PHIL HASTINGS
filmmaker, artist, educator
Workbench
What am I working on now? An occasional upload of work in progress, various software & hardware tests and experiments.
Morphology Series Updates
March 11, 2015
New images from the Morphology Series.
Morphology Series Updates
March 9, 2015
Here's the first public sample of the latest Morphology video work. Much more advanced then earlier iterations. The original footage can be seen here.
Morphology Series Updates
January 11, 2015
A work in progress and possibly something that won't be realized in the end. I find collecting the images together this way helps me see patterns and concepts that are starting to emerge from the process. There are a lot of new specimens being discovered and evolving. Click on the image to see it larger.
Morphology Series Updates
November 2, 2014
Really excited about the direction the Morphologies are going.
Morphology Series NYSCA Finishing Funds Grant and work in progress
October 4, 2014
Thanks to the NYSCA Finishing Funds grant I am back working on the Morphology Series. I'm taking a lot of what I've been learning from my other projects and infusing it into these pieces. With the grant I'll be purchasing small monitors to install into the display cases I'm designing and building. This will be part of my upcoming sabbatical research.
Praying Mantis Video & Images part of New Scientist magazine and website
February 17, 2014
I recently provided still images for a photo spread for New Scientist magazine and video for their YouTube channel. Link Here
Adrift - More Updates
February 16, 2014
Making good progress on Adrift. I'm considering a collection of print images from this material to go along with the video.
Adrift - Updates
February 12, 2014
I've recently gotten back to Adrift, the third film in the Lake Series. Currently the edit is almost locked sound is being developed and the overall look is in progress. Below are frame grabs of the work in progress with various image tests. Imagery is of work-in-progress.
2-Hour Film Project - 7 Obstructions
Februrary 2, 2014
About 11 years ago I started doing short projects I called Day Films. The work had to be finished within a 24-hour span. Today, I use this idea as inspiration for my Intermediate Experimental Video students' first project. The course is about pushing past the lack of ideas. The first day of class we watch Lars Von Trier's 5 Obstructions as a way to setup the course. The next class I have students draw seven different parameters or obstructions out of envelopes. They are allowed to eliminate one of the obstructions. They then have the remaining class, about two hours, to use these obstructions as a foundation for a completed video. I sometimes try and do the project with them. This is my latest version.
Vascular Modes becomes Thresholds
December 14, 2013
Various frame grabs from new work. Imagery is of work-in-progress.
Praying Mantis
October 9, 2013
I've started working on another off-shoot from previous work. Recently a composer/musician contacted me and asked if I would be interested in working collaboratively on a project. He's asked me to create a music video using praying mantises as the main subject. We've also talked about incorporating imagery similar to the new morphology work. I've just started shooting new mantis material. Not sure where this will lead but I'm pretty excited. More info as the project solidifies.
Vascular Modes Outgrowth
April 14, 2013
Two frame grabs from new work-in-progress inspired by the recent Vascular Modes piece.Imagery is of work-in-progress.
Vascular Modes Hallwalls Show
January 6, 2013
When does key-framing video become animation? At some point I wonder how different this is from CG animation. I am after all animating what happens to the video over time by setting key-frames. I am creating something completely new from the manipulation of pixels. The original material is completely altered and no longer manifests itself in its original form. It has gone through metamorphosis.
If rotoscoping can be called animation instead of tracing (no disrespect to the great rotoscoping animators out there), then this work seems to be as much animation as anything else. Each of these tracks of effects has multiple parameters to adjust. On the right is an example of one of the custom effects that I've created with all of its possible parameters to key-frame over time.
Morphologies
April 14, 2013
A sampling of work in progress. Continuation of the Morphology Series. A collection of specimens. Potential Linnean classification to follow. Working on bringing these to life through various animation methods. I’m looking at two ways of presenting these, as large projection installations and as wall hanging video sculptures reminiscent of turn of the century scientific cabinetry. Still a work in progress.
