OUAN603 - Extended Practice: Realisation - Final Steps

OUAN603 - Extended Practice:

Realisation - Final Steps

After the final crit, it was made apparent that I had a lot of work to catch up on as sadly I tried to render out a preview for everyone but After Effects kept coming up with errors and crashing every time I attempted to render. I showed some of the class members after the crit, privately, and received feedback such as: "you need to fully animate the three characters", "try adding some more sound effects", "no background music necessary", and "one more push and you'll have something good to present".

Everyone's words were encouraging and due to this, I have managed to get a final animation done and dusted. Sure, I could improve some of the animation massively, but I feel like it's a huge improvement from my animations last year and my knowledge and confidence with After Effects has increased a lot.

OUAN603 - Extended Practice: Rough Animatics

OUAN603 - Extended Practice:

Rough Animatics

OUAN603 - Extended Practice: Title Card & Logo Updates

OUAN603 - Extended Practice:

Title Card & Logo Updates

Seeing as we had to completely change the idea to "Art in 60 Seconds-ish", I thought it was appropriate to go back and sort out the title cards and logo and make sure this time that the logo was actually legible as last time the text was so small even an ant would struggle to see it without a magnifying glass.

This time I think the logo is a little better and actually has the correct title of the project on it. I chose a funky and modern font of sans serif type to make sure it was just that little bit easier to read and see. White stood out among the backgrounds better whereas dark colours were much harder to see, so I went with white as it was striking and obvious and complemented the brightness and business of the palette clock better.

OUAN603 - Extended Practice: Voice Acting Update

OUAN603 - Extended Practice:

Voice Acting Update

After sending out all of the scripts to each of the three voice actors that offered to help me with the project, I have so far only had consistent communication with Elisa, my female actor. Due to my trying to contact both males and hearing nothing back as of yet, Elisa has very, very kindly offered to take on the role of Narrator voluntarily. I am thrilled to hear that she's willing to help out both the female roles and now the narration as I understand she's very popular and travels all over the world, having a very tight time schedule.

We have been keeping in touch and she has confirmed that she will complete the voice overs tomorrow and send them to me in the afternoon. She asked if I would kindly return a favour by writing up a testimony for her website so that it would aid towards her getting a possible job offer tomorrow with a big company. I was more than happy to put in a kind word for her and give an honest and professional representation of the work she has done for my project and just how great her voice is.

- The Next Day -

Elisa sent me her voice recordings this morning and I have just had a chance to listen to them, edit them into the respective three files for each movement, and evaluate the work she has done for me. We have hit a few snags in the project plan as I was aiming to keep my animations under 60 seconds each, however, after Elisa had sent me the recordings of her voice overs (she did many takes and we decided that the one with the subtle accents was best as young teens need to be able to easily understand the voicing so we went with the least amount of accent emphasis), we found out that each animation with all three characters and the first part of narration would go well over a minute...

CONTINGENCY PLAN:

I have now decided, also for added humour and to make a good thing out of a project hiccup, to name my franchise "Art in 60 Seconds-ish". This will still keep the audience aware that it won't be massively long, whilst being funny about a problem and turning it into something good. I will redo my logos because of this and make the logo more obvious. Each animation will now hit around one minute thirty, but all are going to make it under two minutes easily I should think.

I have learned from this that voice acting, despite asking the actors (as talented as they are) to kindly keep it as fast as possible and to hit a specific time, it isn't always possible as accents especially take time to pronounce and work towards making them sound authentic. Otherwise, if she had rushed them, they wouldn't be understandable, and would make the sound awkward to listen to. I think the decision to extend the timing is okay, as I'm sure with a little bit of help and support from others, I will be able to make something I can be proud of. Besides, "Art in 60 Seconds-ish" sounds hilarious to me, and highlights that yes, problems do occur, but you know what? It's not the end of the world and life really is just one big game. Have fun. Go crazy. Exceed time limits. Hardcore. 

