• Examinations/graduation show setup, day two

    30Oct
    Categories: E-Media 3B journal Comments Off

    r0010486.jpg

    First chore of the day: getting the wireless internet to work – I thought I was following Aaron’s instructions, but to no joy. It was a bit of a task that re-routed an internet connection from Nancy’s office into some hub’s that Dad happened to have (hugs) and I was on my way. Normally the wireless connection just ‘works’ but something seemed to be interfering with it. D’oh! And I thought this was going to be such a seamless day – I can’t control everything unfortunately! Haa!   

     

    r0010491.jpg

    The ‘very expensive’ adaption to the projector hadn’t moved overnight, which was so awesome.       

     

    r0010496.jpg

    Wowee – got Internet sorted at, oh, about 4.30pm that afternoon. I was stressing on the inside, hee hee. Aaron and Bill were very clever and got it all working. And then you wouldn’t believe it, but the pages I’d spent many hundreds (slight exaggeration) of hour on – ok, maybe just 30 or so hours on – were too bandwidth greedy. Most of them embedded flash video from uStream.tv – so I had to take a bit of a detour with my webcam input.       

     

    r0010499.jpg

    I googled “IP webcam’s” and found a fantastic site with links to many IP cameras around the world. For the first test I combined traffic in Spain, a European office, a Turkish shop front, a muslim radio station, the Bay of Fires in Tassie, a swedish learning institution, a swinging pendulum foyer, a Spanish market and a beachside café/bar.      

     

    r0010501.jpg 

    For the final installation, I will include Ana Voog’s webcam broadcast (she is one of the original webcam girls too, so, sort of an ‘ode to Ana’), as well as setup a virtual webcam (just using Photo Booth) from within the vicinity. I will probably use the lower-right or middle-right screens for this, as catch a bit of light spillage from the doorway, which may show more details for the onlooker within the room.     

    The screen zoom tool works really well for the browser broadcasts, as I can zoom in and crop with a fair amount of control over what footage I want to show. Aaron downloaded a preference pane plug-in called “Cursorcerer” which hides your mouse after a nominated duration. Absolutely perfect for me.A couple of broadcasts keep ’sticking’ and freezing on a frame – bandwidth problems still perhaps – so I will check/change to smaller broadcasts to ensure quality. I just have a few more photos/video to upload, then submit my artist’s statement and details for the grad show spiels that Luccia prints out for us. And then I’m all organised/done, yay!

         

  • Examinations/graduation show setup, day one

    29Oct
    Categories: E-Media 3B journal Comments Off

    1_dadsycar.jpg  

    What a gorgeous start to the day it was – Dad lugged in the heavy gear in his Hilux. The lighting rigs were shiny new ones, from ‘Production Works’ who hired them to me for a wonderful deal/price :)         

     

    2_firstshelf.jpg

    I was keen to have about 4-5 metres in between where the iMac’s were set up and where the projection was beamed onto the end wall. So that there is plenty of room for a crowd to come in and have space to stand in the centre of the work.        

     

    3_secondshelf.jpg 

    The lower shelf started at 900mm off the ground the the highest point of the Mac’s on the top shelf were going to be around 2.5 metres. Any taller and it would be difficult to view the content. The stands were very sturdy. Required the half coupler brackets to be positioned. Then two lots of 90º brackets to be bolted on. The black timer shelves (consisting of MDF with hardwood centre support beam) were then screwed into the metal brackets. Certainly not going anywhere in a hurry, ha!       

     

    4_threeshelves.jpg 

    Once the central iMac’s were positioned, we measured 90mm between them and the iMac’s next to them. This gave an even spacing between the vertical ones, giving the impression of grid-like matrix.      

     

    5_fivemacs.jpg

    All the iMac’s contained a security hole for bolting to a desk or similar. These were all in slightly different positions, so Dad and I were careful to mark and position each one with great care. I caught myself when I realised I was about to ask him to move one half a millimetre to one side.      

     

    6_ninemacs.jpg

    Voila! Yay!    

     

    7_curtain.jpg 

    And now for the false wall – to cover up all the junk in the back of the room. But also to draw/halve the size of the room. The rope really stood out – even with the lights off – so we used a combination of gaffa tape quality to hang and then hide the rope, blending it in with the black material.     

