I recently bought a couple of disposable cameras from Walgreens and went to Millennium Park to take some stereo photos. I wasn’t sure how well the stereoscopic effect would work with me just holding the cameras next to each other, but the pictures turned out pretty well.
To view stereoscopically, cross your eyes until the two images merge into one (and here’s a tutorial that explains this process in greater detail). Click on the photos to view them slightly larger.
Stereoscopic Cube Experiment from Dan Allison on Vimeo.
(To view stereoscopically, cross your eyes until the two images merge into one.)
For more about this animation, click here.
Here are a few animated videos that I’ve enjoyed recently. I also want to mention here the animated short film Pigeon Impossible, which is not available online right now. I was lucky enough to see a screening of it at my school Flashpoint Academy a couple weeks ago. The film’s creator Lucas Martell was there and did a Q & A session after the film. He’s a really cool guy (from Texas!), as well as a persistent one (it took him five years to make the film). He also has a really cool, tutorial-style video podcast about the film and how he made it.
Alas, I cannot share the film with you on my blog until it has made its way through the film fest circuit. Until then, I’ll have to settle for sharing the videos below.
BIRDY NAM NAM – THE PARACHUTE ENDING from Steve Scott on Vimeo.
Exos from Steve Scott on Vimeo.
Incremental Drift on the Riemann Sphere (HD) from Daniel Piker on Vimeo.
Photograph of Jesus by Laurie Hill in association with the Getty Images Short & Sweet Film Challenge from Hulton Archive on Vimeo.
I strung together into the playlist above parts one through five of the documentary “The Boy with the Incredible Brain” about Daniel Tammet, a high-functioning autistic savant and author of the book I just started reading called Embracing the Wide Sky.
Today I had my fifteenth neurofeedback session at CSLC. I’ve noticed some positive changes in my mental disposition since I started, which I think warrant a blog post. So here’s a brief overview of how things are going.
For the first thirteen sessions, I trained on the frontal lobe, trying to inhibit theta and alpha frequencies and bring up beta frequencies (for an explanation of the different brain wave frequencies, see this wikipedia entry). At first, I didn’t really notice any immediate changes in my mental state. But as the sessions continued, I started to notice some changes that, at first, were difficult to describe. As the changes became more pronounced, I was able to identify the shift as an increase in clearheaded-ness. By that I mean my thought process became more coherent and organized. Understanding my surroundings and determining an appropriate response became more effortless. Focusing on the task at hand became slightly easier. Problem solving became slightly easier. It was a subtle shift, but still significant.
Today, I completed my second session working on the back of the temporal lobe of the left hemisphere, trying to inhibit delta, alpha, and hibeta frequencies. Two sessions is not a lot, but I’ve already noticed how it is starting to affect my mental state. If training the frontal lobe promotes clearheaded-ness, then I think training the temporal lobe promotes levelheaded-ness. By levelheaded-ness I mean a state of mind where the stress of everyday life doesn’t have as much sway over how you feel or think. If things don’t turn out the way you wanted them to, you don’t get too bent out of shape about it. It’s easier to accept things, good or bad, and still have a positive outlook. Shit happens, but life goes on. Perhaps a better word for it is equanimity. Since I’ve only just started training on this region, the shift has been very subtle, and I have yet to see how it plays out in the long run. But it has been noticeable.
Overall, I’ve been quite pleased with how this neurofeedback thing is going. I’ve also been reading some books about neurofeedback and the brain in general to help me understand how this all works, which has been a rewarding endeavor in itself. I recommend Mind Wide Open by Steven Johnson as a good, entertaining intro to neuroscience. A Symphony in the Brain by Jim Robbins is a good intro to neurofeedback and it’s history. I’m currently reading A User’s Guide to the Brain by John J. Ratey, which has some interesting stuff in it.
I’ll continue to write neurofeedback updates as I go. I’ve also got some other brain related stuff I’d like to blog about, but I’ll save that for a later date.
It’s been a while since my last update. School has been going well. I’ve started working on a few side projects in addition to my schoolwork. One is an effect for a film student’s film, the other is a short film of my own. I won’t reveal too much about my short film, except that it involves platonic solids and a giant brain. It’s only in the planning phase right now. I’m drawing out storyboards and such. I haven’t started animating yet, but I’ve got the workflow process more or less planned out. I’ll be doing most of the actual animation in 3D using Autodesk Softimage, then I’ll render out that version of the film and rotoscope each frame by hand in Photoshop and After Effects using my drawing tablet to give it the hand drawn look. I’ve begun playing around with this process doing very simple tests to see how well it works, and the results have been pleasing.
Speaking of brains, I’ve been going to a neurofeedback clinic for the past month or so, learning how to control my brainwaves. It’s been a really positive experience so far. This technology is pretty powerful and I suspect it will become much more common in the years to come. Since I’ve started, I’ve noticed that my thinking has become clearer and more coherent. Organizing my thoughts has become less strenuous. I recommend it highly to anyone who has any interest in such things.
