Project THREE: Sketch FOUR – Non-Narrative with YouTube Doubler

The YouTube doubler was my experiment for this sketch. Peter had an idea of using this tool to allow viewers to participate in their own narrative. So by using the non-narrative with conversation video, I thought it would be an interesting test on changing the audio back and forth. Participants are allowed to use other videos to incorporate the sound they deem fitting. I have edited a sketch of extra audio conversations just to test out the YouTube Doubler. I have even noted down the timings for each sentence so it would be easier for viewers to click on it.

 

At the end of the test, I found it quite hilarious as well as the multiple ways I rearranged my conversation with my friend. This interaction on YouTube videos seems to bring more creativity to the table.

Project THREE: Sketch THREE – Non-Narrative YouTube Annotations

Using YouTube annotations for this was definitely a hassle. I split the non-narrative part to five parts to allow users to walk around Melbourne. It is a short version of it but it allow’s viewers to walk through the same path I did when I filmed this.

Yes, this is definitely something that has been overused in the past decade or so. This choose-your-path type of interactive style definitely makes people sick of it. However, I wanted to make a comparison when Peter has finished his on the live streaming, Periscope or the Korsakow. As embarrassing as it is, this would be the first time I used YouTube annotations. I probably would not have touched annotations or experimented with it if it was not for this studio. So, you can imagine me trying to time the annotations and repeating the process five times for the five parts.

While creating this sketch, I had the scrolling through the street of Martha’s apartment in my mind the entire time. I wanted to know if there is a possibility of having the 89 steps put into a video format. This was my result of it.

I realised as well that the filmmaker will always have the control on the flow of structure. There is always the beginning and the end that remains the same. We could debate that the interaction and participation of the viewers with the film is limited because the filmmakers will have the ultimate control over the structure.

Project THREE: Sketch TWO – Non-Narrative with Conversation

A follow up to my first sketch, I made the same one with a phone conversation with the “Martha” in this shot. When I add the conversation, I realised that it might not even be a non-narrative any more. The conversation brings the narration to the table because there is a story of finding my friend. To my understanding of non-narrative, it could be a non-chronological order of a narrative structure that makes no sense in the plot or usually it does not use first person perspective but third person.

My issue now would be if this sketch is considered a non-narrative or a narrative? We could argue that the non-narrative structure is not suitable for first person perspective.

Project THREE: Sketch ONE – Non-Narrative Without Conversation

 

My first sketch! Using non-narrative structure, I decided to shoot at every corner of the road nearby my area and along the way to meet a friend. With no story in my head, I just stepped out of my place and filmed. Had a few people thinking I am crazy for filming while crossing the road but who cares.

Basically, the idea I had here was inspired by the location of Martha’s apartment. You had to scroll along the street to find her. I took that idea and tried re-constructing that idea into a non-narrative structure. Without any audio other than the ambience, the non-narrative structure is achievable. These shots are going to be put through various services like Vine and Korsakow by Peter.

 

 

Reflection: “Filming Narrative Structure”

Today, I finally filmed my first person perspective narrative structure. I had to do a reflection so I would not forget what happened earlier.

The linear narrative of me climbing up the stairs, being a super klutz that day, tripping a lot. I had two friends help me film this sequence while crashing into people. I definitely had difficulty because I could not use both my hands at the same time. It was definitely difficult and I had to play around with that issue and find something to substitute the action with a simpler one.

I shot the first person perspective realising that I did not give much away of who the person’s shoe we are in. Besides the voice of the person during conversations, we could not tell who the person was. It sparked an interest thinking if I split them into two parts, it could possibly be a parallel narrative. With that in mind, I began using the YouTube doubler as my tool to allow viewers to create their parallel story the way they want it to happen.

The whole purpose of creating these sketches were to learn from it and maybe new ideas are created from them. This was exactly what happened to me. I stumbled upon parallel narratives when I started filming. This opened up a few ideas on how viewers can participate in this online video. By splitting the narrative into two parts “before class” and “after class”, viewers can control the cuts between the two narratives.

I figured this problem with the first person perspective could have done a little better if there was a witness or a bystander’s point-of-view instead of the main person’s point-of-view. However, if it was not for the main character’s point-of-view, the parallel narrative would not have worked out. There are different outcomes to different sketches, but this sketch probably have more I could work with. I should see the results once it has been edited and put on YouTube doubler.

Project THREE: Work-in-Progress

2 more days till the due date! We have finally gotten everything down (well, almost)! Trying to be organised, so we had our GoogleDocs with a checklist and our probe (so we won’t go off track). So here are our list of sketch ideas:

1. Putting the narrative structure through various angles and compare the difference.
2. Putting the non-narrative structure through various angles and compare the difference.

3. Using the boring old platform, YouTube annotations to create interactive narrative structure.
4. Using the boring old platform, YouTube annotations to create interactive non-narrative structure.

