MDA2300 - Sleep/Wake

My installation has been presented and exhibited.

After a few initial problems during set-up (the television decided not to turn on, and then in the end I couldn't get a photographic backdrop on which to project), in the end, it went very successfully!

The whiteboard I had to use as a background instead had the fortunate side effect of (due to it's glossy finish,) projecting the projection video off it's surface around the room, which in the end added to the effecs of entrapment and disorientation on the audiences, as it projected the flashing images onto the audience, more or less trapping them within the installation, and in the darkened room it almost became claustrophobic, emphasising the paralysis aspect.

I really have enjoyed this module, and it has allowed me learn about and experiment with different types of film, and experience using film as a form of artistic expression in a way which was fresh, interesting and innovative in both my creative and technical approach.

I used technologies I had not yet used before, (such as certain FCP effects, and the equipment,) and I also for the first time really considered how to properly utilise the space in which my film is being presented. This really opened my eyes more to the world of expanded and art cinema, and the different ways that new and old technologies and innovations in film can be used to express something artistically which holds a personal resonance. Most importantly, I feel that I had fun, tried something new, and succeeded in something I both am interested in and enjoy.

MDA2300 - Sleep/Wake - Final Videos

These are the two videos which will form my installation piece: there is the Television Video:

and the Projection Video:




I am very pleased with how these have turned out; the editing in the television video is paced irregularly, so that after the piece has been looped for so long, even though the projection will be looped, the audiences will have difficulty telling how long the television film lasts. This will give a feeling of confusion with regards to the time the film lasts, representing how when suffering from sleep paralysis, time can appear to be irregular.

The projection video, with it's flashing images and erratic movement, (due to the use of keyframes, and Luma Key - Key out Lighter/Darker,) is in itself a very disorienting piece. While watching it people find it difficult to focus, and while watching it, due to the flashing, visual illusions seem to appear, different for each person who watches it, which are similar to the hypnagogic hallucinations often experiences in nightmares/sleep paralysis.

MDA2300 - Presentation

This is the presentation I am going to do tomorrow, as the final part of the portfolio project. I have taken out a projector from uni, and I have everything I need for tomorrow ready to take to university, set up the installation, present my project, and then have every view it! Nervous, but I have everything I need ready to go, so excited as well!

Film and Innovation: Sleep/Wake - Final Presentation by amini93

MDA2300 - Project Update

I have inquired and now have room G107 booked to use to display my installation on the 17th April

I am underway with the editing of the projected, abstract film and I have also filmed several shots of my bed to use in the television video.

I have also been experimenting with different renders, and effects (using keyframes) on Final Cut Pro, and have decided to use this software for the projection video, as it is the one I am most comfortable using, and there are many different options for me to choose from.

I also did a digital mock-up of what the installation would look like when set up:

As you can see in the picture, the pattern on the projection appears to make it harder to focus on what is being shown on the television, so when the images are moving and flashing, in a darkened area, the effect should be made more apparent, giving the installation the effect on audiences I intended it to have.

MDA2300 - Idea Development

After considering the time I have left, and the equipment/ facilities available to me, I have available to me, and after researching and developing my idea, I have decided that I will do an installation including two films, instead of three.

One of the films will be shots of a bed, and of a person sleeping in the bed, and they will be displayed on the television screen. This represents the person and how, when in a nightmare or an episode of sleep paralysis a person is trapped within the 'nightmare'. The camera will be placed above the bed voyeuristically, to represent how sometimes while having sleep paralysis another 'presence' is sometimes felt in the room.

The projection video will be a film, reminiscent of the type of film created by painting on, or scratching onto celluloid film, and I will use a software such as Final Cut Pro or After Effects to create flashing, quick-moving geometrical patterns, which will be similar to some of the Hypnagogic Hallucinations seen in sleep and during episodes of Sleep Paralysis.

This idea, instead of creating three films to be shown in three simultaneous projections, will be more effective at reaching an audience, as I feel that the smaller, more personal/compact size draws them in, as well as the fact that while people try to focus on the images on the television screen, the flashing and confusing images of the projector, (which will be projected over the television,) will lead to confuse and disorient audiences, as they have difficulty focusing on the main point of the installation.

I am now also going to inquire about rooms and locations in university in which I can display the installation.

MDA2300 - Idea Pitch Presentation

This is the presentation in which I pitched the two ideas for my project.

After pitching and getting feedback I think that I will go for the 'Sleep Paralysis' idea and I think that exploring nightmares and sleep artistically will be very interesting, and also due to the fact that making five films will probably be too difficult given the timescale.

I will now begin to research my idea and the methods I could go about this

Film and Innovation: Portfolio Project Ideas Pitch by amini93

MDA2300 - Final Essay Idea

For half of our final grade we have to write an essay discussing an innovation in film (whether that is how they're made, used, displayed, anything really,)

I have decided to write my essay about the idea of expanded cinema, and using film in an art installation.

I will probably write about how the medium of film in this case has affected artistic expression, and will use examples and perhaps concentrate on one particular artist.

