Audio spectrum tests

Since I am wanting to go with this idea of organic and playful piano visuals in contrast to computerized accurate visuals. I followed a tutorial that you could apply your song to visuals so it would work with the song. I followed the tutorial exactly and the first one is a direct copy but then I began to experiment with the footage and got some really cool effects.

Intro test

When I was looking for online tutorials for my glitching ideas I came across this tutorial and thought it would be a good idea so have a cool animation that I can put in front of all my videos, so here it is! not the finished article but I am quite pleased for my first attempt!

You can get the sound from here: http://www.freesound.org/people/Glaneur%20de%20sons/sounds/34172/

Meeting with David

Well another meeting with David. We talked about my final project and where I was going to go with it. I am currently thinking about filming the insides of a piano, but filming it so it doenst look like the insides of a piano, but you get the movement from it? if that makes sense? David offered that he has a piano at his house that I could film if I couldnt find any. I will phone music studios tomorrow and see if they can let me film one of theirs if they have any.

Russ Chimes - Turn Me Out

I have just came across this music video. WOW I really love the use of colour as well as the movement. It kind of makes me wish that I could have found this before I did my hands and feet video to say it was inspiration.. but ahh well. I love the use of the hand gestures and the repetition. Even though it is a dance song the set and location has a not very night club atmosphere but I really like that, its a nice contrast. I love the us of the bold colours also. I think it really compliments the overall tone of the video.

British science association- kids day

Well last thursday I went along to Charleston Community centre with the BSA for a kids science event. It was very fun but a wee bit stressful, working with kids and a camera isnt the easiest of things as they tended to focus more on me than the actual workshop but anyways, it was roughly an 1.5 hours long and the problem was because all 3 workshops were in the same big room, the sound was so echo-y and you couldnt hear each individual person speak clear enough so what I have done, is taken all the best bits ( and the parts where the kids are playing up too much to the camera) and added some music. I think it worked so much better than showing the entire 1.5 hours, because lets be honest who is really going to sit through it all? Have a look here :)

Filmg competition- awards night

Well I have had a few days off uni work as I was in Glasgow for the awards ceremony of filmg. It was a fantastic night! It started off at 6.30 with drinks reception and lots of free champagne which a student like me LOVES! Then we were taken into the main room and sat down at table 12. The awards started off with the childrens awards then on to the adults. I was sat next to a lady that works for the BBC but I didnt get a chance to really speak to her as the awards were on, but I give her my business card and she said that she would contact me. My award was the last to be announced and unfortunately I didnt win... but all was not lost, I got a special mention award and got to go up to the stage and accept and got my picture taken. Getting my work screen on a huge wall with the room full of bbc producers and lots of other important folk was the most important part of the night.

Can you tell it was hot in there?

Awful picture! jeeeze!

Glitch testing

I wanted to play around with glitches with footage behind it. I just used random previous footage I have not filmed the footage that I need for my final video yet. That will be coming veryyyyy soon!

As you can see here from these 3 media tests, I have experimented with different levels of glitches as well as different types of glitches

Meeting with Daivd

Well in todays meeting I was discussing my final video with Yanns song. Ive been doing some media tests too. He is always very happy with the work I get up to! So I will just keep going! For next week Im going to refine some more ideas. 

Media tests from tutorials and new knowledge

Here are a mixture of tests that I created as a result of following and watching the previous youtube tutorials. I learned some really good tips on how to create static, but as you can see, because the clips are only 5 seconds long and I exported them as a windows media file, the end result wasnt what I had actually created. So I had to export them in avi or quicktime.

Glitch and static tutorials

Today is time to expand my mind a little further, for my final video I want to experiment with computerized glitches to visualize the abstract sounds in the song. Here are some tutorials that I have been looking into today! 

MINDMAP!

Here is a little mind map following on from yesterdays words of what I visualized

Listening and visualizing yanns song

So to get the ball rolling with Yanns song, I thought the first thing I would do is sit down, close my eyes, listen to the song and write down note and things that I feel/visualize about the song. Hear is what I first wrote, Its all mixed and wrote down fast but these are the first feelings I got from the song




A mixture o simple video with wacky abstract footage and editing 

Its like a virus taking over the song and video

Tv "noise"

A fight against sounds

Organic piano sounds mixed with computerized generate sounds

Some apple adverts that relate to my project

Since doing my hands and feet video, and looking at the apple advert, I started looking at other apple adverts and I found two that I was really really impressed with how they combined visuals and music and how well they worked together

WOW! This advert is amazing in relation to my project. the video is dynamic, fun and exciting, I could quite easily go on. The way this advert has been created is utterly amazing. The way the ipods move and bounce and split with the music is just great. The way in which the audio and visuals connect on this level just makes the advert so much more engaging and attractive to watch

I love how the use colour like with what I kind of did in my video for "fur elise" The classical piano playing in the background and the ever changing and moving around colours on the ipad covers is just beautiful and how they move and change in time with the music makes the transitions effortless.

Crit week- last ever!

Here is the link to my last ever crit presentation!

http://prezi.com/idoazcws3jls/amy-warnock-progress-crit/

Well my presentation well very very well, I was a lot more confident than my pitch presentation as I was a little bit unsure of what I was going to do for my final piece and what song I was going to do, that was the biggest concern. But its all coming together now and so I was not very nervous.

First of all I explained how I was in a bit of a rut and was struggling to find songs and that was getting me down a little bit. So I showed them all the work and media tests I have been doing for uni which have ranged in styles and ideas significantly but it got the ball rolling and I finally produced some pieces that I was really happy with and inspired to get on with my final project.

I then went on to say how I emailed Yann Seznec on the off chance that he might have a song that I could use again ( he gave me the music for my 3rd year project) and he came up with a BELTER. It has really inspired me to get moving and I can wait to start filming and visualizing his song. Since I only got it yesterday Ive not really had time to put much thought into it so keep tuned for my ideas ;)

For the questions, well there wasnt really many, all four lecturers pretty much just complemented and praised me for the videos that I had done in the space of 4 weeks.( not being big headed, that actually happened) One thing Belinda did say though that she thinks that I am focusing too much on visualizing every singly beat, which is true, I totally agree with her, especially with my hands and feet video, there is a visual representation to every single beat. So I  need to go and think about that, as it could look a bit anal? like a bit too technical and computerized which I dont want it to look like at all.

I HAVE A SONG

I could not be happier right now, especially as its crit week tomorrow and I wasnt looking forward to saying I didnt have a song yet! Yann Seznec has gave me another song that I think will work PERFECTLY for my final piece, its layers/textural and it kind of mashes up in the middle and theres some really cool/weird sounds that I could have a lot of fun experimenting with. What I really like it the song builds up the layers and develops as the song progresses, which is what I really wanted and wasnt finding in other songs that I liked anyway, have a listen to it here on this video and this is the email Yann sent to me telling me about the song, how it was made, why he made it etc.... I will talk more about it soon but just now, I have to focus on my presentation which is tomorrow!

The song was built originally out of a loop of a field recording of a banjo player from the Appalachian Mountains. The opening sample is just one note from that recording. In the quieter middle bit the sample gets a longer and you can hear the guy singing.

I basically built the song by making a long loop of that sample, and then sitting with a piano and improvising over it a few dozen takes of a couple minutes each. I think mixed and layered all of those different improvisations on top of each other, and using that to create the structure of the piece.

The final piece of the song was the bass, which I created using a Korg MS-20 Analog Synth, which is a beautiful machine from the 70's that I had access to at the University of Edinburgh. You can make it really growl or be lovely and gentle. 

But the main focus of the song is definitely all of the piano bits. The song was the result of some playing around I had been doing with taking acoustic piano sounds and mangling them up electronically…so the song is really about having a conversation with myself, building a relationship with your own past, and creating something out of many different aspects and approaches to one thing. That's why it's called EarthFireWindWaterHeart, which is of course a cheeky and joking reference to Captain Planet. 

Crit week 1st-3rd years

And how did crit week come round so quick again? ahh well it always happens! anyway here is a summary of what my 1st-3rd years have been up to, how they have been progressing and advice help I could give to them.

