The Joy of Books

Inspirational

Found this video by viewing it in class, thanks to Professor Franci Duran 

 

 

Written by Nicole Wilk

The Joy of Books

The Joy of Books is a beautiful one-and-a-half minute stop-motion video.  This video was shown during my year three animations class at McMaster campus and was recorded by a friend of my professor, Sean Ohlenkamp, who used a class of helpers to assist in the making of this multifaceted work.

The animation begins in an eerily Harry Potter feeling (magical) wide-shot of the scene-location. The music picks up speed as more and more books and motion occur within. From the outside, you see a normal bookstore, but once inside the store is alive. Books shift, move, organize themselves by colour, move around, and fleet over the floor. Extra buy items also come alive and provide a stable focus-point from the motion and color-calamity of the books.   

The sheer amount of work that has gone into this production (and in such a small space) is amazing. The mood is delightful, and creates a magical but eerie feeling whim from the books. I think this video is a beautiful example of what possibilities asking for permission to do animation can provide, as well as demonstrate the advantages of teamwork and co-operation.  

Information Provided by the Creators of The Bicycle Animation

After organizing our bookshelf almost a year ago (http://youtu.be/zhRT-PM7vpA), my wife and I (Sean Ohlenkamp) decided to take it to the next level. We spent many sleepless nights moving, stacking, and animating books at Type bookstore in Toronto (883 Queen Street West, (416) 366-8973).


Everything you see here can be purchased at Type Books.


Grayson Matthews (http://www.graysonmatthews.com/) generously composed the beautiful, custom music. You can download it here: http://itunes.apple.com/album/awakenings-single/id496796623


But none of it could have been done without all the volunteer hands who shelved and reshelved books all night, every night. A special thanks goes out to:


Lisa Blonder Ohlenkamp
Mike Takasaki
Hannah Charlick
Liz Walker
Andrew Carty
Filipe Da Luz
Ruth Ann Cachero
Justin Turco
Adam Tuck
Michael Groppo
Curtis Denomme
Shannon Farrell
Steffi Raike
Jean Marc Douville
Mikhail Ferrara
Clayton Vrenjak
Rob Sturch
Marie Rupolo
Nery Orellana
Mike Greco
William Chong
Terri Vegso
Michael Leishman
Emma Leishman
Mike Kolberg
Ryan Speziale
Natalie Mathers




So who wants to help us do the Library of Congress next? :)

The Bicycle Animation

Inspirational

Found this video by viewing it in class, thanks to Professor Franci Duran 
 Written by Nicole Wilk

The Bicycle Animation

The students participating in this project took an old style of animation (check out a previous blog post here), and incorporated it into not just modern art but into a practical art demonstration of the secrets of motion. The animation technique I am referring to is an extension of the Zoetrope. The Zoetrope is a cylinder with long slits and sequence drawings on strips of paper that when spun appeared to be moving ( this was popular in the 19^th Century in Europe & America). The Zoetrope inspired the Praxinoscope, which in turn inspired the Zoopraxiscope.

The Zoopraxiscope was a projector device, designed by Eadward Muybridge, that used round discs with images printed around the disc rim that - when rotated - appeared to move.The design concept in The Bicycle Animation follows the same principle. By having the images (in this case laser-cut) rotate, the eye loses track of where to focus and the animation begins to blur into itself, but what happens with the rotation is that our eyes pick a point to focus on and as each piece if art hits that spot our eyes blur that to the one before, and the one before, tricking ourselves to believe the motion is still.

The bicycle animation uses the speed of the bike to get the smooth motion. The faster the person riding on the bike goes, the smoother our eyes can blend the animation. The wheels of the bike can change speed and duration, which makes the art "live art" in that it can change and grow in real time. I found this art facinating and wonder why it does not exist as bike deco's on the market already. For all the silly ways to customize bikes (like stickers), this art is beautuful and functional. A good material, even hard plastic, would be enough to create the art.

If this art was available for sale: I'd own two. 

One for each wheel!

If you liked this art, check out:
Béatrice Coron: Stories cut from paper

 

 Information Provided by the Creators of The Bicycle Animation

 If you would like to own a laser cut Bicycle Animation design please go to www.etsy.com/shop/katybeveridge1. These are not visible with the naked eye, it must be filmed to animate.

This is a piece created to question whether it was possible to film animation in realtime. Part of my CSM 3rd year disseration project I was looking at proto animation (really early basic animation) in contemporary design. I've taken a lot of influence from other contemporary designers who are using these techniques to explore the way we look at animation and how its made. As stated on my channel I have interviewed animators such as Jim le Fevre and in my research referenced other people using this technique such as David Wilson and Tim Wheatley who did this before me. I developed this project based on what is being done in animation right now as well as a lot of primary research into the history of animation techniques.

