Overview: In this video project, I will be working with Anica and Susie to accomplish an interactive video web page. We followed Susie’s proposal to take on a twist and alternative story of the original Snow White storyline. We thought of several different scenarios and each function either as a trigger to another plot or just the ending. After we settled on this proposal, we immediately went into recording on the 15th floor.
Process: While I’m the video editor for this project, Susie and Anica will be in charge of the creation of the web, its interface, and interaction. We first recorded most of our scene on the 15th floor. Each of our group members will take a role in the acting. Susie as the evil Queen, Anica as the princess and I’m the Huntsman. The whole recording part was rather quick and only took us two afternoons to finish. Since the plot was proposed mainly by Susie, I will be following a script that Susie wrote about the various visual effects and music that I will need to add. In this project, I will be using Sony Vegas Pro for the editing because that’s what I’m most comfortable with. Also, I added my own taste to the video by adding different templates of popular Youtube videos and memes like the Illuminati and Minecraft death screen. Some templates are on green screen so I added them by using Chroma Keyer. To move images around, I used the crop to move the position as well as changing its size. Moreover, the masking of the face with another image can be done with both the crop and mask, like it is shown below.
Crop and masking is a main component to the video because there are lots of involvement of moving particle and images like the Miley Cyrus with the wrecking ball appearing in the mirror. To make the audio louder, I simply change the volume (dB) option higher. Here’s some photo of the video editing process on Vegas Pro.
Reflection: Overall, this project didn’t meet my expectation and I was a little unfortunate that the team was unable to put everything together well. I hope that each member can work on all task and equally so that the project is cohesive. The user testing was important and it is what we missed out of. The interface of the project was not cohesive with the video and I wish that the video was more integrated into the video. We could of make the video full screen and as the interface where the buttons will appear in the video. The background was an indecisive choice that did not fit well into our project. The video, however, needed some improvement too like the synchronization of the video and the audio. That is a problem mainly due to that we recorded a separate soundtrack for some video which they are not synced together in the first place.
In this project, I integrated the el wire with architectural elements with shape and structure to create a light sculpture. It consisted of 8 el wires that surround the inner corners of 8 acrylic panels. These acrylic panels differ in sizes and in the angle of position. The composition will perform a light show that mostly consisted of traveling light beams that come back and forth by turning each individual el wires on and off. The purpose of this project is to execute a zoom in and zoom out effect on the audience based on shapes and structures of the light. This will give the optical illusion that the light is traveling back and forth. The processing of coming up with such an idea is architectural based research. One that I found is on Copenhagen’s 2017 light and here is the link to the article that contains pictures and a video of the installation: Link. This installation consisted of many triangle panels that had lights going around the inner corners. When the audience stands in the middle it will give an illusion of depth. Later, I found a better representation that I will adapt for my intended project which the panels are at different angles.
An example of a real architect that embodied shapes and light could be the vessel (honeycomb) in Hudson Yard, New York City. Not only does it look like a giant honeycomb, but from the top view, it looks like a hole with great depth.
NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 12: The Hudson Yards development, including ‘The Vessel,’ stands on the West Side of Midtown Manhattan, March 12, 2019, in New York City. Phase one of the Hudson Yards real-estate development project, which will cost about $25 billion dollars, will open on Friday. On Friday, four towers, including residential, commercial, and retail space, and a large public art sculpture made up of 155 flights of stairs, called ‘The Vessel,’ will open to the public. The developer of the project, Related Companies, calls it the most expensive endeavor in the city since Rockefeller Center. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
The structure of the vessel is the same on all levels but follow different sizes, increasing from bottom to top. At night, it shines warm orange light that why people called it the honeycomb along with the shape.
Perspective and Context
Maurice Merleau-Ponty writes “The real world is not this world of light and colour; it is not the fleshy spectacle which passes before my eyes. It consists, rather, of the waves and particles which science tells us lie behind these sensory illusions”. This quote says about our perception of the world around us is not the same as we perceive or thought it to be. It merely signals that is sent to our brain for interpretation. That’s why optical illusion art can create this motion in our brain to interpret even though it is flat or stationary. The project mimics a similar effect that is created based on the shape and size of the light beam through the embodiment of the panels. By turning it on and off in respect to time, it essentially will give a “zoom-in” illusion of traveling through space that the audience can immerse themselves into. Marleau says “What matters is the selection of episodes to be represented and, in each one, the choice of shots that will be featured in the film…” Many of the architectures today takes on this idea of optical illusion, using shapes and alter its size and through angle positioning like the vessel. The element of light enhances that illusion especially at night through a light composition and by emphasizing the shape and its outline. This project will allow us to physically immerse to a specific space and feel the change in light.
Development & Technical Implementation
The development all started by prototyping the structure that the light will be embodied. I’ve thought of different shapes such as square and triangle. I thought it doesn’t make a lot of difference so I picked squares. To visualize how it looks like, I used Google SketchUp to both visualize and make models that I will laser cut later. Initially, I thought of using 9 of these panels but had to cut down to 8 due to the limitation of ports of the el wire shield.
I realized I need a foundation perhaps, a box to put all my components. So I made a box that fits all the necessary components, again in Google Sketchup.
