My Thirteenth Blog Post

Assignment 1 Video Edit

How did you approach the relationship between the sonic and visual components of your edit?

My concept for the video edit was based on nature, surrounding the idea of a connection between symphonic instumental melodies and nature, specifically flowers. I attempted to create a melody which was calm and inspiring, similar to the stillness of the nature featured in my video.

How did you decide on the footage that you used to shape your project?

In order to decide and consider certain footage that would be used in my project, I first articulated the main concept and meaning behind the video which is centred on the meaning of my name, Evanthia, flower; blossom. After I had thought about my concept I was then able to target and decide on footage that captured nature and flora, which shaped my project entirely. Another aspect of my project was the relation to Claude Monet. As I was composing the soundtrack, I constantly noticed the Water-Lily painting above my piano, this being another inspiration applied in the final video.

What did you learn about the power of sound to shape emotional experience, and how did you apply this knowledge to your project?

Sound isn't as simple as a few instruments put together to create a melody, it is more than the instrument, as it delves into the emotional appeal to listeners, each interpreting it differently however universally we all sense a common emotion in a particular melody or soundtrack. The power of sound within my video varied in terms of the volume levels and the emotional sense. I learnt that there can be a balance between sound effects and soundtrack, in which the focus is taken away from one or the other at times throughout the video. The layering of sound also played a key part in my video as I increased the sound effect at moments where the stillness of natural sounds can be appreciated more. Additionally the main soundtrack, Bloom, a symphonic melody, played throughout the video in order to shape the emotional experience on a classical and tranquil level.

How does editing relate to the concepts of pacing and rhythm, and how did you use these concepts to shape your use of time in the project?

When putting together a video featuring sound and visuals, the concept of pacing and rhythm is crucial to developing the story or meaning behind the video in a fluid manner. The pacing in my edit is moderately slow, as I anticipated the video to feel elegant, calm and tranquil, avoided a fast paced video, as the main theme and concepts would not correlate with rapid jump cuts. I utilised jump cuts and a couple of fade to black transitions to enhance the overall peaceful flow of the video. In terms of editing, the timing of each scene closley matched to increase continuity and also allow the viewer to view the scenes equally, at a slow pace. Throughout my video there was always an individual purpose for each of my sounds that correlated with the visuals. The duration of the soundtrack was from the start of the video to the end scene of the piano, with moments of lowering the main track to enhance the sound effects. I intentionally ended the soundtrack at the jump cut to black, as I anticipated for a contrast between the flower and symphony part of the video to finally present the piano and artwork, the two inspirations of the video and a loved hobby of mine, playing the piano. The end scene was accompanied by a soft rain sound another symbol of tranquility. in which the audience would feel at peace compared to the hopeful feeling of most of the video.

Which parts of your personality, interests, past, and potential future did you choose to depict in your portrait? What were the primary aesthetic choices that you made to express those ideas in your work?

I focused on my personality and interests, rather than potential future. The concept of flowers and relation to my name, depict the softness of my personality and my values and qualities of sincerity, honesty, selflessness, kindness, humility and compassion. I expressed my personality and interests through the visuals of flowers and the soundtrack. The soundtrack was a meaningful addition to the video as I composed it to signify my interest in classical art, music and elegant design styles, while also incorporating the Claude Monet artwork. I chose to depict how classicl music, art and flowers can be expressed through design as they embody characteristics from an era of the past, which I deeply appreciate and admire, as well as the symbolic meaning of flowers in my video, being hope and appreciation of the smaller details.

Assignment 2 - Graphic Icons

How would you summarise your idea behind the suite of icons, and why did you choose the theme that you did?

When I first began to choose the theme for the suite of icons, I was drawn towards the theme of calm. Throughout all my projects I have drifted towards themes of peace, tranquility and growth as they realte to my interests, personality, past and new beginnings for the future. Generating ideas in terms of 9 different icons that represent and embody the theme of calm was difficult at first, as I was looking at the world literally rather than metaphorically and emotionally. At first I thought of the general dove, meditation and leaf symbols of calmness however they were too common and didn't evoke an originality based on my own interpretation and emotion. I finally developed 9 icons with the idea of my personal interests and favourable things, such as the dango, a japanese dessert, which is one of my favourites, especially the combination of colours in the dessert. The idea of a dessert synbolising calm, alongside a dessert of my liking, is how I continued to develop my icons, relating back to myself. I continued through with sub themes such as, tea, dessert, nature, weather, plants, home, peace, rest and home.

