FILM 116

DRIFT 2

Drift 2 Overview

In Drift 1, you walked the city using a Drift Strategy to guide you in collecting sounds from your walk. For Drift 2 you can choose to employ a Drift Strategy or simply wander freely. You will, however, be executing a well-considered Image-Capturing Strategy that will help you effectively gather still and moving imagery.

The final project for the class is a synthesis of image and sound. You will create an intelligent, engaging, and carefully edited sound video containing evidence of your planning and the goals you defined for your project and for yourself. The video should generate patterns, rhythms, flow, and expectation, and should make a "statement" that reflects your voice as an artist.

All of your sounds and imagery for Drift 2 must be gathered on two new walks (the first to gather imagery, the second to gather sound). You may not recycle any of the sounds you collected on Drift 1. You can revisit certain sonically rich locations in order to generate new sounds, if you wish, but we will be looking for entirely new sound experiences on Drift 2.

We strongly recommend that you execute Drift 2 on two different walks. While it is possible to multi-task and switch back and forth between your camera and MD recorder, the chance of dropping or mishandling your gear increases when your attention is divided. Carve out quality time to gather both sets of material -- you will be glad you did.

No longer than 2 minutes in duration, the final cut sound video will be posted on a new Drift 2 blog.

Concept development for your sound video begins with an assessment of your experiences and reactions to Drift 1. It continues with a detailed description of one of these experiences along with a list of ten questions, curiosities, or problems you will address in your final sound video. In an attempt to answer those questions, you will develop a Production Strategy, which will consist of a Drift Strategy (different from Drift 1) and two carefully worded strategies for capturing stills and video that will help you narrow your collection of new data.

Back in the studio, you will import and sift through your footage to select the most interesting and promising material with which to make your first movie clips. Using basic video editing techniques, you will arrange and edit your material into a dynamic and concise sound video that explores the discoveries you made on your walks.

Developing the raw footage by selecting, trimming, and editing, you will post two "rough cut" clips (one silent, one with sound) of no more than 30 seconds in duration. Consider these rough cut clips as "sketches" to be polished into a "final cut" sound video that improves upon the promise shown in the sketches. Note that you cannot simply add sound to your silent sketch to make a sound sketch; we will be expecting two completely different visual experiences, one silent, one with sound. If we see that you have repeated footage, we will grade accordingly.

Your Drift 2 Blog will be organized as follows:

1. Drift Map #2 (at the bottom of the page)
2. Production Strategy
3. Silent Rough Cut Sketch
4. Sound Rough Cut Sketch
5. Final Cut Sound Video (at the top of the page)

Image Capturing Strategies

Decide on the two Image Capturing Strategies you want to use for Drift 2 from the following list, or design your own strategies and write them out with careful wording. You can use the phrase (or something similar): "I will generate still and moving imagery . . . "

of only extreme close-ups-- covering a distance no wider than 8."
of only objects that are blurred by any possible means.
that makes you want to see the rest of the sky (or another theme)
of only organic shapes where simplistic lines and other shapes are not apparent.
of only text but not legible.
that vibrates.
of only spaces that feel enclosed.
as if you were drifting over in a hot air balloon.
that is passing under something
of motion parallax
of only trees without shooting any leaves.
that starts and stops spinning.
of only edges/intersections of planes .
of only extremely violent, hard edged lines.
of only barely discernable lines.
of eclipses (see occlusion)
that mimics bouncing.
of only rounded corners.
with a gradient from white on one edge of the frame to a darker value on the opposite edge.
of only bright areas/spots of light against dark ground.
of a frame filled with solid colors and/or tones.
by counting from one to ten over and over (take a photograph on every number "ten").
of eccentric rotations or rocking to a rest.
of motion that imitates eye movements.
through liquid.
of only "boxes," each from at least 4 different views.
of wire-- following "every foot" where it leads you.
of water damage-- surfaces that have been affected by or water.
of mirrored light and highly reflective surfaces.
of peripheral vision.
of light shining through things.
with compositions suggesting vanishing points.
with your eyes completely blind-folded.
of only fences.
of fake nature.
to create false movement.
with a field or colors and no discernable objects.
while the camera is suspended and being moved by anything other than your body.
of glaring light. (Consider making manual exposure compensations)
from the lowest possible angle.
from the least expected angle.
of atmospheric perspective.
of small scale "scenes" chance determined by a frisbee or rock toss.
of only human-made light.
of only objects blown by the wind.
of completely arbitrary objects and each with five radically different types of movement.
of everything within your view standing in one spot for 5 minutes at time..
only when the camera is shaking.
of only walls and other flat planes.
after you have quickly blinked your eyes and composed a shot based on the afterimage.
after you have taken five steps, repeat your steps and take five shots.
where camera movement looks like object movement and vice versa.
as the camera is moving in more than one vector.
as if you were dizzy or about to fall.
of anything that looks rough.
of only geometric shapes that are changing
of impressions that are disappearing
of fragmentation
of parallax vision (see stereopsis)

