Although my experimental film is coming along well aesthetically, I have been wondering what I should do will the audio. I was hoping that I could record a piece of audio where different sounds would represent the colours on screen. For example, the darker colours would have a a deeper low pitch sound compared to the lighter colours. This was my original plan, but unfortunately I ran out of time to this so I decided that I would use my experimental audio piece that I had already recorded and editing.
I think the audio does fit with tihe piece because the purpose of the audio was to create something that would be used for an unmade sc-fi film, and from looking at the different colours in my film it does remind me of a sci-fi image.
Wednesday, 14 December 2011
Sunday, 11 December 2011
"What a load of Pollocks..."
Ive recently been looking at the artwork of Jackson Pollock, and I can see that my experimental film has a look of Jackson Pollocks art. Ive came across Pollock when I was looking at John Squire's art,an Influence on Squire, and I became intersted in his abstract expressionism pieces of work, such as No.5, 1984.
Wednesday, 7 December 2011
Dream Machine
I was introduced to an artist called Brion Gysin who created a piece called Dream Machine which is a stroboscopic flicker device that produces visual stimuli."Had a transcendental storm of colour visions today in the bus going to Marseilles. We ran through a long avenue of trees and I closed my eyes against the setting sun. An overwhelming flood of intensely bright colors exploded behind my eyelids: a multidimensional kaleidoscope whirling out through space. I was swept out of time. I was out in a world of infinite number. The vision stopped abruptly as we left the trees. Was that a vision? What happened to me?" This is quote from Brion Gysin explaining how he came up with idea for his Dream Machine.
A Dream Machine is made from a cylinder with slits cut in the sides. The cylinder is placed on a turntable and rotated at 78 or 45 RPM. A light bulb is suspended in the center of the cylinder and the rotation speed allows the light to come out from the holes at a constant frequency of between 8 and 13 pulses per second.
Ive been looking at the effects that the Dream Machine has had on people and I feel that my experimental film replcates what the Dream Machine does to its audience. My film is about visual stimulation and represents how light effects vision, which is my take on what the Dream Machine actually means.
As for aesthetics, I've looked at Len Lye and Douglas Hart, two directors who I feel my work can be compared to. Douglas Hart has directed many music videos, and I feel that my video could effectively be projected onto a band which could be used for a music video.
I have also looked at artist John Squire's work for inspiration, which I feel inspired my to create a piece of film with a juxtaposition of colours and abstract expression.
I have also looked at artist John Squire's work for inspiration, which I feel inspired my to create a piece of film with a juxtaposition of colours and abstract expression.
Wednesday, 23 November 2011
Trev Meaney Studio Session
Today we filmed another multi-camera study session with Trev Meaney, who performed around five of his poems. I decided that I wanted to work behind the camera, as this is what I want to concentrate on. I was given camera one, a camera that I have worked on only once but I was keen to work behind it again. Unlike most studio sessions, camera was was situated at the side of the study so the shot was more of a profile shot, picking up the side of Trev Meaney's face. There were a few different shots that I had to do during today's filming, for example, close up on his eyes, medium shot of his face side on, and a medium shot of his hands.
Prior to the shoot I had done a little bit of research, for example, I watched a few videos of Trev Meaney to have a look at his work and his poems. I would have thought of some interview questions for the shoot today but I was unaware that he was coming in today, I thought that he was coming into the studio at a later date.
The studio session today was different to any others that we had done before, firstly because we were filming a band, which meant that there was only one person to film instead of having 3, 4, or 5 people, which is what you expect a band to have. I enjoyed the session today and didn't find it challenging at all because there wasn't that many different shots that had to be done.
Prior to the shoot I had done a little bit of research, for example, I watched a few videos of Trev Meaney to have a look at his work and his poems. I would have thought of some interview questions for the shoot today but I was unaware that he was coming in today, I thought that he was coming into the studio at a later date.
The studio session today was different to any others that we had done before, firstly because we were filming a band, which meant that there was only one person to film instead of having 3, 4, or 5 people, which is what you expect a band to have. I enjoyed the session today and didn't find it challenging at all because there wasn't that many different shots that had to be done.
Tuesday, 22 November 2011
Shooting My Experimental Video
Today I decided that I was ready to shoot my experimental video. I came to the conclusion that I wanted to film food colouring in water so that I could create surreal images for my film.
