bough

kinesthetic empathy project

final moving image:

making of: 

design a dictionary - final video

design a dictionary 15

I filmed this draft with a phone a couple of weeks ago because I couldn't get a hold of a good camera. I was very limited with what I could do, hence no zoom and poor quality, but for the purposes of development and experimentation it's ok:

I did manage to film the actual thing a couple of days ago though, and will be editing tonight. Aside from that we were given the brief for our next project (a group project) titled 'Unknown Land.'
It sounds interesting. It is!

design a dictionary 14

S, s
/ɛs/ Show Spelled[es] Show IPA 
–noun, plural S's or Ss, s's or ss. 
1. 
the 19th letter of the English alphabet, a consonant. 
2. 
any spoken sound represented by the letter S or s, as in saw, sense, or goose. 
3. 
something having the shape of an S . 
4. 
a written or printed representation of the letter S or s. 
5. 
a device, as a printer's type, for reproducing the letter S or s


O, o
   /oʊ/ Show Spelled[oh] Show IPA 
–noun, plural O's or Os; o's or os or oes. 
1. 
the fifteenth letter of the English alphabet, a vowel. 
2. 
any spoken sound represented by the letter O or o, as in box, note, short, or love . 
3. 
something having the shape of an O . 
4. 
a written or printed representation of the letter O or o. 
5. 
a device, as a printer's type, for reproducing the letter O or o.


F, f
   /ɛf/ Show Spelled[ef] Show IPA 
–noun, plural F's or Fs, f's or fs. 
1. 
the sixth letter of the English alphabet, a consonant. 
2. 
any spoken sound represented by the letter F or f, as in fat, differ, or huff. 
3. 
something having the shape of an F . 
4. 
a written or printed representation of the letter F or f. 
5. 
a device, as a printer's type, for reproducing the letter F or f. 


T, t
   /ti/ Show Spelled[tee] Show IPA 
–noun, plural T's or Ts, t's or ts. 
1. 
the 20th letter of the English alphabet, a consonant. 
2. 
any spoken sound represented by the letter T or t, as in tub, but, or butter. 
3. 
something having the shape of a T . 
4. 
a written or printed representation of the letter T or t. 
5. 
a device, as a printer's type, for reproducing the letter T or t. —Idiom 
6. 
to a T, exactly; perfectly: That job would suit you to a T. Also, to a tee. 




soft
   /sɔft, sɒft/ Show Spelled [sawft, soft] Show IPA adjective, -er, -est, noun, adverb, interjection 
–adjective 
1. 
yielding readily to touch or pressure; easily penetrated, divided, or changed in shape; not hard or stiff: a soft pillow. 
2. 
relatively deficient in hardness, as metal or wood. 
3. 
smooth and agreeable to the touch; not rough or coarse: a soft fabric; soft skin. 
4. 
producing agreeable sensations; pleasant or comfortable: soft slumber. 
5. 
low or subdued in sound; gentle and melodious: soft music; a soft voice. 
6. 
not harsh or unpleasant to the eye; not glaring: soft light; a soft color. 
7. 
not hard or sharp: soft outlines. 
8. 
gentle or mild: soft breezes. 
9. 
genial or balmy, as climate or air. 
10. 
gentle, mild, warm-hearted, or compassionate: a soft, grandmotherly woman. 
11. 
smooth, soothing, or ingratiating: soft words. 
12. 
not harsh or severe, as a penalty or demand. 
13. 
responsive or sympathetic to the feelings, emotions, needs, etc., of others; tender-hearted. 
14. 
sentimental or flowery, as language: soft, meaningless talk. 
15. 
not strong or robust; delicate; incapable of great endurance or exertion: He was too soft for the Marines. 
16. 
Informal . easy; involving little effort; not difficult, laborious, trying, or severe: a soft job. 
17. 
Informal . easily influenced or swayed; easily imposed upon; impressionable. 
18. 
lenient, permissive, or conciliatory, especially regarding something that is conceived of as dangerous or threatening: to be soft on communism. 
19. 
(of water) relatively free from mineral salts that interfere with the action of soap. 
20. 
(of paper money or a monetary system) not supported by sufficient gold reserves or not easily convertible into a foreign currency. 
21. 
(of a market, market condition, or prices) declining in value, volume, profitability, etc.; weak: a soft tourist season. Compare firm1 ( def. 7 ) . 
22. 
(of money) plentiful or available at low interest rates or on easy terms: a soft loan. 
23. 
soft-core. 
24. 
Metallurgy . 
a. 
(of a metal) easily magnetized and demagnetized. 
b. 
(of solder) fusing readily. 
c. 
(of a metal or alloy) fully annealed, so as to provide minimum mechanical hardness. 
25. 
Photography . 
a. 
(of a photographic image) having delicate gradations of tone. 
b. 
(of a focus) lacking in sharpness. 
c. 
(of a lens) unable to be focused sharply. 
26. 
Phonetics . 
a. 
(of consonants) lenis, especially lenis and voiced. 
b. 
(of c and g ) pronounced as in cent and gem. 
c. 
(of consonants in Slavic languages) palatalized. Compare hard ( def. 38 ) . 
27. 
Military . (of a missile-launching base) aboveground and relatively unprotected from enemy attack. 
28. 
Aerospace . (of a landing of a space vehicle) gentle; not harmful to the vehicle or its contents: a soft landing on the moon. 
29. 
Physics . (of a beam of particles or electromagnetic radiation) having relatively low energy: soft x-rays. Compare hard ( def. 40 ) . 
30. 
(of a delegate, voter, etc.) not committed to any one candidate. 
31. 
foolish or stupid: soft in the head. 
32. 
(of a detergent) readily biodegradable. 
–noun 
33. 
something that is soft or yielding; the soft part. 
34. 
softness. 
–adverb 
35. 
in a soft manner. 
–interjection Archaic . 
36. 
be quiet! hush! 
37. 
not so fast! stop! —Idiom 
38. 
be soft on someone, Informal . to be amorously inclined toward a person; have an affection for: He's been soft on her for years. 
Use soft in a Sentence 
See images of soft 
Search soft on the Web 