You will use these Image Capturing Strategies to focus your attention on a particular approach to investigating the landscape, limiting the range of available material. This will force you to look with particular care at what seems to be a negatively limited approach, only to discover much more nuance than you were expecting.

If you decide to structure your walk like you did on Drift 1, please select a different Drift Strategy (you can also choose to simply wander). You can use the same Starting Point you used in Drift 1, or you can select a new Starting Point. This Starting Point, the landmarks and sites where you collected your images, and a line tracing the route you walked will be documented on your Drift 2 Map.

Production Strategy

Post your Production Strategy to your Drift 2 Blog addressing these three factors:

1. After reflecting on your experiences on Drift 1, and after generating your Ten Questions, specify a promising place in your Drift area you plan to explore in more depth for Drift 2. This area may or may not start from the same point you used in Drift 1, but the area explored must be different than the area you explored in Drift 1. Make sure the location is precisely identified on your Drift Map #2. Explain why this site (or series of sites) seems promising.

2. Describe a new Drift Strategy (different than the one you used in Drift 1) that will help you navigate your Drift 2 area in new and unexpected ways.

3. Describe how you will limit your image-capturing activities (pick 2 from the list above or create your own) in order to generate enough quality material with which to work.

After you have made this post, go out on your Drift 2 walk and execute these strategies as soon as possible.

Getting to Know Your Camera

Go through the "Quick Steps" and "FAQs" for your camera:

FE-100 Manual [pdf], Video Quick-Steps [pdf], Still-Image Quick-Steps [pdf], FAQs [pdf]
D-545 Manual [pdf], Video Quick-Steps [pdf], Still-Image Quick-Steps [pdf], FAQs [pdf]

Look for settings that could give you more control, like turning off the flash, adjusting exposure, time exposure, focus, image resolution, and other options that might be more helpful for our light gathering strategies.

Taking Pictures in the World

The viewfinder is the means by which you, the artist, frame your experience of the world. Through this window you can witness unique moments in time that are visually striking and engaging. By pressing the shutter, you are able to “cut” a little excerpt of that moment and “paste” a copy of it into a digital image. The reality of that moment changes instantly, and any subsequent version of that image capture is far removed from the original experience, a brief moment that is now long gone.

Don't mourn the lost moment, as the image you captured, even though it's an approximation of the original experience, can still serve as a powerful artistic statement. The rectangular scene you see through the viewfinder, the mise en scène, becomes an active (and activated) space within which you as the artist can create a highly personal statement about how you see the world, your vision made visible.

Put two or more of those images in a sequence, and you have a film, a possible narrative, a time-based statement of your take on reality.

Try to compose your shot as best you can “in camera” to avoid lengthy editing and adjustment later in the studio. Fill the frame, keeping in mind foreground, middle ground, and background subject matter. Even though you are working digitally and you have a seemingly infinite number of shots to take at little cost to you, it’s still a good idea to imagine yourself shooting with film in order to make the best choices possible when you press the shutter button.

Before you take the shot, think about alternative angles and viewpoints. No composition “rules” are set in stone, so feel free to experiment with approaches, angles, and attitudes toward your subject matter. In fact, whatever Image Capturing Strategies you use will inevitably lead you to try different means of composing your shots. Remember the title of this class: EXPERIMENTATION WITH MEDIA.

Go out on Drift 2, experiment with implementing your light-capturing strategies, and have fun.