5. Spicing it up a little, using the YouTube videos to allow participants to create their own story with YouTube Doubler in a narrative form.
6. Spicing it up a little, using the YouTube videos to allow participants to create their own story with YouTube Doubler in a non-narrative form.

7. Testing the constraints of narrative structures in Korsakow, Periscope and Vine.
8. Testing the constraints of non-narrative structures in Korsakow, Periscope and Vine.

The last two was for hybrid genre. However, we still can’t think of a good sketch to show the hybrid genre of live streaming and interactive video. So altogether we have 12 sketches down. As of today, Wednesday, 22nd April 2015, I have at least gotten our non-narrative sketches filmed and ready to be edited while Peter has completed is narrative sketches.

 

Screen Shot 2015-04-23 at 5.28.42 PM

Seeing this project coming together, I feel extremely excited. I feel like a kid entering the candy store, wanting to try everything. Unfortunately for the time constraints, I have to make sure I do not run off topic again. We were always reminded to “WORK SMALL AND BE SPECIFIC.” As the weeks pass by, despite some struggles in understanding the concepts, I am thoroughly enjoying this course because we get to experiment on plenty of things, get feedback and criticism from the peers as well as the lecturer to improve as well as getting to know other projects by my peers. This workshop is really an interesting concept and I am pretty sure I walk out of the class every week with more information in my mind.

Now, back to editing my non-narrative sketches (it has finished rendering)!

 

Project THREE: The Probe

In this question you are bypassing interactivity which opens up your exploration and does not tie you to interactive video (only) – what is important is the first person perspective and how it is conveyed – working with online video and potentially online interactive video tools and services.

The contribution you are making is to nonfiction documentary online video practices that aim to profile an individual’s story. You are seeing how the linear first person perspective is altered when it is re-appropriated into tools and services that have certain constraints and  narrative/non-narrative structures.

 

Peter and I decided to change our probe after the feedback  session in class this week. We started exploring more on first person perspective and how its form alters over the various tools and services.

Reflection: Week 6b – “Probing Project THREE”

Reporting:
I did not attend this week’s second studio session. Thankfully, I had my partner, Peter, to catch me up to date with our work. The agenda was also put up on the module blog so I managed to continue my work from home. We were to discuss and finalise our probe for Project THREE sketches. I have been pushing back this project due to my other assignments so I am pretty much freaking out right now. I have messaged Seth, our lecturer, for feedback on our “things of interests” to see if they were acceptable. We were on the right track but Peter and I are always complicating things with new technologies.

Mindful of our old habits, Peter and I came up with the three ideas that would be (well.. at least to us would be) non-related to one another. Here is the list of it:

––

1. we are interested in the interactivity element from the 89 steps. so what happens if the elements are used in new online services on Periscope? 

– how is Periscope interactive?
– how can Periscope be made interactive in different ways?

– will it only be in real time?
– how do we incorporate 89 steps to this?

OR 

MEERKAT VS. PERISCOPE

– how would these services help in interactive online videos?
– what can these live streaming services work with interactivity aspect of 89 Steps?

2. youtube doubler – as a form as participatory

– what is this youtube doubler?
– what is this tool related to 89 steps? – location + playing with sound

– in terms of participatory, what can you do with this youtube doubler?
– what happens when viewers are allowed to create the narratives with given found footages?

3. online video in real time.

– Maria was walking up the stairs in real time. How can we make online videos in real time?
– With real time, it would be boring and long, how do you make it interesting in terms of non narrative/anti-narrative?

– using 89 steps elements, playing with audio and narrations, how do you make real time videos more interesting? (look in a different perspective)

––

While I was sending this email, I kept asking myself, is this really simplifying things? Is this how you relate back to the case study in terms of the location, the element of ascending the stairs in real time, etc.?

Relating:
Our ideas were literally all over the place. It is a difficult topic we have chosen but I am adamant that I can pull it off. After receiving feedback, I realised that we were thinking way ahead of the project. We complicated things instead of unraveling the case study. The issue here was that our understanding on relating back to the case study seemed different to what Seth had told us. Reading through Seth’s comments from the email reply, his questions prompted me to go back to the start. The questions guided me to understand what this studio prompt was all about. The first was “What did I like about 89 steps?” I started linking my interests to the suggestions he made for Peter and I.

Reasoning:
Seth prompting us to return back to the beginning of the research was a tremendous help in many ways. I had been trying to look for ways to backtrack and see where I went wrong for days and I did not know where to start anymore because we were so far into our research that I lost track of the relations to the case study. The next prompt was from our interests, what else could we make more interesting in terms of the narrative/non-narrative form. Being able to see the case study in another perspective, thanks to the prompting, we decided to change our three draft ideas.

This was the best possible way of solving this issue. I can’t think of any other possibilities.

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