Category: University

my final project | vcd302

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If I compare my present After Effects skills to where I was in Week 1, I can proudly say I’ve made a big improvement, and learnt so much more than I thought I was capable of.

I have a well rounded understanding of the principes of motion design, particularly those of the 12 Disney Principles. But as well as Primary and Secondary Motion. I have implimented all I have learned into my 20 second motion design project from my findings in the research stage. By aborbing visual information and finally making a leap to do preliminary play in After Effects I was able to extend the knowledged I had picked up in my research.

When I was told to be ‘abstract’ it felt foreign to me, because I always feel my designs have to tell some kind of a story. I read in my resarch that illustrator, Geefwee Boedoe, working on Pixar’s Monsters Inc. created the opening (with hand drawn images), yet with a sence of stylized abstractness. The quirky opening wasn meant to ease the discomfort of the theme’s of the film by using preppy colours and

As mentioned in my previous blog, I planned out my strategy by choosing which 12 Steps I saw myself being able to include in my sequence. When a shapes moves it has the anticipatory motion, as well as when it stops the top of the shape still leans forward before it becomes fully stationary. As well as squashes and stretches when a shape lands. I wanted some movements to remain stiff and track like motion but others to be fluid, which took me many attempts and prototyping in order to do this while still retaining their structure.

motion design in motion

If I had more time to perfect my project I would ensure my grid like structure was perfectly shaped so the different elements would fit perfectly like a puzzle. When looking at the sequence carefully you can tell each shape doesnt line up percetly and their are little gaps and space between them. as well as when shapes move they appear to move around ever so slightly which is a mistake I couldn’t correct fully as much as I implored myself to attempt many trouble making strategies to do so.

self critique of my work

I’m very happy with my project and what I was able to achieve. Knowing what I know now is to jump into a project after a brainstorm or a slightly spark of inspiration will help me achieve better than dwelling on an idea in the beginning. When I found a colour palette and got my inspiration I hit the ground running and started playing in AfterEffects, the fear of starting is what hindered me. Having this knowledge helped me decide what elements would be the kinetic motion in my sequence, allowing me to choreograph the shapes and find a flow that made sense to the eye of the viewer. In the next project I’m going to pick and idea and just keep prototyping. Once I did that in this sequence after learning motion design principles it help easy to find spaces to impliment them into my work.

The final steps of my project included refinging the shapes, adding easing the the different key frame movements to ensure the hand made movements I had created weren’t to still and were believeable when the sequence plays. Overall it is very exciting to see something you never thought you’d be able to create become a reality.

(Please use the artivive app to see this picture come to life!)

References:
Krasner, J 2013, Motion Graphic Design : Applied History and Aesthetics, Routledge, Oxford. Available from: ProQuest Ebook Central.
Landekic, L. 2016, Monsters, Inc. Art of the Title. https://www.artofthetitle.com/title/monsters-inc/

the future of animation

hannah kairuz2 Comments

The art of animation. It began much earlier on, but in 1937, Walt Disney produced ‘Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs’, the first fully animated feature length film in technicolour and sound. A classic storybook tale proud to live cinema pioneering the film industry.

The Persistence of Vision

An optical phenomenon where the human eye perceives a visual image for longer than the actual duration of a visual stimulus. Animators have exploited this technique of visual perception to create animation motion pictures from a rapid-fire series of still drawings. The best example of this is. flip book animation. Not every second of motion is accounted for, but the eye makes it seem as it has been. It’s not always necessary to draw one image for every frame unless you need quick motion. Modern film examples of animation where the persistence of vision is in; generally higher budgets, like Disney films, will animate on one’s, while most other films will use two’s. Anime typically uses three’s, as they tend to be lower budget, but more detailed.

Traditional Techniques

The technique Disney, and other animated cartoon companies of this time, used was cell animation. This technique is technically still used today but has been replaced with much faster digital equivalents.

Cell Animation: A series of hand drawn images that create a squences (12 – 24 indiviudal drawings per second are required to create the illustion of smooth motion). This technique links even future back to experiments in motion in the 1800s with the Kinetoscopes and Zeotropes

Senior animators would draw each key frame, and the “in-betweens” were given to the more animators to produce. The last Disney movie using Cell animation was 1989’s The Little Mermaid. The cell drawings now can be sold for thousands of dollars in the name of Disney. The technique wasn’t singled out to disney alone, it can be seen in the Looney Tunes cartoons, even the early Simpson Animations. But for the purposes of my own interests I’ve focused on Disney animation. Many of the techniques and principles at disney became the cornerstone for other animation studios. Disney 12 Principles of Animation are still used today in all animation.

