Foundation 4D Project 4: Research

I picked that picture for the featured image because it has the word ‘time’ in it – since time is the focus of project 4

 

In this project, the key focus is on time and how to incorporate it into interactive media installation.

I’ve seen numerous installations before in the past, thanks to Singapore’s practice of making all school students go on educational field trips. These range from museum trips to tourist attraction spots to more museum trips. However, as good as they may be, I do not actually feel inspired by them in any way. (Probably because we were forced to go to these places) It may be due to their nature in trying to educate the viewer with information that the museum was built to share, which is why they are not interesting on their own.

Thus, I shall go with an installation that actually sparked my interest. (coincidentally,  the one which i went to on my own free will)

 

Case study 1 ; Lights, Camera, Action! Hosted by Steven Spielberg

Copied from:
http://www.rwsentosa.com/language/en-US/Homepage/Attractions/UniversalStudiosSingapore/NewYork/LightsCameraActionHostedbyStevenSpielberg

Subject

  • This is an attraction featured in Universal Studios Singapore.
  • I would consider this an installation as the whole attraction is fixed in a certain location and the audience who enters it watches a show put for them,

Form

  • The attraction features a “soundstage” which is a movie set created for special effects equipped with fully functional props.

Context

  • The soundstage in this case would be a boathouse set near the city of New York during a level 5 hurricane.

Content

  • The audience is trapped in a boathouse as the hurricane worsens and slowly tears the building apart with the progression of time.
  • The audience stand in front of a soundstage depicting a boathouse – floor covered with a pool of seawater, small wooden boats scattered around, metal framework with lever systems to lift up the boats, a small television set, a toilet, windows showing the New York City skyline, wooden wall and roof.
  • The soundstage props are engineered to automatically move at set timings to create the narrative of the boathouse tearing apart during the hurricane.
  • Automated flamethrowers spew fire while pressure pumps created water splashes to engage the audience through the heat of the fire and the water that hits them.
  • It gets the most intense when the entire platform which the audience is standing on rumbles towards the end of the show.

Here’s a video of the attraction:

Usage of Time and Space:

  • Time in this installation is shown through the advancing stages of the hurricane. The audience is physically aware of the progress of time as the hurricane worsens.
  • The concept of space is utilised through the use of a soundstage to create the environment for the show – in this case a boathouse.

 

 

Well, looking back at the installations, films and performances that touched on time from my memory, the first things that came to mind were:

  • Mission Impossible – sci-fi movie with all the time-attack missions
  • Looper – a 2012 sci-fi movie about a time-travelling syndicate

But even though these films incorporated time as a core element in their storyline, I still find that one other movie utilized it in a way that cannot be surpassed:

 

Case Study 2: The Girl who leapt through time

Copied from:
https://nl.pinterest.com/explore/%E7%B4%B0%E7%94%B0-%E5%AE%88/

Subject:

  • The girl who leapt through time is a Japanese anime movie released in 2006

Form:

  • Theatrical movie shown in cinemas

Context:

  • The main character of the movie gains the ability to travel back in time and the movie follows her point of view of time as she continuously travel back to the past.

Content:

  • The movie focuses on the main character, Makoto, who gains the power to time travel back to the past
  • She uses her newfound ability excessively to solve all the problems she face and for trivial gains such as eating a delicious dinner repeatedly.
  • She soon realizes that her time travels cause numerous undesirable rippled effects on others and sought to resolve them.
  • She then finds out that she has limited number of uses of her ability and matters escalate to the point where she travels back to the moment she gained her ability, effectively cancelling everything that had happened because of her time travels.

Usage of time:

  • The movie follows Makoto’s point of view, where time that is shown on the screen corresponds to her perceived time. (eg, the time on screen will be the day before if Makoto travels a day back, rendering everyone elses’ self today non-existent)
  • Time in the movie is thus constantly switching between the past and future, with the present being the current time that Makoto is currently experiencing.

Here’s a video of Makoto leaping through time:

Comparison between 2 case studies:

  • The linearity of time to tell a narrative is different, the 1st uses the audience’s perceived time that flows linearly, the 2nd uses the character’s perceived time which is non-linear.
  • The 1st case study is more interactive in nature as the audience can feel the flame and water that is produced from the soundstage, whereas the 2nd case study has the audience simply watch it.