Filtering Light

VIS 171: 4k......right I have nothing witty to say

Fri, 17 May 2013 23:15:28 -0700

Week# 10: Moths “Taken from a whimsical space, though not...

Sat, 11 May 2013 21:43:00 -0700

Week# 10: Moths

“Taken from a whimsical space, though not quite at a whimsical time. How tranquil it looks inside its own frame while in reality, a hundred people crush in all around it to sate their thirst for many things.”

Location: San Digeo, CA

Camera: Canon 7D 18-125mm telephoto

The 4k Boat is still taking on water.

Fri, 10 May 2013 22:05:09 -0700

Now we shall see if we can plug the gaps, needless to say, group enthusiasm is at an all time low. My faith is a whopping zero on the scale (it would be in negative numbers if I felt a faith scale needed them). I go tomorrow, not to work with a group, not to share in camaraderie, not even to learn. I go, to win.

That is all there is to it really. Even if it is just me and vivian for animation. Even if I have to run the lights and the camera alone, I will get it done. This was a shenanigan, a nearly pulled off coup d’etat of laziness and plain ambivalence to an assignment. During this project, I have heard the most unthinkable propositions in regards to production. Cutting corners on an assignment? Check! Not caring, because your stuff didn’t get picked? Check! Making up stories in class to avoid getting in trouble? CHECK! It feels like to me that they just don’t care one iota about their work. Enough about that, time to sum up what has occurred since Thursday.

I have selected and rented out a studio in the media lab. I also received rudimentary instruction in operating the stage lighting (There are about 24 stage lights in the studio) so I don’t need a portable kit, I also have access to the mobile gantry so I can change the lights as needed. My most gracious girlfriend forfeited our Friday together and instead helped me with trying to figure out some early shots so I can walk in their knowing what I want…..and at this point I don’t know if I even want to share it…and get nothing back….. again. I have also procured the surfaces of Vivian to animate for me, she is also taking time out of her own work for this. She is quite skilled so I look forward to working with her on this. It also takes the stop motion effort off of myself, since I am already likely doing lighting and photography……and props.

This will be a two-part blog and I am saving the video blog for part two so, stay tuned!

Week #9 “Model Spires” “I have only set foot...

Sun, 05 May 2013 00:15:00 -0700

Week #9 “Model Spires”

“I have only set foot inside those halls once but, it left its mark. These are symbols of how capable people can be, how great their imaginations are and, how selfish. For me, these are like toys, models in a fantasy kingdom”

Location: La Jolla, CA

Camera: Canon 7D 18-125mm telephoto lens with lens hood.

Week 5: 4k Group and Solo Work Ideas.

Sat, 04 May 2013 00:50:00 -0700

Relevant Media Links

https://vimeo.com/54970926

This was a documentary on gamers that I produced awhile back, While not my best work, the opening minute reveals my interest in “handiwork” as a visual subject.

VIS 171: The Scout

Fri, 26 Apr 2013 21:48:00 -0700

Project 2 was a good chance for me to “cut loose” in terms of the pressure of producing a certain variety of conceptual work. I took the time to experiment with new technologies and different view points. It also turned into a yet another fine rendition of people’s irrational fear of cameras based purely on looks rather than usage.

Go Pro Shenanigans

The GoPro series of cameras have been out for some time but, until recently I hadn’t considered them for use in my practice. Their cost on top of their specialization did make them particularly lucrative purchases in my budget. It was fortuitous then that the media lab purchased 2 units with full kits this quarter. I acquired one of these units for the weekend and used it in a few underwater shots in local water sources as well as using it to survey the town. I did the latter primarily because of the lens for the GoPro. Being akin to a fisheye lens and with a propensity to over saturate the image played into my concept well.

What I found was a very mixed bag in terms of results. The underwater portion was spectacular. Nothing technical went wrong, the image was wonderful, I couldn’t ask for too much better given what I was working with. The town survey was where everything was terrible. People were nervous and looking all over the place with this tiny little thing just in my hand, not even mounted in some ridiculous place.The camera overheated, the battery dumped the charge, and the Micro SD card was consequently fried, after 30 mins of intermittent usage. Needless to say, this was less than satisfying.

The Doorway to Fish Eyes

With over 50% of the planned footage being a complete and utter waste, I decided to try another project instead. This was based off of a DIY project to turn peephole kits for front doors into makeshift fisheye lenses. These were attached to my Cellphone camera for a “mechanical” perspective on the world. Not only did the ad-hoc lens work better than the GoPro, but people didn’t even pay attention to the camera. It was obvious and looked as strange as possible an no one so much as batted an eyelash.

Concept And Critique: Video Log

I apologize for the de-sync with sound and will be looking to record with a standard camera and Mic from now on

VIS 171: Making of "Plastic Heidi" or "Should we Discuss Alternatives?"

