Reassociation of semantics to sound/image

After reading the Stretching Sound to Help the Mind See paper, I was reminded of a popular video clip of Hitler raging on about something in German that has become a sort of a platform for various rants and rages. The producer uses the same clip of Hitler with sound and all but adds in her own subtitles. So for us non-German-speaking individuals, we just take the subtitles for truth (despite watching so many versions of it).  It is a semantic “incompleteness that engages the imagination of the viewer as compensation for what is only evoked by the artist.” Anyways, just enjoy the angry man.
youtube searches will yield many more examples

iPod and iPhone Recording

From Transom.org — review of two “microphones” for iPod/iPhone for quality recording.

iPhones, iPods and other portable media players have included recording utility applications for several years, but there haven’t been good ways to connect a high-quality microphone as an input. Even if one could, the rest of the input circuitry was less than ideal, often resulting in noisy, grainy or distorted recordings. Additionally, these devices often recorded at unacceptably low quality. Some of these devices have been able to record at high sample rates and bit-depths for some time, but getting a good quality signal INTO the machine has been a challenge.

But now, a few different approaches have presented solutions for recording onto an iPod. The first is the simplest: a high-quality microphone that attaches to the dock connector on most iPods and iPhones. There have been several such devices on the market previously, but the Blue Mikey from Blue Microphones represents a significant advance in quality. The second approach is more elaborate: an add-on accessory case that connects to an iPod, and provides two built-in microphones, as well as professional-quality XLR inputs for using external microphones. There are two devices that use this second model: the Alesis Pro Track, and the Belkin GoStudio. ….

Sharing Audio via Social Media

Transom.org is a terrific site aimed at public radio that does wonderful reviews of audio tools of many sorts.  This post reviews Audioboo and SoundCloud:  “Sharing audio on social media platforms like Facebook or Twitter was especially tricky, but new applications are making hosting and sharing audio a simple procedure.” But these tools are much more than this —

SoundCloud is … an application that runs on desktop computers and mobile devices, but it’s more than just a program or a website: it’s a syndication service that can distribute your audio to many destinations; it’s a social networking site that hosts your content and encourages comments, groups, linking and community-building. This has proven attractive to large numbers of independent musicians who post original compositions, remixes and mash-ups. Despite its current preponderance of musical content, SoundCloud can be just as useful to journalists, documentarians and storytellers.  It’s a deep well of audio material of all types, and one could easily spend countless hours browsing though the many submissions. The typical tools of interactive media can help sort through the chaos: if you find something you like, you can follow its creator, explore groups that it’s in, share it with friends as a favorite, add it to a playlist, make comments, etc.

On a more practical level for any kind of audio producer, it offers an easy way to make your tracks available for others to hear. ….You don’t even have to own a recording device, or any additional recording or editing software. If you have a microphone attached to your computer, or one built-in, you can simply press the Record button on the SoundCloud page to create shareable audio.  Recording into the mobile app (for iPhone or Android) is every bit as easy….

Importance of time continuity in video (update)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=42XS8stDBX0

Yes, you will watch me open a package I got in the mail today, in true youtubian spirit. I also added some comments on the importance of clipping at the correct time and equipment that I used.

I found that the continuity of shots when clipping together different camera angles of a single action sequence is largely dependent on fulfilling the viewers mental model of time across all clips. I attached a poorly clipped version as well as a visualization to illustrate what I am talking about.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=158n1p69pOU

Pay attention to when the hand leaves and enters the scene and compare it to the previous version.

Equipment: Although it looks like I had a helmet cam or something, its actually just my normal camera attached to my body via the Gorilla Pod.

http://www.amazon.com/Joby-Gorillapod-SLR-Zoom-Tripod/dp/tech-data/B002J91QIK

Here is a link that explains a pretty good travelling set up if you want to shoot video with your camera.

http://www.componentgeek.com/reviews-tips/gorilla-noga/gorillapod-noga-arm-gh1/

A way to make web shots interesting

What struck me about these shots — stills from a CNN video — is how they made interesting pictures of what could have been simple shots of websites.  More generally, the point is that it’s worth looking at a lot of visual material to look for ideas about how to make images more interesting.  (Yes, when I’m bored I do watch silly videos, and not all of them are cats.)  The one quoting a Daily Show spokesperson has a video in the background.  Note also that 2 websites used in the same report (PETA and Alliance for Animals) are taken from different perspectives, adding a little more interest to the video.


Instant G Concept Video/ Thoughts on iMovie

I think iMovie is a great tool, especially the newest version iMovie ’11. I’ve been using different versions of iMovie for the last 10 years or so and this one is definitely the most usable and granular in terms of being able to modify your video. I worked with iMovie most recently for a New Product Development course at Hass. Here is a concept movie I filmed on my iPhone 4 and then edited in iMovie ’11.

George/ Kate Project Description

I’d like to incorporate my work for my final project for the I School in this course, by documenting the community based design process over time with video. I’ll be working Kate in my final project and we are collaborating with with Youth Radio, a national non-profit based in Oakland, to develop a mobile crime/reporting application. We’ll be working with local young adults to teach them the User Centered Design process and to co-create a utility that they and their peers can use to share their stories and improve understanding of their community. Ideally I’d like the final result to be a 3-5 minute video showing an overview of our interactions with Youth Radio and the end result our work with them.