Impressionism by Elisa Berkeley
Dadaism by Elisa Berkeley
Surrealism by Elisa Berkeley

OUAN603 - Extended Practice: Art in 60 Seconds Logo

OUAN603 - Extended Practice:

Art in 60 Seconds Logo

I had a go at quickly putting together a logo for my title cards, however I really, really dislike this as it looks shoddy and badly done, even though it's obvious that it is Dali's melting clock. I might aim for a more minimalist and graphic-designy logo with blocky colour and shapes. I may even try a hand at graphical-textual cohesion by merging text in with the logo somehow.

After much playing about with logo creation in Illustrator, I eventually came up with something simple and obvious. I wanted to incorporate art into the logo somehow, and make sure it was bright and reflected a learning environment well. I didn't want to aim for anything too "professional" or "office"-looking as the audience is young teens and not businessmen or big media companies after something innovative and unique.

 

The logo now features an art palette as a clock, which pretty much sums up the animations easily. It is recognisable and simple, and features some text underneath in a modern and easy-to-read font. This was later changed as the black font wasn't very distinguishable from the dark and busy backgrounds of the title cards, so the logo with the white and simpler text on the title card blog post is the final design simply for practicality.  

OUAN603 - Extended Practice: Title Cards

OUAN603 - Extended Practice:

Title Cards

By using some of the textures I scanned in last week, I am attempting to put together some appealing little title cards for each of my animations. I don't have the expertise of a graphic designer, but may be able to ask Rosy for advice on how they look and how to make them look neater and more professional. I aim to use part of an image/painting/art piece from one of the artists in each movement.

Firstly, I am using a section of "San Giorgio Maggiore at Dusk", 1908 by Claude Monet. Copyright-wise, I am able to use a piece for the title card so long as I credit the original source and intend to keep my animation profit-free. The original source for this piece is from "rdjess": https://rdjess.wordpress.com/2012/06/29/love-it-or-hate-it-impressionism/

I will overlay this onto one of my textures and then create the text and graphics to complete the card. I want to keep the colours of the image but make sure that isn't too recognisable. The texture will be the main thing that you see. I aim not to put too much worrying into the title cards as they'll only be on screen for a few seconds.

For the Surrealism title card, an image from Dali has been used but has had the colours inverted to create a sense of weird and wacky. The painting is 'Les Elephants' (1948), and the original source is http://www.dalipaintings.net/elephants.jsp. I used this image as not only does it depict a very surreal environment and is by one of the major artists in the animations, but the layout is clean, showing two creatures either side of the painting with a nice blank space in the middle which makes room for text. I didn't want to overclutter the title cards so this seemed a nice image to use.

My logo was originally going to be based on Salvador Dali's melting clock mixed with a bit of a colourful twist, but after a few attempts at a logo, I decided that I wanted something a bit more clean and punchy. I eventually decided on a logo that I put together, a clock palette. Inspired by the clocks I had seen across the web, I thought it would be more teen-friendly and more suitable for an educational classroom look.  

I spent a couple of hours playing around with title cards and layouts. I thought logically about how the stopwatch would appear from the right-hand side of the screen, so any text on the titles would need to be clear and not obscured by the animation. However, I didn't like the idea of the text being left aligned and realised that if by keeping everything central, it would allow the audience to focus on the titles completely as the titles are only on screen for a matter of seconds so any unusual layouts should be avoided. I created them in a way which allows the stopwatch to be seen whilst keeping the text clear. 

 By amalgamating my own textures, logo, and text together along with a couple of background images taken from sources listed above, I was able to make a fairly appealing looking set of title cards that were straight to the point, reflected each movement in some way, and set the scene and atmosphere for each animation. I used a fairly floaty and pretty font full of pattern for the Impressionism card, a font that was striking, modern, and straight (but non conforming of the German blackletter fonts, which signaled war and were used by Hitler) for the Dada card, and a simple straight type with an 'arrowed' I for an accent (symbolising going 'up into the mind' where dreams and psychoanalysis comes from) for Surrealism. The colours are also reflective of the movements - bright and contrasting for Impressionism, brown and collage-like for the war-repulsed Dada, and blue, striking and inverted for the weirdness of Surrealism.

