Project Three – The Loop

Project Three – Overview

Project Three is a one-minute video that expresses five personal fixations within the framework of a loop.

“Different Steps” Final Loop Video

Guitar by Kevin Lapointe / videos courtesy of YouTube

I chose to develop a video around my fixation on dance and the transition from childhood to adulthood. I wanted to create a fluid feeling through continuous motion, by having the figures drawn as a scribble I was able to achieve the raw, unfinished look I desired. Through a rough sketchy drawing I was able to attain a delicate feeling and convey the essence of unraveling. I had originally planned to transition from a light shade of purple to violet in order remain consistent. Instead I opted to use orange and red to differentiate between either video. My original concept was to rotoscope four videos to show the transitioning into various form of dance from age 6, 12, 18 and 23. However I decided to rotoscope only two of the videos I uploaded off of YouTube and center my focus on age 6 and 23, although this is a larger gap I feel it still works. The larger gap creates a stronger comparison visually. For the audio I wanted to use a soft sound in the background to create the feeling of a body floating as it manipulates sounds into fluid rhythm. I decided guitar would be a perfect solution in order to attain the effect that I wanted, at that point I turned to my brother Kevin to come up with the perfect melody. I was a little unsure of the voice over at first as I had recoded it several times in order to achieve the perfect sound. I am very pleased with the final video as the recording of my voice is not overpowering and viewers are able to focus their attention on the animation and not on text. If I was to do anything different I would have lengthened the video by adding in more frames. I really enjoyed this project and would like to draw a detailed rotoscope once I have a concrete concept to work with and of course time permitting.

Final Script

I have always had a strong passion for dance

I started out in classical ballet

this style of dance is highly technical

I remember being asked to straighten my posture and turn out my feet

this became a daunting task

each step had to flow with precise timing

I can still hear the soft tinkle of piano keys

as I got older I began to develop a real appreciation for the intensity of hip hop

in its many forms i centered my focus on lyrical hip hop

an entirely new movement to me with harder hitting steps

much like ballet, lyrical hip hop tells a story through unique fluid movements

dance to me is a spiritual form of art that allows me to express myself

dance is in my soul, I am reborn on the dancefloor!

First script attempt

‘Coming of Age’

(fade from light purple – rich violet)
(spinning through each scene – loop)

She is 6; a soft presence is evoked through her
delicate steps carrying her through each motion. Gracefully she with little effort.

She is 13; a rush of excitement has come over her, she feels alive and in her element.

She is 18; translating every beat into a pulsating movement her body is like the string of a guitar manipulating sounds into a fluid rhythm.

She is 23; sensual passionate movements eclipse the dancefloor, her presence is felt through her captivating soul.

(replay entire video in reverse, increase speed)

Reflection – Take on me

Take on me is a song by Norwegian pop band a-ha released in 1985. Throughout the 80’s synthesizers were used to create an electronic feel to music, this effect is also being revamped throughout contemporary music today. This video used rotoscoping in combination with live video footage to create a multidimensional space. The female character played by Bunty Bailey is lured into an animated fantasy world by her seducer, played by lead singer Morten Harket. The video tells a story of romance suggested through the extreme close ups of eye contact and body language. The placement of certain objects such and the detailed wrench, bring a more realistic sense to the animation. In some cases it seems that the smaller components help to create strong visual impact on a viewer.

The Girl from Moush (Garine Torossian)

This video tells a poetic story about the artists subconscious journey in Armenia through a collage of personal images. The layering of images add a beautiful dimensionality to the piece displayed through a loop. The essence of the film is captured through a scrapbook arrangement of memories. The blurred lighting and saturated hues throughout pixilated images add to the timelessness of the piece. The background music brought a sense of realism into the piece and allowed me to feel as if I was experiencing what the artist had experienced at one point in her life.

“Light and Lighting Techniques”

Light allows us to create different moods, and gives us the ability to control and manipulate light when establishing a shot. During the first project Light/Form Mike, Emma and I had to decide what type of mood we wanted to evoke and how we would go about create that through strategic placement of lighting. In the end we decided to have the key light situated high on the right side of the subject (orange) in order to achieve hard lighting and a single shadow cascading off the left side of the orange this allowed us to give the orange some depth, and eliminate double shadows. In choosing to use only one light source and center the orange on a white background we eliminated the light being absorbed by a dark background. The light is intense and brilliantly illuminates the bright orange colour and textural detail on the outer casing and inner skin of the orange segments. I believe light is what makes or breaks a shot, light helps to bring dimension into an establishing shot and is essential in creating successful compositions.

Inspirational Videos

“Crime Fighters” Animated 2125 + frames rotoscoped

This rotoscoped animation is the lastest music video from the album gentlemen prefer bombz. I find this animation awe inspiring, the sketchy drawings of the figures add to the musicality of the video. The swift movement of the figures is captured through many different angular shots within the video, which are then enhanced by the dark outlines. I find that the dark outlines appear when the animator wants to develop the intensity of the image. I applaud the artist for the amount of work put into this video and the amount of time this would have took, my hats off to the artist!

