.01 ---------------------///
Monday 7 June 2010
Sunday 6 June 2010
1 Min Short Film - ASCII - Audio
Experiments with ASCII:
The video was run through the ASCII filter and edited via Gamma, Contrast, Font, Reverse, RGB. [Ignore Bear Grylls int' background]
The aesthetic of the film attained through this filter adds a perfect dynamic and furthers the conceptual traits.
Id quite like to do another film but purely ASCII animated. It can be altered and effected in so many ways that with masking, patience and time could add refined texture, not necessarily always in an abstract fashion.
Its Minimal and simple which appeals to me a lot. Clean.
The fader and slider functions are slightly unbalanced but all in all its an easy interface to gain instant results from.
Has been great fun setting up with midi controllers and mixing video together. Obviously edited in the final film but all the vid-caps are short bits of exploration.
This will be great material for VJ and future projects.
Audio created in Ableton:
Once again making music with Ableton 8 became the Highlight of the whole process. But having visual material to act as a directive for the tone of audio was another new challenge. I really enjoyed it. It meant that all the sound was a reaction to a direct stimulus, making it far more exciting and momentary.
The video was exported from Final Cut and layered into Ableton. The audio then created around. Having the foresight to work out BPM and arrange accordingly saved so much time and allowed me the opportunity to focus more on the manipulation of effects and filters. The funnest bit and the part that actually adds humanity into an other wise mechanical, methodical, rational process.
Used VST Plug-ins for synths (MS 20, Juno, Jupiter, Phosicon [arpeggiated sounds]), and sample packs for the subs hits. Midi instruments for the more ethereal sounds.
There was a lot of automation with this project. Using these sorts of sounds, dynamic is essential. Using Ableton's automation function in the arrange view, this is simple as you draw in nodes across the track, and adjust accordingly.
The video window in along with the BPM allowed for some assemblence of a rhythm and a flow a simpler process. As the Decadent 'Vice' section comes in the abstract beat set in an 80's disguise emerges an example of such an issue.
Really feel i have stretched my limited knowledge of audio/visual content.
I will definately be re-editing the video to make a full length in the coming months.
The sub hits juxtaposed with the glitchy computer sounds really worked out good.
The video was run through the ASCII filter and edited via Gamma, Contrast, Font, Reverse, RGB. [Ignore Bear Grylls int' background]
The aesthetic of the film attained through this filter adds a perfect dynamic and furthers the conceptual traits.
Id quite like to do another film but purely ASCII animated. It can be altered and effected in so many ways that with masking, patience and time could add refined texture, not necessarily always in an abstract fashion.
Its Minimal and simple which appeals to me a lot. Clean.
The fader and slider functions are slightly unbalanced but all in all its an easy interface to gain instant results from.
Has been great fun setting up with midi controllers and mixing video together. Obviously edited in the final film but all the vid-caps are short bits of exploration.
This will be great material for VJ and future projects.
Audio created in Ableton:
Once again making music with Ableton 8 became the Highlight of the whole process. But having visual material to act as a directive for the tone of audio was another new challenge. I really enjoyed it. It meant that all the sound was a reaction to a direct stimulus, making it far more exciting and momentary.
The video was exported from Final Cut and layered into Ableton. The audio then created around. Having the foresight to work out BPM and arrange accordingly saved so much time and allowed me the opportunity to focus more on the manipulation of effects and filters. The funnest bit and the part that actually adds humanity into an other wise mechanical, methodical, rational process.
Used VST Plug-ins for synths (MS 20, Juno, Jupiter, Phosicon [arpeggiated sounds]), and sample packs for the subs hits. Midi instruments for the more ethereal sounds.
There was a lot of automation with this project. Using these sorts of sounds, dynamic is essential. Using Ableton's automation function in the arrange view, this is simple as you draw in nodes across the track, and adjust accordingly.
The video window in along with the BPM allowed for some assemblence of a rhythm and a flow a simpler process. As the Decadent 'Vice' section comes in the abstract beat set in an 80's disguise emerges an example of such an issue.
Really feel i have stretched my limited knowledge of audio/visual content.
I will definately be re-editing the video to make a full length in the coming months.
The sub hits juxtaposed with the glitchy computer sounds really worked out good.
1 Min Short Film - Editing
More and more editing. Has been Methodical and slow but enjoyable.
Contemporary influences in terms of editing and practice had been missing from earlier research. Having time to digest the material i have seen over the past month, i wanted to experiment. From Chris Cunningham and Pfadphinderi, to Japanese minimalist Ryoji Ikeda, pushing and experimenting with editing was a whole lot more inspired.
The video has taken turns away from the original concept, however their essence i believe is still present in more abstract ways (Colour theory). Contemporary practitioners have opened my eyes to a whole new way of audio/visual content.
Its influence is obvious and naive. As was the original concept. Allowing the ideas to develop has happened naturally, due to a demand of what felt right for the film. The idea of tranquility is still there in the colour theme, the stylization of the film still has its essence in Decadence and prosperity (Vice).
The ASCII projector was perfect for abstract filtering and was a great tool. I feel that if used with tact and subtlety it can add whole new dynamics to visual aesthetics. I attempted to use it sparingly but got carried away. I think it has a bit to much presence. (opacity/contrast)
With the film Being finished visually, the audio has come as a complete reaction to this. The visual had to come before the sound for the syncopation.
The video will be played at 87 BPM.
The John Cage composition methods were abandoned because of a need to syncopate digitally the A/V.
Other influences
Sunshine - Danny Boyle / Both
1 Min Short Film - ASCII + sound experiment
An ASCII animation done with Archive footage.
Just playing with settings and figuring out adjustments for the future.
Friday 4 June 2010
1 Min Short Film - Helping out and crewing
1) Ken - For kens project i helped in the general set up of the lights and equipment. Positioning and filters etc.
I Also held the boom-mike to capture the sound for the dialogue.
Generally Ken's assistant, making his life easier and speeded up his shoot.
Studio time is precious.
2) Matt - Matts shoot was slightly different. He had booked out the high speed camera and the lecture theatre which i thought was brave. Again generally helping out set up. Layering the Tapaulin for the floor, setting up the lighting and the positioning, opened tin after tin of custard, engaged with the material and content, also having fun along the way. There were a lot of us at times, which didn't help, but it was an interesting shoot none the less.
3) Will - helped with editing and composition. General Final Cut basic editing and second opinion. This was an easier assist as both he and i had very clear ideas about what we wanted to achieve.
I Also held the boom-mike to capture the sound for the dialogue.
Generally Ken's assistant, making his life easier and speeded up his shoot.
Studio time is precious.
2) Matt - Matts shoot was slightly different. He had booked out the high speed camera and the lecture theatre which i thought was brave. Again generally helping out set up. Layering the Tapaulin for the floor, setting up the lighting and the positioning, opened tin after tin of custard, engaged with the material and content, also having fun along the way. There were a lot of us at times, which didn't help, but it was an interesting shoot none the less.
3) Will - helped with editing and composition. General Final Cut basic editing and second opinion. This was an easier assist as both he and i had very clear ideas about what we wanted to achieve.
1 Min Short Film - 3rd edit - Through Ableton, Still without Audio
This edit has colour adjustments. The colours look better. More intensified. Further experimentation with Hues is needed and slightly less contrast but its hard to tell on the poor quality render (avi) For the net.
The edits sync up perfectly with the Ableton arrange. Composing the shots was easy as the gridding system in Ableton and a carefully selected tempo meant that the process of syncing the audio was less time consuming than using Final Cut. The audio is being made at the minute, the Ableton arrange view composition just means its a more efficient process in terms of sound sync and manipulation.
Audio edit coming soon!!
1 Min Short Film - Effects - colouring - rendering
#
ASCII is an encoding system used to convert numerical values into Roman alphabet characters and other symbols. An encoding system is necessary because computers store data in number and not letter form. ASCII is the standard system used in most personal computers today.