The world of animation has always been of interest to me. It is only as of recently that I’ve actually stepped into it in furthering my graphic design skills and techniques. I’ve only ever done hand drawn little GIFS and the slight play in stop motion. This year I’ve tried my hand at Adobe AfterEffects and simple little animations using Disney’s 12 Principles to give even the simplist of shapes a bit of life and personality. “Imagine existence beyond what we can see, feel and otherwise perceive and experience first hand” – Like film, the art of animations allows the extention of reality, but even more so. In science fiction images are drwan from metaphors and models of understanding in the technological world. In animation, based solely on Disney’s 12 Princilpes action is drawn from the whimsical and exagerated. Both Sci-Fi Cinema and Animation’s strategy is to create convincing ideas about life and the possibility of life through precise details, relationships and familiar voices and images. At the beginning of moving pictures, being solely analogue there wasn’t as big of a reliance on technology – as compared to now where digital tablets and CGI softwares are some of animations main factors and streams of income in the industry.

STOP MOTION

Stop motion is the niche art of animation in which a caemra is repeatedly stopped and started, frame-by-frame, in order to give inanimate objects and figures the impression of movement. Famous examples that are most likely familiar to you would be Coraline (2009), Chicken Run (2000) and most Tim Burton animated features. It’s a well regarded style of animation that many film makers have had the ability to master and crown over. It’s a style that is had to replicate digitally.

In the 2006 animated feature Flushed Away, co-produced by the animation studio responsible for Chicken Run and Wallace and Gromit (Aardman Animations) tried exactly that. The filmmakers had to make the characters move the stifly in the right way, just as their stop motion features did. Animator Dug Calder said, “It’s just a challenge to get the computer to accept that and do what we wanted it to do... Traditional animation moves around a lot and has a tremendous amount of energy but Wallace & Gromit doesn’t have that because they are a solid body made of plasticine that doesn’t move around at all. So we were trying to impose that on the computer and make it not move as much.” In order to pull off their signiture style and their dying stop motion artform they had to “dumb down” the computer animation.

The art of animation is in a new age. The digital age… Disney’s last 2D animated feature was in 2009. And it very well may have been their last. The future is unknown, and the Future is NOW. This has been Part one of my collection on The Art of Animation.

References:
Armstrong, M. 2006. Putting a Stop-Motion Look in the CG Film Flushed Away, Studio Daily, https://www.studiodaily.com/2006/12/putting-a-stop-motion-look-in-the-cg-film-flushed-away/
Heginbotham, C. Year N/A. What is Cel Animation & How Does It Work? Concept Art Empire. https://conceptartempire.com/cel-animation/
Maio. A. What is Persistence of Vision? Definition of an Optical Phenonmenon. Studio Binder, https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/what-is-persistence-of-vision-definition
Moore, C. BCM325 Future Cultures Lecture series, https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCp-RZd4GLtqrTJd1uicIi9w
Laine, T. 2020. What Is Stop Motion (Definition + Examples). VMG Studios. https://blog.vmgstudios.com/what-is-stop-motion-definition-examples

my project so far | vcd203

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IDEATING:
After looking at different ideas for my motion desing sequence I thought about one of my favourite archetectually designed building at Disneyland. This really inspired my work how they look like building blocks yes are living. Another inspiration that came from creating the motion into the sequence and playing in After Effects was the opening of (again) Disney Pixar’s Monster Inc. the way the 2D shapes move and play on the screen. If I were more advanced in my After Effcts skills I nwould really want to hone into the different techniques used in that opening.
The idea behind the Monsters, Inc. opening is that of doors, ” Shapes bounce and dance in a black void, coming together to form a door, which opens on a closet, and then opens again to reveal a roaring, gaping cartoon mouth.” (Landekic, L. 2016) I liked that a simple mundane shape could do so much. After all doors are just several rectangles. So I implored this idea in my work.

Monsters Inc. Title Sequence

PROCESS:
Of the Disney’s 12 Principles of Animation Design fundamentals Ii intent to try to include in my sequence are:

  • Squash and stretch
  • Anticipation
  • Follow through
  • Slow in and Slow Out
  • and Secondary Action

Right now in the creation stage i’ve made a Illustrator file of what I’d like the final product to look like and bascially what it’ll be when its the stationary A2 Poster. I’m very happy with the colours I’ve chosen and I really do think itll make my animation and motion design pop. Even when they’re stationary they feel alive. I’ve implored my graphic design knowledge into this composition with the way the shapes fit into each other. I’m very happy with it (let’s hope I can pull it off!)

I’ve created a basic wire frame of square as a layer and placed it into my AfterEffects composition and am in the process of adding layers of different deconstructed pieces from my “final product” AI design.

