Second Presentation and Preparing for Making the Final Machine!

Here is my second presentation explaining how far I've gotten with making the final piece for this module.

Starting with the title slide for obvious reasons, the second slide shows what I have completed up to two days ago and then goes on to explain my inspirations and further research and then how I am going to do it.

The plan is to create this in Room 108 in Scott, starting with the main drum machine first and then building the extra bits around it.

The theme is also going to be a tongue in cheek styled science experiment which will consist of different cameras filming the piece as it's runs through.

The examples shown are those from my previous post showing the main drum machine pieces I made over Christmas and finally I am thinking of exhibiting this piece as a stand alone piece on a TV in the main exhibition area.

The TV will be turned on by a smaller marble run which the viewer will set off themselves when they wish to view the video.

The presentation itself went well except I couldn't show the videos due to not taking my hard drive with the original files along with me, but still all went well and I just hope I can live up to the expectations people have for this style of work. :)

Other than that, all that is left to do now is to crack on and finish this piece so check back soon for the beginning of my final piece diary and making this project a (hopefully fully functional!) reality. :)

Take care,

Joe.

Prop Research and Final Designs/Layouts

Here, Before I show my second presentation is some prop research I did at the House of Marbles near Dartmoor:







I was thinking of using these for the rest of the piece to turn on things (for example the hamster in a wheel could turn a conveyor belt) and also for the overall look (e.g. the Eyeball Marbles looked awesome but were so expensive!).

But since these props were very expensive (don't get me started on how much the cherry picker lift was!) Here are my final designs which unfortunately do not include these props, but do have inspiration from them:





Firstly, i'm sorry about the poor quality, but if you can read it, you can see that I have decided against using the Sparkfun Arduino Starter Kit.

This is because I feel that firstly it would be very expensive to get all the starter kits etc. but secondly and most importantly the piece will gain more attention if the actions can be physically seen, e.g. the point is to show how ordinary things/actions can make music through purely physical contact.

And yes I do agree that the pads might work and give the piece a more professional feel but I personally believe it would look more impressive and realistic if the marbles hit a cd player “play” button rather than a pad which could easily have sound edited over it, thus making it more professional by being actually real!

By working in this way I can also relate more to my inspirations like Wallace and Gromit and Pee Wee's Breakfast Machine.

And secondly, these designs and layouts are how I am going to make the final piece, which I'm hoping to construct in Room 108 of Scott Building.
This room has a large window into the sound proof booth and I've had the idea to link back to my original inspiration of the Diet Coke and Mentos experiment and make my own piece a tongue in cheek styled experiment. I was thinking of putting the marble run in this room then filming through the glass and also from different angles as if it is a dangerous experiment and we had to use security cameras in fixed positions to film it, for fear of getting too close.

In these plans I have also included a list of props which I have collected and still need to include in my machine.

As you can see there is a lot of stuff going into this piece so fingers crossed I can pull it off successfully!

Here finally is my doodles and designs of how pieces could work. Most of my ideas start as drawings and from there I visually draw what will happen/I would like to happen and then I figure out how to make it a reality.

That's it for this post so check back soon for my second presentation and preparation for finally making this piece! :)

Take care,

Joe.

Extra Workshops and Inspirations

Since I last entered into this blog, a lot has happened in terms of where the project is going and how.

We’ve had extra workshops these last couple of weeks on a specialist subject of our choice. This allowed us to hone in on what specifically we wanted or needed to learn in order to create our chosen ideas. I chose advanced HD studio work which was I thought was going to be a workshop on using dollys and runners to get smooth camera work, but instead if was on lighting and although this was still very helpful, I needed to learn how to keep a smooth camera for keeping up with the marbles on my machine.
Never the less the other workshop I took part in was a 2 parter on “Creative Programming” which consisted of using coding and processing of data to make things happen via a computer.
Examples of what we made are simple exercises such as a trail of colourful balls to follow the mouse as you go across a page and a synthesiser type programme which responded to your mouse’s movements up down and across the screen by changing the pitch and frequency of a sound it emitted and also the colour of the box in which you moved the mouse.

