Fabrication Issues/Considerations/Calculations

Here the narrow space created by the installation is visible. The transparent screen which is in gray here will be reverse projected on to. The hd projector produces 2000 lumens, or approximately 121 lux on the 17 square meter area on the projector (exterior to the space) side of the screen. Assuming 50% of the lumens pass through the screen, the lux on the interior of the space is 60. This reduction in lux will be created and modulated through use of materials for the reverse projection screen,

The goal of the installation is to be immersive. One of the characteristics of immersive installations working with light, is the absence of shadows projected by the user, except beneath themselves. Because the light in this installation is entering from the side, which is unusual for light in a space. The human brain is used to light coming from above, and as such in order for this space to be percieved as immersive - filling in shadows that viewers will create on the back wall is important.

So then the lighting on the back wall must have at least as much lux as the lighting coming through the screen. Calculations for the LED strips from superbrightleds.com are more complex and for the purposes of this piece, make more assumptions. Each LED on the strips produces 2 lumens, and there are 150 LEDs across the 16.4 feet of linear space in the installation. This produces 300 lumens, or approximately 18 lux across the entire back wall of the installation. However, because the LEDs will be installed in a wall washer fixture, this lux will be brightest at the top of the wall, and dimmest at the bottom, filling in most of the shadow created but letting the silouhette of the viewer appear at the bottom of the space.



Other issues considered in the layout and construction of the piece.

1) The presence of the small column in the corner, breaking up the space slightly.
This will be compensated for in the frame of the screen - the width of the 2X4s needed to construct the screen will use up that extra space and not cast the projection or light into the end cap of the space. Additionally the camera will be aimed in such a way that this end space will not be visible in the projected image.



2) Camera vision
How high does the camera need to be in order to see 17' of linear space? The projected image can be stretched in such a way that the angle of view is not an issue for the projection, but it is important that almost all of the space is in view of the camera.



3) Aspect ratio and height
The size of the space is dictated by the concept, or the idea of the fuzzy line between being present and absent in a virtual space, beyond the screen, behind the wall of the installation. Because the wall in the studio is 10' a 16:9 aspect ratio demands a 17'10'' installation, a 4:3 aspect ratio demands a 13'4'' installation. In order to achieve these dimensions with at 2:1 lens (as is the lens in the projector I will be using) - it will need to be the full 32' across the room from the installation.

In it's first iteration the patch took values from a gem motion tracking object and passed the values to a selector grid using select objects. This method created a cold inlet problem and would select more than one number at once. Additionally the first iteration of the patch used values from the proximity sensor to select channels or output rather than controlling the static volume.



In it's second iteration the patch used and statements to eliminate the cold-inlet problems and select one value at a time. In this iteration the selector part of the patch takes values continuously and would start audio before other selections had finished. To circumvent this a timed gate (on the light grey canvas) was created to allow input through - although this did not entirely eliminate the problem. Additionally the input from the proximity sensor is mapped to the volume of the static loop, increasing in volume as the user approached the system.




In it's third iteration the patch implemented a pdp_mgrid object which tracks motion and outputs the coordinate location within a grid created in the pdp window. This allowed for easy selection of different data channels accurately - removing the noise/innacuracy experienced when using the gem blob. Pdp and Gem windows crash PD when run simultaneously however, so the video output coming in to Gem was converted to a pdp friendly codec and a new video mixer was created for this implementation.


The audio data channels available for selection randomly generate data that approximates numerical values associated with identity, and location. The information is relatively site specific as social security numbers are unique to american citizens, immigrants, and individuals working here. Additionally the location data (longitude and latitude as well as phone numbers) are specifically aimed at washington state, increasing the feeling of being monitored, known, or watched by the system created.

Martin Dupont - It's so

neurotic french new wave

Concept Architecture

Project Objectives

- Work successfully with lighting and blue screen technology
- Begin to build a working knowledge of 3D rendering software - capabilities, options, time contraints, etc.
- Build a better personal sense of space with regard to perspective, distance, and proportion
- Tackle issues of grace and quality of movement on video, consider different light sources
- Build internal dynamics (tension) using light, composition, and movement as oppose to dialouge

Technical Foundations

This will be a two channel piece using adobe after effects for "special" effects, final cut pro for any necessary editing, and Maya for 3D rendering.

Equipment

DV Camera - School
Camera Mic - School
Lights - Own
Blue Screen - School
Final Cut Pro - School
Maya - School
Chaise lounge - Borrowing
TVs - Own

Budget

Equipment - Free! (School/Own stuff)
Caffeine - $100

Timeline

By April 29
Script adaptation finished
Storyboards fleshed out
Shotlist/Diagrams complete

By May 5
Shooting half finished
3D modeling underway
Test blue screen function - iron out kinks

By May 12
Shooting finished
3D modeling cont.
Post-production underway

By May 19
3D modeling cont.
1st rough draft is completed

By May 26th
2nd rough draft complete

By May 31st
final product is finished

Cultural/Historical Influences

Women in Science Fiction - Ursula K. Le Guin (The Left Hand of Darkness), Margaret Atwood (A Handmaids Tale), and Octavia Butler (Parable of the Sower) stand out as the big names in science fiction writing and all have delved into questions of childbearing and womens rights in futuristic societies.

