A page from Dave Addey's Typeset in the Future (https://typesetinthefuture.com/)
After having discussed my first proposal with my tutors I began trying to form a question. One that I could keep asking myself throughout my research.
What is the information given and who is meant to understand it?
I then began to consider how to get started with practical research and exploring my initial ideas. To get the ball rolling I moved over to processing whilst exploring ways to convey my interpretation.
I feel a real enthusiasm for this project and decided to make a new website for my final years work. I wanted to create my work this year a space of its own to inhabit and stylise as i seen fit.
Revisiting Dawes' work I came across another piece of his I was vaguely familiar with, Slit Scan: Don't Look Now. A work by Dawes created through a slit scan program written in processing to create eerie imagery. I really like the outcome of this work and the behaviour of the program. Dawes' approach to motion graphic data helped me to begin considering data in a different format all together.
Brendan Dawes - Slit Scan: Don't Look Now
I was originally inspired by Christian Marclay’s approach to concepts. Christian Marclay’s Telephones (1995) - Christian Marclay’s Telephones, created in 1995, was a skilfully edited arrangement of black-and-white, as well as colour film clips that highlighted different subjects utilising an array of telephones, all designed before the smartphone era that we live in today. At the time of its release, technology was just reaching its peak, which is why Telephones became a breakthrough piece that is often celebrated today for its pioneering role in the history of video art.
The Clock is a video projection piece constructed of moments form cinema which display the time or the time is expressed. It took years of rigorous research and production. The clips are edited in an order in which the clips coincide with the real time of day. So really The Clock is an artwork which tells the time through moving image. It plays with how audiences interact and experience cinema. It gives us the tools to begin examining the relationship between illusion and duration. Under normal circumstance when we watch a film we are removed from the concept of time and we become swept up in a completely different world in which time works differently. Marclay’s piece does the opposite, constantly reminding the viewer and entering them in their reality and our audience experience events at the same time as the event is occurring on the screen.
With this in mind I wanted to apply a similar premise to my approach to this year. The dismantling and rearrangement of film. This could lead to alternative narratives or something more subliminal or simpler in approach.
As an avid cinema go-er I have a strong relationship with film and associate how we view it as a disengagement from our own lives. This idea of escape-ism though a screen has been a prevalent idea in my work up until now and I wish to expand on this idea.
Processing seemed a good place to start experimenting practically as I had previously found it helpful when working with film and data in film. Breaking into sections of information also seemed to be a good idea.
I split this into 4 sections. TEXT - VISUAL - AUDIO - STORYLINE
If we break down such things we begin to think of film differently and can stray easily from its intended purpose. Practically speaking it can simply be a selection of images running at 25fps. But figuratively it can be much more abstract. Information can be past through colours, sounds, set design, emotions of characters. There is a lot to unravel in a film.
I wanted to create a sketch that could endlessly loop through short film clips randomly to create this never ending relationship between the user and the interface.
The idea of reassembling films and taking them apart and putting them back together was in the forefront of my mind. Sci-fi is a very interesting genre in terms of its relationship with viewers and how it approaches ideas and narratives that we are familiar with.
Keeping sketchbooks this year is vital to my work flow. As I sometimes struggle to type into a blog post all my small and not quite concrete thoughts. I realised these thoughts can become quite helpful down the line when referring back to my thought process throughout my working. It also allows me to keep asking myself what I wish to gain from an experiment of work I'm conducting or why I chose to go certain routes.
Find below my processing code for randomly running through short film clips.
I reviewed my studio proposal and overall was happy with my initial concept and interests for this year.
I focussed in particular on…
- My approach on formulating and expressing interests clear and concise
- My plan to approach these ideas and how to express this through my design work
- Publish in my revised copy
Beginning my experiments was at the top of my list as I really felt it would solidify my concept and allow me to get creating. I’ve always been better at just doing than sitting writing about my approach to certain aspects I wish to explore.
I’ve also had issues in the past with posting my unfinished work that I’m not happy with so to make sure I didn’t lose out on documentation I decided to write my notes in a word document before posting them on my blog. This way I didn’t feel a pressure to constantly edit and question what I was uploading and still keep a note of most processes.
I began my exploration into the theories behind sci-fi and why these films are so impactful as a whole. To do so I read through a few articles and blog posts.
One of the reasons I’m so interested in sci-fi is the approach it takes to asking philosophical questions. Why are we here? What is our purpose? What is it to be conscious? It challenges us and allows us to be imaginative with our answers to these questions. There is no boundaries and that’s why the results can be so fantastic.
I’m no liar and I will admit that sci-fi is a genre that, like most genre’s, you’ll get your fair share of lacklustre movies. But when its done well, it’s done great. 2001: A Space Odyssey, Alien, Blade Runner 2049, Black Mirror, Interstellar are just a short list of the impact sci-fi has from its production design to its philosophical narratives. It pushes boundaries and questions our realities. But what does it mean to begin dismantling this and viewing it in ulterior ways. By directing patterns and conversations or considering non-linear structures. Sometimes we get something humorous out of these and other times we get something so laced in meaning it opens a new door to explore.
Overall I’m really excited about this work and have a genuine interest in what i’m researching, which is always half the battle. It’s an interesting starting point and seems quite easy due to the media I’m working with already being so rich in information.
A good starting point for me was Ridley Scott's 1979 film Alien. Alien is a Cultural touchstone and aesthetically it's probably up there as one of my favourites but it's also rich in metaphors and themes we find so relatable.
