Category: Communication Lab

“Rules of the Museum”
Siwei Chen & Jim Liu

 A. Concept & Story

• What is the concept & the story of your project?
          The story of our project focuses on the rules of a strange museum. The museum has the following rules: all exhibits are specimens; don’t touch the exhibits; don’t eat or drink in the museum; don’t use flashing lights; and when there are hallucinations, stay away as soon as possible. The storyline is crossed by the rules content and a visitor’s visiting perspective. The main story is about a visitor who violates the rules of the museum and discovers its secret, while having some irreversible hallucinations and eventually becoming a display.
   
•  How were you inspired to create this project?
          I was inspired by the rule-based weird story that has become popular in recent years. Rule-based weird stories mainly make readers explore the stories behind the rules of some public places. These rules are often supposed to be unexplained and are quite normal, but overemphasizing them can seem unnatural. This triggers the reader’s curiosity to decipher the whole story.
   
• What is the ideation process of this project?
          For example, in the story I wrote, the deliberate emphasis on “displays are specimens that do not move” reveals a sense of oddity. Then, through a combination of visual metaphors, strange, seemingly unrelated human behaviors emerge: walking is shown when the narrator talks about specimens not moving, and human eyes are shown being stimulated by the flash when the narrator talks about using the flashlight causing displays’ abnormal reaction. The combination of sound and image allows the viewer to discover the truth about the museum: the displays are actually human beings.

• Why do you want to explore this topic?
          Because all the rule-based weird tales so far have been presented mainly in textual form, I wanted to combine them with visual images to narrate the whole story in a more direct, yet more immersive way than text. Therefore, I explored this theme in this project and collaborated with Jim to complete this project.

B. Creation Process & Execution

• Share your storyboard and describe how it helped you in your project.
          When solving a puzzle rules-based weird story, it is important to bring yourself into the whole story in order to discover some anomalies. In the design of the storyboard, in order to make the viewer discover the anomalies, just as the main character, and thus find the secrets of the museum, I used the first person to show the scene of hallucination and the final discovery of being surrounded and photographed as a display. I completed the storyboard design by switching between the third-person and first-person perspectives.

The design of the storyboard directly saves us time in the shooting process to adjust the angle and adjust the object used to make the whole shooting process smoother.

• Describe the process of choosing a setting, shooting, sourcing materials, lighting, and directing (if applicable).
          For the audio part, because the content of our work was well suited to be read out in AI voice, it was completed quickly and did not require much post-production improvement.
          When shooting, we first completed the easy parts, such as eating, using the flashlight, touching faces, etc. These can be shot directly using the surrounding places. All the lighting is indoor light. We went to Shanghai Nature History Museum for the shooting.

• Describe the challenges you encountered during the content creation process, and how you solved or overcame them.    
          We used the weekend time to go to the museum but encountered problems. First of all, the museum does not allow tripods to enter. Then, because we did not prepare enough in advance, the camera borrowed by the school ran out of power. We had to use Jim’s cell phone to shoot. What’s worse, Jim’s cell phone only had 10% battery left, so we couldn’t expect a very clear quality of the shot and a long shooting time. These are mainly caused by we were not fully prepared in advance, we had no choice but to try to record some important scenes first.
          We had a lot of challenges in the editing part because of the quality of filming, and the equipment used. For example, the video shot by a cell phone will have the problem that the computer can not open; as well as cell phone video encoding and the computer do not match, importing the video into Pr would cause a lagging; the video itself is in poor quality. Jim spent a long time searching for solutions to these problems. Finally, he found the software to re-encode the problematic video one by one. Then import them into Pr, and start editing.

• Describe your editing & post-production process. You may share a few screenshots from Premiere about the editing techniques and effects you learned.
          The more painful part of the project must be the editing. It’s easy to line up the videos, but it’s harder to get them to do the smoother transitions – especially if there’s a big difference in quality between the before and after videos (for example, the former was shot on a phone, the latter was on a camera). I thought about a lot of ways to deal with some very unclear picture quality and weird colors for videos taken from a phone. I first tried overall changing color, such as making the whole video black and white, but that didn’t come out well. I remained the black and white only in the illusion parts. Then I used some of Pr’s built-in filters – and the results improved a little. Finally, I found some templates to make the whole introduction screen old, both to reflect a sense of age, but also to cover up the shortcomings of cell phone shooting. This way I finished the post-editing.
  

