Synthetic Electro Replicant

PAYLING, Dave (2016) Synthetic Electro Replicant. [Video]

Video (Visual Music Composition) SynthElectReplicant_24fps_1080.mov - AUTHOR'S ACCEPTED Version (default) Available under License All Rights Reserved. Download (485MB)

Abstract or description

Part of the Sound-Image Conference at the University of Greenwich
Sound/Image Colloquium: Exploring sonic and audio-visual practice session

Synthetic Electro Replicant is a CGI animation which plays with synchronisation between image and sound. Most of the motion occurs over durations which are integer multiples of 0.2 seconds (0.2, 0.4, 0.8… etc). A shape can move from one point to another in 0.8 seconds for example. Some timings are occasionally offset (0.8 x 1.5 = 1.2 sec) to create syncopation between image and music, which is sequenced at a fixed rate of 150 bpm. The intention is to discover how a rigid musical timing structure interacts with tightly synchronised imagery. All the visual forms are created with a video synthesis instrument which generates vector based geometric shapes or points. These can be replicated circularly in space to form complex forms and dynamically changing geometries. Colour is used to enhance the visceral quality of the video and interacts with the abstract forms to create richly coloured imagery. Visual inspiration for this piece is taken from John Whitney’s Matrix films and Wassily Kandinsky’s discussion on the use of point and line in visual composition.

Comments on the Soundtrack
Inspired by trance and other dance music genres a fixed 4/4 timing structure and tempo is the foundation of the soundtrack. It is primarily a beat based composition but the rhythm is preceded with a more textural introduction. Initially the textural sonic elements accompany the video in a loose and complementary fashion. The 150 bpm tempo grid is gradually revealed as the instruments become tightly locked to the beat as the music progresses and the shapes respond in kind.

Item Type:	Video
Additional Information:	This piece uses animated geometric forms that were inspired by John Whitney’s Matrix films and Wassily Kandinsky’s discussion (Kandinsky, 1947) on point and line. It was designed to integrate musical rhythm in visual music and contains sequences that I conceptualised as ‘audio-visual syncopation’. Syncopation is a technique known in the music field, but ‘audio-visual syncopation’ was introduced here. In music, syncopation is created by disturbing the expected rhythmical flow and, in this piece, was created by offsetting the synchronisation between sound and image. This occurs most visibly in the section between 1’50” and 3’22”. Here the motion of the lines occurs over durations which are integer multiples of 0.2 seconds (0.2, 0.4, 0.8… etc). The lines can move from one point to another in 0.8 seconds for example. While this happens, the percussive sounds are offset by a factor of 1.5 (E.G. 0.2 x 1.5 = 0.3 sec) so the relocation of the line completes shortly before they are heard. This ‘dissociated synchronisation’ and the textural nature of the introductory passage sets up a tension between visual and auditory expectations. Colour was used in this composition to enhance the emotional qualities (Kandinsky, 1914, p. 18) of the video and as a means of giving each passage its own character. It was performed at Sound Image Colloquium. University of Greenwich. UK. 13th November 2016 and at ICMC Conference Shanghai China. 18th October 2017. Kandinsky, W. (1914) Concerning the Spiritual in Art. Dover Publications Inc. 1997. George Wittenborn Inc. Kandinsky, W. (1947) Point and line to plane: Contribution to the analysis of the pictorial elements. Solomon R. Guggenheim Foundation for the Museum of Non-Objective Painting.
Faculty:	Previous Faculty of Arts and Creative Technologies > Film, Sound and Vision
Event Title:	Sound-Image Conference
Event Location:	University of Greenwich
Event Dates:	12th - 13th November 2016
Depositing User:	Dave PAYLING
Date Deposited:	03 Oct 2016 12:56
Last Modified:	24 Feb 2023 13:44
Related URLs:	http://www.gre.ac.uk/ach/events/soundima...
URI:	https://eprints.staffs.ac.uk/id/eprint/2505

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