First of all I had to get some food colourings to use for my piece. Originally I wanted colours such as; blue, green, red, purple and yellow. Unfortunately when I went top buy them they only had blue, yellow, green and black. I was unsure about black as I wanted the colours to mix and create new colours, and I thought that black would have dominated the other colours and canceled them out, but I decided to go with black because I didn't think that three colours would have been enough. I decided that when I was to use the black I would use as little as possible to prevent it turning the water completely black.
I was able to use a clear container to hold the water, this meant that I was able to put the camera underneath the container and still be able to film. I did plan to use a HD camera to shooting my video, but because the container had to be help above the ground I thought that it would be difficult to put the camera underneath, as this would mean that the container would have to be held higher than it was, which would not have been possible. I was suggested to use a HD flip camera, which has the looks of a mobile phone, and is extremely easy to use. This camera differs to the otrher camera because you have no option to manually focus, as it is all done automatically. Although I orgianlly prefered to film with a HD camera, I think the flip camera was the better option as it made the shoot more fisbale.
Before the shoot I filled the container with water so that it was around one inch deep. I didnt want to fill the container with too much water becuase I thought that it would require more food colouring, and I needed to make sure I had some left over incase I needed to re-shoot. I also decided not to use so much water becuase it meant more trips to the tap, which was digging into production time. To create a surreal image I decided that the container had to be lit so that the water had reflections which reflected against the food colouring. I decided to go with blue and yellow lighting. The reason behind this is becuase two of the food colourings that I had where blue and yellow, so I thought that they would match. I had thought about using red but becuase I was unable to get hold of red food colouring I decided not to.
Once the camera was rolling I started to rock the container so that the water formed ripples which I thought would look interesting. I then added my first colour to the water. I allowed the colouring to set then decided to to shake the container and lift one side so that the colours ran. I experimented using different colours and how I added them to the water, aswell as where I added them to the water. At one stage the water got a bit cloudy and there were two thick lumps of food colouring, so I thought it would be a good idea to mix swirl the water with my hand to get the water moving again. This is probally something that I will edit out because I dont want any body parts in the video, although if I speed it up it might look as obvious that I used my hand. After about five minutes of filming I decided to stop shooting becuase I thought that I had enough footage for my video. Once I had finished filming I had a quick preview on the small monitor on the flip camera. From what I saw I was impressed and it make me wanting to get editting as soon as.
I imported the footage onto the computer and started to view back what I had got. As I wasnt needing the audio I unlinked it from the video. To do this I clicked onto the audio that I wanted deleting, then clicked on Clip at the top of the page, I then scrolled down to unlink and unlinked the audio and video, then clicked on the audio on the timeline then deleted. I didnt really get a lot of editing done today due to production time, but I hope that tomorrow I will possiblty be able to finish editting my experiemental video then think about the audio that I can use for my piece.
First of all I had to get some food colourings to use for my piece. Originally I wanted colours such as; blue, green, red, purple and yellow. Unfortunately when I went top buy them they only had blue, yellow, green and black. I was unsure about black as I wanted the colours to mix and create new colours, and I thought that black would have dominated the other colours and canceled them out, but I decided to go with black because I didn't think that three colours would have been enough. I decided that when I was to use the black I would use as little as possible to prevent it turning the water completely black.
I was able to use a clear container to hold the water, this meant that I was able to put the camera underneath the container and still be able to film. I did plan to use a HD camera to shooting my video, but because the container had to be help above the ground I thought that it would be difficult to put the camera underneath, as this would mean that the container would have to be held higher than it was, which would not have been possible. I was suggested to use a HD flip camera, which has the looks of a mobile phone, and is extremely easy to use. This camera differs to the otrher camera because you have no option to manually focus, as it is all done automatically. Although I orgianlly prefered to film with a HD camera, I think the flip camera was the better option as it made the shoot more fisbale.
Before the shoot I filled the container with water so that it was around one inch deep. I didnt want to fill the container with too much water becuase I thought that it would require more food colouring, and I needed to make sure I had some left over incase I needed to re-shoot. I also decided not to use so much water becuase it meant more trips to the tap, which was digging into production time. To create a surreal image I decided that the container had to be lit so that the water had reflections which reflected against the food colouring. I decided to go with blue and yellow lighting. The reason behind this is becuase two of the food colourings that I had where blue and yellow, so I thought that they would match. I had thought about using red but becuase I was unable to get hold of red food colouring I decided not to.