Did you iterate through a series of approaches before settling on one? What changed across those iterations, and why did you choose the one that you ended up with?

Certainly I started with researching words and synonyms of calm, which benefited my final suite of icons as I was able to develop multiple sub themes. With the synonyms I also went towards the general calm symbols approach, in which I became too focused on the generic and common symbols, rather than capturing an original concept. I chose an original approach as it truly displayed my own interests and likings, compared to the common well known side of producing these icons from the theme calm. There are aspects of other my projects interwined in my icons suite, creating the flow of my artistry.

How did you translate your thumbnail sketches into the final flat designs in Illustrator?

Through illustrator I was able to both translate my thumbnail sketches into final flat design and add more detail to some of them. Using the pen tool for all my designs and shapes, enabled me to create simple and neat flat designs. It took a while to build confidence in using the pen tool, however the more I drafted and experimented with my designs I soon was able to produce decent designs. I closely looked attempted to duplicate my sketch and illustrator design in terms of the line and shape of each icon, while a few I adjusted and altered, keeping a soft style, compared to the pencil drawn sketch.

Was anything lost in that translation, or gained?

I believe there was only one icon where I changed it entirely compared to my thumbnail sketch which is the "rest" sub theme. Instead of a bed and lamp, I changed this design to only a lamp for the final flat design as I intended to focus on how different lighting can change the atmosphere of a room and produce the feeling of calmness. My other icons gained additional details and refinement.

How did you use colour to create a sense of unity and visual interest in the icons?

My icons encompass a range of colours from a colour palette I selected and used a colour generator to generate more shades. I started with green, pink, cream and brown. Green and pink relates to the colours of the dango dessert and tea. The other colours reminded me of soft/neutral shades that create a warm or calm ambience in a home or can also be derived from food colours. From these base colours I inputted them into Coolors, which generated more shades for each colour, providing my icons with a set of 10 colours where I also altered a few in the process of colouring the icons.

Why did you choose the palette that you did?

This colour palette correlated with my idea of food and the cozy feeling of rain, reading and a homely presence. The inspiration for the base colours came from dango, tea and other foods. While my initial thought was based on food and desserts I was able to incorporate this colour palette into my non food related icons, such as the lotus, rain cloud, book, lamp, sakura, tea, seashell and plant.

How did the elements and principles of sound that you used in your audio design correspond to the elements and principles of design that you used in your visual design?

When deciding on the sound for each icon I brainstormed sounds that accompany each icons design and concept, such as tea, I associated the tea icon with the sounds of mixing the tea with a spoon inside a teacup. For some icons I had to associate quite abstract sounds, an example of this is the dango dessert, it had some kind of wonder and sparkly aura to it as I interpreted enjoying dessert as joyful, uplifting and calming.

How did you translate the prompt that you chose from an abstract idea to a set of concrete visual designs?

I was drawn towards calm as it resonated with my personality. It was quite abstract at first however after I brainstormed beyond the literal word I created a list of sub themes. From the 9 sub themes I was able to generate 5 different icons.

Assignment 3 - Virtual Environment

How important was a working prototype to your design process? What did it offer that process?

For my working prototype I designed a very simple and unrelated prototype as a draft in order for me to build my skill in creating pathways and terrains. My prototype included a first person camera and a simple mountain terrain, with the direction of the pathway mapped out by the raised and lowered mountains and the proximity between them to represent a clear path. I also added a purple and pink type sunset skybox to check how the shadows fall on the terrain.

How did your experience of designing and producing a three-dimensional environment differ from your experience of designing and producing a project in two-dimensional media?

My experience in designing two-dimensional media differed greatlty from my experience in designing a three-dimensional environment. My two-dimensional project centred around flat design icons which embodied a constant theme of calm, however my three-dimensional project focused on emotional and psychological changes between two environments, such as a life event. I aimed to evoke two different emotions through sound, pathway and environmental landscape design. In contrast my two-dimensional media was entirely based on calm, similar to my second three-dimensional environment. The skills and experience developed in my three-dimensional project included the ability to produce an environment about a change in my life, using Unity to display objects, sounds and pathways, communicating my emotions through design. The similarity between the two projects in terms of experience, is the identification of suitable colours and sounds for the main theme or concept and evoking an emotion for the audience to interpret.

