Final Project Pitch

For my final project pitch I decided to present it in a powerpoint. My idea for my final project is to create a documentary based on an animal. I plan to investigate into human and animal relationships as well as animal behaviour.

Augmentation Project- Broadcast

On friday it was time to do our live broadcast on Ustream. We set up all the equipment that was needed for our show to run smoothly (computers, cameras, tablets). We then quickly ran through how we wanted the show to be. Following this be all done a couple of full run throughs which went really well. We also decided to include title cards into the show, so that audiences would know how long they had until the show started etc. At 3:30 the show went live and everything went according to plan, which at the end of the show, we as a group were very pleased with. I found it really strange that from us just being at Ravensbourne we were broadcasting to the whole world and anyone could've been watching our show. I found this project very informative and it has introduced me to software that I wasn't aware of before. Within this project we were very much left to work things out for ourselves and I liked the freedom that we had in doing so.

Set up for the Live Broadcast

Stills from the show

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n-X8Xd2phcE&feature=youtu.be

Augmentation- Creating Final Aura

For my final Aura I wanted to create it for the nightline information card. My first task was the create the video. To do this i went down to level 3 to talk to Kay, who works in student services. I asked her if she would let me film her briefly explain what nightline is and what people can benefit from using it. Kay agreed to let me film her and I was able to film her for just under a minute explaining everything about nightline. The next stage was to create the aura on Aurasma Studio. Again when trying to make my aura the software kept rejecting my video, after a number of tries I managed to get it to work. However my video then took a long time to load, when it eventually did the aura turned our very well. I used the app on my iPhone to test it out and it worked perfectly.

Nightline Card

Kay Aura on Nightline Card

Link to video of Kay: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuYYjStOgLQ&feature=youtu.be


Following this we got back into our groups to start preparing for our Ustream live show, where we would reveal the Auras that we had created. I had never heard of Ustream before, but the software allows you to broadcast across the work over the internet. The software allows you to pre record footage split screens and use Skype to speak with others. As a group we all watched a youtube video on Ustream to get a better idea on how to use it. We also allocated roles between us for the show, mine was to be the reporter showing a demonstration on a aura in student services.

Augmentation- Week 2 Crit

On friday we had our crit with our Tutor Ian. Due to Ian being away on this day, we all experienced a virtual crit with Ian to discuss our work. This seemed to tie in with our current project very well. We all posted our trigger images onto the Facebook group that we had created for this project. In doing so Ian was able to use the trigger images to view the auras that we had created. It was exciting to see this happen as I knew that my aura had worked and was affective. Overall I was very pleased with the auras that I had created. The only thing Ian said to change, was to make sure the video was the same size as the trigger image. Following this my next task was to create my final aura. I decided to do this on the nightline card.

Augmentation Project- Week 2

Within our group we each allocated two objects/signs to augment for student services. By doing this we all had an equal amount of work to do. This would also give us a wider selection of auras to choice to put into our live broadcast. For my two auras I decided to do the nightline card as well as making a employment poster and augment that. I wanted this auras to look a lot more professional than my previous practice aura, therefore I filmed the footage on my camera so the video was much clearer. I also made sure that both the nightline card and the employment poster were very easy to read and could be picked up from the aurasma app well. For the nightline card, I got my dad to briefly explain what nightline was. I kept the video very short as this was only an experiment. Again I done the same again for the employment poster, but instead asked my sister to say a short piece about booking an appointment for employment. The only issue i had with creating these auras was when on Aurasma Studio, the videos took quite a long time to upload onto the software and sometimes the software wouldn't accept them straight away.

Nightline Card

Nightline Aura

Employment Poster

Employment Aura

Augmentation Project- Student Services

Over the next few days I began thinking of different areas of the students services that could be augmented and beneficial for other students and visitors. Ian also not only showed us around the help desk but also an area on level 3, used for student counselling. I wanted to create a mock up sign for the counselling rooms on level 3 as there was no signs there to indicate what was available to students on that level. I drew out a simple sign and asked jack to briefing say something about the student counselling services. After showing the work to Ian he was very pleased with my work, although it was only a mock up. Doing this task made me feel a lot more confident in using the software and I was much more excited to create a much better aura for student services.