Once the camera was rolling I started to rock the container so that the water formed ripples which I thought would look interesting. I then added my first colour to the water. I allowed the colouring to set then decided to to shake the container and lift one side so that the colours ran. I experimented using different colours and how I added them to the water, aswell as where I added them to the water. At one stage the water got a bit cloudy and there were two thick lumps of food colouring, so I thought it would be a good idea to mix swirl the water with my hand to get the water moving again. This is probally something that I will edit out because I dont want any body parts in the video, although if I speed it up it might look as obvious that I used my hand. After about five minutes of filming I decided to stop shooting becuase I thought that I had enough footage for my video. Once I had finished filming I had a quick preview on the small monitor on the flip camera. From what I saw I was impressed and it make me wanting to get editting as soon as.
I imported the footage onto the computer and started to view back what I had got. As I wasnt needing the audio I unlinked it from the video. To do this I clicked onto the audio that I wanted deleting, then clicked on Clip at the top of the page, I then scrolled down to unlink and unlinked the audio and video, then clicked on the audio on the timeline then deleted. I didnt really get a lot of editing done today due to production time, but I hope that tomorrow I will possiblty be able to finish editting my experiemental video then think about the audio that I can use for my piece.
Friday, 18 November 2011
Thursday, 17 November 2011
Experimental Video Idea
I have been planning out a few more ideas for my experimental video, just in case the others are not fisbale. I was watching a Beady Eye music video when I noticed something that i thought looked very Len Lye inspired.
The first few seconds, and final few seonds, shows what I think to be is coloursed paints and colouring mixing with oils which is creating unusual and surreal effects. When I first saw this and started to analyse this I thought that the director of the music video could have been inspired by Len Lye to create this image.
I want to be able to take something along the lines of this, aswell as films by Len Lye, and combine them to create something surreal and different. I will then take my experimental audio and add it to the film. If my experimental audio does not match my video then I will create a new piece of audio, probably using my synthesizer.
The first few seconds, and final few seonds, shows what I think to be is coloursed paints and colouring mixing with oils which is creating unusual and surreal effects. When I first saw this and started to analyse this I thought that the director of the music video could have been inspired by Len Lye to create this image.
I want to be able to take something along the lines of this, aswell as films by Len Lye, and combine them to create something surreal and different. I will then take my experimental audio and add it to the film. If my experimental audio does not match my video then I will create a new piece of audio, probably using my synthesizer.
Digital Photography
Today I had a photography lesson about how photographs can be used instead of sketches when creating storyboards. Storyboards are something that I have never really been brilliant at, personally I feel that this is due to my poor skills in drawing, I much prefer to create shot lists instead as I feel that I have a better way of explaining a shot than of drawing one.
First of all I started by being introduced to the camera, which was a Nikon 3100, although I did understand the basics because I have a camera similar to it myself. Once I had familiarised myself with the camera I started to work with another class member to create a visual storyboard for a short film that we could pherhaps make. We decided to create a short storyboard, consisting of around ten images, about somebody in need of the toilet who is unable to get to the toilet becuase it's locked. Overall we took around seventy images and had to cut it down to ten. Some of the images that we had werent great, either becuase they were out of focus or we had multiple shots already like it.
Once we had all the images we uploaded them onto the computer and started editing, although we ran out of time and were unable to do any major editing on them, for example, putting them in the correct order, and putting effects. I'll definatly be coming back to this work at a later date to finish the work.
I learnt a lot today, and this is a skills that I will be using in work to come as I feel that it will make storyboarding, and the actual production a lot easier and understandable.
First of all I started by being introduced to the camera, which was a Nikon 3100, although I did understand the basics because I have a camera similar to it myself. Once I had familiarised myself with the camera I started to work with another class member to create a visual storyboard for a short film that we could pherhaps make. We decided to create a short storyboard, consisting of around ten images, about somebody in need of the toilet who is unable to get to the toilet becuase it's locked. Overall we took around seventy images and had to cut it down to ten. Some of the images that we had werent great, either becuase they were out of focus or we had multiple shots already like it.
Once we had all the images we uploaded them onto the computer and started editing, although we ran out of time and were unable to do any major editing on them, for example, putting them in the correct order, and putting effects. I'll definatly be coming back to this work at a later date to finish the work.
