PRERETROSPECT #18 THE MATHEMATICS - PART FIVE

All the results from the last 5 posts, plus some other info, consolidated all into one table for the pixilation animation. Essentially it is these values that are making up, and determining the final outcome. They will be followed entirely, with the visual process being applied to, and directed by, the above data.

PRERETROSPECT #17 THE MATHEMATICS - PART FOUR

The last major set of calculations left to do was working out the scale from A1 map to real life, and applying it to the distances previously measured.

As 40cm on the map = 700m in real life
700 / 40 = 17.5

DISTANCE IN  REAL LIFE SCALE

1cm on A1 map = 17.5m in real life

DISTANCE IN REAL LIFE BETWEEN COORDINATES

Distance on A1 map (cm)   x   17.5 (scale above)

That one is pretty obvious I know, but I'm getting a tad OCD with documenting everything these days.

PRERETROSPECT #16 THE MATHEMATICS - PART THREE

Once I had all the results for photos between points, and distance on the A1 map between points, I could work out the time in real life that should be spent between each point. As it is known that there is 13 seconds between each photo, this calculation is more for the time I should be at each coordinate. As well as then allowing me to double check the calculations later on.

TIME CALCULATIONS BETWEEN EACH COORDINATE (IN REAL TIME)

FORMULA:

NO. PHOTOS BETWEEN                  (1 PHOTO EVERY                       (60 SEC 
EACH POINT                     X    13     13 SECONDS                /    60      IN 1 MIN)     =     A

                                                       

PRERETROSPECT #15 THE MATHEMATICS - PART TWO

The next step was then to create an A1 scale of the net and axis, to correspond with the aerial view of the farm created. This was done in the same way the smaller nets were created. As I manually plotted the coordinates and connected them in order, I was also measuring the distance on the A1 version travelled e.g. 1 - 2 = 4cm. This means that I can correctly scale up the distances to real life later, as well as working out the distance between each photo - both on the A1 version, and real life.

DISTANCE BETWEEN PHOTO POINTS ON A1 MAP


FORMULA:

DISTANCE BETWEEN COORDINATES     /     NO. PHOTOS NEEDED BETWEEN    =   A
ON A1 MAP (CM)                                            THE SAME COORDINATES
                                                                        (RESULTS FROM PREVIOUS POST)

PRERETROSPECT #14 THE MATHEMATICS - PART ONE

This is where it all had to get mathematical for a few days. I hope it has been made fairly clear.

Sunrise = 6.30am
Sunset = 7.30pm

Therefore length of day = 13 hours = 780 minutes = 46, 800 seconds

If shooting a 2 minute pixilation animation at 18 fps there would have to be 3, 240 frames/photos in total
(180 x 18)

Chapter 33 of Dharma Bums = 1834 words
= 1.8 photos per word, rounded up to 2 photos per word
(3, 240 / 1834)

If a day is 46, 800 sec, then each word of DB = 26 seconds in real life, rounded up from 25.5

So if 26 seconds = 1 word, and there is 2 photos per word, then I would need to take 1 photo every 13 seconds.



The first thing I needed to find out after this was how many frames/photos would therefore be required to be between each coordinate chronologically (how the nets were formed).

PHOTOS NEEDED BETWEEN EACH COORDINATE

FORMULA:

DIFFERENCE IN                            (SECONDS PER                                (1 PHOTO
WORD COUNT             X          26  WORD OF SOC)      =    A     /     13   EVERY 13    =    B
BETWEEN POINTS                                                                                 SECONDS)

                               

PRERETROSPECT #13 FINAL PIECE CONCEPT

I intend to turn the mental journey shown within the stream of consciousness focused on in Dharma Bums into a physical journey on the farm I grew up on. Therefore not only creating a beautiful abstract piece which draws Preretrospect back to its original roots, but also making it a personal piece once more. 

To do this I am going to create a short pixilation animation set on the farm, without any human presence, using only the landscape. The time and location of every single photo will directly correspond mathematically to the stream of consciousness it has been based on. By digitally layering the net for Dharma Bums over an aerial view of the fields, I am able to plot the path which will be taken. The mathematics behind all the photos will follow in the next post.

The end result will be a short (2 min roughly) animation where the viewer is pulled erratically around the landscape over a full day. As every single photo (there will have to be 3,240 in total) corresponds directly to the stream of consciousness, how quickly the film travels from A to B and the distance required between each point, is in direct accordance with Dharma Bums. Sometimes a large distance will be travelled in less than a second, whereas directly after, it may take seconds to barely travel at all. Although this may seem as though the viewer will not have a lot of time to fully appreciate the imagery of the farm, I personally think that it illustrates the inner workings of the mind better. Often when these types of thought processes happen, you cover too much in a short space of time to fully process every thought while it is happening. Instead having to either discard, or consciously revisit and process at a slower speed later. 

Apologies if that doesn't make much sense. It will once the final piece has been shot and edited. It is still being made fully coherent in my own mind as well. Plus it may require reading the previous posts for Preretrospect to grasp a better idea.

PRERETROSPECT #12

As previously mentioned, I was playing with the idea of turning the mental journeys taken during streams of consciousness, into physical ones. This proved harder than expected to crack. In the ideal world, I would have translated the SOC in Dharma Bums into the exact place chapter 33 was set. Obviously funding was a major issue. But if anyone reads this and wants to back it, by all means do. I'm only half joking by the way.

Location became my first focus as I couldn't vision how this physical journey could occur without first knowing the setting/what I was to be working with. It the hit me, I should take this project back to the place where I started using/noticing my own streams of consciousness. Thus not only giving the journey a location, but also bringing it back to the personal angle that Preretrospect stemmed from. But where was this? For those of you who know me, I'm sorry for stating the obvious, again. For those of you who don't, this is the farm and countryside that I grew up on. Whenever I needed to clear my head, think, or organise my thoughts back into their colour coded boxes, I would go off wondering around for hours. Even now I find that I need to get a fix of this every so often or I can't properly process anything. Ironically, it was while visiting this place again that I finally managed to sort out where I wanted this project to go.

Just to clarify - by farm I meaning working farm. Both my parents are farmers.

As this project has a heavy process and data based grounding, I started off my taking a google maps image of the fields on my farm, and directly overlaying the net of Dharma Bums onto it. I chose Kerouac as chapter 33 is when the protagonist removes himself from everyone, taking a job as a watchman in the mountains, and using the time to think. A more extreme version of what I do on the fields I'm using.

I lined the two up (photo and net) as if the original axis was over the entire farm section. The grid lines were added, so that each square represents 100m x 100m in real life. The reasoning for this will become clear later. 

As preretrospect is a time based piece I wanted this to be a strong element of the work. The simplest way of showing this would be to use sunrise and sunset. So that therefore not only the time of day, but also shadows, sun position and available light contribute to illustrating time passing.