This was, without a doubt, the hardest project of the semester.
I began the third project with complete confidence that I was going to create exactly what I could see in my head.
I had a dream where a giant shadow-type monster was chasing me down a hallway. While this was happening I was seeing my life ‘flash before me’.
What my imagined finished product looked like was one of not only a video, but also a performance piece relying on two screens to convey the feeling. One screen would be a claymation monster running towards the camera in slow motion while the other screen slammed through every photo and picture that I’ve taken for 5 years. The live performance aspect would consist of myself adding to the base tracks of the video with a live looped e-bow performance.
The goal was that upon viewing/experiencing, people would focus on different aspects of the video and sound to each receive a unique experience.
STEP 1 was to go find supplies.
Super sculpey, paintbrushes, generic paints and additional clays were used to construct a monster.
This monster was then placed in front of a VGA monitor that would have constantly changing images resulting in an additional focal point for the viewers.
Next up was the software. I used ‘Frame Thief’ to capture the images used for stop motion directly from a DV camera into my computer.
This process went decent enough during the three days I was doing the initial portion of the project. The speed bumps I encountered once my roommate stepped on the creature however...
Left me wondering if the claymation portion was really needed, or if it would cheapen the experience since it was something I did not have great experience doing.
If given the opportunity to go back and do it again, I would have finished the claymation aspect. With more paints and a clearer narrative structure, the stop motion would have benefited greatly.
My construction on the rest of the project however was going terrific.
Wires were everywhere, and my photo library was really taking a beating.
After some initial battles with Final Cut’s memory leaks (turns out if you had after effects open at the same time as final cut the memory leak went away and playback was completely acceptable) things finished up smoothly.
The final touches were added with After Effects text graphics and touchups on the video itself.
My own criticisms for this project lie in the nature of the material. I’m usually decent at realizing what people will view as universal messages and what people will have a hard time relating to. I, for some reason, thought this material would evoke universally nostalgic feelings from the viewers because of the strong emotional connection I had with it.
The live performance went over fairly decent however, and it seems like many in the class did not know where the pre-recorded backing tracks ended and the improvised ebow performance began. That is precisely what I wanted.
Project 3
“Life”
Type: Mind-Slamming Video Collage
Tools Used: Canon ZR200, MiniDV, FrameThief, Logic Express, Garageband, Final Cut Pro 5.1.4, Fender FatStrat, Ebow, Seinheiser Mic, Analog Pre-Amp, 17” Sony VGA monitor, More than 3,000 pictures and 100 videos taken during the last 5 years of my life, iPhoto, Photoshop CS, After Effects 6.5, Peavy Amp, Line6 POD
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