I learnt a lot today, and this is a skills that I will be using in work to come as I feel that it will make storyboarding, and the actual production a lot easier and understandable.
Experimental Video Research
Ive been looking at a wide range of work by Len Lye. I feel that his work will be an inspiration on my work.
Tuesday, 15 November 2011
Developing My Experimental Video Idea
Ive recently been looking at different ideas for my experimental video. Although I have come up with a few ideas I want to be able to able challenge myself and create something that I ha vent done before. I have decided that I am going to create my experimental video around my experimental sound piece.
When I was watching Upside Down: The Creation Records Story I came across an image that reminded me of my experimental audio. When I was creating my experimental audio I was listening to a lot of Creation Records music, which created an image in my head, which I then took and created a piece of audio from what I saw. It never came to me to create my experimental video around my experimental audio.
I have also been looking at the work of Len Lye and I am interested in his work. I am going to watch a few more of Len Lye's video for inspiration. Currently I have watched Rainbow Dance, Trade Tattoo and Kaleidoscope.
When I was watching Upside Down: The Creation Records Story I came across an image that reminded me of my experimental audio. When I was creating my experimental audio I was listening to a lot of Creation Records music, which created an image in my head, which I then took and created a piece of audio from what I saw. It never came to me to create my experimental video around my experimental audio.
I am hoping to create a piece of work that is influenced by both pieces of work above that will refer to my experimental audio.
Thursday, 10 November 2011
North Sea Radio Orchestra Studio Session
Today we filmed another multi-camera studio session with North Sea Radio Orchestra. I decided that I wanted to occupy camera three today, a camera that I have never done before. I have had a lot of experience using camera two (the establishing shot) so I thought that the only way for me to improve my skills was to work on a different camera which I feel is harder to operate. Camera three is on the left hand side of the studio and in todays session I had to focus on the lead singer of the band. My primary shot was an extreme close up of the lead singer, but I also had a medium close up, and a medium shot with the bassoon player in shot. The most complex shot that I had to do today was an extremely slow zoom out of the lead singers face, which I feel that I did well.
I also decided that I wanted to film the interview that also took place in the studio. Prior to the interview I had done a reasonable amount of research and I had also come up with a few possible questions that could be asked. The majority of the questions that I came up were asked in the interview.
I also decided that I wanted to film the interview that also took place in the studio. Prior to the interview I had done a reasonable amount of research and I had also come up with a few possible questions that could be asked. The majority of the questions that I came up were asked in the interview.
Wednesday, 9 November 2011
North Sea Radio Orchestra Studio Session
Tomorrow in the studio we have another client. We will be filming North Sea Radio Orchestra. In previous band sessions I have done a lot of camera work, and tomorrow I feel that I want to go on camera again, but not when the band are preforming, when the band are being interview is when I would like to work behind the camera. I feel that this will enhance my camera skills, as I haven't really had the opportunity to film many interviews before. I will also be contributing to the research and questions which will be used in the interview.
Maya Deren Inspired Film
A few weeks ago we had a multi-camera session in the studio at college, we had four men come in from a marshal arts group who we were going to film. The film that we were going to be creating is going to be inspired by Mara Deren's 'Violence on Mediation'.
Today I got round to viewing the footage from the shoot and made a start on the editing of my individual edit. I had a few ideas that I wanted to take into editing the piece. Firstly, I wanted my film to be in black and white, I decided this because I felt that the aesthetics would make the film look as if it had come from a different era, but I also make the idea of keeping the original colour footage from the shoot to show a more modern version of Maya Deren's film. I also had an idea of editing my film so that I was focusing on one of the men preforming, by doing this it means that can have a narrative o my piece, for example, the beginning shows one man practising on his own, the middle section of the film shows the man sparring with another man, and the final scene of my film will show the man fighting against the other men.
I also had an idea to show all of the men performing, starting off with their individual performances, then moving onto the sparring, then the fighting at the end. I wont focus on just one of the men in this edit i will focus on all of them to show a wider perspective.
When I was editing I decided that I would edit two different sequences and find out which one looked the best. I have nearly finished editing both of the sequence. I will hopefully have them finished next week as I had an issue with the audio that I need to deal with.