However, the main thing that processing could do was that using what Chris our lecturer called a “Sparkfun - Arduino Starter Kit”, we could collaborate the processing with these physical pieces of computer chip and equipment to make the marbles set off sounds and lights by moving past sensors and hitting pressure pads! This sounded fantastic and the Sparkfun - Arduino Starter Kit is roughly £50 so although it’s very expensive, it might just be worth the money if it’s going to make the machine look even better!

It’s still early days but this could be very beneficial to making my project seem all the more professional so check back for how my plans may include this technology.

Moving on I’ve also included some videos here which help influence my idea of an alarm clock and the machine waking me up.
This video is of my Wallace and Gromit Alarm clock which as you’ll see has an alarm clock which sets off a ball bearing to set off another at the top of the clock which comes down to hit bells and a button which sets off a Cockerel sound at the end.
This (very noisy!) wake up is what inspired my alarm clock idea overall as it was a present for Christmas which I’d seen around the time I was debating more narrative before voicing it on here, but I have decided I am going to stick to my original plan of the machine making music only.
This is because with videos such as “Crème that Egg!” I find the main purpose or narrative is lost halfway through the piece as you focus more on what the machine is actually doing instead of why, so I feel that my piece will work better if it is machine only and the music carries a narrative as it includes more and more “instruments” to it.

Moving on from the workshops, I've also included some inspirations I have found along the way to where I am at the moment with the project.

Firstly here is my Wallace and Gromit Alarm Clock:



Also here is the Google logo as a machine which I found very interesting:



And here is an advert which had a similar style of machine:



And finally here is a tryout I did of a train I bought trying to play the xylophone pieces.
Originally the plan was for the xylophone and train to be going around underneath the main drum machine or something but as you'll see and hear the xylophone bits aren't very loud so I'm going to re-think this bit:



These inspirations etc. have been collected over the months and in my next post I will show my second presentation as we get closer to Easter and actually making this piece. :)

Take care,
Joe.

More research and Proposal

Here is the extra research I have partaken in to further my ideas on how and what my marble run is going to do.

Starting with “Rube Goldberg Machines”, these illustrations are the foundation upon which all other styles of machine like this are based. These cartoons are humourously clever ways to extravagantly do a very simple task such as make breakfast or open a door.
Speaking of breakfast too, a machine such as the ones described can be seen in a film called “Pee-Wee’s Big Adventure” by Tim Burton and starring Paul Reubens.
This machine “Pee-Wee’s Breakfast Machine”, is a real life version of the cartoons by Rube Goldberg and both have been massively influential on where my head is at presently.
At the moment, I am debating whether my machine should make more than just music and perhaps should have a narrative and a purpose such as making breakfast or opening a door.
An idea I’ve had is to have the machine wake me up by an alarm clock setting off the marble run to make music and possibly breakfast.
This would be a big copy of “Pee-Wee’s Breakfast Machine” but at the same time I believe I can alter it enough to be more original and have a very different narrative, focusing on waking me up instead.
My final bit of research for this post is from a Youtube video called “Creme That Egg!” which, like Rube Goldberg’s work shows a very elaborate “A affects B” kinetic styled sculpture which eventually results in the egg being crushed.

Again these pieces I have spoken about all have a narrative and so again I am wondering about my own piece. Will the music being made be enough to keep the viewers interest? I am going to look into this more after this post so as a final note, here is my proposal I handed in a while ago but have forgotten to upload. I’m terrible at remembering to upload!

My proposal:

Joe Skinner - 10203714

Media Arts – MEDI 259

10/1/2011

MEDI 259 EXPERIMENT MODULE PROPOSAL:

MARBLE RUN MUSIC/THE MECHANICAL INSTRUMENTS

For this module project I am going to be producing what I have titled at the moment, “The Mechanical Instruments” or “Marble Run Music”.
These are just working titles for now, but the actual piece is going to be a combination of chain reactions, cause and effect, marble runs, Dominoes, Drums, and other instruments and objects all working together and affecting each other to make music and sound.

The initial idea for this project began when I was younger, where I played with Lego and other construction style toys.
I started exploring and became fascinated by the mechanical side of inventions, the nuts and bolts of how such things work. As I got older I extended my enthusiasm through looking at processes of mathematics and interconnecting movement, such as cogs and gears, the binary use of computers (i.e. If User answers A, continue with program B etc.) and mathematics itself.
However, it was during the lectures that we had at the beginning of this module, in particular one on “Space and Time”, and the Carousel workshops (of which I took part in Strands “A” and “B”) that I saw how this idea could become a physical reality.