     

    8_macscurtain.jpg 

    Tidying up – couldn’t get the internet to work though, d’oh! Fingers crossed for tomorrow with Aaron’s help :)     

     

    9_bucketwith3dglasses.jpg 

    The 3D glasses are offered close to the entrance from the atrium walkway. I didn’t want to put them on the other side of the room, as they might get missed.     

    I wanted the eye to be projected through a circular shape, so that it didn’t have a hard white rectangle edge around it. So Dad cut a small hole in some wood to reveal the projected image through it. It certainly has a Big Brother feel to it now! Peers that popped in during the course of the day all seemed to react well to the domineering effect that the computer matrix/grid had too. It certainly seemed to have an overwhelming presence in the room, which is fantastic. I am really very happy with how it all looks. Just have to get the wireless internet connections and the auto file startups to work – I wasn’t able to get this working late tonight, without Aaron’s help. So I will have to pester him again in the morning.  r0010493.jpgr0010488.jpg 

  • Week 13 … and swot vac

    15Oct
    Categories: E-Media 3B journal Comments Off

    Loose ends

    • Full-screen toggle for embedded uStream video files [Unable to find anything that works, so have posted a query on the Whirlpool forums website, so will see if anyone knows of a way.]

    I received this reply to my post, from DaRKoN_ “You must goto full screen manually. AFAIK you can’t programatically do it else we would have websites taking over our entire desktops all the time.” …Well, that answers that then! I received another reply that was similar. So, my maximum window solution appears to be the one at this stage.

    • Flash video of blinking eye, to create intervening page within some of the broadcast pages [DONE]
    • Refine choices for embedded web streams and create extra six journeys of streams [DONE]
    • Check what needs to be written for assessment [DONE]
    • Artists statement – should also be a reflective statement, so need to tweak current statement once everything is finalised [DONE]
    • Get photos printed for journal [Decided to just add to this blog instead]
    • Iron black material
    • Pack gaffa tape & rope to hang black material
    • Photograph seminar room for setup preparation [DONE]
    • Monday lunch hour: bring in TV for Matt [DONE], find Jessie for her to take her photo.
    • Print out stickers for attaching to journal/documents [DONE]
    • Investigate concave surface for projecting onto … check whether 3D effect still works and whether it gives the appearance of an eyeball coming out from the wall. Maybe getting some foam cut? Keep it a white shape? [Shapes distorting too much, discarding idea]
    • Round hole to project eyeball video through – project as round shape onto wall, masking edges. Projector lens is 50mm, so cut hole at diameter of 45mm.
    • Test webcam’s on uni iMac computers running OS 10.5 with macam software.
    • Fix white background for flash video of eyeball.

    Electronic Portfolio

    Finalise DVD or website plans – I am thinking that the web is more appropriate, since my project is all about the internet, lol. At the moment my website is just a cover page with a link to this blog. So, perhaps I could rework it to begin with my showreel and then links to other works?

    Finalise Grad Show DVD screens

    We tried the same font as the grad show catalogue, “Arno Display Italic”, but when Raef tested it, it just wasn’t legible for tv screens. After trying the non-italics version, we pulled the pin on Arno and resorted to Helvetica CY instead. Looks much better and will be excellent that people will actually be able to read our blurbs, lol. Here’s a preview of a few pages:

    intro.jpg                                                      

    introspiel.jpg

    menu.jpg

    anita.jpg

    Internet connections

    Bill and Aaron have sussed out the internet connections for me, for the seminar room, for examinations setup. One computer will use the ethernet cable & will be used to send a wireless signal to the other 9 computers in the room, yay! So that bit is all sorted.

    Rig for computers to be displayed

    I have a few possibilities for this tricky little part. I could use some scaffolding from somewhere within the uni (not so sure how polished this will look), hang the computes from the ceiling (wold depend on how they are weighted & might interfere with the screens, so not so keen on this one either) or hire some lighting rigs from Production Works. The latter being the preferred option, particularly for occupational health & safety reasons … as the show is open to the general public, I want for things to be rock solid & not worry about damaging equipment nor humans! Lol. So, the rigs just depend on the costings. Otherwise, scaffolding will be the go!

