Monday, 30 May 2022
Monday, 16 May 2022
Monday, 9 May 2022
Tuesday, 26 April 2022
Tuesday, 19 April 2022
Production Week 3
Scene 5
An animation test to make background work less repetitive, and because the background for scene 5 is simple. It works well as an introductory shot of the character following establishing shots of the surroundings, but will probably need colour work later on.
Scene 8
Perspective tunnel shot - Will definitely need some textural work done. Atmospheric sound is incorporated into this scene so drops of water and echoes will be worked on.
Scene 10
This makes up the establishing shot of the DJ characters. The layers are also organised for a far more busy scene at the end of the film. The room will be full of people, rotoscoped from reference footage I have collected.
Production week 2
Reference Images
Scene 6/7
The refined backgrounds show a zooming shot. No sound is present so the scene remains grey.
A portrait mid shot for panning down to the sewers.
Scene 16
Wide shot of buildings. Windows marked out for a composite of sound/colour.
Scene 26
Another sound rich shot. Character to be composited in
Scene 2
More establishing shots for compositing.
Propoganda for opening scenes
This use of vandalism and word play is one of the concepts I have considered in showing the change of societal narrative in the film. The first image represents state control. The second, a radical changing of the message which is communicated.
Another word play is:
24 Hour Surveillance - 24 Hour Subservience
Since there is no spoken word in the film, items like propaganda will aid the message of the film, establishing the dystopia in the film and the changed attitudes at the end. I was inspired by Adam Curtis v Massive Attack as it too uses big text with haunting undertones.
The second video has text that reads:
‘NOW IT’S YOUR WORLD [...] YOU ARE AT THE CENTRE OF EVERYTHING [...] IN THE PAST POLITICIANS WANTED TO CHANGE THINGS [...] INCLUDING YOU [...] THE NEW SYSTEM LISTENS TO YOU, OBSERVES YOU, UNDERSTANDS YOU, AND GIVES YOU WHAT IT KNOWS YOU WANT’
This is a good example of some dangerous concepts of state control and societal compliance that are valuable to feed into the narrative. Text is a good way to explore this.
MASSIVE ATTACK.IE (2016) Behind the Scenes of Massive Attack v Adam Curtis [online video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3e3I1mLc3RM [Accessed 19/04/2022]
Manchester International Festival (2013) Massive Attack v Adam Curtis [online video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yv_S8GdylEA [Accessed 19/04/2022]
Production Week 1
Scene 1
This took a really long time to animate. It is rotoscoped from reference footage for a good impression of changing perspective. Colouring and window drawing would be so time consuming that the scene may have to stay simple as I have many more scenes to work on.
As the first scene of the film I am considering a text overlay to introduce the film and add a bit of dynamism to the shot. Arguably it does work as an underdeveloped scene and may not need extensive detail. I will readdress this situation when editing it with other scenes. Upon completion each scene is being composited in After Effects.
I am paying constant attention to the animatic and storyline. Any details I can add to reinforce the state controlled nature of the film, the ensuing protest and the audiovisual elements within will be applied.
LAUMAAN 705 Goals
This Trimester my goal is to complete Big Smoke to the best standard it can be so it is festival ready. It is important to me that I can showcase it at appropriate events and know timings for promotional work.
I will achieve this by:
- Referring to storyboard and developing how to reflect research into the narrative.
- Refining my animated work both with scheduling and practice.
- Developing sound animations
- Festivals and promotion packages.
- Developing a document for portfolio of the making of Big Smoke (an extension of the pitch bible and pre production output).
The production schedule is laid out but will likely need ramifications as I progress. For the next 5 weeks out of 14 (including Easter break) I will be mainly working on backgrounds alongside some animations. These will be ready for compositing and characters to be animated in.
Wednesday, 23 March 2022
Final Testing
A few images from the latest composite:
Back layer for windows to light up to the music.
Here, I have done an exercise where I listened to the audio track made by my house mate made. Looking at background and character path, I have imagined the field of sound, much like Futurist paintings, and imagined a path for it to take. Using onion skin, this is a representation of the sound path. I have not added it to my final composite as I want it to be more detailed and colourful (an exercise I will tackle in the coming weeks).
This was a good exercise for thinking of the sound as a field and translating it into animation. This will get my practice in line for the research I am doing by translating sound and feeling into animation.
