Happy Birthday Me =)

iPhone Programming

Across the week we moved straight into our new topic which I was all but too eager to participate in. For a long time now I've demonstrated a great deal of interest in this department and to be part of it only makes me too happy. A staff member of this department personally came in to teach us how to create and fashion our very own iPhone application. Across the days we learned of xCode the program we use to type up codes with to create commands for our application to carry out and, Interface Builder, the program we use to determine the final design and layout of the application. And as time went on we were given our first project to be completed next Tuesday. Sounded simple enough initially and of course we were given a set of requirements to fulfill in the process, create a stopwatch. So when the chance arose I decided to quickly finish it before the weekends for a nice break from a long project. And fortunately enough I managed to collaborate everything together to fulfill all of the requirements all ready for Tuesday today already.

Cinematic Flaneur - Hand in!

So we had finally reached the sixth week of our Cinematic Flaneur without at first realizing how much time we truly had to adopt into this project, but it was time well spent for experiences well learned on how to critically assess not only our project but how to follow through with our aim. Something which we initially found difficulty in but, in the end I believe that I managed to show it in the end with my final edited footage. So we just had to make sure that everyone had their individual hand in requirements sorted as we put the final touches on the group hand in on CD. With the final bits sorted and with the intention to lighten the load to an absolute zero for the time being we handed our project in.

Final Edited Footage Below:
Cinematic Flaneur - Final Video (Speedy Sensations)

Literature Review - Hand In

Monday had arrived and judgment day was upon me. I would have to hand in my literature review before 4pm, so I came into class with what work I had initially done at home planning to finish writing my 1500 word essay within the confines of the uni atmosphere. Feeling the stress of something so large apply it's pressure was not a comfortable feeling but, I found myself finishing around 1pm with the hopes that it could be something good. However, I managed to find a little trouble of locating a good place to print of the literature review having to travel queen street to find a place to print it off for quite the cost, but printed off nonetheless. So closer to 2pm I handed in the paper and went home with a lighter load.

Documentation

So today was the final weekday to really finish anything, so basically here I am tidying up my blog and my journal to make sure it's up to hand in standard for Tuesday. But the first focus of course is the Literature Review as that's due in Monday. Fortunately for me I've kept my blog and journal well up to date so it's just up to me to now adopt time during my weekends to finish everything to make my life easier for hand in time.
So today I just spent my time doing last minute notes and pictures for the blog and the journal and moved on home to work on the Literature Review for the rest of the time. With reading and research and plain writing up.

Presentation Critique 2

Today was the second day of presentation with the second set of groups presenting their rig and films. So today was pretty much dedicated to the remaining groups.

Presentation, Critiqued.

So today was presentation day, and obviously the butterflies really settled in as it usually does for every presentation that I have to do. But before that, we had to make sure that everything was on DVD and we had a menu for it using DVD Studio Pro. So once everyone arrived we put in all our videos after finding out that we were the last group of the day. After some discussion we decided that our order we be me starting, then Daniel Lee, Jack Yang and we would then finish with Moke Xu. So once 12:00 pm hit it was time to get up and do our thing. After our session was up I couldn't help but feel nervous because I not only didn't get to say what I wanted to, but I got a case of the stutters here and there. Initially I planned to go up saying

"This video's intention was all about perception and emphasizing that, and what better way to do that than focus our attention on speed, and a quality that could be unique to our rig. Riding and grinding down rails just like the roller-coasters, and skateboarders. Almost like the real deal. So with the effect that you saw, I aimed to present a question to you. How fast did you think the rig was really going? With the soundtrack at hand, that plan was to create an upbeat and fast atmosphere in an attempt to emphasize the idea of speed in the video. While, the split screen effect is simply another question presented in video form before you. Is this two worlds or rather, is it a single world just because the videos both came from the same world? Really everything here is about perception and what you see, so I want you as the viewers to tell me what you see."

But missing out the opportunity to say this had pretty harsh repercussions as I soon learned. James had given his critique and it really showed that we were missing a large portion of what the project truly was, the thought process. Basically the focus was spent all on the effects which hid the true potential of the actual video and footage. Something that was present in all four videos which I found that was dominant in my video by far. Unfortunately the mistake I made was big but, it was all a learning process and the best thing I can do is learn from my mistakes and do better the second time around. So for now it's just about reflecting on everything thus far.