    Measurements

    Need to take some photos of the seminar room, measure the walls to check that my big piece of black material will suffice, and check what sized planks I may need to sit the computers on. So, need the dimensions of the computer also. Will need to bolt them down onto the planks, for security reasons!Specs off the Apple website:

    20-inch iMac: Height: 46.9 cm; Width: 48.5 cm; Depth: 18.9 cm; Weight: 9.1 kg                                             

    Webcam testing 

    Testing out two external webcam’s that I’d like to hang around the room/hallway area of the uni atrium to connect into my broadcast. Not sure how I’m going to get those to autostart with the log-in stuff required, so I might have to come in every day and do that after all, d’oh! Anyways, I purchased one UVC logitech webcam – apparently if a webcam is UVC it is supported for Mac’s running OS 10.4.9 onwards, but you need to download the latest macam software from http://webcam-osx.sourceforge.net and the open source software can be downloaded from here.

    Matrix code

    Yay, I have just finished the matrix of nine coding sequences for the installation. Running left to right, top to bottom, here are the pages to kick things off:

    Includes: ‘on the rail’ pool; Anita Wanless webcam 1; pirillo.com; Roland Martin Show; and embedded flash video of the 3D eyeball.

    Includes: Jonathon Davis; japanese animation; embedded flash video of the 3D eyeball; and flamingo church.

    Includes: John McCain; japanese animation; and ‘This is Mason’.

    Includes: Vent with Michelle Malkin; NASA space; Anita Wanless webcam 2; and Ludo DJ.

    Includes: MCLY TEC; The Tech Buzz (problem solving); Get Web TV; and In search of the paranormal.

    Includes: Dane Cook; Clifton Beach TAS webcam; African flamingos; and embedded flash video of the 3D eyeball.

    Includes: Bay of Fires TAS webcam; Anita Wanless webcam 3; Switchfoot Studio; and Lunchtime Chats.

    Includes: Ed Morrissey Show; Wine Library TV; Penny Arcade; and KCJJ RAW.

    Includes: embedded flash video of the 3D eyeball; the Scheff Experience; LAGtv; and MP3 Insider.


    Planning the seminar room 

    I have organised to hire some light rigging stands from Production Works, as well as 1 dozen half couplets, 2 heavy base stands, 3 planks of wood, and bolts/washers etc.  

     projector-end-of-room.jpg               

    The celing height measure 3.03 metres up to the wood and then gives another 400mm. My rigging stands measure 3 metres – how lucky is that! It should all just fit in nicely (fingers crossed). 

    projector-end-of-room2.jpg               

    left-material-hooks-above-air-con.jpg

    hook-air-con-distance.jpg

    I was happy to find three little hooks right where I’d like to hang my false wall with the black material. I can tension some rope and use gaffa tape to do the rest. Then, I can hide all the stuff (chairs/desks/etc) I don’t need from the room in behind it all!

    right-material-hook.jpg                

     

    Bring in for the first set up day

    • Hammer (Dad to bring)
    • Cordless drill & drill bits (Dad to bring)
    • Shifter (Dad to bring)
    • Ladder (Dad to bring)
    • Black material (ironed)
    • Gaffa/electrical/masking tape
    • 3D glasses
    • Nuts, bolts, washers
    • Rope
    • Power boards
    • Extension chord
    • Video/camera for documentation

  • Artist and reflection statements

    14Oct
    Categories: E-Media 3B journal Comments Off

    ARTIST STATEMENT

    Early conceptual investigations were inspired by Oscar Wilde “…Man is least himself when he talks in his own person…Give him a mask, and he will tell the truth”. I have continued to explore the idea of a mask, as a tool to reflect upon the barriers we often develop to hide/protect our inner identity. My work deals with these ideas and concerns relating to identity, inhibitions and personal expression. And, more recently, how these are aided through personal interactions via the Internet.

    Post modern feminist Donna Haraway, famous for her ‘cyborg’ writings, asked “…why should our bodies end at the skin?” and that “…even the most ‘natural’ body is a cyborg: one organic and (another) technological”. This work, entitled ‘Greater Dimension’, aims to make a statement that one can simultaneously be both the gazer and the gazed upon, be an organic life form or digital body of data, in a journey of self-discovery via the Internet.

