Tuesday 31 May 2011

This is going to be a busy month

This month I will be working on the college's exhibition so it's going to be slightly difficult to do some work on my Masters, however I have timetabled everything - am going to try and do something everyday. I'm also going to try and see if I can get some students to tell me some stories.

Some good news is that a friend who has more than 10 years experience in filming and editing will be helping me out during the summer, especially with filming (and perhaps even editing). This is a relief for me because I am not a professional film maker, and I don't want technicalities which I might be unaware of, to distract from the project.

Some more good news is that I am currently teaching 'Animation Techniques' evening classes, therefore I am refreshing my memory in Flash and Cinema4D (which perhaps could be of assistance in the project).

Saturday 28 May 2011

Story Tour Day 5

I have started following the points on my MPR and I realised that before I have all (or most) of the recordings, it's going to be difficult to start storyboarding or filming anything. I can only work with stories I already have, so I need to get as many recordings as possible before and during the summer.

I'm also thinking of putting up a 'call for stories' notice in my college so perhaps I can collect some stories from my students.

My latest recording comes from a close friend, who was nice enough to tell me some personal stories.


Friday 27 May 2011

The Thomas Beale Cipher + experiment

During my MDR, Jonathan posted a comment by Jedrzej suggesting 'The Thomas Beale Cipher'.

I examined closely the use of moving textures and noticed a flickering effect throughout the short film. I decided to try out a similar effect on my last experiment.

I rendered this quickly and realised that I actually stretched the 'old film' effect using time remapping, rather than looping it. The gelatin wiggle effect was also a bit too much.
Besides that however, the texture did give more life to the video as a whole. I will try to get more abstract shots which I can then overlay onto videos.

Thursday 26 May 2011

MPR evaluation

(Warning: long post!) Firstly I would like to say that I am really happy with the feedback and analysis that I got from the MPR (so thank you to all of those who contributed to the comments). It was actually quite time consuming to go through all the comments but based on these comments, I have managed to come up with a list of things that I will need to consider regarding my project:

  1. I need to redesign a timeframe, to which I need to strictly stick to.
  2. Figure out a new testing method to analyse how and why people are linking visuals and recordings. Additionally analyse their reactions to seeing the same visual twice with a different recording / audio in the background. 
  3. Design an interface for the visuals and elaborate on how everything will be displayed in random format.
  4. Decide on the style of filming and editing.
  5. Decide whether to include some kind of performance, and whether the person telling the story should make an appearance in the videos or not.
  6. Length of the stories.
More Details / Answers to my Questions:

Everyone agreed that people will most probably link videos and recordings.  This would be a great outcome because I want the viewers to be able to experience perhaps the same story with a different meaning. What I need to test now is see how I can see how the viewers are linking – identify patterns.

Everyone agreed that there should be focus on interaction. This is also something I felt would make the project more engaging – which is why I need to brainstorm how this is going to happen.

Everyone agreed people will probably be interested to hear someone else's stories, depending on how interesting it is.

There were mixed opinions on the subtitles. I think I will simply have to include something for the user to be able to turn them on and off.

Overall I found the general reaction to the work done so far to be positive.

Key Figures, works and books to check out:

"Devotional cinema" by Nathaniel Dorsky, suggested by Mariana who also quoted this from the book:
"If we do relinquish control, we suddenly see a hidden world, one that has existed all along right in front of us. In a flash, the uncanny presence of this poetic and vibrant world, ripe with mystery, stands before us.”

Nam June Paik, suggested by Madeline and previously also suggested by a friend of mine but I still haven't looked into his work in much detail.

'Thomas Beale Cipher' an animation by Andrew S.Allen, and works of Laurie Hill, suggested by Jedrzej.

Eva said one of my experiments reminded her of 'The wanderer above the sea of fog'
by Caspar David Friedrich


Here are the answers to other questions asked by my peers:

Mariana: How many conceptual videos from the stories?  I am also curious to know how do you ask people to tell you their stories, are you guiding them to either eerie or dreamy stories? 

I will be translating half of the videos into visuals – either video, animation or both. This really depends on the stories. As for the stories, all I’m asking people to do is to ‘tell me a story’ anything about their life or someone else’s. I’m keeping it as vague as possible and trying not to influence them in their choices. As for the dreamy and eerie, this is how I usually work so it will obviously emerge in my interpretations of the stories, whatever they are.

Osiris: I Think recording & editing 100 stories will take a very long time. What time frame will Moira need to reserved for this?

This is true, although I already have around 20 stories so far (some people tell me more than one story, although if I have time I would like to have 100 stories from 100 different people). This doesn’t really concern me as much, I’m a fast worker ☺

Eva: I am interested in the documentary format? possibility of this work alongside the 'random' result element of the practice. 

