actor's unique family dynamic and vulnerabilities.

Sidney should be commended for their tenacity, hard work, and ability to single-handedly orchestrate the production of these segments in a safe location during our challenging pandemic.

I look forward to seeing the completed film.”

This was a class that actually worked well for me over Zoom. Participating in the discussion was very easy for me. I felt like I always had a lot of questions to ask and information to share. I was glad to be able to look at so many different research articles. The course covered a wide array of topics both in and even sometimes outside of the field of marine mammals. It was amazing being able to present on a paper and then speak directly to the person who actually wrote it. Making a film for my final project was a great way for me to connect my experience with filmmaking into a science course. Being able to interview Dave Wiley about his paper on acoustic communication of bottom-feeding humpback whales, that I had gotten to look so deep into and present on myself, was such a cool way to utilize Zoom and make the most of being virtual. It really helped me to be able to use that mindset in all of my courses this semester. =

Using perusal to interact with the work virtually was extremely difficult for me. I was oftentimes unable to comment and had to remember to bring my thoughts up in the discussion myself. I did fall behind on the weekly response assignments as well but always made sure to participate in as much discussion as I could about the papers in class. Getting to hear everyone's thoughts about the research we were reading, classmates, guest speaker scientists, and Laela herself was the most interesting part of this course for me. I hope to participate in more science courses like this one at Hampshire College because I feel they add experience that is valuable to my study of the representation and communication of science through media.

“Sidney St. Ives did very good work in most aspects of this course. The course met in remote format due to restrictions in place for COVID-19, and thus students were required to navigate new forms of interacting as a class. Each student profiled a scientist working in the field, which involved reading four of their papers, presenting one to the class with an interactive activity, leading a discussion with the scientist present (on Zoom), and writing a narrative or video script about the scientist’s work and presenting this to the class. Students were also expected to read an assigned paper prior to each class, to comment on it on Perusall, and to submit a written response; these assignments provided the basis for class discussions. Sidney was late submitting many of the weekly assignments, but they took responsibility and made up all of the work. Sidney experienced technical difficulties with Perusall, which limited their ability to engage with it. Nonetheless, Sidney’s work generally reflected careful reading and critical thinking, and they were often a strong contributor to class discussions. Sidney worked with a partner on profiling a scientist who works on marine mammal conservation. Their class presentation was well organized and instructive. Their script and video was informative and engaging, and they did a good job of incorporating clips of their scientist speaking throughout. Their first draft was turned in late and did not follow assignment guidelines; the final draft, while much improved, had problems with citations and could have benefitted from proof-reading. Areas for improvement for Sidney include working on writing and meeting deadlines. I do recognize that had we been able to meet in person these issues could have been addressed more readily. It was a pleasure to have Sidney in class; they clearly have great potential and I look forward to working with them again in the future in person!”

How People Learn was an entirely different class than I had imagined it to be when I signed up. I learned so many things about learning and how to make it easier to teach other people. I have always been interested in communication as a filmmaker and how I can teach people something through my work. This course has given me a new lens through which to accomplish this. Most of the scientific research I had read in the past has been about animal behavior or medical science, this course challenged me to use sources I would never have thought to use in the making of my final project, a paper on 'Zoom Fatigue' and how to have more effective virtual learning. The paper cited journals in cognitive science, similar to what I had read, but unlike in my other courses, I was reading articles from magazines and web blogs as well. The work includes a section of recommendations on how to communicate more effectively as an individual and as a group over zoom that I would like to turn into a sort of 'tips and tricks' video in the near future. The assignments in this course about teaching and learning, combined with my own work researching for the final paper, I learned so much that directly benefits my ability as a filmmaker, as a learner, a teacher, and a communicator in general.

“Sidney St. Ives was an engaged member of the class, responding to peers, building on their ideas, and offering analyses of the readings. Sidney was a regular contributor to our collaboratively annotated readings and videos of classroom practice, showing a strong ability to connect theory and practice. Sidney started the semester more engaged in whole class discussions than toward the end of the semester. Sidney’s final project was on Zoom fatigue, an important and timely topic. Sidney found a number of primary articles and opinion pieces that not only laid out the issues, but also offered some solutions. Sidney’s paper would have been stronger with more ties to our course topics. That said, it seemed in class discussions that Sidney understood and was engaged with the central ideas of the course.”