Celeste Kallios Final Project

Artist Precedent/Inspiration

For this project, I had wanted to do something that pertained to pit bulls. They are a breed of dog that is commonly portrayed as vicious and naturally deadly, so I thought that I could do an installation that purveyed the opposite idea. Showing that they can be cute and sweet, especially if they are in a home setting. 

At first, I didn't really have any outside inspirations but after doing some research I found an artist who had a similar goal. Photographer Sophie Gamand did a photoshoot in which she had the pitties pose in flower crowns. 

I wanted to do something similar but in the form of an installation. Using pretty colors and a homey setting I would hopefully make others feel happy about the pitties that are projected into it. 

Rendering

Starting off I made some patterns that I felt would aid in creating a positive scene. I used mostly warm colors and shapes people associate with pleasant experiences. Then I cut out the pitties from some of the videos I was going to use so I could place them in the scene. 

With this, I was able to get an idea as to how I wanted to set up the scene, as well come up with some adjustments I wanted to make. 

Planning

I had the setting that I wanted to use so I just had to figure out how I would set everything up. The furniture didn't need to be arranged but I did feel like I needed to add more to the area to make it more interesting. So I added common items like blanked and pillows. 

After that, I just had to create the content that would be projected into it. I would use after effects and premiere too edit the videos of the pitties and make the particles that would accompany them. 

Budget/Resources

Electronics

• projector
• computer
• speakers

Programs

• Resolume
• Premiere 
• After Effects

Physical Objects

• Couch
• Pillows
• Blanket

Content

• Pit Bull Videos
• Patterns/particles
• Warm music

Now I had all the physical materials I needed for the project, except for the projector. I was able to borrow one though so this issue was taken care of. 

In order to get the content I needed, I took the pit bull videos and cut out the parts that could be used for projection. I then stabilized the videos so that they'd stay in place while being projected onto the couch. Though in order to make it seem like they were there I had to cut them out of the videos they were in. Using after affects rotoscope tool I was able to get the cutouts I needed. 

Sadly resolume doesn't run .Mov files so I had to simulate the effect that it was just the pit bulls with no background by giving them a color background that was synchronized with the mood coloring. 

The patterns were created in a similar manner.

In the end, I got three videos with the same timing that I could layer on top of each other. 

The Project

Getting set up wasn't all that difficult. The furniture was in place so I just had to place the objects that I felt would add to the scene. 

It was a simple set up but the flat blanket really helped the projections stand out. 

The videos being projected were about three minutes long. Taking slices from each of them in resolume I was able to make them into one video that I could edit on the spot. So I cut the pitties out and placed them. Masking and moving so that they'd fit into the scene. 

Installation Video Link: https://youtu.be/iHz4S3xVBYY

The music used for this was copyright free music from Audio Library.

New Day by Tokyo Music Walker https://soundcloud.com/user-356546060
Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0
Free Download / Stream: https://bit.ly/tokyo-new-day
Music promoted by Audio Library https://youtu.be/AZ8RWIaFlYg