Christina's Blog

Reflection: Aspects Related To Phase 4

cskiadaresis — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 19:38:59 +0000

Every week after our videos were edited, I wrote in my blog the transformation that occurred as well as how we manipulated the original version of it to create an entirely new video piece. The collaborate process took place by first watching the video as a group (given the fact that everyone came which was sometimes not the case), after we watched it, we talked about what can be changed to still have segments of the original clip, but add our own unique ideas to it. In class, we saw how other people interpreted our videos and it was creative to see their viewpoints on things we had not previously been exposed to.

With each transformation some common features we noticed that our group displayed was how we took the beginning part of the videos to create a similar but different theme. For instance the first one had to do with emotions and sound…and I reworked the video to include sounds and dancing, and how different music can make your body move in a different way. Just like how music makes you feel a certain way and energized you in a certain way. Another example of this is the “good idea vs. bad idea” where the first image we saw had to do with a baby. We expanded this idea, still using the baby as a starting point and focused on different good and bad situations that children are exposed to.

The process revealed itself into how information is mirrored back and forth on the internet before finally reaching the viewer because depending on your source of viewing this could significantly affect the credibility of it. If a certain video is re-worked to the extent that some of them in class were re-worked sometimes the entire meaning and essence of it has disappeared. It can be revealed that “be wary/beware” of internet videos because there are so many ways to edit and alter clips you would not be able to know the difference between it.

Sound was also definitely used to destabilize the meaning and resonance of the image, in the clip my group did about the dancing vs music..we used different styles of dance and music: some that matched and some that did not. This was interesting to see a hiphop dancer in the club with country music. It altered the original image portrayed and its amazing to see how sound affects the picture. We associate music with our feeling. One of my favourite videos that my classmates (Brad, Manpreet and Milan) made was the cartoon reflection where it showed different images from cartoon with a mixed version of a popular Shakira song in the background. This video was extremely well created and thought out, the story behind the images chosen as well as how the music/image linked together was definitely something memorable. It was almost haunting and chilling to the eye.

The resolution sometimes got tampered with as we received other groups videos and then edited from those. In the stage 4 clip there was an instance where someone had used a technique to eliminate all red colors and have it show a different effect behind it. Using these professional features made the quality of our film seem inferior. Especially finding the videos on youtube.com and converting them to the appropriate .mov file, some youtube videos were recorded by home video devices and therefore did not have the quality that television or movie trailers did.

If I could change anything about the project I would probably make this assignment in groups of 2 or individually. It was sometimes frustrating when not all of your group members attended class and in order to think of interesting ideas of course the more people there the better your ideas for the next video will be.

The original theme from the videos were used just to get our ideas flowing and we of course used a few segments of it, but the majority of it came from new clips that we had found.. I found it interesting to see how distorted one clip can get after other people interpret it and decide to build/take away from it. Some of my classmates used the same video and just changed the music behind it or the text shown. Example: the crazy older man explaining his drug and liquor problem and the fight he got into with the police. We saw this video 3 times and the whole clip was still remaining by the end of it. People either changed the music in the background, or the words shown on the screen or added a feature to make it look like a cartoon effect. In essence the entire original image was there, just with minor adaptations to it. On the other hand, my group used completely different ideas and themes that branched from whatever the original one happened to be.

In addition to this critique and reflection on our phase four assignments, my previous blog entries explain in detail what each video my team made was about as well as the meaning behind it. Please refer to that if you need more examples/ideas based on each stage.

march 23: final stage!

cskiadaresis — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 16:50:20 +0000

Today in class we worked on our final stage of our phase 4 project.
The video we had to re-edit was all based on the Olympic’s and the chaos and excitement that occurred at Dundas Square in Toronto after the mens team won against the US.
An effect was previously used where the bodies of the people had a different shade and picture in the background. In the middle of the film, it showed Steven Harper speaking with a woman in the background distracting him.
This clip seemed very random just watching it.
We decided to focus on the main idea “victory”. We used different protests and rallys that have happened in Toronto, as well in each transition, we had the text displayed of the word as well as the definition. After the Olympic victory, we showed a marijuana protest that was occurring and the people who supported the new bill being processed in respect to it. We had the word and definition of courage in this instance. After that we showed Italy winning the world cup in 2006, and showed Pride. Pride of the win as well as the Italian culture.

That was the final stage of the project. I found it interesting to see how distorted one clip can get after other people interpret it and decide to build/take away from it.

