Final piece readjusted

I have just given in my final piece, but as i do enjoy after effects more than i thought, i carried on playing around with my clips and seeing if i could make the final piece any better. So i added my crazy triangles clip, and i do actually quite like it, as i do feel my final piece had a lot of dark spots. So, here it is. But i am still content with my final piece, as this really isn't very different.

Working with different compositions

When i first started using after effects, i was shown that i could use many different compositions in many different sizes.
Here, i've made a clip of my floating bubbles in a really long composition, which i then dragged onto my final piece composition (which is a lot smaller) and then changed it's position. This causes a scrolling effect over the screen and i think it looks really nice, sort of like actual drops or bubbles. I really like layering up this clip and playing around with the size. Despite it being very simple, and a little boring, i do find it very versatile and easy to use.



Here, is a good example of it scrolling across the screen. I really like this. And how it flows quite nicely with the music. This is an initial experiment for my final piece. I'm trying to decide on the music at the moment, and i do really love this song and find it very soothing, but it really doesn't change much, so may need to go for something a little more upbeat for the exhibition.

'Converting audio to keyframes'

Learnt a few days ago how to convert any audio into keyframes, so basically putting a keyframe to the beat of the music, that can be "parented" (linked) to any of my layers. Need to remember to select the whole audio, and not just a small part though.
This was really handy to know and helped a lot to put all my clips together and speeded up the process a lot. However, it didn't give me as much freedom as i wanted, and i really need to learn more about it through tutorials.

Here, the beat of the music makes the circles go really small...

Then move closer to the screen when the beat gets stronger. I really like the look of the circles in the background and remind me sort of like a galaxy. 

I also learnt that i could drag a little triangle on my timeline out to book mark places in the music that i want something to happen to my visuals. Basically, a handy reminded. These were probably the most helpful things i learnt.

I really like how i have stuck to the paper collage idea, and haven't produced and computer generated visuals. However, the paper obviously has been changed a lot, but it still has it's roots.

Keyframing outcome

Here is the outcome of the effect that i explained in the last post. I do find this clip a little scary and dangerous, but i think it could look quite good in a club. I showed it to other students and they did like it, but they did add that it has a lot of darkness in it. They think it needs to be filled with more triangles.
This is something i need to work on. For me, i think it would be best to leave this clip, but add it as an extra layer to a final to another clip.

I also learnt about the glow tool in this experimentation. I was trying to get an effect sort of like a light saber. I played around with the exposure of the triangles and saturation then added the glow effect, and then adjusted with more things on that setting. This didn't glow as much as i hoped and was a little disappointed, but somehow, i accidently added the glow effect twice, and got an outcome i'm really happy with. So a new learning, that you can add an effect to an image more than once and that the glow effect does exist, and again, you can add keyframing to this so this is very handy.

There are a few crazy coloured triangles floating about in this clip, and this was very much an accident, but i really like the look of them and feel they look like spaceships, so i will keep them like that.

As for movement, they do go well with the music, i feel. However, i don't think they add anything to the music, or to the beat. This is where adding another clip could be best and be a lot more effective.

Key framing and time reversing

Learnt all about the time reverse layer, where this makes everything in that particular layer go backwards. It's quite exciting, especially when i have made objects appear to be getting bigger, this effect sort of makes them look like they are being sucked back in and getting more distant from the screen.
I also got taught about reversing all the layers which involved compiling them all together and then switching them round. This is an effect that seems useful but not something i would need to try out right now.
However, i believe for my final piece i would like to mix all the clips i have made so far together to a piece of music, as if i was VJing the images, so maybe for that i would need to try out that effect.

Learnt a lot about 'keyframing' too. This was really fun to use. I played around a lot with position and opacity on this clip. It was very tedious and the final clip that came from it was a bit crazy, and i felt a bit dangerous but still quite fun. I do feel i am going to wrong way about trying to get certain effects, and am still very much experimenting, but i am learning a lot.

Development

Spirals

Working with scaling and saturation of colours.
I really enjoy using paper for all of my clips, but i do feel it has hindered me a little and caused a lot less freedom than i thought, as i am always having the 'keylight' the background out, but also causing the colours in my shapes to fade. Meaning that a lot of the colours in my clips have turned out very similar. However, luckily the colours are very vibrant so this is a plus, and the texture and the material of the paper does look very nice, i think. I also like the little specks that i haven't managed to get rid of, but i feel they add a bit of 'crispyness' to them, similar to the animations that i saw from at the media museum.

