Meghan A. Hoke
MISA (Major Impact, Simple Actions)
A video collage that visually depicts one simple action people can take to positively and powerfully affect the environment.
http://www.meghanhoke.com/itpcw/gsts/misa/
Classes
Giant Stories/Tiny Screens
Giant Stories/Tiny Screens
This project is a collection of 70 small videos that form a collage. When you scroll over them, each video plays to reveal a small part of a hidden image; audio clips accompany the video. By watching the transformations to see what is revealed and listening to the audio that accompanies the imagery, viewers make the oft ignored connection between their decisions, their health and the environment. This project is intended to be an interesting, relaxed, friendly way for people to explore and learn about these connections at their own pace, according to their own interest.
Audience
People who consider themselves environmentalists or care about the environment, people who are concerned about personal and/or public health, and also the general public who might not otherwise be informed or interested.
User Scenario
A user (or two) would come up to the computer, put on the headphones, and start the explore the project by mousing around, listening to audio clips, and hopefully making the connection between their diet, health and the environment.
Before coming to the main project, I'd also like to implement a simple online poll that will introduce the project. I will ask users to answer two simple questions to be stored in a database. Those questions will be: 1) Do you care about the environment? and 2) If so, what is the single most important thing you do in your every day life to be kind to the planet? I think it would be very interesting to see how many people link diet with the environment.
Time pending, I'd love to also give users the opportunity to contribute their own videos with their own thoughts and opinions, perhaps to add another level for further discussion and future viewer's exploration.
Implementation
This project is web-based. It is PHP code that generates simple Javascript and HTML5 video tags to control playback and layout. There is a JQuery plugin (FancyBox) which is used for the shadow boxes when users click a video. The erasing effects were created in AfterEffects and the videos/audio were edited in Final Cut Pro.
Conclusion
I learned that 70 videos loading at once on a web page can easily break your web site! (A note, this project is complete and working locally, but the next two weeks would be dedicated to getting the web version working smoothly as well.)
I also learned that this medium of video collage is really compelling, and when it comes together it can be very powerful and moving (in my opinion, anyhow!). I also think this is an excellent tool for aggregating information, and also a great way to casually educate people on a variety of topics! I'm very interested in taking this further and creating an online tool that would generate the code for you, should you want to make a similar project yourself but lacked the necessary web skills.
Audience
People who consider themselves environmentalists or care about the environment, people who are concerned about personal and/or public health, and also the general public who might not otherwise be informed or interested.
User Scenario
A user (or two) would come up to the computer, put on the headphones, and start the explore the project by mousing around, listening to audio clips, and hopefully making the connection between their diet, health and the environment.
Before coming to the main project, I'd also like to implement a simple online poll that will introduce the project. I will ask users to answer two simple questions to be stored in a database. Those questions will be: 1) Do you care about the environment? and 2) If so, what is the single most important thing you do in your every day life to be kind to the planet? I think it would be very interesting to see how many people link diet with the environment.
Time pending, I'd love to also give users the opportunity to contribute their own videos with their own thoughts and opinions, perhaps to add another level for further discussion and future viewer's exploration.
Implementation
This project is web-based. It is PHP code that generates simple Javascript and HTML5 video tags to control playback and layout. There is a JQuery plugin (FancyBox) which is used for the shadow boxes when users click a video. The erasing effects were created in AfterEffects and the videos/audio were edited in Final Cut Pro.
Conclusion
I learned that 70 videos loading at once on a web page can easily break your web site! (A note, this project is complete and working locally, but the next two weeks would be dedicated to getting the web version working smoothly as well.)
I also learned that this medium of video collage is really compelling, and when it comes together it can be very powerful and moving (in my opinion, anyhow!). I also think this is an excellent tool for aggregating information, and also a great way to casually educate people on a variety of topics! I'm very interested in taking this further and creating an online tool that would generate the code for you, should you want to make a similar project yourself but lacked the necessary web skills.