“Down Here With Me” Beautiful paper animation

This stop motion animation uses pencil, paper and glue to create a peculiar perspective on an alternate underworld. I believe this animation depicts a woman trying to escape the chaotic nature of our world. She escapes by digging a hole to submit to a secluded life resistant to the modern lifestyle. The concept of depression is enhanced by the fast passed sound and soft melody played throughout. The lighting is dim with a yellow tone creating soft shadows of the high rise buildings. It seems as though the world up above the dismal rat hole is lively and much brighter, below the light is cautiously placed on the figure to suggest that her new world is isolated and dark. What captivates me is that although the female figure has disappeared into darkness she still has an all seeing eye to view the world above her. Time permitting I would like to experiment with 3D paper animation, once I develop a concrete concept.

“Fixations”

“An obsessive interest in or feeling about someone or something.”

Adulthood

• dancing
• photography
• R&B and Jazz music
• organization
• fashion

Top Five “Fixations”

Dancing

From age 6 I started taking ballet classes which I believe was the source of my intense fascination and passion for dance. I grew up choreographing dances with close friends in our backyards, when I was old enough I started going to dances at our local recreation center. During high school my friends and I started going to ‘Jump’ a local club every Friday night. I still enjoy going to clubs occasionally when time permits.

Photography

When I was 11 I was fortunate enough to go to art camp and take a course in b/w photography. Through this two week course I learned how to use a camera and develop film. Photography allows me to instantaneously capture and preserve memories that have become forgotten with time. I am able to express myself and develop a narrative open to interpretation through a viewers perspective.

Organization

As a child I developed a habit of arranging my things in an orderly manner, that has since developed into a neurotic behavior. I have never lost anything or forgotten a deadline, everything is easily accessible. I find tranquility in having things organized it makes my chaotic life more manageable, it is one thing I am able to control.

Colour Purple

I can’t quite remember how far this obsession goes back, but it seems to be a re-occurring trend with me. I believe at one point most of my wardrobe was purple, I remember having been a very colour child.

Ace Ventura Pet Detective – Jim Carrey

Jim Carrey has always had an ability to make me laugh, I have always had a strong appreciation for his sense of humor. Ace Ventura Pet Detective was the first movie I watched with Jim Carrey, I have seen it approximately 30x since I was 7 yrs. old. I believe at a young age I had an emotional feeling towards Jim Carrey which stemmed from the movie Ace Ventura P.D.

Project Two – Countdown

Autumn Dance

Project Two – Overview

Taking a narrative approach to establishing a 10sec countdown, paying close attention to rhythm, synchronization, and visual aspects.

Chosen Concept

I have lost interest in my original idea which was to create a shadow effect with a flash light reversing the background and number from white on black to black on white. I have now moved on to creating each number with leaves. I will form the number and then blow it away, then blow the leaves back into the shot, which will create the following number.

The idea behind my final concept was to create the feeling of seasons changing, I wanted to convey a sense of playfulness and beauty in freshly fallen leaves. It was suggested that I gray out the background in order to bring the leaves into focus. I feel this idea added more visual interest into the final movie. There were aspects of this project that posed a challenge for me, the fact that my subject matter is easily carried away with the wind. When shooting outdoors it is very difficult to control your surrounding environment. In the end I had to omit the video shots of the leaves being blown away due to quality of the videos. Although I was unable to add the videos in the final movie I feel successful in my final stop motion movie.

The intended audience is anyone who loves the change in seasons, enjoys the brilliant change in colour due to fall foliage. Takes part in the festive nature of autumn, participates through dress-up or solicits candy to children during the celebration of Halloween. I want the audience to appreciate the beauty in nature and to learn that our environmental surroundings have a lot to offer.

Brainstorm Ideas

• Storybook narrative approach – Flip book.
• Water and Ink effect in glass bowl.
• Flash light creating shadow effect of cut out numbers.
• Figurative dance – Body paint & numbers.
• Building Blocks
• Screws
• Grate, fence textural
• Throw paint at a number
• Chalk on sidewalk
• Bugs
• Plastic and water
• Crayon and paint

Project One – Light/Form

Using the soundscape composed for Exercise 3 develop your theme or a point of view by adding a visual component. Your creative direction will continue t be determined by the choices you made from the noun and verb lists.

Mike, Emma and I choose two opposing objects an orange and various eyes to create the narrative for our soundscape. The deconstruction of an orange simulated the feeling of an eye being tortured and pulled apart layer by layer. The outer casing of the orange mimicked the blood vessels in the eyes creating an unsettling feeling. Overall I feel the composition was a success the fluidity of the sound is in perfect sync with the constant motion of the orange and eyes. The biggest challenge we had was coming up with an adequate amount of visuals to stretch over the one minute time constraint.