Women in Architecture - Charlotte Perriand and Zaha Hadid, two notable women in architecture. Perriand worked with Le Corbusier on their famous chaise but often dissapears in the shadow of Le Corbusier. Hadid is still practicing and is currently the name partner in her own firm, she continues to be on the edge of modern architecture with her organic shapes but brings her own unique style to the genre by using a darker pallete than most of her peers.

Gordon Craig and "architectonic scenery" or the concept that a moving set and the play of light on it could be the entire performance, plot, climax and conclusion. Emphasizes a focus on set composition and the architecture of inner or outer spaces in a performance.

French New Wave and tracking shots. Although I don't have the technical skills or the equipment to do long tracking shots the individual channels will be single shots as inspired by French New Wave and in order to better put the viewer in to the piece

Bibliography

Zaha Hadid
Charlotte Perriand
Chaise Lounge
Gordon Craig
French New Wave
Hills Like White Elephants
Science fiction and architecture

Le Guin, Ursula K. The Left Hand of Darkness. New York: Harper & Row, 1969.
Atwood, Margaret. A Handmaids Tale. McClelland and Steward, 1985.

Part the Second

Through the eyes of science fiction possibility is limitless. Monumental skyscrapers can be erected and stretch miles into the sky. Unlikely regimes can rise to power and dominate completely. Questions of space, time, and distance are cast aside and viewers are left free to imagine the possibilities for individual. From this limitless possibility science fiction takes a segment of society and extrapolates it effects across time, usually finding a very dark future in which humanity scrapes by. However modern design while futuristic by nature and inherently tied to science fiction in the dreams that it realizes, is not dystopic or apocalyptic at all. Instead it is simultaneously elegant and edgy - a physical manifestation of the future we are creating.

This project is an exploration of modern space and the way women are perceived in the context of those spaces. It attempts to approach three main themes and explores the ways that they are intertwined. Women are in the distinct minority in both architecture and science fiction and with that in mind this piece focuses on women's successes in these fields. A two-channel piece will portray a brief conversation. The spaces that each character occupies will be simplified references to two successful women in architecture, Perriand and Hadid. Through the dialog as well as the visual narrative the piece will hint at the power structures within the conversation and reinforce those hints with the composition and architecture of each space.

To finally cement the connectivity between these three topics the dialogue will be obtusely approaching a highly controversial subject - abortion and women's rights. Women in science fiction have been focused on these issues since breaking into the genre and continue to be recognized for their unique addition to Science Fiction. However these views of women in science fiction are almost universally dystopian and apocalyptic portraying the worst possible trend in politics and technology. Rather than make that judgment about the future in this piece, the dialogue will be adapted from a Faulkner short story that makes no conclusions about the morality of abortion. Similarly the utopian look of modern architecture will help alleviate the gloom that science fiction brings to the screen and draw the focus on the piece to the composition as a whole rather than the individual issues or images it presents.

In creating this piece many influences come in to consideration, the writing of Ursula K. Le Guin and Margaret Atwood, the visual styles of the French new wave movement in cinema and their long uncut shots, as well as the styles of Perriand and Hadid.

Project Proposal

I'm late! Getting out of an interview that is.



A person wakes up in the morning, heads for the bathroom, and in the process of getting ready for their day - steps on their bathroom scale. They stand there and stare at their feet waiting for a relatively arbitrary number to validate the way they feels about their body before continuing on with their morning routine. Where better technology or a better-informed user would be able to combine their knowledge of their weight, height, body type, exercise routine, and eating habits - our current at home technology defines them as a point on a line. Each of these points becomes a perspective from this scale, for some vanity, for some a health concern. From this perspective, each users is put into the shoes of another, a first person look at the self-image of another person who weighs as much (or as little) as you. Further the precarious viewpoint that the user is given helps the videos to seem more disorienting and further push the user into the view from their weight. Each short silent video portrays a different self involved individual, and the videos find themes of self obsession, violence towards women, youth culture, motherhood, and homosexuality. Watched for a long period of time from nearby a larger picture is vaguely assembled. In looking to integrate video into every day experience with technology I chose to focus on the level of the individual. Since the scale will be larger than life it puts the user in the position of control yet the scale itself dwarfs the user. Finally, the digital readout on the scale will be behind a small piece of 2-way mirror, so that when reading the scale they are forced to see themselves along with the video content.

Using the scale with a small mirror in place of Narcissus’ pool of water themes of self-obsession, violence towards women, youth culture, motherhood, and homosexuality can be easily communicated. The myth of narcissus gives opportunity to discuss self-obsession as well as homosexuality, and the story of the narcissus Hades used to lure Persephone into the underworld provides opportunities to focus on violence towards women, youth culture, and motherhood. However in contrast with the way that technology is integrated into culture currently, the user in this interface is being judged or classified according to a machine. The layout of this interface takes the control away from the user and ties the central theme of the piece back into a comment on eating disorders and the way people exercise control over themselves when they feel out of control.

Thus through these themes an experience is created on many levels. Each video is an experience by itself that has movement, composition, a beginning, middle, and end. Stepping on to a scale and being judged or classified has its own physical experience and change of perspective, as well as a different way to relate to the piece, and finally long enough observation of the video material will allow a user to assemble a mental thesis of sorts, as well as a final conclusion about the piece.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcissus_(mythology)

brain vomit pt. 2

video scale in a claustrophobic space. mirror fragments, wrappers etc. on walls.

construction sites, french new-wave cinema, THX 1138, claustrophobia, lightning bolts