Overall these projects were informative and fun to make as our own creativity was encouraged and appreciated.
A nice change from my typical courses, and something beneficial to learn from.

march 16: stage three of video editing

cskiadaresis — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 23:37:29 +0000

so for our third video edit we had to get one from a different group and it was filled with “good ideas” vs. “bad ideas”.
it started off with a baby being filmed and then a baby being fed a lemon (hence the good idea vs. bad idea).
The succession of videos went from different examples from the baby, to bad drivers, random events like a goat being tied with a leash etc.

We decided to keep the same concept of the “good”vs.”bad” but in regards to parenting skills.
since the beginning of the video had a clip of a baby we wanted to show that baby’s growth and development and all of the “good” and “bad” parenting techniques that happen throughout the growth of that child.
it would have been redundant to chose random good and bad clips to fill in the space of the previous one. so my idea was to use the baby as a base and build upon that
there are many examples of good and bad parenting styles some of which we included in the videos as
- a baby in india with a cobra snake…vs a baby in america with a pet puppy
-a man being charged with drug possession since his father gave him those drugs
-a child dancing very badly vs a good dancer

these are just a few of the examples we’ve used in the video. for the full effect please watch stage 3 of our groups project!
enjoy

march 9: Video Project

cskiadaresis — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 17:40:15 +0000

So we had some difficulty getting our video project uploaded and we actually changed the theme of our video..it was all about emotions and feelings…we used words as well as images to convey the message.

This is the concept:

So for the first few screens…it had text:

Text box 1: Emotions…
Text box 2: we
Text box 3: f e e l
Text Box 4: (classic photo of the notebook w. guy and girl kissing)
Text box 5: through touch
Text box 6: (classic photo of romeo + juliet’s love @ first site)
Text box 7: a glace
Text box 8: but
text box 9: especially…

at this point another video was embedded and basically uses his self-made instrumentals in the background with the editing of like 7 different racing sequences from different movies in one. The whole idea is to show this and then at the end of it have the last text box show up and say…

“sound”

The instrumentals playing has a progressive upbeat sound that typically plays during racing or other thrill sequences in film so this video ememplifies the power of music and how it can really engage one’s emotions much more stronger than through the other senses, because feelings of excitement and thrill we cant really experience as vividly without sound.

Okay so that is the basic description of our first video and now that its my turn to edit it..I’m going to think about this and add a slightly different angle trying to show sound and dance and how they go together..
ex. ballet and classical music
and breakdancing and hiphop etc.
because we found that sound had an ability to affect ones emotions in the driving and action shots of music..i wanted a different bodily movement to show which is why i chose the dance one.

March 2: group project

cskiadaresis — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 15:06:19 +0000

so for our final project, the whole idea is to make a video in a group of 3 and then each week send it off to other members of the class. after we do this, we will get the opportunity to edit and re-contextualize other videos
this is an interesting way to approach a creative project because everybody’s input will be displayed in the video. its almost like playing broken telephone where the original idea is totally different after the game is done.
I’m curious to see how our original video project will turn out after the class has re edited it. In my group is Bryan, and Jessica. We have come up with an idea to our first video. Since Canada hosted the winter olympics this year and the mens hockey team won gold ( a record for us). We decided to have some patriotic pride in the video
-first we found clips about Canada and how people (especially Americans) believe Canada to be a inferior place
many americans make fun of our supposed accent and nation in general….thinking we live in igloos and have pet beavers in our homes.
-we wanted to prove our Canadian pride by constructing different clips of Canada at its BEST (ie. Olympic Ceremonies and the mens hockey teams winning)
-we have interview clips of random American’s answering stupid questions etc etc.
We just want to prove how Canada is NOT inferior and how our pride can be shown through the means of editing…we also plan to have the national anthem playing in the background throughout the entire clip..as our heritage is sometimes underplayed and not directly exposed..
hope you guys enjoy it and edit it to Canadas best interests!

Phase 3-Final Critique

cskiadaresis — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 00:33:49 +0000

heyy!
so our phase 3 assignments were due yesterday. Since the class got to hear mine I wanted to explain the theme and the sound clips that I used. All of them were recorded by myself..without any internet clips being used.
Clip #1 Edited
1) Recorded a convo with a friend- and sped up the voice clip
2) bathroom- paper towel dispenser, also sped up
3) recorded subway stops and voices/noises on the subway
4) closing of the doors in the subway
5) walking out of the subway (the exit which makes a clicking noise repeated a few times)
6) running up the stairs
7) out into the street (where the sounds of voices, cars and buses) were heard

