Dialogue

Dialogue

Sep 27, 2023 - Oct 5, 2023

This was an assignment about creating a soundscape. I made it a little more complicated than that.

*Loud Sound Warning*

*Flashing Lights Warning for video below*

PROCESS

Despite this being a sound-based assignment, I began by sketching out some ideas. I knew that I wanted to have very strong visuals to accompany the sound, and together create a story. Below are my sketches.

Now that I knew what I was aiming for, and the story I wanted to tell, I began to create the video that plays on the TV. As it was a sound scape, I began with the audio. I used free sounds from freesounds.org. After I was happy with that, I searched the Prelinger Archives on archive.org to piece together the visuals.

Video finished, I quickly modeled a low-poly TV in Blender, and textured it with surfaces from Quixel. I then created the environment in Unreal Engine using megascans and foliage (also from Quixel.)

As I was working on the Unreal Engine environment, I also began to experiment with 3D printing the TV. My professor was offering the use of her micro-projector to encourage more creative presentations, and that allowed me to push this project even further. Below is a small test print, the print in progress, the final 3D print, and the projector and TV. I used an Ender 3 Pro and Prusaslicer to print in generic PLA.

Now that I've described the process, I want to talk about the meaning of this weird little installation to close it out. This is an artwork about feeling out of place, and crying out for connection. The low poly TV sits in a high resolution forest which is also fake. It begins by trying to introduce itself to the trees, and when it hears no response it begins to panic. Eventually, the TV begins to calm down, and settles, understanding it's place a little better now.

When viewed projected onto the 3D model, it feels more like a memory than the event happening in real time.