Non Newtonian Fluid Experiment
More footage:
different coloured Newtonian fluid.
EVALUATION
Looking back on this project, I feel as though we have all learnt a lot about the nature of sound and learning to experiment with more abstract concepts. One thing that we all struggled with was finding a way to make something like this interesting to watch. We wanted to create a series of films that would visualise the physical properties of sound, and so we were tasked with the challenge of researching and finding different materials that would demonstrate this effectively as well as being aesthetically rich. In the end we created 3 films, displaying them in the format of a twin screen production to be uploaded to both YouTube and Vimeo. Due to the nature of the experiments and their presentation, they could definitely be adapted to be exhibited in a gallery, which is something we have all considered when creating these audio-visual experiments. I feel as though in a gallery the environment is more controlled and the individual can be more immersed in the sounds and the imagery. Furthermore, another thing we considered when thinking about the progression of our piece was making the experiments live, so that the individual could modify the frequency of the sound and create their own patterns, granting an extra level of immersion and interactivity. Another thing that was valuable from creating experiments before the final production was that it helped us gauge what were the optimal frequencies. We were able to play around with different variables such as consistency of non-newtonian fluid, the surface area of the tray and the amount of water. The volume of the speaker was also a key factor as it affected how apparent the effect of the sound was. In conclusion, I feel as though this audio visual experiment was an overall success. Yes, there were a few things we could have done differently, such as find a more imaginative way to present the project, but other than that we achieved what our goal was which was to explore the hidden nature of sound.
From a technical perspective, there wasn’t really much that was challenging about this project. Even so, that wasn’t the motive. Over the period of the tests and shoots, we took a further look into how audio can interact with and generate physical formations.
Taking a closer look at these patterns, and deciding how to capture and present them was a question we toyed with for a long time. Typically in the other films I have worked on, I have focused on a larger, typical subject. This project relates more to my photography work, in which I like to focus on set-up scenarios and pick out smaller features (see typewriter closeups and Ink in Water). Ang this methodology to video was a new experience for me, and something I consider a success.
We went through various methods of presenting the piece, toying with the idea of multiple screen setups, and after effects generated visual assistants. The subject matter itself is in the center of this however. These effects are the kind you would see applied to another film, such as an advert. But I having this entry into this kind of “macro film-making”, I think it gives us some great experience to apply these experiments to other media.
EXPERIMENTS
We conducted experiments for the materials that we were going to use, initially starting with non-Newtonian fluid. We made a video about it here:
And another one about water here:
These experiments helped us to visualise our workflow, as well as teach us about what looked good and what looked not so good. For example, in the water experiment the inks looked very dramatic, however they would not affect the vibration on the water very dramatically. What definitely struck us from the experiments was that a number of variables could affect the overall outcome. We did have a number of failed experiments, including a graphite powder one that was simply not fine enough for the sound to have any real impact on it. This was a wake up call for us and so we gathered the appropriate materials (such as real graphite powder) and conducted the final experiments in a studio which became our final submitted piece which can be seen here:
Editing this was a rather tricky feat. Much of it was finding the places where the effects of the sound were most dramatic. Since we had two cameras: one for slow motion shooting at 96 frames and one shooting at 24 frames in 4k resolution. This meant we could crop into the 4k frame whilst not losing any quality. We chose to show a full shot of the material in real time before juxtaposing it with the twin screen slow motion footage. This allowed us to give the viewer a readier understanding of the effect of the sound as well as give show the effect in a more visually rich way. Perhaps a way to improve this would be to have the frequency that is being vibrated at the bottom of the screen. We considered animating a sound reactive sine wave that would correspond with the frequency of the clip. This is definitely something we can implement in the future.
In Conclusion, I feel that this project was a resounding success as it taught us so much about experimenting with abstract concepts whilst applying our practical skills to make it look good. When we were shooting we were constantly amazed at the impact sound had on materials, and the limitless ways frequencies can manipulate materials.