Bubbles

Experimenting with the effects of duplicating the layers many many times, and seeing the effects of that layering and playing around with the 'modes' buttons to change those effects. Also tried out a lot of scaling for this clip. I also found a mode called 'dancing dissolve' which made the circles look like they were dissolving and sort of bursting, very nice effect.

Learning aftereffects jargan

Learning about the keyframes and scaling and how moving objects towards the screen does help a lot when working with music.

 duplicating layers does look quite cool i find too

Playing around with scaling and causing objects to go into the negative numbers causing the triangles to go upside down. Although, learnt you can also do this process probably better in an effect called flip and flip/flop. Can also play around with keyframing using this effect too.

I would also really like to try out working with masking objects, i think this can really help a lot, especially using keyframing.
It's also nice watching videos, or anything that's on a screen and noticing the effects that may have been applied to them, and sort of knowing what effect may have been used too. Like the 4od idents.

Also like this video, can see that the masking key has been used (i think) and would/should really try it out, hopefully in this project.

Playing around with music

Tried to practice some of the effects i did on the last video. Slightly struggled to remembered them, but i am quite happy with this. I really like playing with the music too, i do think it helps everything. I would really like to take this video even further, but for now i will experiment with the other shapes i have captured.

Then taking it into after effects to play around.
I am actually surprisingly happy with this, and am starting to quite enjoy the program and it's not too depressing to use.
However, i am basically experimenting without properly knowing what i'm doing. This is quite silly to do as i don't fully remember what effects i applied here. But i do like them.
I really like the movement when the triangles come towards the screen and the effects that come from duplicating the images.
I also like how the colours have been adjusted through playing around with the saturation and hue and also, keylighting (and getting rid of the dull green background).

First proper paper stuff with the rostrum that i think i will use in the final animations. I actually quite like these and the effects of the paper material.

Tutorial 10/05/11

Today we had a tutorial... i think it went well.

Showed the videos i have made to music, and the experimentation i tried in aftereffects and talked about my visit to the media museum.

I could see that my stuff wasn't completely exciting people, but they did say they liked it. I have discovered that the animations with more objects are the more interesting and hypnotising.

Was suggested to look at this video too...




I find this music video completely crazy, but i do really like it, despite being slightly tasteless. It isn't your typical pretty shapes flying around the place, the type of stuff that i've been making.

Realising that from my tutorial and this video, and from the media museum that i need to combine my shapes, and to be a lot more crazy with what i'm producing and to be more daring, and not to be afraid of the ugly.

- Shapes need to collide and merge more and create new shapes, and to flow into new scenes. Create new shapes and patters. A bit like a kaleidoscope.

My ideas from this tutorial are...

- vary my paper ( i have a lot of paper, and this can create some crazy variety)
- get crazy with shape making
- push my ambitions further, lead to some sort of conclusion with the images
- either loop the animations of have a lot of small clips, no longer than 30 seconds
- With my triangle animation - if they all come together and make other shapes and lead to other things
- follow the triangles when folding out - lead to another clip
- experiment with music - to adjust clips to the music

Came up with a few ideas for my piece in the exhibition, but i think i will leave talking about that for another day.

But conclusion for today is that i need to push myself and be more crazy with my shapes and ideas, and maybe just get messy and create some really tacky looking things, that express this crazy experimentation.

Experiments after visiting the media museum

Paper experiment based on Norman Mclaren's mark making into the negative film. Layered up different sized paper to give it the impression it was moving towards the screen. I quite like it, but much prefer Norman's crusty animation.

Bradford Media Museum

Went to Bradford to see the Media museum, was really good and eye opening.

Discovered the first animations of simply scratching straight onto the film, using pens and ink, something that Norman Mclaren was the first to do. I love his animations and movies. They are so timeless, and simple, but so effective.

All these videos being so old obviously come with the effortless effect of authenticity, but i love that effect. I love how crusty and scratchy they all are. And crazy, they were really experimenting and pushing looks. Something i really need to be more crazy with. Colours created are amazing too.

Was a really good trip. Learnt some good stuff about tv too.

Markmaking Norman Mclaren






Oskar Fischniger



Len Lye

More experimentations

Some more experimentations in the av room, with the proper cameras and lights and programes using paper that i have around from card folders and insides of envelopes. And put to music.


Cirlces from abi sharp on Vimeo.


Trees from abi sharp on Vimeo.

Movement

I obviously need to have movement in my animation, if it is to go to music. I took a journey to London the other day (for a very amazing gig). In this journey, i happened to stare out the window for 2 hours listening to music. From this i found that movement basically 'swooshing' across a screen, or window is a really good thing for emphasizing music. Or things flying at you i think are pretty good too.

