cul_vid_ldickinson_rough

4/29/10

Today I learned 

* If you're too stressed about a project, you will not be able to see exactly where you stand with your project. Negativity is going to end in a lack of creative energy and a closed mind.

* Trouble shooting is important. Never leave something to the last minute, because if it doesn't work last minute, you're basically screwed. 

* Taking a step and looking at things as a third party is important. Even having someone else look at your work may be an important step in editing. They can see what you can't necessarily, because it looks different than you see your creation in your mind. 

Blog Review


1) What is the most surprising thing you learned about yourself,
whether it is a new interest or an old interest made new, this semester? I hate working with technology so much, that I really thought that I would be awful at this class, since it is computer based. I have come to find that I am actually quite talented in this kind of media arts. I work hard, but I also pick up the technology and the project concepts much quicker  than I thought I would. The technology is no longer as scary as I once thought it was, and I can not only handle the technology, I can conquer and make it do what I want it to do. I can create via the computer in ways I never thought I could.

2) Write a short narrative of where you began in Time Arts, the
conflicts you faced, and how you resolved them.

I began Time Arts with very little knowledge of computer arts in general. I hated technological arts, mostly because I didn't understand how to use it to  my advantage. Slowly, as we were taught and had practice with the various sound and video tools, I found that it is actually not as complicated as I thought, it's even kind of fun to fiddle with. I got frustrated occasionally with my concepts or with the technology, but practice and patience makes perfect, I have come to find. Taking my time to work with the programs instead of against them really helped to make the project I could and to really take in everything I was learning about them. 



3) What was the most challenging assignment for you? In what 
ways did that assignment challenge you? What assignment came most naturally to you? Why? The most challenging assignment for me was the final project. Though I am not yet done, it was a weird transition for me to go from pictures and sound being given to me, to creating everything myself and trying to put it together in a way that makes sense to me and to my audience. It was more difficult for me to get impassioned about my piece when I was so stressed about how much I had to do for it. 


4) What concepts from Time Arts can you imagine applying to your future major?

my future major is Communications Design, and I am almost positive that I will attempt to use sound studio and imovie again in future projects, mostly because I am so apt at using it now. I am not sure how I will use it in the future, but I am currently in a Writing 205 class and the teacher is demanding a video which explains what are final papers are about. I am so skilled at IMovie now that this is not only easy for me, but I am being called upon to give help to my peers. I will use it for putting portfolios together for certain, and any experience with technology is always good for jobs. 


Extra Credit Question:

5) Have you learned anything about facilitating and
 participating in a creative group?

During crits we certainly learned how to use our peers and how to help them. Crits, final and in-progress, are always helpful and have taught me how to work in a group. I can now take advantage of others advice and take critiques to my benefit. I no longer take critiques as personal, but I know how to use it to help me to build on what I have already made. Using other people's brains and ideas is the best way to make my ideas a reality and to make them as effective as possible. Feedback from those who will be viewing our work, is the best way to find out what does and does not work. I have also learned how to give helpful feedback. It is not always about what doesn't work well, but what does work well too.  Group collaboration is the most helpful and most successful way of improving on work. 

sou_ldickinson_final

env_ldickinson_final

sto_ldickinson

abs_video_ldickinson

abs_ldickinson_final

4/22/10

Today I learned:

1.) Video has power. When we see commercials, when we see movies, we take in all the information that is being given to us and, in that moment, form our opinions based on that limited piece of information.  Video has the power to send a message and a convincing one too. Based on the lighting, angles, sound, and images, videos are able to manipulate the way the viewer sees things. 

2.) Trouble shooting is an essential part of the learning process. The more fiddling you do, the more you learn, and most likely the most successful you'll be. Try finalizing things a day two early, just in case something goes wrong, because it almost will. 

3.) I learned that I, the designer/artist, have the ability and the power to create change and to make people think. I can manipulate my viewer to see things the way I want them to, if I know how to apply my skills in the right way. 

Video History

Articulate: Video was used to convince people to think a certain way. It is manipulative and it's almost scary how influential videos like the Triumph of Will  have over people. It made Hitler look like a King and Hero for killing millions of people. In the anti- war protests, it made the anti-war movement as heros and the officers as the "bad guys". They made the police, who work hard to make us safe, look violent and scary. It tells us that the government was manipulative and lying because they didn't like the anti-war protests. These violent, obtrusive anti-war protesters are put on pedestals. In the death, reality TV shows, they make it seem almost normal and/or humorous that death occurs. People killing other people becomes a norm and acceptable through these kinds of videos/shows. Video is a way for artists/designers/politicians/business men/causes etc. to get into the minds of the public, gain control, convince them of their cause, and gain support for it, whether the cause is noble or not. It is a manipulative process. 

