New Shots

Over the last few days I've been capturing more footage for the piece. I used a HD camera this time which produced a far higher quality shot. I'm also finishing the monologue which will reinforce the piece.

Monologue

Today I'm working on the monologue for my piece. This will be the audio representation of technology as it vents at the viewer. The idea is that the audio will reinforce the visuals of the piece. The monologue is vitriolic and cynical in tone with sharp and almost insulting language being used. This is of course intentional. I want to evoke a reaction in the user, an impression which will cause an impact.

Installation

Having settled on the final content for my piece I now have to think of the installation of the piece. How do I want the audience to relate to the piece? How do I want them to be positioned in relation to the piece? These are all very important questions which I now have to answer in order to properly finalize my piece.

Video Projection Ideas

And

The 600 Years from the macula on Vimeo.

Footage Captue and Final Idea

I've just finished capturing the content I need for the next stage of my piece. Since last week I have returned to my original idea of using just a single screen. I have chosen this because I believe that it is more focused and direct as opposed to spreading the content over multiple screens. I think that by utilizing a single screen/display I am maintaining a greater emphasis in the delivery of the piece.
I am also returning to my original idea of using a voice over which would represent the computer talking to the viewer. This monologue would serve to punctuate the video content. The whole point of the piece is to show -in an experimental way - how computers have passed us out. I believe that this way is the best that I have found and it is also time for me to settle on exactly what I have to do in time for the final submission.

Final Shooting and Monologue Recording

I've captured all the necessary footage now which I am happy with. I'm now moving on to the recording of the audio monologue. As mentioned before this serves to reinforce the visuals and to provide a narrative for the piece. I used the department ZOOM recorders to capture the monologue and I'll use iMovie to link up this audio and the video.

Capturing and Editing Video

Today I captured and mixed together some computer footage from the labs. I experimented with exposure, framing and playback speeds. These are just preliminary shots. I still need to think of how to move them over to different screens in order to get a different feel for the piece.

Meta Narrative #3

The growth of a Baby in the Womb?

Meta Narrative #2

The second idea I thought of as a possible Meta Narrative for my piece was the progressive stages of grief. There are five commonly accepted stages to grief which are as follows:

1. Denial and Isolation.
   At first, we tend to deny the loss has taken place, and may withdraw from our usual social contacts. This stage may last a few moments, or longer.
2. Anger.
   The grieving person may then be furious at the person who inflicted the hurt (even if she's dead), or at the world, for letting it happen. He may be angry with himself for letting the event take place, even if, realistically, nothing could have stopped it.
3. Bargaining.
   Now the grieving person may make bargains with God, asking, "If I do this, will you take away the loss?"
4. Depression.
   The person feels numb, although anger and sadness may remain underneath.
5. Acceptance.
   This is when the anger, sadness and mourning have tapered off. The person simply accepts the reality of the loss.

(Cited from THIS site)

The connotations of death and it's effects are easily applicable to my project. As such, technology is the death of human expertise in some respects. Knowledgable people are now those who have the fastest access to the internet (see my previous post on this, with particular reference to the elderly). Technology has meant the death of human effort, but is this something that we can survive without? Technology has certainly killed off many undesirable things (diseases, ingorance (!) etc.) but has it also thrown the baby out with the bath water by simultaneously killing our (possible) need to strive. This may not be a strong enough abstraction at the moment but I think there is a lot more in this idea than first meets the eye.

Perhaps these 5 stages could be those felt by man as he laments the reality of technology's grip on his life?

Meta Narrative

Following last weeks review I have been further developing the idea of incorporating a meta or grand narrative into my piece. A meta narrative is defined as 'a master story, a plot that governs all other plots, an archetypal plot referred to by "lesser" specifically situated narratives.' The 'lesser' in mycase being the advance of technology. So what's my Grand Narrative going to be???
I began to think of other processes of change which move in stages. The first idea that came to mind was the progression of cancer throght the body. This is an unfortunately well known progression for many of us who have been affected by it in some way so I want to be careful in how I portray/use it.

The 5 stages of cancer (according to Wikipedia) are as follows:

• Stage 0 carcinoma in situ. (dormant)
  
• Stage I cancers are localized to one part of the body.
• Stage II cancers are locally advanced.
• Stage III cancers are also locally advanced. Whether a cancer is designated as Stage II or Stage III can depend on the specific type of cancer; for example, in Hodgkin's Disease, Stage II indicates affected lymph nodes on only one side of the diaphragm, whereas Stage III indicates affected lymph nodes above and below the diaphragm. The specific criteria for Stages II and III therefore differ according to diagnosis.
• Stage IV cancers have often metastasized, or spread to other organs or throughout the body.

Drawing tenable links between cancer and the spread of technology isn't the most abstract of tasks. However I was surprised to see that evena quick search online didn't find anything along these lines. This is certainly seomthing that is worth looking into a little bit morea s a possible meta narrative for my piece. As I said before though, I want to be careful in how I deal with such a personal topic. Cancer is not come abstract and distant disease for most of us as it affects 1 in every 3 people.