Big Thanks to my friend Stefan Neidermeyer who did the sound. The soundtrack is made up of various bike noies recorded during the filming process which Stef then remixed to make the amazing soundtrack.

Thanks to Henry Chung (http://henrichung.wordpress.com/) Fernando Laposse (http://www.fernandolaposse.com) and Dominic Roup and their great bikes for making an appearance.

Any Questions contact: katy_bev@hotmail.com

 

 

Peer Review of Tatterhood

Feedback
on Storyboard, Script, & Rough Cut

by Nicole Wilk

Our professor in Animation believes that we should be presenting our work to be reviewed by others. I've found this process to be helpful as my ideas are usually rounded off and receiving feedback on the project that would make it better or more understandable has been helpful. But more than that, by reviewing the class progress we witness the process of others in the class which I have found largely beneficial. I believe this helps us compare what level of work should be submitted, and to inspire other creative choices.

Feedback session in class about the storyboard and script

When Tatterhood the trailer was shown to the class there were many questions and comments. Praise for the artwork and mood, but also a consensus that our book trailer didn't feel like a book trailer. It was too theatrical. A change in the order of the trailer was needed with the introduction at the beginning, and a hint or direct statement of the story's origin as we centered the visual concept on the age of the story and the Nordic roots.

feedback in class after the rough draft

Eaudweard Muybridge

Animal Locomotion by Muybridge

In my third year Animation class at McMaster University we looked at the work of Eaudweard Muybridge. Muybridge, a photographer, was hired in 1872 by the governor of California to solve the question: Does a horse lift all 4 legs from the ground at a single point in time? In order to solve this bet Muybridge took a series of photographs. He discovered that the horse does lift all legs off the ground, however the horse pulled all legs in, at the time it was assumed the horse would be extending all limbs. As this was a great discovery, Muybridge continued the study of motion and has since helped many people understand the basics of motion by his frame-by-frame breakdown.  

The Horse in Motion

The McMaster Art Gallery had four Muybridge prints on display:

Volume 3, #92 Ascending Stairs, 1887

Volume 4, #222 Stooping, Lifting A Water Jar To Head And Turning, 1887

Volume 2, #391 Farmer Mowing Grass, 1887

Volume 5, #157 Jumping, Running Twist High Jump, 1887

All copyrighted in 1887 by Eadweard Maybridge. All Rights Reserved. 

We then visited the McMaster vault and to see the rest of the Muybridge collection, which included the unlabelled prints of 352, 388, 742, 611, 448, 435, & 27. The entire collection was both fascinating and educational. Muybridge's work was groundbreaking at the time, and was the only source of movement to be studied. Oddly, his work was considered scientific, not artistic, yet his work is highly regarded by animators for the fast collection of motion studies he has collected. I say his work is fascinating even in this day and age where we don't need stop-motion to create video's, and can record far more frames per second, because his work was the original. It created the standard. I am a firm believer of the basics and own my own Chinese book of menial tasks performed by nude males and females. My book, is likewise black and white photo's of people sitting, climbing ladders, walking, etc but from various angles.  The Chinese motion study book was found in Toronto's China Town, and was not intended for the West, yet the book performed similar studies of Muybridge despite the culture divide. 

Not surprisingly, since the study was performed in the 1800's, the photo content is sexist and racist. In print #222 a white female lifts a water jug to her head, #435 a white female is ironing clothes, and #448, two white females exchange flowers.  The females performed the tasks their bodies would most likely be doing in every-day tasks. The males, in contrast, were also all white and #157, jumping over high bars, #391 mowing grass, #27 carrying stones above his head, #352 carrying a rifle, and #388 farming. As the point of the study was to witness the every day mundane activities it is at once fitting activities but also furthering stereotypes. Do females often exchange flowers to warrant the breakdown of activity, or is that the image one wants to have when thinking of two girls? Could they have just as easily been reading together?

In the instance of the Plate's seen at McMaster Art Gallery there is a motion repeated by both genders, carrying something on the head (which would be rather silly in modern times now), and that is the girl carrying the water jug, and the man carrying the stone. Though the water jug is easily recognizable the stone was not, not even when I asked for the identity of the item from the Museum Informant. I do question if he was carrying a stone because men did at the time, or because it wouldn't have done to see him carrying a water jug. Regardless, it is not easy to compare the motion between these two similar gestures. The female is seen bending and lifting the jug which makes her task appear more difficult, whereas the male is walking casually with his stone.   



 

On the day that I wrote this blog post Muybridge was being honoured by Google. If you clicked play on the Google image the image started to slide horizontally gaining speed until the horse image successfully galloped.

Stan Schroeder,  Animated Google Doodle Honors Eadweard J. Muybridge

The following images are posted in an educational context to be studied and shared by University Students. All images are part of the McMaster University Art Gallery, and were shown on campus to McMaster media students to further their education. 

