Active Guidance for Light-Field Photography on Smartphones
Computational Photography research from JKU demonstrates method to implement depth of field effect using standard smartphone tech:
We present a novel approach for guided light-field photography using off-the-shelf smartphones. In contrast to previous work that requires the user to decide where next to position a mobile camera, we actively compute and visualize during runtime a recommendation for the next sampling position and orientation taking into account the current camera pose and required camera alignments. This supports efficient capture of various types of large-field-of-view light fields in just a matter of minutes and without specialized camera equipment. To further reduce the overall capture time, we describe an extension of our guidance algorithm to collaborative light-field photography by small groups of users.
Released earlier this month, Rewind, produced by
Kingdom, Nugget and Kelela,
is lifted from her forthcoming album ‘Hallucinogen’ out 9 October. Reminiscent
of 80s freestyle music beats and 90s R&B vocals, the music videos sees us
enjoying a full four minutes of up-close-and-personal low-angle shots of Kelela as she details a dream-like unforgettable love-at-first romantic encounter. Stream the track on our September playlist.
No stranger to making uplifting songs that simultaneously,
and very proudly, cheer on sisterhood, Seinabo Sey’s Pretend captures
the essence of her past hits Youngerand Hard
Timein this amazingly choreographed video.
Vying for this year’s award for best collaboration out of
South Africa, the camera in this video is mostly set on umswenko future mfana
rapper Okmalumkoolkat doing
what he does best – being himself.
Titled after the Swedish slang word for ‘gun’, Somali singer Cherrie Hersi’s gripping video for her single Tabanja “shows a suffocating truth of a world caught in a downward spiral”, the harsh realities of people living in the periphery of Sweden’s capital.
Much like the track’s featured artist Petite
Noir’s Down,alternate
homegrown views of Congo come through in Baloji’s
self-directed video for his co-produced, along with Olugbenga Adelekan of
Metronomy, single off his upcoming 64
Bits & Malachite EP. The video follows a crew of astronauts attempting
to find a lost statue of British explorer HM Stanley who navigated the route of
the Congo River to the sea, whilst Baloji’s rap in French offers layered
critiques of his country’s colonial past and current socio-political state. Capture is
also featured on our September playlist.
In the visuals for his collaborative track with Okmalumkoolkat, digital Maskandi – a hybrid between Zulu maskandi music and electronic influences – pioneer Mashayabhuqe KaMamba describes the concept behind it saying, “the video depicts the merging of two worlds, the traditional African man juxtaposed against the predominant Western influence in Africa, and how they co-exist in the modern day.”
Though it’s highly reminiscent of both Rihanna’s Rude Boy and Beyonce’s Grown Woman videos, Nigerian award-winning artist Yemi Alade, responsible for the incredible tracks (and videos) Johnny, Kissing and Taking Over Me, returns with yet another single off her debut album King Of Queens.
Adding her own brand of Afropop with a heavy dose of colour and sweetness for her Sugar music video, the ninth track off her album, it was directed by Paul Gambit and features dancer and choreographer Ezinne Asinugo of C.E.O Dancers.
Using her music as a platform to address the ongoing conflict in northern Mali, and in particular the struggles that women and girls face amidst the unrest, French-based Malian singer Inna Modja’s ‘Tombouctou’ channels pan-African rhetoric as a call to action and awareness concerning this issue.
For the video, Modja travelled to Bamako where she filmed the black-and-white scenes at the studio of acclaimed Malian photographer Malick Sidibé, hence the resemblance and references made in the video’s imagery. Aside from Sidibe’s public legacy, Modja has a personal connection to the photographer:
“I’ve known Malick Sidibé my entire life. He shot pictures of my parents in the 60s and my family since the 80s. I couldn’t think of a better place than his studio to shoot this video empowering women. He’s been taking pictures of Malian youth & women for decades. In the video, by sitting next to my mother, grand-mother and nieces, I wanted to show different generation of women standing up for freedom. I co-directed the video with Marco Conti Sikic.”
Whether the animated Carmen, the spectacularly choreographed highly personal childhood story Papaoutai, or the gender role bending Tous Les Memes, it’s almost impossible for Stromae to not blow our minds with every new video release he drops.
In the cinematic Quand C’est?, the seventh video from the his album Racine Carrée, Stromae hauntingly uses his body in a dark poetic fashion to both illustrate the harsh realities that cancer has on those it affects as he simultaneously battles the encroaching disease. The title itself is a play on words that mean “when is it?” is French, and sounds eerily like the word ‘cancer’.
Here’s how it works: the tool (which Internet history nerds will recall was launched in 2010 as a Flash program) has been reprogrammed and now allows you to adjust key and add effects like echo and flutter to the sounds you create.
Tempo of the music can be adjusted by messing with orbital rates – and there’s even a neat little counter to let you know how many times each planet has zipped around the Sun.
Do you learn much? Not really. But the music is enchanting, and after a while, I found myself not needing the counter anymore. I was able to pick out certain tones and know when, for example, Mars had completed an orbit, just by listening. –Patrick