Asciitable.com: ASCII Table
#
ASCII Art
Because the earliest computers did not have the ability to render images as they do today, ASCII characters were initially used as a way to produce images on computers. ASCII art can either be still images or moving pictures.Roysac.com: The three ASCII Art Styles of the Underground Art Scene3 ASCII art uses ASCII characters to give a stippling effect to show areas of light and shadow. The technique is similar to the Pointillism painting style of Georges Seurat where several little dots comprise an entire image.
My intention to use the ASCII projector comes from a need for further texturing and effects. Also the abstracted characters should provide perfect stimulus for intricacies in the sync with the audio in terms of Drones, Subs, Glitch....
The intentions is that mixing layers in Final Cut in a Vj style, and masking sections that don't need blending, will add another dimension to the film, in turn making it more submersive and involving.
The content from the one minute film will be relayed through the ASCII projector. Rendered out and then sent through Final Cut and mixed to the desired result.
This should make masking easier as the shapes and movement within the frames will match the existing video exactly.
The colouring and tones in the initial edit look ok. I would like to intensify the blues to a more baby blue with more mid tones to exaggerate its contrast and features.
Slight adjustments need to be made to further sync up the audio to.
ASCII is an encoding system used to convert numerical values into Roman alphabet characters and other symbols. An encoding system is necessary because computers store data in number and not letter form. ASCII is the standard system used in most personal computers today.
Asciitable.com: ASCII Table
#
ASCII Art
Because the earliest computers did not have the ability to render images as they do today, ASCII characters were initially used as a way to produce images on computers. ASCII art can either be still images or moving pictures.Roysac.com: The three ASCII Art Styles of the Underground Art Scene3 ASCII art uses ASCII characters to give a stippling effect to show areas of light and shadow. The technique is similar to the Pointillism painting style of Georges Seurat where several little dots comprise an entire image.
My intention to use the ASCII projector comes from a need for further texturing and effects. Also the abstracted characters should provide perfect stimulus for intricacies in the sync with the audio in terms of Drones, Subs, Glitch....
The intentions is that mixing layers in Final Cut in a Vj style, and masking sections that don't need blending, will add another dimension to the film, in turn making it more submersive and involving.
The content from the one minute film will be relayed through the ASCII projector. Rendered out and then sent through Final Cut and mixed to the desired result.
This should make masking easier as the shapes and movement within the frames will match the existing video exactly.
The colouring and tones in the initial edit look ok. I would like to intensify the blues to a more baby blue with more mid tones to exaggerate its contrast and features.
Slight adjustments need to be made to further sync up the audio to.
Thursday 3 June 2010
1 Min Short Film - 2nd edit
Decided to chop the first few shots out as they were to dislocated. They did not sit as i had hoped they had and just distracted from the concept. This turned me away from the idea of the moving blue and white squares and telegraph pole segments.
These are the shots i have selected to use. I feel they provide the perfect foundations for the shots of contrast and dynamic required. They hold enough of a natural blue colour to keep to the idea of tranquility and prosperity that was initially in the concept.
Just need to adjust lengths but the order of the shots flows nicely. The lengths of the shots wil be determined in Ableton so they sync seamlessly with the audio.
Wednesday 2 June 2010
1 Min Short Film - Editing - Techniques - Influence - Crit
Having shot the film and started to edit, i needed to make sure that the video would sync up with the audio. This i felt could be achieved through exporting the edit from Final Cut as a Quicktime file and the using Ableton 8's video handling capabilities to arrange the clips into a carefully chosen BPM structure and gridding. This worked perfectly as the Ableton arrange view enables you to set a click track for a tempo and then arrange the video via the gridding system and time-line. This in turn makes syncing up audio to the visual easier and means i can experiment with disguised rhythms and grooves pulsing through the drones for added dynamic.