    This work aims to portray the masks of those separating their identity from body, exploring an online body of data with a desire to connect with others through different media channels, such as blogs, journals and galleries. The objectification of individuals creates dedicated engagement and interest, resulting in their own micro-celebrity fan base for the consenting broadcaster.

    ‘Greater Dimension’ combines the streaming of live data across the Internet, via multiple webcam’s – combining personal and public footage from local and international locations – to create an engaging and interactive work for an audience’s gaze.

    Themes of exhibitionism and surveillance are prevalent. Statistics provide further intrigue for broadcasters, who can watch themselves being watched. Individuals are increasingly streaming their daily routine across the Internet – turning the ordinary into extraordinary. This work questions whether online experiences tell more about one’s self, than those they are watching.

     

    T. Senft, Camgirls : Celebrity and Community in the Age of Social Networks, 2008, Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., New York: 8

     

    ibid: 36

     

    SELF REFLECTION

    Many conceptual developments were inspired by Laura Mulvey, Linda Nochlin, Griselda Pollock and Donna Haraway. Focusing upon their arguments about the gaze and adaptation of one’s digital identity. My intention was to create a work, exploring notions of the digital self and how broadcasted behaviour may uncover more about oneself than those you choose to watch. My initial research investigated chat rooms, then focused upon online communities, who embraced broadcasting themselves online.

    Writer Terri Senft helped uncover the essence of this work and critiques provided excellent guidance, with peers suggesting a surveillance-like setup. Discussions with teaching staff further reinforced the conceptual and metaphorical importance of highlighting a broadcasters’ interest in self-surveillance.

    The blinking watchful (stereoscopic anaglyph) eye symbolises a three-dimensional and organic contrast to the rigid matrix of the iMac’s. It metaphorically achieves a sense of being inside the viewer’s mind. Who is watching whom? What does this tell us about the Internet … and about ourselves?

    While broadcasters allow phone calls, instant message chats, and live webcam’s of themselves – the work was originally strengthened by displaying total online viewers, providing greater interest. It led me to wonder where the intent to broadcast originated? Perhaps to achieve micro-celebrity status, or simply watch one’s broadcast being watched? I felt including some time/location data gave a broader sensory awareness to an individual’s interaction with the work.

    Whilst it was disappointing that I had to discard the original embedded broadcast sequences, as were too bandwidth hungry, I feel the IP webcam’s were even more successful. Whilst I had to compromise on less private webcam’s, the IP webcam’s still communicate the essence of the work – in that, they reveal more about the watcher, than those featured within the broadcast. Overall, I believe it’s a highly engaging, interactive and thought provoking work, for today’s digitally-masked society.

  • Week 12

    05Oct
    Categories: E-Media 3B journal Comments Off

    Grad Show – DVD for inclusion in the catalogue

    A couple of night’s this week were dedicated to working out the DVD screen layouts. Just waiting now to hear back in regards to what colour scheme has been approved by the committee. Unfortunately the $250 funding fell through, so students need to fork out an additional $23 each for a DVD. 

    Stereoscopic anaglyph eye

    I was able to finalise the looped sequence for the 3D eyeball. After Effects was a lot of fun & a bit fiddly in the start (before I knew what I was doing) to get the hang of the motion stabiliser. I decided to only apply the effect to the x-axis, as it rotated the eye otherwise. Here is the finished result below:       

  • Week 11

    28Sep
    Categories: E-Media 3B journal Comments Off

    uStream.tv broadcast channel

    This is the address of my uStream channel:

    http://www.ustream.tv/channel/anita-wanless                          

    Video embedding code details:

    <object classid=”clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000″ width=”400″ height=”320″ id=”utv459567″><param name=”flashvars” value=”autoplay=false&brand=embed”/><param name=”allowfullscreen” value=”true”/><param name=”allowscriptaccess” value=”always”/><param name=”movie” value=”http://www.ustream.tv/flash/live/306875″/><embed flashvars=”autoplay=false&brand=embed” width=”400″ height=”320″ allowfullscreen=”true” allowscriptaccess=”always” id=”utv459567″ name=”utv_n_421202″ src=”http://www.ustream.tv/flash/live/306875″ type=”application/x-shockwave-flash” /></object><a href=”http://www.ustream.tv/” style=”padding:2px 0px 4px;width:400px;background:#FFFFFF;display:block;color:#000000;font-weight:normal;font-size:10px;text-decoration:underline;text-align:center;” target=”_blank”>Video chat rooms at Ustream</a>                          