Origin: 
before 1000; Middle English softe yielding, gentle, mild, Old English sōfte agreeable; cognate with German sanft 
—Related forms 
soft·ly, adverb 
soft·ness, noun 
o·ver·soft, adjective 
o·ver·soft·ly, adverb 
o·ver·soft·ness, noun 
su·per·soft, adjective 
ul·tra·soft, adjective 
ul·tra·soft·ly, adverb 
ul·tra·soft·ness, noun 
un·soft, adjective 
un·soft·ly, adverb 
un·soft·ness, noun 
—Synonyms 
1. pliable, plastic, malleable. 5. mellifluous, dulcet, sweet. 10. tender, sympathetic. 11. mollifying. 15. weak, feeble. 17. compliant, irresolute, submissive.

http://dictionary.reference.com/

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

design a dictionary 12

So today was exhausting! But i got a lot done .. as it stands all I have to do is attach the zzzzip to the 's' and they're good to go.

I made some miniature versions of them that I will be zooming into; so that just the colour is apparent, then cutting to a close up of the larger scale ones and then zooming and adding movement with someone inside etc to create various illusions and visual effects.

Some friends and I will be 'animating' the letters, creating little 'puffs, pulls, punches' and movements that create a sense of softness and comfort, soft nature, sweetness ... 

The overall all feel of the film will be that of a child's educational television programme such as 'the clangers' , 'the flumps' , and 'sesame street' etc.

I had a little trouble constructing the  's' because of its awkward shape and the fabric's tendency to stretch and warp but overall, considering the amount of time I had, i'm pleased .. now I just need to get filming.

In the meantime here are a couple of inspirational clips off of youtube, a few childhood favourites that animate the letters of the alphabet using sound and movement, creating various characters and allowing us to learn through colour, play, song, repetition and interaction:

design a dictionary 5

TK Maxx, Clapham:

Morleys, Brixton:

some towels

some cushions

some fat thighs on fat cushions

ooohhhhhhhhhhh

design a dictionary 1

new project: design a dictionary

brief:

           'It is often forgotten that dictionaries are artificial repositories, put together well after the language they define. The roots of language are irrational and of a magical nature'

Jorge Luis Borges

define 40 words (suggested)

design a dictionary in any medium

I'm sort of battling with two different ideas, the first involves making several 'pillows' that you place over the head. The inside of the pillows will be lined with different fabrics, ranging from luxuriously soft plush or velvet to rough hessian or other fibrous material. The idea is that the recipient rubs the fabric on their face, smells it, 'senses' the fabric and then describes what he or she feels to onlookers. I don't know whether the outside of the fabric will have the word printed on it yet. 

Yesterday I bought some pillow cases and some velvet to line one of them with, I'll admit the velvet feels a little disappointing, but i think its important to line one and test it out ...

So the idea would be a series of them, creating almost an interactive dictionary that allows you to experience the word, and therefore understand it in a way thats more tangible than simply reading about the feel of something in a book. It's like trying to convey the view from the top of a mountain or an emotion, to be fully understood in needs to be experienced.

One friend pointed out that they could potentially be seen as offensive, and proposed the idea of boxes as alternative .. the thing is I want the fabric to be able to move and be placed against the face .. anyway, we'll see...

The second idea is a film that 'animates' or defines the word without image, so that although i say that it will be a film, all the viewer will see will be the word on the screen accompanied by audio of myself reading the definition.

Choosing words such as walk, run, breathe etc and I will record my voice as I do each one so capturing the 'action in action' ..

I did a little experiment in Lucas Gardens near the school and recorded my voice reading aloud the definition of run, whilst actually running (or jogging ha ha) ... which was quite difficult actually as i couldn't hold the text still ... also I thought about experimenting with different shoes such as tap shoes or heels to enhance the sound of the foot steps.

