Final Fibonacci Film

Here's the final finished fibonacci film, with Bence Peter's music to compliment the images. 

Review

So the the film part of the exhibition was a bit of a shambles...

Our films were projected onto a screen in the exhibition but all the edges were cut off as the projector couldn't be set up far enough away in such a small room, meaning that all our films had action or information going on which couldn't be seen. I was particularly disappointed at this as sections of my number sequence (which the entire film is based around) were missing because they had been cut off. It therefore wasn't the fibonacci sequence at all as the series of numbers is NOT 1,1,2,3, (big blank gap on screen) 13,21. It also negates any specific positioning or camera angles chosen when the rest of the shot is not seen. As well as this I thought it was unfortunate that instead of speakers, we were only allocated one set of headphones. This meant that only one viewer at a time could appreciate the films as a whole. For my part, I think that the music in my film helps to give it a rhythm and flow and stops it being too dreary, something anyone not wearing the headphones could not appreciate. Being in a separate room to the rest of the exhibition should have meant that we could play music through speakers without disturbing the rest of the space, but perhaps there were other reasons why this couldn't happen. 
All in all I guess I was just a bit disappointed in the final outcome at the exhibition. 

Inky Mandala Messing

I tried to create a sort of link between my Fibonacci film and the mandala clips by exploiting the freedom of movement in the ink pixilation. It nearly worked. With a background of ink experiment footage it might have looked a bit better, I think it's a bit rough as it is here though. I do really like the way the light from behind shone through my mandala cut outs though and that the ink could be seen spreading beneath them. It's messy but could be quite pretty with layers of colour. Unfortunately, this linking section wasn't needed in the end anyway as my other footage didn't work well with the green screen effect (think I needed to use a stronger colour to take out), so my mandala pixilation films couldn't really be edited together smoothly. Sad Face.

Inky Messing About

After discovering that animating with inks could be done by putting a sheet of acetate on top of a light-box and filming the ink movement using a pixilation method. It's not exactly easy but it's an interesting way to animate and creates a really lovely fluid quality to the film. It's also a good method to use if you're struggling for a theme or need a bit of inspiration, as it almost creates itself. I suppose it's part of human nature to find recognisable images in something that isn't necessarily figurative, like those pictures of houses that look like faces. I sort of stumbled across the rabbit image (probably because it's an animal so dear to me). I might adapt this technique for creating single ink drawings too as it is a lot freer than any other technique I've tried and can be changed easily if I don't like the direction the drawing is going in.

Definitely something to consider for future projects. :)

Wish I'd known this earlier...

Originally, at the start of this project, I had an idea in my head of what my fibonacci film would look like. I imagined it as quite a fluid, inky animation with very smooth, natural-looking transitions. I realised quite early on in the project that trying to draw 720 frames with inks would probably drive me crazy, as the ink would never match up properly and is entirely too unpredictable to use in this way in a constrained time period. 

When I was putting my frames into iStopmotion in the animation studio though, I began chatting to a second year girl, Jen Ferentiuk, as we were both practically living in the studio at this point. If only, I had met her at the start of the project, because she showed me an animation of hers using inks, which was not only beautifully crafted, but solved the issues that had put me off using inks in my film. >http://vimeo.com/87952216

By using inks on acetate over a light-box and pixelation techniques instead of creating a peg bar animation, Jen  managed to get the flowing quality of inks in her animation without wasting paper and time. In the future this will definitely be a technique I will try out, however I think I would have struggled to create this kind of animation for Unit X anyway, as access to the animation suite was non-existant over the Easter break. Something to think about for the future though...

Pixelation is the way forward!

Soooooo, after 4/5 weeks of continuous drawing for this silly peg bar animation that I now hate from staring at it for so long, I managed to create 45 seconds of animation using the pixelation technique in an afternoon!!!! 
These sections of animation are quite quirky and sweet (I prefer them to my hand-drawn animation), but I'm not sure now if I'll be able to use them in a final film. The techniques I've picked up are useful for the future though, not just for the fact that it's a quicker process and therefore you can get much more done, but also because it gives a cute, homely quality to the film, which I love. (There was another video, but it is too large for the blog to handle unfortunately.)