C. Collaboration

• Describe your own role and contribution to the project. 
          I mainly finished the script writing, storyboard production, voiceover material sourcing, filming, and video editing, including searching for sound effects, music, and video template.

• Express appreciation for the work your teammate did. 
          Jim finished editing the audio; he also helped me a lot in shooting; I’m grateful that he found a way to re-encode the cell phone video – which avoided our trip to the museum being a waste; he also spent a lot of time editing the video, such as making juxtapositions and creating some effects.

• How did the collaborative process and exchange with your partner inform your project? 
          Collaboration with peers has greatly improved the efficiency of doing projects. We divided the work and at the same time, I learned a lot from my peers. Through our collaboration, we were able to pool our skills and strengths to create a more comprehensive and polished project. We constantly exchanged feedback and ideas, providing constructive criticism and support to each other throughout the process. This collaborative exchange allowed us to make informed decisions and continuously improve the project’s overall quality. 

• Was there something you learned from your partner? 
          Jim’s expertise in audio editing improves the quality of the voiceover and finding suitable sound effects and music. His resourcefulness in solving technical challenges was invaluable in ensuring the project could be completed. These are what I want to learn.

D. Aesthetics & Results

• Camera language (e.g., long-shot, different camera angles) 
          For the application of camera techniques, I used extreme close-ups of the throat, mouth, and arms when shooting the characters, which makes it easy for the audience to focus on the subject itself and not be distracted by other parts. For the shooting angle, I mostly used eye-level shots, without over-emphasizing the subject. I did not use many long-shot and tracking shots but used a lot of short clips to create a sense of tension.

• Color correction/adjustment
          I adjusted the brightness of all museum-related images to be relatively dark and with less color saturation to create a sense of horror atmosphere. All the images about the people were toned to black and white as a metaphor, and the rest of the images were just normal colors with basic color correction. In this project, I understand that different color adjustments can bring diverse feelings to the viewer.

• Tone/Pace of video 
          We followed the audio to decide the pace of the video. For example, the sound of running is paired with the video of running, but because the video itself is not long enough, so I sliced the running video into many short 1-2 second videos when editing, and the safety exit signs appear in cross-flash so that there is more of a sense of tension. This same method I used for touching the face. The tone of the whole video should be weird, scary, and tense, which I tried to reflect in the color and rhythm of the video.

        Finally, I would like to thank the people who suggested improvements to our project, such as adding the special effect of opening the eyes when the main character wakes up in the second half of the clip, such as replacing the display of food with someone eating food, etc., all of which improved our project and gained a better sense of view.

Visual Metaphor Proposal: Jim and Siwei

Film: Stalker (4:22-9:23) by Andrei Tarkovsky
https://www.kanopy.com/en/nyu/video/5793489

A. Concept
I want to recreate the exam memory in the project. The college entrance exam, for me at the time, for other students around me, and for most Chinese students, had a life-defining significance, it can affect our future.
In my work, I wanted to not only recreate the real sound of the exam room, such as writing, pencil falling onto the ground, and teachers walking around… but also reflect my inner emotions: feeling panic when hearing others turning over paper, overwhelmed as time passes. I want to recreate and convey a tense, oppressive environment through different sounds.