This is the final composite for one of the final scenes of the film. Comparing it to my other composite, it was far more complex and time consuming. The scope it has provided me however has been extremely useful. I have mocked up what I feel to be an accurate timetable of the next 14 weeks. It involves a strict background drawing session up until the 10th May where I get detailed line and colour work done. This is followed by animation leading up until July, taking 3 days for complicated scenes and 1 for simpler ones. By learning tricks and shortcuts on my chosen programmes, the production will be far more streamlined and manageable.
Link to schedule:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ZCVRSeDfE6sV0UqSsJBcHP30WY51Lt92/edit#gid=756394758
This is another venture for the coming weeks. Expressions are a tool to use when creating audiovisual synthesis. This is a test pairing wave warp effect to the audio levels. It needs some work but has exciting prospects for mixes of colour and manipulation of sound and image. I hope to learn more about expressions soon.
Tuesday, 22 March 2022
Composite 2
The first completed composite demonstrated the first instances of synaesthesia in the film. This was to get an initial idea on how to represent the sound while researching the multimodal field. Now that has been realised, the final stint of work before completing the module is to create a more accomplished scene where the sound has built and the backgrounds and characters are more diverse.
This is in progress but parts have been realised. Once this scene is completed, I will map out a more accurate timetable for the final process of production. This is for good timekeeping and discovering how long these processes may take in the coming months.
Run Cycle
The completed run cycle works well for composite. The layers are all separate so I can manipulate colour in line to background ongoings. The shadow moves in a smoke-like way which I am hoping will create match fluid sounds within the audio track. A few more expressions and running styles may be added to the loop further down the line to add dynamism to the cycle.
Scene 34/35/36 No Colour
At this point, this scene has many problems but transfers the atmosphere and actions in the scene. The layers aren't in order so I need to go back and edit the composite. In this process I have learned shortcuts between Adobe programmes and TV Paint. The process was a good learning curb to streamlining production.
I can update my schedule with a far more accurate idea of timings and feel much more confident that the film will be completed on time. As I will have completed 2 scenes for this trimester, both with different levels of sound representation, I am now able to map out the next 14 weeks of animation and have really come to realise the scope of the work through this module.
The updated scene with correct compositing will be up soon...
Monday, 21 March 2022
CONTEXTUAL REVIEW 2
As an animator in a changing world, I have been looking into influential filmmaking through a commentary on modern society. I have been using my knowledge of storytelling and multimedia to evoke true experience from my audience, finding ways to link my interest in music and film with a wider socio-political background.
Multimodal Experience
Multimodal theory has been the foundation of my research. Lovers of film will undoubtedly recognise the power of harnessing the sense modalities in a way that resonates with audiences, whether by using music to boost emotion, or engaging in the many other cognitive crossovers that are possible within creative processes. In the study of The Relative Importance of Local and Global Structures in Music Perception, the commentary is made that 'One of the main reasons leading human beings of Western culture to develop musical activities is the expressive power of music. The content of this expressivity is probably extremely large, rendering the domain of music expression and emotion difficult to address with scientific methods' (Tillmann and Bigand, 2004, p.211). This provides consideration that in the field of cognitive science, which is expansive to the extent that is not fully understood to this day, using methods of multimodality, artistry and human reaction are apt approaches to gauging cognitive engagement with a piece of media. All of which are idiosyncratic to the individual. A standalone piece can resonate in diverse ways with different viewers. It is interesting to think how external forces of circumstance or other sensory content could create a completely different affect to your neighbour.
The MIT press, Experience: Culture, Cognition and the Common Sense supports the theory that artistic practice can be valuable for studies into perception. Studies in the early 20th Century lead to ideas about cognition through art that had not been considered before. The opening of the book theorises that 'art demonstrates to science the broad political and cultural context forming what sense we make of experience [...] art is not the semiotic conveyance of a fixed message-It is a range of marks, indices, rituals, and materials that humans make, arguably uniquely, to simulate perception. We do these things to draw upon prior layers of experience, in order to produce, paradoxically, the genuinely new'. This is an exciting prospect as it acknowledges the power of art to innovate ideas and change the world through the experiences it provides. However it still poses the question of how to conduct practice in a way that communicates ideas experientially. My studies will attempt to harness this through future case studies and qualitative research.