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 10:47:00 -0700

Politcal remix is a subject that I have developed a serious distaste for during my education. In a program that spends most of its time being deathly serious or deathly banal that is place in the backdrop of a society that is inundated with shock tactics and “brutal truth”, where nerves are just shocked again and again until they are dead, ambivalent or apathetic to the world… It is safe to say that I have had my fill. This readily extends to most contemporary art in a way but, that is a rant for another day,

Doing political remix for me is like being told to take an SAT test, I’d almost rather take the 0 than do it. Thankfully this is a group project and the drive of my group partner Jasmine is what made this project happen in the long run. Left to my own devices, I just would have dithered away and produced something very half-heartedly but, in this format I was able to dismiss a lot of my issues and just focus on the technical.

Technical Rhythms

This was just one of the many drawings that went into planning after we collected clips from the internet. I tend to place a lot of emphasis on patterns in an edit, admittedly sometimes to the detriment of the rest of the composition. However, this neat and orderly approach to the final cut is a lot more time consuming to achieve using a found footage and though the initial plan had us cutting in certain amounts of information at a time to provide a sort of hierarchy, this was not really achievable in the space of time that we had. Instead we settled on a more conversational piece. In this case, the photoshop ads we used are more reactionary to the interview of Heidi Montag, forming the “what if” Scenario.

The biggest problems during production were data integrity, namely the terrible sound quality, and video resolution. Many clips were not in the best of shape and only came up to 480p while sound was either degraded or just poorly recorded. Time constraints and mounting frustration(especially in the face of the lab computers managing to make everything worse, even in the conversion process), we opted to manually “fix” many of the files with Premiere and Audition respectively, to standardize and manually “tweak” the video. This process had marignal success, We were able to make a coherent edit but there are more than a few aberrations that were dealt with by making cuts with 3 frame gaps between segments. With more time, this strategy could have been “adjusted” but, we will leave it as a learning experience.

Content UNaware

This is an early trailer for the remix project, something I have already posted in fact. Seeing it again, you can tell some major changes were made in between this and the “final” product. When Jasmine and I initially sat down to discuss content, we each brought a set of clips to the table based on the premise of the cult of physical perfection in society. Jasmine brought forth the Heidi Montag Interview as well as a news story about a Model who more or less looked like a living barbie doll. Some of the initial ideas had the model and heidi being played in such a way that, though they now serve as “envoys” of the cult of physical perfection, they themselves are only part of a larger legacy of this sort of tactic, one which they themselves may have been influenced by.

The initial trailer I put together was more for me to begin getting a feel for the materials and getting a feel for remixing again. Though it only lightly touched on the outlined issues, it did serve to expose that we both shared a similar sense of humor in regard to the content we were working with. This was good news for me as most projects of this type become deathly serious. This would be the most crucial point for this trailer, as we later abandoned the barbie premise entirely.

The cause of this change in perspective has a lot to do with the quality of the barbie clips but, it also has plenty to do with the satirical power of the Heidi Montag Clip. Montag did something quite serious and while the implications of her actions shouldn’t be overlooked(for herself or others) her character made it very difficult to remain focused. Her airy acknowledgement of her plastic surgery process was contrasted sharply with a very melodramatic narrator and reporter. It resonated with our shared sense of humor and slowly, worked itself away from being a reactive piece to being the cause of reaction from our newly chosen clips from photoshop tutorials and spoof commercials. In this setup, we take the existence of the cult of perfection for granted but, instead we offer a less….drastic… way of adherence.

Critique Response: Video

This is a trailer of sorts for the VIS 171 political remix...

Sat, 13 Apr 2013 01:11:35 -0700

This is a trailer of sorts for the VIS 171 political remix project. It is a new thing I’m trying to keep me more motivated during projects. Just taking small samples from the clips that are gathered and just making something, anything I can appreciate in some way.

VIS 183B// Mockette: Building the Caged Beauty

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 18:20:40 -0700

The project that necessitated this film required us to change our filming strategies in some way. As I was under the impression that the project required a focus on the subject of alterity, I became rapidly frustrated on being asked to not be cinematographer, which I am not, and re-invent a strategy that was to be judged on works were I was a collaborator or barely scrabbling to eke out a film. In the eleventh hour, I was struck by inspiration after witnessing a student mashup video concerning plastic surgery. I asked myself if I could express my feelings on plastic surgery and a social system that pressured women in particular into taking these drastic measures for “visual perfection”. The end product was a very rough film that is lacking in sound but and finish but, began to push me out of my usual video routine.

Week #8: Birthday! Location: San Diego, CA Camera: Canon 7D:...

Sat, 06 Apr 2013 01:26:34 -0700

Week #8: Birthday!

Location: San Diego, CA

Camera: Canon 7D: 15-125mm telephoto lens; Canon 430 EX II “Speedlite” Flash

“Happy Birthday to my girlfriend Sharon, I wouldn’t keep rolling in this business if it wasn’t for your support of my wild whimsy. Love you!!!”

VIS 171 week 1 musings.

Fri, 05 Apr 2013 18:05:00 -0700

As I sit here drinking tea, I sit back and wonder why two classes from the same department have such a different view on appropriation and remix in art.