Today I got round to viewing the footage from the shoot and made a start on the editing of my individual edit. I had a few ideas that I wanted to take into editing the piece. Firstly, I wanted my film to be in black and white, I decided this because I felt that the aesthetics would make the film look as if it had come from a different era, but I also make the idea of keeping the original colour footage from the shoot to show a more modern version of Maya Deren's film. I also had an idea of editing my film so that I was focusing on one of the men preforming, by doing this it means that can have a narrative o my piece, for example, the beginning shows one man practising on his own, the middle section of the film shows the man sparring with another man, and the final scene of my film will show the man fighting against the other men.
I also had an idea to show all of the men performing, starting off with their individual performances, then moving onto the sparring, then the fighting at the end. I wont focus on just one of the men in this edit i will focus on all of them to show a wider perspective.
When I was editing I decided that I would edit two different sequences and find out which one looked the best. I have nearly finished editing both of the sequence. I will hopefully have them finished next week as I had an issue with the audio that I need to deal with.
Experimental Audio Editing
Over the past two days I have been editing my experimental audio, that I recorded two weeks ago. I edited my audio piece on Adobe Audition. First thing that I did once all my audio was uploaded onto the computer was to listen to it back to find out which pieces were and were not going to used for my piece of experimental audio. Once I had decided which pieces I was going to use I decided too amplify all the pieces of audio so that they were to a reasonable audio level, not too loud or not too quiet. I then decided that I needed a piece of audio that would be used throughout the whole audio work, kind of like a music bed that fits behind other pieces of audio that go on top of it.
Once that I had all of my audio amplified I decided that I wanted to add a few different effects so that the sounds would sounds unique and experimental. I experimented using reverb, chorus, distortion, flanger and a few others to try and create a sound that would appear unusual. The hardest part of the editing process was finding out which audio sounded best in which place. I spent quite a long time trying different audio pieces in different places to see which sounded best, I feel that the final ordering of the audio was in the best possible lay out that it could have been.
Now that I have my experimental audio finished I feel that I might add to the piece. I was thinking that a piece of spoken poetry could be added to the piece, influenced by Aidan Moffat and John cooper Clarke. If I am to write a piece of poetry for my work then I want it to be a dark poem as I feel that it will fit with the audio. Although I have been thinking about this idea, I am also thinking that I'll have to be careful to make sure that my piece of experimental audio doesn't sound too much like a song, as this is not what I intend my audio piece to sound like.
Once that I had all of my audio amplified I decided that I wanted to add a few different effects so that the sounds would sounds unique and experimental. I experimented using reverb, chorus, distortion, flanger and a few others to try and create a sound that would appear unusual. The hardest part of the editing process was finding out which audio sounded best in which place. I spent quite a long time trying different audio pieces in different places to see which sounded best, I feel that the final ordering of the audio was in the best possible lay out that it could have been.
Now that I have my experimental audio finished I feel that I might add to the piece. I was thinking that a piece of spoken poetry could be added to the piece, influenced by Aidan Moffat and John cooper Clarke. If I am to write a piece of poetry for my work then I want it to be a dark poem as I feel that it will fit with the audio. Although I have been thinking about this idea, I am also thinking that I'll have to be careful to make sure that my piece of experimental audio doesn't sound too much like a song, as this is not what I intend my audio piece to sound like.
Wednesday, 19 October 2011
Yorkshire Sculpture Park and IMAX
Today we went on a trip to the Yorkshire Sculpture park and then to the IMAX at the Bradford Media museum. I found the sculpture park very interesting as it allowed to explore different forms of art that I haven't seen before. Not only was there sculptures, but there were also installations to look at. Despite me not wanting to be part of this art I found the sculpture park very interesting and inspirational. Unfortunately I didn't take my camera so I was unable to get any good quality pictures.
We also went to the Bradford Media Museum to the IMAX to watch a 3D film. Whenever I go to a cinema and have the choice to watch a 3D film I always choose otherwise as I'm not really a fan of 3D films, although I really enjoyed it at the IMAX. I have been to the IMAX before but last time I went the was a huge difference in 3D quality. The film that we watched suited being in 3D because it added an extra depth to the film and made it feel greater than it was.
Overall, I enjoyed the trip and I learnt a lot from it. I will definartly be taking influence from the work that I have seen today.
We also went to the Bradford Media Museum to the IMAX to watch a 3D film. Whenever I go to a cinema and have the choice to watch a 3D film I always choose otherwise as I'm not really a fan of 3D films, although I really enjoyed it at the IMAX. I have been to the IMAX before but last time I went the was a huge difference in 3D quality. The film that we watched suited being in 3D because it added an extra depth to the film and made it feel greater than it was.