OUAN603 - Extended Practice: Progress Report

OUAN603 - Extended Practice:

Progress Report

The date is the 7th of March and despite me thinking I was two weeks' worth of work behind due to a  horrendously long and contagious throat infection (meaning I had to be quarantined and kept indoors for the best part of two weeks), I'm actually massively on track! I've been using an app on my phone called Trello that allows you to create boards filled with tasks and transfer them from "to do" and "finished" sections, keeping you on track. It was shown to me by one of the fellow first years and I've loved using it for personal and college projects. Here is a rough list of tasks I have to have done by the 17th:

Grace's Extended Practice Organisation Board

You can keep up to date with all my progress easily by taking a gander now and then to see what I've been up to. I have a board for all my projects so I can keep myself well organised. I wish I had this app in first and second year as its actually really enjoyable to use.

So far, I am waiting on my three voice actors to get back in touch with me with their finished sound files. I gave them the deadline of the 20th of March at the latest (17th ideally for the presentation but 20th in case they had any hiccups with equipment or the scripts etc.) and will get back in touch with them in a week to check on how they're doing and to make sure everyone is happy with the project.

Until then, I will work on putting together my nine character puppets, the title cards, DUIK tests, and if I have time, possibly having a bash at the initial stopwatch clicking animation as this will be done frame by frame, digitally drawn, and would be nice just to get out of the way before starting the full three animations.

OUAN603 - Extended Practice: Scripting First Drafts

OUAN603 - Extended Practice:

Scripting First Drafts

After the huge mountains of research I enjoyed undertaking over the past few weeks, I decided that it was now time to put together a rough set of scripts using the most important or entertaining facts I had gathered throughout the research period. I used a wide range of sources for my research: books, online websites, anecdotal stories from people who knew some of the artists (mainly the most modern ones), and journals.

It took a few days for me to pick out the best bits and compile a rough draft each animation. I brought them along to my several tutorials and discussed elements such as timing, appropriateness, and keeping the dialogue short and snappy, rather than long-winded and waffly (which I admit I often struggle with)!

Some of the feedback I received was particularly helpful. One of the main pointers that was given of which I acted upon as soon as possible, was the suggestion that Marcel Duchamp's character shouldn't actually be shown urinating in the urinal at the end as this could go against educational restrictions and rules and also be too graphic and inappropriate for a younger audience. Instead, we decided that the mere suggestion of him urinating would be more than sufficient and allow for that feeling of mystery and surprise. I changed the script to allow for this, and made it so that he turns to face the urinal (back to the audience) and we hear a loud unzipping of a trouser zip instead. It will then cut to black as we see the credits roll.

Alongside this change, I also shortened a lot of the dialogue by cutting unnecessary bits out and keeping it really punchy and fast-paced. I used a stopwatch to time myself reading out each script from the start of the main countdown to see if each one stayed just under 60 seconds. All the scripts passed. However, I wanted to be extra sure that when I asked my voice actors to do their parts, I had sufficient evidence that the timing was right, otherwise it would mess them around and wouldn't be fair, especially as each role is unpaid work.

To test the authenticity of the timing, as I know I have a natural motor-mouth that can run at 1,000 miles an hour, I asked a few people with differing delivering methods to read them out in their own way. All passed the timing test with only a couple of exceptions. I cut a few more words out to make it more comfortable and less 'rushed'/sloppy.

I perfected the scripts a few days after and sent them to each voice actor that got in touch with me, (3 in total) with a deadline for the voice acting. I will now wait for the masters to work their magic on my scripts.

OUAN603 - Extended Practice - The Big Surrealism Research Haul

OUAN603 - Extended Practice:

The Big Surrealism Research Haul


What was Surrealism?

• A movement founded in Paris by a small group of creatives
• A means of using dreams, the subconscious, and imagination to create surreal and unusual works
• Inspired by Sigmund Freud and his idea that suppressed emotions and thoughts should be let out and explored
• Use of everyday imagery, nature, and mythology to symbolise dreams and the unconscious 
• Made to make the audience feel uneasy about the world around them - the uncanny
• One of the most distinct movements due to its ease of recognition
• Max Ernst was madly in love with the use of birds, Dali used ants and eggs

When and where did it take place?

• Started: 1924 to 1966 
• Place of Origin: Paris, France

Who were the major artists?

• Max Ernst
• Joan Miró
• René Magritte

Rene, a Belgian painter, is one of the most well-known artists of the 20th century. His unusual take on Surrealism makes his work incredibly unique and his love of repetition made him successful. (He often reproduced some of his most popular pieces.) "His interest in the idea may have come in part from Freudian psychoanalysis, for which repetition is a sign of trauma." - http://www.theartstory.org/artist-magritte-rene.htm

"The illustrative quality of Magritte's pictures often results in a powerful paradox: images that are beautiful in their clarity and simplicity, but which also provoke unsettling thoughts. They seem to declare that they hide no mystery, and yet they are also marvelously strange.

Magritte was fascinated by the interactions of textual and visual signs, and some of his most famous pictures employ both words and images. While those pictures often share the air of mystery that characterizes much of his Surrealist work, they often seem motivated more by a spirit of rational enquiry - and wonder - at the misunderstandings that can lurk in language.

The men in bowler hats that often appear in Magritte's pictures can be interpreted as self-portraits. Portrayals of the artist's wife, Georgette, are also common in his work, as are glimpses of the couple's modest Brussels apartment. Although this might suggest autobiographical content in Magritte's pictures, it more likely points to the commonplace sources of his inspiration. It is as if he believed that we need not look far for the mysterious, since it lurks everywhere in the most conventional of lives." - http://www.theartstory.org/artist-magritte-rene.htm 

• Salvador Dali

"Salvador Dali is among the most versatile and prolific artists of the twentieth century. Though chiefly remembered for his painterly output, in the course of his long career he successfully turned to sculpture, printmaking, fashion, advertising, writing, and, perhaps most famously, filmmaking. (Un Chien Andalou)" - http://www.theartstory.org/artist-dali-salvador.htm

Dali's work features themes of death, eroticism, and the decay of nature and objects. His famous "melting clocks", and "lobster telephone" are amongst some of the symbols that are most associated with him today, and he's known for his eccentricity and striking moustache! He has often been confused as being French, as many painters of the era were associated with France in some way due to its connection with art. However, Dali was in fact Spanish. 

"Dali soon became a leader of the Surrealist Movement. His painting, The Persistance of Memory, with the soft or melting watches is still one of the best-known surrealist works. But as the war approached, the apolitical Dali clashed with the Surrealists and was “expelled” from the surrealist group during a “trial” in 1934. He did however, exhibit works in international surrealist exhibitions throughout the decade but by 1940, Dali was moving into a new type of painting with a preoccupation with science and religion."

"As an artist, Salvador Dali was not limited to a particular style or media. The body of his work, from early impressionist paintings through his transitional surrealist works, and into his classical period, reveals a constantly growing and evolving artist. Dali worked in all media." - http://www.theartstory.org/artist-dali-salvador.htm

Dali was actually expelled from art school after stating that:

“none of the professors of the school being competent to judge me, I retire”

• Man Ray

Born: August 27, 1890 - Died: November 18, 1976 (From Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

As an American filmmaker, painter, and photographer, Man Ray's (Emmanuel Radnitzky) work spanned across many genres, often making it difficult to associate him with one major movement

"Although he matured as an abstract painter, Man Ray eventually disregarded the traditional superiority painting held over photography and happily moved between different forms. Dada and Surrealism were important in encouraging this attitude; they also persuaded him that the idea motivating a work of art was more important than the work of art itself." - http://www.theartstory.org/artist-ray-man.htm

He was fascinated with juxtaposing extraordinary objects and items with the female form. His work "Le Violon d'Ingres", featuring part of a violin overlapping a woman's back, follows her figure and curvature to represent a "human violin". This clever playing around with shapes may have lended itself more to the Surrealist movement, however Surrealism had not evolved just yet, so Man Ray's work could be seen as pre-Surrealism. This image, albeit influenced by Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres's "La Grande Baigneuse", has gone on to make its mark in our popular culture. The violin's notorious 'f-holes' have become inspiration for tattoos! 