    Full screen toggle

    I found this helpful website that got me a step closer with the full-screen code:http://www.htmlhelpcentral.com/messageboard/showthread.php?t=6099 So now here is a test page that resizes itself automatically:http://www.anitawanless.com.au/emedia/test_1a_fs.php

    Automatic motion sensor

    I spoke to Bill Hart about setting up a motion sensor to activate one video file to play another video file, then return to the first video file. He’d set something similar up years ago for a project, and so may have a ready made (see his link) but otherwise said I’d need some electronics programming skills for the Arduino gadgets. Something I’d like to investigate further that’s for sure :-) I am excited that I’ll be able to get the eye transforming from a gentle blink, to an erratic pace!

     The basic Arduino board:

    arduino500.jpg

    Critique comments

    I had my critique today and received some really productive feedback. Most people thought that trying to do everything would be overkill and too complicated. They liked the 3D eye all by itself (just the plain blinking version … discarding the erratic version options) but with some motion tracking control applied (it has some horizontal movement at the moment) and without any motion-sensor interactive component. And while the stereoscopic eye has been subtle on a small computer screen, I received really positive feedback about it projected up onto the big screen – so I was really pleased about that. At this stage, I will include some 3D glasses – and let people take their preference to whether they wear them or not. Bill is working on how to arrange the multitude of internet connections I’ll require for my installation. I’d only thought to use 3 monitors but he was generous to say that I could use nine monitors if I really wanted. I am excited about the possibilities of that, as it would visually be highly communicative of the surveillance-like feel that I am desiring. So, at the moment, I am envisioning the large eye projected onto some sort of round convex surface. It is adjacent to a three by three grid of nine iMac’s, which are all broadcasting embedded webcam streams via an internet browser.

  • Week 10

    24Sep
    Categories: E-Media 3B journal Comments Off

    Artist Statement

    It was tricky to get this thing down to 100 words, but here it is:

    Inspired by Oscar Wilde “…Man is least himself when he talks in his own person…Give him a mask, and he will tell the truth”. I explored the idea of a mask as a tool to reflect upon the innate barriers we often develop in relation to our identity, inhibitions and personal expression, and how these are aided through personal experiences with the Internet. ‘Greater Dimension’ portrays those separating identity from body. It engages with individuals broadcasting their daily routine – turning the ordinary into extraordinary – and discusses how online experiences may tell more about one’s self than those they’re watching.

    Showreel

    Runs for 1 minute 50 seconds:

     The music is a compilation of about four different tracks by an artist called “Calpomat” who publishes freely for students to download his stuff, on the flashkit.com website. As I’d also like to include this showreel as an intro to my final portfolio DVD, I didn’t want something that ran for too long. A couple of minutes is plentiful I reckon :-) And as I’m not quite ready to release the ‘eyeball’, I didn’t include as yet.


    Stereoscopic anaglyph eye

    I have been learning a bit of After Effects – playing with the levels, timeline, 3D-glasses effect. It seems to be fairly intuitive and quite easy to use. I really like it! Well, I now have a 50 second (or so) eyeball loop, containing it looking ahead, plus darting around in all directions. The 3D works, but I’m not sure how well it works – in that, it is subtle! I will see what feedback I receive from the upcoming critique, as others might not deem in necessary either. Perhaps the plain eye (which I like aesthetically) will do the job all by itself. I have two versions for the critique anyways.3d_proof_closed.jpg3d_proof_open.jpgsingle_eye_proof_closed.jpgsingle_eye_proof_open.jpg

    Testing uStream broadcasts

    Here are a series of three streams to test at various times of the day:

  • Week nine

    15Sep
    Categories: E-Media 3B journal Comments Off

    Sunday’s film shoot

    I’ve booked the video studio from 10am-2pm – should be heaps of time!