Outputting DVD and final editing

Today was the day before the Critique so really it was all about buckling down and making sure that the video was up to scratch. Learning majority of the effects and how to put things together pretty much on the spot initially it was a very slow process but in time, it soon became reasonably natural to me and I started to play around with things. After a while of playing around I managed to find an effect that could exaggerate how fast the video and rig was truly traveling at. So the next task was the find a soundtrack to fit with it, and to fit the idea of speed I needed to find something upbeat so I began to dig around in the trance and dance archives. With an upbeat theme behind it, it would bring up the excitement levels of the film, and along with excitement speed is soon to follow when excitement forces everything to appear faster before us. And after finding it applied it. I intended on starting the video slowly then moving it into something upbeat to finish slowly in the end.

Matrices and Golden Ratio

Today was another day where we adopted our time into maths and art again. Today, we learned about, Matrices and the Golden Ratio in two separate sessions due to booking times of the rooms we were in. But by 1pm, our overall knowledge was vastly expanded. Parts of it started to interest me when we first learned how matrices were combined with one another having to keep the same order to be able to. While, we in turn learned how to construct Golden shapes that followed the golden ratio using the program we got the last time, C.A.R otherwise known as Compass and Ruler.
So with that lesson done it was back to concentrating on our project once again by getting together the films and playing the selection game.

Cinematic Flaneur - Post Production

Today was basically all about making sure that we had all the know how we needed to finish our project to the desired standard. So Kim offered to teach the class on a basic level of After Effects which I unfortunately couldn't make it to at the specified time because I had to leave early. But today was a good day for me to catch up on any loose ends with the workload by reading up on what I had to and the little touch ups that were needed. So with the day ending early and Moke attending after effects fortunately for our sakes, we just had to make sure we were ready on Monday and Tuesday to finish what we needed to.

After Effects

Today we had a session with Gabriel Teo about after effects. On first glance this definitely attracted not only the attention of my eyes but many others. It was another outlook on another path that I could choose to follow as a future path or career. But, he also made it evident that it wouldn't be easy at all to follow. As time went on, he introduced more and more points and more features along the way. And soon, it just became overwhelming with all that he showed and it was difficult to keep up to the point where I got lost basically. There was no issue with what was shown but rather the amount but hopefully I can get a chance to revisit this issue another day.
Other than that, after the session we went straight back into working on our project. Finding out that we still needed more footage, we made our way back out exploring the city for more rails to ride and to take footage off and by the day's end we were hoping that we had got the right amount of footage needed.

Cinematic Flaneur - Filming

With the presentation of our research and theory over and done with it was time to really put our rig to the test through actual filming. So we did just that today. Walking around as a group and using our rig we each got a chance to use the rig to do portions of filming each. Because of our rig's design we had to go around the city locating suitable rails, curves and edges for the rig to ride. And by the day's end we got a reasonable amount of footage prepared for editing once the chance comes. And really, walking back to to the studio after the filming it really got me thinking that it opened my eyes to the existence of an object that is considered insignificant in our lives when we pay no attention to it. My eyes scanned around taking notice of all the rails, curves and edges that surrounded us from the small poles to the wide curbs that lived around the city. Something visible that may as well be invisible became fully visible to my eyes from this day onwards and it was it's own way of telling me that I've now kept my mind open to something new.

Presentation of Research & Theory

So the day had finally come for the presentation to the class as an audience. We had to show our design, how it worked and the idea behind the rig's purpose. So with the final touches and mental preparation to what we had to say in mind we believed ourselves ready. Or so we thought, as time went on as group after group went up, I found the courage to finally go up and talk. Or not as we ended up being the fourth to last group to show our rig. So as the stomach bugs built up over the passing of time, we went up to show what we had finally. Unfortunately despite all the mental preparation I didn't get the chance to say a single word with everything already having been said before I got the chance, but I guess that just means I have to assert myself for the next presentation. Upon sitting back down, we were just glad it was over and sat back to watch the rest before the days end. So with that done, it was home time and a small period of rest and relaxation.

