Natalie



Examples of my Journal- Photos, sketches and annotations of what I have done throughout the semester so far. Doing the journal as Im working on my exercises helps to evaluate my working progress and my ideas for the next task.

 

 

 

 

 

 

My Home- My bedroom is the one place inside my home that I can personalise with all of my trinkets, photos, books and collections of accessories!

 

My Model- This model of my room  has been constructed from foam core and painted with the colour paint inside my home now. I really enjoyed creating this 1:10 scale replication of my bedroom, and slightly changing some features to make it more interesting. I didn't include a lot of clutter because I didn't think it was necessary to show.

  

 

Exercise #2- Film yourself making a cup of tea!

Watching back the video, I discovered that there were a lot of sounds that I could hear that i don't think would normally take much notice in. Between the variations of materials, there was high tinkling from the china tea cup in contrast to the bulkiness of the lumpy canister.

Exercise #3- Stop Motion Film

This exercise was fun because I have always wanted to learn this technique. I chose to use the washing basket and my boyfriends football bag because it demonstrated well the things that happen inside the home when it comes to washing and being lazy! The idea is that the sock is tired of being dirty and has physically walked itself out of the dirty bag and into the washing basket in hopes to be washed!

Exercise #4- Real vs. Unreal Video

Filming this video was a lot of fun because I felt a little bit more confident about how to tackle the situation. Gathering the footage was easy, and having to do it all at night made it extra interesting when watching it back. I found that I wasn't able to capture the effects of shadows that were actually happening inside my bedroom but with the use of a torch and my model, i could demonstrate it a lot easier and clearer. I had the most fun editing the soundtrack to go with my film. Soundbooth has such a great range of scary, stormy sounds to play with, and  being able to layer them with different volumes added an extra dimension to the final product.

Throughout the semester I have learnt a lot about the ideas of experiences which take place inside a home. Class discussions have led me to understand more about what people do differently to me inside their homes. Breaking the home into rooms, its better to evaluate the space and look at how people use a dedicated area eg- a bedroom for sleeping, or a bedroom for escaping the family! Aside from studying the home, I have learnt a lot about filming, editing and uploading to YouTube. This technical aspect has been a highlight for me as I have never learnt anything like this before. The idea of expressing my thoughts about experiences in the home via a new medium is challenging but exciting. Looking back through my work at this stage of the semester, I feel that I can improve on the amount of content I am trying to get out of my ideas. I have enjoyed exercise four the most because its the first time I felt really happy with my technical abilities. The movie also portrayed a lot more of the 'experience' I have inside my home when its night and storming. I feel that for the coming briefs that I need to evaluate my content more closely and make sure I am getting my 'experience' message across.

Using journal, I try to add thoughts, class notes, sketches and pictures each week to help me develop through the semester. I have enjoyed looking closely at the kind of experiences that people have inside their homes. I feel that I can keep these notes for a long time and be able to look back on them to maybe one day help me develop new thoughts on conventional spaces. I am really proud of my model, I had so much fun constructing and decorating the space. I tried to include textures, colours, patterns and keep everything in proportion. It reminds me of a doll house I used to play with as a child and I have kept it clean and spacious in hopes that it would film better for my exercise four film.

I feel that looking at my work so far, I have unintentionally chosen to look at normal issues that would arise in many peoples homes eg. Dirty washing, fear of the dark, fear of a storm. These ideas are simple but I feel that when others watch my videos that they can relate to the key ideas. For me, these underlining messages of my work are something that I can use towards developing brief three. I would like to keep looking at common key issues inside everyday homes and hopefully come up with a good idea to explore. Observing the home is very interesting and I feel that I have looked closely to one of the few main experiences I have inside my home. Aside from the fear or the dark, and storms I am a strong advocate for sustainable living. I am a firm believer in saving water, switching off at the power point and recycling. I am constantly on my mum and sisters backs about what we put into the recycling bin and how much waste we are producing inside our home, its amazing how much waste we can produce when you aren't

I am looking forward to the rest of the semester and I hope that I can find a link between all my work to come up with something interesting for the final project!

Brief Two- Immersive Environments

Examples of my Journal- Photos and annotations of what I have done throughout the second brief so far. Doing the journal as I'm working on my exercises helps to evaluate my working progress and my ideas for the next task, the final.