I wanted to research the film as although i'd seen it multiple times (to many) I wanted to begin considering it on a deeper level. I listened to the podcast Faculty of Horror's episode covering Alien and Aliens and read through Strange Shapes - a blog dedicated to all things Alien.
The production history is so informative to our analysis of this film. On the back of Star Wars, the script for Alien landed on the desk of Scott. Now what made Alien such an impactful film years on from release was basically an accumulation of amazing coincidences.
First - there was the emerging prestige of the sci-fi genre
Second - there was the emerging role of female leads and second wave feminism
Third - the production team were just that good
Alien contained themes that for me is what sci-fi is about, Imagined futures. It deals with the ramifications of space travel and the colonisation of places beyond our own planet. The B-movie boom of sci fi had a lot to do with the fear of communism and a fear of the unknown. There was a lot of cultural anxiety and paranoia surrounding the time.
Unlike other space movies of the time Alien was gritty and banal in it's approach of space travel. Unlike Kubrick's 2001 which gave a glossy vision of space travel there's a sense of normality in Alien and it strips the prestige of space travel. The banality of being in space.
They are blue collar workers and it's just a pay check. They mess about over breakfast, complain about "the man" and argue over bonuses - breaking the usual role of astronauts. The tech looks accessible and doesn't seem so out of reach. There's something representative of sitting in an office job in some early scenes. Our characters are undeniably human and no heroes. Alien in itself overall is a critique on major corps treatment of their workforce and their abilities in making their workforces expendable.
I began my experiments by collecting clips of tactile interfaces in Ridley Scott’s Alien. I love the set and prop design of the movie and the retro-futurist design of the interfaces within the film. They are clunky and sturdy with large buttons and switches. They are similar to the design of the Apollo Flight Controller console. Here is an in depth look into the console and its layout, screens, control panels and what they all mean.
Whilst collecting these clips I wanted users to be interacting with them and when put together would create this endless loop of human interaction with technology.
When working with video in processing it's better to start simple and work our way up or else we can run into a multitude of problems at once. I have worked with processing’s video library before but I have much more to learn about pushing the boundaries of what I can achieve deciphering film with creative coding.
Once I had achieved an outcome from this I revisited Dan Shiffman’s Coding Train videos that cover the video library and working with images in processing. I wanted a small refresher and a bit more confidence in experimenting more with this work flow.
I also watched a video linked below by This Guy Edits where he applies Walter Murch’s rule of editing by taking into account the actors blinking. The theory is if a character blinks he completes a thought. Basically don’t cut on a blink, cut before or after. It's and interesting approach and Murch states that good editing is invisible editing. Murch also uses Adobe Premiere Pro, pretty cool. Great editing allows viewers to just experience the film and not be aware of the editing of scenes - it allows the film to tell its story with no distractions.
But what happens when we don’t follow these rules or we allow a computer to cut films - we get these awkward clunky pieces of footage - very similar to the technology they portray.
I ran into some minor problems with this section of code, too much going on in the callback handler. I found even once the code was fixed it lagged a little and struggles to do its job, even using the P2D renderer. I didn't want to get too caught up with this at the current time as I wanted to experiment more then worry about the details.
I wished to achieve an almost humorous outlook with this starting piece of experimental work. By collecting sections of user interfaces being interacted with we question the purpose and the end result of such complex commands.
This work hints back to an early interest of mine - "techoration". In sci-fi particularly. Buttons, monitors, lights flashing all add to the films aesthetic. Alien in particular contains pieces of tactile machinery which looks worn and accessible.
The idea of user interaction within alien is vastly different than other sci-fi.
The technology is old, clunky and dirty - rather than some smooth, clean, high-tech piece of equipment.
Considering how I progressed these initial ideas was vital to being able to explore and create. Engaging through processing first made sense to me as I can easily pull clips in and churn concepts out in a non-linear format. Running into technical problems is bound to happen and I was having issues with the video library on processing for a while but with some help we managed to get a sketch running smoothly and serving its purpose.
I began considering Minority Report (2002, Steven Spielberg) as an intro into the depiction of technologies possible advancements in film. The whole idea of swiping a screen is now an action we are all very familiar with. Minority Report played a very important part in the advancement of user interaction and even though it was only an idea initially has became common place. We can never dream too big and with being at home right now not in a studio environment smoke and mirrors is a vital wad to get my concepts across.
I think there is something humorous about scenes such as the one below in these types of action/sci-fi films. The are cheesy and cliched but contain some really important elements in terms of design innovation.
They are overall sleek and smooth and are there to convey a sort of unreachable, unattainable object right now but we can imagine these elements being created in the near future.
The Minority report "search" scene is an interesting start to this non-linear never ending loop of technology. A search being a way to resolve something - it could be interesting to fracture this. By making these randomised resequenced assemblies of clips so that there is only searching and no resolution on a final outcome.
I think there is room to take this further and incorporate many movies in this sketch and create a series of different clips of "searching" and interactions with computers in film. I like the idea of franticness and this constant work flow. Randomness gives us the capability to implement unpredictability into linear media.
These tests were a way for me to consider these non linear moments of fragmented film and to raise questions to the audience that would not normally be asked. These tactile interface methods are interesting and when repeated over and over become pointless.
My final outcome for this sketch so far is an amalgamation of film clips which include user interactions with computers and frantic "searching". I liked this outcome as a starting point but I feel right now I'm only scratching the surface. Maybe these edits need to have a narrative that coincides with the film in question more or takes a film completely out of context? Otherwise it's an interesting conclusion.