Having recently seen Chris Cunningham at the Manchester Opera House, his video for Aphex Twins' WindowLicker really captured the essence of the crime fiction, Miami Vice, decadence i was looking to create and really helped move my ideas of abstract editing and syncopation of audio/visual forward. He used interesting tones, made inanimate and life like, musical and unmusical objects come to life, with impact, and unbelievable emphasis on providing a challenging experience.
Modeselektor have been a staple part of electronic music for years and have always had an influence. But it was only more recently that they started working with Pfadfinderei. Already the progression in their work is unbelievable.
Pfadfinderei had a surreal way of visualising Modeselektor's music but i loved its innocence and naivety. It feels like experimentation and exploration.
My video i wanted to try as many different things as i could to learn as much as possible, without loosing the continuity and narrative so integral to the video. Although they used a lot of Flash in the early days, their work has progressed onto much greater and grander things, they will also be appearing at this years Sonar festival in Barcelona.
Anti Vj in terms of influence have opened my eyes to a whole new world of possibilities. What they achieve with projected light is extraordinary. I have loved every installation and light experiment they have done and have been engaged with their work for the best part of a year now. They just illustrate the potential that audio/visual content actually has to offer and its minimal aesthetic draws me in further. If done nothing else for this project, they have definately inspired perfection and clinical finishing.
Out from our Final Crit it arose that i needed to think about aspect ratios and start working on the sound.
Having planned ahead and exported my video to Ableton, t afforded me the time to finish the film before even thinking about composing a soundtrack as it is already synced. This in turn means i can make the audio as an emotional reaction to the film.
Having the theme of peace, tranquility and prosperity running through the film in terms of colour and shot theme, and then the research into John Cage, it lead me to look at how he composed his music.
He used the I - Ching to create harmonious, spiritual compositions.
Using this as the initial foundation, i will find the I - Ching symbol for peace and tranquility and attempt to compose the soundtrack using this information....
Having recently seen Chris Cunningham at the Manchester Opera House, his video for Aphex Twins' WindowLicker really captured the essence of the crime fiction, Miami Vice, decadence i was looking to create and really helped move my ideas of abstract editing and syncopation of audio/visual forward. He used interesting tones, made inanimate and life like, musical and unmusical objects come to life, with impact, and unbelievable emphasis on providing a challenging experience.
Modeselektor have been a staple part of electronic music for years and have always had an influence. But it was only more recently that they started working with Pfadfinderei. Already the progression in their work is unbelievable.
Pfadfinderei had a surreal way of visualising Modeselektor's music but i loved its innocence and naivety. It feels like experimentation and exploration.
My video i wanted to try as many different things as i could to learn as much as possible, without loosing the continuity and narrative so integral to the video. Although they used a lot of Flash in the early days, their work has progressed onto much greater and grander things, they will also be appearing at this years Sonar festival in Barcelona.
Anti Vj in terms of influence have opened my eyes to a whole new world of possibilities. What they achieve with projected light is extraordinary. I have loved every installation and light experiment they have done and have been engaged with their work for the best part of a year now. They just illustrate the potential that audio/visual content actually has to offer and its minimal aesthetic draws me in further. If done nothing else for this project, they have definately inspired perfection and clinical finishing.
Out from our Final Crit it arose that i needed to think about aspect ratios and start working on the sound.
Having planned ahead and exported my video to Ableton, t afforded me the time to finish the film before even thinking about composing a soundtrack as it is already synced. This in turn means i can make the audio as an emotional reaction to the film.
Having the theme of peace, tranquility and prosperity running through the film in terms of colour and shot theme, and then the research into John Cage, it lead me to look at how he composed his music.
He used the I - Ching to create harmonious, spiritual compositions.
Using this as the initial foundation, i will find the I - Ching symbol for peace and tranquility and attempt to compose the soundtrack using this information....
1 Min Short Film - 1st edit
This is the first edit of the film. Its amazed me how much of the footage was poor and for in the future to remember to shoot double the amount you feel necessary.
The shots i have chosen are for several reasons. The colour blue, the need for abstraction of content for the focus to be more subliminal in terms of the colour psychology research investigated, contrast and juxtaposed objects that allowes for negative space to play with, great tone and using abstract camera angles.
