Journal Entry #3 - Kinestasis

Good morning all; I'm at a loss on what to post as far as videos go, so here's looking at Laybourne chapter 9 - a kinestasis vid for the masses...

Kinestasis part 2 -  John Keller, 6:05 minutes

So - there really aren't a lot of kinestasis videos out there that I could find - I'm sure anyone who looked found this one; I didn't want to use any of the samples in the packet in case we were going to view them in class...

Most of the videos I saw looked a bit like screensavers – this one really stood out for obvious reasons. Through layering film the author created something wonderfully abstract. It is interesting to think that this is composed of still images. I felt it to be very hypnotic; a kaleidoscope of shorts. But despite its abstract form, there is significance to the images beyond the formalistic, as the author says –

“The surfeit of advertising imagery is occasionally punctuated by rapidly morphing images of mass graves and other horrors from the 20th century. The idea behind the film is to contrast multiplicities on opposing sides of the capitalist coin.”

And yet he chose to make it unclear – hidden, subtle (well after all, blatancy never really goes well with art). I would never have figured out what the film was of – when I viewed it I understood it to be film, photographs of something real, but that was as far as I got. The audio helps in this regard in setting the tone of the piece. I was amazed at the movement of the film; the pace at which the photos move and morph coupled with the layering of other photos – I did not think that I was looking at still pictures being panned by a camera, and it felt like it could have live action footage within it (video camera stuff) – the illusion of animation indeed.  

What did you all think it was about when you first watched it? Did anyone see the meaning behind the video from just watching it?

               

                On another note, it also reminded me of that nightmarish tunnel from the Gene Wilder Willy Wonka …

 

Journal Entry #2 -- Pixilation project

                I’ve delayed this post in regards to the project which was still in production this afternoon – Well, seeing as how the first entry was about outside films I wanted to switch to the class project side of things…

Harassing Mr. Toots (who normally takes interest in paper bags)

               

Ahem…

Theatrical as I tend to be, paranoid as I tend to be – I knew I wanted to go for a mask thing early on. Poor as I tend to be – paper bags were an obvious choice (Never minding the hellish temperatures they create for the fool wearing them). My first step was to create a storyboard – some rough thumbnails that illustrated the key movements with directional arrows; this really helped to not only solidify the overall idea but also in finding new jokes and angles that I hadn’t considered before.

Storyboard

The camera process went somewhat smoothly when we got into a system that worked (J my bro acted and filmed at times, my dad shot the portion that we both appear in) – basically we’d take a picture and then the camera person would say move when they were ready for the next shot – I directed movement when it needed directing but sometimes how much movement depended on the actor’s judgment.

I did read the entire chapter – but I must not have really read it because after all was said and done, I looked at it again and I noticed all the stuff that I did that he told us not to do (ack.) Skating was really hard (especially since I can’t do any kind of skating in real life), but trying to figure out the propelling motion in still shots…it was stupidly difficult (I kept forgetting that you keep moving forward even when you are switching your feet). In addition it was hard to capture the whole image (feet and all) so I think there are some shots where the effect is lost. Working with other people was a really foreign and challenging experience in regards to my practice – it’s a whole other mindset that you have to get into; you cannot control every aspect and therefore communication is essential down to the last detail. Really different from how I normally work – but not a bad thing in regards to the creative process -- different certainly, but interesting all the same. Well I hope it is enjoyed tomorrow - if everything goes according to plan...

The costume dept. J(left) Me(right). Attached with poster tack for optimal switching powers. They do have eye holes and a mouth for air...but there was not enough air....

From the project...

Journal Entry #1 -- Greetings and cameraless animation

はじめましたね！And nice to meet you all in the the blogosphere (you, my fellow classmates and prof.)- welcome to The Ugly Barnacle -- first order of business, please check out these videos (I picked two for our special debut journal entry)...
 (btw for experimental purposes -someone watch vid#2 first and see if that changes anything as far as perspective goes)

  Cameraless Film Animation - username: ajansen87 (idk do these samples have to be professional?), running time - 31 sec. Description - scratching right on black film and also drawing on clear film to make a cameraless animation that is set to music. Not sure what the film size is, but it is pretty formalistic as far as subject matter.

Cameraless Animation (great titles as you can see) - username: montyite, running time - 10 min 55 sec Description - animation drawn on 35 mm film, artist says there is a problem with the vertical registration and there is obviously no sound on this one - but another great video dealing with lots of colors and shapes. I'm thinking the film size helps out with the complexity noted here.

Seeing as we are currently on the subject, I felt it right to start things off with some cameraless animation – and after some digging on YouTube I’ve come up with two videos that may or may not be someone’s class projects (no, the first one definitely is…). I feel the very nature of the cameraless medium is experimental – through its primitiveness and physicality in comparison to contemporary methods, it’s like tearing away all the layers and techniques that we’ve built up and getting down to the raw dirt of what animation is (like a man contemplating a skull…or a chicken contemplating an egg…hmm). So too does the animator contemplate that first jump between still image and moving picture. In the above videos we can explore how two similar films done in the same medium are quite different in their presentation – all thanks to the soundtrack (and lack of it). Not to detract from the latter film – on the contrary, both are really impressive I think – especially in terms of the flow and subject matter. The first video (let’s call this #1 – damn those completely useless titles) is only 30 sec. long, but it’s 30 sec. well spent – all due in my opinion to the brilliant coordination with the soundtrack; I don’t know but I think it would be hard to match music with something you’re drawing directly on film – but maybe not? (Is this really etched on film? – maybe it’s all computers and I am being duped lol…) No I’ll trust this person and say it’s legit and a lot of work went into it. The second video (#2) is amazing – 11 min of enjoyable film entertainment (filled with great colors). The noticeable difference being the issue of sound…I invite you all to note your experiences in that area (was it any different for someone who watched #2 before #1? Which video do you favor? etc.). Let us explore the relationship between sound and animation – here’s an idea: mute #1 and see what happens, anything different in your viewing? Is animation just for the eyes – like a lot of other art is (i.e does sound enhance or distract from what matters – and what does matter…hmm)?  

       

Film itself typically reaches out to two of our senses (sight and sound) – I myself find it hard to divorce the two, they work wonders together -- if sound is a part of the piece, then it is of the art and should not be separated – film being a medium very different from other visual mediums…

(421 words and late at that...@.@ forgive my impudence)