ahrc bristol ace watershed sws

 

ghkansel


Practice as Research Portfolio 2: High Resolution Motion Imaging and the Iconic Image

As of end December 2011 approximately 5,500 people have seen this portfolio in public exhibition.

At the beginning of my 2007 AHRC Creative Research Fellowship I formulated a 36 month Schedule to investigate my core research question:

‘In what ways will High Resolution Imaging change the work produced in the convergence of art and visual technologies and consequently, our experience of that work?’

To answer this question I formulated the idea of ‘Quantum Resolution’ which proposed that audience immersion would be felt with parcels of resolution increase rather than small incremental increases. I created 3 practice as research portfolios (PARP’s) as differing strategies to uncover the effects (if any) of increased resolution. These were a) to examine everyday moving images of the world, b) examine iconic moving images of the world and c) examine human portraiture and ideas around the human gaze. This work now leads on to another AHRC research project which will now seek to measure the immersive qualities of high resolution images.

In this second PARP I decided to explore the world that is seen as iconic as opposed to ubiquitous. Many years ago whilst directing on a BBC2 TV series I had been given the subject that all other producers and directors were avoiding: Richard Rogers Lloyds Building. This iconic subject was being avoided specificvally through its iconic nature in that everyone had felt that it had been too photographed to be able to say something relevant about it. Years later when considering the subject areas for the AHRC fellowship, I realised that if people were afraid of an area through its very iconic qualities, this would be fertile ground for research.

I went to Yosemite Valley in California to re-mediate Ansel Adams famous Tunnel View photograph in moving image form - at the time Adams shot this it was in very high photographic resolution. My version required cinematographic response which currently has far less resolution in each frame. My strategy required a fully zoomed in shot (with breath held so that neither breath nor heartbeat did not transfer through the camera structure) knowing that in post I would further digitally zoom in 1000% to reveal just what the pixels would render as detail. In post I then zoomed back digitally over 30 seconds and when meeting the shot which had been held on location - I then physically zoomed back to reveal the width of Adams iconic photograph. When the shot was fully zoomed out at a distance of six miles, I drained the colour to Black and White to reveal what Ansel Adams had revealed.

I carried this on to further iconic images with similar problems - how to photograph Venice in a new way which revealed the impact of increased resolution and this eventuated in the installation Un Tempo Una Volta, plus several other artefacts which are mentioned below.

I kept audience comment books from many of the exhibitions which demonstrate the effect on the audience.

NB - if a direct link is not given below to an artefact or exhibition, most of my work can be found at: http://www.visualfields.co.uk/history0.htm

Posters, visitor comments and reports from Exhibitions: http://www.visualfields.co.uk/posters.htm

What follows should be taken as a whole and lists artefacts, exhibitions, journal articles, conference papers and online resources that support the research in this portfolio.

 

In this second PARP I created the following Artefacts to explore the iconic imaging aspects of the research question:

136013 In Re Ansel Adams, High Resolution Digital Installation, Various (1st Exhibition, Bristol), 2008. http://www.visualfields.co.uk/ANSEL.html

136028 Un Tempo Una Volta, High Resolution Digital Installation, Various (1st Exhibition, Venice), 2008. http://www.visualfields.co.uk/untempo.htm

Later I created three further artifacts to further explore the question with regard to the consumer experience of High Definition

136093 Three Unavoidable Moving Image Works Created on Consumer HD Cameras, Digital Single Screen Artwork, Various (1st Exhibition, Salisbury), 2010.

136097 Six Moving Image Works to Investigate Ideas of ‘Place and Space’, High Resolution Digital Installation, Various (1st Exhibition, London), 2010. http://www.flaxton.btinternet.co.uk/history0.htm

These were then exhibited at the following locations and comments books were kept to record audience response at seeing higher resolution images which were not then available:

136426 3 International Exhibitions (France, USA, Japan), Museum of Modern Art Strasbourg, Yokohama Creativity City Center, New York Center, Millennium Magazine, 2010. http://www.flaxton.btinternet.co.uk/history0.htm