Plate 92 - Nude Female Ascending Stairs

Profile and rear views of nude female ascending stairs. 12 frame 1 1/2 stride climbing 2 steps.

Plate 92 - Nude Female Ascending Stairs
Duration of action: 100/100sec or 60f@60fps

Plate 92 - Nude Female Ascending Stairs
Flv is @ 30fps, QuickTime Mov is @ 59.94fps

Plate 157 - Semi Nude Male Underwear Jumping Running Twist High Jump

Profile and front views of semi nude male wearing underwear running, jumping a twist high jump. 12 frame jump.

Plate 157 - Semi Nude Male Underwear Jumping Running Twist High Jump
Duration of action: 152/100sec or 92f@60fps

Plate 222 - Nude Female Stooping Lifting Water Jar Head Turning

Profile and rear views of nude female stooping, lifting a water jar to head then turning. 12 frame single stride, stoop, raise, and turn.

Plate 222 - Nude Female Stooping Lifting Water Jar Head Turning
Duration of action: 273/100sec or 164f@60fps

Plate 391 - Nude Male Farmer Mowing Grass

Front and profile views of nude male farmer mowing grass. 12 frame torso twist.

Plate 391 - Nude Male Farmer Mowing Grass
Duration of action: 150/100sec or 90f@60fps

Plate 27 - Nude Male Looping Walkcycle Carrying 75lb Stone on Head Hands Raised

Profile, and rear view of nude male looping walkcycle carrying a 75 pound stone on his head with hands raised. 12 frame looping walkcycle.

Plate 27 - Nude Male Looping Walkcycle Carrying 75lb Stone on Head Hands Raised
Duration of action: 75/100sec or 45f@60fps

Plate 352 - Semi Nude Male Underwear Rifle Shoulder Order Carry Arms

Front, front three-quarter, and rear three-quarter views of semi nude male wearing underwear with rifle on shoulder, order carry arms. 11 frame arm movement.

Plate 352 - Semi Nude Male Underwear Rifle Shoulder Order Carry Arms

Duration of action: 300/100sec or 180f@60fps

 

 

Plate 388 - Nude Male Farmer Using Spade Loop

Profile, rear, and fron three-quater views of nude male farmer using a spade loop. 12 frame stoop and lift.

Plate 388 - Nude Male Farmer Using Spade Loop

Duration of action: 353/100sec or 212f@60fps

Plate 435 - Nude Female Ironing Clothes

Profile, rear, and front three-quarter views of nude female ironing clothes. 12 frame stoop, arm movement.

Plate 435 - Nude Female Ironing Clothes

Duration of action: 295/100sec or 177f@60fps

Plate 448 - Two Nude Female Descending Stairs Goblet Meeting Girl Bouquet

Profile and three-quarter views of two nude female, one descending the stairs with goblet, other girl with bouquet, meeting. 11 frame walk, carrying.

Plate 448 - Two Nude Female Descending Stairs Goblet Meeting Girl Bouquet

Duration of action: 229/100sec or 138f@60fps

Plate 611 - Horse Trotting Harnessed To Sulky Clothed Male Rider

Profile and rear views of horse trotting while harnessed to a sulky with a clothed male rider. 12 frame horse run.

Plate 611 - Horse Trotting Harnessed To Sulky Clothed Male Rider

Duration of action: 52/100sec or 32f@60fps

Plate 742 - Bactrain Camel - Racking and Galloping

Rear views of bactrain camel, a, racking, b, galloping. 12 frame quadped varying runs.

Plate 742 - Bactrain Camel - Racking and Galloping

Duration of action: 100/100sec or 60f@60fps

EMPTY

nothing here yet, sorry!

The Sequential Composition : Designing in Time

Source: Motion Graphic Design : Applied History and Aesthetics 

By Jon Krasner

 

Chapter 8: The Sequential Composition : Designing in Time

This chapter encompassed sequential composition: forms of continuity, forms of discontinuity, and montage to explain sequential composition and elaborate into the manner in which events occur over time. This chapter dealt heavily on transitions, explain what different techniques mean, as well as defining a few rules. I found this chapter to be beneficial and would recommend anyone working with motion to read it and expand their scene-to scene techniques. 

 

Sequential Composition

 

 

Forms of Continuity

Spatial continuity

The viewer retains a sense where elements are when in they are in the frame, and outside the frame. 

·         Establishing context

·         Index and motion vectors

·         Frame mobility

Graphic continuity

The visual properties of line, form, value, colour, and texture.  Instead of fading, zoom into a coloured shape.

Temporal continuity

The use of time, to bring the viewer instantly to the past, present, or future. In this case a fade would be useful as we associate the fades with a shifting of time.

