On a personal level this module has been extremely enjoyable. I have set out to submerse myself in and produce a genre of media that i have detested, Installation Art. However i have taken the elements of my passions such as the natural world and incorporated it into making this project enjoyable and exciting. I set out at the beginning to produce a piece of work that can take you away from the everyday hustle and bustle and transport you into a relaxed environment that is there for you, the audiences enjoyment.

This project has allowed me to push my media and wood working skills to the test! I have used techniques and equipment that can only benefit my development in the future and gained priceless technical knowledge. This project has also opened my eyes to what i am capable of producing when i put my heart into it. The whole process we have gone through from 310MC to now has been a great learning curve and certainly shown me that plenty of ideas and avenues should be addressed before you can produce a quality piece of work. Not only has this project benefited me on a professional level, but it has also allowed me to see parts of the Country i have never been before and opened my eyes to the beauty of the English Coastline. This project has given me the passion and drive to explore and capture the forgotten areas of Britain and i will definitely be creating similar pieces in the future.

The way i have chose to present my piece has also been part of the fun, the effort and time i have spent in creating my installation has made me more proud of what i have produced. This project has pushed my media skills to the limit and has left me  without anymore left to give. This is how i wanted to bring an end to the three years of my degree and i am coming out the other side with a final piece of work i can be proud to have my name to.

With the hand in tomorrow it marks the end of 311MC but the start of the final charge towards the degree show. I feel very prepared to sell myself to the media world and to move onto to next stage, the media industry, there have been a number of developments over the past couple of weeks regarding job opportunities, so time will tell all! Stay tuned for some future posts on the lead up to the 3rd June! But as far as 311MC goes i am signing out.

Today i set up my installation ready for tomorrow’s assessment. It took two trips to Ellen Terry this morning for all of the installation to be in place ready to set up. Previously i had thought that one trip would see everything fit in the car but i had made slight miscalculations with size of objects so hence the two trips were necessary. With all the installation sections delivered it was only 11am so i stored all of exhibition at the rear of Ellen Terry until it was time for me to start my room set up.

After a brief meeting with Greg, he gave me the headphone splitter and audio cable that technician Jeanette had kindly made for me. With everything ready to get in the room and start constructing, for the first time in a long time at uni, i was able to have a relaxing afternoon, and made sure all of my film formats were working correctly.

Along came 4pm and i was eager to get in and start constructing my installation. With help from Mike and Sid we got the whole installation up and finished in two hours. We then took the time to ensure that all wires were safely taped down and that all the photography equipment in the room was neatly put to one side. We then ensured that all the decorative features in the exhibition were as good as we could get them, and then it was time for the first installation viewing. The projection looked fantastic and the audio really worked well, there are few imperfections that were flagged up through this test. Some of the fades between shots seemed jumpy and there was a slight crackle on the audio. I played the film via the DVD and this may have been a contributing factor to these issues. I will take this evening to look carefully through my quicktime file again to see if the issues are isolated to the DVD or if they appear on the file itself. These are minor teething difficulties that hopefully i can rectify for tomorrow’s showing.

I am extremely pleased with how my installation is looking, as this is the first time it has all been put together in an exhibition space, i am very pleased with the result. As this is the first showing, it has allowed me to use this opportunity as a run through and find areas that need changing or improving for the eventual final showing at the degree show. One main area of the installation that i need to address, is the quantity of sand and pebbles. As i had only bought one bag of each, it became apparent after setting up the exhibition, that more bags were needed to provide a better covering. However working with what i had has turned out well but this is something i will correct for the degree show.

My boat structure worked very well, and the bolt system i had used to make it easy to construct, and transport worked well. It was easy to assemble and did not take as much time as i had thought.

Everything is now in place for the 10am showing tomorrow, which allows me to see my peers work in the different cluster groups, whilst also being at ease with the fact that everything is ready for me to just plug in and press play!

Here are some pictures of how my installation is looking for tomorrow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This week has been a chance for me to ensure that everything with regards to my final film and actual installation is already for Friday’s hand in and assessment. On Monday i went to see Greg with regards to obtaining the headphone splitter and cable needed to run the audio through my laptop. As my room i am using for the degree show was already booked on Friday i have booked the other photography studio, ETG05. I have ETG05 booked on Thursday evening from 16:00 pm – 21:00 pm which provides me with plenty of time to set up my installation as i am only able to book it out between 9:00 am – 12:00pm on Friday, so to ensure i am already for Friday’s 10:00 am viewing, i have left myself with plenty of time to set up the night before, covering for any technical hitches etc.