Here are some sites to further your exploration of the basic mechanics and aesthetics of digital photography:

Basic Digital Photography Composition Tips
Rule of Thirds
Mise en scène
Photographer's Rights
Why Photography?
Is Digital Making Us Sloppy?

Drift 2 "Walking Points"

Gather your digital camera, empty flash memory card, new or freshly charged AA batteries, street map, cell phone, and your Production Strategy (for sound and image) written in your PDA, on a 3"x5" card, in a readily available notebook, or in the easily accessible memory banks of your crystal clear mind.

Head to your Drift 2 Starting Point and begin your walk using the new Drift Strategy you chose for Drift 2.

Pursue ways to apply your Production Strategy on a four-hour (or longer) walk.

Fill your 1GB flash card full of still and moving imagery.

Both of your strategies must be conducted entirely on foot--no cars, bikes, skateboards, snowboards, scooters, etc. (If walking presents you with a physical challenge, let us know so we can make accommodations.)

Repeat the Walking Points of Drift 1 to generate new sounds for Drift 2.

Back in the Studio

Before importing your Drift 2 materials into your video editor, use Quicktime Pro or MPEG Streamclip and your default photo viewer to study your visual materials. Look for striking and unusual kinetic (motion), graphic (light/composition), and perceptual qualities.

Since you have made copies of the original files on a CD-R or DVD-R disc, you can identify clips and still photos of interest by adding words to their title, coloring their icons or sorting them into specified sub-folders. It's a good practice to retain the number string in the original title because you can trace this back to your originals on disc easier. Always retain the ".jpg" or ".mov" extension at the end of all media files.

Take detailed notes in a notebook on your raw material, noting the time points at which interesting segments begin and end. Be as descriptive as possible.

When you find a segment of particular interest, export the segment as a standalone MOV clip.

If you are working from home, install your video editor. You may also use the video editing apps on any of the computers in B-18 or Curtin 187.

Backup your raw MOV clips. Go through the Quicktime Pro tutorial.

Save the editing session you have created. If you are working in a lab, save the session on your external hard drive and/or CD-R.

Movies from Stills

One option for making your sound video is to "animate" a series of still images. Using either the Quicktime Pro method or the Picasa2 method, create a Quicktime movie from at least one group of your still photos (use from 24 to 200 frames).

Quicktime Pro Method: As per the tutorial, import your digital camera still images using "File > Open Image Sequence." QT Pro will create a sequence of individual still frames in the order your digital camera numbered them. The rate at which they play will be determined with the Frames Per Second setting when you export the web-compatible movie. If you want to change the order of the stills, about the only way to do this in QT Pro is to manually rename the files in the Finder by adding "001.jpg" to the end of the file name you want to be first, "002.jpg" to the end of the file name you want to be 2nd, etc. After you have created your sequence of still frames in the QT viewer window, use these steps to export a web-compatible movie. Set the Frames Per Second at "1 FPS" unless you prefer them to be viewed at a faster rate, like 2-15 fps.

Picasa2 Method: As per the tutorial, download the PC-only freeware. Import your stills into an album or several albums. Arrange the thumbnails in an album in the order you want them in your movie. Export the whole album or selected files from the album as a Quicktime movie. See the AvidFreeDV tutorial for instructions on how this movie can be imported into AvidFreeDV and then exported as a H.263 Quicktime movie.

Silent Rough-Cut Sketch

Review all of your video and still-generated Quicktime movie clips.

Choose one clip (no longer than 30 seconds in duration) that best articulates your visual interests as expressed through your Image Capturing Strategies (this rough-cut sketch should showcase your ability to confidently choose "in" and "out" points and to make decisive edits, and should not use any non-essential special effects).

This rough-cut sketch will be silent (no sound is allowed), and will not use any effects or image alterations, including adjustments to contrast, brightness, hue, saturation, time, speed, direction (forward/reverse), sizing, etc.

Note that this rough-cut sketch may be made entirely from still images.

Open FireFox. Drag and drop one of your rough-cut sketches into the browser window. The browser window should change into a gray background with your movie in the center and a control bar underneath. Check to make sure it plays correctly.

Pick a representative still image from your clip to serve as the thumbnail "link" image. Make a screenshot as described in this video tutorial.

Your thumbnail must then link directly to the .mov file. You can add text that says "Click on thumbnail to play clip," but do not add another, separate link to play the clip.

