Applied Aporia

Cinemagraphs!

Scott Wilson — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 08:16:11 +0000

We’ve been experimenting with making cinemagraphs for the New Media Ethnography course this semester. This is one of many new wrinkles we’re trying out this year. Basically, these are layered, animated gif files. I tried to have students contemplate ways to use movement to emphasize the tension between specificity and timelessness (as we often do in the authoring of ethnographies). These four images are from a project about the “culture of vinyl” among area DJ’s. The photos are intened to express “endless” search for the perfect record (as in the first pic), and the timeless appeal of vinyl in the second two pics. Excellent work by this group! I will add more as groups produce them.

NOTE: CLICK ON THE IMAGES TO SEE THE ANIMATIONS IN A NEW BROWSER WINDOW

Cinemagraph Experiments

Scott Wilson — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 21:42:07 +0000

Just found out about (and learned how to create) these “cinemagraphs” using Photoshop. Basically, this is just an animated gif that uses masking to make hybrid still/video photographs. Pretty cool, and may have some use in ethnographic slideshows. Please forgive the overexposure in the pic - I kind of honey badger-ed it (i.e., I didn’t give a shit) … Happy New Year!

CLICK ON THE PHOTO TO VIEW THE ANIMATION

OK, SO I WENT BACK AND TRIED AGAIN, THIS TIME WITH SOME FOOTAGE I SHOT LAST YEAR AT THE PORT OF LONG BEACH:

Port City Presentation

Scott Wilson — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 06:01:22 +0000

Barriers, Solutions and Resources

Scott Wilson — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 20:46:42 +0000

Undocumented in LA

Scott Wilson — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 04:29:58 +0000

This new media ethnography examines the experiences of three young men living in Los Angeles who have endured the struggle of undocumented immigration. This interactive video installation features young adult clients at the Casa Libre Freedom House Program, which is a short-term shelter for undocumented and unaccompanied minors in Los Angeles. Undocumented immigrants who are frequently responsible for financially supporting their loved ones back home often face difficult moral and ideological dilemmas once they reach the United States. For example, this project will employ interviews and observational footage of one participant – Francisco – corresponding with his family in his hometown of Santa Cruz Barillas, Guatemala, as well as engaging in his is daily routine in Los Angeles. The viewer selects clips that allows her or him to follow Francisco as he deals with cultural differences, expectations, morals and priorities, while paying close attention to the unique process of transformation in the various aspects of his life. Each person interviewed adds a perspective on the different phases within their transformation, which is vital in understanding the process of these social and ideological conversions through time. We took a non-linear interactive video approach in an attempt to portray the individuals and their plight to not only survive, but provide a better future for themselves and their loved ones while facing the various obstacles as an undocumented immigrant in the United States. [Click Here to View]

Joseph Bolinger, Anthony Vasquez, Joanna Diaz

Economic and Social Inequality in Phoenix

Scott Wilson — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 05:11:46 +0000

Voice Thread

Scott Wilson — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 22:59:43 +0000

Long Beach Winners and Losers

Scott Wilson — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 06:33:14 +0000

An Ethnography by: Adriana Vigil and Nicole Elkan
Anthro 431/531
Viewing Instructions:
Explore the topic of health in Long Beach in a new media format that allows you to navigate through various stories within the community.
A 12 Week “Long Beach Losers” weight loss competition leads the way through our new media ethnography. Our “home” screen dedicates three clips to the progress of the competition: Week One, Week Six, and Week Twelve. As you watch community members all strive to be Long Beach’s biggest “loser”, each of the three Long Beach Losers clips will open up a new world of various clips that take you beyond the competition.
Each “world” helps to explore our ultimate question: who is responsible for the health of a community? At any time, you may click the “Drive Thru” link to return to the home screen. Navigate through the various narratives until you end with the competitions’ jackpot finale.

>LAUNCH PROJECT<

Urban Metamorphosis

Scott Wilson — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 06:08:18 +0000

Urban Metamorphosis visually represents and explores the dynamics of socioeconomic and cultural changes occurring in downtown Los Angeles, mainly for an audience that is not a part of that community. It informs the vuser of the dichotomous conditions in downtown L.A., differences that are growing immensely each day. Urban Metamorphosis represents a part of a whole, a microcosm of broader societal change. The polarity of economic classes that is increasing in one specific neighborhood or community like downtown L.A., is simultaneously occurring in many parts of the world. In Urban Metamorphosis, we take a magnifying glass to the globe and focus on one community, which is experiencing rapid and dramatic changes. Though our project documents only a semester’s duration, we hoped to convey apparent signs of changes that can be easily recognized. We interviewed four residents, who offer their views on the current situation. We also attempted to capture scenes that juxtapose completely different socioeconomic levels.

>LAUNCH PROJECT <

Augmented Reality

Scott Wilson — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 22:13:25 +0000

Just started experimenting with a software platform for authoring in Augmented Reality. This version is 2D, and only works with graphics and video (but not 3d Models). This is the trial version, so you can only author, display and record a video within 5 minutes. In this clip, I made cube that features 6 excerpts from PBS’ “Race: The Power of an Illusion, Episode III”. There’s no sound here, but my mind is racing about what I can do with this in terms of ethnographic installations.

As you can see from the end of the clip, the webcam can track several different video “markers” at once – and – the closer the marker is held to the camera, the louder the volume. So it would be possible to create a field of markers/videos and let users examine individual ones more closely by positioning them closer to the camera. You can also alter the size of the video relative to the marker (here, they are equal in size). AND, you can even move the video off of the marker completey.

I’m thinking of using this for installation purposes, with objects, maps, handouts, programs, etc, having different pieces of video/graphics, etc embedded in the markers. Since everything is in the computer’s HD, the real world side of publication consists purely of printing out the markers and attaching them to surfaces. They can even be embedded in word, pdf and Photoshop objects . This really opens up a lot of opportunities to create user navigated, immersive environments for ethnographic presentations. I wouldn’t want to re-create the Crystal Palace, but who says that authoring can only take place in 2 dimensions?

If cinematic montage is a part of ethnographic production (Marcus), then why not mise-en-scène? Objects, texts, maps and videos can be strategically arranged in a field (installation), with users/viewers given the freedom to explore the story in real time, and in hybrid (virtual + real) spaces. The productive collisions between media elements (including written texts) can now take place on the x, y and z axes, providing a type of death unobtainable in even web-based presentation modes.

Click Here to See Video on You Tube