The Poetics of Space

The information below are extracted directly from ‘The Poetics of Space’ by Gaston Bachelard. Only relevant information will be written and it will be paraphrased and be included in my final report.

Book: The Poetics of Space

Author: Gaston Bachelard

Publisher: Beacon Press in 1969

Purpose of this book: This book explains the idea of experience in a space/phenomenology of architecture. The author relates a house of daydream and how daydreaming and imagination is an manifestation of a house in metaphorical terms. Bachelard analysed the structures of a house: stairs, corners, attics, wardrobes to meta ideas and how are we able to recapture and preserve memories of a place through dreaming. This book allows me to draw a connection of using a body to relate to an architecture and how that medium/body can serve as a vessel or as a metaphor for daydreaming.

The problem of the poetics of the house. The question abound: how can secret rooms, rooms that have disappeared, become abodes for an unforgettable past? Where and how does repose find especially conducive situations? How is it that, at times, a provisional refuge or an occasional shelter is endowed in our intimate day-dreaming with virtues that have no objective foundation? – Introduction

Transcending our memories of all the houses in which we have found shelter, above and beyond all the houses we have dreamed we lived in, can we isolate an intimate, concrete essence that would be justification of the uncommon value of all of our images of protected intimacy? This, then, is the main problem. – Page 1

In order to solve it, it is not enough to consider the house as an ‘object’ on which we can make our judgements and daydreams react. On the contrary , we must go beyond the problems of description in order to attain to the primary virtues, those that reveal an attachment that is native in some way to the primary function of inhabiting. – Page 4

We comfort ourselves by relieving memories of protection. Something closed must retain our memories, while leaving them their original value as images. Memories of the outside world will never have the same tonality as those home and, by recalling these memories, we add to our store of dreams. – Page 6

Thus, by approaching the house images with care not to break up the solidarity of memory and imagination, we may hope to make others feel all the psychological elasticity of an image that moves us at an unimaginable depth. – Page 6

The places in which we have experienced daydreaming reconstitute themselves in the new daydream, and it is because our memories of former dwelling-places are relieved as day-dreams that these dwelling-places of the past remain in us all time. – Page 6

Memories are motionless, and the more securely they are fixed in space, the sounder they are. – Page 9

A house constitutes a body of images that give mankind proofs or illusions of stability. – Page 17

The phenomenology of daydream can untangle the complex of memory and imagination. – Page 26

Why were we so quickly sated with the happiness of living in the old house? Why did we not prolong those fleeting hours? In that reality, something more than reality was lacking. We did not dream enough in that house. And since it must be recaptured by means of daydream, liaison is hard to establish. Our memories are encumbered with facts. – Page 57

A metaphor gives concrete substance to an impression that is difficult to express. Metaphor is related to a psychic being from which it differs. An image, on the contrary, product of absolute imagination, owes its entire being to the imagination. – Page 74

At times, the simpler the image, the vaster the dream. – Page 137

To begin with, the corner is a haven that ensures us one of the things we prize most highly – Immobility. Consciousness of being at peace in one’s corner produces a sense of immobility, and this, in turn, radiates immobility. – Page 137

Daydream undoubtedly feeds on all kinds of sights, but through a sort of natural inclination, it contemplates grandeur. And this contemplation produces an attitude that is so special, an inner state that is so unlike any other, that the daydream transports the dreamer outside the immediate world to a world that bears the mark of infinity. – Page 183

What is Gone and Still: Rochor Center and Lorong Buangkok

Rochor Center

My parents used to own a furniture business in Rochor Center. They started business since 2004 (14 years ago) and they befriended many residents of Rochor Center through the years.

Images taken by Dan Ng

I used to visit the shop every weekend and would order coffee while I ate my favourite fishball noodles. In 2016, we were told that Rochor Center will be demolished for redevelopment, in preparation for the upcoming North-South Corridor. Residents were offered the Rochor SERS (Selective Selective En Bloc Redevelopment Scheme) where compensation were offered for the relocation.

“They (The residents) will have the opportunity to move to a new, 99-year lease home and will be given a package comprising compensation and rehousing benefits.”

Extracted from Channel Newsasia, https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/rochor-centre-living-on-borrowed-time-7640324

The North-South Expressway—originally conceived as a 21.5km expressway to connect towns in the North to the city centre—is being redesigned as North-South Corridor to better enable cycling and walking. The NSC will be Singapore’s first integrated transport corridor featuring continuous bus lanes and cycling trunk routes.

(Extracted from Land Transport Authority, https://www.lta.gov.sg/content/ltaweb/en/roads-and-motoring/projects/north-south-corridor.html)

The shop owners, including my parents and residents were given notice to find new locations.

Image taken by Dan Ng

Rochor Centre is made up of four Housing Board blocks, each painted mainly in red, blue, yellow or green, and was one of the few remaining landmarks from 1970s Bugis, where sailors, and transvestites could be found before the area was developed further in the 1980s.

The residential and retail complex, originally home to 183 shops and 567 households, was completed in 1977.

(Extracted from The Straits Times, https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/demolition-of-rochor-centre-to-begin-on-june-26-in-preparation-for-north-south-corridor)

Rochor Center left a great deal of memories for me because I used to take the bus from my house to the place just to find my parents. I used to study and explore at the area and my family would return to Rochor Center every Chinese New Year just to visit our shop and take photos. Prior to the movement, I took several photographs of the location for memory keepsake.

As the date of withdrawal came closer, I took another series of photographs. This time, to show the emptiness of the buildings. Most of the businesses have left and relocated and the quietness of the environment was slightly haunting. It was a vastly different from what it used to be like: blustling, crowded and full of energy.

I love Rochor Center so much that I made a video of Rochor Center and I interviewed my parent’s employee and our business neighbour about their feelings towards the demolishment of the place.

Password: fypfyp

Following the demolishment of Rochor Center which happened on ‘June 26, 2018’ (The Straits Times, 2018), the rainbow building became nothing but a fond childhood memory of mine.

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I’ve always been interested in places with symbolic meaning, just like everybody else. A place whom one resides in for years form part of an identity for that person. Besides Rochor Center, another place that is on the risk of being removed from the face of Singapore is my grandparents kampong house in Lorong Buangkok. I’ve always been proud of their house because it is exclusive, unique and I grew up witnessing the house gone through the test of time and government urban planning. ‘Currently, 26 families live on the land, each paying a monthly rent of between S$6 to S$30.’ (Today Online, 2017)

To date, the house is one of the last few kampongs in Singapore despite the country developing so rapidly into a metropolitan city.

Courtyard of the house

The backyard

Old school swing that my siblings and relatives would sit on while we talked about our lives.

The stray dog that became a pet of the house

My father recounting his childhood memories to my domestic helper

Every Chinese New Year, my family and relatives would gather and celebrate the holiday. The old house became a spot for gatherings, rekindling and bonding. Despite the availability of new electric stoves in the house, we would still use charcoal stove to cook the dish ‘Braised pork with bamboo shoots’.

Unlike in HDBs, there are no trash bins that is readily available to be thrown into the main garbage system. Instead, makeshift basket with plastic bag wrapped on top of it is placed outside the kitchen for easy rubbish disposal.

In addition, I made a video back in 2016 of the kampong and the relationship between me and my grandmother, who have unfortunately passed away in 2017.

Film abstract

For many of us, Singapore is home but how much do you understand it or think about your relation and opinion about this place where you spend most of your time living here? Through the years you developed relation with people, places, objects and establish the way of life. These relations gave meaning, shape your identity; grant you a sense of belonging. Sometimes these relation challenges you. What is your feeling towards this place, people and culture? In what way have these relation affected you? How do we disrupt the everyday to excavate stories about people, places, our surrounding, way of life or even ourselves?

22 tells the story between my grandmother and I. Set in Lorong Buangkok where my grandparents have been living in the kampong for almost a century. It reflects the intimacy and tension between myself and her against the house as we converse about our lives, and the kampong house. In this film, I seek to explore the depth of our relationship and try to fathom what it feels to be in a place that fills with so many memories even though there is lack of strong physical connection. The film allow the exploration of silence and space together with conversation and close interaction.

Growing up with the house, I’d hate for the place to be demolished and replaced for urban renewal. To my relief, the plans for urban renewal will only happen ‘several decades later.’ (Today Online, 2017) and the ‘kampong could be integrated within the future schools and be a “community living lab” for students to learn about shared history, culture and traditions.’ (Today Online, 2017)

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Moving on, I decide to explore more on pioneering landmarks in Singapore that are on the threat of being demolished. I asked myself, is there an instruction manual as to the ethicality of building demolition? Is demolition seen as a pro or a con? It is a controversial issue. Urban planners would argue that removal works is essential for the expansion of new buildings to accommodate the growing population in Singapore, yet conservationist persist that the clearance of old heritage sites would result in the loss of culture, history and identity of Singapore. As a millenial, I agree with both sides. However, I personally feel that there should still be a few iconic landmarks that should be preserved for the future generations’ understanding and education on the history of Singapore. My work produced for this project would not be a controversial piece demanding for attention for the place. Instead, I’d want to raise awareness on the presence of such places and the memories that it held for its occupants.

Reference:
https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/housing/rochor-centre-demolition-begins-in-heavy-rain

https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/redevelopment-lor-buangkok-kampong-likely-several-decades-later

https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/demolition-of-rochor-centre-to-begin-on-june-26-in-preparation-for-north-south-corridor

https://www.lta.gov.sg/content/ltaweb/en/roads-and-motoring/projects/north-south-corridor.html

https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/rochor-centre-living-on-borrowed-time-7640324

Framing Dance: Experiment Two

Password: fypfyp

This is my second draft for Elbphilharmonie. It is still very very rough but I made some changes according to what was discussed.

The background is changed to a high resolution image of a concrete texture and I added the banner is that ever-present on the screen.

The entry is still sliding in but I played with the rhythme of the footage by adding in stills. On the top right of the screen, I experimented with brush strokes.

Small frames, identical footages slowly fade in on the banner itself. The frames also follows the dimensions of the three black frames.

The footages eventually black out and became a wide shot of a HDB facade.

I also experimented with cutting the frame diagonally and overlay close up shots of dance movements.

Notes and areas of improvement:

Weak entry; slide in may not be effective for intro
Considering not using frames but simple a wide shot of an architecture.
Experiment more with slicing frames.
Remember to shoot your footages in 4K so that the images are clear crisp.

At this point of time, I think it is best to get my hands on and start shooting.

Framing Dance: Experiment One

Password: fypfyp

Music: Boy by Instupendo

This is my first experimental draft for the visualisation in Elbphilharmonie. I placed the visuals using footages that I found from my research and might use similar angles and texture. I adopted the method from Robert Grigsby Wilson, a film editor where he paid tribute to Sally Menke, Quentin Tarantino’s Editor and placed footages of Kill Bill and other film inspirations side by side.

It started the frames sliding in for entry.

Different footages of different aspect ratios and angle starts to emerge through the music.

All the footages will appear and air simultaneously and halfway through, the frames will start shifting in size and move.

They shift and changes in shape slowly so that the viewers are able to digest the visualisation better and the frames eventually.

At the back of the video, the screen blacked out and eventually emerged as a full screen for a dynamic look.

After consultation with Ina, we could still play with more experimentation.

Notes and areas of improvements:

Consider using abstracts form in between frames.
The black frame on the right is an escalator going up to the upper level of Elbphilharmonie. There could be some abstract forms or the dance could ‘influence’ the movements up to stairs.
Create a rough mock up of the space.
Change the background to a darker tone or simply just textures of architectures in Singapore because if it is white, it will be very bright.
Golden ratio: Slide and match the windows and the doors. Scale is derive from the architecture of the screen.
There could be one long banner in one screen across the wide screen.
There should be a consistency. If it is filmed in nature, then it should all be in nature and if it is in an urban setting then it should all be in urban. Unless there is a good reason to mix them both. Yet, always remember to question, nature with urban, does it work?
Consider filming in places of crane, and port since Elbphilharmonie is situated next to a port. This is able to showcase the vibrance of the architecture too.
The frames might not need to shift all the time or at all.
There could be textures, brush strokes, that glides over to show the footages.