Predict: I don't really know where the future of video will go; however, looking at history, it is safe to say it will continue to be used as a means to an end. Video will be able available to all to use in order to create the kind of atmosphere and mind set they want. The technology will only continue to intensify in terms of ability. New features, new sizes, more real life, maybe eventually even virtual. If the image becomes virtual and moves throughout the room, people will be even more surrounded by the cause trying to be passed. 

Consider: As human beings, our existence, our minds, and our actions are controlled by the kind of media we see every day. Though we have control over ourselves, virtually, the media takes over and makes us believe whatever they want us to. They represent things in certain ways, and only gives us the information they want us to have in order to form opinions about things. 

Reflect: If things keep up like this, and people continue to let themselves get wrapped up in these videos without realizing the kind of manipulation that's going on, no one will have a mind of their own. Either that, or there will be so much information out there that no one will have any idea what's real and what's not. 

Getty Video Analysis

Alan Ackoff

1. The person in the picture is not aware of the viewers presence. You can tell this because his eyes are not making contact and he is twitching and moving his face around, as if he thinks he is looking in to a mirror and no one else can see him.

2. I think he is empowered because he is "unaware" of the viewers presence. The lighting is very gray and the movie is in black and white. The effect used is to make it look old and fuzzy, and this gives the subject a certain humor he would not have had otherwise.  

3. The first thing I notice about this video is that the image does not change throughout the video. It is the same image the entire time, just a man looking into blank space towards the viewer, wiggling his face as if no one can see but him. 

4. I like the music/ narrative the most. It is humorous and because it sounds kind of like hick-country music, it emphasizes the humor of the image that's playing.

5. Though I liked the black and white imagery, I wish it wasn't just one person moving his face the whole time. It is funny like the song behind it; however I think the imagery could have been pushed further. 

6. This is a narrative.

7. This vintage alka seltzer commercial is black and white and old looking with a narrative behind it. This is a similar style to this California Video, though it is this way because it is so old 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTT1TSdWjkQ

Dodge and Kahn

1. The subject in this movie is unaware of the viewer's presence. She is consumed by her task and her day dream of a better life, and is unaware that someone is watching her.

2. This subject is disempowered due to the way she is represented. She is dressed in trashy, ex-diva clothing, and she is doing a mundane task in an unattractive area. She is clearly not what she once was, or not what she wants to be.

3. What I notice is that there is no dialogue what so ever. I think this is very interesting because the artist lets the images tell the story

4. I really like the subject matter and the lack of dialogue. It still successfully tells a story.

5. I wish that the camera had been a little more steady in some scenes. The filming seemed too amateur for the subject matter. 

6. I suppose, technically this would be considered a narrative, even though there are no words. The lighting is bright, but still fading away. The sunset is very symbolic to the life she is living. 

7. This car commercial is similar to this video because of the lighting chosen (sunset), and the idea of a fading star falling into the shadow of a different life. This model is not longer needed to sell the car. The car can sell itself. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqTFJjfKfj4&feature=pyv&ad=3383917817&kw=commercial

"Bikini Model Misty Gets No Love- He's a Car Guy

Martin Kersels

1. This video makes me think that the subjects are aware of the presence of the viewer because they are being funny and dancing and trying to entertain and impress. 

2. They are empowered because they have this amazing ability to walk and play on the ceiling. It is an eerie video but they are unaware of the strangeness of their activities. 

3. I notice that the room in which the movie is done is bright pink. It seems like the ideal girlie bedroom, a happy, comfortable place to live, yet the characters seem out of it, almost like they are dreaming to get out, so they play on the ceiling.

4. I really like how perfect and pretty everything looks even though there is something very weird going on. It is an interesting contrast. 

5. I wish there had been more than two people playing on the ceiling. It doesn't make the video feel finished if it stops only after two. Two is an awkward number of examples. It should have either been one person the whole time or at least three different people. 

6. I am not sure what structure I would give this video but the colors are warm, and the lighting is bright, the room is open, and this sets up the perfect contrast with the strangeness of the people in it. 

7. This commercial for Walt Disney World is similar because it takes children form their normal bedrooms and takes them to an alternate reality which is very similar to the video above. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EePT75ynepc

Martha Rosler

1. The subjects are aware of the viewers and telling them story directly.

2. They are disempowered because the lighting is gray, the house is perfect, they are a mundane, ordinary, middle-class couple, who seem completely ignorant of what was going on with their own daughter. 

3. I notice the lighting mostly. The lighting is very gray, even though it is in color and the house is in pristine condition. It let's the viewer know that something is not quite right, something has happened. 