I know I want the eyes to blink and change colour maybe so appears like they’re switching eyes when they blink. I’ve prototyped and tested this techynoque with the 3D tool and adding an extra layer on top of the eyes. This allows the oval to move like an eyelid. I’m going to use this same technique with the archways and making them swing open and shut like doors. Once I started playing with this tool I found so many different visual techniques and cool ways my shapes were able to sit.

The challenge I have faced it wanting my shapes ot drop certain ways and not being able to achieve the movement I’m imagining. With more tinkering I hope to correct this and get the shape movement exactly the way I want it.

Where my project differs from those avant-garde examples I have seen, Is I’ve design my AR poster to be a bit odd and quirky. It’s constatly moving but not to many big movements, or abrupt movements. But you could stare at it for a long time discovering differnt things each time you watch it.

It’s exciting to watch my project slowly come together. I’ve already done more AfterEffects techniques with my project than I thought I was capable of. I’m excited to see the whole clip sequence come together how I’m picturing it in my mind.

References:
Coron, T. 2021. Understanding Disney’s 12 principles of animation. Creative Bloq. https://www.creativebloq.com/advice/understand-the-12-principles-of-animation
Landekic, L. 2016, Monsters, Inc. Art of the Title. https://www.artofthetitle.com/title/monsters-inc/
Small World Moving Pictures. 2018. t’s a Small World Animated Tribute Disneyland HD / its a small world after all / Disney World, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTZy2X8uXuA

tweet summary 1 | bcm325

hannah kairuzLeave a comment

please click hyper links to see my favourite interactions & discussions
with my peers! 🤗

WK 1 – 2001: A Space Odyssey (Kubrick 1968) 🛰

M

⬆️ my highlight tweets ⬆️

Speaking of, he uses a lot of colours in the last 25m as Dave explores
#bcm325

Originally tweeted by Boswell’sBrain (@BoswellSbrain) on March 3, 2022.

I mainly looked at parallels in our world today and in the films that were inspired from 2001: A Space Odyssey. My peers were able to show me things I may have missed about production and techniques – silent film and SFX. A discussion from my tweet showed we were discovering the same thoughts. Finding parallels in modern film and television was just the beginning of this filmsvinfluence in our modern world. Technology and fear of, always seem to go hand in hand, and this was the perfect film to get us in the mindset of that, and to question it!

WK2 – Westworld (1973) 🔫

⬆️ my highlight tweets ⬆️

click to my linked tweet!

West World a film that on the rise of AI in a Sci-Fi\created future where AI will eventually turn on humanity. I always keep an eye out for visual elements and how they have influence in modern design and creation. What I found interesting, as well as in the prior film, is how much Disney influence can be found in looking at; what makes humans human, computers and consumerism. This viewing took me to many discussions of humanity, and how its represented – if it’s unfair to side with humans because thats who we are. And if it’s wrong to look down on AI.

WK3 – Blade Runner (1982) 🌃

⬆️ my highlight tweets ⬆️

Knowing I had never viewed Blade Runner I wanted to see what my peers had to say so I could participate in discussions. The film questioned ‘what makes a human, human’. We discussed the depiction of the future and deception.The film shows the audience who is Human and who is a Replicant, which makes us wonder how we put ourselves above AI, because of fear? because their made to serve man? Reoccurring themes, biblical themes and visual cues have also been seen in all films we’ve watched.

WK4 – Ghost in the Shell (1995) 🧑🏻‍🎤

⬆️ my highlight tweets ⬆️

This anime film showed a woman who has been augmented to be part AI (cyborg), and works to hunt down another AI, who has wrongful intentions. A few fellow female peers found that she had been heavily sexualised for no main reasoning. But what was interesting in the notion she was part robotic, is she always felt human, in her mind. My findings allowed me to question emotions and what makes humans ‘unique‘ – technology dependance is what is foreshadowed.

WK5 – The Matrix (1999) 📟

⬆️ my highlight tweets ⬆️

The Matrix create an invisible perspecitive (Cybernetic system) that conditioned the characters. And makes us wonder what we are conditioned to believe. Colour and perspective tell us what is “real”. “Cybernetics is a cornerstone of modern computational and communication technologies.“, the film shows the trancending of time and space as an extension of reality with colour themes and representation as well as biblical refrencing , mythology and rebirth.

peer reviews, and a personal one | bcm325

hannah kairuzLeave a comment

It’s interesting to see other students projects, when you begin the process of picking a DA you feel like you have nothing, or too many choices until you whittle it down to your selected DA that will eventually change through the FEFO stages and ideating process.

I found from Jessica’s blog she took an approach that combined the process of research and planning which is an approach similar to mine. What I learnt from giving her advice, is that I also need to broaden the scope of my project, yet hone into more specific topics and ideas. In my pitch I played around with the idea of adding a second platform to my blogging, but I really do need to do several project because If I am just to do one, I am limiting myself to the opportunity of the feedback loop and vastness of the internet. I also spoke of talking about various topics, but in order for my project to have the stability it needs and impactful content, not waffle.

From Julia and Ruby’s blog I gave them links and ideas of different topics to go into for both idea of the “future of genres” and “DODA”. I suggested several, because if they were just to cover one it would be boring wouldn’t it? Which is what I need to impliment into my own DA. I do want to cover topics but i havent decided which ones. I need to start a feedback loop already to know how to go into the DA with detail topics and areas to research. If i just brush on the surface of several topics it wouldnt be enough.

In Julias blog I suggested looking at the future of dating/romance with advancements in A.I. as seen in Ready Player One and Black Mirror. Black Mirror is a great starting point for looking into Sci-Fi and its influence on our current future (The Future is Now) and the progressions that will be made even further from this point. I may need to do extra viewing sessions aside from the article research I intent to do. Media is my future, particularly in my career, I need to be at not only a variety of articles but a variety of sources.

In Ruby’s I suggested she look at covering other social platforms other than her selected one, as well as looking at the lecture content in relation to how science fiction has mythologized the scientific and technical concepts into the spectrum of human interests and behaviours and how that then related to the way technology is viewed in art.

I believe all three of the girls blogs adressed the social utility. Which I also mentioned in mine, but on reading their DA’s it’s make me reflect on how me talking about myself will truly help others, which is something I have to be weary of when writing my blogs and creating my DA. Gaining feedback and giving feedback has allowed me to see how broad my DA has appeared, and how careful I have to be with my approach.

Julias Blog:
https://justjules.travel.blog/2022/03/18/bcm325-pitch-genres-of-the-future/https://justjules.travel.blog/2022/03/18/bcm325-pitch-genres-of-the-future/comment-page-1/?unapproved=241&moderation-hash=613d0c85c62a8b43f3c105e445ae0892#comment-241

Ruby’s Blog:
https://rub33j.wordpress.com/2022/03/17/digital-depictions-of-technological-advancements-dota/comment-page-1/#comment-316

Jessicas Blog
https://jessajenkinsblog.wordpress.com/2022/03/18/trying-to-understand-the-future-of-climate-change/

the future of me [BCM325]

hannah kairuz8 Comments

my methodology

In my blog and vlog series, I will explore those topics mentioned in the video pitch, as well as the lecture and class topics, and becoming a self reflection of myself more so through the small video reflection vlogs on how I have changed through the years in my own methodology for planning and thinking towards my future. In the early prototyping stages of my DA I will do both the blog and vlog but i may find one more effective than the other and opt to do one instead of two. I won’t know this until I begin creating and researching. 

production timeline

I have create this timeline to keep myself accountable and on track for my project. I intent to do a series of six blogs and three reflection vlogs that explore different topics. I’ve broken down the vlogs into ever second well and the blogs I have kept as weekly also planning for a final concluding piece for both. I’ve given myself submission week (WEEK 12) to edit these blogs and videos again.

My DA works under the FEFO and FIST concept:

FEFO:
In posting my blogs earlier I hope to create a big feedback loop that I am able to reflect on in the final week and in my final submission.

Fast – I can create fast videos that I feel reflect myself and my feelings. As well as my blogs i’ll be able to say what I need to say
Inexpensive – I won’t be spending anything but time on my project to get it to completion to my standards
Simple and Tiny – My blogs will be accessible and not too long. And the short reflection videos are easy to watch, and i could also post them to TikTok as well as alone on my blog.

I believe it connects to the subject of future cultures in the way we’ve differently viewed humanity and technology and their connection, but what about humanity and humanity, and humanity on themselves. The world is ever-changing, the future is now, and I still don’t know where I fit in.

references:
– B. Petra, 2021, Women in Information and Communication Technology , Delegate Group, https://delegate-group.com/women-in-information-and-communication-technology-2/
– Bolt, Laura, 2020, AOGA Eye on Design, Women Make Up Over Half the Design Industry—So Why Are There So Few at the Top?, https://eyeondesign.aiga.org/women-make-up-more-than-half-of-the-design-industry-but-how-do-they-get-to-the-top/
– Williams, Blair, 2021, In Australian Media Women’s Voices Are Still Not Heard , The Conversation, https://theconversation.com/in-australian-media-womens-voices-are-still-not-heard-172060