Category Archives: Experiments

Experiments, Media 1

Experiments with slo-mo

Over the Easter weekend I stayed in Mt Beauty with a group of friends, and on the trip there I decided to play around with my iPhone’s slow-motion video function, which I’ve never really used before.

The result is pretty interesting; even with simple composition and no accompanying music the videos seem to take on an epic quality, which seems to be an inherent attribute of slow-motion footage (no doubt culturally conditioned from watching so many films that use this technique).

I’m not sure if I’ll ever use this technique in my course work (it does look a touch contrived), but it’s fun to experiment with.

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Assessments, Experiments, Media 1

Timelapse fail

Yesterday I started to film one of the shots for my creative self-portrait — a timelapse of swirling clouds that will be used towards the end of the video. As Melbourne’s hot weather started to give way to a cool change it created an incredibly beautiful cloud pattern over the east of Melbourne, and I was excited to be able to film such a striking visual image for my project.

So I got up high (shooting through glass on a second floor balcony) and set my phone up on a small tripod so I could film the entire 10 minutes without my phone being moved too much by the wind.

But since it was such a bright day (great for the shot, not so great for being able to see my screen), I didn’t notice that a subtle reflection from the glass reflected people walking behind my phone — completely ruining the take.

I didn’t notice this until I finished shooting the entire video, but luckily I had time to film multiple takes of varying lengths (hoping to experiment with the speed and duration of the clip in my final project) so I’ll be able to use a later take which was filmed from above the glass panel.

This video is a cautionary tale — watch those reflections, and always give yourself enough time to re-shoot anything you completely stuff up.

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Experiments, Media 1

Hello ollo: photographic experiments

I used Project Brief 2 as an excuse to buy myself an Olloclip, a small attachment with four lenses you clip in front of your phone camera that gives you access to a wide angle lens, fisheye lens, and two macro lenses. I took some experimental photos with each lens to see what was possible.

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The above was taken from my desk with the fisheye lens – I can’t imagine I’ll find much use for this particular lens but good to know it’s there!

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With the 10x macro lens I can see my own fingerprint in detail. (Readers from the future, please don’t steal my identity.)

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This is an orchid that sits in my lounge room – looks like it’s a little dirty with the 10x macro lens.

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Yep – on closer inspection (15x macro lens) it definitely needs a clean.

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One of the shots I’ve chosen for Project Brief 2 will be a close-up of a spinning record player. With the 15x macro lens attached you can actually see the sound waves etched into the vinyl. (And more dust – I really need to clean my house.)

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