One artist I am particularly interested in is Marina Abramovic, who often uses film and video in conjunction with performance art. An example of this is her performance Balkan Baroque in which she sits atop a pile of bones, cleaning them, as folk music plays and a film is displayed behind her.

I still have a lot to think abotu with regards to finding a firm point on which to anchor the essay, but this is an area I am very interested in, and will coincide with the fact that I plan on making an art installation for my final portfolio piece.

MDA2300 - New Ways of Storytelling

We have now been considering not only how technology has been innovating peoples' experiences with films, but how the ways in which people approach narrative and the ways people tell stories have been developing.

One particularly interesting example, is the idea of an interactive narrative.

Examples of this include online point and click games, in which a person views an animated film while interacting with the world, locations, items and characters (i.e. 'A Case of Crabs').

I find it interesting that I had never thought of video games in the sense of an 'interactive narrative', when that is pretty much what they are - you control a character, who experiences events and plays out a story in a visual medium.

We also looked at interactive DVDs, which blurred the lines between a film and videogame, including a narrative, the fact that it was a filmed, visual medium, shown as a video, and also several of them had multiple outcomes depending on the ways in which a person had responded to the events and the choices they had to make within the story.

I found the DVDs (most of which were students' past work,) very entertaining, and enjoyed how the fact that the medium of film had become interactive almost made you connect even more with the characters.

We have also been asked to start to think about what we want to create for our final portfolio piece, and to think of a topic on which to write our final essay about.

MDA2300 - Change and Innovation

Magnus' half of the module covers the more technological aspect to innovations in film, and asks us to look at how recent developments in technology are affecting films, the industry and mainly how people access, spectate and interact with films.

We were given three main points to consider:

• The ways in which we view movies is changing
• for example, smaller devices and other online services can be used to watch films, films are sometimes interactive and different technological advances (such as improved 3D technology) have led to an increase in their use. 
• The fact that the new technology and experiences have to be considered by filmmakers
• i.e. we need to consider the many new and emerging formats while making and planning for new films, and certain technologies need to be utilised for the benefit of the film reaching and impacting audiences. 
• The fact that the way films have been viewed has always changed. 
• e.g. the widescreen, full colour cinema of today is worlds apart from the first ever black and white film screening, with no sound and lower image quality, sue to the available technology at the time. 

One of the main points we have covered so far is the way that new technologies have blurred the line between the maker of film, and the spectator.

Examples include 'mashup' trailers, in which footage of one film is used to advertise the story of another, (this shows how those who are usually part of a film's audience are affecting how others view films, like filmmakers usually do,) and film movements such as 'machinima', in which software is used to make 3D films, meaning that (as the software is easily accessible) anybody really can make a film, in which there is no need to physically organise actors and locations, with basic skills.

These ideas are similar in a way to what we looked at at the start, in the fact that while we originally looked at how the development of 'film' affected how people artistically expressed themselves, we are now looking at how technological developments are affecting how people access and make films.

MDA2300 - Update and Abstract Film

We have continued Guy's part of the module by looking at a range of Modern video artists, such as Inger Lisa Hansen, who's work called 'Travelling Fields' involving the complex Norwegian Landscape I was very intrigued by.

I personally really enjoy thinking about the many different, unconventional ways film can be used as a form of artistic expression and exploration, and how the moving image can diversify a work of art and make it an even more immersive and impacting piece.

The first of the briefs I have completed is the Abstract Film brief, in which we are not allowed to use any recorded footage. After noticing a particular colour scheme, which was present int he decor of my shared house, I decided that I would use this theme as the basis for my abstract film, visually exploring how well the colours complement one another, in a short film which is aesthetically pleasing, and fun to watch:




I particularly enjoy how smooth the film runs together, almost fluidly.
To make the film, I experimented with Rendered shapes and images, and motion through keyframes in Final Cut Pro. I found it fun to play around with the different settings and getting a wide variety of effects, those of which I thought went together, I put in the film.

MDA2300 - Film & Innovation - Initial thoughts and First Assignment Brief

After looking forwards to starting the Film & Innovation module, (as I've long since had an interest in the more experimental and abstract side to film, and was looking forwards to learning about this and how different creative and technological developments have influenced film-making,) I was very interested in the first seminars.

We looked at early experimental and abstract films, created by scratching or painting onto celluloid film.
I found it interesting how the first major abstract films were created by trying to emulate the visual experimentation of paintings and 'fine' art, and presenting them through the medium of film.

After looking at many films like this, we moved onto different types of abstract film, such as John Smith's 'Om', in which audience expectations are subverted, due to the visuals of the film; (an apparent Buddhist Monk appears to be meditating, until it is revealed that he is a 'Skinhead' having his head shaved). The film uses similar sounding sound, and almost-similar imagery, to trick the audiences, and then make them rethink what they believe they see or are seeing in films).

We have also been given a selection of creative briefs to choose from, such as making an abstract film, using colours/shapes with no recorded footage, and making a film which subverts audience expectations.