Clip #2 Unedited
1) the sound of water, and washing hands
2) zipping of my jacket and backpack
3) opening door
4) going down the elevator
5) walking through halls
6) into the outdoors

I wanted to make it interesting to the listener, because I had 2 very different sound clips each that involved a daily task (getting ready for the day). I thought it was unique to use all recorded sounds…such as the subway and my own voice (in a faster speed).
In the first clip, the places were I found the sound were very different and in fact did NOT match my actualy daily activities. For instance, the conversation with my friend was in the afternoon, whereas the subway sounds were from the morning etc. This just proved how it doesnt matter what time of day you record these sounds at, if you place them carefully they can make an image in ones head that resembles a normal day ( in order).
I hope you enjoyed my clips, as I recorded them from all “organic” sources.

phase 3 cont.

cskiadaresis — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 02:08:53 +0000

okay so i found some more insight into the role of the project, and i edited my previous idea.
Now i have 2 sound clips
1 is the structure of a regular day going to school but the editing makes it an interesting story with all the fading and fastfwding I put into it.
the second clip also has many everyday sound clips but instead it is “un” edited.
the whole point is see if people can make the distinction between edited and non edited or capture and reality.
i hope everyone enjoys listening to my project

phase 3:ideas

cskiadaresis — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 16:23:37 +0000

In class we are basically working on our Phase 3 assignments. I have a few ideas for mine.
I started the first sound piece already i’m just having trouble making sound effects for the individual clips, instead it is altering ALL of the clips i have. Ill have to rework that in tutorial and see how it sounds that way.
For my first piece : the concept I tried to create was the lifecycle and the corruption that exists in life. The first sounds I have are kids singing/babies crying and then going to sound voices of attitue (showing teenager rebellion), after that there is silence ( i recorded some clips from the subway ..the monotony of it and how adults usually ride it to work or university)…and then after I have a speech and a crash/explosion.
This may be hard to understand by just listening to the piece but once explained I think it portrays an important concept and idea.

happy new year : semester 2

cskiadaresis — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 16:17:52 +0000

heyy everyone!
so after a nice xmas holiday we are back in school mode. right now learning about different sound techniques and how artists create their own sound works through the sources of various effects.
a lot of the works showed in class didnt really sound like anything at all, some were rather annoying and had a buzzing or static sound throughout the entire piece.
we are learning about sound as an expanded concept, so of course some things are subject to the viewers preferences. but to me they all sound the same.

Mercer Union: We Interrupt This Program

cskiadaresis — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:51:07 +0000

When I first walked into the exhibit, I was slightly shocked to see how small it was. For some reason I expected to see a huge art gallery with multiple rooms, but this intimate experience was interesting to see nonetheless. The exhibit had about ten different mini TVs all playing different videos. The whole exhibit investigates into the history of artists who have inserted their work directly into the flow of commercial print space or TV airtime. All of the TV videos were from 1969- 1993, so many different views were showing throughout these years. With every video, there was an “interruption” in it. Also around the TVs were glass cases displaying print works (advertisements) that have also been re-contextualized to interrupt the flow of mass media to the audience. One of my favorite video pieces was called “Facing A Family” by Valie Export. This video was interesting to me because it showed two little kids watching TV and their silent reaction to it, intermediately throughout the video the noise from the TV comes out. The interruption of noise was only evident for the viewer, and the children did not have a reaction to it, which was unexpected. The video that I thought was somewhat pointless and unoriginal was “TV as a fireplace” by Jan Dibbets. The TV screen merely served as a fireplace for about 3 minutes. I thought it was very boring because nothing happened, expect for the logs burning. The way of understanding the insertions is also productive because it allows us to link them to a larger history of contextual practices. The ads that were displayed in glass cases around the TV’s were unique and a few were even disturbing. The point of the ads were to draw on the actual cultural and economic utility of the advertisements. One that I liked was called “I Want a Girlfriend” by Skip Arnold. He was trying to illustrate this method of solicitation in a very direct and blunt way. Under the picture of a man looking into the distance, leaning on his car it read “not just any girlfriend, a real girlfriend”. This was somewhat random but after reading about the performance more I understood what the artist was trying to convey.
In the back room of the gallery, there was also a large video being played, and it was basically discussing art, students and the studying of art. The man talking on the film, was implying that studying art and sketching other peoples work makes not sense, because you must invest your own time in the study and try to leave a contribution of your own. By making a replication of someone else’s work you are not leaving your legacy and are deprived of a historical contribution. I think this encourages art students to be create and not get caught up in the focus of replicating pre-existing works of art.
The exhibits were nice to see, and each one explored a different thought-provoking meaning.
I have also added some images from the exhibit..enjoy!!

art which seeks to interrupt the flow of mass media part II

cskiadaresis — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 23:34:14 +0000

This is the second online example of contemporary art which seeks to interrupt the flow of mass media. This Kelloggs Cornflakes Ad was re-contextualized by a contemporary artist. I believe it interrupts the flow of mass media, because all other cereal ads are very plain and never have a witty slogan. This makes the viewer stop and somewhat look at the message being conveyed.