Upload your silent rough-cut sketch to the "clips" sub-folder of your PantherFile "public" folder (as well as the screenshot of the Quicktime player to your "stills" folder).

Publish your sketch as soon as you complete it . . . remember that your Drift 2 blog is a documentation of your work in progress, a portrait of your creative process.

Sound Rough-Cut Sketch

Repeat the above steps to make a rough-cut sketch with sound (no longer than 30 seconds in duration). With this clip, you are allowed to use whatever special effects and/or editing tricks you wish. Again, this clip may be made entirely from still images.

Remember that the footage for the sound sketch must be different from the footage you used in the silent sketch. Also, we are looking for completely new sounds than the ones you collected on Drift 1. If we see that you've repeated footage or sounds, we will grade accordingly.

Upload to your PantherFile and post to your Drift 2 blog.

Final Sound Video

After repeatedly examining your silent and sound rough-cut sketches, find the most promising moments to use in your final sound video. This video must follow through on the potential shown in the rough clips to showcase interesting and unusual visual patterns, textures, movements, juxtapositions, collisions, expectations, sound/image relationships, and narrative potential. The final video should be no longer than 2 minutes in duration.

In addition to judicious editing, you may also use effects and image alterations, including adjustments to contrast, brightness, hue, saturation, time, speed, direction (forward/reverse), sizing, etc.

We are looking for unique artistic statements and meditations on the visual phenomena collected on your Drift 2 walks. We are also looking for continuity and connection between Drift 1 and Drift 2.

Check your final cut sound video for browser compatibility, make a screenshot thumbnail, and upload to PantherFile.

Post your final cut sound video by Wednesday, April 29, 3 PM, when we will be begin screening Drift 2 videos in class.

More Drift 2 Tips

Edits are different from effects. When we say "no effects" on the rough-cut silent sketch, we mean no wipes, dissolves, overlays, slowed/accelerated footage, oversaturation, color imbalances, contrast changes, added noise/speckles, etc. This does not mean we are looking for completely untouched footage straight from your camera; this is RAW footage, and should be kept private. We ARE looking for footage that has been assembled with thoughtful and precise edits: what happens when one clip ends and the other begins? Are you cutting at exactly the right moment? Is the tail end of clip #1 visually compatible with the beginning of clip #2? Are there rhythmic properties of a clip that you can highlight by juxtaposing similar rhythms in a second clip? The same with graphic qualities? Can repetition of a particular image or clip throughout the sketch be used to heighten a sense of drama or movement?

Your rough-cut sound sketch may feature whatever special effects (image and sound) that you wish to use. Here is your chance to try out some ideas to see if they may work for your final-cut sound video. More often than not, you will discover that you do not need special visual effects after all. You can almost always say something better using a well-considered edit than a wipe or dissolve or overlay. But, that's what the rough-cut sound sketch is designed to do: allow you to experiment with ideas in a shorter clip where the stakes are not as high, working out the bugs before you spend precious time and sweat on your final-cut sound video.

The sounds you use for your rough-cut sound sketch can be realistic or abstract, a long continuous take or a highly edited sonic adventure. What we will be listening for, however, is that these sounds are DIFFERENT from the sounds you posted for Drift 1. And, of course, that they function in a well considered image/sound relationship with the visual footage.

We are looking for two rough-cut clips, one silent and one with sound. Both of these clips should be derived from your Drift 2 walks, but should be different enough from each other that we can see that you have considered the innumerable directions your work can take. We DO NOT want to see you simply adding sound to your posted silent sketch to make it a sound sketch. We want you to choose the BEST two clips among all of your footage, not the ONLY two clips you have.

Avoid portrait mode in your still photographs at all times. As you peruse videos on the web, you will find very few, if any, videos composed of portrait (vertical) shots. Landscape (horizontal) shots are preferred because they best correspond to the standardized dimensions of film and video.

If you are setting up a long take where the camera is stationary and the footage shows movement across or within the frame, then you must use a tripod or otherwise secure your camera. A shaky camera undercuts your carefully composed long take and distracts from your message.

