A screenshot of a replication of a Sine wave on Processing.. slowly getting there - almost finished chapter four on my Processing book. I can't wait to become more familiar with it and start combining this stuff with watercolours and ink.
I have updated my proposal plan essentially I've added a new dark grey bar which signified the testing of my project. I've already arranged to buy a video camera to start recording feedbacks from May - which also means I need to have some decent visuals done by that time. The tests will carry on until the end of the course. The project will in fact be lead by these tests - changes and fixes will depend on them.
Now for the bad news... reading is going slow / I have finished reading half of my first book (Women of the Beat). I've underlined a couple of relevant pieces and will post a short review this week.
This is my first experiment with After Effects, collage/particles in combination with video (video used is from a film I made for my Degree - will be using it for sample clips before taking more footage)
I've updated my proposal yet again, this time focusing on my methodology which needed further clarification and using the APA style. My new proposal can be accessed here. My work plan will be updated tomorrow and I will re-upload the document.
It has been a very frustrating week because I have not managed to get as much work done as I had hoped due to commitments at work. I have managed to find some time to experiment with video and collage in After Effects and have also found a good camera to buy when I need to do some filming for the project. I'm almost done reading Women of the Beat Generation - but very far from done reading Silencing the Sounded Self.
On a happier note; updating my proposal gave me a clearer image of how I will be testing my project - I need to start looking for a 'test' room which I can use every time I want to collect data.
Next week is Processing week - let's hope I can at least cover half of the Processing book.
It's late but I managed to get a basic particle tutorial done with some CC Time Blend Effects - it still looks bad but I'm just glad to be experimenting for now - will post soon with new proposal updates
This is my plan for these two months. I will spend the weekends reading and researching - these will be a little break from the work. During the week I will be following tutorials on my Processing book and also sketching and experimenting with After Effects. I will alternate between Processing and Sketching/ AE each week to have better flow and more detail in my work.
During these two months I plan to finish reading two books, get some research done on augmented reality and see if this can be feasible for my installation and application or I will need to find something else. I also plan to become more familiar with Processing as well as create some artworks which will potentially be used in my application (or lead me towards further experimentation).
In the beginning of this week I created a collage using magazine cutouts, watercolour and think markers...
A close-up of the collage
I then scanned it and opened it in Photoshop. Copied and pasted the image several times (each time moving it slightly to the side, and even turning it around) using the 'Darken' option in the layer transparency properties. Afterwards I imported everything in After Effects and animated the Z axis of the layers - I also animated the camera (but not enough.. it still looks stiff). I got an effect which is similar to particles - I now want these particles to move separately not just back and forth all together. I already have a tutorial in mind - will upload next week.
This is a Reflection on Chat 10/01/2011 about Interactive Films and Documentaries.
Findings
Today a very interesting chat and discussion developed with the starting point being Katerina Cizek's Highrise.
Click Image to be Directed to Trailer
Highrise is a 360 degree, interactive documentary about people who see the world through highrise windows; people who live in urban places.
“What we were trying to do was replicate or mimic this feeling of when you visit somebody’s home and you get to know them in a non-linear, fragmented sort of way," director Katerina Cizek says. “You’re talking about one thing, but over the shoulder you see something, and you say, ‘Oh, can I ask you about that photograph?’ And then that leads to a piece of their history."
“The overall Highrise project is not about architecture and urban planning. Primarily, it’s about how people live. The attempt is to peel back some of those stereotypes." (Gerry Flahive, producer)
I like this idea:
“We always think non-linear storytelling is somehow new, that it goes against the grain and is driven by technology. But, in fact, it’s not. It’s very much the way we tell each other our stories in person."
When video tries to mimic real life, hand-held – non-linear – it's experimental but actually it is more faithful to real life than mainstream films. The idea of communicating with someone and jumping from one subject to another – there’s a starting point – and then a journey towards a completely unrelated ending. No buildup towards one story – I guess the beauty of what happens in everyday conversations.
How cities are changing: the idea of a megacity – more people are living in cities - this reminded me of a recent National Geographic youtube video I had seen:
I think the idea of interactivity more successfully connects the viewer with what they are watching - which is why it is an excellent idea for campaigns. Take this interative video on children in Britain living in bad housing,
Click Image to be directed to video
'Trapped' guides the viewer through a story of a low-income British family who need to move in order to find better housing in England. At the end of each chapter, the viewer has the option to choose what they would do if they were in the place of the family. At one point the son seems to be having problem with the mould in the house so the viewer gets the option to either move out, clean the mould or call the doctor.
I'm not sure whether all the choices lead to the same path but mine lead me to the family having to move to a small hotel which is far away from the children's school and the son gets bullied. Eventually the family try to appeal for a better house but they have to stay in the waiting list or get a loan for a new house. I finally got the option to "Do Nothing" or email the council to help these kind of families. It is very hard to "Do Nothing" after choosing the story for this family - which is of course no story at all but is a very harsh reality for a large number of British Families.
Youtube have recently added the option of interactive video where users can click on the video after it is done to be directed to another video. This was of course followed by a number of 'choose your own story' style videos. The above video especially interested me because it dealt with social issues and after choosing various endings it communicates the message that little decisions can sometimes make the world of a difference.
Discussion
After discussing several videos and exchanging links, we started talking about the pros and cons about interactive videos. Are interactive videos the future or simply a gimic? To they enhance film or distract from it. It was quite interesting to see everyone's preferences come through the discussion. Osiris questioned as to why something like Highrise would not be open source - and we proceeded to discuss how it could be a new Google street / a new more dynamic facebook.
Louis felt that interaction distracted from the narrative - however Mariana, Kay and several others agreed that there needn't be a story - in fact the essence of Highrise lied in the fact that the non-linear and loosely structured nature of the video made it seem more like occurrences that happen in real life. A discussion on possible privacy issued followed as well as a question on whether or not privacy still exists and how much control we have over it.
I feel that for an open source project to be successful it cannot be controlled as much, since it's unexpected and open-ended nature would let it evolve into something unknown - now whether positive or negative we are definitely going to learn something from it.
How it links to my Project
Open Source is all the rage right now but I don't think this is going to be a part of my project since I want to focus more on augmented reality at the moment - however I'm not ruling out anything. On the online application it would be perhaps possible to get users to post their own visuals which could change when interacting with a target - of course the visuals submitted by the users might not stick with the theme of the unconscious - but since I said I will let my project be open-ended that won't matter.
As far as the interaction goes - I am a great fan, which is why I will be including interaction in my project. I think nowadays, to just have a screen or painting or projection on the wall in front of an audience is simply not enough - unless it is exceptional. People get bored quickly - more people want to be able to be a part of the work not just to see it. I think it even makes them feel a bit important; more on the same level as the artist, where the artist his/herself is letting them mess about with his/her installation and putting them at the centre of attention.
Thoughts about the proposal and the final installation...
- How about augmented reality?
At first I was thinking about having people touching the projections for interaction, but now I'm thinking about using webcams and having some sort of interaction in flash where the mouse over would be associated with a target in the webcam, i.e. the audience...
- Must carry out more research on augmenter reality - was trying to avoid it because it seemed so out of range, but now I'm starting to get interested.
'This digital artwork is a three dimensional temporal arena which evokes a calm, receptive state of mind. A mixture of both old and new, hybrid techniques that combine characteristics of painting and drawing, computer animation and immersive VR. Inside this virtual space is re-imagined a whole world, a topographical landscape of Corfe Castle modelled in three dimensions, silent and secret, a place of accumulated history."
