final clip!

here is my final clip, Hope you enjoy! the soundtrack was retrieved fromhttp://freemusicarchive.org under the name of 'lamps and chairs; music for interior design' by Ergo Phizmiz and Margita Zalite.
I liked the subtle, light music that wasn't too heavy on anything in particular, but was light, melodic and not too fast paced, so I thought this would be most suitable

storyboard + idea refinement

I decided that my idea was too complex and would end up running off on a tangent since the viewer could get lost in the idea of lights rather than how lights and industrial design work together. Instead, for my narrative I have picked basic situations that make me think of how industrial design can relate to light. I tried to think like an industrial designer speaking to an audience of non designers, so that they can see how I would (or a designer would) think about light and how and why it is so important to recognize the relationship between industrial design and light/lighting design.

          STORYBOARD!!

i have numbered certain images on the storyboard so that I can explain why I used the images.

1)cityscape, with a street light shining onto the roads and buildings. This is to show how light is used for practicality, to improve our vision in the dark so that we stay productive, work longer hours, enjoy the nightlife etc... 

2) a study table with a book and a task lamp. I want to add movement to this image such as a page unfolding so that the audience clearly understand what the image is. I wanted to show with this image how reliable light is and that the idea of creating a lamp specifically concentrating light onto a book shows how the idea of a regular task lamp is actually carefully designed to shine light onto the work load so that the user does not get distracted. Clever eh?

3)next image is a camera where the light comes from the flash. This is to show that light control such as in photography or cinematography is important to the user as an artistic form as well as a functional necessity, because it can emphasize emotions, size, shadows etc. Being aesthetically pleasing and functional at the same time really makes me think of the importance of that balance in the industrial design world, so here we see that relationship easily.

4)the next image is a simple image of a computer/laptop, which is used to show the convergence of light and technology as well as entertainment and lights, which shows how versatile light can be. Versatile materials like light are very important in the industrial design world because you can use just one thing for different uses, and this means that it is more practical and user friendly for the users.

5)I chose to use the Eiffel tower to show the impact light has on emotional factors. Watching the tower sparkel at night is a breathtaking experience, yet the idea of quick flashing light is so simple, so this image really speaks about how light is a significant aesthetic factor to a design, which also relates to industrial design in terms of how designers in the past and even right now still use light as a way to make their products/objects more visually pleasing

6) image of a car with headlights. This shows how light is used for safety factors, which is also very important in industrial design because the designer has to always consider the user and of course that means safety plays a huge role in the design process

7) Light inside the average household to show how useful and reliable light is to our everyday lives without us noticing. Designers always evolve and develop ideas and existing alternatives so that the user will gain an easy experience from using the product. In a household light comes easily through a flick of a switch. Also this could show how light can be used as a decorative feature in interior designs.

8) a basic torch to show how portable light can be so that the user is not restricted by darkness. Industrial designers carefully consider how the user will benefit from the product and how to make things handy and innovative. For me the idea and design of battery torches are very clever because it does exactly that- it makes my life easier, therefore it is handy and user friendly- what more does an industrial designer need!

9) the words 'Anew way of seeing' will be written with candles as well

10) just like in the beginning, we end with what we started with-a basic light bulb, which you could say  is a symbol for a very bright idea:)

research part II

I was looking through clips of stop motion videos and I found these two clips which illustrate the idea i was going for in terms of creating images through candles.

retrieved from youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7zHZFxHIhc&feature=related

retrieved from youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlXghpryDhU

These videos also make me think about what music and sounds i want to use for my video. The lights flickering and burning reminds me of twinkling sounds, yet I feel like actual music will suit the video more as the clip and images continue to play. This could also depend on the pace of the clip and the visual movement. This also makes me think of how I will photograph the candles, which will most likely be laced on the floor for practical reasons, but it is important to get the camera shots as accurate as possible so that when i put all the images together, the arrangement appears smooth and composed, and not violently moving from one place to another each time the frame changes (like my interum video :S)

this means that i could mark my standing point and try to aim for the same point to shoot each photograph I take or I could ask my sister kindly to help hold the camera :P

I also realize that this will be restricting in terms of colour variation, but I think that candle light is warmer that the tone of the flash light that I used to shine through my stencils, so the video wont be too bleak in my opinion, as a matter of fact I think that the illuminating light is what makes these videos eye catching and attractive, so I'll most likely get the same or similar effect from my clip.

I must share this, it's awesome!!

I really like how they used the space and the volumes, the candles are on stacks to crate a cityscape atmosphere-maybe I should figure out how I could do something like that without burning my house down of course!!

improved idea, new design stand point

New Idea!
I walked past a little candle shop in Wellington city and saw this poster:

I thought this was a really clever idea and it inspired me to change my idea for my stop motion clip, so that instead of using light stencils to create light images (which already took waaaaay too long to make and difficult to shoot each stencil accurately) I thought that not only was this idea more simple, but also more comprehendible to the viewers because the light of the candle is stronger, therefore making the quality of the clip better (after making test clips with light stencils, my tutors told me that the low light effects the quality of the pictures). This process will be faster too so I can make more videos and experiment more before I make a final clip.
 After reading a book on contemporary lighting by Sebastian Conran and Mark Bond, I've decided to create a more structured narrative thats not as basic as my initial idea. The plot starts off with photosynthesis, which shows the viewers the importance of light and how it sustains our lives. Then i want the images to merge into religious symbols to show how humans associate light with divinity (this may be slightly irrelevant so i may or may not take this out) then I want the images to merge into pictures of how the invention of electricity shaped how light was used in technology and house holds from the late 19th century until now eg) street lamps, cars, cityscapes, nightlife/attraction lights, technology such as computers and cell phones, as well as regular household uses such as task lighting, ceiling lights etc.
 This is to show the importance of light in our world and by the end of the clip where light is shown being intergrated with technology and objects, i want the viewers to recognize the relationship between industrial design and light and how there is a whole world of creativity and innovation in the field of lighting design, and design in general.
 

group work signatures

my drink bottle leaked in my bag, luckily we can still see the signatures:P
my group partners were Katie Smith and Cole Holyoake.

playing around with stencils