Art which seeks to interrupt the flow of mass media.

cskiadaresis — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 23:25:56 +0000

I found two examples of art, which seeks to interrupt the flow of mass media in these two pictures.

I feel that this image interrupts the flow of mass media. The adverstisment is for the high end designer Dolce and Gabbana. It is supposed to be advertising male underwear but the way the men are dressed seems to resemble Muslim dress. At the Mercer Union exhibit there were many advertisements displayed that had a twist to them. This image could be disrespectful to some peoples religious beliefs but I think it is an interesting use of contemporary art. Advertisements is definitely part of the media, and this different ad interrupts peoples views on a Dolce and Gabanna ad. When walking by every other designer such as Calvin Klein or Gucci, there ads are never stand out this much!

Phase 2 Ideas :)

cskiadaresis — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 17:21:38 +0000

I thought of some ideas for Phase 2 and I just wanted to get your input before I started anything.
First: This video represents peace and war in the world, and I have seen other artists make eclectic pieces as well.
So for the beginning scene, Im going to have a countdown …and then a space ship launching (in slow motion), and then showing an army airplane and helicopter flying, (in between the launching will be flashes of clips from the WWII).
After the things have launched there will be explosions destroying the ship, plane and helicopter. Then a scene of someone dying will be shown, after this is faded out I’m going to put a clip of people at a party with gun sounds and bombs in the background.
to conclude im going to have a fadeout of the earth.

This uses a lot of techniques and makes you think about the underlying message I’m trying to convey.

For the Second Idea: its very different and has a different theme/approach to it.
Im going to find ONE video…of someone getting ready in the morning, and chopping up the clips/rearranging them in a different order with an audio of a bedtime story in the background. This will have many loopings and stutterings as well.
The video Mark showed us in lecture “To Kill A Mockingbird” had this approach to it too, but I am elaborating on it by rearranging the order in which the person gets ready in the morning.

Week 6: October 26

cskiadaresis — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 16:59:59 +0000

soo in the lecture we watched some more videos about conceputal art, and the ideas that people get when watching the films. Dan Graham is a conceptual artist and we have watched a few of his videos. They are pretty interesting but sometime I do not understand the point he is trying to get across and it could get tedious to watch these things.
In the tutorial we saw more phase 1 projects. Basically we further continued what we started last week and critiqued peoples projects. I liked seeing everyones ideas and their choice of quotes for this assignment.
Some of my classmates were wondering about who said some of the quotes so im just posting them here

I don’t own a computer. I have a nine-foot piano in my home to compose my messages. Why would I want a one-foot computer to do the same thing? – Tori Amos (pianist and singer-songwriter)
Technology, like art, is a soaring exercise of the human imagination. – Daniel Bell (sociologist and a professor emeritus at Harvard University)

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. – Arthur C. Clarke (author)

Technology is a gift of God. After the gift of life it is perhaps the greatest of God’s gifts. It is the mother of civilizations, of arts and of sciences. – Freeman John Dyson (British-born American theoretical physicist and mathematician)

A website is a communication tool. The design and marketing will attract attention; the content will keep an increasing and steady audience. – Andrew Niculescu (webmaster and manages the design and development of websites)

Technology is the biggest competitor the artist has today. It dances, it moves, it lights up, it makes sounds, it talks back. – Ed Pointer (landscape painter)

I had more quotes, these were just some that people asked me about in my presentation and I have also added who this person is.

Week 5: October 20

cskiadaresis — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 22:53:51 +0000

Now that we have submitted our Phase 1 assignments, today in tutorial we viewed everybody’s. It was interesting to see all of the hard work people put into it/ different quotes used. My favourite assignment was the one where 20 frames were shown on one page with all the different quotes. I thought that was a unique way of doing it.
Overall I learnt a lot about HTML and CSS coding and am happy that my results turned out great with all the long hours I put into working.
In lecture yesterady the prof was showing us different video clips about sound and language. It was pretty cool, the one with the lady talking and echoing was really interesting to see. Her thoughts were almost on pause because it was so hard to focus on one sentence. The delay between the echo was essentially what alters your next sentence and thought. All of these conceptual art pieces (videos) explain themselves as they went on, and talked about different feedback through electronic means. It was a change of pace in the lecture because we pretty much just watched videos and then talked about it!!