Originally, after working in the Strand “A” workshops on animation and using “After Effects” software, I had planned to combine a chain reaction piece with some form of animation so that the two combined to create an interactive story.
Sadly though, the more I got into this idea, the more I realised that that would be just too much work and there would have been no way of creating such a piece to such a high standard, let alone alongside my other modules!

Going back to the drawing board I went on to look at using the chain reaction side of this project to tell a story somehow, and it was this expansion of the idea which led me onto the inspirational work of Eric Staller and in particular his piece entitled “KNIKKERBAAN”.
KnikkerBaan translates from Dutch as “Rolling Ball”, and the piece itself is a giant marble run created for a reception in a Dutch school. The marble run works by children moving a ship’s steering wheel that releases footballs onto a marble run styled track.
These footballs are then kicked up an elevator by football boots and then dropped down a run, triggering different sounds and lights as it descends until it is shot into a goal at the end and put back on the elevator by a goalie, ready to repeat the cycle.

The almost perpetual movement and consistency of this marble run is what inspired me to create a piece based on a marble run. I would then, instead of using animation, tell a story via music and sound.
From here I have furthered my research into this genre of physical chain reactions and cause and effect by looking at the work of Tim Hunkin, and in particular his Television show “The Secret Life of Machines”.
In this show, Hunkin explains how everyday objects work and then creates his own version of them. Watching Hunkin create his own versions of these objects, e.g. a fax machine, I recalled the “Wallace and Gromit” clay-mation films by Nick Park and the inventions and gadgets they created in those films, for example “The Wrong Trousers”.
The “D.I.Y” nature of Hunkin, Staller and Park’s creations really inspires me and reminds me of when I first became interested in how things work.
This cause and effect solution to working made it a natural decision for me to create a “D.I.Y” musical invention in my own unique and un-conventional way.

As of the 4th of January 2011, I have completed the main blueprints and actual construction of the main machine, which is the piece that will create the drumbeat providing the backbone structure and timing for the entire piece.

This main machine works by using a marble run with an elevator to bring marbles up to the top of the elevator and drop them down a chute onto the heads of drums with enough force to create sound from the drum and then bounce back onto a second track, which returns it to the elevator to repeat the process.

I’ve started with this machine, as the entire piece relies on it being completed and perfected, i.e. the timing and beat had to be laid down first and as close to perpetual motion as humanly possible, so that I can have the freedom now to gather the other materials and tweak the final blueprints of the other music making machines.

To make this project however, I have come to realise through the Carousel Workshops and lectures that working in groups is very beneficial to the overall outcome of a project.
For example, teamwork during the process of trial and error whilst creating must be balanced and co-operative in order for a successful outcome.
Alongside this need for excellent teamwork, I also need good communication between the team members and balance in general. A heck of a lot of patience is needed as well, especially when working with a project such as mine where physics are a large part of production yet I have very little knowledge of the subject!
This became apparent particularly during the “After Effects” and “Rotorscoping” sessions of the Carousel Workshops from Strand “A”, where a lot of work was essential for completing the tasks that wouldn’t be possible to finish without assistance.

To complete my project to the highest level I am capable of, I will be enlisting the help of friends who are also Media Arts Students, (and anyone from home I can drag in too!) to assist me in constructing the machines.
The equipment is all blueprinted, but there are certain effects and techniques which I have developed and applied successfully whilst constructing the main machine and the plans for the other pieces. To help achieve the highest level, I will be explaining these techniques and effects as I build and direct the construction of the project alongside everyone who is willing to help.
This way I am directly involved with the project and can steer it in the best direction for successful completion and quality.

The actual piece will be constructed and filmed in one of the photography studios up on the second floor in Scott building.
I still need to speak about renting out a space but the actual project will not take up much room so even a corner in one of these large studios, out of the way of everyone, will be sufficient.
I understand that I may not get a lot of time to work in these studios, due to pressure on space and time from other students wanting to use it, so to work efficiently as possible, the overall piece will be broken down into individual components and built separately as prototypes outside of the studio to clarify they work correctly, and then re-assembled in the studio and connected together to complete the final installation for filming.
For example, I have already completed the prototype for the main machine and so am now working on the other parts and how to connect these machines to the main one.

