Directions: Portrait: ideas

Portrait ideas and research

After hearing the brief for the portrait part of the unit, there were a few ideas that immediately came to mind.

One of which was projection.
I thought, what way could I illustrate aspects of myself whilst having myself included in the piece but also not doing the conventional real time sort of video? And so, as I remembered seeing projection portraits before, I decided this was an interesting form that I should research. I really wanted to know how feasible it could be before I elaborated on my ideas.

After browsing on YouTube, I came across a variety of videos about projection portraiture. It seems to be an art form and I honestly find it quite striking! There also seems to be different forms of it. The one that immediately stood out to me was "mapping". Below is an example of the "mapping" technique that is used for projection;

This production was created by a company called LCI. They are London based and usually specialise on projecting onto bigger objects such as houses and various buildings. Here is a few examples of their other work; 

3D mapping projection

I was first fascinated by projections when I took a trip to Disneyland Paris back in 2014, they had a beautiful closing show where they projected onto the infamous Disneyland castle and it was one of the most spectacular things to me because you almost forgot it was a building. I was amazed at how real the projections looked and I realised that sound design played a big part in heightening that realistic effect. This is also something that I will look into further. Because of this, I wanted to know how it was done. 

Generally, 3D mapping projection goes beyond the typical projection onto a flat white background, instead you can project on 3D objects that are non white. This type of projection is a much more advanced as it can require a certain type of programme in order to have this precise effect. Notice how it is specifically "mapped" onto the objects? Programmes such as Modul8, MadMapper, VDMX are used to have this professional desired effect and just like most programmes, takes a while to master. I do not have access to such programmes so I wanted to find out about alternative, feasible ways of projecting. 

I then came across simpler versions which made me realise that I could still get the desired effect without having to spend excessive time and money on new programmes. I have attached a tutorial that I have found which could aid me in creating a projection; 

As for different styles, I found a style of projection that seemed simpler as the images projected where not as precise but still had a really nice effect. I also liked the slight morphing of the images. Made me think about how I could show the changes of facial features over time, sort of like a time lapse. 

I ideally want to create something like this;