Here’s a great little collection of video tutorials on youTube covering basic techniques in FinalCut Pro
Monthly Archive for April, 2009
I found these examples of really cool lighting concepts by different designers that seem to make a simple product look very cool. Mind you, these are only prototypes but it does give us insight on how they’ve used current or new lighting technologies put into good use.
The first example comes from a company called iHouse and their concept called the SmartFaucet :
The second example comes from Philips. It showcases their new OLED wall concept and how it interacts with people :
And finally this last example also comes from Philips and is also about showcasing their OLED concepts, however this time it’s using OLED displays as a lighting solution :
Here are some more online afterEffects tutorials, these are at an intermediate level and well worth going through;
1. Video wall: This tutorial covers how to create a video wall but the techniques covered will help you learn about using the “camera” layer and 3D space we looked at this week. Download the AE composition. You will need to download the Trapcode Shine plug-in to complete the tutorial. Trapcode make a great set of pug-ins so you might want to check them out, especially Particular.
2. Creating light streaks: light streaks as per iPod commercials also using Particular. Download the AE composition.
3. I’ve also placed the materials for the motion tracking example we worked through in class this week in the Media_Stu/mdcm3002_09/video folder so have a go and see if you can make sense of the techniques we covered.
This idea sort of popped into my head when I was coming back from my holiday recently. Airports have waiting lounges as well as VIP lounges for specific airlines. I thought this could be interesting to see how they’ve set it up and all. Obviously there wouldn’t be any cool sound installations in those lounges but it was interesting to see what type of lounges as well as materials they used to create the atmosphere.
A really cool example was brought to my attention by one of my friends is the new upcoming lounge installation called “The Rock” which is located at Wellington International Airport in New Zealand.
The Rock – Wellington International Airport, New Zealand
I particularly like the lounges they used. It’s wierd and interesting looking, which could be a good or bad thing. Since this is a computer render I’m not entirely sure if the final outcome would look like that.
Another lounge in New Zealand that caught my eye is the First Class lounge for Air New Zealand passangers in Christchurch.
First Class Lounge – Air New Zealand, Christchurch, New Zealand
I especially like the layout in this one, the long couch in front of a faux stone wall with two lounges and an ottoman surrounding it. It seems very relaxing and the colour pallette gives the feel of ski resort, that is, it makes you feel like you’re on holiday yet familiar enough to feel relaxed. In other words it has a very homely feel.
The next one could well be a media installation in itself. It’s called the Future Lounge and it’s basically the waiting area at Frankfurt Airport in Germany.
Future Lounge – Frankfurt Airport, Germany
I really like the clear ceiling hung floating chairs in the middle of the 2 projection screens. It has a funky artistic installation feel from the whole layout. Not entirely sure if it’s appropriate for an airport waiting area lounge setup but it’s different nonetheless.
Another really cool and futuristic looking lounge is the Virgin Lounge at London’s Heathrow Airport.
Virgin Lounge – Virgin Airlines, Heathrow Airport, London, United Kingdom
Like the lounge setup in Germany above, I like the way that they’ve used architecture, mood lighting and the style and type of chairs in the lounge to create a really cool futuristic looking lounge. It’s different and interesting and looks very relaxing at the same time. But most of all the concept behind the installation seems very simplistic yet elegant.
Since I’ve just come back from Japan I noticed that Terminal 1 of Japan’s Narita International Airport had a really funky and comfy looking lounge set up.
Terminal 1 – Narita International Airport, Tokyo, Japan
It was simple and sorta casual styling that caught my eye. It looks as though you don’t have to worry about who you are or what you’re wearing, it looks as though it’s inviting you to come and sit/sleep on the lounges. I especially like how they used mood lighting underneath the lounges to give the lounges presence in a field of wooden floor tiles, but also the softness of the lighting makes them inviting to sit on.
Here are a few more examples of interesting cool Airport Lounges from around the world.
The Wing – Cathay Pacific, Hong Kong International Airport, Hong Kong
Qantas First Class Lounge – Qantas, Sydney International Airport, Australia
I like these two examples because of how simplistic yet inviting they look. The first example of the lounge in HK airport is interesting because of how they set up the chairs, in a row with people sitting next to each other if there’s no space available. Even though this is highly unlikly it shows that there is some sort of closeness to one another if all the seats were taken up with people. It forces you to share your personal space with others that you may not know. It makes you think about how you approach, acknowledge or interact with the person next to you.
