‘Streak’ is a kaleidoscopic alternate reality that plays on the manipulation of light and time. Through the use of long exposure photography, light entering the lens is prolonged and stretched out, giving a sense of movement through time. Drawing inspirations from Godfrey Reggio’s 1982 experimental film ‘Koyaanisqatsi’, streak showcases the dynamic movements of lights illuminating the still night. Streak aims to captivate the viewers and evoke a sense of moving forward with its quick-paced and bright moving lights playing alongside with fast paced music. The use of different neon-like colours combined with overlaying effects alters the perception and reality of the original image and brings a whole new dimension to time and space.
Following up from my previous post, I went around and did some experimental shots at a nature reserve to try and have a feel of what I can come up with relating to the theme/mood I was going for. I played around with the effects in Adobe Premiere Pro (mainly mirroring and glitching) in order to bring out a kaleidoscope effect/generative art from a mundane piece of visual.
For this piece, I basically did some movement with the camera in the actual filming and then I added a single layer of mirror effect. I personally like this piece as the reflected image and the movement allows it to look like it is evolving within itself, creating a new and refreshing image with every frame.
Next, I experimented with more layers within the same clip and overlayed 4 different layers of ‘mirror effect’, each with a different angle to multiply the image to make it look more abstract. This produces an image almost similar to when we look through a kaleidoscope.
These are a few more examples I did experimenting around with the mirror effect to see the outcome of it.
Glitch effect
In addition, I referenced from youtube tutorials to learn how to make glitching effects, either to compliment a transition from clip to the next or just to give an extra layer of effect to enhance the clip.
Speed ramping effect
This clip below was a combination of the glitch effect I’ve learnt earlier and also doing a bit of speed ramping (which is basically speeding up certain parts of the clip and slowing it down).
Slow motion effect
I also tried out slowing down the time of the clips to test out how I can incorporate different speeds within different footages to give more depth to the entire film. The clip below was slowing down the time with a combination of a cant angle movement, resulting in a more smooth and stable shot.
Realisation
After experimenting with these clips and effects, I realised that I’ve been working on the 1920 x 1080 resolution instead of the intended Media Art Nexus wall resolution which is 3840 x 480.
I converted my files to fit the sequence settings of 3840 x 480. However, I wasn’t very satisfied with the outcome when my 1920 x 1080 footage had to be resized to 3840 x 480 as that would mean that I would have to double the pixel count on the long side which would result in a loss of quality of the footages. This also led to more problems that affected the storytelling I initially envisioned. Due to the ‘crop’ resolution, it looked like there was a narrow field of vision which didn’t portray the visuals I had in mind. A large section of the images were cropped out which resulted in an almost ‘zoom’ perspective of these images.
Timeline screenshot of the footage in 3840 x 480 resolution.
Example footage with mirror effect in 3840 x 480 resolution. There is a narrow field of vision as compared to what I initially intended.
Overall, these experiments have helped me to realise what actually works and what didn’t. It also allowed me to improve my technical skill of the software and workflow of the project.
Out of the 3 main themes that were presented (Data, Illusion and Play), I knew I wanted to explore deeper into the theme of ‘Illusion’. There were 2 main ideas that I wanted to explore under ‘Illusion’, mainly playing on the idea of manipulating ordinary everyday objects and turning them into a completely new subject. Both of the ideas are categorised under experimental film:
Timelapse/Long exposure
Kaleidoscope effect + the mixture of nature and cityscapes
Timelapse / Long exposure
I’ve always been intrigued by how long exposure alters the image completely. It is something we don’t normally be able to capture with our naked eyes but more so with the help of technology. There is also a sense of movement running through the image even though it is just a still image.
This video is an example of how timelapse and long exposure photography can work together to display a sense of movement through the city. I love how the lights from the vehicles, buildings and street lights enables this sense of dynamic flow within the city.
Kaleidoscope effect + A mixture of Nature and Cityscapes
I’m leaning more towards this second idea. I’m inspired by how Central Park in New York City is a whole plot situated in the middle of the city full of buildings and skyscrapers and I was wondering how I can combine these two different elements of nature and city together into a cohesive piece.
Top view of Central Park
I’m looking to create an experimental film combining the elements of nature and cityscape, putting Singapore in the context of how there is still nature all around us despite how technologically advanced and urbanised Singapore has become. Building on this idea, I want to also include specific visual elements that will allow the film to evolve into a more abstract piece instead of just a narrative.
I did a little research on how Singaporeans can connect back with nature despite the urban growth and came across this article.
The article talks about how “there is a growing disconnect between the people who live in cities and the natural environment” and that they are trying to bridge the gap between nature and the community.
“This initiative aims to synergise and coordinate all nature-related events, activities, and programmes to better reach out to the community to encourage them to bond over and with nature.”
I found it interesting that there are efforts being placed to encourage the growth of conserving nature and how we as Singaporeans, living in an urban city can learn to start appreciating nature and coexist with one another.
I found some videos online that allowed me to visualise my project, and piecing together different parts of inspiration and ideas into one complete project.
The mood I’m going is roughly reflected in these two videos, with certain scenes reflecting nature in its quiet and untouched form. The videos evoke a certain mood that I want to apply to my project.
This video shows the kaleidoscope and mirror effect applied to reflect an ordinary image to turn it into a more abstract piece, giving a fresh perspective of what is normally seen. I want to incorporate these 2 elements together and there is definitely still a lot of experimentation to be done through filming as well as the editing process to achieve the desired outcome.