The ideal format for the web is detailed in the QuickTime Tutorial:

Compression: H.264
Quality: Medium
Frame Rate: 15
Encoding Mode: multi-pass
Dimensions: 320x240
Prepare for Internet Streaming: Fast Start
By all means, work on your video in the largest, highest quality format possible in order to best view your footage in the studio, but EXPORT A COPY of lower quality exclusively for web distribution on your Drift 2 Blog. Everyone knows that viewing a video on the web is different than viewing a video in a movie theater or on television, so don't worry that your work is being seen at a lesser level of quality than you would prefer. Go ahead and save full-resolution top-quality versions for your own archive and for other purposes, but, FOR THIS CLASS, we only want to see WEB-COMPATIBLE videos posted to your blog. If a video takes too long to download (or if we look on your PantherFile and see a 300 MB clip instead of an 8 or 10 MB clip), then you have uploaded an uncompressed video. If a video takes too long to load, then your viewer will definitely move on to another website.

If your clip is widescreen or does not strictly adhere to the 320x240 dimensions without distorting, then use black bands (if appropriate) and try to shrink your playing window as closely to 320x240 as possible.

Only MOV format videos are allowed. We do not want to see any AVI, WMV (which don't play at all), MPG, MP4, W4V, or any other format other than MOV. If you are editing in Windows Movie Maker or other Windows app, then you MUST download a separate piece of freeware to convert your WMV or other formatted file to MOV. See the syllabus for links to conversion apps.

Rough-cut sketches are edited clips that best illustrate some of the ideas and directions you wish to pursue in your final clip. No longer than 30 seconds, these rough-cut sketches are not meant to be perfect, finished works of art (although they certainly can be well-made and remarkable). If you post a fabulous, tight, breathtaking and fully-realized rough-cut sketch, do not think that your work is done. We will then expect to see an even more fabulous, tighter, more breathtaking, and more complex final cut video. We are on the lookout for recycled clips, and we will spot them right away.

If you have posted a rough-cut sketch that you or your Lab Instructor or your peers think is missing something or violates one or more of the rules mentioned above, then you can simply post a revised version of that rough-cut sketch in a new post. Remember that your Blogs are online evidence of your work-in-progress, and stand as portraits not only of you as a person but of you as an artist. Don't spend too much time trying to perfect a rough-cut silent sketch. Fix what needs to be fixed and move on to your rough-cut sound sketch.

The final-cut sound video is longer than your rough-cut sketches (no longer than 2 minutes) and should be a development of, and an expansion upon, the ideas you explored in your sketches. We DO NOT want to see a rough-cut sketch recycled (or simply lengthened with similar material) into a final-cut sound video. We DO want to see a final video that fully realizes the ideas and promise shown in the rough-cut sketches. We DO want to see a final-cut video that emerges from your Production Strategy (which, in turn, is derived from your Drift Assessment and Ten Questions).

Your Drift 2 Map may be the same GoogleMap you used for your Drift 1 Map with additional "soundmarks" and "imagemarks" added for Drift 2 (color-coded so that the two Drifts can be identified) or an entirely new map altogether. If this is the case, we will want to see a MASTER MAP that shows the areas you explored in BOTH Drift 1 and Drift 2. These maps will be documented on your Drift Atlas.

Some of you have expressed a desire to make a straightforward narrative film. We say, "go for it," as long as your image and sound materials come from your WALKS OUT IN THE WORLD. Rather than execute a screenplay or fully-formed idea (a perfectly valid exercise, and one that is covered in other classes), we ask that you go out on a WALK in or through a particular site or sites, gather material from those locations, and then sift through your footage in the studio to assemble your final video. If you design your Production Strategy carefully enough, you can place yourself in a situation where the material you gather is perfectly suited for a narrative video. Sound and imagery that reveals the inside of your dorm room, however, is not the result of a WALK, no matter how you try to spin it. Gather that footage if you absolutely need to, but save it for another class or project. The same goes with actors. If you are walking with a friend on your Drift 2 walk (a good idea for safety reasons, especially at night), there is no reason why that friend can't appear in your video as a result of being in the specific place you documented. We DO NOT want to see STAGED shots, however, or actors clearly "acting."

Drift 2 Deadlines

1. The final-cut sound video must be posted by Wednesday, April 29, 3 PM.

2. Please review this list of grading criteria for Drift 2 (PDF).

3. Please review the Drift 2 PowerPoint lecture (PDF).