Video Installation - Practical

Producing a Video Installation

In this assignment I will need to demonstrate my knowledge about video installation and I also need to make one using either VPT7 or MadMapper. I haven't made one before and I don't know anything about it so I'm not sure how I feel about this assignment. 

I did miss my chance to practice my video installation before this assignment I was too busy staying off college and dealing with personal problems so I'm not going to surprised if I fail this assignment.

This assignment is split into 3 tasks planning, making my video installation and then after making so it should be easy I need to make sure I do everything that is required in the assignment.

Task 1

First I need to include all planning and the ideas development because it will help me develop my ideas and make me prepared when making my video installation. I think it's better is I make this this task in a word document as it will be easier to annotate and talk about my ideas. I will also be uploading screenshots of it on this blog.

I need to make sure my digital sketch book shows:

• My brainstorming ideas.
• Moodboard.
• Research ideas and development: past and current practice.
• Choice of installation: camera, sound, lighting, projection etc.
• Pre-production: storyboards, cast and crew, production schedule, copyright issues, risk assessment, installation set up sketches.
• Then I need to upload everything to blackboard with this blog linked.

Here's a screenshot of the mind map that I made for my video installation ideas:

I also created a mood board full of the sort of stuff that I want to have in my video installation with this mood board I wanted to show the theme that I was going for which is kind of dark.
My first idea was like a mood box by putting all my feelings in a box but that depends what videos I can find I also don't mind just having random videos projected in to a box.

I didn't do anything much other than research as I was absent and had different appointments so that's why I couldn't do a practice video installation before this assignment.

I did a lot of research by looking at music video just to get an idea because some music artist that I watch did do video projection and stuff. I also looked at actual video artist and their work. 

My research will be done using PowerPoint and I will also link to this blog. I will then put screen shots from my PowerPoint to just explain my research.

I created a PowerPoint for my ideas and research so here are just some of the screenshots.
There were loads more but I wanted to keep this simple to make it easier for me to decide which idea to really go for.

The choice of installation that I really want to go for is the box projection because I honestly think that I can do it. I only have a short time to do this and to do it right right I already mist my chance of practicing it but I never got the chance to. So now I just want to get this done so I don't get anymore problems that will get me to hand this in late.

For the camera I think I might need one of them Sony shoulder cameras but I'll need to book it before or I could just use my phone but that will depend if I'm allowed to use or not.

I don't think that I will need lighting as I prefer to do it in the TV college studio in the dark and have no other light apart from the projector. It will look better that way I think as that's the only light I want people to see.

The sound that I will have will only be added once I filmed the whole thing and edit it, then add the music afterwards because I'm still learning how to use the video mapping software. There are a couple of music library websites that I found which will be useful.

http://www.feltmusiclibrary.com/

http://www.stockmusicsite.com/

http://www.naxosmusiclibrary.com/home.asp?rurl=%2Fdefault.asp

http://www.synctracks.com/

http://www.audionetwork.com/

    

  

The projection that I will be using is called Sanyo Pro X Multiverse LCD projector it's the only one that I can use from college. It will do it's ok for projecting into a box as that's the idea that I went with. If I was doing something bigger than that then I would need something better.

I will be have to get this done by 13th of November so I do have a short time to get all this done. I have only a very short time to get this done and to get it right aswell.

I also filled out a risk assessment form which I had to do before I actually get to make so I went in to the TV studio and had a look and what were the risks and then filled this sheet.

As you can see that this is the first sketch you see even though it's not the best drawing of a box but I basically want to project my stuff in to a box which will cut from the front creating like a stage box. Then I can project different videos on each side and I'm also going to paint it light grey so that it can project properly.

  Task 2 

So this task is about how ready I'am to actually making it and to show the process of making it from sound to all the visuals.

So these are the things that I need to include for this task:

• Production: creating the visual materials as planned as well as the sound.
• Post- production: selection of images, sound, editing, loop etc.
• Evidence it all on blog.

There are a lot to do in this task given the time that I got and I've been so busy as well I hate how my personal problems can bother me getting my work done on time it's been a mess after task 1.

There alot of visual imagery that I want to create but some could work and some won't, I might experiment a bit with my ideas before actually recording it. I just don't know how it will turn out.

Just to be safe I won't add any sound in the video mapping software I prefer to do it after I record and actually make it using like video editing software I'm just worried about my visual imagery.