"In 1915, Man Ray met French artist Marcel Duchamp, and together they collaborated on many inventions and formed the New York group of Dada artists. In 1921, Ray moved to Paris and became associated with the Parisian Dada and Surrealist circles of artists and writers. His experiments with photography included rediscovering how to make "camera-less" pictures, which he called rayographs." - http://www.biography.com/people/man-ray-9452778

What were the major works?

• The Persistence of Memory (1931)

"This iconic and much-reproduced painting depicts time as a series of melting watches surrounded by swarming ants that hint at decay, an organic process in which Dali held an unshakeable fascination. The important distinction between hard and soft objects, associated by Dali with order and putrefaction respectively, informs his work method in subverting inherent textual properties: the softening of hard objects and corresponding hardening of soft objects. It is likely that Dali was using the clocks to symbolize mortality (specifically his own) rather than literal time, as the melting flesh in the painting's center is loosely based on Dali's profile. The cliffs that provide the backdrop are taken from images of Catalonia, Dali's home." - http://www.theartstory.org/artist-dali-salvador.htm

• The Son of Man (1946), Man in a Bowler Hat (1964), The Great War (1964)

Rene seems to have a thing about hats on people whose faces are obscured by unusual objects! In fact, the men in bowler hats are actually self portraits. 

• The Accommodations of Desire (1929)
• The Human Condition (1933)

What were they trying to achieve?

• Trying to explore the inner depths of the mind and translate these findings into art
• Use Freudian theories and dream analysis to work out meaning behind suppressed thoughts and emotions
• Bring science and psychology into the creative industry to create surreal work
• After the years of Dada, Surrealism wanted to bring back a little bit of the traditional whilst keeping modern thoughts and theories alive

OUAN603 - Extended Practice - The Big Dada Research Haul

OUAN603 - Extended Practice:

The Big Dada Research Haul


What was Dada?

• Dada was an avant-garde movement, taking place to react and retaliate against the first World War.
• It was influenced heavily by such movements as Cubism, Futurism, Expressionism, and Constructivism and was seen as revolutionary, and almost a form of anarchy in the art world.
• Massively diverse contributions of poetry, contemporary dance, literature, sculpture, collage, and painting.
• Dada works often created controversy and made society question the intent of the work, artist, and movement itself.
• Went against the rules that governed thought, language, meaning, and art.
• Seen as a retaliation against the bourgeoisie with its anti-war and anti-nationalistic ideas. Associated with radical left groups.
  
  Note: "Bourgeoisie" - Middle class, materialistic and Capitalist population who own most of the world's wealth and means of production.
• The movement was later abandoned with the introduction and uprising of Surrealism. 

When and where did it take place?

• Started: 1916 to 1924
• Place of Origin: Zürich, Switzerland

Who were the major artists?

• André Breton
• Hans Arp
• Francis Picabia
• Hannah Höch 

Born: November 1, 1889 - Died: May 31, 1978 (Germany)

Höch was famous for her rather unusual collages, created by taking parts of photographs and merging them to create spectacular pieces of 'Photomontage'. She was a rarity, not only within the Dada movement, but in art as a whole as female artists weren't as well publicised. She wished to change the idea of men being the dominant sex in the creative industry whilst making a statement with her works.

Her look was also a political statement: 'boyishly short' hair and a rather androgynous way of dressing was her way of retaliating against male-dominated society and their expectations of what a 'woman should look like'. By doing this, she was embracing her idea of the "New Woman", a feminist way of life that called for equality not just in the arts, but in modern life. 

"Using camera-made images, Höch and other Dadaists pieced together works with satirical and ironic messages about the chaotic sociopolitical state in Germany." 