Art & Preparation

In the morning as per usual we had a lecture, this time around taught by James. Throughout the lecture he gave us a rundown of artists and their works and discussed about the foundation of the realization of truth, proof, and reality. He did this by going through many artworks and artists over the years of history in art. And really, I sat there just tor realize that I was sitting through yet another class of art history. It was almost as if I hadn't left school at all so on a positive note, I knew what was going on without any issues with the artists and artworks. But, on a negative, I had to learn everything that I already knew yet again. But after a good hour the lecture was over and we moved on back to our Cinematic Flaneur Project.
Being the day before the presentation, as a group we really needed to know what we were going up to present to the class theory and concept wise. And also, we needed to make sure we had some pictures and videos for the class to see that represented what our project was about so preparing what info and media that was necessary for our preparation we were ready for home with fingers crossed that the presentation would go well tomorrow.

Cinematic Flaneur - Fabrication & Research (Day 4)

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to come into uni again because I had coaching to do. But once I got the free time I got on to what I had to do in class, and it didn't hinder the rate at which the group worked fortunately. Getting home late, and starting late I did what I had to do at home while the fabricators and CAD operator worked on their own tasks at hand. So for now all we could do is work on what we were set to do and wait for Monday to see the combined results.

Cinematic Flaneur - Fabrication & Research (Day 3)

Today was the third day in the fabrication and research front and we were coming along nicely in my opinion. Having already shopped for bits we got from a baby skateboard we combined it with what we already made. Admittedly, we still had a bit of way to go to finish it, but we could see a future image of what we had already made thus far which was good track to stay on. So we had the parts and now all we had to do was to combine them altogether. Then, next was to make sure we had a good idea behind it.

How it should work:

A small thought...

With an arrival into uni twenty minutes early, I found myself with the opportunity to think about everything thus far. I was uncertain about how I would adjust into uni life, or if I would at all. Initially walking the city streets, it was all uncharted territory for me.. But, as routine found it's way back into my life, so did uni. The city streets became the equivalent of my school grounds. The tutorials the equivalent of my classes with more flexible hours. And uni was just school to me. But despite uni simply adopting another version of school life in practically every way, I still wasn't able to treat uni in the same way as I would school and to me the reason was that when I left school I still left a part of me there. And when I arrived at uni I found a new me. So as I move on through the stages of life, really.. I had to choose which me to keep, and which me to leave behind as I make my way into the unknown future. Because, even now, I'm not sure which path I want to take. But, what I do know is that I'm headed into the right direction, I don't have the evidence to justify my the truth of this path but my belief has comfortably walked this path along side me. I'm unsure as to what led me here, or where it would lead me exactly which brings me to ask myself who I'll be, and where I'll be after this is all done, and my schooling years are over. But despite the past and present having the capability to mold they future, the past and present will never have the capability to predict a true image of the future to be.

Cinematic Flaneur - Fabrication & Research (Day 2)

Today was the second day of Fabrication & Research so Daniel Lee and Jack Yang was in the 3D lab, and Moke Xu was in the Computer Lab, while I was spending my time on the laptop looking for research and ensuring that the idea and theory was up to scratch. So, as the time passed on it was just working for the entire day since there were going to be no lectures until next Monday as I soon found out today.

Cinematic Flaneur - Fabrication & Research

So as we saw yesterday, the design was altered a great deal to meet the brief while erasing the previous errors of the limitation of mobility being confined to a single space and location. Now all that was left was to really adopt our time into this project in our respective areas so I just had to carry on to ensure that the idea behind the actual apparatus was true enough that it met a criteria of critical thought.Daniel Lee the fabricator along with Jack Yang the Fabricator's Assistant both went to the 3D lab to create the actual apparatus.
Moke Xu, then went back to the computer labs to perfect the actual design to a high presentation standard.

What type of effect we intend to produce:

Solid Works Hand in

The morning session for the first time we got to explore the higher levels of the WT building as we got introduced to our Maths Lecturer Paul Pang, an engineer. He described to us what he could grasp when he combined maths and art together in his mind as he introduced to us a new program that was called C.A.R otherwise known as, Compass and Ruler. A program that uses angles and geometrical shapes to create a drawing. So from 10am - 1pm we learned the functionality of the program in and our despite it being a bit difficult to grasp in the beginning. Admittedly, I was still left pretty confused in the end but not completely confused.

Today was the hand in day for our solid works project as we came together to see the final results before it was printed off and handed in, for now all we can do is wait and see what feedback we get.
From what I could see the design had been dramatically altered from the initial design however I still found myself liking it greatly from the practicality of it.
Initially however we had the problem of finding out how to change the format to something printable and why the dimensions disappeared when it was changed to a drawing layout but the issues were soon resolved across the day fortunately.

The changed design: