You will build on variables—gesture, duration, sound, temporal and spatial contrasts— and personal approaches developed in your bitmap choreography as refined in Part One of the project. What key sensitivities made for an engaging work? What devices did you employ? What was the role of repetition, pacing, the word, the letter, syntax, sequence? How was message developed and conveyed—was it?
The primary goal is to explore a synthesis of analog and digital means. Think of mixing and filtering where the action doesn’t occur in the computer—it takes place when your image moves from the analog to the digital and vice versa. Here is a hypothetical sequence of filtering: videotape words as they are typed on a computer screen, project that image on a projection screen while you wave the screen slightly and record the resulting mix, then digitize the footage and posterize it (thanks to Tyler Walters for the example). This example begins with a computer generated image. You should also consider beginning with physical objects—pages of type run through a shredder, bent in the light, burned, melted, dissolved, etc.
What does the computer do well? Generate multiples, produce digital artifacting (think JPEG compression), modulate color HSL, generate wireframe image, etc. What does the video camera do well? Capture subtle / natural motion and complex textures where light and shadow play across physical forms, etc.
Spend some time considering your filtering options. How can you project, capture, and manipulate in both digital and analog? Must you construct 5 foot letters, project your image on a sea of people, collage bits of text to build little environments with little type collage people that you animate in stop frame (with a little type collage camera)?
Requirements: no less than 10 initial studies (5-15 sec.) These will get you into the groove. Use any text you please, but choose it well—remember the discussion on Sarah’s range of words? How do individual words open or close meaning? How do they direct meaning? One final work no less than 2 min in duration. Text is your choice here as well, but you must exhibit an understanding of what works best in motion and time. Long texts? Dialog from film, theater? Lists? I will be looking for a clear rationale as to your choice in text. You should also make a diary / sketchbook of your process on this stage of the project. Record your findings, experiments, questions. Set files up at min. of 640 x 480.