B. Process
(1) In such an important and serious exam, the exam room was filled with awful silence, and the fragmented and slight sound became prominent. So I used a shotgun to record the soft sounds: pens rubbing against the paper, someone scratching his head, a pencil falling on the floor, turning over paper. Additionally, I used Tascam to record the sound of the clock, which set the tone and pace of the exam going; and the sounds of a dryer, flowing water, and washing machine to enhance the sense of tension and anxiety. I also had the sound of heartbeat, but my heartbeat is too slight that couldn’t be collected by the recorder, so I knocked the shotgun to create a “hit” sound, which just like the beating of heart.
(2) When editing, I first reduced the noise of all sounds. But I found that too much noise removing made the sound distort. The difficult part is to balance the noise and the sound I want. So I listened to every sound carefully before removing background noise, and constantly adjusted the degree of noise reducing. Luckily, the result turn to be great, the sounds are clear and there were almost no noise. 
Then, I arranged the order of the sounds. At the beginning, the sound should be “quiet”, only few sounds added together so that the audience will feel the sense of silence. In the middle, someone turned over the paper, which caused me more upset. So I used the delay effect to the clock sound to add a nervous and uncomfortable feeling. After teachers walking around (I used reverb to this sound to create a sense of emptiness), everything become more overwhelming and crazier. I adjusted the emotional sounds (dryer, washing machine, flowing water) by FFT, and made it more harmonious. At the end of my project, the sound of putting pen down, breathing indicated I had finished writing, then came with the bell ringing, which expresses a release.

C. Conclusion
My presentation went great, everyone recognized what I want to express. Because my topic was an exam, so some classic elements, such as the sound of writing, clock, ringing bells, is highly recognizable. There were also some pieces that had the same elements as mine.
If I have time, I will think of using other sounds to show that it is an exam, and I will go back to find different sounds that are not familiar to people but can create a kind of exam atmosphere. And I will put more time on creating the tense and oppressive environment.

D.Image of Audition

 Five Obstructions (2004) by Jorgen Leth & Lars von Trier

• What are the precise rules of each of the obstructions?

1. 12 frames, answers to the question asked in the film “perfect human”, in Cuba, no set.
2. In the most miserable place in the world, not showing it, Jorgen Leth is the “perfect man”, having the meal.
3. Complete freedom or back to Bombay.
4. A cartoon.
5. Lars Von Trier will make the last obstruction, and Jorgen Leth will be credited as director, reading a narration script written by Lars Von Trier.

• How does Jorgen cope with the obstructions?

1. Jorgen found dancers in Cuba, shooting the scene of smoking, dancing with music, and using many approaches like jump cuts, spending a very short time to each scene, so that the various scenes are quickly interspersed together. He also uses written text to flash in the film.
2. He found a street in Bombay, which is full of people, chaos, and noise. He dressed formally and used white to lay out the table and items, with the dish right in the middle of the table, and he laid out a transparent but fuzzy board behind, isolating the hungry-looking children. The subject of the shot contrasts with the background behind it, strengthening the misery of this place.
3. He shot random things like chairs at the beginning, then used juxtaposition to focus on a man’s daily life, and his meeting with the “perfect woman”.
4. He collaborated with animators. In the film, he used the form of a dividing area which appeared in the comic, and also increase the color of the scenes to be more obvious and prominent, making the film richer and more imaginative.
5. He challenged himself to read the narration with emotion, which he had never done in his film.

• What is the effect on the movies he produces? & Other thoughts crossing your mind while watching.

In the first film clip, I felt a kind of fragmentation, because most of the clips lasted for a short time and the film was rich in content, so it gave a novel experience.
In the second film, I felt a strong contrast between the man in front who was dressed formally, eating, and the group of children behind and segregated who were watching him eat. It really expressed a feeling of misery.
In the third film, I feel the different and opposite aspects of one’s daily life in the juxtaposition. And the self-introduce, which is repeated but simple from the “perfect woman”, is very fresh to me.
In the fourth film, I was immersed in the smooth cartoon animation and attracted by the vivid colors. The various transitions used and the splicing of different scenes are imaginative and characteristic.
In the fifth film, the visual nature of the film is weakened and the narration seems to become the main subject. I could also feel the author’s emotions from the changing tones of the narrator.
The film uses many forms of expression on the same theme, with creative and unexpected results, and I learned how these forms of expression can bring different feelings to the audience.

 The Uncertainty of Documentarism by Hito Steyerl

• Steyerl talks about how the “unbroken belief” of the documentary form is challenged. What does Steyerl mean by this? Certain movies and films are based on a true story.  How does truth inform the fiction? How might fiction inform the truth?

Documentaries should be realistic about things’ authenticity and closely connected to reality. The article mentions that documentaries are no longer about reality as content, but emphasize an uncertainty which generates emotions from the audience, which challenged the “unbroken belief”. 
The uncertainty principle of modern documentarism is that: the lack of focus gives the images a sense of reality; the increasingly abstract documentary images show little else than their own excitement; the more immediate they become, the less there is to see; the closer we get to reality, the less focused and jumpy the images become. 
Steyerl means that documentary no longer asks whether documentary images conform to reality, their authenticity lies in their expression. Documentaries becomes subjective and constructed, and they may not represent the truth in an objective way.
The documentary form conveys, regulates and manages a huge emotional potential that is both controlled and explosively released. By reflecting real images, documentaries bring a sense of “immersion” that evokes a different mix of panic and excitement than fiction. At the same time, documentary forms can create a false sense of intimacy and even a false sense of presence, the fictional elements may be added for dramatic effects to enhance the interpretation of the truth. Their shocking effects are magnified; they provoke fear and disbelief as much as they bring endless relief and satisfaction. 

• What is the significance of the authenticity and representation of the truth in the media that you consume on a daily basis? What is the role of a live broadcast?

I think that for media like news, its truth should be expressed with the objectivity of the content. The live broadcast in news should focus on showing the events themselves without any emotion involved. They provide a sense of immediacy, and viewers can experience the unfolding of an event in real-time. However, today’s news tends to be exaggerated and compelling, distorts the facts. 
For me, my daily attention to live broadcast has actually stopped focusing on the authenticity of the content, the characters. I like to watch Vtubers who appear in 2D form, and are usually made up by fiction. I have the real feeling when they interact with the audience. The authenticity of conveyed emotions has replaced the authenticity of the the characters themselves.

I want to recreate my high school exams in the project. The college entrance exam, for me at the time, for other students around me, and for most Chinese students, had a life-defining significance. Any good or bad score can affect the future.
My college entrance exam was held at a high school in Shanghai. In such an important and serious exam, the exam room was a silent competition. In an awful silence, you could hear the soft sound of pens rubbing against the paper, the sound of someone scratching his head. The sound of the pencil falling on the floor became extra harsh, and the movements of the person who tried to pick it up were filled with panic. The sound of turning over paper was prominent and caused upset for those around. The walking of the invigilators is disturbing and unsettling. As you watched the time pass, you could even hear your own heartbeat in the ticking of the clock. 
In the mixture of the oppression, tension, and anxiety, the exam came to an end with the bell ringing, then came a variety of different emotions: an overwhelming, a release, and a strange panic.
In my work, I wanted to not only recreate the sound of the exam room, but also reflect my inner emotions through different sounds, and to recreate a tense, oppressive environment.

A. Name: Siwei Chen
    Name of Project: Life in Flowers

B. Concept:

For the photo in my diptych, the statue of Venus standing on the left, eyes blindfolded, with a bunch of flowers in a glass jar on the right, and a dark background made up of many roses. This photo can be interpreted that Venus representing the person who has lost her hands, broken, while the flowers in the glass jar are a representation of love, beauty, and nature, which is also a symbol of Venus in ancient Greek mythology.
Then, I wanted to make up for Venus’ arms with flowers, so I added different flowers to Venus’ arms in another piece. I tried to bring the elements of love and beauty into a state that had been broken, fractured, and suffered. These flowers represent hope and creation and beauty, overcoming the original brokenness to bring new beauty and harmony, showing through the glowing triangle around Venus.
In addition, the statues can represent as man-made works of art, while the flowers are natural elements, and this work can also be seen as an interpretation of a reflection on the relationship between man and nature.

I was inspired by the flowers and the statue of Venus placed in my home. I thought the two would work well together, so I set up the scene as shown in the picture, and then gradually formed the whole piece.

C. Process:

When I settled on the objects and subjects I wanted to photograph: flowers, and statues, I collected all the flowers at my home: many roses (fake), yellow flowers (I don’t know its name), red perennials, and some white and purple flowers. After collecting, I used a table lamp as the only light source, used a piece of cloth to cover the wall behind and the table underneath, and covered the entire background with roses. Then, I placed the Venus statue and the flowers in the glass jar. However, I thought this seemed a little monotonous, so I stuck a small piece of tape on the eyes of Venus.

When I did the second phase of the work, I originally wanted to put the flowers through the body of the statue to produce a poignant beauty. Nevertheless, I changed my mind. I added different flowers on the broken arms (this may be the most significant because it’s hard to adjust the size and length of flowers to make the whole thing look natural), and used various flowers as the dress (I actually took the top half of Venus and her bottom half separately in two photos, so I added many other elements in order to make the patchwork more natural). I also replaced the leg part under her dress with a wine bottle and combined it with a circle of glowing triangles around it, to add a modern touch. In this way, she looks like she has been reborn. Regarding the background, I first chose a picture with Venus’ face enlarged as the background, then reversed the color. I added a lot of flat flower elements to paste around the photo, and by adjusting the exposure, saturation, etc., I created a relief effect of it. Of course, I still wanted the viewer’s main focus to be on the Venus statue in the middle, so I adjusted the background to be very dark. It is the last step in my project.

The problem I met might be the glowing effect because I didn’t know how to do this. Then I found some YouTube videos and learned this skill.

D. Conclusion:

From the critique, I know my work may seem simple, and the two images look alike. If I have more time to improve, I will integrate more elements into my Photoshop work and choose a more bright, more vivid color to give a sense of contrast between the two pieces.

E. Image of Diptych
Contact sheet:

Diptych:

1. I think the overall concept of the “diptych” is that there are two pictures in one work whose contents echo each other. They can be similar in content, or they can be contrasted, but they always make the viewer feel that they have something in common. In a diptych, I want to create similar pictures with different ways of creating, one of which is a direct photo taken by the camera, and the other is a picture with elements that have appeared in the photo and some other elements, creating a feeling of sameness but difference.
2. The first picture is just a photo, which hasn’t been edited much, trying to express a kind of realism to show the objective, original scene. The second picture may be abstract and contains an explanation of the subjectivity of the photographer. Many seemingly unrelated elements are collaged together, using colors and elements to convey a subjective mood of the creator. Therefore, there is a certain similarity between these two pictures, one is presenting the appearance of things objectively, and the other is strongly expressing the emotion of the creator. These two pictures can be combined into one work, conveying the concept together.
3. I plan to take some images of flowers, but actually, I haven’t made a decision about what kind of flower, what form of flower (is it real or digital) to photograph.
4. For the first picture, I may just adjust the color and value of the photo. For another picture, I may cut elements of the photo I chose, and insert some elements from other photos, using panning, zooming in or out to these materials to create another picture.

In Our Own Image — Fred Ritchin

1. To the “fluidity of the digital”, Ritchin means that photography nowadays no longer reflects the reality of things, nor does it have enough meaning to be documented, because they can often be edited, changed, and faked in post. Digital fluidity is the loss of the true meaning of the photograph, it no longer represents the photographer’s perspective, nor does it prove the situation of the person photographed, while the photographic reality contains more of the subjective will of the picture editor, which is fragmented, is incomplete. Nowadays, like Photoshop, this software can edit pictures, by adding or removing elements from the picture, to make a new picture that can represent a completely different meaning from the original one.
2. Though nowadays the photograph does not always reflect reality, it still can reproduce the scene and figure through pictures, where we can already see everything and do not need to use our imagination. While compare to other technology like text, reading text tests our reading ability and imagination. The picture is reproduced through imagination inspired by the text, and each person’s reproduction of the picture will be different, and the text is not perfect in describing every detail in the scene. The video seems better than the text, and it may be even better than the photograph because it allows things to move. It captures the movements of everything and provides a direct visual scene to the viewer, which is more real for recording than photographs. Virtual reality provides a perspective that almost matches human vision and creates a world that is visually realistic, however, the content of virtual reality is not always about realism and is often for entertainment and amusement. Books, just like text, it is necessary to use our imagination through reading, and their content may not always be realistic.