Before assembling them together, I have to get all the el wires connected to the shield as well as getting my composition finished. One problem that I faced is that the shield that I got from professor does not have a proper connection with the el wire. So I have to solder the connection with a head so that it can connect with the el wire. Below is a video that shows the process as well as the modification made to the Arduino shield.
After confirming that everything works, I began the process of light composition. For the light composition, I’ve created different case mostly traveling back and forth to create the optical illusion. For the code, I used milis() because I felt like this would fit my purpose better since it composes the light composition more precisely.
Lastly, I assembled the panels onto the foundation and the el wire by using super glue. In order to glue the el wire around the corner, I have measure where I should bend the el wire so that I can go around the sharp corner of the panel.
Presentation
The presentation was well and prepared. It was self-explanatory what this project is about. The audience understands what’s going to happen by the structure of my project. Overall, the presentation was good because the composition runs very smoothly. One thing that I could improve on is to tape the red light on the Arduino that shines out from the box and it is distracting. I wished I could add more panels and light to optimize the optical illusion effect on the audience. Maybe an enlarge of the overall scale could make the project more immersive to the audience.
Conclusion
My proposal and plan for this project were carried out well and the trajectory was clear. I was able to manage the time well despite not having all the components in hand in the first place. I prioritize what is needed to finish first. For example, when I realized I couldn’t have my el wire done in the first hand, I shifted my plan to finish the model and the structure first. In this project, I learned how to make a model that is optimized for laser cutting which I’ve never directly done before by myself. In this project, I discovered the perception of shape and distance in term of light in the physical world rather than screen visual. If I had the resource and time, I would enlarge the scale of this project. I would try out different shape and positioning of the structure to see if there is any change in our perception of space.
Our inspiration came from the film One Day about a love story. The light composition will mimic one of the scenes in the film when the female protagonist and male protagonist chasing each other.
Each member of the team will take a role and in charge of a light. I’m in charge of the 2nd light representing the male protagonist, Max in charge of the first light (female protagonist) and Yang in charge of the background, the third light. We did it this way so it is more efficient and get it done on time. Also, we used millis( ) in our code so it is organized and the transition will be executed more smoothly.
We made our own cover for the light so it is smaller and the deflected light was quite nice at the end. We made it with cardboard and it required us to move it around in order to present the light show.
In the first assignment/project: “Bending the Light”, I want to create a heartbeat inspired light composition. While creating the composition, I listen to different heartbeat soundtrack online to mimic the heartbeat for my light composition. I started the project with the gathering of materials because I want to utilize objects to enhance the experience of the light composition and there are many empty little containers that I had in my dorm room. Of course, I need to connect my LEDs to the Arduino and the power supply and below is my circuit placement.
I found this little sauce container from my last wai-mai. In order to fit the LED strip inside the container, I simply curve the strip into a circle and cut out a hole from the side so I can put the strip inside from the outside. Also, I found these leftover LED and I thought they can be a good addition to the light bending theme of my assignment. I cut out the metal wire part so that only the glass/plastic part is left which is all I needed.
Below is a video when I tested out the light effect inside the container with the little LED. Since the light is combined with three different color Red Green and Blue, the LED bulb actually distort each individual lights. You can sort of seeing the individual lights reflection on the LED bulb.
The biggest problem while creating the composition is the strength of the soldering. Everything I moved around it break apart and I had to solder back again. For this specific composition, I should have made it into a 2 min composition and pay more attention to the processing of making the composition.
LED Light Assignment #2
For this second assignment “The Christmas Tree 🎄 “, I wanted to have the experience to sync the light with a music piece of my choice which is what other people did in their previous assignment. This allows me to focus on specific musical elements such as melody that inspire me to create a light composition. So I choose a Christmas themed music called Pho Vang Em Roi by Hung Vu to create a Christmas themed light composition. Since I have leftover chopsticks, so I decided to make a Christmas tree structure that I can surround my strip with.
For the composition, I adopt the method from the previous assignment that we did for having three different colors of light passing from one side to another and one doing the reverse at the same time. Having one LED strip is not enough for this so I got another one and solder them into one. Last, I decorated it with papers and put some leftover LEDs to amplify the light a little just like I did in assignment 1.
YES! I remember this from the beginning of my first semester orientation week. In Chimamanda Adichie’s Ted talk, she discusses her own personal struggle regarding her own cultural background and her identity as a black woman from Africa. The main problem that she conveys is the problem with the perspective of people on someone else. This perspective can be limited as she described as a single story. The problem of having a limited perspective is its cause in the ignorance of other cultures and people. This lack of perspective came with historical foundation dated back during the colonial age where European powers colonized the African continent. The effects of colonization had a negative impact on African cultures. Not only it imposed western ideology but also ignorance such as African aren’t civilized through misinformation to their own culture. It had a long-standing influence till today where we still have such negative and single viewpoint on a certain culture.
The reason why I asked myself if I read this piece before is I want to emphasizes that this is related to all of us. As a part of the NYU Shanghai community, I have the opportunity to explore other cultures and we should take this opportunity for granted and appreciated it. Since we had this opportunity, we should take on a role to solve the problem that Chimamanda Adichie is addressing during her speech.