Overall, I enjoyed the trip and I learnt a lot from it. I will definartly be taking influence from the work that I have seen today.
Silver Apples Studio Session
Today we filmed another multi-camera studio session, with 60's musician Silver Apples. For todays session I had hoped to work behind one of the cameras, but other people also wanted to have a go on the cameras so I decided that I would occupy another role. I was given another camera that was attached to a track and was directed to look for shots, taking advantage of the track. As the camera that I was using was not hooked up the vision mixing desk, it meant that the director was unable to see what I was doing, this meant that I was able to do what I wanted. I also didn't have any headphones so it wouldn't have been possible for the director to communicate with me. When the shoot began I used the track and experimented zooming in and out and tracking at the same time. I felt that some of the shots were excellent, and will hopefully be used in the final edit. I tired to capture footage that the other four cameras in the studio couldn't such as the equipment that was being used and tracking up the microphone onto the singer, which wouldn't be possible on one of the other cameras. Overall I think that the multi-camera production was successful as it looked and sounded amazing.
Tuesday, 18 October 2011
Aidan Moffat Session
On 17th October we were suppose to be filming a studio session with Aidan Moffat and Bill Wells. Unfortunately, they were unable attend so the shoot had to be cancelled. Hopefully, the studio session with be re-scheduled.
Wednesday, 12 October 2011
I met the Walrus
As I was searching the interent for the music for 'I am the Walrus' by 'The Beatles', I came across a short animated film that I have become a fan of. I'm not usually a huge fan of animation but 'I met the Walrus' is something different to others. Directed by Josh Raskin, 'I met the Walrus' is based on an interview of John Lennon by Jerry Levitan, recorded in 1696. If I wasn't a fan of 'The Beatles' then I defiantly wouldn't have found this film. Even though I have said I wouldn't like the work on animation that often, I would like to have a go at this type of animation.
Mark Gardener Location Shoot Interview Questions
I have been researching Mark Gardener, and I have come up with several possbile questions that could in the interview.
· Throughout your successful music career who have been your main influences?
· Are there any non-musical influences apparent in your music?
· Over the last couple of years you’ve been producing other musicians, why have you decided to work in the more production side of music?
· You’ve also collaborated with several musicians, is collaborating with musicians something that you want to do more often in the future?
· The last album you released was ‘These Beautiful Ghosts’ in 2005, have you any plans for another album, or are you focusing on producing?
· You also worked on ‘Upside down: The Creation Records Story’ as the film’s supervisor of music, how did it come about that you worked on the film.
· What does the future hold for Mark Gardener?
I will carry on researching so that I can come up with more questions to ask, aswell as developing the questions that I already have.
Meditation on Violence
On 27th September, in our lecture we watched a piece of experimental film, called 'Meditation on Violence' by Maya Deren. The film shows an oriental man wearing a headscarf and white pants, in front of various different backgrounds such as white, black, a mixture of both and outside. The man is shown meditating on his own in front of a white studio setting, before it shows him outside practising with a sword, then back to the first scene.
We then given a brief to create a piece of work inspired by the work of Maya Deren. Four men from a local Marshall arts club came in to College to perform their moves in the studio, where we would film them. By doing this we were creating a piece of video art paying homage to Maya Deren.
Although I have worked in the studio several times know and I am getting use to the equipment, this was by far the hardest session that I have ever had to shoot on camera, due to the fact that the subject was always stood still, and they were also very unpredictable with what they were going to do. This meant that the cameras had to be unlocked at all times, and had to keep up with the subject.
We then given a brief to create a piece of work inspired by the work of Maya Deren. Four men from a local Marshall arts club came in to College to perform their moves in the studio, where we would film them. By doing this we were creating a piece of video art paying homage to Maya Deren.
Although I have worked in the studio several times know and I am getting use to the equipment, this was by far the hardest session that I have ever had to shoot on camera, due to the fact that the subject was always stood still, and they were also very unpredictable with what they were going to do. This meant that the cameras had to be unlocked at all times, and had to keep up with the subject.
Stop Motion Animation
Last week at college we were shown a couple of animation video, ranging from stop motion to 3D cell animation. I have created my own stop motion animation piece before at school, and at the time I really enjoyed it. We were directed to form small groups and create our own stop motion animation out of post stick-notes and a digital camera to experiment with animation and enhance our understanding of it. In my group we created an animation based on 'retro' video games such as; Pong, Snake, Space Invaders and Tetris, and every time we moved a post stick-note we took a picture. We had to make sure that the camera remained still at all times so that the animation flowed and didn't jump. When we had finished the production we had a look back through the images on the camera, and to say we had come up the the idea and created it in less an hour, I think that it look good, and its ready for editing in post production when the equipment is available to use. I think from exploring different forms of media means that I have greater knowledge that if I didn't, but I can't say that I want to work on animation too often.
Experimental Video
For my latest video brief I have to research, plan, create, and evaluate experimental video. I'm interested in creating an experimental video showing people emotions, and how their react to certain things. A few years ago I went to an exhibition at The National Media Museum called 'Immersion' by Robbie Cooper.
Immersion is a project that records video of people through the screen as they play games, use the Internet and watch TV. Robbie CooperFor my experimental video I want to be able to capture people's facial expressions in front of the camera and see how different people react. I have had a basic idea that needs developing for a possible video that I could create. What I want to do is capture several people's emotions and expressions in front of the a camera. I will the direct the person to sit on a chair in the studio and film them for approximately one minute. I will not tell them what to do or say, it is up to them to how they react. I wont tell the person what will be happening apart from the fact that they need to sit in the chair. Hopefully by doing this I can capture all sorts of different emotions and expressions.
I have also been looking at Andy Warhol's 'Screen Tests', in particularly the screen tests of famous people who he has filmed. I feel that Andy Warhol's work will be a huge influence on me if I decided to develop my idea further.
I also want to mind map other ideas and develop them so I can have a greater choice to choose from when I decide to create my experimental video piece.
Mark Gardener Location Shoot
On Friday 14th October we'll be filming Mark Gardener live at The Grand. We will be filming an interview, acoustic performance and the live gig. To prepare for the shoot on Friday I've been researching the former Ride singer to enhance my knowledge of him, which will be useful during the interview. I have explored http://www.markgardener.com/ so that I am aware of his history, and so that I can shape some questions to ask him. I also hope to watch 'Upside Down: The Creation Records Story' which should also give me extra information about Mark Gardener as he worked as the supervisor of music for the film, as well as being signed to the record label which the film is about.
Monday, 3 October 2011
My idea for experimental audio (part 1)
For my experimental audio piece Ive been looking into the sounds created at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop. I want to create a piece of audio that represents futuristic technology, impractically sound effects that are used in science fiction films that suggest what something could sound like, such as alien spaceships etc...
The opening 15 seconds to the orginal 'Doctor Who' theme tune is something that I would be interested in creating, but obviously using modern day technology.
The opening 15 seconds to the orginal 'Doctor Who' theme tune is something that I would be interested in creating, but obviously using modern day technology.
Monday, 26 September 2011
Experimental Audio Demos
Here are the two demos that I recorded for my experimental audio. I hope to produce something along this line when creating my experimental audio.
Experimental Audio by Daniel Earnshaw
Experimental Audio 2 by Daniel Earnshaw
Experimental Audio by Daniel Earnshaw
Experimental Audio 2 by Daniel Earnshaw
Sunday, 25 September 2011
Nightwalker
Ive recently been researching experimental audio artists that I feel will influence my work. I was exploring the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, and people who worked there, when I came across Delia Derbyshire. I decided to look into Delia Derbyshire's work because I was familiar with one of her pieces, the original 'Doctor Who' theme tune. I continued to listen to more pieces of her work when I found a piece of audio that I found interesting.
Experimental Audio
Recording audio is something that I am very interested, especially when instruments are involved. At home I spend a lot of time demoing and recording onto my 8 track recorder. I want to be able to explore new areas of audio that I haven't visit before. Although I have been aware, and previously recorded experimental demos, I have never really researched any experimental artists that work with audio, other than musicians.
Dr Robert Moog is somebody who I feel will be a huge influence on me whilst I am producing my own experimental audio piece. Moog, form New York, was the pioneer of electronic music, as he invented the first synthesizer, The Moog.
