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I’m just gonna dump all my written stuff and sketches here, just for personal documentation.

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Wk7:

*Suggestion: look into barbara kruger graphic design

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Wk8:

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Wk9:

[Arduino + Processing tests]

[Resources]

(https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/connecting-arduino-to-processing)

 

[Resources]

(https://steemit.com/utopian-io/@ted7/arduino-101-tilt-sensor-with-arduino)

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wIVrSnRF6I)

 

 

[Resources]

(https://bgsu.instructure.com/courses/1157282/pages/tutorial-sensors-controlling-processing-video-position)

//(https://www.reddit.com/r/processing/comments/3685vj/changing_video_in_processing_using_a_sensor_and/)

//(https://processing.org/reference/libraries/video/Movie.html)

 

 

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Born in Stockholm, Sweeden, Killmonday Games is a game developing studio, where intriguingly weird stories and charmingly creepy visuals meet. It was Co-founded in 2012 by a married couple, Natalia Figueroa and Isak Martinsson, and has since gained recognition for their unique games with amazing storytelling.

Image from https://www.killmondaygames.com/about/

Prior to Killmonday Games, the couple had never thought of becoming game developers. In their previous company, Ofokus, Natalia and Isak mainly made short films, animations, and music videos. After several years, however, they felt that the medium was restrictive; their ideas and stories were too “weird” and “big”, and their budget was a little low. They figured that what they were missing was the magic of interaction and the freedom of reality and space.

With that in mind, the duo set out to create an interactive and free medium, picking up new skills to aid their endeavor. Natalia learned 3D animation for games while Isak learned how to code, and together with their newfound skills, they founded Killmonday Games.

In 2013, they started working on their very first game, Fran Bow. It’s a point-and-click adventure game, where you play as a little girl named Fran Bow. Creativity simply oozes from this game, both in story and visuals. You are immediately immersed in the beautifully detailed world of Fran’s, with a simple yet unique game mechanic that allows players to switch between different realities. This encourages players to interact with anything and everything, and in doing so, figure out how to solve various puzzles.

Image from https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/markiplier/images/6/6f/FranBow.jpg/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/340?cb=20151022145254

Image from https://miro.medium.com/max/1716/1*dsjEJ5T5Qp3gCdDv8bcvYQ.png

Image from https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/943937261168105585/A3B3FBFFBB00851E607C0A96CF42D7A7DDD3D9EE/

 

The overflowing level of creativity in such a game shows the tenacity of Natalia and Isak. At first, the duo could only work on Fran Bow during the weekends. They later started a crowd-funder for Fran Bow, where they received overwhelming support from the public. With the fundings, they were able to start working on game developing full-time, completing it in 2015, where it was also greenlit to be released on Steam. It had sold 10,000 copies within the first month, a huge achievement for their first ever game.

Their success never resulted in complacence. Instead, it fueled their ambitions and creativity to tell more stories through games. This is evident in their second game, Little Misfortune. Its story is no less weird, with multiple choices that lead to different consequences. Players are enticed to explore every option each time they start the game over, and as they do, they form a personal connection with Misfortune and her quirky behaviour and interesting backstory.

Image from https://cdn.cloudflare.steamstatic.com/steam/apps/714120/capsule_616x353.jpg?t=1569055677

Image from https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/yvs-lvWmeuAc9BsyiOfg5XmS9YxhfuC4l4BAyii7K9Y0aGx9c7LrJC-4sVcBWl5vkp0H=w720-h310

Image from https://miro.medium.com/max/2530/1*V8OZdPhbNPBEh0JLvGY1KA.png

Overall, Killmonday Games has inspired me with their ambitiousness. There are times where I feel like my ideas are too big for me to realise, and it becomes an excuse as to why I can’t do what I want. However, Killmonday Games has shown me that if there’s a will, there’s a way, and that it is okay to leave a familiar medium for another. New skills can always be picked up, and a small team doesn’t mean you can’t make amazing content.

Gif from https://www.killmondaygames.com/about/

References

ABOUT

https://www.noobfeed.com/features/350/interview-natalia-figueroa-killmonday-games

Fran Bow and the Mortem-Post

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Giving someone directions can be a simple as telling them to go left or right, back or forward, to stop or continue.

 

But what if we reduced our words to abstract sounds? What specific movements would we associate to these sounds, and how many people would react the same way we do?

This is exactly what I want to find out in my instructional performance, Common Sense.

 

The instructions are pretty simple:

Listen to the audio being played, and let the sounds guide your movements.

You can do whatever movements you want in relation to the different sounds (e.g: jump, run, spin, freeze, etc.)

 

For this prototype performance, the main goal is to see if there are sounds that trigger common reactions in different people.

Below is a video of the prototype performance (ft. Fizal and Alina)!

 

 

It was quite interesting to see some of the similar reactions we had to the sounds. For example, fast paced beats got us to move around and add a bit more bounce in our steps, and when the audio stopped at points, our actions either froze as well or slowed down. It was also cool to see some moments where we ended up facing the same direction or stood in the same spot.

Overall, I think I can look more into different types of sounds and also see how elements within the space itself can affect the performance. A possible goal would be to create a sound track that manipulates participants into moving in a specific way; they think they are moving randomly, but may find out that many others reacted similarly too.

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Watched some tutorials and spent some time tinkering with After Effects to text out possible assets.

AE crashed once or twice (before I remembered to hit save), BUT that just means I got a little more practice.

Here are the three assets I’ve tested (successfully) so far!

 

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For my final project, I decided to stick to working with foley, but this time with a plot twist. After the mid-sem presentation and some consultations and discussions, here’s the project idea I’ve decided to work on:

Sweet and Savoury

Main goal: A sense of discovery in a surreal experience

  • Sound association: Creating sounds with objects and immediately associating them to each other respectively.
  • Surreal experience: The uncanny feeling when the sound first associated with an object is now being associated to an entirely different object/action.

Sound Research

There are many objects that can be used to make sounds similar to other objects/actions. However, I had to make sure the objects I chose can come together to create a logical scene (e.g: cooking, gardening, etc.), especially since I was planning to portray two different scenes in my installation.

Here are some references and examples I found for foley sounds:

What Was That? The Top 15 Foley SFX From Everyday Household Objects

 

Cracking bones; snapping celery/carrot

Flapping wings; waving leather gloves

Body punches; hitting a thick book

Fire crackling; cellophane, chips bag, steel wool

Stack of cash; deck of cards

metal blinds; measuring tape

Grass footsteps; shaking shredded newspaper in plastic bag

Egg cracking; breaking ice cream cone

Water showering; dropping rice

 

The foley sound effects I found were really interesting, but I was having trouble creating a scene where the items make sense together. It was easier in my mid-sem project, The Study Room, where the objects on the foley side did not need to make sense together and only needed to create sounds that resemble those in the study room side.

At this point, I found that food had a lot of potential to make interesting variety of foley sounds, so I decided to go with the theme of cooking. This is when I began listening to cooking ASMR videos. I would play them but only listen to the video, allowing my imagination to help me associate the sounds to different objects. I also started testing out sounds myself with different fruits and food items and found that they can be rather gore sounding. This is when I thought of the ‘Sweet and Savoury’ concept; one scene will be making an innocent, sweet snack, while the other will be the preparation of a savoury meal with a plot twist (for shock factor).

 

After researching and running several tests, these were the objects I decided to put together to form each scene:

{Sweet}

  • pomegranate (tearing apart and removing seeds = ripping fingers off hand)
  • grapefruit (tearing apart and juicing by hand = squishy meat/guts sounds)
  • chocolate bar/wafer (snapping in half = breaking thin finger bones)
  • pop rocks (fizzing and popping = sizzling of oil in pan when meat is added)

{Savoury}

  • (fake) human hand
  • minced meat/patty
  • oil in pan

 

Setup

Equipment:

  • Audio recorder
  • Speakers
  • Foley objects
  • Props for scenes
  • table
  • Cloth divider

 

Layout sketch:

 

Setup planning:

 

Preparation of actual setup:

Sweet (foley side).

 

Savoury (observation side).

 

Speakers and recorder setup (hidden inside the cloth divider).

 

Side view of speakers and recorder setup (the cloth at the side of the divider can part, allowing me to reach through to control the equipment inside).

 

Flow of events:

  • Participant is seated in front of the sweet setup (foley side) and briefed on the ‘cooking’ instructions
  • Once they are ready to begin ‘cooking’, the recording will start and will only end when they are done with the entire foley process.
  • Participants will then move over to sit in front of the savoury setup (observation side), where the recorded audio will be played back for them to hear as they observe the new setting before them.

Intended result:

  • Participants will follow the ‘cooking’ instructions given and create the foley sounds.
  • The sounds they make will be strongly associated to what they see as they go about the foley process.
  • Upon hearing the recording play back when they are seated at the savoury side, they will have a surreal experience as they start associating the sounds they once made to entirely different objects.
  • Through pairing the familiar audio with a new visual setup, the participant will be somewhat tricked into feel as though they were the one who made the gore scene before them, creating a surreal experience.

 

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My initial idea of what critical vehicle represents was a mode of communication or medium that relays an important message. It was kinda close. The reading describes ‘critical’ as something judgmental, calling out the shortcomings or problems. As for ‘vehicle’, it is described as a carrier; ‘a person or a thing’ that is used as a medium to express an idea or an emotion. Given this, a critical vehicle refers to a medium that calls attention to negative issues that need to be addressed or rectified. By bringing the issue to light, it opens an opportunity to turn the situation around on a phycho-social terrain.

In the reading, Krzysztof Wodiczko’s also talks about interrogative designs, which refers to designs that calls out and question the issues and specific conditions of life exist in the world. It serves not only to give voice and comfort to those affected by the issue, but also to increase ethical alertness towards the issues that they face.

 

“Instead of deconstructing itself, design should deconstruct life.”

Without any sugarcoating, interrogative designs serve to expose all the harsh truths and pain experienced, from personal or societal, or even political. It is a segue of sorts, bringing an issue to light and inciting conversation about it. I really like how the artist creates these interrogative designs to his works, like Speaking through Monuments, using projections and existing monuments. These monuments hold important meaning, reflecting past issues and experiences throughout history. Yet, over time, we lose sight of their meaning, and they become symbols of the past that do not relate to the present; a decoration piece like any other structure in the city. Through the use of projections, the artist is able to use those monuments as his critical vehicle, projecting images that represent issues, such as homelessness, segregation, and isolation within the nation, onto their facade. Through those projections, he turns the monuments into sites of critical evaluation, bringing about debate and communication, inciting people to see and recognise these ongoing issues, and finally, to take action in solving them.

 

“Not speaking through city monuments is to abandon them and to abandon ourselves, losing both a sense of history and present.”

Homeless Vehicle Project was another work I found really interesting. It really brings to light the flaws within services that cater to the homeless. What was supposed to be physically and socially support turned into abuse and dehumanisation of homeless individuals; the security that was supposed to guard them abused them, and the shelters that were supposed to help them segregated them further from society. The homeless vehicles created were a response to this issue. They were designed base on the routine and needs of the homeless, including features such as having lock and alarm systems to protect their valuables, being able to transform into a vendor’s cart in order to sell items, and even forming an encampment that protects them from police harassment . It was a form of transport and shelter for the homeless, providing them aid while also creating empathy between the public and the homeless. By incorporating something we commonly see in life, such as a vendor’s cart, the observer will see the homeless as more than just some poor outcast, but someone who is part of the society.

 

Overall, there are a lot of issues out there that some society has become numb to, or refuse to acknowledge, like environmental issues, for example. Shouting “save the turtles” is one way to bring people’s attention to it, but have a voice much louder than that. Through interrogative designs, we can create critical vehicles that speak volumes about the issue, exposing and challenging it, and eventually inciting change for the better.

 

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When I go to an exhibition or museum, I’m usually just immersed in the visuals alone. But this exhibition allowed us to touch the installations. Needless to say, I was even more enthralled. What caught my eye most was the sheltered reading room with a single tale and chair inside. As I got closer to it, I noticed the materials that were used: wooden planks with rustic colours, common textured metal sheets, and even this green plastic shelter. Seeing all these materials together evoked a warm and calm feeling from within me. It was as though these structures were trying to replicate my childhood memories, presenting them as a physical architecture.

 

 

I remember the tour guide mentioning how the structures can make us feel a sense of comfort, yet puts us slightly on edge through hostile looking elements such as the up right pencils that resemble an army or spikes, and how the chair is not sift like a couch, making you shift around in it. But I didn’t get a single hostile vibe from them. Instead, I actually found the arrangement of pencils cute, playful even, and the chairs were actually very comfortable, possibly because wooden chairs and furniture was what I grew up using.

 

 

 

The guide also explained how the rules of setting up the installations were that they have to be placed at 90 degree angles in relation to one another. This was another element that was supposed to add stiffness to the otherwise inviting reading room. However, for me, I guess the combination of materials really overpowered these hostile elements. There’s just something about the little wooden reading room and how the light streams in through the gaps of the shelter, giving the wooden table inside a soft warm glow. All of that just made it such a cozy place. Even the two other installations with just chairs and tables also didn’t seen rigid, perhaps due to the fact that they were more asymmetrical (and also mainly wooden). The feeling and memories evoked by the materials used made me think about the reading on atmospheres in architecture; how the looks, sounds, and textures of different material can pull up various memories from the audience, and linking those memories and feelings to the architecture gives it its atmosphere.

 

 

Another part of the fieldtrip that I enjoyed was the short films screening, my favourite two being Rotating Line, To Perceive 10,000 Different Squares in 6 Minutes and 55 Seconds. Rotating Line was interesting in that it chose a unique angle to show the rotation of a line. What seemed to be a line getting shorter and shorter, before extending again, was actually a side view of the rotating line, implying that it was 3 dimensional. And for the second film, I’ve never spent so much time looking at a single square, or rather, 10,000 squares.  Each frame shows a square that is smaller than the previous one, but the differences were so minute I was fairly certain it wasn’t actually getting any smaller. So, naturally, I decided to cheat and took two pictures of the square on screen, each about 3000 frames apart. By comparison, I did see a very slight difference in size, and hopefully that’s not just my mind playing tricks on me. Regardless, all the films showed how Siah Armajani used technology to create the illusion of three-dimensional space and time.