Revolutions – Lester Tegan Opal…and Jared!
The idea to reference Star Wars comes to me and it won't let go. But it's easy. Almost whatever I can think of visually, I can type-in the search words into a box and I will have an organized list of possible video sources I can draw from, in a second...or two. It's as easy as philosophy. I will drop in Star Wars clip of the Death Star exploding (from the original version, of course) at the end of the fight scene before the final glitch and the spacey seed and it's timelapse tentacle...
I wonder if even I can reference every single image I used for the visuals. I used everything I got. Gigabytes of my collection. A store of folders and files I've been growing for years. This is the dream project I've been waiting for all my life! And to work with Tegan and Opal and Jared! My heart beats faster.
I'm alive. I'm coming out of my shell.
The two performances at Emergency #19 (festival of new dance and performance) went off well and we were well-received.
Revolutions! This is my "Gotta dance!" moment, I've always said. I need to express myself this way because this is part of me. Dancing is something I share privately with friends but never for a film and rarely for a performance. But I was unsure how I was going to leave my post at the computer during the show where I'll be dutifully using MadMapper to throw the video I want at each particular part in the choreography.
A preset for the "Self-Love" section helped and confidently counting the steps I take in the dark of the stage at the "Glitch" part. That's fun. I come back to the computer and confidently hit a key on my computer to change the preset to the "Love" part. This is some kind of James Bond opening credit sequence suddenly. I love thinking of Tegan and Opal as Bond girls. And of course, me as Bond. James Bond. 
Aquapher's brilliant music - an interpretation of a film/dance that was hardly made - come together in unison with the piece perfectly. He is the invisible fourth member of Revolutions, a table that without him wouldn't stand as sturdy.
Video Busking – The Loneliest Gargoyle in Peterborough
Overheard: "This isn't advertising. This is art."
Gotta raise the money somehow. A new bulb for a video projector costs over two hundred dollars!
The building across the street from the Blue Tomato Art shop has a gargoyle on it. It keeps stealing my gaze through the windows during my first visit to the gallery.
"What's going on with that building anyway?" Nobody knows. "Is it haunted?" Maybe there's some sort of spell on it. "And the Gargoyle is somehow connected..."
"Let's do projections on that building! Maybe we can catalyze its energy somehow."
Ask permission. Probably not. But -
I hear there are laws being passed around video projections on buildings now. If it's art, it's okay. However if it's advertising...
Based on the test, I'd like to get the city to shut down the street lights on Hunter street between George and Water on Friday night. But why stop there? Shut the whole city down and make it really dark just for me and my projector. I'm video busking here.
Video mapping projections on stationary and moving circular screens.
Twenty-foot VGA cable duct-taped to the wall beside me snakes up to the video projector that's casting the projection throw on the circular screens and the dancers... Using Modul8 and MadMapper, I isolate the circular screens that we installed and video mapped select clips from my archive on to them.
The spinning clock comes off as a visual joke throughout the night.
When Tegan throws the circle up in the air and when Opal moves the circle forward... Something's happening here, as we develop a language together working on a super-choreographed piece for a performance at Market Hall at the end of March 2012.
We want to continue developing this idea and performing at special events. I want to see what video tracking software could do with moving circular screens. But we haven't got that far yet.
I want to tell a story using movement and "moving images." I want to tell the story by video mapping projections on several circular screens on stage. Some of the screens will be stationary. Some of them will be moving, spun-around, choreographed and free-styled by bad-ass hoopers and dancers... The story will be ours. As it reflects with all other stories. Our Universe in an Egg.
This is our work in progress. Anyone with ideas on how to integrate MadMapper to a movement tracking software? - Lester Alfonso VJ
Circles? No problem!
Ha! The updated MadMapper makes it a lot easier to map video onto physical objects. With MadMapper 1.1 circles are no longer a problem! But it also goes beyond that. (check out the MadMapper blog.) I was given the opportunity to play with it recently.
Here's what I did in this clip:
I was able to map three instances of the spinning Crop Circle video to three separate circular screens we created. I was able to use MadMapper to change the surface colour of each circle independently of each other.
I used the auto-rotate function in VJ software Modul8 to spin the Crop Circle image slowly clockwise. The output from Modul8 was then fed to MadMapper using Syphon.
This update has gotten me really excited for MadMapper again and I'm looking forward to trying out other new features like Presets and Bezier Curves. My imagination can now run a little bit wilder. Stay tuned!
Protected: Oya Breathers
So, three VJs walk into a bar…
VJ #1: Can you believe this? They expect us to project video on that cluster-fuck! Even if I had MadMapper, that software still can't do bloody goddamn circles. Are they thinking they want us to mask out the shape? I didn't bring a fucking camera. I don't have time for this.
VJ #2: Take it easy! It's fine. I know what I'll do. I'll just use clips with a black background and heighten the contrast a bit. That'll work.
VJ #3: They mean well. And, yes, they have no-fucking-clue. Maybe we can look at it as a "challenge." If I had a camera I could take a picture of the projection surface, take it into Photoshop and create alpha layers. I think I may even be able to just use Modul8 to luma key out the white.
VJ #1: That's a lot of fucking extra work. Maybe, we can use the projector as a spatial scanner. You have the software for that don't you?
VJ #2: The projector is already mounted. We'll need a very long USB cord to bring a camera all the way up there. If we can find a camera...
VJ #1: I mean, the deco looks awesome and everything goes together beautifully for their bloody goddamn "theme." And I know, I know, they gave me a heads up but this is ridiculous.
VJ #2: You'll do fine. Stop complaining! By midnight... (in whisper) no one will know the difference!
VJ #3: I'll do the Photoshop grunt work. I'll give it a try. I have no idea what I will do myself. No matter what, I know we'll make it look good. I have faith in all of us that we can do something with this surface. I know it'll be fine.
VJ #1: But you won't know what the projector throw is gonna be like until tonight! You-don't-bloody-goddamn-know.
VJ of the Moment
Scott Guy. I have no idea what he’s saying to me. I’m busy at my controls. The music is loud. The crowd is wild. Scott motions to the Roland V4 Mixer. Mix me in, he seems to say. I’ve got a signal! I’m scratching up footage of Peggy Fleming doing her medal-winning figure skating routine. I’m mashing it up with the footage of James Bond. Scott runs off the stage. I see him wave at me from the “room” on the other side of the DJs. I slide the fader on the mixer and as soon as I catch a glimpse of his signal, I realize what he’s done. Brilliant. I think to myself. VJ of the Moment, VJ Guy.
It ain’t easy being a VJ. Well, it’s not really all that hard. Yes, there are many good Video Jockeys out there. They can have the grooviest clips. Fancy projectors, new software technology, and super-geek computer programmers by their side, what have you, they can have all that. Nothing less is expected from today’s projection artists. So what does it take to be a great (ahem) VJ?
VJ Guy @ work
I get the opportunity to see a lot of VJs work. Sometimes, I think I’ve seen it all. But, once it a while, someone stands out. I recognize that some extra effort is put into the work. You know? There are dedicated artists out there that “go that extra mile” – ones that “bend over backwards”" or “go beyond the call of duty.” Pick your favourite cliché on the matter. Truth is, some people take this work very seriously. And I, for one, appreciate all the work they do. I know it sometimes takes a small miracle to just get something up on the screen. Try setting up a projector and a projection surface in a forest for a bush party…in the rain. You’ll see what I mean. But getting an image on the screen is tech work. What really counts in the end is art work. What matters most is the content on the screen and how it is manipulated in a live (often chaotic) setting. It’s too easy to put on a DVD and hit PLAY. Anyway, most of the party-goers won’t be able to tell the difference.
So what else can a VJ do? At the recent Om Reunion Project, Scott Guy (aka VJ GUY) was given the opportunity to manage the visuals for the Moon Bass stage. He then took it upon himself to set up something special. He’s rigged a camera giving us a live video-feed of black-lit shenanigans done by various volunteers in a make-shift “black-light studio booth.” The audience is electrified when they realize the projection is of something that is happening AT THAT MOMENT. I feel it in the air.
This is when I love doing what I’m doing. The X-factor makes itself known. It’s that unexpected element that gets thrown in the mix. It’s the thing that forces me to respond in some new way. It’s the thing that makes me “go on-the-fly” or “wing it.” All flight clichés are applicable here because I reach “great new heights.” This blog, this VJ of the Moment moniker, it’s a way for me to tell Scott and to all the VJs out there doing their very best: hey there, I appreciate what you’re doing.
I’ll scratch your video if you scratch mine…
I can’t help myself. Sometimes, I don’t even want to use any video effects. I just want to put one image on top of another. My mind makes some kind of connection. It tells me a story without telling me a story. I make up that story in my head. That’s enough. I look at the Video Performance gear as a way to edit and juxtapose a collection of my own or curated footage. And yes, if my computer behaves, I can even “scratch” the video using the jog controllers on my NuVJ.
I look at the people dancing on the forest dance floor called Moon Bass in the latest incarnation of the Om Reunion Project. This week-long camp-out gathering and celebration is called IN:FUSE. And the dancers are moving in beautiful synchronous chaos.
I steal a shot from Glastonbury (2006 directed by Julien Temple) and FUSE it with the text “I Love You.” from Yellow Submarine (1968 directed by George Dunning). It’s collage. Just like taking an old magazine. Cutting up pictures. And making something new out of it. That’s been going on forever. I’m just using the tools and media of my own age.
It’s the unlikely juxtaposition of moods. The magazine I go back to time and again is YouTube. I feed my creations back into itself. Now in:fused – music in synchronous collision with the images.
I need the DJ. According to the Gathering Guide, his name is Hypercolor. I’m reacting to his music with my controllers like I’m hitting a hand drum. The DJ leads the dance. I jam right along. I choose one image. Mix it with another. I can manipulate the footage of the man on the carnival ride as I move my whole body to the music. This is live spontaneous found-footage filmmaking while dancing.
I hope the joy comes through.
24hr. Party People
Timelapse artist Brandon Fernandes is documenting Silvan Dawn, a 24 hr. party that starts with a group yoga session. I am visuals with (DJs) Likewise when I spot Brandon on the dance floor. He comes over the DJ table and I slip a USB key into his hand. A few minutes later, he gives it back to me loaded with a timelapse movie that he took from earlier that night
Hand. Plug. Click. Talk about spontaneous collaboration. I drop the footage into the mix. Worlds collide, again.
Silvan Dawn was an epic 24 hr. party that took place in Toronto from 6pm May 29 to 6pm May 30, 2010. The music did not skip a beat once in the whole 24 hr. period. And that’s no small accomplishment.
Hey, why not? I want to officially name Epochapex (Gavin Lottering) – VJ of the Moment on this blog for his brilliant work on visuals that night. He put a lot of work into shooting green screen scenarios involving our friends as elves. Mixed with the usual fractal psychedelia and spontaneously colliding with the random audio, it became something unstoppable and tirelessly watchable.
When I can, I like to record the live-feed mixes when I perform at events. The DVD mashes together the sound and images that come together. I can put on the DVD later and enjoy the party all over again. It’s a V-Mix. That’s what I write on it, with a Sharpie. I’ve started uploading my V-Mixes to YouTube as a kind of video journal of my VJ travels. I want to create this blog so I can add context to the videos and hopefully inspire discussions on the art of V-Mixing.
Year of the Tiger
sound+vision
[Sound + Vision] got re-invented once again to celebrate the Year of the Tiger at Kubo Lounge in Peterborough, Ontario on Feb. 13, 2010. Esther Vincent (evmustang.ca) took lots of great pictures. I’ve posted some here. I’m also offering a line-feed excerpt from a v-mix featuring footage of Fleshy Thud dance collective members Ryan Kerr and Jenn Cole in collision with random visuals and audio by (DJ) Fever.
Lester Alfonso and DJ Fever at sound+vision Year of the Tiger
sound+vision from behind