With regards to the hand in  requirements i have gone through my blog ensuring i have covered the main aspects of my idea creation, exported my film as a quicktime file burnt it to CD and DVD and also created my DVD cover. I am recording the final film to DV Tape tomorrow and then i am already to hand in my work at reception between 11:00 am – 15:00 pm.

As i want tomorrow’s set up to go as smoothly as possible i have compiled a list of all the  bits of my installation and tools i will need to take with me to enable me to set up the installation with ease.

Installation Set Up – Check List

Tools

1x spanner

1x box of spare bolts

1x box of screws

1x electric phillips screwdriver

Installation pieces

2x Side Panels

1x Back Section

1x Front section

5x Prop stands

2x Floor Brackets

1x Bag of Sand

1x Bag of Pebbles

1x Bag of Shells

1x Bucket and Spade

1x Deckchair

1x Laptop

1x Beach Umbrella

1x Wind Breaker

2x Groundsheets

1x Dustpan and Handbrush

The last two days has seen me purchase and collect the last few props i need to dress my room appropriately so it has the coastal theme throughout. Sunday, i bought the sand and pebbles and then in the afternoon raided my garage for a beach umbrella and wind breaker. Today i have bought the deckchair and groundsheets which are the final props i needed to get to be ready for Friday’s assessment. With everything in place i am almost ready for Friday’s assessment all that is left to do is to book the projector and 3 pairs of headphones which i will be doing straight after this post.

Final collection of props

Today was my opportunity to show my cluster lecturer and fellow students my final edit before the assessment next week. This was a great opportunity to gather feedback from my fellow peers and marking assessor, allowing me next week to change anything that was brought up. After watching and commenting on the other student productions i was keen to show mine and started off by explaining my sound choice for my piece and said that to obtain the ultimate experience of this headphones were needed. I then showed my film and all the feedback was positive and encouraging. After everyone had seen my film via my laptop, Jonathan then watched it again with a pair of headphones and was extremely pleased with the audio.

After showing my film i then went on to show the cluster the six still images i have selected to be part of my installation and got their opinions on them. Again everyone seemed to like what they saw and positive feedback was received. Jonathan was also happy with them so i will now go about getting them developed for the Degree Show in June. To finish off my presentation of my work i then showed some installation construction photographs to briefly illustrate what people can expect from my installation exhibition.

Todays critique has really made me feel confident about my piece and has made all the hard work worth while. It is always good to receive good feedback, but it is all the more reassuring as this is the final piece i will be submitting on the degree. Roll on Friday!

Another day of editing and my project is complete. The first thing i did this morning was to create my binaural audio. I did this by  importing the captured audio from the marantz and then taking the two separate audio files and lining them up on the time line. I then panned the audio left to right to simulate the binaural effect when listened to through headphones. I am extremely pleased with how my audio has turned out and i feel it really strengths the overall impact of the piece. When i knew i was going to attempt this binaural audio i wasn’t sure how it would turn out, but the quality that i have achieved has really amazed me.

After editing my audio i lined it up with my visuals and began editing my piece in sync with the audio. With the audio in place i found it a lot easier to select and lose certain shots. After a couple of hours of fine tuning i am now left with what i regard as my final cut. The piece as a whole ticks all the boxes of what i set out to achieve with this idea. Without the hard work and dedication i have put in this may not have been achieved, and now watching through my final edit makes everything all worth while. This project has been enjoyable from the outset, and although i was slightly delayed due to weather conditions, it has all come together with plenty of time to spare. All will be revealed if other people feel the same as i do about my piece at the Interim Critique on Friday, i am slightly nervous but also excited to hear the feedback i will get. Fingers crossed it is good!

Today saw the completion of the back section and stands for my props. The back section is the final major construction stage of the structure and has given the boat its overall stability. As well as adding struts along the side panels of the boat the structure is now very sturdy and safe for my audience to be sat in. After an early morning trip to Wickes for another sheet of MDF this time 6ft by 8ft, some more timber and a deck post ball (for decoration) i was ready to get the back section of the boat completed. After cutting out a wide enough gap in the sheet of MDF for my audience to walk though it then came down to attaching the timber around the sheet for stability and decoration, and then painting the section so it matched the rest of the boat. I feel that this section really finishes off the boat and provides a surrounding environment for my audience to be able to experience the whole coastal theme of the installation. With the left over timber i cut struts long enough to be attached to the side panels of the boat providing more stability to the structure ensuring it is completely safe.