 Things could go wrong so I will record my own videos, edit and loop them but I also might use apps or image/video libraries but I won't take my chances of depending on any I'll just try it all incase something goes wrong.

I would like to create my own aswell so I'm going to borrow a go pro to create a street time lapse but it will be edited in premier pro where I can speed it up I think that will look cool if I project it into a box. I want to create something like the video below as I want to try doing a mix of different things and then make a decision then when I make it.

 

So this is the go pro that I borrowed I could only borrow it for one day because people from other classes needed equipment. I had to sort of like rush this part and decided to record a time lapse on the way home from college. 

I agreed to return this first thing in the morning before my first lesson so it was disappointing because I wish I had more time on this because by the time I found out nothing recorded I couldn't do it again. At least I tried the recording method so I think I'm gonna stick to record using my phone just incase but I was really disappointing because of the time I spent on recording my time lapse.

 I then went to the park to record something using my phone I also used these apps that I search for I kept looking for apps that would have cool effects. The video below isn't that good but I tried and I wanted to animate it but didn't have much time.

The app already looped my video for me I would've taken some screenshots of the app if my phone button wasn't broken (I'm unlucky) LOL

Then I made this using video fx app and I like how it made this like pattern effect it really looked cool it reminded me of the Iggy azalea video where she used the same effect for her music video. The video app also looped this for me and all I did was export it and email it to myself.

As you can see in this screenshot my head and then I chose the effect where one part would mirror in other directions.

There's my face lol it actually looks kinda funny..

There is no sound for the video I don't think but this third video I did each separately so I might need to either edit and loop each part separate or just add it to the box that I'm gonna project into.
The last part of the video is weird because I don't remember making it I think what it was is that it was a video I made a while back on the app and then because I didn't export it before it exported all together with the first video.

 

 That was done in my room as you can see my mirror multiplied. I used a similar effect as the second one but it's more mirrored.

I used the flashing light effect on this it was on the app itself so it saved my time editing it.

Like I said I'm not sure what this is but it got added with my other video I didn't mind having it infact I might not even use this at all but I have to put everything about what I'm doing in this blog.

I think I will be picking my sound after I make it because I still don't know what sound or music will go with anything that I made so far. However the links are above in task 1 because these are the sites that I will check out.

I also checked out image or video library websites I have to use them to avoid copyright and here ae the best sites that found so far:

http://www.istockphoto.com/
http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/
http://www.alamy.com/
http://giphy.com/
http://thegiflibrary.tumblr.com/

If I use any other sites later on I will add it. These ones aren't so bad because then I can share what I want, download and then convert it.

I found some interesting images and gifs that I could use now it's the looping and the editing process this bit I hate because it can take ages. So far I have picked these I think if my loops didn't look good on the box that I'm going to use then I will use these gifs/images because i will have them ready on the day just incase.

I found some really cool stuff especially that last site that I used I just researched for what on my mind really because today I felt like crap so I randomly searched for galaxies and skulls, I think this will look really cool projecting it into a box.

Then last thing before selecting music was editing it in premiere pro CS6 and have the images/gifs looped before exporting it.

I didn't enjoy this pat because I had to try different video formats to convert it to until it worked it was really annoying and frustrating.

When I finally choose the music that I want to add before making it I will just download it because I don't want to add it to the loops that I chose incase it doesn't work on the video mapping software and I'm not upto the level of been able to add sound in the software it self so I think it will be better if I add it last.

When I went to search for the type of music that I want I found some really good ones I went for ones that didn't have any singing in it

I really liked that last site it was easy to find the type of music that I'm looking for and you can sort of mix your own aswell which was cool.  Then I found the one that I was looking for, it really sounded good wish I can add it here in my blog but I will add everything all together in a zip folder for my teacher to look at after.

Since I decided to go for the box one I bought a large box and it had to be in light grey so I also bought some grey and white metallic paint so that I can paint the large box then bring it to college.

The box is H = 550 x W = 400 x D = 460mm it is very large the largest that the shop had I got a pack of 6 for about £30 I think.

 Also the paint 3 for £15 I think and then this is what it looked like when I was done.

I went to the studio so that I can see what it looks like when light is projected into as practice I wasn't sure whether the box was painted the colour it's supposed to but now I can see that it works just fine.

Now I'm to the next task where I'm ready to make.

Task 3

For the last task I need to make sure that I write everything that I done in my blog and I will need to make sure I include:

• To show evidence of the making in progress such as setting up the installation, location, health and safety check, organise, assistance required, equipment.
• What I did while making it and reviewing it after.
• Recording and editing my installation
• I also need to make sure that I upload my video installation on Vimeo as well as submitting this task and Blackboard link.
• Make sure to check everything.

I found the old images of the practice video mapping but it was a session run by my teacher so that we could watch and learn how to use the VP 7 video mapping software. It's one of those tasks that look easy to do but then it's actually hard to do I've watched how to use and then because I had ideas of my own I struggled to use the software properly. Anyways here are some of the screenshots that I thought got deleted it ended up on the icloud on one of my old backups.

 As you can see I used a skull so that I can practice using the software by projecting into it. You can also see the circle pointers at the side at the back that's what I use to minimize my video in the software.

 

You can see here that we were trying to project into it and it came up with colors at the back, also forget to mention that the computer kept crashing but then we sorted it out by changing the projection resolution.

Here you can see the video clearly the video that we projected to the skull.

Now to actually making it...I also checked that the room is safe to work in as I already did the risk assessment from before. No one was using it at the time so I will need to set up my video installation from scratch but with some help of course.

The equipment that I will be using to film is my phone I didn't think I would need the Sony shoulder camera I honestly thought I would do fine with my phone. I got one of my friends in the class to hold to come in with me so that I can set it up.

This is an image above of me setting it up on the day that I'm doing it.

I had to make sure that I connect the cable to the computer screen but then we ended up using our teachers laptop because the screen wouldn't work even though when I it did when I practiced it.

I then had to place my box because I wanted my box to be exactly how I planned it so I put it on the table that I used in the TV studio I also put something underneath so I can keep my box balanced.

This is a screenshot of me putting my videos to the default file so that I can find it in the software video file. There was also other people videos so it was hard to find mine.

The resolution of that I had to have it in is 1280 x 720. It can cause problems when you don't have it at the right resolution.

So in the software I used the crop shaping tool to shape my video so that it can fit in the box that I want to project into.

As you can see I was working on my layers because sometimes it's easy to get it wrong and the video that you select can overlap the other.

I had to make sure all my layers were on and in the right video I didn't want them going off at the wrong time.

I had in mind totry out different video projecting in different section of the box I did do that but only selected like 3 videos I wanted more than to play at each side of the box if that makes sense. I changed my mind when I seen how hard it was to use the software.

 I didn't have any sound on it so then I made sure all the settings for it are correct before I could start filming it. You can see my video mapping on the left corner of the screenshot.

 Then when it's done I started taking photos and started recording it.

It honestly looks amazing it turned out better than I thought.

And there's a photo of me when I was working on it.

Now it is all good and ready to edit I already got the music downloaded from the site so I'm glad I got everything else done.

Here's a video of what it looked like before it was edited I had my phone the other way round but I will sort it out when I edit it

The video honestly looks really cool I can't wait to see what it looks like edited and with the music added.

Editing my video

I first opened premiere pro because I prefer to use that software and then went on new project.

Then I searched for hard drive folder and saved the project as box video installation, then I clicked OK.

Then I imported my video file and music from the folder that I set for myself.

I then went on new item then title so that I can add my title to my video.

Then this box came up and I clicked OK.

Then I added my title as box video installation with my name underneath, I also selected the text type and the size. It looks good.

 

I then dragged my title to the timeline… I don’t want it on for too long so I will shorten it.

 

 

I forgot to mention that I clicked off the audio so I add the music I don’t want the projector sound to be heard when I add the video.

I then added the music to the second audio and I had to make sure that it is on so that I can hear the music.

I didn’t want it on for too long so I speeded up my video by a couple of seconds.

 

I wanted my audio to fade out so I went on effects, audio transition then exponential fade.

Then I pressed enter to render it because it froze on some parts of the video. The whole video render took 3 minutes.

 

Finally I will be exporting the video so I went on file, export then clicked on media.

 

Then I made sure the box is ticked and renamed my video my box installation.

It is now exporting and the whole thing took like 10 minutes I think. It froze on 31% for a while. Then that’s it I checked that it worked. Now it’s time to upload to Vimeo.

My video wouldn’t upload to Vimeo so I had to use video converter to be able to convert it to MP4 hopefully it will work.

Finally it worked so now I will credit my video and then it will be finished. In total this took 2 hours mostly because of my crap internet connection that kept going off.

Here is my Vimeo video link:

https://vimeo.com/116517565