Student Services- Help Desk

Practice Counselling Sign

Augmentation Project

For this project we focused on augmenting reality through the use of the app 'Aurasma'. Aurasma is a rather new app and something that I had never heard of before. However the app seemed very exciting to use once I saw it put to use. During the first day of this project we spent most of our time getting used to the app and seeing what we could do with it. The app was also very accessible, as not only could we use it on the tablets that we were given but also the app could be used on our smartphones. At first we were instructed to draw a picture of anything and then augment an image that was already on the app. For my picture I drew a landscape with a castle in the distance, using one of the pre loaded applications I selected an elf and placed her to be within my landscape picture. Following this the other members in my group drew their pictures to continue the story of the elf and drew a room full a treasure, where a dragon was augmented. Once complete we uploaded all of our work onto our own individual channels so that the rest of the class were able to view our augmentations.

Following this task, we were put into groups and each given a selected area of Ravensbourne to augment. My groups section was 'Student Services'. We were also told that these final augmentations were going to be used by students and visitors so they had to be very professional.

Freedom and Liberty- Projections

For my final piece I wanted to project my work onto manmade objects to show the contrast of nature and man made. I also wanted to question whether I felt free when looking at the film, regardless that it was on a manmade object.

FINAL PROJECTIONS

I really like the use of the sofa in this projection. There wasn't much lighting in this area, which made the projection stand out more. I also think the framing of the shot worked  well. 

Supporting Projection

I real like the contrast in this projection as a building is visible in the background. I edited the colour levels on this film so that the wall was a bit darker, therefore the film was more visible. 

• For me I think it is still possible to feel free through nature, even if you aren't physically there. 

Freedom and Liberty- Filming and Editing

Continuing with developing ideas, I looked at the work of Richard long, who creates art by walking in landscapes as well as using his surroundings to create his art. I myself went out to a local nature reserve near my home. A place I have been visiting for over 10 years, for me this is a personal place where I can experience nature and feel free. I captured a lot of footage of my walk around the nature reserve to be used in my film.

Pipilotti Rist- Film (projection)

• My aim for this was to use the footage and combine it with footage found on the internet of nature from around that world, that I am unable to get hold of. 

• As well as this my plan was to project my footage onto buildings/ manmade objects, in doing so juxtaposing the two. 

As  research for my projections I looked at the work of Pipilotti Rist, Tacita Dean and Jane and Louise Wilson.  

I particularly like the idea of projections as they reveal film in a completely different way, rather than from just watching it from a TV or laptop screen. By using a projection, I wanted to experiment with the colours used in my film.                              

Editing               

 To produce my film I used iMovie. The main focus of my film was overlaying my filming with clips of nature from around the world, taken from the internet. I wanted to show a contrast with my experience of nature and nature that I am not familiar with. 

To overlay my clips, I placed one on top of another. Using the adjust tool I increased the colour. I used the opacity bar to make one clip transparent so both were visible.

                  

Freedom and liberty

For our next project we were to focus on freedom and liberty. As an introduction to this we watched a documentary called 'The Naked Rambler'. Which focused on Steve Gough, who walked the length of Great Britain. The documentary made it very apparent how some people will do anything to fight for what they believe in. Even in Steve's case it meant him losing his family and he spent 7 years in and out of prison. From my research I found that there were three categories of freedom; National Freedom, Political Freedom and individual Freedom.

For this project, I wanted to capture my own depiction of freedom. For me when I think of freedom, I think of nature. Nature is a play where I enjoy being and feel free. Therefore my plan is to make a short film about freedom.

Following my crit, I began to question different aspects of nature that I could focus on. 

These concluded of:

• Animals- Poaching? / are animals free?
• Contrasting nature and the manmade 
• Contrasting my nature and nature from different parts of the world.

After some more consideration, I decided that I wanted to focus on contrasting my experience of nature and nature from different parts of the world. As well as this I want to experiment with projecting my work which will show a contrast between nature and manmade. In doing so I wanted to question whether it is still possible to feel free in nature even if you aren't physically there