Chakra Pixilation

This is the pixilation I made which should have gone over the ink footage from our workshop. I got the green screen (aka purple screen) wrong though and the keyer setting on Final Cut Pro X picked up too much of the rest of the image, rather than just the background. I tried adjusting the settings for the keyer effect so it would leave behind some tones but then my film had a lilac tinge to it which I disliked. This meant that the mandala film didn't get made in the end because my footage couldn't be linked in a professional way as it was. I would have needed to re-film all the pixilation work and there just wasn't time to do this. :( 

Collaboration!

Having looked again on youtube for some fibonacci themed music to compliment my animation, I discovered Bence Peter. The speed and tone of his fibonacci composition was exactly what I was looking for and so I followed the link to his facebook page and sent him this message: 

"Hi, My name is Rachel and I'm a first year student animator in Manchester. I've been creating a hand-drawn animation for my final project this year based on the fibonacci sequence and I've been looking for some music to go with it. I found your fibonacci piece on youtube and I absolutely loved it. I was wondering if you'd object to me using it as the score for my minute long animation, as it fits beautifully with my images. It's obviously non-profit and I would credit you fully in my titles. And, if you were interested, I'll of course send you the film. Hoping you'll agree and wishing you luck with your future music. Rachel McMahon."

To my surprise, Bence got back to me straight away with a lovely message...

"Hi Rachel, thanks for writing to me and I'm glad you liked the music and of course feel free to use it for your animation! I always love to see creative people using it. If you provide me with your email address I might be able to send a better quality version too.

Thanks, and good luck! Bence"

I find that creative people are often very eager to help each other out, especially if you're a student looking for a bit of help or guidance, as they can normally remember the time when they were just starting out too and will empathise with you. Bence emailed me that evening with a higher quality mp4 track of the composition like he said he would. What a lovely guy and talented pianist!

Latest Line Tests

After a few camera issues aka me being clueless with technology again, I managed to get a few seconds of animation into iStopmotion. I had wanted to get the whole film done in the afternoon, but I severely underestimated the amount of time it takes to capture over 720 frames! It takes FOREVER! Especially when the camera is on auto-rotate, keeps changing its view and you don't know how to fix it. (It's actually really easy to fix...)
This time I definitely captured each frame twice so the animation is running to a normal speed, meaning no going back and adding in frames thank goodness! Good to know my intuition in timing is fairly sound. 

Fibonacci Music

I knew vaguely that the fibonacci series related to music, for example that the keys of piano are in the series. 

I wanted to find some music for my animation which had been written with the fibonacci series in mind, so that hopefully the music would compliment the images on another level. In my search I found this TEDtalk about the power of the sequence within music. I might use something similar to this simple percussive music in my film, although I do like the power of the maths within chord progressions and harmonies so I might go for something with a bit more depth to it. It would be brilliant if the music I chose ended on a point like this video, but I think my timings would have had to be planned out earlier to match the music rather than finding music to match my video. 

Ishu Patel

After telling my friend Cat about my film ideas, she recommended that I look at Ishu Patel's animations. Patel is originally from India, but has taken his work across the world with the National Film Board. His animation Perspectrum was of particular interest to me as it used a soundtrack that I think will be quite similar to what I'll be using for my mandala film. It was also very abstract and used only simple shapes but the movement links so well with the music that it is beautifully entrancing. I think this has highlighted for me that the film doesn't necessarily need to have an obvious theme, it an just be about the joy of patterns, colour and balance.
Patel's other animations, Afterlife, The Bead Game and Paradise are lovely too because they really abuse the freedom animators have in creating an entirely new world where anything can happen. In The Bead Game and Afterlife, Patel merges characters and shapes into new ones in the blink of an eye, or dissolves them into a mass of colour before transforming them again. He works seamlessly between the shapes, like clay being remodelled. I love the way he merges between different colours as well, using a chromatic spectrum it seems. Part of me wishes that I had not worked on white paper for my peg bar animation as Patel's use of colour against a black background seems to make them look like they glow like coloured lights and therefore the background could be anything if it wasn't in darkness.

