Film Clip from my MA Show exhibit – The Refugees’ Crisis

I have now finished making the life-size 3D sculptures of Theresa, the wife of the Optician of Lampedusa, and Leo the refugee rescued from the sea.

I have also managed to download the BBC recording of the  news broadcast by Emma-Jane Kirby, the author of the Optician of Lampedusa, convert it to MP3 format, and load it into my Fiil Diva Pro headset. This headset has its own inbuilt MP3 player and does not need to be connected to a computer or mobile device either wired or wirelessly in order to play the track. The track continuously loops, and if the headset’s battery is charged overnight the track will play all day. It’s a tricky set up, as at the start of each day the headset needs to be connected to an App on my iPhone in order to initiate play. It can then operate independently. Another feature is that whenever the headset is taken off play will automatically stop (and save battery). However, when the headset is put on again the track starts from where it left off. This feature is obviously designed for a single user. I would prefer it if it started playing the track from the beginning as most likely it will be for a different user. I have contacted Fiil in China to see whether these issues can be overcome. If not I will have to live with them. Currently it works well with these limitations.

I am now ready to film my narrative video of the two actors who posed for the sculptures. Suzy, my wife is playing Theresa, and will speak with an English accent, and Leo is playing the refugee, who will speak in English with an African accent (his family are from Jamaica). I am indebted to film maker, actor and scriptwriter Michael Mueller for the following script. The plan is that it will be five minutes long or at least no longer than seven minutes. I am sure a listener will not stay with it for longer.

Terry’s Art Project 1

Sadly I could not get any time in either the Green Screen Studio at UAL Wimbledon or CSM, so I have had to hire one for the day for the final shoot.

http://www.camberwellstudios.co.uk

We are rehearsing at the green screen studio that Alasdair and I set up at the bottom of his garden. I have had to abandon the idea of recording with my recently acquired 3D 360 degree Vuze camera, as it is currently not possible to show Stereoscopic video in any Augmented Reality device such as the HoloLens. I will now shoot using two camera set ups, one with a binaural head audio recording to my Canon 80D DSLR, and the other with sound using a camera mounted mixer, two Lavalier clip on microphones, with recording to Alasdair’s Canon 60D DSLR. We may need another stand alone microphone but will determine that during rehearsal.

Binaural Head with camera mount

As I cannot play my video in 3D in the HoloLens, only in 2D, I have decided to enhance the listening experience to something equally immersive, using a binaural head. Here is an example of binaural recording called the Virtual Haircut. It is essential that you listen to this using headphones.

If you want to understand more about binaural and other sound recording methods for VR, here are some good places to start.

http://www.garethfry.co.uk/binaural-sound/

https://binauralenthusiast.com/what-is-binaural-recording/

http://elevr.com/audio-for-vr-film

I will produce two binaural recordings one with and one without video. The sound only recording will be for the main show exhibit, and will be heard in a second Fiil headset, set up as previously described.

The video recording will be seen during timetabled performances with the Microsoft HoloLens Mixed Reality headset, similar to that illustrated below except that the bacjkground will be the real live setting of my MA show main exhibit, and both HoloLens video screens will be of the actors against a transparent background. I am planning to add several holograms of the head of a refugee, placed on the floor around the exhibition space, representing the plight of the refugees in the sea. I am meeting with Sion Fletcher, at CSM 4D next week to determine whether this is technically possible.

I have checked out possible exhibition spaces in Wilson Road, and the projectors in use there during the current BA show.

Ground Floor Room at Wilson Road

There are possibilities for hanging an acrylic screen in both places, using the existing structure and possibly the length of wood resting on the top of two adjoining walls in our B18 Studio. My issue now is that I have a rear screen projector film for my A0 size acrylic sheet, so have to work out where I can work with that, or whether to stick with a straightforward projection on to a wall using our studio short throw projector. The existing projectors in the room and my own are not short throw and need the projector lens to be 2.25m to 2.6m from my intended rear projected acrylic screen. My ideal is to place the sculptures either side of the acrylic screen to represent the void/distance between the rescuers and the refugees in the sea. I will have to assemble the screen with its film and try it out to see if this works and what setting works best. Theresa would be on a white plinth representing the boat, and the refugee would be lower on a clear acrylic plinth representing the sea. The sculptures will face each other.

And finally…. I have contributed to the Zine being prepared as advertising for our MA show by Leonie. Here is my effort.

Terence Quinn for MA Show Zine

This will be accompanied by the following picures: The first one is from an exhibition at the Museum of Futures, London showing Suzy looking at a hologram of Theresa’s head.

It’s now time for a break. And lunch!