Original subtitles

Welcome to today's session.

We're going to do things a little bit differently for the next couple of sessions.

I'm going to interview some projection mappers from around the world about how they got

into projection map in what kind of work they make and any advice they can give you guys

during your projection mapping journey.

Today we're talking to just ballistic.

Jasper is based in Amsterdam,

and he's a projection map for a musician.

Let's have a listen to the interview.

I'm,

ah,

live in Amsterdam or near Amsterdam.

Yeah,

well,

so what time is it?

Where you are is a 8 p.m. Let me check it.

Snow 10.

One hour in front of medium.

Yeah.

You're in England.

Stand,

I guess.

Yes.

Yes.

I mean,

I mean the UK.

So whereabouts in the UK I'm in Yorkshire.

So just outside of Leeds.

Oh,

yeah.

Awesome.

Yeah.

So that's a pretty pretty lift yourself.

You've got behind you.

Yeah,

it's,

uh,

my modular system.

I uses a lot as well for ah,

for visuals,

but also for ah,

music composition and sure,

my quarantine project basically Okay.

Okay.

Pretty dapper,

rev.

It'll sure,

Sure.

Well,

let's dive in there.

So just what Can you tell me a little bit about who you are then and what you do?

Yeah,

sure.

Um,

so,

yeah,

obviously my name is Jess,

for I grew up in the in the Netherlands.

I started working around Ah,

or studies around 12 years ago.

Ah,

sounding audio engineering in Amsterdam on started volunteering in a variety of clubs in

his area and already back then there was this Ah,

or at least the owners of the club's wanted.

If you were interested that you would do both sounds and light,

which back then I was like,

Sure,

I can do both.

Um,

I ended up not being able to do both,

but,

uh,

but then I got more and more into ah ah,

the visual aspect self of parties,

but also the creative aspect off creating visuals,

um,

and working with projectors.

I spent four years then in Frank,

overworking for Clark's media audiovisual big company.

Ah,

in Canada on,

we would do ah,

lot of projection met things on ah buildings in the public space that was very focused

towards either,

uh,

corporate interests and and,

um needs and and ah,

marketing purposes.

Andi,

Um,

when I came back to to Amsterdam,

I kind of continued doing this.

This projection mapping is in the public space.

Only more towards the creative sites creates ah,

political awareness around certain subjects.

Ah,

Grilli.

A style going with,

ah,

generator and ah,

big projector to whatever building I could find in the city and just project on it.

Sure.

So,

uh,

I've been doing this for the last,

ah,

couple of years.

Ah,

with a group of friends in in and around Amsterdam.

And,

um,

obviously I'm really into music.

So I was for last few years,

been trying to find ah,

1 to 1,

a combination between sounds and visuals.

Because whenever I was doing visuals in a club,

I was most of the times one step behind,

or I wanted to have something happening every time there was a snare hit or whatever.

And with a modular system and connecting this shortly sending media outputs,

I can do it once a one and there is no Layton.

See,

So that's what I'm learning and discovering now.

Um,

but work dried up here while everywhere.

Actually,

eso I'm reinventing myself.

Ah,

little bits and I know do a lot of projection MEP ings for the retail business,

right?

So from from restaurants just projecting their their menus whenever they launch a new menu

.

But also in the shopping streets I project on ah,

dresses or new clothes or guards when they're released stuff like this.

And it's not particularly my interest,

but yeah,

I need to make ends meet.

So sure,

and I think project from happens.

One of those really interesting kind of hybrid art forms where you can you can have can

high art.

But also you can commercialize that.

Make money from it as well.

Yeah,

yeah,

Andi,

I think it's a logical results off growing up in kind of a digital age.

We have way more tools at our disposal to be creative.

People do spend a lot of time in the virtual space on their computers,

and there's a lot of tools for us to be creative on on a computer.

And maybe,

like 5 to 10 years ago,

a lot of people,

for example,

my parents would look down on this and say,

like,

Yeah,

you shouldn't spend so much time on their just go outside play or make a drawing or

whatever.

Yeah,

I was already doing that inside of a computer.

And yeah,

now it's getting warm or accept it.

And also,

uh,

yeah,

you can make a living from it,

which,

which is really interesting.

Yeah,

yeah.

No,

no,

absolutely.

Eso.

So what software do you use when you're mapping,

then,

um,

yeah,

I started off using Ah,

for example,

Blender Andi Cinema 14.

Because I was ah,

complete Novaes That would recreate everything by the centimeter,

what's in the physical space?

And then I didn't understand anything from cameras and focal legs.

So I would just position a camera where my actual Beamer was.

But yeah,

and I ended up using resolute to,

um,

project everything and to do the final touches.

Um,

And nowadays,

I'm primarily using Resolute in combination with Dutch designer.

Yeah,

I'm discovering s moats at the moment.

That's what I'm getting into.

Ah,

a little bit now.

Yeah,

yeah.

No.

Sure,

sure.

So I I am I've played with Resolute on.

I've not quite got my head around it yet,

so I'm using Madame Mata.

Um yeah,

and I want my bucket list.

Yeah,

well,

mad napper was the reason I use it.

It was a friend of mine who I learned projection mapping from initially used it.

So is one of those wonderful things of the first person I encountered using projection

mapping used this software so I can have immediate was drawn to learn that software really

know it's on my bucket list and I've experimented with them Software court heavy em as well

,

which is really interesting because,

you know,

it's really intuitive and it's really simple,

and you get really interesting results quite quickly.

But it's also very limiting.

I also like this that there is no more and more of a variety off.

So for software,

which you can create stuff and not only for projection mapping,

but,

um,

I think it becomes,

at least for me,

becomes interesting when you try to ah either combine or because every piece of suffer,

more or less has its,

um,

pros and cons basically on,

for example,

touch designers really abstracts,

and it's it's hard to get anything that resembles any thing we actually know from the real

world.

But if you combine that into two,

resolute for example,

is where is what I do?

It's easier to gets.

Very lush images.

Which Yeah,

yeah,

yeah.

With Matt map.

Really as well.

It's Ah,

mapping three D objects.

Becomes way,

way easier than,

for example,

with with that's designer.

Yeah,

I've started learning,

touched his honor this year,

and I've just got my head around the know based system.

So I'm I I started.

My career is is a filmmaker,

so I still make lots of film on bond.

I switched from Adobe to Divinity Resolve this year,

which is no based on.

Actually,

I gave me really good grounding to start linen touches on because I instantly understood

the interface.

Yeah,

when I was previously trying to learn it last year,

it just kind of I was really struggling with can of Green from a linear based edit,

insistent to a note based design.

Susan And but I think it's definitely worth people.

Kind of learning more than one one propriety software.

Really?

He just makes it adaptable,

doesn't it?

Yeah,

I did.

The other side is as well.

Um,

if if you know a little bit of a lots,

then still you don't know quite quite much.

So it's good to just spend your time with one piece of software and really seeing where the

limits and boundaries are.

And from that you'll figure out like,

Okay,

this is what I'm missing.

This is what I need.

And then you'll progress into two different pieces.

So where that by,

uh,

complimented.

Yeah,

I know.

And he,

uh I check if I have his hair.

Should have books.

A friend of mine dropped off this Ah,

piece of gear.

Um,

that was kickstart.

It's a year ago to see if we could sell it.

Let me forgetting the name but eso we were seeing how we could this place just like form.

Yeah,

this is like for Yeah,

I haven't Okay.

Yeah.

So I've been playing around tweeted for for two days now,

and I am deeply disappointed,

but also pleasantly surprised,

but And you have some some creative skills with ah with,

for example,

with the after effects,

then,

yeah,

you can really make awesome things in it.

And especially for retail core businesses.

This room that's this.

Why did you absolutely summed up my experience with it as well?

I was so excited when I saw the Kickstarter on I immediately kind of But I got the second

wave,

not the first wave,

and it came in crazy.

It came maybe six months ago.

I was so excited Was like Christmas.

And then I kind of opened it.

Play with it within Canada cult of hours.

I was going.

Oh,

it's not what I thought he waas Uh,

yes.

Interesting.

I mean,

it feels like almost like a how to kit for me.

Yeah,

yeah,

in that same definitely.

So if what advice would you give to anybody that wanted to kind of get into projection

mapping?

Um oh,

that's ah,

tough question,

because for me,

I have experienced a lot of people that that are into either VJ ing or projection mapping

with with a variety of reasons.

Um,

and it depends if you want to do it artistically or you're really looking to make money.

Um,

and I think both or the combination are is actually very feasible.

Um,

Andi,

Um,

I would say less is more,

especially in the beginning.

Don't try to if you have,

for example,

a Beemer on the building.

Don't try to fill in the whole building.

Try toe accentuates what is already there.

Yeah.

Um and slowly go from there.

Sure,

because you're at least I I'm never trying to re create a new world.

I'm always trying to make What,

is there a little bit more interesting?

Um,

but if yeah,

I I've seen people doing It's here in the form.

Off protests and demonstration,

for example,

Randall black lives,

matter,

protesters,

people that go with their projectors and shine on police buildings or projecting police

buildings.

Andi,

it gains a lot of attention.

So I think it's good to Teoh.

See what's what's happening in the world around you and whatever interest you and take that

as,

ah,

as a source of inspiration.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And,

yeah.

Used to public space to do make people aware what projection mapping is Because most people

are still clueless about this because you find it in clubs and yeah,

maybe at some art shows or galleries.

Yeah,

um,

on dear isn't Ah,

a lot of,

um Well,

there's YouTube,

of course,

but the source of injury information is still pretty scarce.

And I think it's on what I did.

For example,

like learning cinema for D.

I.

I was watching videos on the Internet and just redoing every step I was seeing and wasn't

particularly my interest,

But it did end up giving me a lot of knowledge that I right,

you know,

you school later on.

Yeah,

yeah,

yeah,

sure.

And actually doing that.

That's why I've done this beginners guy to match up the course.

Really?

Because when I was learning,

like,

the videos,

that they're so bad and they're so robotic.

Yeah,

that you just kind of go like this is driving me insane.

I just need somebody kind of in plain language just to say to me,

Oh,

that's what an asset is.

Oh,

that's what Quite iso.

That's how that's how I connect that to the beats per minute.

No,

Andi,

Yeah,

that's amazing that they're doing this and it's really necessary.

It's a It's a bit like how we used to learn,

for example,

carpentry and decades ago you would go with somebody and he would tell you step by step

like I'm doing this for this reason on,

now you can have it in the virtual space,

but it yeah,

it's basically the same thing that that you need and,

you know,

Yeah,

absolutely.

And so I guess I just have one final question.

Just really eso kind of What projects are you most proud of them?

Why?

Who?

Um,

that's also a tough one.

Um,

because,

um,

I think it's to fault.

Um,

I think my proudest moment was a few weeks ago when I finally got my mother system working

with Dutch designer wants one because that that's what I've been looking for.

We're so long and then it works and it happens.

And then I'm like,

Ah,

fuck,

this is magic.

And,

um but that's just ah,

personal goal.

And I think,

um,

the one of my best moments,

I guess waas um around one.

Ah,

yeah,

one year ago,

when we were doing ah projection on the ah,

the central station in Amsterdam on we were flashing or showing videos off.

Um,

there was this demonstration in the north off the US regarding ah,

pipeline that was being made and we were projecting basically what was going on there and a

little bit of the history of ah,

the Donald Trump in the US and ah,

the some.

Some comes with Children,

etcetera,

and I won't get too political,

but we we were projecting this the police.

Ah,

you asked us to stop doing this.

And the public sets like no way.

We we want to watch and we ended up having a few 100 people watching it.

And in this way we created awareness.

And I think this is showed me how powerful of a tool.

Ah,

it can be.

And yeah,

it's It's also useful for that.

Yeah,

yeah,

and I think that's also one of the amazing things for me about projection mapping is there

isn't just one way to do it now.

It's about,

like you said earlier,

finding your interest kind of discipline,

that and it might be political.

It might be for the art,

or it might even just be commercial.

Actually,

it's using kind of this this projection at beneath us to kind of t relate on a thing that's

really great with painting.

You're limited to the canvas you haven't with projection mapping.

You're limited to the objects in the world around you,

which Yeah,

there,

there,

so many untouched things.

It's like a harm harmless form off.

Uh,

graffiti.

Yeah,

I get it.

And then finally how Canada,

Where can people check out your workout?

Welcome people connect with you.

Well,

I'm mostly from my music.

I'm on some clothes.

Yeah,

and we're launching a new ah page for,

um,

are commercial side of things which is called Glitter for products.

Ah,

but that's really focused on businesses.

So that might,

for a creative person be not that interesting.

Um,

And for in regard to combining mother with Dutch designer,

I'm still figuring it out.

Not going to publish anything yet.

Oh,

on DWI met on social media,

and we found the projection map in Ramadi.

I'm also quite active.

There s So I'm anything happens?

Yeah.

So people could kind of request to join that and have conversations with you and so on.

Of course.

Yeah.

Perfect.

Just thank you so much for your time.

I really appreciate it.

My pleasure.

Here's I Thank you.

What you're doing.

Oh,

thank you.

Thank you.

And I'm sure I'll speak to you very soon.

Here's taking evening.

You too.