Projects
The following projects are a combination of video, audio and extended media projects created as a student in the Media Productions program at CU Boulder
Interactive Motion Tracking Dance Performance -- Visualization
May 7, 2024
The course ATLS 4519-001 Advanced Special Topics in Creative Technology & Design: Making Motion Capture is a course within the ATLAS CTD program. For our final project we used the motion capture technology of the B2 Blackbox studio in the basement of the Atlas building to make our own creative project. My group used the motion tracking cameras to track two game objects that were scripted to manipulate light, sound modulation and design through an interpretive dance performance.
The code was written to create 4 different quadrants of the room that would all play a different sound track. The game objects were attached to the dancing group member's hands so that whenever she walked she walked to a new quadrant a different track would play. Depending on how far away her hands were from one another, this would manipulate sound effects such as reverb, wetness, distortion, etc. Depending on high or low the hands were to the ground this would manipulate volume and dryness effects. We had also written script to use the spot lights with full color range to be synced with the game objects, thus tracking the dancer and changing colors depending on their location in the room.
This range of control allowed for the dancer to choreograph their own dance routine that would in turn remix the song tracks. My part in this project was to create a real time tracking visualization to be projected for the performance. I created a particle system in the Unity Engine that was synced with the game objects to create a colorful particle trail with manipulated gravity and lifespan effects.
AR Digital Museum/Gallery
May 2, 2024
In the media productions studio elective course CMDP 4760 Special Topics in Immersive Media: Augmented Reality. We were tasked to create an AR app with real world practicality. I chose to create an app for museums and independent artists to showcase a digital gallery so long as they can upload 3D scans of their work. Most museums have digital scans of their art, so I imported 3 different sculptures from the British Museum and created an interactive digital museum that can be placed in any space of your choosing. I wrote different game scripts to create touch screen mechanics so that the user can spin the models left and right. Once the user spins the model fast enough it will spin seamlessly into the next model. This mechanic is meant to make the app sleek, yet interactive.
A Document on Motion -- Creative Short
February 14, 2024
In the media productions lecture course CMDP 3350 Modes of Documentary History we had two media projects in which we were supposed to mimic the documentary film and production style of historic documentary film makers. The course itself was a research and analysis of the history of documentary media and all the different modes in which filmmakers create documentary media. Starting from the beginning of documentary history, we started to analyze the difference between the modes of 'Cinema Verité' and 'Direct Cinema'. These were two of the first documentary modes where Cinema Verité made sure to insert the filmmaker to be a part of the film, whereas Direct Cinema urged to keep them out of the film.
For our first media project, I chose to mimic the style of the soviet filmmaker Dziga Vertov, specifically his 1929 film 'Man with a Movie Camera'. The film name itself makes it pretty obvious that Vertov has inserted himself to be a part of his film he shot as he is one of the pioneers of the 'Cinema Verité' documentary mode. This film was one of the first documentary films falling only 7 years after what many consider to be the first documentary, 'Nanook of the North'.
Man with a Movie Camera was pretty much the first experimental documentary film due to how it was shot. In the 1920's before WWII, Western media had not portrayed Soviet life really at all, at least not in its true light. Vertov decided to make a film documenting the Soviet cityscape and society to show the true nature of life in Soviet society. However, he took it a step further and shot the whole film in a very experimentalist way, getting shots that one could see such a perspective with only a camera lens. There are shots underneath a train, outside of a moving car, etc. These are not perspectives that one could see with only a human eye. Vertov showed how powerful a 'man with a movie camera' could be in capturing moments one had never seen.
For the actual media project in this course, I decided to use the same style in taking shots with a waterproof, impact resistant go pro camera. I made this creative short to document a camera in motion or a camera capturing motion in unconventional ways just as Vertov had done. I also chose to use similar shots such as the slow panning of cityscapes and architecture, as well as moving wheels on a car. This creative short is my modern take on Dziga Vertov's 'A Man with a Movie Camera'.
Boulder -- Music Video
May 2, 2024
In the media productions studio course CMDP 3600 Creative Media Making, we were partnered up in a small studio environment where we would all need to make a collective showcase on a specific theme. Our theme was Boulder and the lifestyle of Boulder, specifically students.
Every group created a project through a different medium. There was a stop motion made short, an animated short and multiple other different media related films. My partner and I decided to make a music video for a song he had made in months previous to the course with a local CU student band. My partner George produced the song under the moniker G3O and we had worked together to make the music video for his song 'Boulder'. The music video itself follows the day and night lifestyle of Boulder, having a group of guys who seemingly love to spend a nice summer day in Boulder outside. The other end of the music video's story is following a couple on their night out on Pearl Street to showcase the community based friendships that we are bonded to as students, but also the romanticization of Boulder as a whole.
Algorithm of Love --Mockumentary
May 3, 2023
For the final project in the media productions introductory studio course CMDP Critical Media Practices, we were tasked to group together on our own forms of short documentaries. My group of four collectively created our own mockumentary on the style of 'My Strange Addictions'.
At the time Chat GPT had just released to the public and was quite a confusing thing for most people. Our group decided to use the format for My Strange Addictions as our template to create our own story that surrounded ones addiction to Chat GPT.
When creating the story we wanted to evoke a similar narrative that the movie Her has, where our character was using Chat GPT so much that it led to them creating a romantic bond with the computer, leading them to an addiction. We all collectively wrote, directed, produced and edited the film on our own, but rented all kinds of professional equipment from the campus rentals to create a film of our highest quality.
360 Photography and Video Captures
May 2, 2023
For our midterm project in the media productions studio course CMDP 2500 Introduction to Critical Media Practices, we were tasked to use the Insta 360 handheld cameras to create 2 still images and one time-lapse all shot in 360 format.
The presentation of this work was shown in the Fiske planetarium on campus. A year later in 2024, the Fiske planetarium had put on a film festival ran by 'dome artists' across the world. It was a four day festival and the final day was a student showcase of work from CMDP 2500 students. My work from this class was chosen for the showcase and I had even got called to a panel to speak about the work and process of making the stills and time-lapse.
My work specifically was a time lapse of the drive down from the peak of Boulder's Flagstaff mountain. The still images were shots taken at the peak, but the shot of my friends foot was taken to make it look as if he were stepping on you when viewing from the planetarium.
Familiar of the Cold -- Creative Short, First Video Work
October 28, 2022
This creative short video project was the first video I had made. It was all shot on my iPhone and edited in premiere, which was the first time I had used an Adobe application. The project itself was for the first course in the media productions program at CU, CMDP 1400 Introductions to Contemporary Media Cultures.
The assignment for the project was to create a short video of different locations, but the only audio we could use would have to be for different parts of the video. I chose to solely use audio from different concerts and live shows I had been to at the time paired with the video from different shots of hikes and bike rides. I also wanted a slight story line, so I filmed a walk home back to my house with my roommate. The editing techniques I used were mostly the use of long overlays to display a visual representation of the layering audio. I also used harsh color grading techniques to create a cold feeling as the seasons were shifting into winter during the time I shot this.
This obviously is no where near my strongest work, but I like to look back at this video every now and then to see how far I have come and improved, but also to see where my practices started. I still can see remnants of editing and color grading techniques I still use, showing the fundamentals of what I was learning at the time.