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.

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!

Crit week 8 My presentation

Firstly here is the link to my progress report for crit week so you can have a look at what I showed;

http://prezi.com/uuwmlionw2ev/amy-warnock-progress/

Ok so Im not going to go into to much details as everything that I talked about in my presentation is basically in my blog but for grading purposes I will talk a little bit

I firstly started talking about what I have been seeing/reading the past four month. I talked about Les illuminations with the scottish ensemble and video artist Netia Jones doing live visuals during the concert. I have also been reading Digital Harmony- on the complimentary of music and visuals. Even though this book is over 30 years old and times have changed significantly its still good to look back on some basic concepts that are still used today. I have also been reading a lot of books on colour theory, reading about timing in animation, musical texture and aesthetic theories.

I then went on to explain what I was listening to as music is a big part of my project. After reading a lot on musical textures I have been listening to a lot of jazz, dubstep and after les illuminations, orchestral music and classical music. I have been particularly inspired by Totally enormous extinct dinosaurs- Garden while its amazing into.

Then I went on to what are currently my inspirations/points of interest just now. I talked about Wassily Kandinsky as he loved to paint tones and cords that he heard and he also loved the communication between the eye and ear. Leopold Survage was a new find and he is a french painter who did a series of painting called "symphonies in colour" these beautiful works of art encapsulise the music and are absolutely stunning. John cage and his "prepared piano" is also very interesting. He put lots of different things into the piano to alter the sound when played. After les illuminations I have also been looking into the artist Netia Jones as i was bitterly disappointed with her video art that night so I wanted to find more about her and why she is so popular; maybe its just down to a taste thing and I happen to not like her. William Moritz is also still in my interest as he is a film historian who specialized in visual music and experimental animation. So if I need to know something I am pretty sure he is the guy who knows it, shame he is no longer here! I have also been watching/ reading/ studying the beginning of Fantasia and Finally taking a strong interest in Maura McDonnell who is a key element to the visual music world currently.

So, the important part...What have I been actually doing? Well if you look at my presentation, it shows lots of snap shots of just SOME of the work I have been up to, I have been particuarly interested in the movement/textures in music as well as visuals so Ive been playing with texture/movement in visuals. For example, Oil and dye, Water and dye, Salt and the washing machine, Salt and the hoover, Nature, leaves, trees, lighting, vibrations, rice and dye, colour etc. I have also been in talk with a local musician who I will be making a music video for as part of my pre-production. I have also been looking into instillation art with the TV screens that my last year video was on in the "imagination will take you everywhere" exhibition. I am thinking about visualizing the textures of the music on the tvs so when the sound is small it will be on the small tv and when it gets louder it will go on the big tv so it looks like all the movements are moving around and is just one big video joined together when it will be 7. I have also been playing with transitional videos like the example I showed (love and theft).


If you wish to read anymore about what I have talked about on this post, please dont hesitate to have a look on my blog where there is a dedicated post to each area so you can learn more about what I am studying.


Once I had finished, the floor was open to questions/discussion;

David: " Does it matter about music being totally in sync with the visuals?

Me:  " Its not necessary but what I want to create is a totally submersive experience for the eye and ear so that the two (visuals and audio) harmonize so well that you forget that they actually to separate things. But this is what my post-production stage is about, playing with different types of submersion (less for example a music video).

Belinda: "I really like your practical work, its amazing it kind of reminds me of Johnny's work, have you     looked at what he has been doing recently?

Me: " No I haven't, I will defiantly take a look at his work, I actually had a little meeting with Johnny yesterday and he gave me some great advice on my project so I will go check it out!

Another lecture: " Did you know how they did the skies in Jurassic Park" They used a fish tank, half with salt water and half with normal water and the effects to made clouds in there where really cool, you should have a look into it...

Me: Wow, that sounds so cool, Sounds like a really cool media test to try out!

Lynn: There's a NEON night on tonight, and they are working with lights and visuals, you should go look at that...

Me: I did not know that, I will certainly be going along tonight to have a look.

Please have a look at my post in the next few days, I have so so much things planned this week so watch this space...

Crit week- 1st-3rd

Overall I was very impressed with the progression that my group has made. There has been significant progression and development in each of their work and I wish them the best of luck for the deadlines. Here is a break down of my group:

Whayne- He has made great improvement, especially with his 3d modelling class. He basically has it all modeled and ready to go. I said that he might need to work on the texturing a bit better as the face that he has put onto the space man's face was quite squint and distorted but thats just nit picking really. I was a little bit concerned with his Screenwriting for digital media as I felt the story lack in any sort of catalyst, good use of characters and a proper structure. But he has a good basis of an idea he just needs to work on it a little bit more. Typography is very easy as because of David Lyons teaching techniques they will most likely have all the typography coursework finished before teaching weeks are over.

Lewis-  Lewis has improved so much. I was so so impressed how well he has worked on his after effects skills. He had only a few media tests done in after effects but they were really great. I have high hopes for him and I'm sure he will get really good grades for his video based coursework. He has followed a lot of online tutorials which has enabled him to do some really cool stuff. But i was a bit concerned that although he is doing well, they are just going to look exactly like an example of the tutorials so hopefully he can put his own style into them. His team project is going well, they all seem to be getting along which is the most important thing of that module really. I was a little bit concerned that he doesn't seem to have that much to do as he is the "graphic designer" or something like that and there is already a character artist and an environment artist so he is a little bit stuck at what to do apart from the name/logo etc just now. But thats for them to sort it out really and for him to stand his ground to get more work or his grade might suffer for it.

Sophie- She has made good progress since week four, in particular her 3d illustration. In week four she had no idea what to do and now she knows what she wants to do and is well on her way to a good coursework submission. Typography, like Whayne is going very good thanks to David Lyons teaching techniques so I have no doubt that she will struggle as if she needed help, David asks everyone how they are doing each week and can ask him. 

All in all I was very impressed with the amount of progress and I wish them luck for the every luring deadlines!