Research on Eadweard Muybridge motion experiment.

Framing Dance: Location Research & Inspiration (Darren Soh)

Darren Soh’s photographic practice explores architecture, urban landscape and space. An established photographer who is most recognised for his documentation of vernacular architecture, Darren has been placed in several international photography awards over the years, including the Commonwealth Photographic Awards, the Prix de la Photographie, Paris, the International Photography Awards, PDN and ICON de Martell Cordon Bleu. His works have been shown widely, including solo exhibitions at The Esplanade and Objectifs (Singapore Art Week 2015), and internationally at photography festivals like Noorderlicht (The Netherlands) and Obscura (Penang). He has published several monographs including While You Were Sleeping (2004), For My Son (2015) and In the Still of the Night (2016). (Extracted from https://www.objectifs.com.sg/before-it-all-goes/)

I went down to Chapel Gallery, Objectifs to visit Darren’s exhibition titled ‘Before It All Goes’. In his exhibition, Darren researched on the passing memory of Singapore architecture buildings. A few buildings shown have been demolished while others are awaiting for their passing.

What of our heritage, memories and connections do we lose as much of Singapore’s architecture from the early independence years is now getting demolished and redeveloped? Darren Soh has spent more than a decade documenting such spaces, and presents images — most of which will be shown for the first time — of eight iconic sites from this period in this solo exhibition. (Extracted from https://www.objectifs.com.sg/before-it-all-goes/)

The visit to Darren’s exhibition is paramount for my research because I am looking into filming the urban landscapes of Singapore and I wish to collect both landscape and texture photography of said country. Singapore is iconic for their Housing Development Board (HDB) flats, known for their high, structured building.

Photographed by Darren Soh, Image taken by Dan Ng

What sets Singapore’s HDB apart from some European buildings which ultilised similar architecture framework is the presence of various identity.

Religion: Incense burner, red Chinese banners, Chinese lantern, Christian cross.

Cultural: Clothes racks/hangers, bird cages, bicycles, plants.

‘Before It All Goes’ Exhibition

In his presentation above, he placed the HDB facades side by side in an orderly grid form of 6 x 8 totalling to 48 images. The visual reminded me of my visualisation for frames placement. It gave me an inspiration to place frames tightly side by side instead of setting the frame apart from each other.

Below are HDB facades taken by Darren Soh. Published in his booked also titled ‘Before It All Goes’.

Frames Dancing: Dance Research and Does Screendance Need to look like Dance?

Susan Sentler provided a whole list of dance videos that I could watch and it was tremendously helpful. I’ve listed down the videos which I find useful. I’d love to use Susan’s work to start off the very first dance example/inspiration. In ‘A Preparation’, she shot dance in stills as well as still imagery of architecture. Within the film, Susan played with the duration, some quick and some slow.

Notes:

Changing the frame of the camera as well to show relationship with the space.
Sounds are industrial repetitive.
Body movement is almost mechanical.
Preparing a ‘machine’, preparing the body.

I could extract some of her ideas of using still imagery and moving images in the video.

Susan Sentler – A Preparation

Steve Reich – Violin Fase
Performed by Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker

Through time, the sand gets wiped and it changes.

Very repetitive.
Very minimalistic era, minimalist art.
Subtle changes in differential in repetition.
Different shots, overhead, close frame, really tight.
Goes on and on and on.

Rosas Danst Rosas – Anne Teresa de Keersmaeker

Use of multiple dancers in one coordinated scene/set

Comment from Susan (In relation to the video above)

“Dance doesn’t have to have sound, because dance itself, has sound. Dance involves body, space and time. Time encapsulates rhythm, pulse, relation to music but it doesn’t have to. It works with breath which also gives a sense of time. Very gestural. Be aware of the folly sound, live sounds. Capture everything.”