A real line test! Finally!

So I've finally managed to get into a studio and capture my frames for the first proper line test of the animation. Normally I would prefer to get this done earlier than 629 frames in, but whatcha gonna do...? Luckily, my instincts seem to have served me pretty well whilst drawing and I've only got a few timing discrepancies that I need to sort out. 
The start of the grid formation in the beginning of the film and some transitional sections are far too fast for my liking but they can be easily solved by drawing in extra frames and taking double captures of the frames where necessary. 
The parts I'm happiest with are the meteor at the start of the film and the hand at the end. I like that the arc in my meteor's trajectory worked out well and didn't just look like I couldn't draw in a straight line, because meteors apparently never come straight at the Earth because of the gravitational field <(Fun Fact) I think the hand worked out well because I really had to research how a hand moves by filming my own and studying it frame by frame. I feel the extra time invested there has paid off. 
The only thing that worries me about my animation is that after connecting two line tests together on Final Cut, the length was only 33 seconds. 629 frames caught at double capture in iStopMotion ought to create 52 seconds worth of film... Where have my other 19 seconds gone???? My only explanation for this is that perhaps iStopMotion was not capturing the frames as doubles. Need to investigate this, as it might affect my timing problems in the animation. 

Using Zeitraffer

I've been experimenting with filming a wire toy I have that reminds me of a 3D version of a mandala. It's very delicate and can be manipulated into different shapes. It's so 90s too; a relic from the age of mood rings, Buffy the Vampire Slayer and dungarees. 
I tried to create a pixelation of it at home, but without a tripod, proper lighting and just your basic digital camera, the result is a bit poor. I think this needs to be re-shot in the studio. The only part I like really is the section at the end where it gets squashed down, because you can see the transition quite clearly. (I used my suitcase as a homemade tripod there). Really I wanted this film to be used in my second animation, and reflect the paper cut mandalas, which will be revolving. I'm not sure how clear the transitions are though because the object is so complex, so I'll have to retry the pixelation and then see how clear it is. 

Chakras and Palmistry Experiment

To compliment a section of my hand-drawn fibonacci animation of an outstretched palm, I've been looking into Buddhist ideas of chakras in the hands for my mandala film. I've discovered that different parts of the hand relate to different areas of the body according to the chakra theory, and this correlation is shown by colour-coding the matching areas. The complimenting film section that I could create for my mandala film could therefore be a pixelation of the coloured areas spreading across my left hand (to mirror the right hand in the fibonacci animation). The film section needs to only be 3-5 seconds long which is plenty of time to paint and draw across my hand and map out the basic chakra areas. 

 < Section of the hand-drawn fibonacci animation. Right hand holding a nautilus shell. 

< My left hand painted to demonstrate the areas of the palm relating to chakras in the body. I painted onto my palm using acrylic paints which come away easily afterwards, as opposed to inks, which stain. 

< My painted left hand with patterns drawn on using biro pen. I thought the colours alone looked a bit bland and bare, so I experimented with shapes and lines I've used in my mandala creations. I might alternatively just write onto my palm which sections relate to which chakra in the body, as they all have different names. 

First-hand research

For a section of my fibonacci animation I wanted to animate a hand picking up a shell, but having never drawn  something like that before, I wasn't sure of the exact movement. After the gif I made ofMr Rufus Rabbit went so well though, I figured the best way to handle my problem would be to film my own hand picking something up and then watch the movement until I could replicate it. There is a certain amount of intuition that still goes on with this method, as this time I'm not rotoscoping the image the way I did for the rabbit gif. 
Using first-hand research (pardon the pun), is definitely the best way to approach animating something new, otherwise it is very easy to get the movement wrong. For something as commonplace as hand gestures, I did not want this to happen as it would be very noticeable if the action wasn't naturalistic. 

Line test for Fibonacci Animation

Unfortunately, I've had trouble trying to get line tests done over the Easter break due to a lack of access to the animation studio. I did manage to do a very short test using my digital camera, which seems to be at the speed and accuracy that I want, but I'm still unsure of the rest of the film. I'm hoping that my instincts are correct in the drawings though and I won't need to make any adjustments. This section is of the fibonacci spiral transforming into a galaxy. 

Printing patterns

In order to get every element of a mandala the same, it makes sense to use a printing technique. Obviously with printing, there is always an aspect of difference between each print, depending on how the paint/ink has connected with the printing block and then the surface. I did some experimenting with found objects such as jewellery, pins, charms, coins and pen lids. 

I also tried printing leaves but the effects were so different each time that I didn't think they'd make good prints for mandalas. Other people have used leaves to create natural mandalas though by using the entire leaf rather than just an imprint of it. 

Bunnies and Buddhism

I love rabbits, having always owned them as pets; and I think their movement is fantastic for animations, as it's such a fluid, joyful motion. I wanted to somehow include my love of these little creatures in my animations, and discovered that Fibonacci came up with a hypothetical situation involving rabbit breeding habits, which followed his mathematical sequence.

Until now however this only allowed me the possibility of including bunnies in one of the films. After some further research into shape symbolism in Buddhism and other religions/cultures, I found these images of Buddhist and Celtic triskelions. 

I may not include these in the final films as there is already a lot of imagery and content relating to my subject, but for my own personal interest, I'm really pleased to have discovered these quirky little images. They are especially interesting to me as I have Irish celtic roots as well. 

Animation #2

My second film in this project is going to be based around the Buddhist theories of order and balance in the universe, as a contrast to the mathematical Fibonacci theory. Although they overlap in certain areas, I want my second film to be more like a celebration than a deconstruction of the universe. To acheive this I've been looking at mandala patterns and filming techniques that use natural processes to create beautiful images, such as inks seeping through water. This film is going to be more simplistic than my hand-drawn animation; it will just use symmetry and movement to produce balanced, and hopefully beautiful, visual representation of the ideas of cosmic forces.

I may also delve into the idea of chakras and healing forces, which will hopefully mirror my Fibonacci video and the idea of the sequence being present in the human form (Da Vinci's Vetruvian Man). I will try to time my videos so that they run simultaneously and reflect both sides of the same question about the divining powers of the universe: is it a purely mathematical structure or unknown karmic forces which keep the universe revolving?



How to draw a galaxy...

My animation design has meant that I have set myself the challenge of drawing and animating a galaxy. Having never even attempted to draw a galaxy before this was probably not the brightest idea I've had so far in this project, however it seems necessary in order to visually explain the theory of pantheism (that life on Earth originated from a single organism transported to Earth by a meteorite). In my animation it is, of course, a spiral-covered, Fibonacci-infused meteorite in order to create a planet full of life forms exhibiting the Fibonacci pattern... makes sense right? And equally logically, this meteorite needed to come from a Fibonacci galaxy.

So, how to draw a galaxy? 
I needed the design to be fairly quick and simple to reproduce, otherwise the animating would take far too long for the schedule I'm running to (approx. 24 frames a day currently). 
My original designs consisted of a few quick line in pen in a vague spiral form... not very inspiring, beautiful or scientific. 
I then began to mess around by smudging the inks, but it still wasn't achieving the magical, beautiful look I was after. I decided that in order to get the desired effect, I'd need to add some sparkle and colour, so I invested in gold, cobalt and magenta inks to experiment with. 
I kept the strong black lines though too, as I want them to be a stable feature throughout the film. 
Having not done a line test yet on the animation though, I am still to see if this technique works the way I want it to. I may, for example need to adjust the lighting so that the gold is picked up properly by the camera. At the moment though, I'm happy with the images I'm producing and think they hold the gaze. 

Alternative Mandalas

Since researching the historical and spiritual aspects behind the mandala pattern, I've been taking into account how people subvert symbols from other cultures for use in their own, sometimes losing the message along the way. For example, mandala patterns are now very commonly used for tattoo designs, but as the idea has become more prevalent, the mandala form has evolved. This is perhaps due to tattoo designers becoming more and more ambitious and competitive with each other, and thereby creating more complex designs, rather than adhering to the traditional 4-cornered Buddhist mandala. Mandala designs are more intricate and floral, taking aspects from Indian paisleys and henna patterns, Aztec geometrics and natural forms. As these are permanent fixtures to the human body, they disregard the Buddhist tradition of destroying the mandala once it is complete. Instead they often focus on the harmony of the design, its symmetry and beauty reflecting body, mind and spirit combined. 

After considering how the mandala has changed subject to culture and time, I decided to again reinvent the mandala by creating a design whilst cooking. I made a pizza mandala, which disregards all aspects of traditional and contemporary mandala, and instead shows the impermanence of things. The design changed first when the pizza was cooked and then was destroyed by being sliced up and eaten.

Papercraft Animations

My research into origami and papercraft has led me to paper-cutting in animation. As paper is such a versatile material, it can be used to create 3D stop-motion animations, because it both holds its shape and can be easily manipulated into new positions/forms. The best examples so far that I've come across are those by Andersen M Studio, who make short promotional animations for books, TV series and websites. My favourites are either the promotional video for the novel, 'The Distant Hours' or the advert for a new Discovery Channel TV show, 'Shackleton: Death or Glory'.

The Distant Hours video was beautiful because it used only basic materials of paper and dirt, but the lighting, sound and camera angles of the film made it into a short drama, filled with tension and intrigue. The juxtaposition of harsh straight edges and the curving lines of flowers also made it a beautiful film to watch, and attests to the wonderful combinations of shapes that can be achieved with just paper.

The Shackleton film appealed to me because of the connection between the materials used and the subject matter. The animators used nautical maps of the southern polar regions to create a ship and waterscape scene based around Shackleton's journey to Antarctica.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=w694zRej5QQ

After seeing these gorgeous animations, I'd really love to combine paper-cutting into my 2nd film based around mandalas, pattern-making and balance. I think because of time limitations and because I've never done a paper stop-motion before, I will probably keep the film quite simple. Perhaps just spinning mandala patterns overlapping and intertwining for one scene of the film before they fold into an origami shape for example.

Light and Water Workshop

Today we did a workshop based on the effects of light shining through water, and had various materials provided to us which would create certain effects when dropped into the lit water. We used an overhead projector with clear Perspex bowls filled with water placed on top. This meant that anything dropped into the bowl of water would be projected onto a wall and enlarged. We experimented with various coloured inks, washing up liquid, coloured films, oil, prisms and magnifying glasses. We also tried different methods of delivery into the bowls of water, such as dropping inks from high up and dribbling them down the sides of the bowls. We also experimented with the effects made by blowing on the water and using a straw to create bubbles. These looked really good when reflected onto the wall, as the bubbles collected a deeper tone of ink around the edges and refract light within them. Some of the images looked like living things, such as microbes or bacteria. The oil and washing up liquid worked well with the water and inks as well because they don't mix, and so blobs of oil separate in the liquid, creating suspended islands of clarity within the inky water swirling in the bowl.
The videos we made had a very ethereal quality to them, and give an impression of balance and magic. I think therefore that this technique will be fantastic when used as a background in my 2nd film about mandalas and the Buddhist theories on the karmic balance of the universe. Other techniques I may use in this film might be pixilation and paper craft.

I attempted to make my own projections at home using a perspex tray and my lightbox, but it wouldn't project clearly enough so I just photographed the tray itself. I think they look like forming galaxies, which is very relevant to my project. 

Origami Mischeif

As I've been thinking about maths in art and the power of geometry and symmetry, a leap into the world of origami didn't seem that far a stretch. Some origami patterns share similar characteristics to mandalas; focusing around a central point, layering of shapes, symmetrical composition etc. Most people know how to make a simple origami fortune teller (a lost skill from their school days) so I thought it would be a nice little exercise to make an animation of the making of one. It was also a quick way for me to sample the new Zeitrapher app on the Macs in the animation studio. 

It's not the neatest animation as I only took photographs using my phone and did not use a tripod to keep the camera steady, but it's a jumping off point for future films. A discussion with my tutor led to the idea of using   green screen technology so the paper could be manipulated on screen without seeing my hands. This could also allow me to put further animation into the background perhaps. These little clips of origami manufacture could also be adapted by putting a kaleidoscope effect on the film to create a mandala-like image of origami structures. 

Mandala Meanings

Merriam-Webster dictionary describes the mandala symbol as follows:

1:  a Hindu or Buddhist graphic symbol of the universe; specifically :  a circle enclosing a square with a deity on each side that is used chiefly as an aid to meditation.

2:  a graphic and often symbolic pattern usually in the form of a circle divided into four separate sections or bearing a multiple projection of an image.

In Tantric Hinduism and Buddhism (see Vajrayana), a diagram representing the universe, used in sacred rites and as an instrument of meditation. The mandala serves as a collection point for universal forces. By mentally “entering” the mandala and moving toward its centre, one is guided through the cosmic processes of disintegration and reintegration. Mandalas may be painted on paper or cloth, drawn on the ground, or fashioned of bronze or stone. Two types of mandalas represent different aspects of the universe: the garbha-dhatu (“womb world”), in which the movement is from one to the many, and the vajra-dhatu (“diamond world”), from the many into one.

This is a fairly concise and clear description of what a traditional mandala form means, however, as with most symbols, the form has been adopted by other cultures and in many circmstances it no longer holds its sacred meaning. Traditionally Buddhist monks will work on a mandala collectively (as a group of 4), and will only be allowed into the 3 year long process after they have studied artistic and philosophical practices. The process requires meditative concentration and is a balanced construction with each monk working on their own quadrant in synchronisation with the others.

The mandala is traditionally made out of coloured sands, and at the end of the lengthy process it is customary for the image to be destroyed, often by throwing the sands into a nearby stream to distribute the positive energies. This process, although it seems destructive and unfair, is to remind the monks of the important fact that everything is impermanent - a central Buddhist teaching.



Spirals are EVERYWHERE!

It's amazing how your subconscious focuses in on something after it's been exposed to an idea. It's the kind of phenomena that means as soon as you buy a new car or dye your hair a new colour, you start seeing the same car/hair colour everywhere you look. The simple fact is that they've probably been around you for a while and you just haven't noticed until it was relevant to your life. This is what has happened to me since I started looking at the Fibonacci series and mandala patterns. I'm now noticing spirals and patterns everywhere.
In uni last week we had a guest lecture from Brendan Dawes, who tries his hand at a variety of different mediums and styles. I really liked some of his work; his happiness machine is exactly what I think art should be, entertaining and there to make people happy. It's his work for EE however which captured my attention in relation to my project. He created a way of visualising links in Twitter over 3 days and 11 different cities as part of their promotional campaign. His final design is based on the formation of sunflower seeds on the flower, but he uses different sized and coloured dots as a code for the Tweets, which gives the effect of a sporadic mandala pattern.
I absolutely love it when data is visualised by artists, hence the reason I'm so into maths for this project. My flatmate owns a book called 'Information is Beautiful', which is a collection of innovative ways of presenting data. I think Dawes' EE Digital City Portraits could easily be a part of the book, as it has made millions of tweets digestible in just a few beautiful images. I particularly love how one of the images shows an influx of tweets from the London area regarding a hurricane in New York, and the formation of Dawes' images reflects the structure of a hurricane as it follows the same Fibonacci spiral - a lucky, unintended stroke of brilliance in the work due to the data that came through.
http://brendandawes.com/projects/ee

16mm Film Test

I took part in a workshop this afternoon, which involved damaging, drawing and painting onto 16mm film. We used tipex, sharpies, nail varnish, spray paint and stickers to add to blank film, but then on film which was already exposed we used pins and scalpels to 'interfere' with the original images on the film reel. These created an effect which reminded me of the punk tendency to cut and stick and use existing images. It had a very obvious hand-made quality, but also the urgency and violent feel of punk videos. 

As a form of inspiration we were shown the work of Len Lye, and tried to unpin the materials he had used by watching 'Swinging the Lambeth Walk'. We decided that his hand-painted films were created using found objects, such as film sprockets and combs, to stamp and make marks. What impressed me most about Len Lye's work though was the perfect timing with every aspect of the music; it was like stepping into the mind of a synesthete.

Unexpected Inspiration!

I went to see Bombay Bicycle Club play at the Albert Hall last night and received some unexpected inspiration during the gig. Aside from the music and atmosphere being incredible, the group had commissioned animators and set designers to create a backdrop during the gig, which featured some beautiful animated videos. (All were created by Anna Ginsburg I think.)

The set consisted of five circular screens, on which the videos were projected, as well as further projections up the walls on either side of the stage and old organ pipes behind the band (a relic from the days when it was presumably a church). The animations themselves focussed on the movement of the human body and cycles within the world, such as the rising of the sun and moon in the transitions between day and night. Some of the animations were, I can only assume, rotoscoped images of the human body moving as they caputred the arc of dancers and athletes as they leaped through the air. The movements were captured and then repeated to create circular patterns (almost like mandalas made from the human form), which reflected the screen layout onto which they were projected. I managed to capture part of one of the many animations featured during the gig, which relates very closely to my research at the moment, as it shows a spiral made up of tiny human figures (cue Rachel jumping up and down with excitement at a fellow Fibonacci lover!).

The band have also used animators in their official music videos. For 'Carry Me' they enlisted the help of Grace Helmer, Jake Evans and Luiz Stockler, to work collaboratively on the animated music video. According to a post on www.itsnicethat.com, by James Cartwright, the video was originally created as an interactive piece that could be manipulated on screen, but after realising this would not work for the millions of Youtube users, they brought in Grace to create hand-drawn animations to compliment the shots. The project was overseen by Anna Ginsburg, who also created 'Luna' and 'How can you swallow so much sleep' by Bombay.

N.B. I think I have a new favourite person. Looking through Ginsburg's sketchbook washing line and showreel on her site is a way for me to spend hours of my life. http://www.annaginsburg.co.uk/index.html

Unit X - Briefing and Initial Ideas

Today we had our first group briefing for the Film aspect of Unit X. Around the theme of 'Lost Science' we started discussing what we might research for our films, and it was really interesting to see what theories have been lost to the ages and how certain cultures have put more store in alchemy/nature/exorcism etc.

 

My band of research has been geared towards the idea of maths infusing everything we do/see, which is a strongly accepted theory based around the Fibonacci sequence and the idea of the Golden Ratio. From flower petals to the formation of galaxies, this numerical sequence can be found, and the idea that there are forces governing our reality has a strong influence in science fiction and religion.

 

From this briefing it has been made clear that we need to create two films which propose opposing ideas based on a similar theme. For me, this could be the idea of a real mathematical series which relates to life (perhaps linking to particle theory and the Hadron Collider in CERN) aka real scientific research; and then alternatively, the idea of karmic forces governing the universe, nature's connectivity, holistic healing, mandala patterns etc. Or even, to contrast completely against the idea of coding within nature, I could look into chaos theory.

 

Using a pinterest board, I've started to collect imagery around the idea of pattern-making and natural phenomena. http://www.pinterest.com/rachelmcmahon10/mandalas-patterns/ However, by mind-mapping my ideas, I've begun to see just how many connections can be made once you begin to spin out from a central mathematical code. To help me understand the maths a bit more, I've been watching a few TEDtalks on the subject, which have proved not only interesting but useful too.

 

Arthur Benjamin is SCARILY clever though. I can't even begin to understand his mathemagics perfomance on TEDtalks.

Trip to Yorkshire Sculpture Park

For the start of Unit X, our tutors organised a trip to Yorkshire Sculpture Park. We were encouraged to wander around the park and create a 2 minute film following the Dogme 95 manifesto, which followed the life of a member of our team. The rules basically comprise to create a very rough-looking film, as you are not allowed to use any special filters, effects, sound or props (unless already in the film or found on site). It all contributes to give the film the look of a home video.

 

Seeing as none of us were actors, we decided that a simplistic approach to the film (complimenting the basic rules) was the best way to go. We filmed one of our group walking through the scenery of the park and edited it later on iMovie to show her travels through the entire park in just 2 minutes.

 

I think this kind of film work is better when you are learning about camera angles/acting skills, as it takes you back to the basics of filming, so you can't rely on computer trickery to make it look good later. Although it gets you to think outside the box a bit as a film-maker by putting obstacles in your path, I'm not sure I'd like to be so strict with myself again. For one thing, I like a good soundtrack, and I think that is what's lacking in Dogme 95 films for me.

 

I loved the sculpture park though, having never visited it before, and took some photos of the art and my friends messing around, enjoying the fresh air. My favourite piece in the park was a screen erected on the edge of a large field, which showed a continous gif of a horse running. This reminded me of Edward Muybridge, whose work I researched when I was creating my own gif of a rabbit running. The idea of having animations outside in the middle of park had never occurred to me, and I am always interested in new ways film is being used as it will hopefully give me more avenues to follow once I graduate. The artwork is titled 'Galloping Horse' and was created by artist Julian Opie; it traces the park's history back to a time when there were once horses stabled there, and I think it adds some interest amongst the static sculptures.

Mr Rufus Immortalised!

Since a print workshop at the start of 2014, during which I printed an image of my pet rabbit, Mr Rufus, I have been wanting to animate him. This opportunity presented itself when I was taught how to create a .gif animation on Photoshop. I used both my new printing and computer skills to create this .gif of Mr Rufus running around.
I took many films of him running, jumping and cleaning himself, from which I edited the film I wanted. Using iMovie, I then separated out the image sequence, rotoscoped the images into a hand-drawn storyboard, and then photocopied these images onto acetate ready for screen-printing. After screen-printing the background and rabbit onto handmade paper, I then scanned them into Photoshop to create the .gif.

Final Squirrel Animation!

I've abandoned my blog of late due to a recently discovered love of Pinterest. I noticed, however that I completely forgot to post the final finished version of my squirrel animation. There a few bits that I'd like to tweak, but overall as a first attempt at animating properly, I'm rather proud of myself for creating the little bushy-tailed character and his friends.
It needs some credits and music adding, as well as possibly a quote/poem about friendship or nature at the end. Hopefully, this will all be completed before the summer so I can submit it to Virgin Media Shorts 2014.
Until then, this is the finished article...

Pinterest Obsession

Having recently discovered Pinterest, I've developed quite an obsession with the site. I find it excellent for collecting visual data at the start of a new project (as well as using it for my own projects and general research). I also love the way it organises images into a solid mood board, making it really useful for noticing connections and writing your own comments.
The link to my Pinterest boards is below.
http://www.pinterest.com/rachelmcmahon10/