Freedom & Liberty: Research and Concept

Research into Freedom & Liberty, including definitions (authors own)

Screen shot of freedom (google search)

Olympics: Black Power Salute (right to left: John Carlos, Tommie Smith and Peter Norman)

Source: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/mar/30/black-power-salute-1968-olympics

For this project I aim to make a short animated piece that communicates something about Freedom and Liberty, and what it means to me. I started my research, looking into dictionary definitions of the terms and then diversified my sources onto the world wide web and that of other peoples opinions on the matter. I then watched documentaries and films such as, The Naked Rambler, that explores others opinions on what freedom is, in this case to be publicly nude without being antagonised. I also watched the films, The Truman Show and Bruce Almighty (both staring Jim Carey). I found something very interesting being said in Bruce Almighty, which was about the idea of playing God and the limits to that power. We as humans all have free will, we make our own decisions and choose our own paths. This can be manipulated by those around us, but ultimately it is our choice (unless you believe in destiny). However, in animation an animator has the job of playing God and the poor character has absolutely no free will. In continuing this project I will work with the concept of free will.

I then looked into historical revolutions, such as the black power movement and freedom fighters. I found it to be rich in potential visual metaphors. The black panther could be a great visual metaphor for me to play with, as well as the salute (seen above) . Oppressed, black people were almost completely without freedom, but the Black Panther movement was them using their free will to make a difference. Just like them, I want my character to fight back.

Metamorphosis: Final Animation

Authors own

This is the final animation of my story, which I entitled 'Gregory's Soul' that explores the concept of metamorphosis through life, death and the spirit world. Overall, I am pleased with my outcome as it evokes the emotions I was aiming to strike in the viewers. I think the choices I made during production, e.g.  choosing to make it in black and white, the music I chose, the idea of inverting the tones once we entered the spirit world, were the prime reasons the mood of the piece was so well received. If I were to improve this animation I would of taken care to include more frames and movement, as in some places it does seem a little static and incomprehensible. However, these are points I can take on board and carry forward for my next animated projects. In order to avoid this happening in future projects I could make animatics before I start final production, making sure all transitions and keyframes work accordingly. 

I made the animation by hand using a lightbox to aid me. I then scanned each image into Flash and put them into sequence.The inverted colour frames where scanned into Photoshop, where I edited them and then imported them into Flash. Once this was done I add fade out transitions and small movements, such as blinking and the bug sprat entrance, using Flash. I then exported the file into iMovie where I added a glowing effect on the second half of the animation and included rolling credits at the end. 

I was surprised at just how time consuming the animation process is and how much there is to consider. In order to help my future animations, creating a check list would really help make things run more smoothly. 

Metamorphosis: Screen Shots

Screen Shots of final animation

Photos are authors own

These screen shots are organised chronologically to give a rough idea of the storyline. Evaluation of final piece is to be found on the next post. I have included these images incase you cannot watch the actual animation. 

FMP: Dream Logging Project Proposal

Screen shot of my project proposal power point

Photo is authors own 

After mind mapping the ideas that I currently have surrounding the idea of Dream Logging and deciding what research is necessary for the development of this concept, I composed a power point presentation, in order to pitch my idea to a group of my peers and my tutors. Through doing this I was able to grasp the direction I was heading in with more clarity and allowed others to give me fed back that will enrich my research process and in turn, my ideas to come. For the next stage of my FMP I will use this project proposal to guide my research into the Surrealist and Dada art movements, as well as films/animations that have explored a similar concept to mine, most obviously the Walt Disney animation  Alice in Wonderland (1951).

Tine Bech Lecture: Playful Interaction (26.09.13)

 ("Catch Me Now by Tine Bech, Kinetica Art Fair, 2011" - found on http://www.leoalmanac.org)

I attended a lecture by Tine Bech where she spoke about the nature of her work, in further preparation for my essay. She is a dutch, freelance artist that is particularly interested in technology in art, creating interactive installations, such as, Catch Me Now, Tracking You and Light Pot. Bech brought up an interesting point about how interactive arts concept can be shaped by its receiver. For example, in Catch Me Now children ended up making games around the installation. It was basically an empty space with a spotlight in it and once someone entered it it would expand, change colour and then move to another area of the room. It acted as an invitation to play. 

During the course of this lecture an interesting quote was introduced to me:

"People tend to forget that play is serious." - David Hockney (1999:133)