Objects At Rest

explorations in audio and moving imagery

Category: VITRVVIVS

  • Vitruvius Music Scoring

    In between trying out the new Zigview video assist and doing other things I’ve started working on the musical score for the Vitruvius film. The motifs are being constructed in the key of G Sharp Minor and in the Dorian Mode. Why? Because that is the scale with 5 sharps and the mode that includes all 5 accidentals or “black” keys…and five is a structural device of the film. The themes I plan to explore will utilize the first five chords of the key. The MP3 sample is the progression from the tonic to the dominant chords of the scale.

    UPDATE: I think I was wrong about the Dorian mode. Apparently G sharp minor uses all 5 accidental keys in its standard scale so the Dorian mode may be irrelevant. However, the Dorian mode in G sharp minor takes on a nice symmetrical shape of the keys which appeals to me for this films architectural theme. Plus the overall sound is more interesting than a standard minor scale so I may keep it or use various modes always based around G sharp minor.

  • Vitruvius Prologue Stage Photos

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    A couple of quick behind-the-scenes photos of the Serlio prologue stage sets. I’m in the process of shooting footage with the Serlio books and will finish the set design for the Serlio puppet when I begin shooting those scenes next.

    You can see my set framework in these photos which is constructed with pine wood, screws, and bolts and then stained a dark brown with a water-based product. The whole thing is then bolted to the wire rack. So far that design has worked well since I can wheel the sets around and the set frame is still flexible. The same design is used in the main set which is partially visible in the second photo.

  • Updated: Applied Flash-based Choreography

    I used the Flash pre-visualization test (see previous post) to assist with a very short test using my actual set and objects. I printed out the Flash movie as a series of small thumbnails on 8.5″ x 11″ paper. I then used the printed sheets of individual frames for visual reference when animating the objects, very similar to a storyboard.

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    This is a small sample of the actual prints which take about 3 sheets of paper. I also wrote notes on the paper such as the tops of the objects and rotation heading so I could keep track of which way to move things with each shot. I discovered I needed to do that in the middle of shooting when I forgot which way something should be turning!

  • Updated: Pre-Visualization and Choreography With Flash

    I spent [another] hour with Macromedia/Adobe Flash tonight to experiment with animation timing and choreography of multiple objects. The result is the clip you see above. I used motion tweens to smooth everything out and added rotation to the objects to make the movement more dynamic. View the first version which was has very rough motion.

    The idea is to work out a sequence ahead of time and to know when to move each object or character throughout that sequence when there are multiple things going on. I can see some benefit to this especially if I had a second computer running the Flash file for frame by frame reference. The Flash document settings for this clip are set at 24fps [originally it was 15fps which is what I am currently shooting at but I may move to 24p] so theoretically I could advance it one frame at a time and use it as a guide for taking each shot with the digital camera. I suppose this would be some kind of “action assist” for multiple movements to supplement the more common video assist and gauges for visual placement.

  • Vitruvius: Building a Prologue, Establishing Authority

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    The secondary set (aka the Serlio Set) is almost done. Part of this secondary set development includes another minimal set that will be used for my prologue. I want to include some form of introductory segment in the Vitruvius film. The idea for a prologue emerged after listening to comments from people who saw my Man Drawing… film and the need to perhaps begin my films with some cursory information to inform the viewer about the nature of the film they are about to view.

    This idea also falls in line with Chuck Palahniuk’s advice on establishing authority in writing. He calls this action the “heart method” or the “head method”.

    …Next is the Head Method for establishing authority. This is where you use interesting facts and tidbits of knowledge to impress the reader that your narrator is smart. To do this effectively, you need to do some research. Then, find a way to work this information into your story. Don’t try to impress the reader with mere cleverness. Instead, invite the reader to share in a special world of insider knowledge, with facts that actually move the story forward.
    – Source: Chuck Palahniuk’s web site.

    I’m leaning toward the head method by introducing historic writers in the field of architecture, specifically Serlio and his work. The photo for this posting is a test shot for introducing the 5 books of architecture by Serlio.