136335 One Person Show of research works from AHRC Fellowship, Salisbury Arts Center, 01/10/10-31/10/08, 2010. http://www.visualfields.co.uk/P3exhibition.m4v

136333 Time and Resolution: Experiments with High Resolution Imaging, P3 Gallery, London (University of Westminster), 07/12/10-21/12/10, 2010. http://www.visualfields.co.uk/P3exhibition.m4v

136418 Imaginists - 2 small exhibitions of work from Venice, Gallery 204, Bristol - The Phoenix Arts Center Glastonbury, 2009. http://www.flaxton.btinternet.co.uk/imaginiststalking.htm

136412 Screening of Research work, Bergen Elektronisk Kunst Senter, Norway, 2009. http://www.flaxton.btinternet.co.uk/history0.htm

136425 Two Italian Exhibitions: Rome Film Festival and Milan InVideo Festival, Rome & Milan, 2009. http://www.visualfields.co.uk/blinkart1.html

136339 A series of 4 HD installations over four days, Wickham Theatre, 22/09/08-26/09/08, 2008. http://www.flaxton.btinternet.co.uk/NE57.htm

136338 A series of 4 HD installations over three days, 18/09/08-20/09/08, 2008. http://www.flaxton.btinternet.co.uk/history0.htm

136410 In Re Ansel Adams, Gallery 204, Bristol, 26/09/08-27/09/08, 2008. http://www.flaxton.btinternet.co.uk/history0.htm

136323 Ritratti di Cannaregio (Portraits of Cannaregio) & Un Tempo Una Volta (Once Upon a Time), Scarabocchio Studio Grafico, Cannaregio, Ponte degli Ormensini, Venice, 12/09/08-, 2008. http://www.flaxton.btinternet.co.uk/NEPortraitsCannaregio.htm

The above activity fueled further reflection which I then presented in the following article and Conference Papers:

The Technologies, Aesthetics, Philosophy and Politics of High Definition Video’, Millennium Film Journal, No 52, (pp. 44-55), 2009.

136142 'Notes on the Developing Aesthetics of Digital Technology and its effects on Transmedial Disciplines', University of Bristol, Technologies of Transmediality, 2011.

136137 'The mimetic and the diegetic in the creation of Art', Athens, 8th International Conference on Communication and Mass Media, 2011.

*************

This is not a complete but an open ended process. Its ramifications feed through to other PARP’s plus other initiatives that I am now working on for future research. Though presented in a linear fashion, the research work is in fact a continuum of behavior which is intended to lead toward answering my core research question so the emerging and developing ideas for calibrating exposure of future work for higher immersion and impact were further discussed in the following Internet Publications:

136176 'High Definitintion and High Resolution Motion Imaging', Blog 75,000 words, http://highdefinition-nomercy.blogspot.com/

136179 'Understanding Digital Cinematography', Online resource around 75,000 words

& I further refined my thinking and presented more emerging ideas in the following invited talks to Research Communities: 'Myth and Meaning in the Digital Age', Invited paper to research community ETH Zurich, 2010. 'High Definition Technologies and Aesthetics', Bergen Institute of Fine Art (Invited Paper to Research Community), 2009.

 

 

 



 

 

TERRY FLAXTON

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Web Site Tracking
Satellite Internet

 

 

Hi definition in bristol shooting high Definition shooting high def shooting hd shooting in the UK united kingdom England Hi definition editing high Definition editing high def editing hd editing in bristol in the south west television crew freelance cinematography cinematographer director of photography photographer DP DoP D P D o P lighting camera lighting cameraman lighting director camera operator documentary drama music promo commercial trail bath bristol exeter south west of england uk united kingsom U K great britain video art artist moving pictures high definition HD Cine Alta 24p 23.97 25 fps progressive cinealta field frame dv dvc 35mm super 16 mm 16mm 35 mm super 8mm moving pictures foremost first cinema release video to cinema tape to film theatrical release digi beta beta sp video to film world worldwide movies first video to film transfer video to film cinema release video for film transfer video for film cinema release hi resolution high res high rez hi rez video release theatrical release video release glastonbury wells somerset dorset devon cornwall biography freelance kino crew television High Definition Varicam 60fps 24fps 25 fps 50i