Week 4: October 6

cskiadaresis — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 20:08:47 +0000

I’ve been working very hard trying to get my phase 1 assignment done…and today I finished it. I’m really proud of myself because I have had no previous experience or knowledge in HTML or CSS. It was interesting to do and its so cool that my website is on the actual internet right now!! I found a bunch of quotes from the lectures, artists and even some lyrics from a few songs I like.
It’s amazing how with one click, it can direct you to a whole new page where you have control of the layout and setup of it. I’m learning so much and with all these skills and tools I can probably make my own webpage one day.
With all of the work I put into it, I hope the class appreciates it and my mark reflects the effort I gave.
My quote choices reflect around technology and art (obviously), but how it relates to life/death and religion. I make references and indirect references to the artist Andy Warhol, so it touches base with the plagiarism aspect of art as well.
I hope everyone enjoys my webpage design and my choice of insightful quotes!!

Week 3: September 29

cskiadaresis — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 14:29:30 +0000

In lecture yesterday we heard a video clip called The War of the Worlds by Orson Wells. It was interesting to hear this and it was from a radio. He was broadcasting using the radio as a device where many people can listen to it. We discussed the flow of data online and how everything connects to each other. When our prof said that when some data hackers can go into all your personal information online and delete it..your existence can be wiped out. This is kind of scary in a sense because your presence as a human really relied on by the internet and technology. In our lab we are learning about frame-setting in HTML format. It’s a pretty cool topic because you can have multiple webpages on one website. So its convenient and you can change how big or small you would like it to be.
Take care and see you next week!

Week 2: September 22, 09

cskiadaresis — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 00:03:35 +0000

Hello Again,
I’m trying to keep up with this blog and not let is lag behind so when the year is over I’ll have lots of things to reflect upon. Today I learnt about Utopian Plagiarism. At first you might think that plagiarism is a bad thing, and involves stealing other peoples thoughts and getting the credit for it. But in the art and technology world, plagiarism serves as a beneficial thing. Did you know many famous poets and playwrights such as Shakespeare, Spenser and Sterne all plagiarised at one point in their life? Some people will have mixed feelings about this but I believe it is a good breakthrough for artists to somewhat manipulate other peoples artworks into something new. Andy Warhol does a lot of this, and adds different features to pictures to make them look really nice. It’s like recyling..and re-using materials into a work of art! Many internet sites using hypertextual and image sampling programs to develop things to assist the plagiarism process (they can call up, move and recombine text). With technology and art colliding in this day and age ..the opportunites and possibilities for new and amazing things are endless!

I did this blog after our Lecture..but in our tutorial we were given 2 words and have to compare the meaning and see how they relate.
I got FLICKR (THE IMAGE BANK)
We all know Flickr- is just an image and video hosting website, webservice suite and online community platform. People domiminantly use it to upload their photographs. This makes it easier for everyone to see it (distant relatives, friends who live far away etc). This website was originated in February 2004 by a Vancouver-based company (so its Canadian ) Flickr has many features that are similar to Facebook’s such as tagging people in photos, having favourite photos, group photos etc. Flickr is a very well-known image hosting service, and makes sharing pics a whole lot easier.
THE IMAGE BANK- is a term and it relates to Flickr because they are esentially the same thing. Flickr is a website that stores photos, and an image bank does the same thing. To me, the word image bank just means a bunch of images stored in one location, where you can access and view them at any time. A photo album can be classified as an image bank, or an art gallery. Flickr is like an online image bank. Which brings together art + technology. You can also edit photos using photoshop etc to make them look better/and have different effects.

First Week: September 15

cskiadaresis — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 15:11:00 +0000

Hello,
Today has been my first week enrolled in a course called The Electronic Landscape. Today we had our tutorial, and learnt many new things. I learnt some basic features of HTML and made my own webpage with a picture, of a Juicy Couture ad (sweet brand). Everything here is pretty new to me, as I have limited experience in computer techniques. I hope to learn a lot about using the computer as well as how media interacts with artwork. This course looks like fun and the people are really nice and helpful! Our TA is awesome for having so much patience and he teaches well. I hope succeed in this class and make nice projects with interesting designs!
Take care, and you’ll be hearing from me next week.
-Christina

Hello world!

cskiadaresis — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 15:06:31 +0000

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