Third Space Fallacy, A Statement

As read in the prelude to our final project, Third Space Fallacy, uses social media to broadcast a certain friendship conflict that two girls have, Daphne (me) and Bella. Of which, polls put up on our Instagram stories will decide the next cause of actions. To disguise this project that we were planning for the final project, we decided to create another Instagram account @abracadabrrun that will decide the narrative for Bella’s death.

Inspiration

The inspiration for this piece is our realization as a team how social media can affect our first space decisions and actions. On a more extreme note, the case of the death of Megan Meier because of social media, that further motivated us to create a a friendship drama narrative broadcasted on social media to observe how our followers would react and respond.

Also, we realized how emotionally connected netizens are to their social media accounts. During one meet up with the team, Bella said, “it is as if everyone has a mobile phone, an addition to themselves”. It is true, our mobile phones always need to be within sight, occasionally checking our social media platforms for updates once in a while. Besides, Bella also shared with us during team talk about a comment that Randall Packer left, that spoke to her:-

“Very interesting how you expressed your thoughts on interaction in such personal terms: how we engage emotionally in the third space. This has been one of the key ideas we have discussed this semester, how meaningful interaction can be achieved despite geographical separation. Wasn’t this proved when you elected not to interact in the chat for Annie Abrahams’ performance, and found yourself removed and disconnected. This implies that is direct interaction that creates the quality of engagement in any form of interactive art. Perhaps it would be interesting and helpful to your thesis to applied this to Blast Theory’s work: how the players and performers engage in something dynamic, arresting, and challenging in both physical and virtual spaces. ”

– Comment on Are We in LOVE with the Connectedness? Randall Packer

We decided as a team that apart from achieving our project objectives, we, as a team wanted this piece to be a statement addressing the potential of the Internet.

Execution

The team has agreed to activate Bella and I in the conflict that will be put online. Both of us used our own personal Instagram accounts, @um_brella and @d/aphnepotata. To create a narrative (if people question us about our friendship), we planned to create a fib of Bella and my past. We met in secondary school in a writing competition and had been really close friends since. Then we came to the same university, but problems in our friendship arise.

Our first postings:-

First post by @um_brella

Second post by @um_brella

First post on @d/aphnepotata in response to @um_brella

Indirectly talking about a specific someone is a common sight on social media. When “indirecting” someone, it is often posted up on social media platforms that the person is following you on, and you speak about the situation or the “beef” you have with the other person but not mention or tag them on the post. The objective is for the other person to get the message or the hint through that, without directly telling them. This is what is done between Bella and I on Instagram. The people who follow the both of us by this time have gotten the hint.

Posed by @um_brella, highlighting the fact that @d/aphnepotata did not reply her after many messages.

A post put up by @d/aphnepotata, stating the fact that a certain someone (@um_brella) has been spam calling her, seeking for her attention and she is annoyed.

A poll posted on @um_brella with the conversation between Bella and I up on the Instagram story.

Bella had purposefully not do a clean job in censoring who the sender was, and revealed part of the name “Daphne”.

Apart from using our personal account to post the drama online, we also created another Instagram account, making polls for people to take, forcing them to make uninformed choices through the polls, that will ultimately be the narrative for Bella’s death.

 

@Abeacadabrrun on Instagram.

 

This account is filled with short poems that might suggest a certain quest that is taking place for our team’s “final project”, but instead it is used to decide the ending of our actual project’s narrative.

Polls done on @abracadabrrun that was featured on the trailer deciding the narrative of Bella’s death, of which the truth behind her death was revealed.

Polls done on @abracadabrrun that was featured on the trailer deciding the narrative of Bella’s death – of which she chose to die in a black outfit.

Polls done on @abracadabrrun that was featured on the trailer deciding the narrative of Bella’s death – of which Bella chooses death, to leave the entire situation.

Polls done on @abracadabrrun that was featured on the trailer deciding the narrative of Bella’s death – of which 0000 is the time Bella will take her own life.

Thereafter, Bella posted this on her account @um_brella indirecting it to @d/aphnepotata on the entire situation, hinting that she will take her own life.

Translate: It doesnt matter if I die today or tomorrow as long as you can witness it.

Thereafter, Bella left social media for 18 hours to make her death as real as possible. Not answering any calls or messages.

Because of that, meals had to be sent to her at her dormitory, to avoid her being in the public.

Responses

Throughout the entire process, Bella and I had received many comments, messages. The bolded ones are the responses we received regarding each Instagram stories that we have each posted.

 

Bella  Daphne 
Omg I cannot take this anymore, am i just a push over…. (emo post)

4 Replies

  • Angry 1
  • Curious 2
  • Comfort 1

Should i confront her (vote)

So it’s okie to just make use of ur friend? WTF can I do with her/this toxic friendship?

  • Make it clear 22
  • Just let it go 20

6 Replies

  • Comfort 4
  • Giving positive suggestions 1
  • Curious 1
Sees post

Rants about how sensitive she is

Complains about this friend.

Responses

-wondering who i am talking about x2

-Jokes- “sorry I offended you”

Maybe they just need some ice cream in their life

Confront her on Insta about the blue ticks (emo post)

8 Replies

  • Show Empathy 2
  • Curious 2
  • Angry 2
  • Giving positive suggestions 1
  • Sad 1

Confront her on Insta about the blue ticks and insta story (emo post)

2 Replies

  • Got the name right 1
  • Ask me to move on 1

Am I sensitive?

  • Stop overreacting
  • She should respond
Call out and rant about Girl A for spam calling her many times.

Responses

-A lot of people are very interested to know who it is. The regular “omg who isit” message.

Some made a joke out of it.: “wow you have a stalker”,

“wow time to get a restraining order”,

“Nani, thats some insane calling”,

“ITS TIME TO REMOVE THAT HEART HAHAH u savage”,

“omg what? Does she follow you? I think she should get the hint already”

Really concerned: “Aiyo everything ok?”, x2

Would you rather lose a friend or fight with a friend.

  • Yes
  • no
Should I just find her in school? (vote)

  • Thats rude
  • Go ahead
Wolf wearing a sheep coat

 

screenshot of friends concern

Thank You for your concern, i feel so much better now.

Again freaking clingy sia (spam call log)

Should I block her (vote)

  • Yes
  • No

Bella and I had to be proactive on posting Instagram stories about how troubled both we were about each other. Because of that, many people in ADM have already caught the hint that it was Bella and I who are “fighting ” indirectly on social media.

Some had mentioned and asked us personally about the entire situation and had comforted us about it.

Many actually believed what they had seen online, and bought it. Hence, the performance had to be brought offline as well, in the first space when we were each questioned about the entire situation that we had put up online.

Making of the Trailer

Initially, we had wanted to remake a news station on YouTube inspired by the InCentral.

InCentral is a channel on YouTube that updates its subscribers about dramas happening online between celebrities and happenings that are juicy and interesting.

Behind the scenes of Let’s Talk the Talk

We named the channel Let’s Talk the Talk and filmed a whole news about the happening between Bella and I.

The script used for Let’s Talk the Talk – SCRIPT-Lets Talk the Talk

Influence of The Blast Theory

Blast Theory is a pioneering artist group creating interactive art to explore social and political questions, placing audience members at the centre of our work. -Blast Theory

We were inspired by the Blast Theory’s quote “explore social and political question”, of which we touched on how news received on social media are treated seriously by many netizens. Even for Bella’s death, she cannot literally die in the first space, but she sure can die in the third space. By going inactive and unresponsive, her death on the third space can be staged, allowing people to really believe it.

Also, touching on death is a controversial topic, yet it is very real that we can fake a death on the third space, similar to what my team did for Bella. This then helped us explore fake news that very much came as a package with the rise of social media.

Initially we had wanted to put up a death note by the parents of Bella to inform her followers about her death, but scraped it and replaced it with a scene in the trailer of her cutting herself. This approach has brought out a much poetic way of expressing her death, which we thought was a better way of addressing death, a sensitive topic.

Scene of Bella cutting herself in the trailer.

Fake news is fabricated or false news. Because of the speed that social media can deliver to its users, fake news on social media can be found.

The claim and counter claim that spread out around ‘fake news’ like an amorphous cloud of meta-fakery, as reams of additional ‘information’ — some of it equally polarizing but a lot of it more subtle in its attempts to mislead (e.g. the publicly unseen ‘on background’ info routinely sent to reporters to try to invisible shape coverage in a tech firm’s favor) — are applied in equal and opposite directions in the interests of obfuscation; using speech and/or misinformation as a form of censorship to fog the lens of public opinion. -Natasha Lomus

Our project touched on the issues and flaws of social media, riding on its speed to spread fake news and touched on the idea of a staged death on the third space.

This process is collaborative, between Bella and I with our followers on our accounts. They are able to interact directly with us through direct messages to comfort us, provide suggestions, take our polls, on the third space. This entire narrative is then brought to the first space when people around us ask us in real life about the entire situation.

Third Space Fallacy, as its name suggests rode on the emotional attachment people have to social media to create an entire narrative of friendship problems and the resulting death on this platform. It is as its name suggests, a mistaken belief happening on social media. Our aim, discussed, was for viewers who knew Bella and I to at least partially believe the entire narrative.

Upon finalizing the project when our trailer was being played in class, many were shocked yet they saw the entire narrative coming into place on social media. Even so, most were in between believing and not believing it.

In a nutshell

It was quite an experience when the entire performance was brought to to the first space in the span of one week. We had realized the power of social media. Both Bella and I ended it by posting a note to our followers online.

Both Bella and I had “emotionally cheated” on our followers as many bought our act and were concerned for the both of us in that one week, the tough thing was to ride on the entire narrative when they approach us checking up on us in the first space.

But we had some encouraging message about the entire performance put online!

As a team, we hope that we had highlighted the power of social media and the amount of time and emotions we had invested in it. As technology advances, our human interaction also advance with it, bringing it online. We hope as a collective, that we had brought a statement to all our viewers and audiences.

References

Blast Theory

Fake News is an Existential Crisis for Social Media

Third Space Fallacy, an Introduction

[About]

A Third Space Fallacy is an experimental interaction performance on third and first space that combines the responses collated on the third space through Instagram polls and stories to curate the next move in a friendship conflict between two girls (Bella and Daphne). To make the entire performance as real as possible, both girls had to put up an act in the span of 1 week in the first space, when questions arises from the people around them. Also, to stage that this is not part of our project for Experimental Interaction, our group have created another Instagram account @abracadabrrun, collating uninformed decisions made by our followers, which is part of the narrative of the death of Bella.

Locale Part II: Process + Zin(e)spiration

  

About Assignment 2

In Locale assignment 2, we are to visit a neighbourhood and create our very own zine!!!!

A “zine” is a self-published, non-commercial, independent publication, a DIY magazine-like thing.

Because you do it yourself it can be pretty much anything you want it to be, favorite bands, personal stories, subcultures, or collections (that’s the joy of zines!).(*screams* really excited) To embark on an exploration around a local neighbourhood! Find out what makes the neighbourhood unique and what are some of the interesting features in the area. The aim is also to develop one’s investigative research skills and present information in a visually engaging manner. To introduce inspiration and serendipity into creative development. To explore experimental formats and understand alternative layouts and grid formats. To learn more about binding methods and ways of putting together a self-made digital publication.

Concept Behind My Pieces

After exploring and discovering Chinese Garden (as seen in Locale Part I), the concept behind my zine is highlighting the contrast of Chinese Garden in a much subtle way through short proses, and photographs that might highlight each type of contrast in each spread.

1st Spread: Highlighting the contrast of the living and non-living “animals”.

2nd Spread: Highlighting the past and present objects, architecture that we can observe.

3rd Spread: Highlighting the complementary colour scheme of red and green.

Site Visit & Photographs

from my iPhone 7 and camera

Mood Board

images from pinterest

I looked through Pinterest many times and collated a few images or covers and layouts that I really like and the colour scheme that I am going for (green, blue, red).

Inspirations and Research on Layout and Presentation

taken from: http://ceoul.tumblr.com/post/124438211816/gridologie-just-finished-this-one-santa-monica

Texture & White Spaces

I particularly like the memphis texture that the artist has included to the white spaces, yet giving it enough breathing spaces for the reader.

Texts

I like the adventurous approach to the texts. The warp effect gave it a sense of flow and rhythm to the otherwise static page.

Colours

Enjoy the colour consistency throughout the page. Analogous colour of pinkish tone and purple makes this page really soothing to read.

taken from: https://78.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mcusdfv0tG1qctmo8o1_1280.jpg

Sense of Hierarchy

There is a sense of hierarchy in this page. The biggest is the picture of the shore, then the headline “surfetur” then the smallest is the rectangular box “LORDAG 28/11”.

Colour

Complementary colours used (blue and orange).

Texture

Used the squiggly to create a sense of texture.

taken from: https://i.pinimg.com/originals/1d/6a/af/1d6aafef758f12c866fbfc00b2f96266.jpg

Theme Continuation

I like how there is a conversation between the hands at the top and bottom of the page.

Collage

The collage of small elements gave the page a little three-dimensional effect.

Texture

The lightning bolt and the star gave the page a quirky texture, something of strong statement and gave interest to the page aside from texts and images.

Balance

There is balance in both sides of the page. Although it is heavily highlighted by the black borders, the right side is balanced out by the busy elements going on on the left. The orange texts and the eye on the picture on the right creates another minor visual balance, everything else is muted in colour (black, white, light beige)

taken from: https://www.behance.net/gallery/53249095/Analog-Reflections

taken from: https://www.behance.net/gallery/53249095/Analog-Reflections

Really like the entire vibe of the zine, minimal, few texts and the pictures speak the message.

taken from: https://www.behance.net/gallery/58335321/The-Chelsea-Hotel-zine

Like the photos edited, very uniform throughout this zine. Something I want for my zine too!

Fonts Used

Yorktown is used for headers

Yorktown

and Minion Pro used for the proses.

Minion Pro upper and lower case

Designing Process

My designing process came a long way. Started from the bottom and now we’re here! hahhaha

But my final design really looked a lot different from the start!

Initial Phases

that evolved slowly…

then this happened after a talk with Brendan over how troubled I am about my zine at 3 am in the morning at NTU Starbucks… this happened after a few hours…

the rest is history!
BUT here’s my work from bleed to bleed

Adding Videos

Also, I decided to add moving images to enhance the visuals from the zine to the audience. I thought that to fully be able to grasp the environment of the place, merely pictures will not suffice. Besides, my first visit there was filled with boomerangs, as seen in my research presentation, so I thought for my subsequent visit, I take videos too! Special shoutout to Jun Meng , a film student who went to site visit with me and got some footages with me! Enjoyed it thoroughly! Here are our fruits from the labour which I had included in the zine using QR codes!

takeaways!!!

Initially I was super excited for this project!! To design a zine is my first, plus I really enjoy writing, so I thought I can really combine both together into my first ever publication. Then as the process continues, it got harder and harder especially when my layout was not fixed, and had to go back and forth with merely sketches which was when I feel like I am lagging behind everyone.

That was when I realize talking to your friends about it is really important especially when you have a mind block and you don’t know where or how to carry on!!!! special shoutout to Teri, Sihui, Niki, Brendan, JJ, Gloria, JunMeng. (hope i did not miss anyone)

And people around are really there to help you, when you have the ideas, ask for opinions, don’t shy away. Just get the critiques, you will learn and be better from there!

Also, during this project, I tried many new things in terms of layout, stared at InDesign for hours and hours and I can still be on similar layouts, but Pinterest is your good friend! (but don’t plagarize!) get inspired, use the elements you like and make them your own! Look out for the vibes you’re going for and work from there. It is similar to finding your style first then choosing the clothes! (cuz then you will have selected designs to choose from! easier)

overall it was quite an experience! to start from a blank inDesign

to something you can call your own!!

It was hell of a ride! BUt it was one of the greatest ride!!

Thank you for viewing!

View my final product here and Part I here!

Locale Part I: Research Presentation (Infographic Style)

 

Freeze Frame + My Explorations

  • I procrastinated going to the location for a long time.
  • When I finally decided to go there, it was during the weekends, in the end although it is very near to NTU, 2/3 times I went there from home in the central area:-(
  • Throughout the entire journey there, what’s going through my mind was “okay, I’m on my way there, I’m really on my way there!!!” The ride was painful.

  • At the entrance of Chinese Garden, I was greeted by the chinese guardian lions or the stone lions at the entrance of chinese garden.
  • A funny sight I got to witness was that birds seem to like to land on top of the stone lions, each taking turns.
  • And to me, when a bird lands on the stone lion, they look like they are of one entity of stone and flesh.

  • Thereafter, I was greeted by the pagoda!!!!

  • It is 7 storeys high, and I went to research after I got home and found out that it is inspired by the Ling Nan Temple in Nanjing, China.
  • Also, in the past, the pagoda was used to store human bones by the Buddhist.

  • I was marvelled by the interior architecture of the place
  • the chinese patterns, the spiral staircase and the grid windows

  • While I was in there I also spotted someone taking a nap there
  • And thereafter, I saw a handful of people taking naps at the little corners of the chinese garden

  • Walking around, I realize that the main colour scheme of the Chinese Garden is red and green.
  • Interestingly, there are complementary colours.
  • The red mainly from the ancient architectures and the green from the dense vegetation there.

  • I then walked into the Bonsai Garden and saw HDB emerging through the vegetation from afar, as if they were peeking at me.
  • I realized that at the Chinese Garden, I can observe past and present architecture (past: the pagodas, present: mrt tracks & HBD flats)

  • Walking in the Bonsai Garden, I saw many pots of bonsais and as I inch in closer to have a look, I realized that they look like trees on mountains
  • Seems like tiny humans can live on it, making a small ecosystem there.

  • Strolling through Chinese Garden on a hot day, I also witness the shadows casted on different surfaces : on the walls, on the pavements.

  • I always seem to walk in the shade, and the shadows of the trees look like guiding paves that leads my way.

  • I walked out of the Bonsai Garden and saw a cat and decided to observe it for awhile

  • I took a few boomerangs and pictures of it because I was inspired by the Cat zine that Shirley showed us in class.
  • It started to walk around the area and I followed it thinking “are we on a scavenger hunt?”
  • It just seem to laze around, outside the Bonsai Garden, could it actually be the living fortune cat?!?!

  • Nope! then it brought me to the bikes that were left outside the entrance of the Bonsai Garden … hmm

  • And talking about bikes, I realize I saw many bikes around, in solo, in pairs, as a group, left in the middle of the pavement in Chinese Garden
  • I thought they look better with someone’s arse on them (hahaha)
  • They destroy the scenery of the place
  • So… bikes? yikes!

  • Afterall, what stood out to me about Chinese Garden is the contrast of the place
  • Contrast: non-living thing and living thing (the stone lion and the bird, the living fortune cat), past and present (the HBD flats and the ancient architectures) and the colour scheme (red and green)

Thank you for viewing! :~)

4d: Project 4 – Poetics of Time (final)

For our final project for 4D Foundation, we were to explore time & space.

Certain points to note are – rhythm, movement, causality, & duration of the piece which will be mentioned in the later part of the post.

Before diving straight into my final product, do view my process and research!


Conceptualising..

Approaching the last project, I wanted to explore out of conventional mediums and create a more poetic piece. Besides, with the rise of film camera apps like Gudak, I wanted to challenge myself to embrace the fact that I will not be able to preview the images I take, and see beauty in them. This project also embraces the Japanese aesthetic of Wabi-sabi that speaks about imperfections and the acceptance of them. (More explanation can be seen in my final proposal in my process & research post!)

Therefore, for Project 4, I used the film camera, more specifically the Olympus Mju II, a pass-me-down automated film camera. It is not a conventional medium at this age, and the effect of the film camera gives a vintage and venerable feel. This style also brings out the passage of time much better than a conventional camera (phone camera, dslr) in my opinion.

Also, what tells time better than time itself, right?

Comparison: iPhone Camera vs Gudak Film app (no edits)

on iPhone cam

on Gudak app

The feeling both evoke is rather different although both are of the same composition and have the same subject matter.

The warm tone of the outcomes of film camera are more stimulating and evokes a mood or feeling.

The outcome of the iPhone camera is much cooler than the one in film.

To better illustrate my point in the difference between the two methods of photography, I have included two images below.

picture in warm tone | taken from: https://iphonephotographyschool.com/color-temperature/

picture in cool tone | taken from: https://iphonephotographyschool.com/color-temperature/

To me it felt like I cannot fully explain the differences in words. So try comparing the mood, thoughts and feelings you have for the above two pieces.

fINAL pRODUCT

The clock was placed right next to the Pictorial Clock to show a vast difference in the speed of the actual clock and the Pictorial Clock.

How Rhythm is seen in the piece?

Rhythm: regularised repeating of movement or sound

Rhythm was seen in the regular interval of each image of 3 seconds. It can also be seen in the regular interval of the images itself of an hour.

The regular rhythm in this piece brings a calming effect, looking at the passage of time. This piece brings out the nostalgic effect of the film camera and the tranquility in the movement of time, compressed into the Pictorial Clock.

I made it such that

How Movement is seen in the piece?

Movement is the shift or variation in the location of an object, light or sound.

Movement can be seen in the variation of the background/ the environment, the amount of light and the placement of the clock in the images.

Since all the images were taken in a day itself, some images are taken in a different environment than the rest, since mostly are taken outside by dorm room. As you can see, some taken outside hive, some taken at adm, some taken on the way back to hall.

In terms of eye movement, the focus should be on the Pictorial Clock and in rare moments on the analogue clock beside. A bulk of the time the eye is in stillness.

How causality was seen in the piece?

Causality is the principle that everything has a cause and effect.

Pictorial Clock is a non-narrative piece, yet there is a clear account of connected events. For example, in order to have night, there is first day or vice versa.

It is also expected, since it works similarly to a regular clock that the audiences know.

What is the duration of the piece?

Duration is the overall length of time a work - or a portion of a work lasts.

Since this piece is looped, the technical duration of the piece is infinite.

Yet because it is an installation, the duration of this piece differs from viewer to viewer. It can be as short as a glance (say a few seconds).

How Should the Pictorial Clock Be Viewed?

The left side of the Pictorial Clock shows day time (when the day is bright), while the right side shows night time (when the day is dark).

It can be viewed from any part of the video, since there is no start and end to time.

A three minutes interval is placed for every image, each image showing an hour difference. The Pictorial Clock is an example of edited time, since each hour is not 3 seconds long..

Edited Time is time that has been cut up and rearranged.

Actual Images Taken (raw images)

6am and 7pm

7am and 8pm        

8am and 9pm

9am and 10pm

10am and 11pm

11am and 12am

12pm and 1am

1pm and 2am

2pm and 3am

3pm and 4am

4pm and 5am

5pm and 6am

6pm and 7am

Some Pictures

 

Video of the presentation

Pictorial Clock

Video of the complied images

Project 3: Impossibilities of Being

Sink-ing [(present participle) / verb: sink], the state of being in the sink. “i found myself sink-ing the other day, this was what happened..”

Wanna jump right into the video? FINAL VIDEO

//

Before diving right into the project, we were to list down places we have not been before and the toilet pipes were on my mind..

Thereafter, create a 1-minute film on how we would perceive the location.

So I decided to go along with a sink… since I thought recording the sounds of water will be interesting!!

taken from: https://pixabay.com/en/basin-sink-tap-drain-faucet-1114991

Here’s the video!

Perspective

Playing with perspective, I made the audience to be the in the first person view in the film. Shrinking them into a small creature who can fit into the scene, I added a tiny narrative along with it and a cliff hanger at the end of the film, where the audience can start to imagine what might happen to the tiny creature hiding in the sink.

Set-up Plan

Analyzing the Sounds

  • Synchronous Sounds: Heard at the same time as it is being produced The washing of hands, scrubbing of hands matches with the image of the video
  • Diegetic Sounds: any sounds emanating from the fictional world. The gasping, the panting of the character

    Sound Quality

  • Intensity

– the panting, loud to soft

– the gasping, sudden loudness, then dying down

  • Rhythm

-the panting and gasping.

  • Foley usage- The bubbling sounds, produced by blowing air into a cup of water
  • Multilayering- Putting two sets of sounds together, the reaction audio of the creature and the ambience audio.

StoryBoards:

Lo-Fi Storyboard:

Hi-Fi Storyboard (experimentation)

https://vimeo.com/241373522

password: daph0016

recording process

All sounds are recorded by me using the Zoom Recorder, adjusting it from 90 degrees to 120 degrees. 

This device is seriously good.

All audios are recorded separately, i.e walking into the toilet as an audio, washing hands as an audio, and then using iMovie to combine all audios together.

Since this project is more about the sounds we experiment with, I decided to record my ambience audio first, then record the visuals thereafter. Foley recording is recorded the last after the visuals and ambience audios are recorded to better match the entire film.

How was the visuals recorded

Visuals are recorded in a MTV style. The ambience audio was played at the background, and the washing of hands and the cliff hanger at the last part was simulated to match the audio itself.

How was the foley recorded

As aforementioned, the ambience audios and visuals are done up, I then continue to record the creature’s reaction in the sink.

It was difficult to keep it in sync (sink) with the rest of the clips. This was the hardest to record after the visuals. The first difficulty was deciding how I wanted my creature to react in the sink. The second was how am I going to record it and what sounds are appropriate?

While in thought, I was having a cup of drink and then I thought it will be a good idea to record me blowing bubbles into a cup of water. That was literally how I derived at using bubbles sounds to layer it with the ambience audios.

Conclusion

Overall, I enjoyed recording sounds for the first time, and discovering the different sounds that are produced in our environment which I rarely ever noticed before this project. The filming process was a lot of fun, and I have attached a photo below!

My friend, Vanetta, had to help me with the pouring of water and holding of the ladle as the sink.

I placed the camera in the box, tight with a ziplock bag and started the filming. Watching of hands was simulated, although you cannot see that clearly, but I wanted the audience to observe these small actions, especially when that is the main focus in the short film.

Also, I was very impressed by my classmates’ creation as a bulk of them used drawings and animations to portray their respective sounds. (which I did not expect) Besides, I got the chance to work with Brendan with his film, which was super fun and something out of my comfort zone.

In a nutshell, although the location the sink is  a tiny place that I can never visit, but coming up with the filming process and seeing the outcome is a very satisfying thing!

Don’t forget to view my in-class exercises here!

Project 4 – Research

Artwork 1: Paperman

Directed by John Kahrs, Walt Disney Animation Studio

Subject: The subject matter in the film is the Paperman himself and the girl of his dreams, who he met at the railway station.

Form: A short black and white animated film

Context: This short animated film was produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and had won an Oscar award for the Best Animated Short Film and the Annie Award for Best Animated Short Subject in 2013. Paperman uses only music to portray a change in mood, where at the beginning it was upbeat and whimsical, and the music became more lively and exciting as he was trying to get to know then girl of his dreams. Also, it is one that tells a story without any dialogue.

Content: This short animated film tells us about Paperman and his short encounter where he fell in love with a girl who works just opposite his office building. The film shows his journey as he tries to get to know her.

How is time used: Edited time (linear), there is a past, present and future very distinct in the film.

Artwork 2: How I Wish

Produced by Eden Ang Productions

Subject: A beggar and the statue he fell in love with.

Form: A fast forwarded short film.

Context: A short film done up by a YouTuber, Eden Ang, starring Audrey Goh.

Content: A beggar, played by Eden Ang, fell in love with a statue, played by Audrey Goh, whom he often beg beside. He made a wish to be able to spend an hour with her but soon after, she turned back into stone. He then wished for her happiness even when it meant it cost his. He then turned into stone while she gained her freedom.

How is time used: Edited time (linear), there is a past, present and future very distinct in the film.

Artwork 3: where i grew up

Filmed and edited by Connor Franta

Subject: Connor Franta himself.

Form: A 3.08 mins soundscape.

Context: Connor Franta is a YouTuber, born in Wisconsin, who often travel and now resides in West Hollywood, California.

Content: A documentation of him exploring his motherland, and his encounter with nature when he was back in his hometown. He captured the soundscape of the places he visited. The visuals compliment the audio of the film.

How is time used: Edited time (non-linear) is used in the film. There is no clear indication which clip is the start, end, it seems like you can rearrange them and the video will still make sense.

 

Compare and contrast the artworks and discuss the differences and similarities in usage of time in each artwork.

Differences: How time is being used in the film

1 and 2 are both done using edited time (linear), while 3 is done in edited time (non-linear).

1 and 2 has a very distinct past, present and future, in a chronological manner, there is a start and there is an end, happy or sad ending.

However for 3, there is not a distinct past, present and future. Hence, we notice that there is no proper ending.

Conclusion:

These three films are one of the top few that I really like to watch, and re-watch. 1 is a film recently introduced to me by a friend who is enthusiastic about animation and I grow to really like how cool John Kahrs is able to successfully still tell a story without proper dialogues.

2 is a film done up by one of my favourite local YouTuber. He often does skits and short films, even action films which is very inspiring to me.

3 is probably my favourite among the three. I realize I really enjoy watching films that does not need much, yet is able to connect with my soul (?) / me. It inspires, explores, yet remains raw and pure.

Hope they inspire you in a way or another, just like how they inspired me.