Technical Collaboration (Teamwork Practices)

───────A Nation under Surveillance───────

Methodology

We kept an open mind to this project as we realised that surveillance and privacy were very huge topics and there are a plethora of ways where we can make a statement. As we research and consult with our mentors, ideas were refined and built upon.

It was also apparent that for our project to come to fruition, we had to work on the technical aspect of our installations which means that projections had to be mapped, footages had to be curated, mechanisms had to be working and troubleshooted for them to work before we move on to work on our visual presentation.

As we research and value-add to our ideas, we tested out the feasibility of the softwares we intended to use (Touch Designer, Resolume and Arduino).

Resolume

It works but we had to take into consideration the height and distance to which the cubes were and where the projector would be and then work on mapping out the cubes.

Arduino

A sketch had to be coded to provide for a randomised servo swing and contraption that involves the eyeball movement had to be tested out.

Touch Designer

We had to work with the Kinect 2.0 as the Windows version that Kinect 1.0 required was of an older version and thus would not work. Tracking worked well with the built in patch. Masking and projecting the filters took longer time to work out and fine tune. However, this was made easier with an updated version of Touch Designer which had a mapping patch built-in.

Inquiry Proposal

Learning Plan

· Gaps in my skill base: Adobe Animate: deeper knowledge of Action Script 3, such as video and sound programming, working with external files (i.e css files) etc.; Adobe AE: working with 3D layers, keyframe interpolation, tracking and stabilizing motion, deeper knowledge of compositing; Adobe Photoshop: smart filters, camera raw, working with 3D and technical imaging; Adobe Premiere: deeper knowledge of working with titles.

· What to learn: Compositing and effects in After Effects – because we need content; working with kinect – to add interactivity to the artefact; working with 3D, for mapping a space, surface or screen.

6 initial sources
1. Setting the watch: privacy and the ethics of CCTV surveillance. by Larsen, Beatrice von Silva-Tarouca – this will be important for my research with the ethic and morality bit of the project;

2. Lynda.com for online tutorials on AE and some of 3D.

3. Adobe Manuals – this support will be used especially with AE when online tutorials won’t cover a topic (can be found online).

4. Surveillance: closed circuit television and social control by Norris, C; Moran, Jade; Armstrong, Gary – this will help with the understanding of the social implications and will help understand why we arrived with so much surveillance in the first place.

5. Augmented Reality in Public Spaces. Basic Techniques for Video Mapping by Donato Maniello. This book gives basic knowledge on how to produce a first piece of projection mapping. It will help e gain knowledge of how to use the up-mentioned softwares for my intended project.

6. Working with kinect – a starting point: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn782035.aspx

A nation under surveillance

Today in the UK there are currently 6 million CCTV cameras surveilling everyday nation’s activity in order to prevent criminality. With this project, I want to explore the ethic and moral impacts of the CCTV cameras on human freedom and state of mind.

Skills

· Current skills

Hard skills: Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Premiere, Adobe After Effects.

Soft skills: Researching: finding material related to the project, evaluating the material.

· Gaps in my skill base: Adobe AE: working with 3D layers, keyframe interpolation, tracking and stabilizing motion, deeper knowledge of compositing; Working with kinect – I never worked with kinect before, so this is the bit that will be completely new for me.

What to learn: Compositing and effects in After Effects – this will be for the content displayed on screens. I will merge out movies from different archives, or free stock videos, I will even shot my own videos of CCTV cameras across London in order to create a non-linear story revolving around a suffocating practice of CCTV; working with kinect – to add interactivity to the artefact; working with 3D, for mapping a space, surface or screen.

PROCESS AND DEVELOPMENT