    Things to bring along:

    1. Spare camera (just in case I cannot get the two in the video studio close enough together)
    2. Tripod
    3. Spare tripod & cushion for Jen to rest her head on, to keep still
    4. False eyelashes
    5. White primer mascara, loose powder
    6. Food/drinks/etc
    7. External hard disk
    8. Stills camera

    Sunday’s film shoot – tests

    Well, ready to start testing in Adobe After Effects. Here are my three finished looks…

    Natural-looking eye. This one is my favourite – it was the easiest to get the lighting right, as the longer lashes tended to darken the pupil for the two latter options, which made it harder to focus the cameras and was also harsher for my poor sister (who was the model), as the bright light hurt her already tired eyes! I think as the more natural ‘re-birthed’ look, it will make the most interesting to contrast against the multiplicity of webcam broadcast streams.

    eye_look__1.jpg  

    Bold make-up eye, with extra-long false eyelashes:                                                   

    eye_look__2.jpg

    Bold make-up eye, with extra-long false eyelashes, including feather. This one is certainly striking, particularly when moving with the feather bouncing around also. A wonderful bold option, should I need it. The iris of Jen’s eyes is normally so blue, but when I’ve bleached out some of the colour, it bleaches away the iris too.                                                

    eye_look__3.jpg

    Glad I brought the extra camera in with me too though, as there was only one in the video studio – not sure where the other one was, as it’s wheels and stand was there. Perhaps it was being repaired? Who knows! So, hopefully the stereoscopic footage goes together alright. I think it’ll still portray the idea well enough as standard video – just the extra dimension for a 3-dimensional piece added extra grunt to the idea. Fingers crossed now though!                               

     

    Random photos from video shoot 

     

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    r0010405.jpg

    r0010410.jpg

    r0010411.jpg

    Pictured above: filming the first look – eye #1 ‘natural’ look                    

    r0010418.jpg

    r0010423.jpg  

    Pictured above: the long lashes for look #2 & #3 were quite tricky to put on – poor Jen’s eyes got a bit irritated and tears played havoc in the glue drying properly. Even tho they didn’t quite hook properly in one corner, we were both happy with the result on film.              

     

    Working on this a little more this week – both on in context of the grad show exhibited work is due, as well as a generic one to be featured on this website. I found this helpful website really helpful in the beginnings of writing it:

    http://www.artistsfoundation.org   

     

    Pressing things to do:

    • 500 word artist statement
    • 1-3 minute piece for Grad Show DVD
    • Start thinking about showreel intro and DVD for assessment

  • Week eight … and semester break

    31Aug
    Categories: E-Media 3B journal Comments Off

    Broadcast stream development

    After some experimentation, I have been some pages to stream a broadcast and move to another page after 30 seconds (will change the time duration to longer later). Yippee! So excited to finally get it to work :-)  For the moment, I have set the aspect ratio to a 100% x 100% scaling, but would prefer a full-screen permanent toggle to be achieved. I can toggle a full-screen view for the first embedded screen, but this reverts once the sequence goes to a secondary page.

    Check it out at: www.anitawanless.com.au/emedia/test_1up_1.php               

    It is looping from one page to another, but I envisage around half a dozen pages eventually. And multiple computers, each with their own sequence of pages. To simulate a ’surveillance’ like feel.

    Exhibition space

    Time to start thinking about what sort of space we all require for the end of year Grad Show. I know already that I’ll need a projector for the big eyeball – and a faily decent quality one too, as the colours for the stereoscopic anaglyph are really important for the 3D to work. I addition, I’ll need a series of monitors set up – sitting adjacent to the projector.

    Production piece

    The choice of a showreel, a website or a DVD! I am thinking that developing my skills in the area of DVDs might be the go – I’d like to do a really beautiful one that has all of my work so far on it. Could be a handy tool both for exhibitions and future gallery work.