Project One – Exercise 3

Everyday Sounds – Part 1

A1 – Inside

Setting TEL cafe – 1:15pm – Tues, Sept. 22, 2009

Sitting on the right side next to the window and facing the entryway.

Sounds

• cash register “ding”
• coffee machine
• money
• loud chatter all around me

Patterns

• cash register opens every 30 sec – 2 min
• exchange of money
• Tim Hortons coffee machine goes off every 2 – 3 min
• women’s voices more dominent

Prominent Sounds

• cash register and constant chatter more prominent due to the lunch time rush

Quality of Sound

• sharp “ding” of cash register
• indecipherable conversations

Overall Experience & Understanding of Everyday Sounds

People are very loud at lunch hour discoursing with friends. The sounds that occurred happen on a regular basis in this area due to people constantly coming and going purchasing food.

A2 – Outside

My backyard deck 4:00pm Wed. Sept. 23, 2009

Cold and rainy day, no children outside making noise.

Sounds

• squawking and chirping of birds
• baby crying
• Oprah’s voice through open window
• cars in distance/ motorcycle
• wind blowing
• man yelling at his dog
• rain dripping from eavestrough
• leaves and grass rustling

Patterns

• birds constant chirping, wind blowing, and car driving by every few minutes

Prominent Sounds

• birds were most prominent sound due to their proximity to me

Quality of Sound

• squawking and chirping of birds was high pitched
• all of the other sounds were muffled

Overall Experience & Understanding of Everyday Sounds

Weather causes sounds to change and the living organisms in nature to adjust and adapt.

B – People Conversing

Conversation #1 – I turned my body on an angle so my ear was facing the two people conversing.

Girl “You have to memorize the chapter.”

Girl “haha!”

Girl “Different consonant.”

Girl “Let me check, I am not sure.”

Guy “I wrote it down.”

(both individuals had Indian accents, the woman’s voice was more dominant whereas the man was soft spoken).

Conversation #2 – Lip read

Girl #1 “You guys it’s hot!”

Girl #2 “Ohhh are you serious?”

(three women were talking about the weather).

Conversation #3 – Body language

(Conversation three was the loudest because the three Chinese women were directly in front of me. However I am not familiar with the Chinese language, but I was able to read their body language.

C – Sounds

2 sounds that evoke an image

The loud siren on a fire truck evokes the image of a fire. Another sound that evokes an image is the strum of a guitar which evokes the image of a couple dancing.

2 images that evoke a sound

The image of a fire alarm evokes the sounds of a loud ringing. Another image that evokes sound is a lawn mower which creates a constant sound.

2 sounds that provoke a feeling

The rain provokes a feeling of tranquility for me. Clapping is another sound that provokes a happy feeling.

2 sounds that provoke a thought

Splashing in a pool provokes the thought of swimming instructing job in the summer. Another sound that provokes a thought is the engine of a bus, which makes me think of school.

2 sounds that compete with an image

The ‘ding’ of a cash register competes with the image of a small bell. Another sound that competes with an image is the sound of the coffee machines at Tim Hortons competing with the image of a small vacuum.

2 sounds that work counter to an image

Wind chimes can work counter to the image of hail. Another sound that works counter to an image is the sound of bubble wrap countering the image of clapping hands.

Easiest to Find

Two images that evoke sound were the easiest to find due to the fact that they are made to create sound and create sound when started.

Hardest to Find

Two sounds that compete with an image were the hardest to find because I am familiar with most sounds I hear on a daily basis.

Everyday Sounds – Part 2

Exercise 2 focused on sound as a compositional element in time-based media.

For this exercise I wanted a constant sound that carried through the entire composition. The high pitched sound of someone gliding their finger on the rim of a wine glass created an intense, uncomfortable feeling for me. I wanted to create the feeling of loneliness, seclusion and unconsciousness. The three additional elements; pigeons fluttering, sirens, and a child laughing were used to evoke sudden awareness. I visualized someone all of a sudden tuning into their surroundings when a certain sound evokes a suppressed feeling.

Project One – Exercise 1

Exercise 1 deals with light, frame and duration as fundamental compositional elements in all moving image and time-based work. Our objective was to find a compelling composition at our desired location and shoot one picture every minute for an hour.

Exercise 1 proved to be a challenge, we had a hard time deciding on a location to shoot. We finally decided to shoot the the stairs due to the lighting and various shadows being cast against the wall in the background. We were able to create movement through the constant traveling of people passing though our shots. This added element in addition to the lighting progressing from day to night gives the overall composition an intriguing narrative.

Project One – Exercise 2

Graphic, rhythmic, temporal and spatial relations within shots will be explored, as well as the fundamental compositional elements of light, frame and duration.

Kitty, Meghan and I decided to work with triangular elements found within nature, architectural structures, and other various objects. We wanted to attain a strong narrative through our video composition by using diagonal transitions. Our powerful visuals create a dynamic concept.