Perhaps if I have time, however I'm not filming every person I am recording (due to some of them feeling uncomfortable in front of a video camera)
  
Osiris: I say Yes people will try to link videos. Is this a problem for you ? 

Not at all, I’m just interested to see how will they try to link them, but I still need to find a good way to ask this question and gather results.

Mariana: When you talk about continuous randomization, do you mean that the conceptual stories, audios and visuals will appear randomly with out a predetermined order. So I guess a system will determine randomly what is the next thing the viewer will see. 

Yes, there will essentially be a random code (either in Actionscript or Processing, depends which one I use). 

Olympia: I was wondering whether Moira noticed any overlapping in the stories - and if so what was the percentage

So far, I’ve noticed people tend to want to tell me funny stories, but when they get more comfortable, the stories get more serious.

Madeline: The interpretation is personal just ike the people telling their stories 

Yes, and this is not a problem, however I wanted to work on a concept given to me by someone else – several different concepts which keep changing.

Mariana: I like very much the artists that are currently influencing you. Gregory Crewdson uses great settings and lighting, are you thinking of producing your conceptual stories taking into consideration with such importance those visual elements?   

Eva: Gregory crewdson mirrors filmic scenquences a fantasy I am wondering how the film stories could be translated into a crewdson esque errie visual?   

It will be impossible to get a polished result like that of Gregory Crewson, I was looking at the concept and the story behind the pictures rather than the aesthetic (even though he is quite well known for the aesthetic). 

Claire: I wonder if Moira might want to develop / strengthen the concept of narrative, particularly of this genre, e.g. suspense etc 

Yes I suppose this is important and will need to be taken into consideration before filming and editing.

Eva: experience as interaction is about the viewers perception how will you be able to get this perspective if you are filming?

This is no longer the purpose of my project, this was the title of my previous proposal.

Claire: it may be good to think of a performance video also i;e; someone interacting with the work   good as a backup also

This is interesting – will need to think about it.

Osiris: How long can 1 Story be ?    

I wanted it to be a minute, but so far they are all between 2 and 5 minutes, so some heavy editing is needed – I do not wish to bore the viewers.

Madeline: Can the viewer not somehow ineract and slect the stories they want to hear?  

Yes I thought about this, however I still want the visuals and music to be randomised, therefore selecting the same story twice can give it different meanings.

Louis: so many projects want to rely on RANDOM, but is it truly random or random within a defined set?   

Olympia: there is no randomness infinity proves that at some point there is perfect coordination 

Eva: could this randomness be choice on some subconsious level

Louis, I’d like to think that the project is not relying on randomisation, but is merely using it to assist with my testing of the project, and as Osiris specified randomisation is always within a defined set – in my case there will be 100 stories, I wish I could do more but don’t think I will have time ☺

Olympia: Yes it would be interesting to see whether the puzzle will come together at one point and a lucky viewer will witness it!

Eva: Randomisation cannot be choice in this case since I will be using a random code / system to mix and match the media. This will remove all control from beyond my hands and into the hands of the machine.



Wednesday 25 May 2011

Another unfinished experiment


I did this before the MPR but am posting it now because I wanted to leave the MPR as my last post (until yesterday). The concept for the collage is based on one of the recordings - however it is far too stiff. It needs something dynamic like video or more animation.

At the moment I am reviewing my MPR comments and organising them - will post tomorrow.

Sunday 15 May 2011

Story Tour Day 4

Yesterday I went to a friend's house to get a story recording from her mother, who is from the Philippines - then lived in Canada for a long time and is now residing in Malta with her family. Unfortunately she was feeling slightly uncomfortable in front of the camera so I opted to use just the recorder.

She was still not feeling 100% comfortable recording however managed to tell me one story. Luckily my friend's dad popped in and told us his own story, which I think is one of the best I have so far. My friend's dad turned out to be a great story teller.

I also got two more stories from her brother, so I have quite a range of ages and nationalities at this point. I will post snippets of the recordings in the video that I will be putting together for the MPR.

So far I have stories from 8 different people, and some of them have told me more than one story. I would also like to say that I am actually enjoying visiting these people's houses ( or inviting them to my own flat ) and listening to their stories. There's something intimate about someone telling you a story from their own life, and it instantly brings you closer to that person.

Saturday 14 May 2011

Watercolour and video

Another experiment; this one is meant to be an improvement from my previous one. I changes the sea - I drew it myself this time rather than finding an image. I took the video of Kris (the figure) at my flat - still not sure whether the cropped mask distracts or add to the effect. I might consider using a green screen. The background is one of my previous experiments with expanding watercolour.

I also had to use motion stabilising in After Effects because this was yet another quick experiment so no tripod was used (also admittedly this could have saved me some time in After Effects * note for next time!)

Today I should be filming another recoring at around 5.

