The VJ narrative - part 0.1 beta 1 thoughts
Having had the pressing need to get my thoughts into a project I did a ultra speed production of a small VJ narrative - to be presented to the audience at AVIT Brighton. I had so many sleepless nights with all the theories behind a possible VJ narrative that I was not sure anymore if it would work at all. So getting out on thursday with 5T3PH4N at a for me unusual time (5 am) we drove to Alexander Platz in Berlin and shoot a little narrative. The narrative is short to tell. Someone comes out his home drives throught the city with a cybermobile stops at the TV tower hacks this and turns the buildings around him into HUGE TV screens - first blinkenlight style but second the biggest building at Alexanderplatz into a fullcolor screen. It all was shot in 3 hours. I then had a very very productive week to crank out about 70 individual loops that explained the journey put it in some style and made it loops.
The evening at TikiRik in Brighton UK went by and could put the show on. First I thought the loops would hold out for only 30 minutes. I stretched the first part of the narrative - the boring drive through town until it got very boring (for me at least) - good that fRED supported me with some of his rythm loops. Then I looked at the watch and figured out that I already spend over 30 minutes just on the drive by loops. Sadly I then had to rush through the end part of the story but this made it quite tight and suited for the bar setting at hand. The atmosphere was very tense and I think the people where actively looking at the screen at most time (putting a lot of pressure onto me. - I would have liked the first performance of this thing in a closed friend setting)
I think it all worked out great - for a 0.1 beta 1. Better then expected. Things that I need for this first teaser story: better explanation loops that also act as rythm loops. The story could have been more obvious if I would have used clear type. I am so bad in Typography but there is no way around. I need to fill in these voids by introducing the character (hopefully causing more anticipation in the audience). Then explain the drive more clear. The HUD display was a good step in the right direction but the visual look of it sucked :/. Also I need more rythm loops while the driving is happening. I was thinking about Reklametafeln short subjective views of the 5T3PH4N looking out seeing lovely girls - geeks - older people (going a little more into the social side of things and describing the time where this happens). Describing the city in which this happens. As for the hacking part. This went pretty well (ones I have ordered my loops and number them right ;) but again I need to use clear type saying LOGGIN IN. CONNECTING. SCANNING. TURN ON WINDOW 5/23 HAUS DER LEHRERS or the such to make it more clear that there is a connection between his hacking and the buildings that get turned on also I need to adjust the HotelView and add the Volumetric Light to the Fernsehturm in the back otherwise this breaks all revelations before inside the audience. in the end I need the "hack the planet" typo as a plain Text Animation not on the house and I need a stronger picture to mark the end. But in general it all worked out very well and I can work on top of this experiment and can look forward for a great narrative production in the next year....
lovely