Action continuity

How to preserve animation continuity:

1.       Cut just before or after an action.

2.       Cut between different types of action that move in the same direction.

3.       When cutting during a camera move, continue the same motion in the following sequence.

4.       If you are panning with a moving object then continue the pan with the speed of the object.

Forms of Discontinuity

May weaken the narrative, but intensify the context.

 

Narrative & Non-Narrative Forms

Cinema and motion graphics

 

Graphic Considerations

The visual and conceptual aspects of a compositions graphical properties.

Stranger than Fiction - end titles (high quality)

Subjectivity

Point-of-view editing enhances the narrative structure by representing the viewpoint of one or more characters.

2001: A Space Odyssey "Star Gate" sequence

Se7en (Opening Credits)

Spatial Discontinuity

Reconstructing an environment that relies partially on the imagination of the viewer.

·         Establish the viewpoint of a character

·         Intensify the overall emotional mood or impact of the concept.

 

 

Temporal Discontinuity

Deliberately create ambiguity, build tension, and intensify emotional impact. 

HansRichter-ghosts for breakfast (1927)

·         Jump cuts and flash cuts
Show an ellipsis of time, arouse tension, create disorientation

·         Parallel editing
Cross-cutting illusions the viewer o believe that different events are interwoven

·         Event duration and repetition

Differentiates onscreen events from the story screen time

 

 

Montage

Film was controlled by a rigid style of rules until the aftermath of WWI wherein surrealist and dad filmmakers juxtaposed unusual combinations of mundane images that were meant to explore the subconscious in a dream state.

"Un Chien Andalou" - Um Cão Andaluz - Trailer Original

 

Conceptual Forms

Idea-Associative Montage: juxtaposing 2 different ideas to create a third.

OdessaSteps clip: Battleship Potemkin (1925)

·         Comparison montage (similar)

·         Collision montage (opposing)

 

Analytical Forms

Indicates a passage of time and condense or expand time within a narrative context.

Conceptualization : developing ideas

Source: Motion Graphic Design : Applied History and Aesthetics 

By Jon Krasner

 

Chapter 9: Conceptualization : developing ideas

 

This chapter explains the process of creative development. It walks you through assessment (defining your goals), formalization (developing ideas), cultivation (determining if your project is realistic), storyboards (defining the scenes and layout of the idea), and animatic (the detailed motion storyboard). This chapter is important as it lays out the creative process in manageable steps, defining the process along the way and clarifying the expectations of quality of work.  

ASSESSMENT:

Before you begin, define who your final project will be designed for, what your goal for creating the project is, and that you have knowledge about your project content and means of production.

Designing For Your Target Audience

o   Defining the object

o   Targeting the audience

o   Researching the topic

o   Understanding the restrictions

o   Considering image style

FORMULATION

Here you begin the creative process. You will brainstorm the style of the project, what imagery will be used, colour schemes, and collect a bank of inspirational references.

Brainstorm: 15 Ways to Improve Freelance Creativity

o   Brainstorming

o   Pathways to creative thinking

·         Inspiration

·         Risk taking

·         Experimentation

CULTIVATION

 Here, the idea begins to take shape. At this stage one can ascertain whether their project is realistic. Is the project in the means of the people, budget, and equipment involved? 

Character Development by ~thefireis

o   Evaluation

1.     Will my concept capture and hold my audience's attention?
2.     Is this idea based strictly on technique or trend?
3.     Is this concept different enough from what has already been done?
4.     Is this concept realistic enough to implement technically? 
5.     Will the means needed to impliment my idea fit within the budget?

o   Selection

o   Clarification & Refinement

STORYBOARDS

Describes motion in a static manner.

Fantastic Mr. Fox storyboard artist Christian DeVita

o   Visual content and style

Digital vs traditional.

o   Pictorial and sequential continuity
The pictorial continuity must indicate cohesion between the style of images and type, choice of colour scheme, and treatment of compositional space.

o   Stages of development

·         Early development
Consider Continuity:
flow of action or events from scene to scene
clarity of transitions from scene to scene
the approximatetime it will take to animate the scenes versus the allowed time
the resources needed to create the desired effects

·         The final comprehensive
Show major events:
transitions
framing
camera moves

·         Brevity and clarity
Be succinct. Use only major events:
6-10 frames per 30 seconds
20 frames for 1-2minute trailer
8 frames for website introduction & station IDs

o   Professionalism
“Sloppy execution, lack of attention to detail, and ambiguity of presentation can create a negative impression” p301

ANIMATICS

Using your rough but clear images, sounds, and pacing to determine the overall effect and time of the video. Used as a referance for the final animation.

 Gorillaz - Dirty Harry (Animatic)

Visualizes the project prior to production and resolve the motion and timing of events.

·         Synchronise the art pace

·         Incorporates the audo

·         Allows early problem solving for:

Lighting
Cinematography

Sound production