Jacob Hunwick: Project 1 Background Mapping

Concepts:
For my first foray into projection mapping, I decided to combine this new medium with the artifacts of my family home.  I wanted to illuminate the past by digitizing photo albums and utilizing them as media for my projected scene. Alongside still images, I incorporated original video taken from this past summer and fall living on the shore of lake Huron.

Techniques:

First of all, I needed to collect the media for my scene. I scanned in about 50 photographs from my grandfather and great-grandfathers collection. In addition to these old photos, I requested photos from my family in an iMessage chat. A flood of pictures ensued. I was surprised by the response particularly of my mother who sent many excellent photos.

Next, I staged the area around our wood burning stove to allow for active and dynamic projections. In order to get the lighting correct, I photographed the scene at night and corrected the warm color shift, along with balancing out the strong shadows with masked brightness/contrast adjustment layers.

Finally, I mapped out regions for my media to project onto. In the end I decided on five rectilinear projection surfaces and one curvilinear.  Three rectangular pieces of a4 sized cardstock served as planes to project the family photos onto, and two architectural elements were used to display imagery of the lake. For the final element, I integrated a fire symbol by first creating an svg file, then importing it as a line.

Interpretations:
For each scene, I wanted to alternate the media below the fireplace and on the large window to capture a different aspect of life at the lake house during different phases of summer and fall. The large window depicts handheld video I captured this past summer, while the area below the fireplace shows wide angle open source stock footage.

For the first scene, I chose a point of view video of myself walking out to the woods at a farm. Following alongside me is a black cat. The motif of walking is echoed by the video playing beneath the fireplace of a woman walking along a beach.

In the second scene, I transition to a shot taken during the fall in which I captured my brother and I burning leaves on the shore at sunset. Anytime an activity involves the lake, it requires acute attention to the behavior of the wind and water, to ensure safety. So, to accompany the lakeside leaf pyre, I found video of a surfer catching a wave.

The third and final scene utilized video I captured during the late summer when shipping activity on the lake is at its peak. Both the large window and beneath the fireplace display video I shot of freighters off the banks of the river and lake.