Throughout the past two weeks I have looked into the logistics of how I am going to perform with multi- media. This has lead to experimenting with different technology and examining what possibilities I have. As well as this, I have finished my videos with the help of Ferenc, Georgia and everyone that volunteered their chins.
I came across difficulties during the first part of filming as the camera didn’t record the sound and so the original footage had to be scrapped. I was performing a lip sync to music with my hand and without the backing track present in the original footage, it was nearly impossible to synchronise the soundtrack to the action.
Also, I was looking to create the affect of a photocopier going across my face for one video, which took a lot of experimentation with lights and camera positioning (with assistance from Shane). We found that there were problems with the glass as it reflected the light and made it difficult to get the camera out of shot. Then there was the light itself, which couldn’t move across the glass without being seen by the camera and then the beam was too rounded. We solved these solutions by building home made barn doors for a floor light (similar to a patio light), which gave a narrow but long beam. The light was then strong enough to be shone at the glass from distance.
The final footage will be looped and shown on a television screen to coincide with a stage image where I photocopying my own face. My aim for this sequence is to uncover and demonstrate the despair that the character has developed. The audience are allowed access to an intimate moment where the character is trapped within the machine that is office life. The photocopier then captures part of him with each printed picture.
Once all of the footage was complete, I spent time with Ferenc and Georgia testing out the various possibilities with presenting the work. The greatest difficulty was that some of the footage needed to be projected on separate screens at the same time, meaning that I needed two screens, two laptops and a means to project the images. We started with the idea of two projectors but this was quickly thrown out as it would be too dim with stage lights on at the same time. Also, the screens were very uncharacteristic of an office environment (although we did discuss a flip chart either side). We came to a final conclusion that the best system would be to feed the videos onto television with VGA cables running from the macs. This created the right atmosphere and presented a much clearer image for the material.
Here is the little tech workshop
My next blog will present some sneaky peeks at some film footage and my sketches of the stage layout.