"The Dadaists were self-proclaimed radical thinkers who championed women’s rights. But Höch, the only female Berlin Dadaist, was marginalized for her independent spirit, masculine dress, and bisexuality. Her photomontages often confronted gender issues, championing the “New Woman” who was empowered by the vote, sexually emancipated, and financially liberated." - http://nmwa.org/explore/artist-profiles/hannah-h%C3%B6ch

"She also consciously promoted the idea of women working creatively more generally in society. She explicitly addressed in her pioneering artwork in the form of photomontage the issue of gender and the figure of woman in modern society." - http://www.theartstory.org/artist-hoch-hannah.htm

• George Grosz

Born Georg Ehrenfried Groß, he later changed his name to George Grosz in an effort to retaliate against the Nationalist Germany of the time. After being discharged from military service for having a severe case of sinusitis, he was then arrested after joining the KPD, or Communist Party of Germany. Luckily, he escaped using fake ID. He was bitterly anti-Nazi.

"After observing the horrors of war as a soldier in World War I, Grosz focused his art on social critique. He became deeply involved in left wing pacifist activity, publishing drawings in many satirical and critical periodicals and participating in protests and social upheavals." - http://www.theartstory.org/artist-grosz-george.htm

• Marcel Duchamp

Duchamp was notorious for his "readymades", which caused massive controversy across the art world as he practically took the hard work of others and modified it slightly to make a statement or a joke. He refused to be lumped in with any particular art movement, and often created works that could be affiliated with plenty of the modern genres. Marcel could be considered a 'the joker of the modern creative industry' as it was often difficult to take his work seriously! His controversial messages still live on in today's society and are met with an array of emotions - disgust, confusion, and fascination. 

"Coined by Duchamp, the term "readymade" came to designate mass-produced everyday objects taken out of their usual context and promoted to the status of artworks by the mere choice of the artist. A performative act as much as a stylistic category, the readymade had far-reaching implications for what can legitimately be considered an object of art." - http://www.theartstory.org/artist-duchamp-marcel.htm

Duchamp's readymades (everyone is familiar with his urinal) could have been some form of prediction as to how society would be in the 21st century with the rise of designer labels only racking up large price tags because of the name of the designer, and not really being about who actually made the item. Think back to Kanye West and his 'Yeezy' collection - not really innovative or artistic to many people, but stick his name on a white shirt and sell it for $120 (http://www.okayplayer.com/news/style-kanye-west-apc-120-plain-white-hiphop-t-shirt-sells-out.html) and you instantly have something that people will buy for the name. Marcel was probably one of the first artists to exploit this idea, but he did it an ironic way that was playful and humorous (maybe not to traditional artists however!).


What were the major works?

"Equilbre" or Balance (1925) "In this piece Hoch expresses her finding balance as a bisexual in society, showing the shifting identities of women in the world." - https://offtheorange.wordpress.com/2009/10/26/hannah-hoch/

Le Violon d'Ingres (The Violin of Ingres) (1924) 

Fountain (1917) "The most notorious of the readymades, Fountain was submitted to the 1917 Society of Independent Artists under the pseudonym R. Mutt. The initial R stood for Richard, French slang for "moneybags" whereas Mutt referred to JL Mott Ironworks, the New York-based company, which manufactured the porcelain urinal. After the work had been rejected by the Society on the grounds that it was immoral, critics who championed it disputed this claim, arguing that an object was invested with new significance when selected by an artist for display. Testing the limits of what constitutes a work of art, Fountain staked new grounds. What started off as an elaborate prank designed to poke fun at American avant-garde art, proved to be one of most influential artworks of the 20th century." - http://www.theartstory.org/artist-duchamp-marcel.htm 

L.H.O.O.Q (1919)


What were they trying to achieve?

• A reaction towards the horrors of the first World War
• Satirical and nonsensical art, created from found objects and works
• An uprising against the bourgeoisie and Capitalist and nationalistic society
• A feministic movement of artists and a new, fairer society
• Change the way people perceive art and move even further from traditional methods
• Artistic and societal revolution!