Madison

For Madison's professional practice there was a significant and it was evident in her work that her team have been working well together as they found a problem with the way that the art was being made and how it fitted in with the build. Since then Madison has refine and iterated her title designs so aesthetically they are a lot better. For her communications and interaction her interactive piece is coming well together. I suggested that she could an extra element to her interactivity by integrating sound into her project so that it could be used by more people and it would probably get her some extra brownie points. For innovation and specialization this is the module that she really has to work on. She is looking into how lighting effects environments and i suggested, if she is stuck in a bit of a rut, just go out and take pictures, play around with different lighting in her room, use all sorts of stuff, but just do something as usually just getting stuck in and doing something generates ideas better than sitting stuck.

Lewis

For lewis's personal project he is the graphic and U.I designer. The group had a bit of problem with their clients as they didnt like they way they were creating the game. It is upsetting when that happens, but they are focusing on a new direction that the client are happy with and I hope they get back on track, but in regards to lewis's contribution he is doing well and producing lots of ideas. For innovation and specialization, like i mentioned in pitch he was very much inspired with what I was doing last year and he too is looking into the relationship between audio and visuals. He showed some of his videos that he has been working on and I asked him, what are you wanting to do, are you wanting to visualize the music or just have visuals that aesthetically go well with the audio. I think he needs to figure that out and he will have a better idea with what he is doing as he was pretty stuck with his idea.

Dale

For communications and interaction, Dale is using youtube as his platform for his interactive story. Its quite a clever idea and he is not confident in flash and programming which is understandable as not many vis coms are and I think that effects our grades sometimes as we cant do what we actually want to. Anyways I asked hims how he is going to use youtube to play out his story and he will use different videos to link the story together with embedding them into each other. For innovation and specialization he is carrying on with his logos. He is progressing well with lots of research to underpin his work. For professional project, Dale is the graphic designer. He has currently been focusing on the start screens and buttons which he showed us and they have already been integrated into the game. They are looking very good and work well with the art from the other artists so they are obviously working closely so that the over all art is the same style.

Sophie

For trans media- This is the module that she didnt have the brief for on pitch and has just got a week ago, so she hasnt really had time to get into it yet. She was thinking about doing some sort of real life interaction like projections in someones house of their memories. I suggested that she go look at some bear 71 which is an interactive documentary about bears and their habitat. For entertainment design, she is still having some problems getting in contact which is worrying but as long as she had done a decent amount of work, her grade shouldnt be effected. She has created a start screen and animation which is looking really good. For information design, sophie has stuck with her coffee idea and she has produced a really nice set of information based posters that looked really good!

SNOW

Well as everyone knows it has been snowing! So Ive been out filming! just trying to get myself back into the swing of filming!

DUN DUN DUN DUN

From filming my Fur elise, colour film, I was really inspired to carry on that idea. I was thinking about doing a really famous song that everyone knows and trying to add new and different visuals to it. That idea has now went out the window but I still wanted to give it a go in a media test so here it is!

Similar adverts/videos to my hands and feet video

Well since doing the hands and feet video, I admititly didnt do very much research for that video. I literally just went with what I visualized in my head when I first heard the song. I think that even though its not the conventional way to create things especially at uni but I thought what the hell, lets just do it. I thought it tied in nicely with synthesia that I was talking about in first semester so I would give seeing what I heard a try! So Im doing a little bit of backwards research and having a look at videos in the past that are similar to mine and how they have approached the visuals to the song.

1. The Superbad (2007)- title sequence

Firstly, the song and visuals have the same era feel, vintage and funky. The use of repetition is similar to what I created at the end of my video with the wiggly arms. The use of block colour and outlines work well with the tone of the song.

2. The ipod adverts (not sure on the date)

These adverts were so well received, I remember everyone talking about them and looking back on them, they are still fresh and fun as when I first saw the adverts. The visuals work very good with the songs and I think it was just such a simple idea of people dancing to the songs but with this really fresh and edgy graphical style to it.

Actually no thats a lie

I just watched my footage over again of the hands and feet and I really dont like the hands that cross over each other at 0.45 sec in so I changed it and it looks a lot better, take a look at it here:





Totally enormous extinct dinosaurs- My media test from Amy Warnock on Vimeo.


(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBRHYNf2hLo ) incase the one above doesnt work




Also here is a video to show my work, as you can see every single arm/limb has been placed by hand, no effect or anything, it took 2 days of hardcore editing and a lot of patience

Hands and feet final edit

Well I have finally finished this media test, and I am so so happy with the results. The visuals work so well with the music and it is exactly how I visualized it in my head!

Take a look at the final result here (cant embed due to stupid copyright) :(

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScNjRqVDEqI

Hands and feet first edit

Well thats me completely finished the video through to 1 minute as I feel thats long enough for a media test and I can display my idea in that time. It has taken a long time to get all the timing right, but I think it will be worth it. Point to note is that I will be taking out the "talking" hand near the end when the guy speaks, I think it takes away from the video, and its too cheesy..

also I cant embed the video due to copyright reasons of the song which is a pain in the BUTT and which is why I shall never be using a copyrighted song for my final, it is totally spoiling everything!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvKny87PCvA

So now after watching the video back, I am going to re-arrange everything so it looks nice, and I think its too bland just in black and white so Im going to add colour in relation to Louis Castle's theory.

Hands and feet video

Well I managed to get the first 15 sec-ish edited tonight, I havent put the footage in the right footage, they are just on top of each other, I am working on the timing first!

Meeting with David

Well, another meeting with David gone. I talked to him about my media test, my green screen hand and feet idea as well as my fur elise video. I also showed him my salt crystal tests. 

Hands and feet video

I finally did it! I have been wanting to do this video for so so long, I have had this idea since last semester and I have finally shot it. I had a meeting with david today and I took in my camera stuff on the off chance that the green screen room was free...and it was! So here are a few snapshots of me doing different posses, I  was just experimenting with different movements in front of the camera! I will probably edit some of it tonight and see where I get!

Getting the ball moving

I've really been struggling the past week or so to get motivated and inspired? It's kind of put me down in the dumps so I decided, enough is enough.."lets just do SOMETHING" So I took my camera into work (I work in a kitchen) and I filmed things in the kitchen and I am really happy with these little media tests. They work well with the music. and who would know what they are (one is chips in a fryer)

What I really like about the last two videos is that even though visually they are exactly the same, the music completely changes the atmosphere of the film....very interesting.

the sounds used can be found here: http://www.freesound.org/people/Cyril%20Laurier/sounds/17717/
http://www.freesound.org/people/mknausscat/sounds/54203/
http://www.freesound.org/people/IFartInUrGeneralDirection/sounds/76421/

No rest for the wicked...

Well I dont half make things hard for myself. I had a staff meeting at work last Wednesday and we were talking about the new menus and I (stupidly) suggested that I could make them, so that is what I have been doing this weekend. Well it is good personal development and also good money andddd good for my CV for actual client based work so meh..... I had to keep the logo as that is what is on the front of the hotel which was bad to start off with as the logo is HORRIBLE. So I pretty much had to work around that using colours from it and ones that looked nice with it.. So here is the menu before and then after, the one I have done.

p.s the prices still need to be added and pictures from the hotel added, but I am still waiting for them

Salt crystals...a good idea to begin with...

I really like Bonobo- Circus, even though, the visuals for this video are really really cool and creative, when I heard this song, all the metallic kind of sterile sounds made me visualize like a science lab or something like that? With footage of petri dishes and test tubes, different colour dyes and bacteria growing in time lapses. So I remembered when I was at school, we grew salt crystals, but my memory could remember how long they took to grow. So I did some research online and some said they grew overnight and I thought FANTASTIC, I can do a really cool time lapse for the video.........2 weeks later...they have grown to a decent size.... ahh well, I tried, here is the photographic evidence


Before

 After

Song I wanted to make visuals for:

Colour/note association test

I really wanted to try and just use pure colour to visualize the song. I was planning on usings Isaac Newtons colour theory but he had only done the key notes, and note sharps and flats so I used  Louis Bertrand Castel's instead. I feel it has been a pretty successfull test but I think I will try and blend the colours into each other for my next test and I am also not too sure about the split of the left and right hand, although  visually that is how the song is played

Filmg competition

Well today is the last day to vote so I have been pulling out all the stops to get people to go and view my video. The local paper wrote an article about me and someone else wrote an online article, so I've had a ton of support from the local community which is great. 3 weeks today and I will find out the results :)

Online article can be viewed here : http://personals.ljrandco.co.uk/luke/my-friend-amy-the-gaelic-short-film-competition/