William Forsythe – Solo (Choreographer)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDTu7jF_EwY

Use of tight frames.
Black and white.

One Flat Thing, Reproduced by William Forsythe

Static throughout
Archive film but also site specific
Setting up of tables is part of the dance.
Playing with positive and negative space, spatial content, in relation of tables and the human body.
Come in and out in time.
Only movement sound, no music at the back.

Nowhere and Everywhere by William Forsythe

Created with both normal people and dancers.
Objects having movements, shifting to dancer, creating sense of rhythm and space.
Feet shot to full body shot.

HANDS by Jonathan Burrows

Just the hands. Close shot of the hands.
Repetition, subtle, soft movements.
Black and white to showcase lighting and intimacy.

Early Works of Trisha Brown

Post minimalist period
Activity where the dancers mount on it, and find ways to go inside the clothing and nest in it, and hang for a minute or so. Then they begin again.

Using multiple dancers to mimic mirror like sequences.
Tight frame, different shots.

Becky Edmunds – Recall

Talking about dance. Tight frame, eyes closed, going through the movements.

Note: Could have Isabel face, and another frame is another body part, and another frame is another body part.

Rosemary Butcher – Hidden Voices

Fading into black to show the duration of time.
In and out of the light. Sort of like a frustration with the activity
Consider using repetition, focusing on different body parts
No sound

Rosemary Butcher – Body as Site

Shooting overhead, different kind of perspectives.

Underline by Surjit Nongmeikapam Bon

My favourite work out of the other films. In this video, the body becomes the architecture.

Using real sounds
From shoes to barefoot
Doesn’t have to be ‘the typical language of dance’. Works really well with the space

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Notes:

60 sec dance http://60secondsdance.com/archive/
60 seconds dance contest: http://60secondsdance.com

Condense a film to 60 seconds

____________________________________________________________

More dance research (Dance Styles and Film Techniques)
–
Welcome Home by Spike Jonze (Contemporary Dance)

Interaction of the human body with the interior, environment
Expanding of frames
Use of dance double, mirror

Delicate by Joseph Kahn (Contemporary Dance)

Changing of frames – Transition from one place to another

Most of the works that Susan provided me to reference are relevant and useful. I could extract small ideas and details from each video and experiment.

Framing Dance: Interview with Thorsten Bauser & Location Scouting (Germany)

I arrived in Hamburg, Germany on 4 May. The next day morning, I went down to University of Applied Sciences Europe (Hamburg) to share my learning journey for Media Art Nexus.

Half of the students in the class were preparing for the visuals to be screened in Elbphilharmonie. They shared their ideas and most of them are using C4D as their main software. We exchanged various ideas and opinions and many students’ ideas were enlightening.

Right after the class, I scheduled a meeting with Thorsten Bauser.

Thorsten Bauer is the creative director of Urbanscreen, a collaboration of German artists and technicians who use architecture as their medium. Using projected sound, light and animation, they transform buildings like the Sydney Opera House, Leopold Museum in Vienna and Rice University’s academic quadrangle in Houston into spectacular temporary art installations. (Extracted from The New York Times; https://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/11/opinion/sunday/catching-up-with-thorsten-bauer.html)

We had an hour long discussion over the possibility of using dance as an element in the project/film and he showed me a few inspirations.

He suggested using close up shots of the dancer dancing and split the screens into diagonal forms.

Thorsten also advised me on

Lighting direction (Key light up and above, fill light on the side)
Choice of attire when it comes to shooting (Ideal to keep the dressing style minimal so as to not distract the viewers)
Choreographer (Make sure there is a choreographer directing the dancer so that I have the liberty to move and film in the studio without having to worry about the dance moves)

On the same day, I went down to the site itself to do some location scouting and to understand the architecture of the building and its surroundings.

Elbphilharmonie

The Elbphilharmonie with its impressive glass facade and wave-like rooftop rises up from the former Kaispeicher building on the western tip of the HafenCity. Accommodated inside are two concert halls, a hotel and residential apartments. Between the old warehouse and the glass structure is the Plaza – a public viewing area that extends around the whole building.

ARCHITECTURE
The Elbphilharmonie takes inspiration from three structures: the ancient theatre at Delphi, sport stadiums and tents.

Jacques Herzog & Pierre de Meuron

(Extracted from https://www.elbphilharmonie.de/en/elbphilharmonie)

As I researched further into Elbphilharmonie, I became more interested in the ability of architecture, places, and locations in bringing people together to bond, interact and socialise.

The media wall is huge and I realised that when it is viewed from a distance, only the lower half of the screen can be seen. Also, the pixels and screen resolution is lower than that of the media wall. There are 3 major ‘blocks’ which I have to take note off when I execute the placement of the frames.

Intergalactic

INTERGALACTIC

2017
Film
3840 x 480 pixels

Selected Still Images

Intergalactic explores the connection between the elements of water, fire, air and earth in the mesmerising setting of the galaxy. The female featured represents the lust and desire of humans in trying to fathom the creation of the cosmos. The Chinese characters and symbols spun infinitely to signify that there is no beginning or end in the understanding of the universe.

Intergalactic by Dan Ng:

Music: White Flag (Whitebear Remix)

Exhibition at Media Art Nexus

Photo by: Solomon Quek Jia Liang
North Spine Plaza, MAN NTU LED, 15m by 2m, Nanyang Technological University Singapore 2017

Lesson Learnt
This module has been an invaluable experience for me to discover what I can do when it comes to experimental films.

Firstly, I discovered and learnt a lot of new editing functions and tools on Premiere Pro. Secondly, in the past, I usually do narrative and I understand that in the industry, rarely there is a chance for artist to pursue the style that they’d want to experiment with. Thirdly, I learnt to never give up on your vision and ideas. I was facing a challenge in the middle of the module when I realised that my lush bath bob background was very blurry and in low resolution. The situation then was to either film it again or drop the entire scene. Instead of doing either, I took the footage and flip the entire contrast to make the bath bomb look like shooting stars in a galaxy instead. I was surprised by the effect and it became so much more mesmerising than the previous look.

Hence, I am truly thankful to be able to be given the chance to explore producing ‘out-of-the-world’ kind of style in this Media Art Nexus module.

Future Development
These visuals are highly psychedelic and imaginary and it has the potential to be further developed with other elements and be used for music videos and shows.

Project Development
Case Studies
Lush Bath Bomb Test 1
Lush Bath Bomb Test 2
Methodology + Production + Research

Contact info:
Dan Ng
dan-ng@hotmail.com

Methodology + Production + Research

Green Screen

I wanted to book the photo studio in ADM for the green screen. However, the photo studio can only be booked by photography major students and I didn’t managed to find one in time. Hence, I had to improvise and create my own green screen instead. Below is a tutorial on how to make your own makeshift green screen.

Makeup

Shout out to Vimal from Year 3 Visual Communication for help me with the makeup for Soo, the model.

Moodboard for makeup. I wanted to recreate the Chinese concubine look in the ancient China to fit the theme of the module. Something red, bold, powerful and attractive.

Tip: If you have never worked with makeup before, it is best to find someone who knows how to do makeup.

Hair

I did the hair for the model myself. I wanted something simple yet strong so I looked up for a sleek, comb back look which is also a very popular hairstyle trend now in Hollywood. I used a lot a lot of hairspray. Hairspray is a must in order for this hairstyle to work and last. Wax is needed to keep the baby hair in check.

Tutorial

Body Tattoos

I got some body stickers too for the model to make her look more special and unique.

Result

Makeup: Vimal
Hair: Me
Styling: Me
Direction: Me
Accessories: Model’s own

Post Production

The lush bath bombs were low in resolution and I had to think of an alternative. I flipped the video. Decrease the brightness, increase contrast and highlights to achieve this look.

Result

Revolving Characters

This is inspired after Ina suggested to play with more motions and after she posted this video on the Facebook wall. The characters was working very well with the model. Hence, I decide to play more with the characters.