What was the role of the virtual camera in your project, and how was it similar to and different from the role of the camera in Assignment 1?

The cameras in both my assignments enable the viewers to look, feel and comprehend the visuals presented to them, with one being a guided recording of visuals and the other a self exploring environment in which the viewer is able to view the environment and move on their own accord. The role of the virtual camera in this project was to capture the details of my environment allowing the user to freely move around. Being able to freely move around gives the viewer a sense of control and ability to absorb their surroundings and take heed of each detail as it is three-dimensional and a vast terrain. On the other hand the camera in the first assignment differs slightly. While the viewer absorbs the visuals presented to them they are only able to view a guided visual representation rather than freely moving around. The reason for this difference is because I am showcasing my video from my point of perspective of my environment. My environment was flowers and nature and I chose to dispplay them on a close up level for the viewers to understand my appreciation for the smaller details rather than a distance. Universally it surrounds the themes of peace, tranquility and hope.

How did you use sound in your project, and how was this similar to and different from your use of sound in Assignments 1 and 2?

Through sound I was able to effectively convey my two themes of overwhelmingness and peace. Sound was not a sole component, it was paired with the environment across all my projects, as I chose to closely relate my sound in some way to the visuals. In this project I paired the towering city buildings of a dull colour, with a tense and overwhelming futuristic sound, compared to the open line of trees, colourful and soft visuals of my second environment, paired with a tranquil and calm sound. In comparison to my use of sound in Assignment 1 and 2, I used multiple sounds for Assignment 2 that symbolise each icon, however the Assignment 1 was a single track covering the video as a whole retaining a flow centred on my self reflection through nature.

How did you unify the different elements of your virtual environment under a certain theme or concept?

For my first environment the different elements within my cityscape consisted of towering city buildings, roadblocks and a road sign. I was able to unify these elements through the music and positioning of each asset. The theme that I unified these elements with was tension and overwhelmingness, which was displayed through the close proximity and towering height of the buildings upon the user and the soundtrack. For my second environment which represented the change, included elements such as, cherry blossom trees, bonsai tress, a flower bed path, bench seat, bridge and gazebo. The reason why more elements were included in this environment was related to the idea that my creative abilities are no longer suppressed and I am able to have freedom in my delivery of art and design, having more options available in the design field. These elements also represent rest and hope, with their soft colour palette and symbolic meanings surrounding the theme of hope, growth, peace and rest.

How did your theme or concept evolve over the project’s development?

At the stage of contemplating on a change in my life, I found it difficult to develop an idea. I finally went with a major change during my university journey which was transferring from one degree to another. Initially I made a list of environments that could represent my emotion such as, floating numbers and a cyberpunk theme for my first environment, however I felt that was too excessive. I came to the decision of a overwhelming cityscape which was more representative of my emotion towards that year of my life. The second environment I planned to make one path at first which lead to a bench seat however I decided to make the environment open and consist of multiple pathways circling around to a gazebo, emphasising the freedom and peace I have currently, while also portraying the difficulties of life through multiple pathways.

What did you discover through the process of play testing that you wouldn’t have discovered otherwise?

Playtesting was a crucial part of making changes and improving my environment as I was able to obtain feedback based on the individual perspective of my play tester. Based on their feedback, I had an issue with my mesh collider in the corner of a building which I wouldn't have discovered as I had never moved my first person object towards that part of the building.

Webpage Ideation

I was inspired by the classical and impressionism art movement which I have articulated in my webpage. Both represent my interest and appreciation of classical, poetic and elegant design which embody my personality. Specifically, I have attempted to closely base my design from Claude Monet and his artwork due to a connection in my first project from the Digital Media Studio 1: Production course. The reason behind adding an artwork by Claude Monet called, The Water-Lily Pond, is because of the nature and bridge. The bridge is represented in my third assignment as new beginnings and the lily pond in my first as growth, purposefully building a connection between my projects in order to emphasise my admiration for both classical art and the appreciation of nature through design. I gained inspiration from the Claude Monet painting above my piano and the idea of new beginnings in my 3D digital environment.