Vis 183: Alterity has posted an anti appropriation stance for our projects and I am confused as to why? Alterity as a term may be…dated but, it hasn’t totally lost its relevance. The issues of the “other”, be it racism, sexism, what have you are still hot button topics in today’s art. Inevitably these topics have been used in remix art, especially in regards to the how our looks and perceptions are preyed upon and turned into profit making tools like in the Levi’s commercial we watched in class. I do not understand the denial of this form of expression in an upper division class. It makes me curious if this department with its conceptual leaning( really more of a fully conceptual heritage) falls into the category of those who hold ideas as wholly unique objects like Kirby pointed out in his documentaries.

In either event, this…discrepancy…. has made me consider making the project target the dichotomy that seems to exist in art around the remix. This ground has been trodden before in the music field to various degrees so it remains to be seen if i can think of something to take it in a different direction..

The intergration: VIS 171 and VIS 183B

Thu, 04 Apr 2013 12:50:54 -0700

From this point on, this blog will also play host to project lead up, notes and evidence for the above two media classes not only in accordance to class requirements but also in the hopes of finding some inspiration for overcoming the arduous, and questionable challenges presented by the latter class. I can safely say in my time as a student that I have never had a class with a more unfair and downright illegitimate schedule and grading system than in Vis 183B.

Week #7: Hope Location: San Diego, California Camera: Cannon EOS...

Sat, 16 Mar 2013 22:52:26 -0700

Week #7: Hope

Location: San Diego, California

Camera: Cannon EOS Rebel T3 16-55mm telephoto lens.

Week #6: Aquafan Location: San Diego CA: Point Loma Camera:...

Sun, 10 Mar 2013 01:04:00 -0800

Week #6: Aquafan

Location: San Diego CA: Point Loma

Camera: Canon 7D 18-125mm telephoto w/ sun hood

“I lost myself in the rolling blues and greens of the vast sea.”

“Imposition” ‘Mankind subjugates...

Mon, 04 Mar 2013 17:29:55 -0800

“Imposition”

‘Mankind subjugates all’

Location: UC San Diego

Camera: Samsung Exhibit II Smart Phone

Its rare that I shoot pictures with my phone. I usually have one of my DSLRs around however, the notion that even the trees are marked and cataloged in such a way, really called for an exploration on the subject.

Week# 5: “Distillation” Location: La Jolla,...

Sat, 02 Mar 2013 21:29:21 -0800

Week# 5: “Distillation”

Location: La Jolla, CA

Camera: Canon 7D 18-125mm telephoto lens

Troubles in the Breeze

Tue, 26 Feb 2013 13:26:00 -0800

The sea wind blows,

I am reminded of scenes that have come before

White concrete, Blue Water, the scent of chlorine in the air

White sand, Blue water, Salt is upon the breeze

People gather along the rim. To swim is why they are there

People sprawl amongst the sand, To relax and be at ease

Hands of the Artificer, hands of the earth,

Both however, make up the girth

of my memories that my mind’s eye now sees

as I feel the ocean breeze.

Both are memories for which I am quite fond

Yet they are as pebbles that create ripples in a pond

For I live in a word where harmony is gone.

Man with machine fights nature’s grace

For gold and god, they seek to deface.

These memories of mine, of nature and man

are emblematic of the problem were no man can,

seek harmony between his machines and nature

instead of creating a greater danger,

for all those who walk under the sun

With the breeze,

the white petals flee

from their home amongst a tree.

To reality I return,

to my journey with the intent to learn

For I am the future of this land.

The harmony I seek must be created with my own hand.

-Jon McNamara

“Jonfilterslight”

Week #4 ”Modern Sea” Taken: Sunset Cliffs in Point...

Sat, 23 Feb 2013 22:32:42 -0800

Week #4 ”Modern Sea”

Taken: Sunset Cliffs in Point Loma, San Diego, CA

Camera: Canon 7D 18-125mm telephoto with hood

This image really brought home how I feel about how our ocean environment is fairing under modern society’s “care”. It feels searing to look at, which is what we should feel because of how glaring a problem it is and how bleak the forecast looks for the deep blue after we have finished plundering it.

Week #3 Taken: La Jolla, California 2/16/2013 “My dreams...

Sat, 16 Feb 2013 19:45:30 -0800

Week #3

Taken: La Jolla, California 2/16/2013

“My dreams laid out before me”

Camera: Canon 7D 18-135mm telephoto lens

“I have no particular love for the smell of these flowers but, they are quite amazing and inspiring to me when they are in full bloom.”

Week 2/52: My Girlfriend and I after a long day of work/study....

Sat, 09 Feb 2013 20:46:13 -0800

Week 2/52:

My Girlfriend and I after a long day of work/study. Drawing and drinking tea in a hookah lounge. My drawings of a smokey space weren’t what I wanted so I decided to experiment with the lens and shutter speed instead.

Shot:2/7/2013

La Jolla Cove

Camera: 7D 18-125mm telephoto lens