So, will try to do this is my next experiments.
Also, caught a glimpse of a rowntree advert. It involved a sort of swooshing tube coming towards the screen. I don't know if i dreamt it, but i remember it looking stop animation-ey and drawn in with collage clouds and trumpets. I think i completely made it up as i can't find it anywhere. But that thought does inspire me. And here is a video, that sort of is similar. It has the swooshing tubes, but not til right at the end.




And here is some movement testing to see what does work. I think making things bigger and smaller works best.

Interim crit

It's been nearly a week since my crit, but here is my feedback.

It wasn't quite a crit, as i really haven't produced enough. David commented that i need to look at already existing stuff that goes with music to see what really flows with any music. So basically watch visuals and see if other music goes to it. Something, i probably should have done from the start. 

I also need to create visuals that are interesting and engaging to look at, but that are simply eye candy, and also that it doesn't lead to any story, as this will distract people from the music. 

I'm starting to think that there's not a lot of brains to this project, which should probably make it a lot easier, but i am finding it quite hard. I really do enjoy telling stories, no matter how crap they are, so in hindsight now i do think i should have done something with more of a narrative. This may, may have made things slightly simpler. But really, i'm just making excuses, i should be a lot further along than i am now. 

Really basic stop animations i made and showed at the crit. These were just to experiment with the types of paper, and the movements that i liked. Most people seemed to like the one with the spikes, as more is going on and more interesting really. I really like the envelope one really, but this may be because i love envelopes.


Initial dots from abi sharp on Vimeo.


Spikes from abi sharp on Vimeo.


Envelopes from abi sharp on Vimeo.

Something i have actually done

Untitled from abi sharp on Vimeo.

Tried out some very basic stop animation at home. At first i wanted the paper to be scrumping backwards, so it would end flat, but at the end, i felt it looked better the natural way. This is just a practice and experiment. I really need to get used to the DSLR and using a tripod and not getting distracted. I really want to try out some more complicated shapes and obviously to take some more pictures.

A/V suite induction day

We got inducted into the a/v suite a few days ago, sort of. We more got shown the things that we can do with animation programs, like dragon animation, and after effects. It was actually really helpful, as it showed how simple things can be, if i just went into this room.
So for the future, i think i will practice the animation i want to make at home, using my own computer and crap animation programs that i have on my own computer, then look to see how they can be improved, then again, capture the images and animation stuff on the computers at uni, as the equipment there is so much better and there is a lot more help.

When also being shown the after effects program, it explained, well i think it explained, how some animations  that i really love are made. And makes thing seem a little less scary, although still very confusing and daunting, i really need to get started with this.

On the brighter side, i've been watching these two music videos, which show some effects that i'd really like to do. And after seeing after effects, can kind of see how it worked. I also like how these are put to music, it really helps to look at them, as ultimately my visuals will be put to music.




Also, very much love this song.




The whole of this video is very much what i would like to do. Although, maybe a little brighter. I obviously can't copy this, but it does influence and inspire me a lot.

I believe both of them to have a mixture of stop animation, with photography, which has then be put into after effects. Both must have taken yonks to do.

Handy paper shape making website

http://www.korthalsaltes.com/index.html

SNASK from Mike Crozier on Vimeo.

PRESS + from ducroz on Vimeo.



Vanishing Point from Takuya Hosogane on Vimeo.

three.stream (loop) from beeple on Vimeo.

SLOW from Xaver Xylophon on Vimeo.

Quite old and crusty, but i really like this. I really like the sort of half circle things moving about on the window sill. Like little rainbows sort of.
I guess when i look at these animations i'm trying to find shapes that have been made with paper, so i know the sort of stuff i can aim for. But again, i'm fearing that i'm just going to make something that everyone has seen before, possibly the thing that's stopping me from starting at all, which is very stupid.

Wax Stag - And How from Clem Stamation on Vimeo.

This is more like the sort of stuff i want to make. Although i do find it a little boring, but i do think that is the main point of visuals to go to music, for it to be generic and it to applied to most music, i think. I could be very wrong. I do really like this, but i do hope that when i come to making my own animation that i'm not repeating something that has been seen many many times before.

Animations i like

Here are some animations that i like the style of that i found on vimeo. Unfortunately, they do involve a lot of type, which is pretty bad for me, as i need to steer away from type as it would make the visuals too narrow and not open to all the music being played. But here they are anyway, i like their style.



The Wave Pictures - Sweetheart from Ben Reed on Vimeo.


Make it better from Sebastianbap on Vimeo.


EF - Live The Language - London from Albin Holmqvist on Vimeo.


I think the main reason i like these videos is because of the type, so i really need to step away from that.

Final project BEGIN

Soo... it is decided what i am going to do for my final major project. I think.

Make an animation, using stop motion photography, i think, with paper, and collage and hand crafted stuff basically, and objects too. That should go alongside music. In the hope to submit it to be apart of the visuals for the Parklife festival.

So, it won't have a massive narration but i hope to successfully make it go to the beat of some music.

I've been looking at the park life festival line up, and it all looks pretty swish and all nice and dancy. It seems like a fun festival, so i do intend to use a lot of colour and 'cute' stuff basically, to be all light weight and easy going. I think i'd like to work mainly with shapes made out of paper. But i need to test this all out.

Context 

Some music festivals have always seen the positives of collaborating art and music, and seen how well audiences respond to good visuals.  

Smaller festivals that are just starting out are seeing the collaboration with art to be a great opportunity to gain more popularity and to open up to a wider audience. They are seeing that art can be used as a very good source of entertainment and can create superb atmosphere.  

This is a great opportunity for festival organisers to broaden their horizons and hire people with the skills to create visuals and sculptures and to make their festivals a lot more diverse and entertaining.  

Brief 

To create a video animation, mainly made from paper craft in order to be used as projected visuals at a music event. 

The visuals will be made with an aim to accentuate and to go alongside the music being performed, acting as an entertainment source for the audiences. 

Rational 

From my research summary, I have concluded that I would like to produce low tech, hand crafted visuals for a projection with the aim to set this to live music. Ideally, I would like to use basic materials, i.e. paper, found objects and materials, resourceful skills with lighting and effects, and very basic camera and computer technologies – all in order to produce something on a low budget. 

I will approach the brief now with the aim to do more research into the live brief, i.e. the practical and technical requirements needed for a projection for the Parklife festival in Manchester. I would also like to discover more of the DIY culture to help support my designs. I will hopefully do this by actually making paper crafts and by also reading DIY culture and craft books. 

I know that I am aiming this to an audience of music lovers and festivalgoers so my tone will be energetic, fun and possibly fantasy, as I do believe this creates a good atmosphere. I feel I will also need to work with vibrant, but basic and generic colours, shapes and visuals. I would like to work with type, but I don't know if this will suit the projections as they may communicate too much focus on one set of music. This is something I would need to research and experiment with. 

I will be working with stop animation, so I will need to look into lighting and camera skills, but this is something I already have a basic understanding of. 

I also need to research further into the music I would want to show my projections along side. I 

would like to hope that I could submit my final piece into the Parklife live brief – but this is a high hope- however, in order to do this I will need to look further into the bands and music already announced there. 

'I'd associated public art with sculpture dotted about the landscape and I'd never wanted to do that,' says Bob, a London-based British artist born as Patrick Brill in 1963. 'I'm more interested in how people understand their surroundings, where they are and what they can do; how art can improve their lives and be a language for understanding the world. So a lot of the projects I've worked on have involved working with the public rather than producing thingsfor the public. This is what I wanted to do when I was asked if I'd consider curating the Thames Gateway project.'

Noriko Okaku

Noriko Okaku in RED Gallery from Alice Masters on Vimeo.

Her work explores the variety, eclectic nature and strangeness underlying everyday thing and actions. Her video work incorporates drawing, collage, photography, painting and animation.

This girl and Max Hattler below are the first I have found to actually use hand drawn and collage methods in their VJing. I guess it is because they are mainly animators, and that is where i need to be looking more. I really like their stuff.

Max Hattler and Noriko Oakuku

a/v: '/\/\/\' (by Max Hattler + Noriko Okaku) from Max Hattler on Vimeo.



a/v: '(O)' (by Max Hattler + Noriko Okaku) from Max Hattler on Vimeo.

"Max and Noriko first met when studying Animation together at the Royal College of Art. There are parallels in their animation-based experimental, semi-narrative, non-dialogue approach to working with film and video. Apart from their live work, they have collaborated on several projects ranging from tour visuals for The Egg and Basement Jaxx to stop-motion film Aanaatt and Max's latest short film Spin. With (O), their third collaboration, Max returns to his teenage roots in sound/music-making and makes a first foray into live audio performance, complemented by Noriko's surreal animated visuals." (London Short Film Festival 2010)

a/v: Max Hattler + Economy Wolf @ Beck's Fusions at ICA, 2007 from Max Hattler on Vimeo.

This again, is a good video of some different VJ. Again, not quite what i want to do, but i like how it is different to what i've seen around. Some parts do go to the electrical, vibrant lines and shapes, but they incorporate some stop animation and video, as well as some pixelated computer generated images, that appear to have been made into an animation.

I am starting to see that looking straight into VJing is something that i shouldn't be doing. I think i need to look more to artists and designers who typically use 3D paper craft in their work, and see if they have gone to any animation or visuals for massive projections. And obviously, i need to look at the real world, and try and get some influences from that.

Visuals at festivals

More of the actual 3D in the flesh kind, but this is the type of artistic side that i am trying to make, and how it can create an amazing atmosphere at a festival.

I love how massive everything can get. From the performance stages, to small tents, stalls, random things in the middle of walking areas, games and costumes. All of it is very very fun.

The Flaming Lips visuals

Really interesting, and really different visuals for Flaming Lips live show. The actual images are completely different from the stuff i want to try out, but i love how it's so different to the normal, fashing lights and lines going across a screen.
I'm starting to get a bit worried that that is all VJing is, but this has perked me up... a bit.

Looking through festival VJing. I believe this to be quite old, so could explain why i don't love it. As it's kind of not up to scratch and not visually perfect. But i like how it is drawn and uses colllage to make visuals, rather than lights or computer generated images. And definitely DIY and cheap looking, i do like it for that. But kind of hate, because it is a little bit ugly. But that might be it's charm.

Tutorial 21/3/11

I think... i think i have finally come up with an idea for my final project.
I had a tutorial a few days ago, and expressed my idea, with a sort of brief and context in mind. The words got shuffled around a bit, but i believe i am happy with the final outcome. But first, i need to explain a little more stuff.

Basically, as a class we have been told about a live brief for a festival in Manchester called Parklife. If i'm right, i believe we've been asked to create motion graphics for projections and LED screens, which i'm guessing will go behind the performers.
I was really interested in this brief at first, as i have always wanted to create visuals for music, usually in the form of music videos, but since starting this course, i've started to realise that music videos are slightly pointless, and a slight bit waste of money. They are good and fun to watch and make. But i think bands should be spending more on live shows, soo... creating visuals for a live show seemed perfect. However, when talking this brief through, there seemed to be a lot of technical stuff, and complicated words that i'd never heard of, which terrified me. I did express this, and i was reassured that you could approach this at any kind of angle, even from a more illustrative one, but some technical knowledge is needed.
I could use this as an opportunity to get to know all these technical things, so this could be really good.
But my second, however, is that working for this brief may restrict me a little. Seeing as this is our first year, and probably the last year (if we do carry on to be budding artists) that we are given so much freedom with a project. I spoke this through with my tutor, and he did agree. Saying i should keep an eye on this Parklife brief, but basically not to allow myself to get restricted. So... my brief.

Brief
To create a range of graphic clips, made from paper sculptures in order to be used as projected visuals, in the hope of submitting to the live brief for the music festival Parklife.
The visuals will be made with an aim to accentuate and go alongside the music being performed for audience's entertainment purposes.

Context
Some music festivals have always seen the positives in collaborating art and music and seen how well audiences respond to good visuals.
Smaller festivals, that are just starting out, are seeing the collaboration with art to be a great opportunity to gain more popularity and to open up to a wider audience. They are seeing that art can be used as a very good source of entertainment and can create superb atmosphere.
This is a great opportunity for festival organisers to broaden their horizons and hire people with the skills to create visuals and sculptures to make their festivals a lot more diverse and entertaining.

Done... i think

Basically, i want to make visuals, sort of like VJ clips, all made out of paper (using shapes and type) to go alongside music being played on a massive stage at a festival, in the hope that Parklife will take it too and use it. And possibly to create massive sculptures out of paper to be used as decoration.

Maccabees video i have always liked. Obviously love all the paper stuff and hand drawn'ness' to it. And the stop animation.



I do really like this video, but there are some parts that i'm not really looking at. The bits i really like are when the band is involved and they are using stop motion images to jump them around in the air, and the parts with the stop motion and the paper, i really like that.

I think it would be really cool to make a video with 3D paper and installations, that is always something i've always wanted to do. But maybe if it was something more interactive then that could be very cool. Like a mixture of these videos with Arcade Fires new videos that are on the website for anyone to play around with. I like the idea of getting people involved a lot.

Tom Rowe and Ciara Phelan

Realy really like this.

Pixelgarten

Nous Vous

Shaz Madani

Eve Duhamel

Francofolies Festival Projections from Eve Duhamel on Vimeo.

A really recent discovery. Her work involves a broad range of handmade works from felt tip pen ink drawings to acrylic paintings, video animations, sculpture and installations, always rendered in
bright colors, with abstract shapes and sketchbook-like figurative drawings. I very much like.
I really like the video animations for the music festival. Something that i could take an interest in. Combining the visuals stuff with the 3d and the festival activity.