Practical; Content Development

Development of Final Content

Idea 1

Began with thinking of showing ravers when they were young and where they are now; old people who you would not think of being hardcore ravers; humorous. Old folk reminiscing of their rave days, combining research of what happened in the rave days and showing the rave people as humorous and human. The contrast in how their lives were and how they are now.

Problems

Layout seems a little repetitive and not sure that the tone will reflect what I want to say about the ravers? Makes a spoof of the movement? Unsure if the link between young ravers and where they are now will be apparent?

Idea 2

Combining well known stories and more personal ones to create an overall image of what the raver movement was. Include motifs from the scene but make it feel relatable and real. How it felt from the inside rather than the outside. Showing the cultures validity through honest experiences.

Process

Make list of rave themes // stories of interest

Incorporate them with personal twist

Pick out eight to fit zine layout

Rave zine - diy feel

Practical; Crit and Feedback

Final crit feedback sheet

Practical; Zine Development & Research

Further Visual Research

In order to gather more realistic visual referenes to use for my publication, I watched this video on youtube to get an idea of what the inside of a rave was actually like, noting the movements, atmosphere and viewpoints of not only the people within the rave dancing but the DJ's themselves.

Focusing of Intent

With all the research undertaken for this module, I felt now was the time for diluting down what I wanted to include in my book. I focused in on what I wanted the standpoint of my publication to have and what I wanted to SAY about the raver culture. They were more than just people dancing on a night out, they were a community of people who shared the same ethos; everyone is accepted because everyone just wants to have a good time.

Practical; Further Rave Research & Drug Research

Building on from the research I'd already conducted, I photocopied some pieces from books to further look into the ravers themselves and how they interacted with one another. Collecting more visual imagery to work from also helped further my understanding of the visual rave scene.

From my crit it was suggested I also look at the affects // sources of drugs in relation to both rave culture and their roots. A lot of the rave scene came from the wide spread distribution of the dug ecstasy, which is characterised in it's ability to enhance the emotional state of the user, resulting in increased sensitivity, a feeling of euphoria and joy without the hallucinations or panic reactions of other drugs available at the time.

While the drug could result in 'bad trips' (instances were the user was already in a state of distress or emotion unstably upon administering the drug) for the most part ravers took it because it displayed a lot of positive side affects without the complications of taking harder drugs.

I also looked into the uses and effects of taking magic mushrooms; as some ravers did in the days of open free festivals. While they also boasted euphoric feelings, shrooms came at a more intense level inducing hallucinations, warped light and hearing. Both drugs however opened up the mind to new ideas and ways of taking in your surroundings at a heightened level. It is important to note the value of the drugs used within the rave community. 

Practical; Crit, Self Evaluation & Revised Practical Proposal

General

Going into this crit I felt a lot more confident with the work I had to show, although I was still a little unsure of what content I should put into the zine exactly. For the most part everyone agreed with what I had to say, the visual language side of the brief was really developing and matched with the subject matter well. The use of text and imagery together was engaging and reflected the raver attitude, but I needed to focus on what I wanted to SAY about the ravers.

Feedback

It was agreed that my current tone of voice and material was something I should continue to take through into further developments, and the notion of making a rave zine was also well received! When it came to content I also had a ton of great ideas thrown at me. I explained my research and how I'd been looking at ravers as people, looking at articles and interviews of ravers where they were and where they are now, the stories I'd pulled up in relation to rave culture and how it was presented. That though there were troubles within the movement, as there are with all, for the most part ravers felt very positively about being a part of the counter culture. My group gave a lot of really useful and inventive ways of representing my research, but which I chose would depend on how I wanted to portray the culture; did I want it to be humorous and playful or something more serious and hard hitting? Intent is key to the development of this project!

Possible Outcomes

One page advertisement for rave - next page after the rave (the comedown)

Ravers in public everyday jobs (Bob at the office) VS them as ravers (Bob off his face at the weekend)

Ravers top trumps - vice articles

Puffin books for adults (humorous take on rave culture "Chris really regretted letting that man spit in his mouth last night")

Spoof raver reality

Things to Keep in Mind // Capitalise On

Personal is good! Ravers as people

Greyscale with coloured paper on photocopier

Synthesis of what's working in practical with research

Rave Zine Research

Source of Zines; http://ravearchive.com/zine

Featuring; Atmosphere Issue 2 (1993), Blaze Issue 6 (1992), Interdance Issue 2 (1993), Ravescene Issue 12 (1992) and Underworld Issue 1 (1991)

Rave Zine Research

After doing some preliminary sketches of ravers with zines in mind, I took the time to sit down and really read through some rave zines. While the content of my publication would be dictated largely from my research, it was the aesthetic elements of rave zines I was really interested in.

Their lo-fi DIY quality really embodied the "doing it 'cause you love it" attitude upheld by many in and around the raver movement. Largely printed in black and white with a few coloured pages in them, I thought about how my own publication could replicate this.

Media

I started thinking about rather than printing my publication digitally, with high end production methods in their hardback and embossed quality, what if the publication was the employ this mentality instead? Something well crafted but using more 80s//90s methods. The images and text itself could be greyscale and then photocopied onto coloured paper to really give it that 'rave feel'.  It was also around this point I took out a book on club flyers from the 80s//90s from the library. The crude graphic style that many of the flyers for raves were printed on fit with the rave zine aesthetic perfectly. I think this is definitely something I'd like to emulate with my own publication.

Practical; Drawing Ravers & Zine

Technique

I decided to take a step back form my research and essay and take a slightly different approach to the practical side of this brief. Though I had a practical proposal written down, as stated before it wasn't something I really felt confident in taking all the way through to a final publication.

When I sat down and thought about what had drawn me to this subject in the first place I found myself remembering the people that started and carried the rave movement through it's golden age. The community and spirituality of rave was one of the key factors that had drawn me to it in the first place; it was the PEOPLE that made this movement so spectacular. And so it made sense to get back to basics.

References // Further Research

While googling images of ravers to draw from, listening to the happy hardcore sounds that would often be played by the Hacienda, I came across a couple of black and white photos of DJs that in turn lead me to a few pictures from rave zines. Rave zines were something I knew of, but hadn't looked into directly for this project, which seemed a little strange given their relevance!

As I looked further into rave zines and images of people at raves, I found my images progressing in a much more beneficial route. It was finally as though my research and practical work were beginning to synthesise in a way that elevated my research into new unexplored areas.

The combination of text, some of which I was getting from rave zines and others I was writing down in response to what I was finding through research, seemed to work with one another quite well. I felt as though my work was finally starting to reflect the rave ethos and what I wanted to say about it. Though many theorists would disregard the rave movement as something largely superficial, I really felt as though it had a lot to say. It wasn't a movement that had necessarily SET OUT to make huge changes or defy authority, but by dancing to the rhythm of their own bass, had subsequently done so. The ravers held protests, formed communities, birthed mainstream dance music in clubs, practiced not merely tolerance but acceptance of people no matter their race, sexuality or gender. It was the people at the core of this movement who's stories I wanted to tell!




 getting personal