METHODOLOGY&WORK IN PROGRESS | av-self-portrait

I intend for this project to be an audio-visual installation where there are 2 main components to this project, which are, sound and image. Exploring the relationship between the main object which is me holding the cello, with variable light and sound.

Sound

Image and Lighting

In this installation, the sound will be prerecorded sounds with snipped of voices, humming and cello playing.

These archive of recorded cello lessons will be played simultaneously to document my life as a cellist as a form of autobiography inspired by Sophie Calle (mentioned in the "contextual research" section)

These are some of the recorded lessons from the past 3 months of my experiment. I've cut about 40 minutes of audio file each to approximately 5-10 minutes where I think will make the most contribution to the project.

After gathering enough recordings, I will be creating juxtaposition of pre-recorded audio with new materials.

In the installation I will be holding the cello in the middle of the room.

There will be lights coming from different direction, creating shadow and dimension.

Lighting Experiment

(these are photos taken from varies lighting angle from the video)

I tried to experiment with moving my source of light around, to achieve that shift in the dimension effect.

From the experiment I found out that, top lit lighting created a significant amount of shadow on my face and is very effective on giving the mysterious look. The side lit lighting gives a really beautiful shadow of the outline shape of the cello. As well as conveying the gloomy atmosphere and emotion, emphasising on the depth and shape of the subject in a more crisp and dramatic way. I will try to avoid the front lighting, as it gives too much exposure on the subject and eliminate the shadow effect that is essentially what I am trying to achieve.

Edited Video

I have edited the hue and the rbg colours of the video as well as speeding up the clip in order to show the different stages and changes in lighting throughout the footage. This is to display what kind of lighting and atmosphere I will be aiming for.

This is the base idea of my installation, for the final submission there will be more elements to the lighting such as reflections from a prism, creating softer feeling. I have experiment with taking portraits with coloured lights and prism and this is the outcome.

Format of submission

I am planning to submit a video of audio-visual installation work. The installation will have 2 main sections which are the sound and the visual work. The sound will be a juxtaposition recording of humming and speaking noises from my own cello lesson layered with cello playing sound. I am planning to have the installation taking place in a big white room with all white backdrops, ideally a photographic studio to create the edgeless look when watching from the recorded video. Inside the space, there will be different coloured lights coming from different dimensions, hitting the main subject placed in the middle of the space. There will also be pieces of thin fabric hanging down, creating layers and dimension when the projections of videos and lights pass through them. All of this will be captured in a video, which will be used to submit for my final submission.

A collection of recordings recorded from my cello lesson. This will be cut and layered into my final composition. I want to explore this because, people do not normally have the chance to listen to concerts repertoire unfinished and in the context of instrumental lesson. This will enhance the sense of being in a site specific space, in this case as both a third person over viewing the master class or could be getting a glimpse of inside the artist's own mind.

I really like the effect I got from using a clear equilateral prism and put it in front of the camera lens, as close to the lens as possible. This will add a very interesting visual component to my work, especially when it is captured on video.