VIDEO PERFORMANCE --- PROJECTION WORKSHOP # 2023
TRAILER
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FINAL VIDEO
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INITIAL IDEA
My initial idea was to use a feedback loop, one of many techniques showed to the class by our lecturer, Cristina Maldonado. The feedback loop would require two projectors, placed side-by-side and a camcorder. The first projector would display the image onto a surface, which the camcorder would record. The camcorder would then relay the footage onto the second projector, creating an overlapping projection that has a looping, infinity mirror like effect.
I had prepared an audio track prior to the workshop. Combining audio recordings from India, morse code, and noise music samples, I created a track that was pretty versatile and could be synced in a multitude of ways on the day of the workshop. The video itself was mainly composed of footage from YouTube, such as 3D surgery demonstrations, Todd McFarlane's 1997 Spawn, and concert footage. I combined these videos and synced them to the audio track using Premiere Pro.
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PHYSICAL ELEMENTS
All the demonstrations in the workshop displayed an element of physicality. Object or objects that would interact with the light and change how the image looks. The role of the objects could be manipulated across a period of time, which would become our performance. My classmate Victor had brought some red neons which he was kind enough to lend to me, and my classmate Lisa let me use her translucent red paper. After experimenting with these elements, I had a general idea of how I wanted to use them when the cameras were rolling.
EXPERIMENTING WITH PHYSICAL ELEMENTS
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HOW DO YOU KEEP FINDING THESE IT MUST BE A TALENT AT THIS POINT
HINDRANCES
After practicing my performance multiple times using two projectors and a camcorder, when it came time to actually show the rest of the class, the camera battery died. Due to this, I had to use a completely different camcorder for the final performance with no practice beforehand. The second camera recorded light much differently than the first, making everything I was doing look completely different from how I had practiced it.
FINAL RESULT
The final result was composed using two projectors, one laptop, and a camcorder, along with some other physical elements which manipulated light. The audio-video track itself was 3 minutes long, which was looped twice to reach the 6 minute mark. Cristina had recommended I do this to make the live performance aspects have more importance, and I could take my time in fleshing out the interactions between the videos. During the 6 minutes, I would move the camcorder to alter the feedback loop, bring the red neons in front of both the projector and the camera lens, and use red paper to achieve more color effects.
CONCLUSION
The projection workshop was great, everybody had fun and the environment was nice to be in. While we all worked on individual projects, the space felt very collaborative, with the final leg of the workshop being a group effort in commenting on each others works and cleaning up the studio space. The option of borrowing your classmates belongings was also encouraged, which was nice. I'm proud of the final result of the workshop. It introduced me to projection and how it can be used in art. If I were to do this again, I would charge the camera.