I will be presenting this piece as either a video on a show reel, or if it is permitted I would really like to create a mini installation in the same vein of the actual piece, which will combine a marble run and other objects using chain reaction to turn on and off a television which will show the actual piece.
This marble run will be interactive in that the viewer will be able to set off the marble run to view the video of the main piece.
The actual installation will not be very big or complicated which will make it more accessible to anyone, and in view of the materials used, it may appeal to those in the younger age groups.
However the nature of the project can be understood and appreciated by anyone, resulting in a non-specific target audience.
In terms of exhibition space, the physical piece will be able to be moved to a more appropriate location should it need to be.

Bibliography:

Eric Staller – KnikkerBaan. Eric Staller. Eric Staller 2003 – 2007, all rights reserved. 10 Jan. 2011.
.

Staller. Eric. Out Of My Mind. Amsterdam, the Netherlands: Staller Studio Nederland, 2006.

Tim Hunkin/Tv Index”. Tim Hunkin. Tim Hunkin. 10 Jan. 2011.
.


Also as a final final note, here are links to the influences I have noted here for you to see for yourself ☺ :


“Creme That Egg!” - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrCb_fNmSTA

“Pee-Wee’s Breakfast Machine” – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWd5D8wUc88

Example of Rube Goldberg’s Illustrations - http://www.google.co.uk/search?um=1&hl=en&client=safari&rls=en&biw=1024&bih=851&site=search&tbm=isch&sa=1&q=rube+goldberg&aq=f&aqi=g10&aql=&oq=

So that’s it for this post but check back soon to see how what conclusion I have come to and how things are going from there. :)



Take care,
Joe.

Photos of Making The Main Drum Machine

Here are some photos of making the main drum machine pieces.

That's it for now but check back soon for more research and my proposal I had to submit for this project.
Take care,
Joe.

Work from over Christmas :)

Here is the work I have done over the Christmas period. Essentially it is the main drum machine which will keep the beat throughout the piece and the tempo as well.

The first video is of the main machine showing it working on the tom and snare and then returning the marbles back to the elevator. This main drum machine took roughly 3 days to perfect to how you see it now, from scratch to perfecting the loop back:

http://vimeo.com/23425571

The second video is of the Hi-hat which will accompany it and took very little time to create since the main frame of marble run is the same one used for the main drum machine, we just had a go at the Hi-hats after dismantling the main drum machine:

http://vimeo.com/23426076

By we I mean me and my family and girlfriend Eden (who is in the videos), who have all helped out in some way, whether it be holding track whilst I moved pieces of actually pointing out and helping me figure out how the machine can work.
For example, to get the marbles back to the elevator we tried many different versions of hills and slopes along the run to get enough velocity to get back.

That’s it for this post as the videos have narration to explain further so check back soon for the extra research I’m doing for inspiration into where to go from here.
Take care,
Joe.

Beach Soundscape, the final Strand B audio File I'd forgotten to upload!

I thought I'd uploaded this one along with the rest but apparently not so here is the final (and most important for my piece I believe) audio file from the Strand B Workshops.
I know there has been a lot you've had to listen to but here is our groups idea for a beach scene, complete with annoying seagulls and a pirate or two! This was great fun and the whooshing sound you can hear represents the waves and was made by five people each wooshing "Mexican Wave" style at one end of the speakers whilst "up the beach from the sea" at the other end of the room we had the seagulls and pirates.
A great sense of positioning, space and believability is given by this piece as the microphones really helped us to figure out how the beach was lay out in audio, starting with the sea at one end then going up the "beach" to the seagulls etc.
The way the piece sucks you in to believe in the beach existing is what I want the music to do in my piece. I would love for the viewer to be sucked into the machinery and be really interested in how it works and why.
This quizzical nature is what I'm trying to create to give my piece the power, entertainment and interest factor it should hopefully deserve.

Beach Soundscape:




Check back soon for more on how the project's coming along, and in particular the research and work I have done over the Christmas holidays.

Take care,
Joe.