Advanced Features

ROTORSCOPE VIDEOS: A technique to demonstrate the three-dimensional shape of a sculpture and its relationship to its surroundings by effectively showing it from every angle. This method of communicating form was developed after films including The Matrix used multiple cameras, carefully arranged and fired at once, to freeze action while the viewer appears to move around it. Showing the resulting still photographs in sequence creates an illusion - a quite artificial yet honest representation - of an event suspended in space and time. Paul Smith, using the static sculptures of the Trail, was able to produce the same effect with a single camera, walking around the works and photographing them at several pace intervals. Using software he then placed these still shots into a chain and made short .AVI movies suitable for Internet use from them. The end results contain a lot more information than a static photograph could convey and appear as rapid orbits, looping the works. Typical file size: 300 to 400Kb. Typical download time with a 56kbps modem: 1 to 2 minutes. Rotorscoped works: FA - Reservoir Of Gods by Faisal Abdu'Allah CB - Coming Ready Or Not by Chlöe Brown JC - Touching Earth And Sky by Judith Cowan LF - Nature Girl by Laura Ford SG - Woven Structures by Sophia Gabbitas SH - Rural Industry by Sophie Horton TW - Untitled (Chilterns) by Tom Woolford

STEREOSCOPE 3D VIDEO: This technique uses an optical effect to show sculptures in true three dimensions. Photographed as a series of stills with a digital camera and then made into a chain in the same way as rotorscopes, this .AVI file has also been edited to play in a loop, thus visitors don't need to 'press play' to see it again. Help on how to view this 3D stereo video is available by clicking here. Typical file size: 260Kb. Typical download time with a 56kbps modem: Under 1 minute. Stereoscoped works: TW - Untitled (Chilterns) by Tom Woolford

VIDEO SEQUENCES: Shot with either a digital camcorder or a digital camera with a movie mode, these let the viewer see the sculptures in a much more naturalistic way than rotorscoping, more akin to the real experience of visiting the Trail. These .MPG (mpeg) movie files have also been edited to play in a loop, thus avoiding the need for visitors to 'press play' to see them again. Typical file size: 700Kb to 1.8Mb. Typical download time with a 56kbps modem: 2 to 4 minutes. Videoed works: MJ - 'that thin red streak' by Mel Jackson RM - Techniques Of The Bird Observer by Rosemarie McGoldrick RP - Heimat II by Roger Perkins - long sweeping shot RP - Heimat II by Roger Perkins - short 'flyby' shot AW - Posts Modern by Ally Wallace LW - Southern Electric by Louise K Wilson

TIME-LAPSE VIDEO: This technique uses a digital camera with an automatic 'on-shoot-off' timer feature to photograph works from an elevated position (in the name of security as well as aesthetics) at fixed intervals. Every 10 or 15 minutes a picture is taken from this static location and the resultant still shots are edited together with software to create a looped .AVI movie clip that shows a greatly compressed impression of the passage of time - from dawn until dusk - for a work and the trees which surround it. This gives a unique 'tree's view' of the sculpture, with rapidly shifting patterns of light and shade playing over its surface and the forest floor as the sun zips across the sky. Additionally the appearance of visitors to the Trail as mere flickering, almost ghostly, beings brings a sensation of the transient nature of time and life, contrasting our own mortality and mobility with the unchanging, unmoving sculpture. (Two test versions have been shot. The full feature will follow soon). Typical file size: 800Kb to 1.3Mb. (TBC) Typical download time with a 56kbps modem: 2 to 4 minutes. (TBC) Time-lapse videoed works: JC - Touching Earth And Sky by Judith Cowan (TBC)

AUDIO CLIPS: Adding to the sensation of visiting the real Chiltern Sculpture Trail, birdsong recorded in Cowleaze Wood is used on many pages. After a while, just as in the wood, this background noise slips below the conscious. Like the ticking of a clock, you only notice it when it stops. Sculptures which have an audio element, Coming Ready Or Not and Touching Earth And Sky, have also had their sound recorded and these .WAV files automatically download and play when you visit pages featuring these works. Typical file size: 100 to 200Kb. Typical download time with a 56kbps modem: 20 to 40 seconds. Recorded sounds: Background Sound - Chiltern birdsong CB - Coming Ready Or Not by Chlöe Brown JC - Touching Earth And Sky by Judith Cowan

PHOTOGRAPHY: This mainstay of the Internet is used in a slightly unusual way on this site. Not only are sculptures shown from a variety of angles, being used and in different weather, lighting conditions and seasons when possible, but specific details such as unusual textures are also shown. Main picture files are fairly large - around 500x400 pixels - .JPGs (jpegs) while secondary images are somewhat smaller. Some photographs of artworks feature clickable areas which add an exploratory aspect to the site. They link to further pictures, highlighting another aspect of the piece or showing it from another angle, thus mimicking the discovery of the works on the real Trail and the way our attention can focus on particular features. Typical file size: 20-80Kb. Typical download time with a 56kbps modem: 5 to 20 seconds.

SURPRISES: There are many treats for the visitor to this site to discover through exploring it. From an interactive 360º panorama of the picnic area and pictures of the Bluebells which carpet the wood in spring to unexpected quotes from artists and poets - even lyrics from a woodland-related song, there's no shortage of things for you to find and hopefully be pleasantly surprised by.

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