Previsualization, previs, is essential for film production, allowing cinematographic experiments and effective collaboration. However, traditional previs methods like 2D storyboarding and 3D animation require substantial time, cost, and technical expertise, posing challenges for indie filmmakers. We introduce CollageVis, a rapid previsualization tool using video collages. CollageVis enables filmmakers to create previs through two main user interfaces. First, it automatically segments actors from videos and assigns roles using name tags, color filters, and face swaps. Second, it positions video layers on a virtual stage and allows users to record shots using mobile as a proxy for a virtual camera. These features were developed based on formative interviews by reflecting indie filmmakers’ needs and working methods. We demonstrate the system’s capability by replicating seven film scenes and evaluate the system’s usability with six indie filmmakers. The findings indicate that CollageVis allows more flexible yet expressive previs creation for idea development and collaboration.
doi.org/10.1145/3613904.3642575
Ongoing efforts to turn Machine Learning (ML) into a design material have encountered limited success. This paper examines the burgeoning area of AI art to understand how artists incorporate ML in their creative work. Drawing upon related HCI theories, we investigate how artists create ambiguity by analyzing nine AI artworks that use computer vision and image synthesis. Our analysis shows that, in addition to the established types of ambiguity, artists worked closely with the ML process (dataset curation, model training, and application) and developed various techniques to evoke the ambiguity of processes. Our finding indicates that the current conceptualization of ML as a design material needs to reframe the ML process as design elements, instead of technical details. Finally, this paper offers reflections on commonly held assumptions in HCI about ML uncertainty, dependability, and explainability, and advocates to supplement the artifact-centered design perspective of ML with a process-centered one.
doi.org/10.1145/3613904.3642855
Human emotions are essentially molded by lived experiences, from which we construct personalised meaning. The engagement in such meaning-making process has been practiced as an intervention in various psychotherapies to promote wellness. Nevertheless, to support recollecting and recounting lived experiences in everyday life remains under explored in HCI. It also remains unknown how technologies such as generative AI models can facilitate the meaning making process, and ultimately support affective mindfulness. In this paper we present Metamorpheus, an affective interface that engages users in a creative visual storytelling of emotional experiences during dreams. Metamorpheus arranges the storyline based on a dream's emotional arc, and provokes self-reflection through the creation of metaphorical images and text depictions. The system provides metaphor suggestions, and generates visual metaphors and text depictions using generative AI models, while users can apply generations to recolour and re-arrange the interface to be visually affective. Our experience-centred evaluation manifests that, by interacting with Metamorpheus, users can recall their dreams in vivid detail, through which they relive and reflect upon their experiences in a meaningful way.
doi.org/10.1145/3613904.3642410
Virtual Reality (VR) applications like OpenBrush offer artists access to 3D sketching tools within the digital 3D virtual space. These 3D sketching tools allow users to ``paint'' using virtual digital strokes that emulate real-world mark-making. Yet, users paint these strokes through (unimodal) VR controllers. Given that sketching in VR is a relatively nascent field, this paper investigates ways to expand our understanding of sketching in virtual space, taking full advantage of what an immersive digital canvas offers. Through a study conducted with the participation of artists, we identify potential methods for natural multimodal and unimodal interaction techniques in 3D sketching. These methods demonstrate ways to incrementally improve existing interaction techniques and incorporate artistic feedback into the design.
doi.org/10.1145/3613904.3642758
Commencing as a photo-sharing platform, Instagram has since become multifaceted, accommodating diverse art forms, with poetry emerging as a prominent one. However, the academic understanding of Instagram's poetry community is limited, yet its significance emerges from its distinctive utilization of a primarily visual social media platform guided by recommendation algorithms for disseminating poetry, further characterized by a predominantly novice creative population. We employ qualitative analysis to explore motivations, experiences, and algorithmic influence within Instagram's poetry community. We demonstrate that participants prioritize conforming to algorithmic constraints for visibility, yet maintain their community's values of integrity and originality, illustrating the tension between algorithmic growth and participant authenticity. We introduce the concept of Algorithmically Mediated Creative Labor, a phenomenon specific to non-monetizing creative users who are impacted by the prioritization of professional creators and continually adapt their creative endeavours to align with platform logic, thereby affecting their motivation and creative outputs.
doi.org/10.1145/3613904.3642173