Sound and image accompaniment as aforementioned are the key sensory crossovers I will explore. Michel Chion is an influence because his theories into sound design for film indisputably boost the idea that sound and image are malleable (and modern) mediums which can be used to boost or distort perception. The Experience book contains ideas about temporality, causality and projection, theorising that 'Cognition implies a degree of plasticity for human psychophysical processes; in this sense, it can be as active and adaptable as consciousness itself'. With Chion, you can see this cognitive harnessing in action through his case studies. The detailed descriptions have commonality with the experiential studies because they both support the fact that minimal visual cues can invite projection, which is perceiving a temporal procession of events.
Italian Futurism
The Futurists conducted studies into the form of non tangible entities, combining motion, sound, kinetic energy and political ideologies. F.T. Marinetti dreamed up the concept following a car crash he was involved in. The translation of human experience and inevitable industrial prowess is evident in the art, which largely depicted motion and mechanical shapes. This guided the direction of the style. Despite the stock Marinetti puts stock into the industry of the early 20th Century with word of 'snorting machines' and 'the rumbling of huge double decker trams', David Mather argues that among the visually changing world, new experiential qualities had to be processed in order to embrace modernity:
'Western notions of subjectivity were in crisis at the turn of the 20th Century, in response to experiential conditions of modernity. This crisis was not the product of new technology per se, despite coinciding with rapid technological invention. Rather, it comprised a set of perceptual and philosophical conundrums that, in effect, rendered the boundaries of individuality itself problematic.' (p.58)
The world was rapidly changing, which came hand in hand with unfamiliar sights, sounds and smells. Not only did the Futurists map the changing world around them by incorporating these sensorial qualities, they also tapped into the emphasis of inclusion of all fields of cognition, recognising that the resonance on their viewers would be boosted by exploring multimodal interpretations of a modern world.
'Speed had disrupted traditional ways of life, and the Futurists embraced it unflinchingly. Yet, this seductive narrative of Futurist enthralment with automobiles and other means of transportation measures only the most literal contours of their subject matter. Alongside references to kinetic apparatuses, their visual experiments moved steadily away from representing discrete objects and toward emphasising sensorial qualities - what it felt like to experience the rapid and unsettling forces of modernisation.' (p60)
This commentary adds context to the stylistic progress of the Futurists. As they developed ideas about the changing world, there was an evident yearning to exceed the boundaries of human perception. 'The Futurists' visual systems shifted from external observable phenomena to internal conditions of perception, and from there, to the psychophysical mediums that bridge external and internal processes'. By using the Plastic Arts, the Futurists were creating a commentary on History and the progression of the human race. Using sensory attributes helped to situate their work in the context of the world around them. Depictions of sound interweaved with the physicality of machines were ways of observing the phenomenon of the future.
We Futurist painters maintain that sounds, noises and smells are incorporated in the expression of lines, volumes and colours just as lines, volumes and colours are incorporated in the architecture of a musical work. Our canvases therefore express the plastic equivalent of the sounds, noises and smells found in theatres, music-halls, cinemas, brothels, railway stations, ports, garages, hospitals, workshops etc. etc.
Sound is one of the main sensory attributes I will explore in this dissertation. As I come to realise the philosophical usefulness of sound, the differences between the Futurist ideologies and their use of the multimodal are becoming apparent. Despite using their art to promote controversial ideas about industry, warfare and the dismissal of History, their uses of kinetic (or otherwise) energies were effective ways of communicating their message.
'The artificial amplitude of sound is one of the great inventions of the 20th century. Modernity may be defined as the coming of the human capacity to make inhuman noise. The great shock of the modern city and of the modern warfare that was in extrapolation were not so much the experiences of their disorientating energy and speed, as their sheer noisiness, the appalling, exhilarating, omnipresence of man-made or mechanical sound: of cars, sirens, gramophones, loudspeakers, cannons, airplanes and industrial machinery; all the dinning cacophony of the modern.'
This commentary emphasises how the new 'cacophony' of sounds were as informative about the mood of the 20th Century as the visual was. It is no wonder that the Futurists became so enthralled by depicting the multimodal, experiential changes happening everywhere.
A great influence on the Futurist sensibility was the works of Philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche. 'Nietzsche’s influence on Marinetti and the Futurists has been well documented by Giovanni Lista, Donald Marinelli and Günter Berghaus'. His influences on Freud also provide credibility to his research as thinking that is influential in a contemporary context. One of his observations brings relevance to the way I will use music in my explorative film, Big Smoke: 'For Nietzsche, after Schopenhauer, music was superior to all other arts since it did not represent a phenomenon, but rather the ‘world will’ itself. He regarded music as the non-representational bridge to the chaotic world of the unknown and to the creative impulse itself.' Thinking about the rise of Fascism, war, Industry and general modernisation of the world (the context for Futurist thinking' in relation to my project, parallels can be drawn. The state controlled world, use of propaganda and pollutive powers are present in both. The Futurists were embracing it as the inevitable world trajectory. I am using these ideals as a guideline to avoid by representing modernisation as a negative.
The Futurist's Plastic Arts are valuable to my studies. I can use the stylistic attributes of sound in an affective way without supporting their political beliefs. In the present context of my film, the music can be used as the 'bridge' (using Nietzsche's beliefs) to emphasise the global misconduct of Government present today. Mapping the synaesthesic movement of sound using colour, if harnessed correctly in my practice, can aid the positive messages within my film that creativity can be the epistemological guide to a better future.
Tillmann, B. and Bigand, E., 2004. The Relative Importance of Local and Global Structures in Music Perception. The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism, [online] 62(2), p.211. Available at: <https://www.jstor.org/stable/1559204?casa_token=lrEEMwuM6lMAAAAA%3AxXgFbNz5p5ZZwyewh1anWgQhWba0B9OKIb-fOqWqy4vrU4jV8XTxvPRhkmR0gEI6b5RtAsUXpukTTaBNL2J99bxkQj5zGY7yy38vx27KWx-TtpsZqPo&seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents> [Accessed 9 March 2022].
Situating the Practice
My animated music video fits into a few areas of professional practice. Creating a venn diagram of these areas has helped me to categorise the different fields of interest.
The Diagram has helped me define and consider which studios may be in line with my work, and which festival entries are applicable. The Trimester has seen much more practical experimentation than networking skills (which were set out in my initial targets). Luckily, there is a contingency to this work. When the production module comes round, expanding on this should be a key part of my research to start pushing the film, and my skills, down the right avenues.
Here are a few initial ideas:
Blink Ink:
Use current animation discourse to create short films for companies. They delve into music, fashion, general advertising and some feature films. I have done work experience with them in the past and they are a viable studio for me to work at.
Over Lockdown, they were creating animated content for musicians like Dua Lipa, utilising lack of human contact to create content for artists and creating fantastical worlds of music, art and colour.
Club Future Nostalgia Mixtape (2020) Directed by James Papper [Short Film]. London, Blink Ink.
International Music Video Underground:
Just one festival I found on Film Freeway (previously recommended for multiple animation awards). They have entries for short films, animated music videos and other awards relevant to my film's themes. Film Freeway will be a good resource in general.
A note about film festivals is that my entry cannot be made until the film is completed (in July) as many awards may have passed, I may have to wait to enter in the coming year, meaning I would have to keep the film under wraps. A benefit of this is that it allows ample time to create promotional material, which I have learned to a good level recently through event organising and a decent knowledge of brand identity and promotion.
Science-Fiction and politics:
Animation is a good way to make commentaries on the world. It can be exaggerated or simplified. Big Smoke highlights problems in the world at the moment of isolation, Government misconduct and increasing violations on privacy, identity and freedom. Finding films which exaggerate such themes (particularly in a dystopian style) can help me see stylistic features of a breaking world.
Orang Tan - Greenpeace
Greenpeace International (2018) Rang-tan: the story of dirty palm oil [online video]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQQXstNh45g&t=24s [accessed 21/03/2022]
Monster - Greenpeace
Greenpeace International (2020) There's a monster in my kitchen [online video]. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rIjVDo_u8c&t=132s [accessed 21/03/2022]
Akira:
In an overpopulated world post World War 3, Akira is at the epitome of dystopian animation. With a higher budget, more time and a team, I would want Big Smoke to evoke much of the visuals within this film, the colours, character and backgrounds all evoke a beautifully represented dying world.
Akira (1991) Directed by Katsuhiro Otomo [Feature Film] Japan: Toho Co., Ltd.
THE BEST TIL LAST....
Jordorowsky's Dune:
Jordorowsky's Dune (2013) Directed by Frank Pavich [Documentary] Snowfort Pictures
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