Link: https://www.facebook.com/FeltZine/videos/1542276912496751/?hc_ref=ARS4NqFExhqS-aNq67si27Pvh5rEaEmQOUXB–QQowoHY0GgJ2R4DRo8VrPoWloD1rY&fref=gs&dti=111931629484680&hc_location=group

Result

Icons (Design Thinking)

I wanted to create the galaxy, neon lights effect and play with symbols.

I rethink how the characters can transform themselves into icons.

Water = 水 = Circle + Blue
Fire = 火 = Triangle + Red
Earth = 土 = Square + Green
Air = 风 = Strokes + Yellow

Post-Production Process

Neon Lights tutorial

Result

Thoughts

Creating any piece of artwork regardless of the medium, is an ongoing process. A process of test and trial. There will never be a guaranteed perfect first time. In order for a piece of artwork to work, always test and get opinions from many people. Tip: Before you embark on the project, consider choosing the music first. Think about the mood you want to execute. It becomes easier because the music and mood helps you to visualise and form the visual in your mind.

End

Beyond The Seas – Case Studies

Before I chose Nexus as my elective, I saw a few works done by my peers in Year 2 Semester 2. I was really inspired by their creative work and I knew that I could put my final work done in Nexus in my portfolio for future use.

Idea 1

This video in particular, intrigued me and inspired me to take on Media Art Nexus. I want to create something similar. This is a Lady Gaga concert intro for Coachella 2017 and I thought the transition and concept is really experimental and cool.

I found out that it is produced by a creative studio in London called Lobster Eye founded by Andrea Gelardin and Ruth Hogben.

I proceeded to find out more about the studio and discovered that they produced the interludes for Lady Gaga’s Joanne Tour Concert too.

I love their work because it’s very stylised, and weird at times but it can really attract attention because of the fast transitions and interesting visuals.

Some of my favorite stills

I also like this bathtub scene where Rihanna shot for Samsung: Antidiary x Samsung. Once again, it is pretty stylised and ‘cool’. I like how it is so minimalistic yet captivating. I believe it is not only because they engaged a superstar like Rihanna but also the use of water as an element in the video.

My favorite stills

Lastly, I also like the campaign done by Gucci for fall/winter 2017.

Instead of casting models, they ventured into a different style and played with imaginary and fantasy. The campaign include monsters, aliens, and characters inspired by the movie, Star Trek. I saw the campaign before Ina mentioned about it during the first week of school. I love the visuals because it is so different from usual campaigns that we saw for luxury brands. The direction and style is beautiful and stunning.

With these inspirations in mind, I am thinking of producing visuals with a Chinese model and playing with the 4 elements: Earth, Fire, Water, Air. I also want to experiment with video transitions, making it look trippy and fast.

Shooting Techniques Tutorials

On how to work with drones. I intend to use it in one of my shoot.

Also working with gimbal and using Zhiyun Crane. One of the best gimbal for DSLR.

I will be working with a model so this video is great for preparation.

Also will be working with lights in some shoots.

As the senior batch had mentioned that one of the challenges faced is the long panel with made it hard for them to fit one video in the long panel alone because the other side will be empty. Hence, I might put several video clips together like the ones seen in Kendrick Lamar’s MV, Humble.

Kendrick Lamar Humble video

And also something similar to the intro of this video showing the Holi Festival in India.

Post Production Tutorials

Most of my time will go to post production. Cinematic LUTS could help me speed up with my work.

Effects

Tutorial to split the clips for the long panel.

Idea 2

I was thinking if I ever were to ditch the stylised model shoot, I could try something more abstract and aesthetically-pleasing like filming the process of bath bombs dissolving in a water container. Footages of bath bombs dissolving are mesmerising and calming to watch. I will take close up shots of the bath bombs dissolving and piece the footages together. I believe it will look beautiful when it is screened on the panel.

Stills

Ultimately, I will do either one but to be honest, I am very tempted to try out both ideas and try to merge the two concepts together. I am still trying to conceptualise the entire idea but this is the rough idea of what I am planning to do for Nexus in this semester.

Dan