Wednesday 11 May 2011

test with collage animation, recording and music

So this is the first animation test with a recording (the sound used is from the camera not from the recorder which is why it has a reverb to it). The idea for this was based on one of the stories - the first one actually. I wish to recreate this using actual footage for the boy and girl, and perhaps adding a few more stars here and there.

William Kentridge

When I am interpreting recordings, I don't want to be restricted to film only what's around me. This is why parts of my visuals are going to have to be animated in several different ways. I was therefore looking at William Kentridge's works today. I love the charcoal animation effect, this also reminded me of Mariana's recent post where she did some tests with charcoal and animation. I always find that traditional techniques give life to digital animation.

"Kentridge's animated films are composed from his charcoal and pastel drawings, which he vigorously reworks, leaving traces of erasure, redrawing, and often highly visible pentimenti." (Moving Pictures, 2003)

I am currently uploading a very quick animation test I did in After Effects - it will hopefully be up by tomorrow morning. I have had to use found images just to quickly see how it would all look. I will try to recreate something similar using my own footage and pictures.

Sunday 8 May 2011

Stan Douglas

"Stan Douglas explores the nexus of the socially and commericially mediated, resulting in video and installation works that examine how cinematic and televisual space constructs meaning in the wider culture."

"Douglas's work reflects an archival, analytic, and creative process, as he expands the artist's territory from the studio to the research room to the production shoot. His disruption of standard modes of reception - be they in the classroom or in front of the television - challenges viewers to explore how meaning is constructed." (Moving Pictures, 2003)

Although I do not find the work of Stan Douglas particularly inspiring (perhaps because it feels dated) I think the context is very relevant to what I am doing - which is why I will be looking further into his work. I am still going through the book 'Moving Pictures' - I want to explore Nan Goldin next, but I want to go into more detail before blogging about her. I will just say that I love her photography, and although it might be too dramatic for me to get inspired from, there are definitely traits I will consider when filming.

Saturday 7 May 2011

Story Tour Day 3

First film with my camera was with a Scottish neighbour, thanks Colin :)
I'm currently thinking about exhibiting each element (video, recording, perhaps even the interview video - which I wasn't going to use previously, music) separately, rather than all in one go. Still brainstorming this idea...

For some reason - I'm using a bad aspect ratio, (black visible border) which I need to find a way of eliminating. Tomorrow I will hopefully be updating my proposal and my schedule - thankfully I have a good two months in the summer where I will not be working - but will be working on the Masters! Filming,  and experimenting.

Friday 6 May 2011

Updates

I finally got my Canon 600D camera, just in time to shoot something before mid-term review :)

And in other news, it was the college's sports day today so we went to watch some of our colleagues and students' play some basketball. On my way there I saw the following; incidental interactive art? 


Thursday 5 May 2011

Gregory Crewdson

Absolutely mesmerised by Gregory Crewdson's photography, from the book 'Moving Pictures' - Contemporary Photography and Video from the Guggenheim Museum Collections. As soon as I saw the pictures, I immediately thought 'David Lynch' from the lighting, and the positioning / angles of the camera shots and the subjects. Indeed a paragraph from the book states that 'His elaborately staged panoramas often elicit comparisons to the films of Alfred Hitchcock, David Lynch, and Stephen Spielberg.'

Unlike my previous post, where I attached pictures that I associated with life, these works seem to portray the exact opposite. What  I like most about them are the long shots being used, and the importance of the ambience around the people - rather than basic the sole focus on the people themselves. I also find the lighting spectacular (apparently Crewdson has recently employed a crew of up to thirty-five to assist in the creation of his visions).

"In Crewdson's work, meaning if kept just out of reach, where it lurks like a repressed trauma." 
(Moving Pictures, 2003)



Documentary Photography

Since I've changed my proposal, I visited the library at the art college (where I work) today to try and find some new inspirational material which involved more photography and video works. I picked up three books, Documentary Photography - Life Library of Photography, Doris Chase Artist in Motion, and Moving Pictures - Contemporary Photography and video from the Guggenheim Museum Collections.

I started looking at 'Documentary Photography - Life Library of Photography' and the following pictures are what I've found most inspirational, and perhaps - more related to what I want to do:

Dan Weiner Street Festival

Lee Friedlander New York City

Cid Grossman

Cid Grossman

Cid Grossman San Gennaro Festival

What struck me most about all of the above pictures is the 'life' in them, because they are all about people - together in groups, during festivals and parties. They reminded me of the weekly Festas we have in Malta all throughout the summer, and I was wondering if I could get a couple of shots and videos during these events.

Monday 2 May 2011

His & Hers

After speaking to a friend about the project I'm doing, she suggested the following documentary, which I think I will watch in the coming weeks mostly to observe the storytelling and the way it is portrayed in the shots.