Stop Motion Workshop

Today i had my first experience in the stop motion animation studio. I have never done stop motion animation before so it was a good experience. I found the software easier to use than expected. I really like the idea of using this technique for my animation, maybe mixed in with the style of the Rayograms. I paired up with two others to create this short animation example with little toy models. 

More examples

While still having a look for inspirational animations i came across a really amazing music video by Oren Lavie called 'Her Morning Elegance'. The video is a example of the stop motion method as you can see the way the camera jolts while filming, i found this video really interesting and got me thinking on how they created this with such detail. After watching the video it made me think of Adeles 'Chasing Pavements' Music video which is also the same concept. 

Rayograms

A photogram is a photographic  image made without a camera by placing objects directly onto the surface of a photo-sensitive material such as photographic paper and then exposing it to light. The result is a negative shadow image varying in tone, depending on the transparency of the objects used. Areas of the paper that have received no light appear white; those exposed through transparent or semi-transparent objects appear grey.

I really enjoyed my first rayogram workshop. I liked the out come of my images, and found the whole process enjoyable and intriguing as i had never had the chance to use this technique. I am considering using this technique for my final animation.

Examples

These three examples have no narrative story to them, except grunts and sounds like the wallace and gromit series. The top two are very good quality animations, the bottom example is very simple stick images, but the short animation still works well. 

Research

One of the most influential companies of the animation world has to be the Walt Disney group. From a very young age I remember watching loads of Disney films like, 101 Dalmations, Alice in Wonderland, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Bambi, the list could go on and on! Disney started out as simple hand drawn images and now have developed with the help of computer technology. Here is an example of Cinderella one of my most favourite Disney films in the style of the old hand drawn technique..

The Pixar company are a newer animation film group who were brought by the Walt Disney company in 2006. Now working along side with Disney they have produced many modern day family favourites like Toy Story, A Bugs Life, Monsters Inc, Up and Finding Nemo. 

Wallace and Gromit are one of the most famous examples of Clay Animation . The main reason why Wallace and Gromit animations have become so famous are for the simple way they aren't to complex in the design, Their simple expressions on there faces and body movements. The characters don't make any sound just use simple grunts and sounds. This may work in my own work as the music will be playing as the background so not a lot of sound would be needed. 

Print To Pixel - New Project

"Animation"The technique of photographing successive drawings or positions of puppets or models to create a illusion of movement, when individual frames are linked together they are then shown as a moving sequence animation. 

For this project i have been asked to create a 20-30 second animation, linked to a piece of Audio that has been given to us. Im excited about this new project. I have previously done animation but in the style of a flip book, so i am familiar with storyboards but using new computer software like after effects will be challenging just like using different techniques like stop motion animation and Rayograms. 

Final Design

This is my final poster design. Im happy with the end outcome, I feel its simple but still decorative. I like the dark brown tone against the white logo, which still stands out. 

Final Pieces

Out of the photos I took, I have selected the ones I feel are the best quality, I found the camera easy to use after the tutorial we had a few weeks back, where She taught us all the different settings for the best possible photo. To keep the boxes together to form words I simply gathered them together with sticky tape. Im really happy with the arrangement of the words, and the way they curve over each block. I wanted to keep my poster design simple which I feel I have achieved with each image. By increasing and decreasing the light source I have been able to create different shadows. I like the detail of the letters in the first image, you can see the light and shadow hit at different angles inside the box, which adds to the effect. 

Poster Research

Yulia Brodskaya's work is just stunning! She uses strips of paper to form lettering in a 3D style which just looks beautiful. I don't want this kind of style in my poster design, but her work was just amazingly mind blowing I had to put her on my blog! 

Julene Harrison 

Julene Harrison is a British typographer and illustrator. His work is just mind blowing, each design is carefully designed with every detail in mind, then delicately he cuts into his design taking away negative space. He cautionary cuts out each part, while still trying to keep each element joined together. His work have recently appeared on the o2 adverts.

Here are few examples of promotional items that have been designed for GFSmith. Their typical identity and features are clear, striking photographs and simple fonts. The middle image is their corporate identity which I am going to place onto my poster. The information that I will include on my final poster design will be..

"100 Years of GFSmith Paper

Design Museum 

01 - 31 July

2011 "

Task Two

For this part of the project, I want a completely different image for the poster, rather than just changing my 3D model and including that. I want a simple poster that will be eye catching but also elegant. The idea i have for the poster are individual small boxes with a different letter on each front of the boxes, when placed together will read..

"100 Years of GFSmith Paper"

I haven't decided on how I want my cubes to interlock and connect to each other yet but I have been sketching a few basic ideas in my sketchbook, for the time being Im keeping them all as single boxes until I start photographing them for my poster image, them I will experiment with a variety of possible layouts.

 

This is a example of the basic net I have produced in photoshop, I have tried a sample of fonts that could be used, which is shown in my sketchbook, but I have chosen on the front "Zapfino" as I like the calligraphy effect of the type against the plain white box. I feel this design needs a elegant finish as the paper GFSmith produce are of high quality and have a delicate feel and finish to them. 

Here is the constructed net, measuring at 50mm x 50mm the boxes aren't to big but are also not to small either. You can see the difference in the type quality, the top image is my final chosen typeface 'Zapfino' where as the other image is a basic chunky 'Rockwell Extra Bold" typeface. The defined type 'Zapfino' is a much more neat font which I feel works well, Whereas the 'Rockwell Extra Bold" is alot more messy and boring. 

Final 3D Piece

After coming across the work of Matt Shilion I particularly liked the way he hangs his pieces vertical instead of horizontally. I feel my sculpture works either way. But i especially like having it vertical, you can see the definition of the curves and shape at this angle.

Matt Shilon

This amazing American artist has been producing these beautiful hanging paper sculptures for over ten years. His work is very unusual and daring. He uses the method of kinetic movement, his sculptures can be 'folded' down into what looks like a boring stack of paper. His designs are normally out of white paper, but here you can see he uses coloured paper at times. I admittedly like the this coloured sculpture as white can be very bland at times, where as this pops with a little splash of colour. 

The main link to natural form I first think of is the Human Spine. The way the paper curves and the spine has definitions of curves are very much the same. The strips of paper are comparable to some of the spine bones and the way they integrate alongside one another. 

After really liking the effect I got from the previous technique I have decided to up the scale. This was made from two sheets of A2 think matted paper, which I secured together and cut 150mm think strips across the landscape paper. Gradually cutting slits along the top hem area i was able to thread the strips above and below each other creating this curved body of paper. I am really happy with the outcome of this technique, I feel it looks much better in a larger scale than what it did on the smaller paper. 

In one of the workshop shops with Richard Sweeney, I cut the paper into strips with keeping a 2cm hem on the top of the paper. By making small slits in the hem part, I was then able to push the strips up and around, all inter locking around each other forming a twisted shape. I really like this effect, I will have to try and attempt a bigger size of paper to get more body and more length if I am to use this for my final 3D structure, I also would like to have a more spine like structure.

Primary Research - Tudor Square

I always walk through the part of town where the Winter Gardens are located and have never really payed any attention to the seating area on Tudor Square. The seats have a pebble like look to them with in-graved patterns like creases in paper.