I feel it will sync up perfectly with the audio and has the decadent feel i was trying to capture.
Colours need intensifying and adjusting. Mainly mid-tones and upping in contrast.
The lens aberration brings out some beautiful shapes and interference that Im certain effects and filters will be gagging to cling to in editing.
The Vice feel is just about there, however i feel sorting the colour balance and adjusting the hues can allow this theme to prosper and there is a definite 'WindowLicker' vibe about the film.
1 Min Short Film - Research - Contemerory Practitioners
Pfadfinderei & Modeselektor - Coffein
Pfadfinderei [ fɑ:d'fɪndɜ:raɪ ] is an internationally renowned design collective. From the development of motion design productions to the conceptualization of events, Pfadfinderei offers a broad spectrum of solutions that crosses borders between required function and contemporary design, all through the lens of advanced visual art & multimedia.
Finding and visualizing paths was the approach that led to the name Pfadfinderei (i.e. pathfinders / boyscouts). Starting off in 1999 as a Berlin-based vector orientated design bureau, Pfadfinderei soon expanded to what might be characterized as a cluster of advanced media alchemists given their aggressive passion for Live music visualization. Back in the day, they VJ'd in clubs in Berlin and around the region... nowadays they are planning, creating, and performing full-scale visual installations, in and beyond the club scene, expanding far and wide onto the world's cultural stage.
From 1999, the Pfadfinderei team went forward with seven expert members, all with diverse backgrounds, ranging from typography and art direction, to strategic visual planning and design production. That group is still moving forth strong, and no doubt will spice-up your interests with a unique, cutting-edge style. Pfadfinderei creations germinate from these individual characters who are united by a symbiotic approach to aesthetics, an attention to the beautiful detail of everyday life.
Instead of showing off their fast-paced studio facilities here in Berlin-Mitte, please feel free to discover the world-class work and growing list of beloved clients by browsing through this site.
Pfadfinderei [ fɑ:d'fɪndɜ:raɪ ] is an internationally renowned design collective. From the development of motion design productions to the conceptualization of events, Pfadfinderei offers a broad spectrum of solutions that crosses borders between required function and contemporary design, all through the lens of advanced visual art & multimedia.
Finding and visualizing paths was the approach that led to the name Pfadfinderei (i.e. pathfinders / boyscouts). Starting off in 1999 as a Berlin-based vector orientated design bureau, Pfadfinderei soon expanded to what might be characterized as a cluster of advanced media alchemists given their aggressive passion for Live music visualization. Back in the day, they VJ'd in clubs in Berlin and around the region... nowadays they are planning, creating, and performing full-scale visual installations, in and beyond the club scene, expanding far and wide onto the world's cultural stage.
From 1999, the Pfadfinderei team went forward with seven expert members, all with diverse backgrounds, ranging from typography and art direction, to strategic visual planning and design production. That group is still moving forth strong, and no doubt will spice-up your interests with a unique, cutting-edge style. Pfadfinderei creations germinate from these individual characters who are united by a symbiotic approach to aesthetics, an attention to the beautiful detail of everyday life.
Instead of showing off their fast-paced studio facilities here in Berlin-Mitte, please feel free to discover the world-class work and growing list of beloved clients by browsing through this site.
Tuesday 1 June 2010
1 Min Short Film - Research - Contemerory Practitioners
Chris Cunningham / (Aphex Twin - Windowlicker) 1998
This was a video that Chris Cunningham directed for Aphex Twin with a commercial twinge. Having already Directed and Produced Madonnas' Frozen earlier that year, this was much more cinematographic, beautiful open long shots, glamorous, Vice, sunshine, bikinies. But in his typical fashion manages to distort content and add surreal depth to a commercially viable "Rap Video."
In an interview Chris said casually
" The last half of the video sounded really pornographic, so it made me think about girls arses.... the first half of the video sounded like driving around in the sun."