The second example of the lounge in Sydney airport is set up so that you are in a group of 4 people, whether you kno the person or not. I think both of these examples forces you to interact sometimes, however briefly, with one another in some way. It’s something I’m thinking about when setting up my own lounge installation.
Placement is the key concept I’ve been looking at in these examples as well as the layout and style…
simple…pure…elegant…
Having looked around at different installations either online (because they’re annoyingly not in Australia) or in person, I’ve seem to hone in on a few designs that I like. Inspiration comes from the most simplistic yet elegant forms I think, and the first example I’ll show below was taken from the Seoul Living Design Fair 2008.
VIP mini pavilions at the Seoul Living Design Fair 2008
It has a really nice, simple yet elegant, classical look to the lounge that with the help of a few accessories and lighting gives it a nice inviting look to a lounge setup which really looks very comfortable as well.
The next few images will be from Verner Panton’s exhibition at Hangaram Design Museum Seoul Arts Center. The work is called “Fantasy Landscape Room”, which the designer was not only interested in finding solutions to technical and aesthetic problems, but also in exploring the emotional effect of light. Along with designs for traditional lamps and lighting fixtures, he also developed light sculptures and lighted wall elements which functioned both as a source of light and as a decorative object.
Entrance to the “Fantasy Landscape Room” by Verner Panton
Interior of the “Fantasy Landscape Room” by Verner Panton
Panton created a cavelike environment of freely formulated spatial sequences. In the vast interior space the seats, sleeping places and tables grew out of the walls and up from the floor to form one big integrated fantasy landscape, where everything was covered with foam and Bayer’s Dralon fabrics. Changing illumination gave the room new colors, which Panton used to create an extra dimension, a movement through time and space conditioned by sensuality and corporeality. He achieved this effect by juxtaposing contrasting colors, letting red-yellow shades crash into blue-violet tones. Conversely, in several other designs, he created an illusion of a quiet, intimate closed room by using only shades of red or blue. Very interesting moody atmosphere is created here by the use of interesting objects and lighting by the designer.
The next image is from Gwangju Biennale, an installation where it had a floor video projection, interesting seats and you had to put sensors on your head. I think it’s some electroencephalographic visualization artwork, possibly a combination of the brain activity of two people or both in opposition. It could be something very similar to Mariko Mori’s Wave UFO installation which had 3 people in a pod, seeing visuals of their brain activity above them. The whole set up is quite interesting, because the participants had to wear medical grade electrodes attached to their temples. There are rumours floating around the Internet that the precogs in the movie Minority Report was based on this work and the concept was bought by Steven Spielbelg, but there hasn’t been anything in print to substantiate this rumour.
A Biological Video Interaction Installation?
As cool as this installation may sound, I’m actually more interested in the ambient lighting aspect on how it’s creating a mood for the installation setup. The night blue lighting creates a nice relaxing atmosphere which also puts an emphasis on just the lounge in the middle being a place to sit to immerse in this nice blue glow.
The next image is from a Design Party at the W Hotel, it includes a whole bunch of paper lantern lighting designed by Kouchi Okamato. Kouichi Okamoto is one of Japan’s hot young design stars and head of Kyouei Design, an innovative and fresh group of freethinking, talented designers from this fashion-forward country. Kouichi likes his designs to stand for a “minimum of necessity” – that is, he doesn’t overthink it!
Paper Lantern Lighting setup at the W Hotel
Again the focus in this image is from the mood lighting to create an atmosphere for the lounge setup. I like the way how the designer’s form also contribute to making a theme for the lounge as well as create ambiance through the use of lighting.
The next image is from South Korea’s Incheon International Airport where the designer has used bars of LED panels to create both mood lighting and a multiple monitor output for what ever they want to project on it.
A LED Panel display at Incheon International Airport, South Korea
I particularly like the way that it’s facing away from the Internet Café lounge area and towards the travellators. It can serve two purposes, as mood lighting to the people in the Internet lounge, and as a advertising and marketing tool for the people travelling along the travellators. It’s interesting in that they use a monitor-like lighting installation to do this as it’s different and hasn’t really been done as often before.