Day 4 - Construction Photographs

Today i have gone through all of the footage i have captured on my two days of filming and managed to condense them down into what i feel are a selection of the best shots i have produced. As there is no set running time for my piece i have decided to choose all the shots that i feel are relevant and will add value to my piece and that is when i will find out how long my piece will be. As the whole point of my piece is to create a relaxing, enjoyable experience for my audience i have kept this in mind when selecting my range of visuals ensuring they are not on the screen to long and have a general flow without one shot sticking out from the others. This edit has been very enjoyable and quite simple to do as when i shot my images i had post production in mind. Of course there are some shots that i really liked but had to cut out due to them fitting in the sequence or they the fact that they were just not strong enough. I have tried to include a varied and fair array of shots and locations and visually i am very pleased with how it is looking. Tomorrow is scheduled for boat building so i will pick up with editing my audio on Monday and aim to get a final edited cut that i am happy with by the end of Monday. All in all it has been a good and successful day of editing.

Today i uploaded all of the footage i had taken over the last two shoots. It is always good to watch back the footage you have captured for any project, but this was extremely satisfying as not only was i pleased with the footage captured but, it was the start of the final push into making my idea a reality. My actual installation is taking shape, and now i have i the footage ready to shape and turn into my centre peice of the exhibition. I have gone through all the footage and marked the shots that at the moment stand out the most and have laid them all on the timeline which will make it easier for me to go through and choose the final shots.

It is important that i take my time over this edit and dedicate a lot of time to ensure that it has a good flow and delivers the desired impact on my audience. I feel that i will achieve a successful edit as the quality of footage i have captured is good and has provided me with a well balanced piece. Visually it is a case of pick and choose, audio wise it will slightly longer as i have to take both layers of audio from the marantz and then with the audio imported as mono i will then change the pan to get the desired surround sound effect.

Stay tuned for more editing updates if all goes well i will be looking to have a edit together by the end of the weekend.

Thursday 15th April 2010 – Second Day Final Film

Location – Weymouth, Portland and Lulworth Cove

Today was my final shoot and i decided to use Dorset as my final location. Weather has played a major factor in the delay of my second shoot but with good weather promised today for the south coast i decided that i would risk another long journey to get the desired weather conditions. Today i had Sid and Mike in tow to assist me with my project and also for a good day out.

Setting off from Leamington at 7.30am the first stop was Weymouth, where we arrived at 11.25am. The first thing that instantly struck me was how busy it was compared to Felixstowe, however this did not have an impact on the footage i could capture however audio recording maybe an issue. As it turned out, with the sun out in full force, i gathered some good footage from Weymouth with the only issue of this location being the audio. It was extremely windy and this has a significant effect on the quality of the audio. The hustle and bustle of the town did not pose a problem to my audio it was just the force of the wind that made audio impossible to obtain from this location. After a quick lunch break and some prop shopping for my exhibition, we then headed onto Portland.

The next location on the filming tour was, Portland and in particular its main tourist attraction Portland Bill. Portland Bill is a lighthouse surrounded by Jurassic coastline and provided me with a fantastic location for visuals and audio. The sheer cliffs and coves were fantastic bases for shots and i obtain a lot of good footage from this location it was also here that i recorded audio to be used as my binaural audio track. The audio i obtained was clear and background free so i feel that it will work well when put it together. Instead of using two microphones i used the one rifle mic and recorded my audio straight to marantz. I took some still alongside my moving image as again these may come in useful for final photographs in my installation.

After a long day we arrived at the final location Lulworth Cove and the reason for this was to capture some footage at Durdle Door, the location of where the BBC 2 advert was filmed. This is a natural beauty and one i wanted to include into my piece. However before we reached Durdle Door there was a great deal of walking and scaling to be done! The walk to Durdle Door was extremely hilly and difficult at times with all the equipment. However after we had navigated our way safely down the hill, we were met by an awesome view. The Jurassic part of the British coastline was memorising and it was impossible for me to believe that it was in Britain. After capturing some footage from the top of the cliff, we continued our decent down to Durdle Door that was just as good as i had expected. This secluded cove provided me with fantastic shots and great audio that will be the main part of my final piece. After spending over an hour at Durdle Door time was pressing and at 17.30pm i decided i had got enough footage and it was time to start the long journey home.

Today was a great success and at times exceeded my expectations and has left me with some brilliant footage, both visual and audio. The two shoots have been a great success and i now feel confident that i have plenty of footage to use in post- production to bring my installation together.

Here are some images from this final day of filming.