Final Thoughts

I thought I'd explain what I had intended to do with my project, now that you've seen what I did do. If I had more time and patience, then I would have each picture spin only when that author was speaking. Unfortunately, this proved tricky and went second by second--not ideal for just one semester. Also, I wanted to "reveal" the author at the end of the song, with each picture losing the kaleidotile function. You would only see what the true picture was at the very end instead of at the beginning like now. Also, I was planning on putting the name of the author in the box in case you didn't get it from the words. After careful consideration (i thought my presentation lacked a certain spunk) I would also add some sort of instrumental background--nothing loud or overbearing, just some good, upbeat-ish music to lighten the mood.

I am happy with the audio. The more I listen to it the more I like it. I also think it contains various messages and evokes different emotions for everyone listening to it, especially when you think of a person who has never heard Robert Frost or maybe doesn't even know who he is. The voices could change your entire perspective on whole novels, even your outlook on life maybe. I find Cummings reading to be beautiful and moving because of the heart and energy he puts into it. I hope others are moved by something they heard in it, too.

Since I did not get the experiment as I had planned, the meaning of my project changed somewhat. No longer was it the workings of the brain; instead, I felt it was more a model of media or life--it starts at a certain point and never stops. It just keeps moving and you keep adding to it and adding to it; things begin to overlap, until its hard to see everything without focusing on just one in particular.

I enjoyed my experiments with voice and will continue to think about the influence it has on us. I find it amazing how a tiny change in intonation can change our entire perspective. And maybe some day I'll get to hear Emily Dickinson =)

Final Project

So I finally got my video exported and it is now on YouTube. Check it out at: http://youtube.com/watch?v=ZrV4JI130bM

It's not what I envisioned but I'm happy with it and hope you are too!

Realities

As I listened to Prof Moss talk about different realities in relation to virtual worlds, hallucinations, and imagination, I couldn't help but think of where optical illusions and holographic images fall. As a kid I was always gazing at the outstretched hand that was really just a picture, amazed at the 3-d-ness of it. Now, it occurs to me that it is another reality; it is created by your eye. Like optical illusions, they play off the way the human eye works. If the eye worked differently, the image would not seemingly jump off the wall. I say it is a reality because it looks like you could reach out and touch it (and I am often tempted into that trap). In your mind's eye (and literally your eye) whatever that holographic image may be, is its own 3-d reality that moves and has its own shape. It gets iffy when you consider that it is a fluid reality that changes according to where you stand, shadows, and if a person (of the tangible reality) walks through it.

Optical illusions work much the same way, except they lack the 3--ness of holographs. What is intriguing about the optical illusions is that they are super tricky, even tricking the mind into believing they are reality. For example, shading, placement, etc., all affect how the eye perceives lines, dots, boxes, what have you. In this optical illusion, my eye (and mind) cannot force myself to see that the lines are straight, though I know they are from being told so.

Line Optical Illusion

woot woot

so i'm pretty pleased with myself right now because I just listened to my "song" that i made for my project and i actually like it. I have to tweak a few things to make it run smoother but i'm surprisingly happy. now i just have to figure out what to do with the visual aspect of it. listening to the song, though, i realize that i should make the pictures match the audio. for example, faulkner is quiet-spoken, so his picture will probably not be as bright as the others. and for e.e. cummings, the picture needs to be staticky because the recording is so. etc. but i'm pleased with myself and am excited to start working on the visual =)

Finished Song?

I finished my song for my final project! Well, a version of it at least. Have a listen before I revise:

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~syapinme/project.m4a

Framing and Flux

The issue of framing in my final project has many facets. First, I am framing my entire project through audio--the voices of the authors themselves. The voices are in flux since sound is a constantly moving phenomenon. I have no way of controlling this flux, so my frame is not set; the sound could reach farther than I realize. Therefore, my frame for the sound is in tandem with how far the sound travels and who hears it.

I have other frames within my project, though. I'm not just using audio, but visual frames as well. There will be the outside frame that holds within it 6 other frames. This is important since I can control the flux of these individual frames. I will choose when one will move; thus, I have some control over which frame the viewer pays more attention to.

My project will be in constant motion, both through the visual and the audio. There are probably more frames in my project than the three I've just mentioned. I like the fact that my frames shift and aren't static--it goes with my idea of the brain (which is constantly in flux and constantly framing different subjects/scenes/images/etc for us).

Final Project

My final project deals more with the parameters of audio, rather than visual, content. I am a huge Faulkner fan and the first time I heard his voice, I was shocked. The voice I had developed in my head from reading his books was at complete odds with his actual voice. I guess, maybe not at odds, but I was just blown away because I realized that I had no clue what to expect from his voice. Therefore, when I first started thinking of projects I immediately knew I wanted to somehow incorporate his voice into the mix.

My project has developed to include many voices. So far, I only have Faulkner, T.S. Eliot, and Robert Frost. I am thinking of Ginsberg and would like to include Twain and Emily Dickinson. Some limits to my project are that I cannot find everything I would wish to; I am limited to the audio samples the internet has to offer me. I wish to take what these authors say and make a sort of poem out of them--stringing different phrases from speeches, poems, readings, etc.

For the visual, I am going to have separate frames with pictures that I think pertain to what the author is speaking about. I plan on using the Kaleidoscope behavior on motion and distorting the image as the person speaks. The image will start off distorted and will only be revealed (maybe with the name--I haven't decided) at the end of the poem.

I also want to work towards a cluttering and clashing of voices. I already know I like how Faulkner says "curse" and love the phrase "ding dong of doom" and am thinking of having a chanting near the end of the video. This chanting will overlap other authors and, gradually, everyone will be speaking at the same time. I also think I want the separate frames to slowly form a single frame as the voices get more cluttered.

I like this project because it represents, to me, how our minds work. We can hear one thing, or see one thing, and immediately form an opinion, but once we learn more information our minds change. For instance, if someone could not tell what a picture was but heard someone saying something, there mind would be one place. but then if that person finds out it is Robert Frost reading a poem, the opinion they formed would be changed completely. After this realization, all the information starts to clutter together in our brains. We have a plethora of knowledge that is simultaneously being distorted, clarified, learned, crowded, etc. This information is also separate (we can recall facts from the clutter inside) yet crowded (all that info is jammed into the same space). I am amazed at how the brain works and is ever-changing on a daily basis, often based on one piece of information. People can have epiphanies based on one word. I'd like to mimic the brain in some way, and maybe the realization of who is speaking will alter someone's opinion.

The final video will probably follow the same sort of pattern as this Tally Hall video "Break It Down" from youTube: