Final Video Projection piece

I have decided that along with the kit bag with the iPad inside displaying 'the come down of loosing video, I am either going to project just the warm up video, or display two projections of the same warm up video but over lap them, so there is more going on, so it is more crazy and loud in contrast to the video inside the kit bag, which i explained in a previous post.

   
      I displayed the two photographs in my space, as i said i would. I was going to put them straight onto the wall, however there were lots of sticky tape marks on it, and had smudges, so i got a piece of A2 card which i stuck onto the wall, then put the photos onto of the white card. The photos looked better against the white as well, they didn't look right against the off white/cream colour of the walls. This works well as a piece, but If I had more time, or if i did it again, i would get the photo to the left printed much larger, so there is more of a contrast.
      As shown in the photo below, I have a chair underneath the photo piece to put my printed blog and note book onto. I might also put an iPad there as well so that they can view the videos on my blog, rather then just seeing the still pictures of them in the printed version.

Displaying photos for a final piece

 I have had another idea for a final piece. Along with the videos, I was thinking of putting a photography piece in my studio space along with my printed blog, note book and iPad to view videos on.

I was thinking about Milo loosing the nationals, and how he felt so low, then i thought about when he won his next fight and he felt on top of the world. There are two very extreme emotions felt in boxing depending on the outcome. When you win you feel invincible, and when you loose you feel so small, so insignificant. I have shown this is my video piece, with the small video and the big projection, so i wanted to reflect this in photographs as well. I decided to print a picture of milo of after he won his bout which i took on the home show. I printed it to fill a piece of A4 photo paper, then i got a video still from when i videoed him after he lost the nationals sitting on the bench in the changing rooms with his head down and printed it out really tiny. I am then going to display these next to each other on the wall. Showing the insignificance he felt when he lost compared to the high he felt when he won. the emotional difference.

Displaying My final piece

Along with the iPad screen inside the kit bag playing the come down of loosing video I am also going to have a projection. My original thoughts was to have the warm up video playing on its own as a big projection, this then being loud would create an intimidating effect to the vulnerable video displayed in the kit bag. It would also show the before and after of the fight, the invisible feeling he felt when he was warming up, and then the unimportant gutted feeling he felt after the fight, when he lost. However, after trying out projections today, I really like the idea of overlapping two videos of movements together, for example a close up of foot movement and a close up of punching a bag. This would still fit with the idea, because the video would be loud, and it would be a busy projection with lots going on. This would then still be intimidating the little video inside the kit bag. It would also represent the fast pace of the competition that he was in, how much was going on in one place, then in contrast to this would be the video of him upset in slow emotion hidden in a kit bag for the viewer to find.

Instead of just overlapping the centre of the video I tried overlapping the whole video. To do this I literally put the projector onto of the other projector. 

This would work really well with an up close video of foot movement or gloves punching a punch bag because then the movements would really mix up, would be interesting to try.

I tried out overlapping projections as well. I placed the projectors side by side which made the centre merge together. I again used the same video on both projectors, but played them at different times so that they weren't synchronised. This meant that they were both displaying different movements and were really contrasting one another which worked well with the overlap.

Here is a video of projecting combined with displaying on a TV monitor. I used the same video here, was interesting having a small screen and a big projection, I was considering playing 'the come down of loosing' video on the monitor and the pre fight warm up on the projection, however I think I am going to stick with playing it inside a kit bag, how I tried it before.  

Video for Collaboration project.

This is a video I put together, videoed on my go pro camera, of Michael Jordan and Connor Holloway before they had their bouts on Friday night at the Gator show. I wanted to show the build up to go into the ring, the calm at the beginning with shadow boxing and Connor putting his wraps on, then going into pad work. The pad work builds up as well as the coach progressively tries the liven up the boxer and get him ready.

Using Mirrors with projection

The video piece show to the left is a single projection of a video titled 'Face scripting, what did the building see?' by Jane and Louise Wilson. When viewing this piece it gives the effect that it is more then one projection this is because they put mirrors on the walls either side of the projection, so that when looking at the projection it is duplicated many times in the mirrors. This would be interesting to try because that means that the would all be in sync, all of the movements will be moving at exactly the same time. I would imagine that watching a video in this way would also make the viewer feel surrounded, almost consumed by the video.

Two screen displayed on monitors

This is an image of Bruce Nauman's piece titled 'Good Boy Bad Boy'.
This piece consisted of two videos with a different actor in each who read the same lines as each other which are very repetitive, slowly they become out of sync as they both talk at different paces and progressively get more of an angry tone as they go through the speech. When they become out of sync the audio and the images on screen clash with one another, creating a very confusing contrast, and almost makes you feel anxious when watching it. What interests me about this piece is that is isn't projected, it is displayed on two monitors which gives it a more separated feel, whereas two screen almost merges into each other and feels like one. The fact that they are on monitors works well with this work, this is because they are very different and they are clashing, its like putting two different channels on two TV's and putting them in the same room, they clash and become confusing.

Two Screen Projection's

The image displayed on the top left here is a video piece by Jane and Louise Wilson 'Gamma' 1999, and below it is an image of Susan Hiller's piece 'An Entertainment' 1990. Both pieces project the same footage but onto two screens at once. This idea interests me because the movements of the video become different as they are played together synchronised. What is also effective is when two slightly different pieces are played together because this creates contrast.

In my previous project I displayed my work similar to these pieces, as a two screen projection. I looked at playing a video slowed down by 50% on one projection and a video slowed down by 20% on the other to see the difference, and to see them fall out of sync with each other. I like that idea of contrasting movements and sounds, and it works well with the boxing videos. I was thinking of doing a two screen projection of up close videos of just the foot movement of boxers.

Douglas Gordon - Phantom

I have previously talked about this piece on my blog, but looking back at it, I really like how this video was displayed. Bringing the objects into the space with the video behind it really works, it gives the viewer something more to think about, to look around, to engage with.

When I present my videos I am going to incorporate boxing related objects, for example the kit bag with the video playing inside it.

Sam Taylor-Wood - Three Minute Round

This piece by Sam Taylor-Wood is called '3 Minute Round. It is two projections side by side of two different videos that she made of each of the Klitschko brothers (two professional boxers) after they had each had a fight. She videoed them in the changing room, on their own, sitting on a bench/chair. She captured something which is very personal, and something which people watching the fight on the tele or at the venue will never get to witness. When I first came across this piece of work I thought a lot about how much of a come down it must be for professional boxers after the fight, win or loose they still go from a buzzing arena with so many people around them to a quiet changing room. I wanted to try this out, to video a ammeter boxer after they had a bout and so thats what I did, this is where my inspiration for 'the come down of loosing' came from. There is so much emotion at all times at a boxing show, from coaches to supporters, but especially the boxers, and that is what i wanted top really capture in my video, that sadness and how totally gutted Milo Clay was after he lost in the National championships.

I have created this video to show how focused he is on the pads. This was videos before he went in the ring and lost his fight. I have the idea of Projecting this on a wall really big, then in the corner of the same room I will put the kit bag with 'the come down of loosing' video inside it playing on an iPad. This will show the difference in emotions. Before he went in the ring he had self confidence and was on such a massive high, he felt on top of the world. Then after he lost he felt so small and unimportant and sad. So making one big and one small and hidden reflects the emotions felt in each video.

Sam Taylor-Wood - Crying Men series

Crying Men is a series of photographic portraits of famous film actors. Sam Taylor-Wood makes portraits of them as actors, she shoots them in role, asking each to perform and cry for the camera. She looks explores societies perception of what is masculine.
Although this is not a video it still relates to the pice of work I did 'The Come Down of Loosing'. She is exploring emotions and emotions which we don't normally see, something very personal and private. This is exactly what I did when I made my video. The difference between my work and hers is that she used actors to act out an emotion, whereas I used a real-life situation, they were authentic tears and emotions. 
This has given me an idea to as well as displaying 'The come down of loosing' video inside a kit bag, I could also get some video stills showing the emotion in Milo's face and display them in my space. I would print the images very small, to show his vulnerability, like how I am Displaying the video.

I noticed when watching the video of Milo, especially in slow motion that his hands play a big part in the emotion he was feeling at the time. When filming the video I particularly remember him holding his boot in his hand and just staring at it whilst he played around with it. He was absolutely devastated and probably feeling frustrated thinking how he could have done better etc, and this emotion is show in the way he moves his hands. Therefor i decided to find that section of the video and crop it so that his face is not visible, only his hands and body.

I did try cropping it even smaller then this, but it was filmed on a go pro camera, so when cropped small and enlarged the picture quality isn't very good. I think the cropped version in this video works well though because you can see the boot being thrown into the bag.

This video is the same footage that i used for the come down of loosing from when Milo Clay lost in the nationals, but I have used a different section of the video, and cropped it in so all that is visable is Milo, so we can focus on the emoption and not be distracted by the people moving around in the back ground.

Displaying Video inside a Kit bag

As shown on the previous two videos I have posted I tried out displaying my video into a kit bag. I have experimented with both the ipad/iphone and projecting. The idea came from the idea I had of bringing some boxing objects into a space, out of context from its usual place in the gym. Using the iPad and iPhone proved to be the more effective way of displaying the video. The reason for this is because the iPad and iPhone are clearer, it is clear to actually see the video and what is on it, whereas with the projection its really not clear what the video is. with the iPhone and iPad you can tuck it into the corner of the bag so that when people first walk into the black room they don't realise that there is a video inside until they walk up to the bag and look inside. The idea of the video 'the come down of loosing' being show very small hidden inside a kit bag fits well because the video is showing a teenage boy really upset, he is in a vulnerable state, he has just lost in the quarter finals of the championships, and I think displaying it small and hidden reflects that vulnerability. Another way of thinking as well is that the bag represents the competition and the iPhone/ipad represents Milo (the boy in the video). The national youth championships is a very big event, and he has shrunk into the corner, just like what happened at the actual event when he went back to the changing rooms after the fight and cried. He feels belittled, insignificant, just another contender. This is why displaying the video in the corner of the bag, in an insignificant way is important when displaying this work, because it really does reflect the video and the emotions felt in the video. Its also engages the viewer because they have to get up really close to the work to see it and this will make them concentrate on the video.

I experimented with projecting into the kit bag, but it didn't work very well. one of the reasons for this was because I used my own cheap projector, which won't project up close, you have to place the projector quite a distance away for it to project properly, therefor this meant that i couldn't place the projector inside the kit bag and project. What I did, which is show above in the video, is hold the projector over the bag so that it was projected into the inside of the bag. The image still wasn't too clear, but if I did want to project into the bag i would have to come up with a way of somehow attaching the projector to the ceiling. I also tried just projecting above the kit bag, so the kit bag is just an object, however I prefer the idea of there being something hidden in the bag for the viewer to find.

instead of using the iPad, i tried it with the iPhone as well, this meant a slightly smaller screen. I'm not sure which one i prefer.

I played the video on loop on my ipad and positioned it inside of a kit bag, at the side of the bag, and i positioned the bag in the corner of the room. this meant that the video wasn't visable until you walked up to the bag and looked inside it. This idea worked well.

Unfolding Aryan Papers: a documentary about Kubrick's unmade film

This film made by Jane and Louise Wilson, is a documentary type film about a film that was planned to be made, but never ended up being made. They managed to meet up with the woman who was supposed to be the leading actress and got her involved in their film. 

What I like about this is the collaboration of images and film of the actress, and then the actresses voice documenting what happened over the top. The images are visualising what she is saying. This works really well. Voice over is something I would like to try in the future in my own work, maybe going down the emotions route again. 

Documentary in my work

As I stated in my last post, my work has elements of documentary. Capturing moments which happen in real life is something that really interests me, capturing real emotions on camera. I want to capture the truth, how things really are. This has been exactly what I have done in my collaboration project with the Boxing Club, nothing was acted out, nothing was planned, I just got my camera out and took pictures or videos of what was happening. However some of my previous work where I have put my go pro on my head and then took a video of me punching the bag, or for example when I asked some one to video me whilst I was skipping is not really documentary, as it is staged, it was planned because I was mainly interested in movement.
I have used some of the footage that I took as part of my collaboration project and used it in my own work. for example my video piece 'The Come Down of Loosing' which is a slowed down clip of Milo Clay in the changing rooms upset after loosing his championship fight. This is definitely the direction I am now going to be going in, when I have finished my collaboration project I think I will stay with the idea of documentary. I love this idea of capturing emotions, real emotions, and then showing the emotions to an audience. 

Thinking about documentary and stories, I thought back to Tracey Emins video piece - why I never became a dancer, in which she tells a story of her past, alongside a super 8 film of margate which is where the events happened.

I like this idea of videoing real life, because in a way it is what i have been doing with my boxing collaboration, capturing moments that happen in real life, they aren't acted out, they are the truth. 

Elizabeth Price

I came across this artist called Elizabeth Price today, and I find this particular piece of work 'The woolworths Choir of 1979' very interesting. I like that it is almost like a documentary piece, it is documenting an event. What I also like about it was the duplicate images and how they flash on and off, and this fits in with the clicks that are heard on the audio. Visualy a very exciting piece, and engaging. 

As Charlie Connaughton prepared to get in the ring, I filmed him on my go pro camera, and asked him how he was feeling before the fight, and then again after.

After his fight he was uncontrollably happy, absolutely buzzing with excitement, and you can see this at the end of the video when he is talking to the camera. Before the fight we can also see the nerves, this is what I am becoming increasingly interested in, the emotions of a boxer.

Douglas Gordon - Phantom 2011

'I think it's supposed to be about provoking enough of a memory that people take it away and do their own thing with it. For me, artwork... is something that you should be able to take away—you don't have to be present in front of it, and that's the potency of the artwork when it works.' —Douglas Gordon
This is a video of an eye, covered in black makeup, crying. The video is also in slow motion, and the slow motion makes the crying eye seem even more emotional to the viewer, its very intense sadness. What captured me about this piece is that I can relate this to my own work. Douglas Gordon is working with slow motion, which I also use often in my work, and also he is looking at emotions, which is something I am also becoming increasingly interested in. I like this idea also of provoking a memory that he talks of above in the quote, or provoking an emotion from the viewer.

Douglas Gordon - Pretty much every film and video work from about 1992 until now

Looking at multiple videos I came across Douglas Gordon, who in this piece displayed lots of different video pieces all on different monitors. They are all of a similar size, but all slightly different which is interesting. Some of the monitors had headphones, and some were just silent. This visually is a very exciting piece, with lots of different movements happening on all of the screens.

Multiple screens.

Following the last post about having multiple projections, I talked about how I wanted to incorporated projection and monitors, and I have found this video showing how Bruce Nauman did just that. The use of projection and monitors is proven to work in this video, this is something I will try myself. He is focusing on movement in his videos, and repetition. This is something which is also of an interest to me. 

Third Party - Sam Taylor Wood

I am still very interested in displaying videos on multiple projections or screens. This piece by Sam Taylor-Wood caught my attention as she is not only using multiple projections, but she is using different sized projections as well. This is something i would like to try, either as projections or on monitors, or maybe mix the two together. 

Two Screen Projection

This is a short clip of a two screen projection i did. Both projecton's are the same video clip, however I reduced the speed of the one on the left hand side to 50% and the one on the right to 25%. So they are both in slow motion but at different speeds. I was just looking at how the different speeds looked projected side by side.

The Warm up.

 This is a video that i made a while back. It goes with the video 'The Come Down of Loosing'. This was the video of the warm up before the fight, before he lost. I like the different emotion shown in each video, the contrast.

The Come Down of Loosing.

I am currently collaborating with Attleborough boxing club for a project, and last weekend I went away to Newcastle as a coach for boxer Milo Clay who was competing in the the National finals. Unfortunately he lost in the quater finals. I filmed him warming up, and then I filmed him after the fight. This is a video of him after the fight, I wanted to look at the emotions that he was going through at the time. I slowed the video down and removed the audio to focus the viewer on his emotions.

Repeated Swing Bag getting progressively slower.

I took a clip from the swing bag video, and repeated it, making each clip slower, so as you watch the video the speed reduces.

Body Pad

This is a video where i am punching someone with a body pad on, i cropped little sections out from the full video and put them together to make this short video.

Long Bag Mixed Speeds.

Playing around with slow motion and normal speed in one video, slowing down certain parts of the video.

Long Black Bag in Slow Motion

I reduced the speed of the video to 25%, making it much slower. I like how the bag swings so dramatically in this one.

Long Bag in Slow Motion

This Video I made is using the GoPro Head cam again but on a different bag. I decided this one looked better in slow motion, so i reduced speed to 50%. I like the way you can see the bag crease as the glove hits it, and i also love the sound in slow, it seems exaggerated, and creates a powerful sound.

Swinging Punch Bag

This is my first video that i made using a GoPro action camera which I scraped to my head. 

What I am most pleased with in this video is how the movement of my body is captured as well as the movement of the punch bag, what is also effective is how the bag swings towards the camera. I decided to change the colour to black and white because it them simplifies it down so that rather then focused on colour, you focus purely on the movements. 

When viewing the video the bag is swinging back and forward into the camera, almost similar to the feeling of when you are in the ring and someone is throwing punches towards your face, it gives a similar feeling, and also a feeling of anxiety. 

Sam Taylor-Wood - Prelude in Air

Sam Taylor-Wood/Johnson

Looking again at the work of Sam Taylor-wood I came across a Video that she made of Two Professional boxers, the Klitschko brothers, Vitali and Wladimir. She filmed them immediately after each of them had a fight. The video shows ver little movement, it is almost very calming, just watching their chest rising and falling as they breathe. What interests me is the total calmness that they are shown in on the video and how it is a total contrast to what they have just been through in the ring. Click here to view the video

Sam Taylor Wood talking about her piece 'Sigh'. Click here to view What I really like about this piece is the multiple screens that she shows the different videos on, and how they interact with each other as one piece rather then it feeling like separate videos. The way we view the work is also interesting because you are able to walk around and in-between the screen, creating more of a personal interaction with the viewer, and making them feel surrounded.

Pipilotti Rist - Ever is Over All

Two Screen Projection by Pipilotti Rist,