Assignment 5: Cagian Process

Cagian Process Pt. 1 (2015) by Shaun Cameron | ART 245

For this latest project, we are removing the artist's ego. Drawing inspiration from John Cage, we needed to create two videos that use experimental, conceptual, indeterminate film making. Essentially building a system with "random" elements. Everything you see in the videos for this assignment are created by chance, but adhere to a strict system for each.

For the first video, I custom-coded a random generator using JavaScript and HTML. The generator would generate 4 different responses that I needed to follow. The concept was that this video would be "A Day in the Life of Shaun."

The "random" elements include:

  • Random hour in the day (between 11am and 7pm)
  • Random minute in the hour (0 to 59)
  • Random direction to film based on the direction in which I'm currently standing when the alarm sounds (front, behind, left, right)
  • Random camera movement while filming (zoom in/out, pan left/right, tilt up/down, rotate left/right)

Using this system, I created a total of 10 clips, each being 10 seconds in length. I ran the generator 10 times, and set an alarm for each result based on the random time it provided.

Once the alarm sounded, I followed my system. First, I recorded the clip using the built-in camera on my phone (which was with me at all times), and exported the results to my computer. From there, I ran the collection of clips through Clint Sleeper's custom built random video generator, with all of the options enabled (Metro Edits 7, Rando Edits, and Random Start Points). Video #1 shows the result of this system.

After this first video was done, we were sent out to create a second video using a brand new Cagian system.

Cagian Video #2

Cagian Process Pt. 2 (2015) by Shaun Cameron | ART 245

Similar to the first video, we needed to create a totally different system. For this, I used a combination of iOS apps that provide randomization tools often used in board games. I split the process into two key areas:

  • Filming
    • Random Color Generator
      • Whichever color it lands on will be the color of the object I need to film
    • Random Number Generator (0-60)
      • Whichever number is returned is the number of seconds the clip needs to be
  • Editing
    • Spin the Bottle (0-360 degrees)
      • Dictates how many degrees to rotate the clip
    • Random Number (0-60)
      • Counting from the top to the bottom of the effects panel in Premier, the returned number dictates which effect to apply to the clip
    • Dice Roll (x2)
      • The dice faces are added up. The sum number is used to determine what percentage to position the effect sliders
      • For example: 2 = 20%, 5 = 50%, 10 = 100% (and 11 = 10%, 12 = 0%)
      • This is repeated for every slider in the effect settings
    • Coin Flip
      • Used to determine if a checkbox in the effect should be checked or not
      • This is repeated for every checkbox in the effect settings

As you can hopefully see in the video, this combination resulted in much more interesting and bizarre videos.