(Link to my pitch)

Experiment I – Noticing through video

• The initial question I have asked myself in the previous assignment (task two) was how I could “expand the new-found perspective that I have attained”. I think this is an important component of noticing and allows myself as a media maker to truly capture that message that I intend to share. Using this new perspective could help me shoot the ambiance of a certain location, which in this instance, is witnessing the interaction between society and nature.
• For my first video, I decided to use my immediate surroundings as a catalyst to my prompt – it was convenient for me to be in a built-in area as I could see the interaction between man-made structures and the foliage. My goal was to notice patterns that were already out there in order to showcase it to my audience.
• My way of observation was through glimpses of the white objects and plants. I think these two objects are a good representation of man’s interaction with nature. I believe that white is a colour that signifies us as humans and can sometimes be seen as “unnatural” in nature. Well, in my case, I would like to think that white has no contribution to what I was capturing which were trees and plants. I also chose the colour white because it is a shade that immediately stands out against nature.
• With the second question (state the question if needed), I simply answered it by experimenting with the different settings of the camera such as the exposure, aperture and even the focal length.
• Upon my discovery of these two different aspects of our society, I wanted to capture more of these human-like qualities whilst it was still interacting with nature, which will then be interplaying onto my next experiment. 

Experiment II – Noticing through images 

• Moving onto the next experiment, the question that emerged from experiment #1 was how I could observe the same things in the form of an image.
• Much like the first experiment, I had the same intentions and mindset of capturing these features of our society and displaying the communication of humans to nature and vice versa (point to the pictures/change slides)
• However, I set myself a limitation which was only using the focal length of 35mm, to give it more of a personal feel but not too “in your face”
• Essentially, I was aiming to capture a whole new perspective on a different medium whilst still going in with the same exact goal. 

Experiment III – Movement VS. Stillness

• Now, for my third and final task, I merged the two mediums I have together, comparing the similarities and differences between video and photography.
• We can immediately see the obvious contrast between the two (play the video) – and that is the stillness versus the movement from the video and the image. You can physically see that the video on top (point) is being moved by external forces whilst the photo on the bottom is completely still, as if you are expecting it to move anytime soon (but it won’t!)

Leading up to task four, my idea for the final assignment is to create an experimental and documentary short film that depicts the contrast between man and nature, mainly because of the inspiration behind this project. To me, it will be a form of expression and interpretation translated onto various types of media. As Hannah suggested during the practice panel, one of the ideas for my final project could be looking for a white object, limited to man-made structures and/or bodies in a natural area. On the other hand, I could be looking for plants, trees, foliage in a built-in area, preferably in the city.

Lyreca.

After the pitch, I received feedback on my work, particularly on the pattern, colours, camera work and the contention behind the results of my experiments. The following dot points are a mix of some positive responses and also suggestions for the final project of Seeing the Unseen studio:

• The panel found the concept of noticing patterns existing in the natural and urban environment – this includes both the differentiating and similar patterns
• One of the positive responses from my work was that Hannah liked the last experiment – she mentioned that it was a good comparison between photos and videos, and the fact that I pointed out how one would expect a photo to move because they are placed next to a video
• The panel also said that white is an interesting colour to use and how I mentioned its rarity in nature – the colour white could be a catalyst for my final project
• Paul also discussed the way I moved the camera in the first experiment – he suggested that instead of constantly moving around, setting up a particular range and angle would further assist my way of noticing nature and the environment
• Essentially, I was faced with the question about my movement of the camera – am I trying to notice the movements from the environment or finding the movement from my own perspective?
• Some technical points about my camera work were also made – another suggestion from Paul was that instead of limiting myself to one angle and on shot, I could have the chance to pan the camera as long as you cut off the movement – from point A to point B, this could also give you another dimension of comparison and noticing. An example could be:

Rule: Make four films for each upcoming week, duplicating the cuts between the different Premiere files – the rule is that you must make a film every week in order to combine these cuts 

The dot points were all the points made during the pitch feedback and ideas contributed by the panel. I think the panel was very helpful in helping me achieve some ideas for the final task and added more onto the production of my creativity for Task Four. The panels’ feedback will definitely be credited for my final assignment! The evaluation from the panel was very productive and constructive, giving more ideas of how I should the tackle the fourth and final task of Seeing the Unseen studio.

Lyreca.

For the third and final experiment, I decided to ask myself the question of “the similarities between the two different mediums of photography and videography”. I intend on approaching this question by combining the images and videos I’ve collected over the past few weeks. Because this is a different type of experiment in comparison to the previous two (this will not involve physically going out to capture a chosen location), I will not be writing a recipe but instead, just a simple and literal prompt to help me get started on what it is I would like to compare.

I may have already mentioned this in my previous posts but I would like to observe and illustrate the interaction between man and society. Going more into it, this means that I would have to capture each and every features of humans and the natural environment they are in. The main focus are foliage and white objects. These two attributes are a good representation of man’s interaction with nature. I believe that white is a colour that signifies us as humans and can sometimes be seen as “unnatural” in nature. Yes, white does exist in nature, but it is quite rare that it will ever appear naturally in nature. We may see a few white flowers here and there, but when do we see white leaves? Whether it would be a natural or an unnatural white, it is a shade that tends to stand in the environment. White, after all, is the representation of all the colours in the rainbow.

Now for the prompt –

To cut it short, the prompt for this final experimental task will be noticing the difference between photography and videography that have I have already explored in the previous experiments. 

This may be quite general and vague but it leaves a lot of space for creativity and imagination to take place.

Lyreca.

Moving onto the next experiment, I wanted to capture the same features of my immediate environment as I had done in the initial experiment. However, the only difference is that I will be using a different type of medium – photography. The question I have asked myself and plan on tackling through Experiment II is:

What will you see when you capture the same aspects in the form of photography? 

The reason why I decided to change the mode of capturing is to get a different point of view. With video, the movement of certain objects are easily detectable and are easily noticed. With photography, I believe that it can reveal more of the plant’s and more of the white object’s features and characteristics, enabling me to see the difference between videography and photography. Therefore, here is the recipe along with a solid criteria of what it is I must do for Experiment II:

Using a different medium to explore the same characteristics of the world 

The aim of this task is to explore the same aspects that had already been seen in Experiment I. You will, however, be capturing images and not video recordings.

Ingredients:

• the same camera previously used in experiment I (Nikon D3200)
• yourself, of course!
• a computer for editing
• Adobe Photoshop software

Method:

1. Within your immediate location, capture the required characteristics of that place, as you have done in Experiment I.
2. Remember to take full advantage of the camera’s settings and that it should always be on the ‘Manual’ mode.
3. Once you have captured around 10-20 pictures or as long as you are satisfied with the images, make a collage through Adobe Photoshop.

Rules:

• The camera’s focal length always has to be at 35mm for this experiment.
• It is crucial that the camera’s settings are always on ‘Manual’.
• Finally, it is also important that you use Adobe Photoshop to make the collage. No other apps or software must be used.

Lyreca.

Here is my first experiment – my first creation in Task Three! As previously stated in my prompt, the aim of these upcoming tasks was to apply the questions I have previously asked into the experiments that I have been conducting. As I recall, my aim was to essentially use my new-found perspective whilst also familiarising myself with the settings of the camera. I believe that I have achieved my initial goal into exercising this vision I had into the final product of my first experiment. I made it a point to notice these two things in particular: trees, plants and foliage in general and also the white objects. In terms of the process of making the video, I could ask myself a few questions:

Why did I choose this particular location? 

In my situation, it was mainly for my convenience and the time I had. Within my immediate surroundings and/or the schedule I had for the day, I decided to utilise my surroundings as part of my experiment. Much like how Ivens describes how he observed the railroad bridge over the Maas River in Rotterdam, he described the place as a “laboratory of movements, tones, shapes, contrasts, rhythms and the relations between all these”. I decided to use the same state of mind that Ivens had used in order to capture what I needed for the experiment. It worked to my favour that my parents had travelled to Heidelberg on my day off and therefore, a new location where I had no familiarity was a good starting point to begin filming. 

Why did I choose to notice these particular aspects? 

My vision had already been finalised before filming – as I have said numerous times, I wanted to notice and record the environment with the two of these forms being the foliage and white cars. However, it eventually evolved into noticing anything that was essentially white (objects such as shoes, displays outside shops, store signs, etc) whilst still continuing to notice all types of foliage/plants.

The reason behind this sudden change from white cars to anything generally white was because in the midst of filming, I noticed that when I was attempting to capture white cars, my camera would always come across something that was already white and I thought that it would work more in my favour if I were to choose objects over cars. I mention the same thing in my audio recording.

The reason why I chose these two aspects to notice was that because it is something that I would not immediately look for or look at and therefore, motivated me to explore these aspects of our everyday lives. I still followed the theme of recording foliage/plants and how it interacted with the busy environment but essentially, it was about the correlation between white objects, its interaction with nature and vice versa. I decided that whilst also capturing what I noticed, I did an on-the-spot reflection (via voice recording) of what I was currently feeling about my work, the location and essentially, the evolution of my notcing:

This audio was mainly just about what I saw during my observation/recording and the current vision I had for my work at the time. Upon listening to this piece of audio recording, I thought to myself, “Why didn’t I include this as part of my final experimental product?” I think it was mainly because of my focus on the aesthetics and to be frank, there was nothing special or appealing about this audio reflection. I intended to use this audio mainly for my own reflections.

What is something that you could have done better/paid more attention to whilst capturing what you intended to notice? 

In terms of critiquing my own work, I definitely think that I could’ve spent more time formulating a solid idea of what it is I wanted to capture – I could have avoided having that last minute decision of changing from white cars to white objects. Viewing my own work, I could have also definitely stayed in a single position instead of moving everywhere – this would have given me more time to practice and improve on my use of the camera as that was also one of my main goals in this experiment. Finally, I could have also prioritised my noticing over the convenience but unfortunately, it was not up to me to stay in Heidelberg for as long as I wanted.

Overall, I am quite pleased with how this video has turned out, it captured everything that I had intended to capture and is a good representation of the vision I had in mind. The alternating sequences between the plants and white objects also worked and definitely highlighted the two differences of these two aspects – even from the way the camera work was done on both, we could see a striking difference in both the plants and the white objects.

Now my next question for experiment II is, 

What will you see when you capture the same aspects in the form of photography? 

Lyreca.