The final image is from the Anyang Public Art Project in Korea. This installation is interesting as it uses what looks like milk crates to create a lounge area for visitors to sit on. It’s this simplicity that intrigues me because it got me thinking about the lounge as an object made up of other objects rather than get the run of the mill sofa that everyone associates the lounge to be.
Anyang Public Art Project
I’ve been focussing on how the type of setup and lighting plays an important part in creating ambiance. But in these images I’ve also come to realise that what type of lounge you want to create also depends on the type of furnishings as well. So for example if you want to create a stylish lounge setting you would be using leather type materials (like in the first example – VIP mini pavilions at the Seoul Living Design Fair 2008), but if you wanted to make a relaxing, laid back, futuristic look you would use one of those Ovalia Egg Chairs as seen in Men in Black for example with blue LED mood lighting like in the third example (Gwangju Biennale).
I think it also affects how people react to and respond to the installation based on how it looks. If it looks stylish and comfy with lot of expensive looking leather, most people might be a bit reserved in smacking it about (since it’s an interactive installation), but if it was was a very laid back and comfy look (for example using a LoveSac as a lounge) then people would be more inclined to jump all over it and interact with the installation more easily. Overall though, these installations have been inspirational in giving me ideas and changed the way I’ve looked at approaching the lounge setup.
Decisions, decisions…
You Got To Love The Japanese
I’ll start off by explaining what I mean by that statement. I love how every once in a while, the Japanese come up with these really cool interactive sound and lighting interfaces. They seem to have this really cool technological edge over every one else by making something extremely fun yet easy to pick up and use.The Nintendo DS and Wii are two examples of my case in point here.
But now there is another really funky sound device called the Tenori-on by the Yamaha Corporation. Launched late 2007 by Toshio Iwai (who also created the Nintendo DS game Electroplankton), Tenori-on is an electronic music device which consists of a sixteen by sixteen grid of LED switches, any of which can be activated in a number of ways to create an evolving musical soundscape.
Tenori-on by Toshio Iwai
It’s an interesting interactive device which allows the user to create music and it responds through both a light and sound show which is a fun way of enticing users to keep playing with it. It was the thing that inspired me to think about using both interactivity and sound reactive LED mood lighting in my project.
Here’s an example of how the Tenori-on works : Tenori-On Product Demo Performance.
This is another showing how it’s being used to create a cool tune : Tenori-on playing Bach.
And these two examples are of how it’s used in a live set : Tenori-on live improv & Tijuana Acid Night – Latinsizer – tenori-on.
It also seems to be able to hook up to Ableton Live and trigger some of the instruments in the program as well which is pretty cool since you could use it as a sound interaction device to control certain aspects of the program : Tenori-on with Ableton Live.
It also reminds me of the Korg Kaoss pad (which Grace seems to be obsessed with), that also does something similar but yet much more advanced as it is a touchpad MIDI controller, sampler and effects processor for audio and musical instruments.
Korg Kaoss Pad KP3
The Kaoss Pad has also been used to make very interesting mixes such as this example and also this one where the user hooks it up to Ableton Live and utilizes the Kaoss pad a MIDI controller. But alternatively there are other people who are using it as an input device to interact and control motion graphics such as in : Kaoss Pad 3 controls motion graphics
Now if only these devices weren’t so expensive…
Having visited the Museum of Contemporary Arts (MCA) last week I’ve had a few ideas inspired from the great work done by Yayoi Kusama. The installations that she has created that has inspired me include :
‘Fireflies on the Water’ (2000)
‘I’m Here, But Nothing’ (2000)
‘Clouds’ (1999)
What do these images have to do with my lounge concept? Well I think these images are excellent examples of an artist creating some sort of atmosphere for the installation. Going into a mirrored room with a lot of colourful LED lights for example, has a nice soothing atmosphere when you first step inside and bask in what seems to be endless fields of lights that resembles fireflies. The installation invites the viewer to completely immerse themselves in the work and to share in the isolation and disorientation experienced by the artist.
The second image is an installation that uses UV lighting to create both mood and interest which is reflected by the luminescent dots as well as clothing you may have. This installation is a simply furnished room consisting of table and chairs, place settings and bottles, armchairs and rugs, however its walls are tattooed with hundreds of fluorescent polka dots glowing in the UV light. The result is an endless infinite space where the self and everything in the room is obliterated.