4. I really like how the couple is portrayed as being ordinary, because it emphasizes what a strange yet common tragedy has happened to them. Even as they are explaining this terrible event, they remain restrained and in check, as a conventional middle-class lifestyle might be portrayed ("perfect"). 

5. The only thing I don't like is how long the camera sits on the interior of the living room. It just sits there for a long time as the dialogue starts up and I wish that the camera could at least look around the room and slowly scan before ending up on the couple. 

6. This is a narrative. The lighting is very gray, the color temperature cool, and the camera movement minimal.

7. This yoplait commercial is similar because it shows the ideal farm family and standardizes the idea of family life. They make the family seem perfect and carefree as they eat their perfect yogurt and go on with their perfect lives, even though farming is by no means a glamorous lifestyle. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiR1UOlkGsM

Notes about lighting

A. I have tried using birds eye, worms eye, close-ups, and different lighting. The most effective for my project has been close ups. I have found that I really like zooming in on things and focusing on the little details as people talk about the ways in which they express themselves. Those details make it more clear, the details which we use as expression every day. 

B. As I mentioned above I like zooming in and zooming out in different frames and seeing what kind of emotion and expression I can find in the little details as people talk about love and what it means to them. 

C. I find that straight on is the most effective, though perhaps not the most interesting. I want it to be straight on because little acts of love happen every day without us even knowing it. It is straightforward and I want people to notice things in a different way, but from familiar angles. 

D. I have tried placing a light directly on people, and having the light shine from behind, but I think I am going to work mostly on gray days, where the light behind the clouds makes things glow. It makes things beautiful in bleak circumstances which is what I want people to realize. Lighting is an important role to my video because it changes the way things are seen and emphasized. 

15 April 2010

Today I learned:

Lighting- cloudy days are the most versatile. They can either make images pop or make them more mundane. There is no glow or backlight that needs to be counter balanced. 

Cameras- how to use a camera and the pitfalls/ possible trouble shooting tips.

Still images - can be very useful and very interesting when coming up with footage for our videos. There isn't necessarily a need to be complex when it comes to shooting as long as the lighting and camera angles are well thought out.

*****white balance, stabilization, exposure, manual focus

Student example (phobias...cul_vid_jwalker_final.mov)- Narrative/Documentary about a traumatic story about a child and growing up with a fear of cockroaches and someone else with a fear of under the bed. The narrator is telling a story that is becoming distorted in certain areas to emphasize the idea of fear and phobias along with the lighting which hides the the figure telling story, and make us question what's going on in the frame. 

Witness Training Video

Couldn't access questions so here is an over view of what the video said:

1. Filming is telling a story

2. Build a meaningful sequence with your shots

3. Get "telling" details (close ups can be really effective.)

4. Move closer to capture the action (but be careful)

5. Shoot stable 10 second shots and make purposeful camera movements

6. Never "hosepipe" (never go back and forth quickly going up and down to capture everything all at once. This is way too confusing for the viewer)

7. Get good sound (isolate as best you can)

8. Lighting matters (cloudy days are the best. Sun light behind blocks the view of the person, sun in front is too illuminating.) 

9. Filming with your cellphone (hold the camera as still as possible and to zoom in just move forward.)

10. Filming when you least expect it (be careful if havoc breaks out in a riot, but this could be a great opportunity to get really good footage.)

11. Filming secretly (be careful because if the person being filmed finds out you might loose the footage and the equipment altogether.)

hub.witness.org

4/8/10

Today I learned

1. A lot of movies and trailers use the same kind of skills and techniques we learned in creating our abstract videos.

2. The skills we learned can be applied to many many different majors and can provide us with useful knowledge later on in our careers, even if we don't go into this kind of design.

3. Planning is an important part of creating. Running through ideas in our heads and out loud are important steps to figuring out where to start and what we need to get started. Talking with other can be especially helpful in this process. Throwing ideas off of one another is one of the best ways to brainstorm. 

Concept Brief

1. Three ideas I came up with for this project all have to do with love. The first idea would be to stick with the idea of the way the media represents and distorts the meaning of love. I could use clips from media sources that pertain to my topic and show the way in which media romanticizes and/or makes fun of love. The second idea would be to interview people, single and taken, about how they feel about love, what they think love means, and how they feel about it/respond to it. I could interview people with their lover and without and analyze the difference between the responses. The third idea is to catch footage of people expressing love in their own way. Catching a couple holding hands, kissing, hugging between friends, leaning on a shoulder, bringing someone food or a knife in the cafeteria, little gifts, East baskets from parents etc. And then have a small monologue running through explaining what I think love really is. 

2. The idea I choose is the last one. I really want to explore the subtle but sincere ways in which people express their love for others around them every day. 

