Video Mixer Test uno

I don't know whats blogger problem, but it is not letting me upload images. I guess I'll still explain briefly how my use of a video mixer for my project went this weekend. Because of one big hangup, I did not get to accomplish too much... the hangup was that the manual for the mixer did not come with it, so I was kinda testing stuff out blindly throughout the weekend. In addition, I was one cable short of being able to hookup to video output from a single source. But with some finessing, I was able to get some results. The pictures I was attempting to post were screens of two looping test videos fading between a television and a projector via the video mixer. check back soon for some image documentation.

Creative Progress

So yesterday in my meeting with Katherine, I mentioned that I had some creative Ideas for effects to add to that flowing black stuff seen in some of my previous posts that involved adding in green screened hands reaching out and grasping among other things. Sooo, she said post it, and that what I'm doing =). Above is just screen shots of the original greenscreen footage and then some screen shots of me ploping into one of my project files in after effects and color keying it to fit. The export is taking longer then expected, so I decided to tenatively just post some still images while the computer exports the files. Also, when creating this effect, I found the hand to be slightly reminiscent of something Ive seen before. and when I thought about it, it turns out the look of this "hand effect" looks a lot like a movie poster for something I blogged about previously, the film antichrist. I guess maybe subconsciously thats where a bit of the inspiration came from. For you viewing pleasure I have posted an image of the poster below. Until tomm (when I post some installation testing footage) byes.

Tech Progress

So yesterday I finally rented a video mixer and started hooking it up to the setup I posted about earlier to hopefully help split my video the way that I originally envisioned. One thing came up though... instead of being able to mix VGA signals (IE what input/ out put most computer monitors have) the mixer actually works with composite input out puts (IE what older televisions and standard def. DVD players and gaming systems use). Luckily though this doesn't create too much of a problem for me, since I originally wanted to use standard def televisions, and I just so happen to have a couple set up already in my living room (see above) and also my projector have both composite and VGA hookups, so that shouldn't be a problem. I have all the equipment up and running and by tomm. I will have a post showing the results along with some video of this latest instantiation. fingers crossed all goes well.

transistion test 1

I hastily posted this video yesterday without any explanation about what it is so let me do that. This transition test is a ruff video of how I plan to transition the beginning and end of my video loops along with starting the loops possibly in different areas of my installation space without just cutting the feed abruptly. neways click the link below and enjoy.
link to vid

progress with installation testing. yay

So recently I started testing out syncing up the content for my piece through its intended medium; monitors and projections workings in conjunction with each other. This first test that I will be discussing is at heart not truely how I would like my final piece to function, but none the less I wanted to implement some of my video to start off with. The reason why I say its not truely functioning as my final piece will, besides the video put in for now just acting as a ruff filler, is because the two video signals are coming from two seperate sources; a dvd player and a laptop computer instead of one source, as explained in the picture posted below:


That being said, I feel pretty good about how it turned out, as far as tests/ruff cuts go. I guess that technically this could also be called my first real real physical instantiation... which I think I'm spelling correctly. anyways, if your interested, the link below is a quick video of what this installation ruff cut thingy looked like.

Video Installation test clip #1

Reference Time!!!

So the last time Katherine and I met up I mentioned a reference or two that are sources of inspiration for certain aspects of my senior project. In response Katherine said that would be something valuable to blog about. sooooo... here goes, a couple of links to different media that in some way shape or form has inspired my creative process for my senior thesis project. enjoy, and check back in the future for more links.

Shooting technique inspirations:

in addition to the previously referenced Jacob's Ladder, two other movies have helped me to come up with certain ways of shooting/ editing my video piece.
1st off is the recent Lars Van Trier Movie Antichrist:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBdDcQONmkM
The movie Antichrist is split into multiple chapters, including a prologue and an epilogue, book ending the whole movie. The super slow motion playback of the epilogue and prologue have been inspirational to me and a technique I am currently applying to my piece. I feel the slow motion playback helps to intensify the movie's very heavy and grim content through a beautiful flowing manner and is a techniques I also am utilizing for the same reasons.

The Next reference I am going to focus on is from particular scenes from the film A Haunting in Connecticut. The image at the beginning of this post is a still image from one particular scene that I drew inspiration from and I have also attached a link to the trailer for the Movie below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uE7xCOmIjFY
Starting at approximately 38 sec. into the clip, you will see a moving example of the "ectoplasm" special effect depicted in the still at the beginning of this post that has had direct inspiration on the way that I wish to convey an explosive stream of organic shapes escaping through my main characters head. This effect I wish to apply to my piece will be meant to symbolize the release of negative elements, originating from the protagonists mind.

Plot inspirations:

The story entitled "Passage for Trumpet" was a 1960 episode from the series, The Twilight Zone:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Passage_for_Trumpet
The inspiration that I drew from this episode in particular was how the main plot revolved around a jaded individual flung into an atmosphere where he was completely different and detached from any other individual residing in there (to be specific, he was walking around alive in a world populated completely by dead people ). This plot device of secluding the main character is similar to the feeling of seclusion, loneliness and despair that I want to be conveyed for the world in which my main character in the piece finds himself.

Animation and motion Technique Inspirations:

The first reference that I have drawn inspiration for the piece, and many of my past works, are illustrations by the artist Derek Hess:
Despite Hess' work being still images, I find that his treatment of line work creates a sense of fluid movement. For myself, I find that the style in which Hess creates his still works has very important elements that will add to the sense of fluid motion I wish to create with the motion graphic/ special effect elements contained in my piece.

And last but not least, the animated feature length master piece AKIRA directed by Katsuhiro Otomo has countless examples of amazing animated scenes emphasizing interesting visual depictions of movement ranging from smoke clouds to amorphous explosions of energy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Abv95ko9ph4
The technique in which an explosion for example is meticulously recreated through animation is inspirational to me in trying to create a beautiful motion graphic/ special effects that depict mundane objects and explosions as beautiful aesthetic moving imagery, adding to the desired atmosphere and overall feel of the piece.

green green green!

So just a day or two ago I finally started shooting green screen for my project. below I have attached a link to a test video I made that messes around with some of the cropped green screen footage I took along with generated lighting effects and foreground/background layering to name a few things. The goofy pic of me I took was suppose to be a stand alone post showing that I was working on the green screen work but I procrastinated long enough on posting that I just lumped them both together. As a closer note... within the next day or two I plan to post some links to clips I found inspirational in some way, shape or form to my process for this process, so check in sooooooon.

green screen test one!