The third image is an installation that uses very big pillows that resemble clouds in the sky. At the MCA these were just scattered around the exhibition and invited you to walk through a silent room with bare walls. It had an interesting eerie calming atmosphere that sort of made you want to jump on one of these big clouds and fall asleep.
This exhibition was really inspiring as it showed that the artist has thought about the audience when she was creating these installations, the displays were not something that they could interact with, but think about and experience the artist’s view when she created it.
Another really cool sound installation I stumbled across was made by designer studios MAT and Elastika for Tokyo Designers Week and is named KT: The Listening Room.
KT: The Listening Room
What this installation tries to portray is what it would be like living inside headphones. The room beams audio at you from 15 speakers and two subs, all store in corrugated fibreboard and compressed polyester foam panels as you sit on a fabric hill. The acoustic mix is somewhere between a concert hall and a pair of headphones that’s large enough for you to sleep in. This installation was really intriguing in how it was setup to immerse the listener, which is a key point that I was looking at to get some inspiration and ideas for my project.
The final thing that caught my eye when finding things to inspire me for my own interactive sound installation was a game called Electroplankton for the Nintendo DS. This is an interesting demo of what this game was capable of doing, that is to engage with its audience and get them to interact with it to make something meaningful (in this case music of some sort) and fun out of it.
All of these examples have given me more ideas on how I will go about making my sound project work; by allowing me to experience and participate as a member of the audience, I’ve come to understand what I must do in order to engage my audience when I go about planning the sound installation.
Listen to me.
Imagine walking along martin place on your way to work/ meet friends/ see a show. Imagine whilst you are walking amoungst the crowds something or someone catches your eye, wait imagine a mannequin sitting in a lounge chair looking blankly at you as you walk past. You see it complacently seated there listening to something through a large set of headphones, which appear to read ‘Listen to me.’
Do you stop for a moment and listen to the visual scene, a lifeless body sitting in an armchair in the middle of the city, not bothering anyone but being present enough to make passers by question its existence. Do you question why the hallow figure appears happily seated in his favorite arm chair in the middle of a public space? or maybe you question other passers-by reactions to this obviously out of place figure.
Further, do you question what this figure is listening to? Could it be the latest hit, or maybe some classical music? Why don’t you go over and listen to it? It does say Listen to me, it does invite you to take the headphones and listen to it.
Listen to me is a soundscape project that requires its audience to participate for it to exist. It works on two levels, one by encountering the project within the space, and secondly by encountering the person within the mannequin.
The first level is rather self explanatory- the project will need to be portable so it can be taken to multiple locations.
On the second level I intend to have a pretty intense and almost private soundscape which displaces the user with their geographical location. Here I have been using a postmodern/postdramatic visual artist and dramaturge Tadeusz Kantor for inspiration. He gets his audience to work for their own interpretation, that is tailored to each individual. I want to provide my audience with a series of sounds that evoke images, not what they see in front of them, rather what they have experienced and what that sounds means for their memories.
“This process means dismembering logical plot structures, building up scenes, not by textual reference, but by reference to associations triggered by them.” – Kantor
My first thought here was to have a person writing out a suicide note which makes references to their memories… I also really want to use my typewriter so this services a few levels… For some reason I want the soundscape to be intriguing resulting in something quite confrontational. I feel that this will disconnect the participant from their location and push them harshly back into it. There is intrigue so they listen in on this private space, then they come to a point where they figure it out and quickly retreat back into the public space- back into denial that situations like this actually occur.
What Im thinking is that this will involve some dialogue work, which I do find incredibly challenging… can’t make it too easy for myself!
Stay tuned as it continues here…
Alyssa has posted instructions for handing in your proposals this Thursday. Details are @ http://mdcm3002.newsouthblogs.org/2009/04/03/handing-in-your-project-proposal/
The only variation to this for our classes is that rather than handing in a printed version, I would prefer everyone hand in a CD containing the PDF of your proposal plus any media files you are submitting as supporting test material.
Also a guide of what to include in your proposals http://mdcm3002.newsouthblogs.org/2009/03/23/project-proposal-guide/
I mentioned in class that your story board doesn’t have to be done by sketches, you could use photo stills or mock up stills done in photoshop.
Whilst a script is not necessary as part of the proposal it can be attached as an appendix if you have one. Funding bodies will not read anything they don’t have to but if your idea is strong enough then its always good to show you have done the work to back it up.
