The documentary film, TechnoMECCA (working title), and it’s educational companion website will explore the history of electronic music from a cultural perspective. The film will focus on Detroit and how Afro-American dance culture in the late 80's catalyzed the development of electronic dance music around the world.

Detroit is Techno and electronic music's “Mecca”, and the documentary, TechnoMECCA, will explore the artists who created the sound, the artists that keep it alive, as well as, analyze the cultural events that caused it to develop in Detroit in the 80’s and allowed it to spread around the world.

Detroit Techno music organically grew out of the rich musical soil that spawned the Motown dynasty but it experienced an infusion of technology in the 80’s which changed the way the world listened to music. True electronic music lovers from around the world have respected Detroit as the birthplace of Techno and Electronica for years. But the part Detroit’s Afro-American producers played in the history of Techno, Electro, and electronic dance music in general, has been largely been overlooked by the mainstream in the US. Its development has largely been relegated to the European artists who dominate and capitalize on the scene currently. Very few people in the US, or even in Detroit, actually know the term “Techno” was coined by Juan Atkins a DJ/producer who learned to program the Roland TR-808 synthesizer, formed the group Cybotron, and developed the musical genera while he was still a youth growing up in the suburbs of Detroit (Bellville).

Image via Wikipedia

The Website:
The film is being created in conjunction with an educational website to give a variety of points of entry for viewers. The site will be created prior to completion of the film to work in conjunction with the film's with promotional strategy. The site will integrate an interactive Google map, social networking, multi-platform video podcasts and an interactive educational DVD (an educational version will be given away to teachers for free). The site will feature interviews excerpted from the film, a historical timeline, music examples, and musical mixes to create a multimedia musical history of electronic music and its cultural influences over time. It will also feature a detailed documentation of the making of, and completion of the film. It will also challenge students to become a part of the project and to document their own oral histories on video for a prize (computers and/or software) and to be featured in the film. This site will help to teach users and students across the country about the influences technology has on culture and more specifically the development of the popular music which is woven into the tapestry of life in the information age (A reference to the group Cybotron is even mentioned in the current #1 pop music hit by the Black Eyed Peas, "Boom Boom Pow"). Key components of the site will seek to focus on and teach students about media literacy (remix culture, music copyrights, creative commons, open source, open video), digital music creation, web-based video production, oral-history, and web-based research through the fun and compelling lens of electronic music.

We hope to use the creation of this film as an example to teach students to work together collaboratively in groups to research and document their own, short, video-based oral histories on art and culture in the regions in which they live. Student from across the nation (and eventually different countries) will be challenged to research and discuss music (and other unique local art forms) and its development in their local regions and integrate this info into a Google map (recreating the historical locations using Sketch-up and other tools). The site will be used to showcase music and other artistic and cultural influences on the popular media landscape. Ultimately, we hope to create a forum for the discussion of music, remix culture, media literacy and technology's influence on culture. Additionally, in later phases of the website we will explore new permutations brought on by Web 2.0 and remix culture, from video mixing, anime music videos, machinima, 8-bit music, circuit bending, to ghetto tech in order to see where digital art and music is going and why.

Ultimately, the site will serve as a tool to promote an understanding of social media literacy, and of remix culture, as well as to teach students to understand copyrights and creative commons options for digital media creation. Another goal being to teach them to use simple video production techniques to document their own cultural history and art forms they witness emerging, using my documentary on Detroit's unique cultural history and Techno as an example. Students will be challenged to explore mass media culture via the web, in order to facilitate an understanding of connectivism and collaborative learning skills, while improving overall literacy; the basic skills necessary as a functioning citizen in the information age (reading, writing, and web-based research).

The Film Project:
The goal of this film project was to create unique cutting edge multimedia video documentation of the era in Detroit's history that produced Techno and to look at what started it. As a part of the process have collected hundreds of "original sources" like party flyers, as well as, images, video, and music from events that helped catalyze the musical genera. Additionally, I have interviewed Detroit DJ's, producers, as well as, others who were in Detroit during this unique time in the city's history and were affected by the music that emerged from it. I have filmed over 75 hours of interviews (see interview list below) and B-roll footage on the topic and I hope to use a portion of the finishing funds to complete the film with interviews from several more well-known Motown greats (like Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock, Bernie Worell of Parliament, and Eddie Holland of Holland, Dozier, Holland) who were instrumental in the development of electronic music. My goal is to explore the growth of the current scene including Jazz, Acid Jazz, House music and Hip Hop. The conclusion end of the film will include an exploration of the web-based project along with video submitted by the students involved.


Trailer:: (Early Pre-Production Trailer - 2002)

(We are currently seeking finishing funds. You can contribute your ideas for the edit of the new film trailer as a member of the Urban Thinking Network.)

 

Collaborative Opportunities::
The multimedia educational curriculum for this project was created by David Grandison as his thesis project during the completion of his masters degree in Instructional Technology and Media at Columbia University. David was awarded a Technology Fellowship for his innovative work in the program. He and his production companies Urban Universe and The Learning Collective believe that a collective goal is being pursued by documenting the history of this unique, yet under developed city as a nexus of not only the Motown sound but of Techno, a innovative form of electronic dance music.

We hope to work with non-profit institutions, academic institutions, production companies, filmmakers and the music industry (record labels, producers, and artist) to create a historical documentation that is, educational, accurate and that insures the longevity of the art form. To this end, we are seeking partnerships and collaborations with individuals and institutions that may be able to help us in our quest to develop new ways to educate students using music, video, and web-centric tools. We hope to work with the industry make it possible for the film’s website to become an online archive and Multimedia Study Environment containing written abstracts, videos, musical samples and original mixes for students around the world to use to study the intersections of art, culture and technology in-depth.

The Interviews::
Jeff Mills, Eddie “Flashin” Fowlkes, Carl Craig, Derrick May, Rolando, Kyle Hall, Alton Miller, DJ Dez, Chez Damier, Terrance Parker, Anthony “Shake” Shakur, Alton Miller, Brendan M. Gillen of Ectomorph, Piranhahead, Norm Talley, Brett, Dancer, Larry Heard, Osunlade, Mike Clark, Kenny Larken, Kai Alce, Sundiata, Paris "The Blac Fu" of the Detroit Grand Pubahs, Glenn Underground, DJ Assault, DJ Godfather, Malik Alston, Aril Brikha, Kieth Worthy, Reggie Dokes, Kimyon, The Roots, Mos Def, Alexander Robotnic, DJ Spooky...and A Guy Called Gerald.

Websites::
Derrick May
Terrance Parker
Kai Alce Watch NDATL Record Label Promo Video
Reggie Doaks

Important Historical Locations In Detroit::
Movement 10 :: Detroit's Electronic Music Festival
Hart Plaza
1 Hart Plaza,
Detroit, MI 48226-4344

TransMat Studios
1492 Gratiot Avenue
Detroit, mi 48207-2723