* I am doing this because I think it is important for me to start recognizing the way in which other people tell me they love me, and also so that I know how to tell others I love them without doing anything more than a hug. I want to become aware. Love is such a generic topic, so I want to make people aware of it in our every day lives. 

* Locations for shooting: across campus? Everywhere and anywhere I can catch little acts of "love"

* Angles: both close up and far away. Some zooming out and zooming in as well when its relevant, different camera angles, even odd camera angles so people will be looking at something old in a new way and at a different angle. 

Lighting: Mostly warm areas, and bright lights so that the movie seems airy and simple  and these little acts of "love" will be seen occurring in every day life but in a different way. 

* If I am filming people or interviewing people, depending on the situation I will need to get their permission. If I need to get people to act out something for me, I will need their consent for my cause. I will need consent of anyone I catch in intimate acts because that's personal. 

* Potential Problems: Not enough time with the camera, not enough footage, can't catch people in the act in the way I want to, technical difficulties

* I want to start shooting pretty immediately so I can collect as many images as possible and piece them together. It is easiest for me to just say that I am going to start filming and then piece it together and continue to go back to it up until the due date. 

Abstract Video Analysis

Sarah Haspel

Part One:

1.) This video maintains a good continuity throughout. The way the photos fade in and out and sometimes flash quickly right next to each other in rhythm with the sound. An example I found is very interesting, mostly because it goes from a black city, to bright white to the daylight. This is a very effective choice for creating a transition which goes with the sound she chose.

2.) This video modulates fairly well and there are some changes of pace. What is most interesting is when things are going slowly and she throws in an image so quickly that you cannot necessarily understand what you are seeing. This change of tempo is unexpected and therefore keeps the viewer interesting. This was a good decision in terms of change of pace.

3.) This artist did not distort the images in any way. It's very interesting how she kept all the images in the original condition, although it might have interesting to play with the effects on more on certain tones in the sound that strike us as eerie or unnatural.

4.) a. Most of the pictures are warm in temperature, though they may differ in light and dark. This brings all of them together in the movie, though their subjects are all very different.

b. The frames are all fairly standard. There is not a lot of abstraction at all, and there are no black frames, which is a solid continuity throughout.

c. The camera angles don't vary too much, except of the elevator buttons, which is looking down, and the stop light is looking up. Otherwise they are all pretty much head on.

d. The pictures do vary in proximity. Some are closer to the eye and others are at a distance, which makes for some cool transitions.

e. The pacing was fairly constant. There wasn't as much variation in the pacing as there could have been, but it varies enough so that it keeps the viewers attention.

f. There is a contrast between some of the photos that are in the day time to those that are in the night or even in a heavy shadow. The bright light and the dark nights are constantly contrasting.

g. There is a lot of repetition throughout this video, and a lot of it is in the same order. It might have been interesting to show one picture in a row a few times to change up the images and to continue using repetition.

h. The quality of light is considered well. Whether the scenes are during the day or at night, there is a bright, warm sense of light throughout, whether it be from the sun or from the lights of a city night.

Part Two: Our choices were a clip from Peter Pan (the live version with Jeremy Sumpter) when they start dancing with the fairies, or a trailer for the movie "Jet Li's Fearless" We chose the movie trailer because it shares many of the same aspects as the abstract movies we just made. Though this trailer is a little bit faster than her abstract video, it had a very similar flow. The repetition of light quality throughout films is contrasting throughout, but still connected via its subjects and the way the transition run in between them. Sarah's video and the movie trailer make good use of the transitions using fading in and out and the wash out effect to transition from dark to light scenes and vice versa.

- Lauren Dickinson- Communications Design

5/1/10

Today I learned about relationships. Images are connected via various characteristics including value, color, and hue. These kind of relationships can be used to relate pictures to one another in order to create a successful video, abstract or not. 

Today I learned about transitions. Whether a video is accompanied by sound or not, transition are key to creating a smooth and interesting video that makes sense, even if the subject matter does not. 

Today I learned that these kinds of abstract videos can be used to create controversy. DJ Spooky used a movie that was incredibly controversial when it came out, and combined and distorted it in a way to create a whole new way to look at the movie. It was the same movie but used in a different setting to create a different kind of feeling.

DJ Spooky's "rebirth of a nation"

DJ Spooky creates very smooth, interesting transition by intertwining the images with white and black patterns. In this instance above he transition first by producing an image in it's clearest focus, and then letting the background fade out to white. Then slowly the image fades as the white and black diagonal stripes fade in. Then, before the black stripes are in focus, the next image starts to come in behind it. Slowly the diagonal lines and the image of the book cover come in, with the book cover on top. The clarity slowly increases and the transition is complete. This is a very interesting technique to use and it makes sense because the theme of black and white is consistent throughout. This is a very small part of the movie, but the smooth transition makes all the difference.