He reused the head swapping idea that he had used previously in Aphex Twins Come To Daddy in 97' which felt lazy but this video definitely has a different tone and magical location in Venice Beach.
"By this point, i was constantly trying to make every video different to the last....
I thought i'd go for the sex angle! Just another video that i wanted to feel like a cartoon. No dialogue, just really over the top material."
It was this work with Warp Records that really propelled Chris' career upward and he has now got a collection of music videos that include artists such as Autechre, Squarepusher, Bjork, Portishead.... short films, animations and Installations, all available on DVD.
The money he made from his commercial en devours was pumped back into other projects for smaller electronic musicians that Chris himself loved, and also return to producing some more abstract films similar to the ones he began making in his early career.
Most recently,
Aphex Twin - Flex 2000
"This was returning to abstract film making after the Autechre video. It was derived from a specific, thematic brief. Abstract, anatomatical, fighting, fucking, lots of blood, muscles, heavy breathing, spunk and God! All in this dreamlike black void."
Shot on 35mm camera, the imagery is painterly and abstract without being literal.
Anti VJ
Inode
AntiVJ is a visual label initiated by European-based artists whose work is focused on the use of projected light and its influence on our perception.
Clearly stepping away from standard setups & techniques, AntiVJ presents live performances and installations where projection on volume, visual mapping, tracking and augmented reality, stereoscopy and holographic illusion are providing to the audience a senses challenging experience.
Visual artists on the label:
Yannick Jacquet (Legoman).
Joanie Lemercier (crustea).
Olivier Ratsi (Emovie).
Romain Tardy (Aalto).
I don't Understand but am infatuated.
This was a video that Chris Cunningham directed for Aphex Twin with a commercial twinge. Having already Directed and Produced Madonnas' Frozen earlier that year, this was much more cinematographic, beautiful open long shots, glamorous, Vice, sunshine, bikinies. But in his typical fashion manages to distort content and add surreal depth to a commercially viable "Rap Video."
In an interview Chris said casually
" The last half of the video sounded really pornographic, so it made me think about girls arses.... the first half of the video sounded like driving around in the sun."
He reused the head swapping idea that he had used previously in Aphex Twins Come To Daddy in 97' which felt lazy but this video definitely has a different tone and magical location in Venice Beach.
"By this point, i was constantly trying to make every video different to the last....
I thought i'd go for the sex angle! Just another video that i wanted to feel like a cartoon. No dialogue, just really over the top material."
It was this work with Warp Records that really propelled Chris' career upward and he has now got a collection of music videos that include artists such as Autechre, Squarepusher, Bjork, Portishead.... short films, animations and Installations, all available on DVD.
The money he made from his commercial en devours was pumped back into other projects for smaller electronic musicians that Chris himself loved, and also return to producing some more abstract films similar to the ones he began making in his early career.
Most recently,
Aphex Twin - Flex 2000
"This was returning to abstract film making after the Autechre video. It was derived from a specific, thematic brief. Abstract, anatomatical, fighting, fucking, lots of blood, muscles, heavy breathing, spunk and God! All in this dreamlike black void."
Shot on 35mm camera, the imagery is painterly and abstract without being literal.
Anti VJ
Inode
AntiVJ is a visual label initiated by European-based artists whose work is focused on the use of projected light and its influence on our perception.
Clearly stepping away from standard setups & techniques, AntiVJ presents live performances and installations where projection on volume, visual mapping, tracking and augmented reality, stereoscopy and holographic illusion are providing to the audience a senses challenging experience.
Visual artists on the label:
Yannick Jacquet (Legoman).
Joanie Lemercier (crustea).
Olivier Ratsi (Emovie).
Romain Tardy (Aalto).
I don't Understand but am infatuated.
AntiVJ - SONGDO from AntiVJ / Joanie on Vimeo.
AntiVJ - ENGHIEN from AntiVJ / Joanie on Vimeo.
AntiVJ - NUITS SONORES from AntiVJ / Joanie on Vimeo.
AntiVJ - MUTEK 2009 from AntiVJ / Joanie on Vimeo.
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