Andrew's ITP blog

Below you’ll be able to see my first Jitter Patch.  My goal this week was to familiarize myself with some of the basics, as I’ve never used this method of programming before.

Mainly I explored variations in speed and volume.  I also wanted to play around with using the spectrum to change the RGB valuse via the char map.  And maybe it’s just my affinity for object oriented programming – but I wanted to  explore the “cordless” method of sending and receiving signals.

Click here to download my patch

 Week1Pt2.maxpat

Jitter Patch Week One

I am currently on the creative team for a new folk-based opera with the working title called “The Proof.”  Right now the rest of the creative team has a residency on the West Coast, which I’ve been watching over a webcam.  But it just isn’t the same.

So for this assignment, I decided to focus on one small segment of the opera, which they have been working on this week as well.  A sequence like this  might not actually be projected in the final performance.  But at the very least, I think it will help us find some of the magic and beauty that can exist here.  And I know it will help my work in finding the right aesthtic for the overal projection design.

The context of the scene is that our protagonists are a young married couple.  The moment before this sequence, the husband has just been diagnosed with a fatal illness.  And is given roughly 6 months until his motor system shuts down.  The goal of this section is to show how his wife views the moment, and to create the sensation of what her response must feel like.

The basic gist of the movement is that she watches as her husband’s clothes (ie identity) falls away away. Off of his body.  At a certain point in the music, she really feels the pain and faints.  His clothes (which come off on their own.) end up under her.  And they lift her up.  So that she hovers momentarily before gravity kicks back in.  At which point she falls back into the chair.

Below is a png showing the progression of movement:

Note: I am just getting back into the habit of sketching.  So please pardon the quality of my drawings here

This week, part of our assignment was to design a “fantasy machine.”  Mine is an interactive variation of some of the hologram technology that already exists.

I work as a director and designer in the theatre.  One challenge is always seeing a show’s design will actually live exist together in space.  To try and aid this, scenic designers often build model boxes to 1/2″ or 1/4″ scale.  This proves to be labor intensive for scenic designers, and requires a very different skill set from the actual demands of design.  Moreover, it does not really allow a director to see how designs such as video or lighting can function in space, until the set is built and installed.

To help fill this gap, my fantasy machine is a small hologram box. The box is built to 1/4″ scale, set up to replicate most stage shapes and variations.  The LED lights simulate small projectors that will be imbedned into the walls. And the open holes signify places where small amounts of ‘fog’ can be pumpted to create a floating projection surface.

Scenic designers would be able to import floor plans, sections, and shop drawings.  A program would then compile that date to create a 3d projection.  Additional elements can include video/projection design mock-ups as well as simulations of how lighting would function in the space.

Of course, an important part of seeing designs in 3d is the ability to change and play with them. To see, for example, what it looks like if a table moves, or if the curve of a wall is at a different angle or placement.  Sensors and cameras within the box would allow users to reach inside, and “pinch” elements of the design to move them to new locations.  At the end of a design meeting, these changes would go back through the program and instantely update the light plot, ground plan, shop drawings, etc.

Here is an example of the design for a show I recently directed called “Artifacts of consequence.”

Below you will see the scenic designers drafts of the set. (Ground plan, sections, etc.)  Then you will see my box, the mockup of my fantasy machine.  Lastly, you will see final photographs of the final set (with various changes, including lighting and video) that could be accurately mocked to scale within the “fantasy machine.”

And last, but not least, picture of my Adruino lab where I was playing with different ways to fine tune the sensitivity of the potentiometer’s effect on the LED’s brigtness. (Sadly, it did not photograph too well.)