Vassar soap opera provides Web interaction

Jackson Reeves Arts Editor

Simplicity, variability and persistency: One of the oldest Chinese texts, the I Ching initiated an interest in these three notions of being. The same principles later shaped early Confucian and Taoist thought.

Max Gold ’10 used these ideas to shape his Web series, Classic of Changes, which was filmed at Vassar and stars Vassar students. The title is an English translation of the phrase “I Ching.” Gold posts a new 10-minute episode of the series every Sunday at 6 p.m. on his Web site, blindhummingbird.com.

Gold explained that the I Ching was ripe for a Web series adaptation. “It’s a book of little bite-sized pieces of wisdom, which is a lot like the format of Webisodes, which aren’t pieces of wisdom, but are bite-sized pieces of story,” he said.

“They’re not meant to be giant masterpieces; they’re just fun things that you can snack on,” Gold added.

The Web series allows each of its viewers to transform from a consumer into a producer through its interactive interfaces. Each character has a Facebook profile and a blog, which can be accessed from Gold’s Web site.

The series has a Facebook group with 374 members. Gold encourages viewers to post comments on any of its Web-based forums, and he plans to use those responses to shape the future course of the series. Everything from romantic entanglements to more serious plot twists can hinge upon the resolutions reached through interactive Internet democracy.

Changes details the lives of children of privilege as they attend a selective, coeducational institution in the Hudson River Valley: not Vassar, but rather Pencey Preparatory School, a high school. The episodes have depicted drug deals and sex in showers. It’s The O.C. of the V.C.

In Spring 2007, Gold took a Chinese philosophy course that inspired him to write short scenes that would eventually become the first season of Changes, which premiered in June.

The course, of course, was just a catalyst. Gold had been involved in video production since the beginning of high school and wanted to continue producing in college. He gathered together a group of underutilized actors and let the series unfurl.

The first season consisted of nine episodes. Season Two premiered on April 1, 2008 as a new class of freshmen joined the fictional school’s ranks. The process has proved time-consuming, and the result has been mixed.

“We’re at college, and we don’t have time for really huge, in-depth things,” Gold said. “I think part of the off-the-cuff-ness of it and the shallowness of it really speaks to the college experience.”

Though Changes is released on the Internet, it resembles a television program in that its production and release process unfurls in an episodic order.

To produce his series, Gold needed to step outside of Vassar’s pedagogical parameters and use his prior skill set. Vassar’s curriculum does not cover serial production; Vassar only offers production courses through the film department, which means that the projects undertaken through the courses are non-serial by nature.

Gold decided to produce his series outside of Vassar’s auspices altogether. He did not use the College’s television station, VCTV, and he did not use Vassar funding. As a result, Gold did not need to worry about the bureaucratic red tape that tends to stall filming groups that work within the system.

“I’m not resenting Vassar’s opportunities, because it has amazing opportunities,” said Gold. However, he added, “Like any bureaucracy, you need to work your way up and establish yourself.”

“As a freshman, I was so anxious to make stuff,” Gold continued.

The second season follows brothers and best friends Sean and Chris as they enter their freshman year of high school. Ben Palacios ’11 plays Sean, a fashion model.

The enjoyable bulk of Sean’s scenes exhibit Palacios on various modeling shoots, shirtless of course. Changes targets high-school girls, as Gold admitted, and thus it provokes comparisons to teen soap operas like Gossip Girl.

The characters are more two-dimensional, adolescent archetypes than well-rounded or realistic characters. But this limited dimensionality reflects the series’ source material, the I Ching, which emphasizes traits over people. The true depth comes about via connections between characters rather than within individual characters.

“I feel like I’ve gotten into the groove with the show now, with Season Two, and it’s the first episode that I’m deeply satisfied with,” said Gold of the series’ recent episode. Gold indicated that this Sunday’s episode would continue along that depth-invoking trajectory via a bacchanal of sorts. Changes promises depth through surface.