    Gallery pieces

    I was contacted by Melanie Thornton who has started a gallery called “New White Gallery” in Little Bourke Street, Melbourne. Once she got the go-ahead for her lease, it was full steam ahead to get four prints framed and three digital stills poster printed and block mounted. I am excited to be able to show a mixture of mediums (print and e-media), and hopefully it becomes an ongoing relationship  :-)

    Film shoot – Sunday

    I worked out with my make-up artist (and sister) what extras I needed for the shoot, in regards to the make-up of her eye. She’s still happy to be both model and artist, which is wonderful, as she has the most beautiful eyes. After scribbling two scenarios with her daughter’s colour pencils (and we had to fight to be able to lend them off a two year old) we’ve mapped out a ‘natural’ and a ‘bold’ look for comparison. In achieving these two different looks, I needed to purchase a white primer mascara and also some feathers – Jen is confident to glue them into the false eyelashes for me, to simulate the more expensive American ones I’d previously tracked down (well, the falsey’s were cheap but they wanted around $65 for postage, which was a bit expreme)!I must remember to get a purple slip signed by Raef tomorrow!

  • Week seven

    25Aug
    Categories: E-Media 3B journal Comments Off

    Eyelashes

    I’ve been busy on eBay and have purchased a couple of types of false eyelashes to try on the day of the shoot. I thought it’d be great to try a couple of different ‘looks’ for the eye. One quite striking and bold and one to look a little more minimalist/natural-like. This first pair from “Ausuperstore”:

    10x_false_eyelashes_diamond_g.jpg             

     

    And this second pair from “Koolandunusal”:

    eyelash_long_blackplain.jpg             

    I have tentatively booked my sister (and make-up artist extraordinaire) in for Saturday 13/Sunday 14 September and just need to check whether the two cameras in the e-media video studio can record simultaneously or not…yep, they can! (checked, lol)

    Make-up look examples

    Some examples below of make-up looks that I’d like to achieve – I’d like to experiment with a couple of looks…one quite striking and the other more natural looking.

    eye-lashes-wild.jpg

    Image above thanks to Google. It shows some striking examples. I envisage a red and black look, emphasizing the red/black false eyelashes that I’ve purchased off eBay.  

    close-to-the-look.jpg

    Image above and below found on the Getty Images website. They show the bleached-out skin tones that I’d like to achieve.  

    i-like-this-bleached-out-look.jpg natural-eye.jpgeye-with-type.jpg 

    Random function for broadcast stream

    I just need to experiment and work out the best way to setup the live broadcast streams. I could either set up a sequence of pages that stay for varying durations on a linear order of pages. Or I could experiment with a dynamically random function from a MySQL database. I’d like for the broadcast streams to be viewable in full screen and I’m not sure yet whether that is possible. I could designate a really large pixel dimension, but that’s not the same as a full screen view. Each image is full-screen enabled by clicking a button when looking at the page over the internet. But I imagine that would default to it’s natural sizing when that current page times out and moves on to the next page in the sequence.

    Fonts for blog appearance 

    I found a great plug-in for this Wordpress blog, called “Tiny MCE Advanced” which has given me much better control over all the fonts. There are different headings and paragraph styles and heaps of options for customization, so I was able to fix the leading which was driving me nuts!  :-)

    Linear sequence of pages

    A bit of code such as this below, allows a page to appear with a certain duration. This one will appear for 30 seconds before moving to the “nextpage.php” file. I will test and see if I can embed the flash video. Then test whether a full-screen mode is possible:

    <?php               

    echo ‘Content goes here’;               

    echo ‘<meta http-equiv=”REFRESH” content=”30;url=nextpage.php”>’; 

    ?> 

    Feedback from class critique

    One excellent comment from a class mate – after I commented on the 6up matrix of streaming webcams being a bit sluggish to download – was to set up the screens to look a bit like a surveillance/security scenario. Older/chunky-looking monitors. I really liked that idea, so will investigate locating the monitors I need to make that happen. It could look really effective in black and white too, rather than the colour images that are available through the streamed broadcast.

    Here are some examples that I found with the help of Google:

     510svc_installivm_room.jpgimages_sizedimage_347235226.jpgcdrystalplazasecuritycam2.jpg


    Video studio 

    Booked for Saturday 13 September and Sunday 14 September, between 10am-2pm. Both cameras link up to iMac’s these days, so I can record simultaneously – just have to get them nice and close together – a couple of inches is the target! I will set a manual focus for the eye’s pupil itself, so that eyelasses come out into a foreground focus (as 3D, will appear to zoom out into the room)  

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