NEW LENSES: Experimental Capture and Release

Spring 2022

Final Project Blog – Xinyue Zhang

Theme chosen: face that don’t exist

Capture Subject: Dream

I only choose one subject because I am always drawn to the idea of capturing scenes from real life that resonate with my dreams. Including people I have met in my dreams, the scene and places I visited. This idea was generated from my discussions with my friend: we dreamt about the exact same woman who wears a black fur coat with a smoking pipe in her hand but we had distinct reactions to that woman in our dream. We agreed that this female figure was only generated by our subconscious, but we are also surprised by all the similarities between our dreams, considering our distinctive lifestyles.

Therefore, I planned three different approaches for my final project.

Capture Technique: Smartphone Video Hacks / Time lapse

Platform: Youtube or instagram

I am planning to use the techniques of video recording manipulation in class to capture dream-like clips from real life and edit them into a sequence that tells the story of one of my dreams.

Capture Technique: Long exposure

Platform: Instagram

Using proper lights and long exposure techniques to create a series of pictures that captures the subject from unique perspectives.

Capture Technique: Machine learning / NFT

Platform: Instagram

Using AI generating programs online to create surreal scenes and images using keywords extracted from certain dreams.

First I decided to go along with my first idea, since the second idea is not challenging and creative enough. For my first project idea I want to create a short film that conveys the dreamy atmosphere with realistic clips and the techniques learnt in class. Here’s the clips I captured on the rooftop. I also written a script to describe the story, but this did not meet my own expectation.

Then I tried out the machine learning idea to create dream-like images, they do look cool but there is something missing. These images do look like something that can be observed in my dream but they only created the look but not the vibe.

Here’s some prototypes that I have made.