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There is footage from six different clips and audio from four. I had a difficult time with Premiere and as a result kept things rather simple. I think the latter halve of the video can seem other-worldly or off-putting. The sounds that are slowed or reversed and the spaces of silence are meant to be unsettling.

The background is the sound of a jackhammer paulstrecthed with looping wind sounds over top(wind that is actually the microphone held close to an air vent). The sound of a passing truck is played once forward then backward. A dog’s bark is used five times, in the last use, it is slowed. Footsteps on creaky wood are played forward and then backward. The sound that is more or less dead center is a strange little noise I found in the recording of a cat.

I think it gives a feeling of uneasy though this maybe me projecting as I found this project particularity stressful. It came at a bad time and Audacity was difficult to work with.

The animation features a collection of toys and masks I found around my home. It was fun to play with the idea of them moving on there own. They were easy to use because not only did they fit the qualification of not being personified but they already have a preset method of use. The cube is meant to assemble and disassemble. The car and dice roll. The snake slithers. I  like to think of this as some bizarre wasteland, the toys acting as some other-worldly creatures, moving and acting of their own accord.

I have always had a fascination with abandoned structures. When I see images of them, my mind races trying to come up with an explanation for what it was, where it is and why it is abandoned. This project allowed us to find images without needing to find the answers to these questions meaning they could be presented without context or understanding, allowing the mind to wander.

I have always been interested in works of fiction, particularly science fiction and fantasy. These images, as well as others, were collected as inspiration when I started try to write. I like seeing all the different designs and styles people embrace when creating beings from other worlds. What does their body or clothing say about this species? What made them evolve that way? What are their strengths and weaknesses? I have already used many of these in my writing and have a clear idea of who/what they are. The drawing in the top left is actually a supporting character from our D&D game which was commissioned by a friend of mine and draw by an artist he followed online.

The photos focus on street lights.  The first showed a path that was lined with street lamps. The second showed a large telephone pole with a red street light(the photo may have been altered to give it the eerie red glow, rather then the bulb being red). The last is a photo by artist Lucas Zimmermann, taken as a 20 second exposure of stoplights at night. In each of these, I removed the source of the light, leaving only the light itself. In the second, I even removed the bloom from the bulb, wanting to draw more attention to the surroundings. The light comes from unseen sources, giving an edge of mystery or the supernatural to something mundane, something fittingly in-line with Zimmermann’s own work on his street lights project.

This is a collage of images concerning a tree fort at my home. We did not really have an trees that were fitting to build in but I wanted one, so my dad came up with the idea of  building an octagonal platform on top of an old tree stump that would form the base.  We did get use out of it but not as much as I would have figure years ago. Over time our priorities changed. My hobbies kept me indoors, work became more demanding for my mom and dad got older. An old wooden pallet ended up thrown underneath it. The stump in the middle has rotted to the point it no longer support the platform and the nearby grape vine has begun to grow over it. It was never properly finish as there was suppose to be small house on top. Images of the platform now are overlaid with closeups showing age and tools we used to build it. I always felt bad that it did not get used as much as it should have and feel ashamed at how I wasted my parents time on it, only to have it fall to ruin. Not that we could have done much about the stump rotting. In truth, I think it actually looks kind of nice. Rather than this empty grey wooden structure standing in the middle of everything, it is covered in green, reclaim by nature.

The subject for this project was my party at our weekly Dungeons and Dragons game. I first thought it would be fun to use the session and seeing David Hockney’s the Scrabble Game confirmed by choice. Light conditions were kept mostly the same but different conditions or light sources can be seen around the players. Time and space change in the form of the different expression or reactions from the players and the changes to the pieces on the board.

Light

This photograph is of a desk light seem through a Halloween mask. I tried to wear the mask once only to realize that I could not wear it and my glasses. The mess over the eye was so out of focus for me, that it broke up the incoming light with a grid.

Time

This is globe spinning and captured at a high shutter speed, giving the globe a blur but leaving the stationary room in focus. Like the world or time moving to fast but the home is still, as many feel like their home is a haven from the chaos and stress of the rest of the world.

Space

The photo of a soda glass seen from the top down, outside looking in. It seemed a good choice as I have rarely seen something so common photographed in such a way. Further more, I like the way the glass distorts the window, plants and candles.

This yet-to-open Queen Ann’s Lace was found on August 25 at around 4:36 in the afternoon. It was among a small collection growing beneath and old pear tree in our somewhat overgrown yard. It was plucked from a steam, with a gentle breeze shaking the bush. This image varies little from the original. The hue has been adjusted, giving it the slight reddish look on the ends of the stems.