These photos show the transition of light in the same space. Top image looks like natural/white light. Middle image suggests a more moody artificial light and the bottom also looks moody but a much darker version/night time.

These photos are all them same but I filtered the light of my torch with different post-it notes. I was surprised at exactly how well it worked and my camera picked up the colours really well. I'm not sure what it would look like in a larger space, but for my model I really liked the effects of coloured lighting.

This scan of my journal shows a list of different sounds I could hear at the time of writing it all down. I wanted to capture the idea of the suburbs and all the casual noises around my home. I added in a few extras as i don't really live on a busy road. All the highlighted sounds i introduced into the soundtracks. The first soundtrack i wanted to create a more subtle and peaceful atmosphere. The second soundtrack has a few more layers and louder sounds that i think demonstrates a busy day around my neighbourhood. The sounds don't link in perfectly with my timing of the video but that is something i knew would be difficult because i was creating a whole day in 2 mins.

Immersive: generating a 3D image that appears to surround the user.

- Dictionary.com

Immersive: providing information or stimulation for a number or senses, not only sight ans sound. Immersive environments.

- Dictionary.com

 

Exercise #5- Lighting Design Video

Whilst doing this task i found it a bit difficult to find the right source of light to use in my model. I tried to make the video during the day with my curtains closed and i also tried it a night. The artificial light worked well against the glimpses of natural light that was coming through my curtains from the morning light. The contrast between the two added a beautiful blue glow inside my model and i feel that the transition of light into the night time looks the most effective. I captured the idea of time through the use of light inside my model.

 

Stills taken from video- Early morning, midday, afternoon, evening light.

Exercise #6- Sound Design Video

During this exercise i found it really fun and easy to create. I made a list of sounds in my journal (above) and i tried to develop the best sounds by layering and changing volumes to get a smooth soundtrack. I know that my soundtrack might be a little unrealistic in regards to the video's progression of time, but i feel that the sounds are true to what i can hear around my home, inside my bedroom. Out of both the soundtracks, i really like BX 6B, there are more sounds, a lot of commotion and different things to point out.

 

Exercise #7- Immersive Environments Video
In this video, I wanted to capture a childhood memory of my bedroom at night. When i was a little girl, my ceiling and walls were covered in 100's of glow-in-the-dark star stickers. I would love falling asleep to them twinkling above me. I also used to have a lamp which spun and would cast shadows around my room. For this exercise i tried to create a modern version of this atmosphere i miss now that i have a "grown up" room. With the help of a huge disco ball hanging from my ceiling fan, i was able to cast and control shadows flickering around my bedroom. Along with the mirrows reflecting the light, i plugged in my old lamp and used that to add more dimension to the effect. I wanted to include some soft and calming instumental music which i would listen too on my ipod in bed, making this enviroment more peaceful and  inviting.  It turned out really well and i would be more than happy to fall asleep surrounded by this immersive enviroment any night.

Stills taken from video- Different views from the shadows around my room.

Brief #3- Sustainability in the home

Since the first day of September, i have been collecting all the food packaging that has been brought into my home. It has been a little bit difficult to make sure everyone in my home is following the sign in the kitchen and i have been finding myself constantly checking the rubbish bin to make sure there isn't anything in there that should be in my "Rubbish Box". Although my mum has been on board with me, she is getting a little annoyed that i am being so passionate about this experiment. I have been documenting each day, all the rubbish put into the box, and i look forward to see how this ends up!

Brief two has been a lot of fun. I am really happy with the way my exercises have developed from the last brief. I feel more confident with the programs and I how to tackle the exercises. For me, the lighting and sound design exercise is something that I touched on in my real & unreal video last semester. Looking at the videos in relation to the home, I tried to think about the types of light patterns and the sounds that happen inside my bedroom/home. The lighting took me a while to develop because I wanted to play around with different sources of light but found that the lamp was the most effective and easy to use. Sound Booth for me has been a great help in developing my soundtracks for my exercises. Along with the program I recorded the lawn mover myself and some birds. The quality wasn’t amazing so I layered them with the sounds from Sound Booth to get a stronger noise. For the final exercise- immersive environments, I chose to look at a few different ideas using the similar technique of light and shadow. I wanted to create a calm atmosphere for my bedroom, that could potentially be a peaceful place to rest or to help children go to sleep. I think it looks effective and makes you feel a part of the experience.