I also did a little experiment and ran around the park/exercised in my room to make myself out of breath and then recorded myself reading the definition of 'breathe.'

The result I think is quite successful because it begins with the breath being very harsh and strained, which actually expresses the action entirely and you almost feel breathless just listening to it. It's easily understood as everyone has experienced it, athlete or not.

erghh.. the other videos arent uploading! will keep you posted ..

night

a minute of your time ... documentary shots/reflection/final film

so this project has come to a conclusion! and overall i really am proud of the outcome. we worked together well and out of all the chaos came something quite beautiful...

i dont always like working in groups because of possible conflict but actually if you can overcome that and use the combined talents then the result can be quite amazing ...

    experimental filming ... eating sweets as fast as possible .. blowing bubbles etc ..

Lucie recorded the popping candy on a mic and edited to accompain the visuals which we filmed in a darkened corridor ...

i think we really captured the sound in a way that gives it a haunting, eerie, claustrophobic, echo-ey, cavern-esque quality, you can't quite place it ... are you in a cave or someone's throat?

the close ups of the mouth looked really alien and fleshy, kind of strangely pretty but also grosse ..

the intent was that the film be up for individual interpretation, that both the audio and visuals be ambiguous and for them to work cohesively together, niether one dominating the other which i think we managed to achieve...

i really like the subtle colours in the final film, the sort of dusky pinks and greys, then the complete darkness

anyways here's the final film, be sure to watch it full screen and with good head phones!

credit goes to Beata for the great photographs ..

a minute of your time continued .... again

yesterday was spent filming the footage for the film, which involved filming a close-up of my mouth in a darkened corridor with the aid of a mobile phone light.
the result is something quite ambiguous, a little eerie and kind of disgusting, (i think i've been eating too many sweets, but .. anything for art right?) like a fleshy cave or some other clammy orifice. maybe something a surgeon might see after inserting the little camera?
the audio is of popping candy in the mouth, which actually sounds quite amazing.
we played with volume by opening and closing the mouth and chewing, chomping etc to create texture and i actually really like the final outcome. i think it's sort of funny that we've used something that has such a novelty, nostalgia and childishness about it like sweets and made something quite disturbing and thought provoking.
i just tried to upload it to the blog but the sound doesnt seem to be working, so i'll try and post it tomorrow after the crit. good night

a minute of your time continued ... sort of

so, change of plans!
proposed idea decided too complex, simplified idea:
close up of mouth/inside mouth with sound of popping candy, a little abstract, really highlighting noise.

its all still a little vague ... but hopefully it will come together, it's group work so there are alot of ideas ...

a minute of your time

The next project brief:

Background:

a minute of your time is a video project to examine time-based media as a precious material.
It's an opportunity to focus on:

1. sound, movement and perception;
2. design, direction and production;
3. camera, choreography and collaboration.

Brief:

How long is a minute?
Create a one minute, un-cut, "in-camera" video;
Use physical, visual language; with live sound - no pre-recorded music, without editing or post-production; in groups of between six and eight people.

................................................................................................................
So ... yeah anyways i got thinking about sound and, in particular annoying sounds and how we can make them entertaining or comical ..

some notes i quickly printed before the lesson:

So as a group we discussed the idea of creating a video around the action of eating sweets and playing with the idea of sound with noisy wrappers, chomping, chewing, blowing bubbles, popping candy etc to make a playful video. 

We then later discussed who would be eating, what kind of a character, location, clothing, camera positioning etc, and decided upon having one of us dress in business like attire, sitting on a swing in the park.

So it's kind of like a 'sweet escape' the idea that we grow out of confectionary, or feel as though snack time should now consist of ryvita and coffee ... to basically suggest that everyone needs rest-bite from the hum-drum existence behind the desk and the idea of embracing childishness.

So we discussed the opening scene, and decided upon panning downward to then focus on a young lady sat on a swing wearing a business suit type outfit.

She looks around in a self-concious manner, and then sneaks into her purse and pulls out a boiled sweet, the camera then focuses on her hands as she pulls either end of the wrapper and then pops the sweet into her mouth.

We then zoom into her mouth as she very animatedly sucks on the sweet, crunches it and swallows.

She then looks around, both with a sense of guilt and pleasure, we zoom into her bag and a hand from off camera reaches inside, pulls out another sweet and hands it to her.

We then go through repetitive imagery of sweet eating, each time more hands handing them to her, in an ever more greedy manner,  the final sweet being the popping candy.

We also discussed possibly having the hands/arms from offscreen be painted different colours etc, or maybe wearing candy jewellery or painted nails in candy colours?

anyway, we plan on starting to experiment with film tomorrow, and i have to make a story board...so..

to be continued...

also.. stuff i picked up on way home .. well, the stuff that didnt get eaten: