Project Proposal

Following on from the previous post regarding my initial idea, a proposal has been written and submitted for assessment. 

The initial ideas that were suggested in the previous post have evolved somewhat, and they will continuously throughout the development of the project. I am still interested in looking at the dystopic theme of technological dependancy and how that will develop as society develops. The proposal for the animation was as follows:

My animated short is based on the concept that 'By knowing everything, we know nothing'; an issue raised in workshops. The quotation suggests that in an age of online databases of knowledge there is a decrease in the number of people who have an area of expertise, and simply rely on the answer to a question being available online. Combined with the proliferation of smart phone technology, and looking forward to virtual and augmented reality technologies, the concept within the quotation seems set to get worse.

This is combined with a topic raised in another modules lectures (Society, Aesthetics and Digital Media), based on the similar idea of attention economy. This concept will inform the animation based on the idea that digital attention is a capitalist commodity.

The animation I intend to make will depict a dystopian future where this is the case, where people no longer retain knowledge and constantly refer to cloud-based databases with friendly interfaces (akin to Siri), whilst being marketed as data points for capitalist conglomerate corporations. The people in the futuristic animation would be seen going about their business in a slow laborious manner, following the instructions of the artificial intelligences that support them. The aim of the animation is highlight the risk of reliance on technology, and suggest there is a bright future with the inclusion of technology and innovation rather than reliance.

In terms of audience, I considered a suitable audience to be tech literate, as detailed in a further part of my proposal:

The intended audience is those with an interest in technology, and perhaps a cynical perception of society and the way it approaches technology. The current generation of liberally minded and technologically fluent teenagers and young adults are those most intertwined with digital media, and therefore those most likely to interact with this particular piece of media.

By highlighting the potential future through exaggerated circumstances I aim to incite debate and thought around how we approach technology, and the way it is involved in our everyday lives.  

As well as developing this concept I have also considered the skills-based benefit of what I intend to create, looking at the skills and techniques that I will garner from this project.  This was touched on in the proposal.

This project will enhance my Illustrator skills, developing my ability to create and draw art assets to be manipulated in After Effects (AE). I will also further my knowledge and understanding of AE through animating and creating in the program.

Utilising the visuals I will create in Illustrator to animate in After Effects will help me understand what aspects of digital creation are important, for example where to dissect images to be used in AE easily. 

Since the animation will be informed by a cartoon-like style, I will learn the best ways to animate in this fashion with a hands-on approach. 

Also in the proposal was an opening discussion on styles, artists and examples that will inspire my project, however I will touch on this on following posts. It also goes without saying that this idea is a very early one, and will more than likely not be exactly what the final piece resembles.

Semester B R&D Project Begins

For the last few weeks the group has been debating and sharing ideas on concepts starting with 'Drones' and The Southbank Centre. The two concepts inspired discussion in the way people thought of them, and these inspirations in turn generated more ideas.

Ideas were perpetually created and added to a cloud based document that everyone could contribute to, meaning the document was a recepticle for collective creativity. The document spanned different layers, meaning you can specify on one area of discussion and focus more intensely on relevant suggestions.

Screenshot of the group document

Throughout the discussion I proposed the phrase 'By knowing everything, we know nothing', in reference to the ideas that were explored in terms of collective database knowledge and online encyclopaedias. The phrase sparked a debate on whether the availability of information via the internet has limited the knowledge retention.

I remember watching films with my family and regularly hearing the question "what's he been in before?". When I was younger this would incite a conversation in which everyone tried to remember what previous show an actor had been in, however today with the dawn of smartphones, WiFi and online encyclopaedias the mystery is gone. The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is now a regularly consulted website and app in the living room, swiftly answering the common questions. 

Although the previous example is slightly whimsical, it does highlight a shift in attitudes from memory to database. This is also apparent in the way people store and review photos. Since the advent and rapid growth of Facebook, in tandem with the digital photography boom, photos are no longer kept in physical albums, but online. With this societal change towards digital memory and knowledge there is the risk that the companies and organisations that hold our information for us may evolve into more ominous beings, threatening personal security and privacy. 

I want my work to evoke thought around the topic, and the risks of a dystopic future based in a digital space. 

Semester A Final Product

Apologies for the delay, but here's the final product.

Overall, I'm happy with the way the animation came out, and particularly with the masking of the branch.

Watch the video on YouTube for a better resolution.

Animated Logo Design

For this assessment an animated logo is required, and is also something that will help develop branding and identity across all of my design and animation work. The logo will form the basis for branding design on the portfolio article too.

The logo is the first thing that will be seen on the article and the video, and is therefore something that will set the tone and precedent of my work. I intend to use flat design, with relatively minimal style.

As you can see from the finished product above, the design is minimal and simplistic, with no intention of being over-complicated. This is to ensure a clear image to represent my work and not be too complex.

For this piece I used Adobe After Effects CC which allowed me to utilise animation and layer control. The animation aspect was relatively basic, however it achieved the style that I desired. Two slightly transparent blue circles collide, which is achieved by key-framing the position details of the circles, then a white layer flashes over the screen, revealing the text on top of the circles. The flash is achieved by key-framing the opacity of a white shape over the whole composition, from 0% to 100% and then back to 0% in quick succession.

The font used for the title is Trajan Pro, an all caps serif font. I'll also use this font for the article design, to continue the branding over multiple pieces of work.

The next post will be the last post for this project, containing the final video and the design development for the article.

Colour Correction and Motion Tracking

With my footage and artwork prepared, it was time to bring everything together in After Effects. You can see the composition settings that I created for the animation piece below.

These settings match the settings with which the footage was shot. 20fps isn't ideal, however that's the camera has given me, so that's what I'll be working with. 

The first step was to add some colour correction to the footage, to enhance the visual quality. Below you can see where I have increased the saturation and master lightness, as well as adding and adjusting some curves. This adjustment layer has been applied to all of the footage to ensure a consistent overall finish. 

After this it was time to motion track the footage, such that the birds can be placed into the scene. Using the built-in tracker function I tracked the motion for all the scenes that I intended to use, and applied the movement to a null object which the birds can be parented to at a later stage. I also added letterbox to the footage, to add a slightly cinematic aspect to the footage. It also gave me some more control over the framing of the footage, allowing me to trim some of the footage under the letterbox.

This shot shows the adjustment layer, letterbox and now motion-tracked bird all applied to the first shot of the animation. The next step is to animate the wings of the birds, and add a flight path across this show. To animate the bird I opened it in a separate composition and began manipulating the different layers. 

Click the image to see an enlarged version

This image displays the keyframes used for animating the red bird. (Note: the composition is called 'birdrast' as initially I forgot to rasterise all of the layers).

Once this had been completed, I added the movement path to the scene in which the bird begins, to add the impression of flight and movement. The animation is quite simple, focusing on using a variety of skills. I also added a CC Force Motion Blur to the bird, so that when it flies across the screen the motion blur can add the sense of dynamic movement. 

This process was applied to all other scenes in which it was needed. 

For the last shot, the red bird flies in and sits on a branch with the blue bird. For this to work I needed to mask the branch which they were both sitting on, however one small detail was the need to place the feet of the birds over the branch to give the impression they are sat on the branch. To do this I have duplicated the footage, then masked the branch over the top of the other footage, then placed the birds between the footage layers. The image below is a frame from the final scene of the animation, and the orange outline indicates where the mask is. 

Since the footage is not static I have had to animate the mash path to ensure that the branch is the only thing masked throughout the footage. The keyframes are shown in the image below. 

With this stage of the animation complete, the next stage will be to complete an animated logo and then to compile all of my work into a digital portfolio in Adobe InDesign CC.

Just a couple of old birds

For my video I have filmed some footage in and around my house with the intention of animating a parrot to fly around. There is also a shot on which I will add motion tracked text.

But for this post I will show you the progression for making the parrots that will appear in the video. Using Adobe Photoshop CC I created all the layers of the bird from scratch. I used the pen tool, among other shapes, to create everything I needed. Once all the shapes had been created I added the desired colours to ensure the parrots were colourful and fun. You can see the progression from just the body to the finished bird below.

With this layer I created the body. I used the brush tool to add a soft edge around the outer edge of the body, which adds a little texture and depth. Another detail added was the ruffle on the front, which ensured that the body wasn't just a plain front. The next step was to add the head. 

Initially the eyes had white circles around the outside, however after some comparison I decided that the smaller black dots worked better within the cartoon context of the animation. The beak is split into two separate layers to ensure that at the animation phase I can move both parts individually. After this I added the wings. 

The wings have been layered and duplicated to add some symmetry to the bird, and to ensure the wings are the same size. The colours used are generally primary colours, or close to, continuing the theme of cartoon stylisation. At this point I felt there was something missing from the bird... a tail! 

I used the same shape generated for the feathers in the tail, but rearranged them and altered the colours. The spread of tail feathers suggests movement, which will enhance the visual appeal of the bird whilst flying in the animation. Yet again my limited knowledge of parrot anatomy failed me, the bird is missing feet. 

After a quick Google I realised what sort of feet I needed to draw, and then generated the feet accordingly. The feet are important at this stage as they will sit on top of a branch, so making sure that the layers are organised sensibly will save time later on in the creative process. I also used this bird as a template for another bird, which in the animation will meet the first bird. 

These birds will be the star of the show. 

Above you can see the organisation of layers within Photoshop. These layer folders will transfer to Adobe After Effects, meaning I can locate and animate the bird with much less hassle. 

The next step is to bring these files into After Effects CC and animate the bird. I will also need to colour correct my footage to make it look nicer, and more suited to having a cartoon bird flying around. 

Convergence Development

For the last couple of weeks, I've been working on a convergence task to submit before Christmas. The assessment requires me to demonstrate some of the skills I have learnt and developed over the first semester, including motion graphics which I intend to focus on. This is an individual task, and all work for this assessment has been made from scratch.

For the piece I intend to motion track a parrot flying to find his friend in a nearby tree. This concept is simplistic, to ensure that the motion tracking isn't too complex and can be achieved within the timeframe. The finished video needs to be submitted in an article created in InDesign, and completed by the 13th of December.

My initial idea is to have a small bird flying around outside looking for another bird, a simple animation to show my ability to manipulate different layers of artwork, as well as apply motion tracking and masking.

The next few posts will show the development of the artwork and the animation, up to the point where the project is ready to be submitted.