Before I decide what I want to focus on for my experimental audio piece, I thought that it would be wise to sample a few ideas that I had in mind. Originally I wanted to hook up my electric guitar to my synthesizer to create an experimental audio piece, but unfortunately due to the equipment that I had I was unable to do so. My second idea was to hook my guitar effects pedals up to my synthesizer and work with them, then run the synthesizer through one of my guitar amplifiers. I used a Boss 'DS-1' distortion pedal, along with a Electro-hamonix 'The Worm', which is an All-analog multi-effects processor featuring Phaser, Tremolo, Vibrato, and a Neo-modulated Wah.
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| Boss 'DS-1 Distortion' & Electro-harmonix 'The Worm' |
When I was recording my demos I set up the effects so that they were on manual so that I could change the effects being produced. To change the sound being produced I just experimented with the range and rate on the effects pedal. I also played around with the modulation, arpeggiator, pitch and octave setting on the synthesizer to see what different sounds I could create.
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| Effects pedals, 'Mirco-Korg' & Tascam 'DP-02' |
http://soundcloud.com/daniel-earnshaw/experimental-audio-2#2/QqVMwyjqjH0WtrMLiK_pCqDIpP37wTXi-TcqCLfJ9y0
Friday, 23 September 2011
Introduction to confessional art
I've recently been delving into many new areas of art that are completely new to me. Confessions are something that I have always been aware of, but I have never seen them as a form of art. A few days ago I was introduced to two artists who I had heard of, but never been aware of their artwork. Gillian Wearing and Tracey Emin are two artists who have worked closely with confessions in their artwork. First of all I shown some of Gillian Wearing artwork called 'Signs That Say What You Want Them To Say and Not Signs That Say What Someone Else Wants You To Say'. For me the title of the work says exactly what it needs to say, write something on a piece of card that you want to say! From looking at the photography, and what the people have got to say, it is clear to see that people are saying something that they can’t perhaps say to somebody else, and are confessing on camera. One 'Sign' that stood out to me was an image of a man dressed in a black suit, who was in fact a banker. The man held a sign saying 'I'm desperate'. When I first saw the sign I presumed that the man was desperate for love, but each time I look at the image I think of something else. For example, desperate... for a new job, to lose weight, or even for the toilet. I feel that Gillian Wearing challenges the audience to try and guess what exactly the sign is all about, and also gets the audience to question themselves to why they have said that.
Gillian Wearing
"A great deal of my work is about questioning handed-down truths"
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| 'I'm Desperate' 1992-93 |
Tracey Emin, another artist who I have been introduced to in the past few days. The first piece of her work that I was shown is called 'Everyone I have ever slept with'. This piece of art is a tent with several names all stitched in, the names of people who she was slept with. As part of an audience myself, seeing this for the first time, the first thing that I thought when saw this was 'who would be stitched into my tent?' I also thought does it have a sexual reference to it, because when I first saw it that was exactly what I presumed it to be, but from looking further into the piece of art I understood that not every name had a sexual reference to it, some are family and friends. I think what helped me understand that is the fact that the tent is quite colour and 'child-like', I then realised that the year1963 was when we was born.
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| 'Everyone who I have slept with' 1963-1995 |
From exploring confessional art I have realised one main theme. Confessional art is all about challenging the audience and putting them in the shoes of the artist to make them think what the art is actually about. After looking at several pieces of confessional artwork I feel as if I can produce a piece of work that can reflect the big name artists by challenging my audience.
Studio Session with The Dead Trees
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| The Dead Trees setting up in the studio |
On 22nd September, we had our first client in the studio, The Dead Trees. Formed in Boston, The Dead Trees are a five piece alternative rock band signed to independent record label 'Affairs of the heart'. Having worked on previous studio sessions on my last course I knew what to expect and how the day would pan out. I also saw this as a key opportunity to explore some of the other roles available. On previous studio sessions I had stuck to vision mixing, so this time I decided to have a change of role and have a go behind the camera. Working behind the camera is something that interests me so I feel that it is vital that I get as much experience as possible to enhance my skills and confidence. During the studio session my role was operating camera two, the establishing shot, which meant that I had to frame the shot so that all five band members were all in. Although I was operating camera two, a role that I wanted to do, I think that next time I will put myself forward to operate either camera one or camera three as I feel that operating these cameras offers a lot more than camera two due to the fact that the shots are not always static, and you always have to be on look out for potential shots. I feel that working behind either camera one or three will allow me to work with more than one shot which will help develop my skills and confidence. http://www.myspace.com/thedeadtrees
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