OUAN603 - Extended Practice: After Effects Refresher

OUAN603 - Extended Practice:

After Effects Refresher

- Don't rely wholly on After Effects for whole sequences! (Create a new composition for each shot, put together in Premiere to save on a horrid build-up of layers and long render times!) This makes it easier to control and see exactly where you're at without having a muddled timeline of bits of bobs. Don't edit in After effects!

- Don't bring Photoshop files in as footage, bring in as composition so that AE does not flatten the layers of your artwork.

- Don't forget! Lighting is really important in AE and brings the last touches of a 3D layer together and gives it more realism!

- Seperate bits of an image (i.e. background) onto different layers so that you can create a parallax effect in AE. Label eveything for ease of use and stay well organised!

- Maximum layer size is 10,000x10,000 pixels in AE, so try not to be too ambitious with backgrounds.


Here's a wacky little test I did just to check out some of the features (even though I've previously made animations in After Effects, it's still really fun and educational to mess about with it sometimes as you often learn new things from playing around)!

https://vimeo.com/154998730 

OUAN603 - Extended Practice: A Change of Character

OUAN603 - Extended Practice:

A Change of Character

After much debate and thought about Impressionism, along with some well-needed research, I discovered that my first choice of mascot for the Impressionist movement - Van Gogh - was actually considered post-impressionism and therefore would not be a completely suitable candidate for the animated short. I was so stuck on using him and him alone for the piece that I was disheartened to discuss in my tutorial that I should use more characters and have them interact with each other.

I thought about which Impressionist artists had the most recognisable and appealing faces (not meaning attractive or desirable, but in a sense of who looks more fun to draw and oozes character). I thought about Degas' angular, pretty face but felt he was maybe too "prince Charming-ish" to draw. I felt more attraction towards Pissaro's fluffy beard, as this would add some well-needed texture to the animation. However, I decided to go for a little bit of both popularity and appearance, and went with Paul Cezanne, an Impressionist favourite of mine (I have many memeories of his work from High School and know very well that he is taught about in GCSE level Art class).

However, I spoke to Mike regarding some of the artists I had in mind for all three movements and he suggested that rather than focusing on appearance and which were more aesthetically memorable, try researching into their stories and histories a little bit and use artists that have a humorous background as this will be more appealing.

We also spoke about maybe trying to introduce a female protagonist into the mix, and decided on an artist named Hannah Höch who was a part of the Dadaist movement and focused very much on "found art". After seeing her photographs, she actually has a very interesting and angular face and hairstyle, which would be brilliantly fun to draw and recreate as a puppet! DuChamp will be thrown in as a mention, but nothing too forceful on the audience as I would like to reinforce the idea that a female changed the art world massively and it's not all about one gender.

Monet, for the Impressionist movement was actually severely blind due to cataracts. This could be a great opportunity for some light humour as he could bump into things whilst narrating and struggle to interact with things. Van Gogh was known for alcoholism and substance abuse - an avid drinker and a user of kerosene, turpentine, and absinthe. These rather hallucinatory substances would make for a great Van Gogh addition to the Impressionist animation - fumbling around, seeing real auras floating about from his "Starry Night" painting. A comical message to the audience about not doing drugs would also be a great add-in! I also decided to use Berthe Morisot in my Impressionist cohort as she's a strong female artist who was also highly influenced and friends with Manet, another painter of the era.

The issue I discovered that was so prominent with most of my artists I had researched was that many overlapped with the genres they were categorsied in. DuChamp wasn't strictly Dada and fell into work much earlier. Van Gogh was also part of post-impressionism, and a couple of others I looked at worked over many genres. I thought that in order to be stricter and really pull in my ideas, I would go for artists that fit the criteria, even if they spanned over a few genres. However, if an artists fell into a few, I would make sure their "main movement" was one of three that I would be working on, so as to be as accurate as possible. 

Impressionists:

Claude Monet

Vincent Van Gogh

Berthe Morisot

Surrealists:

Salvador D

  

Man Ray

René Magritte

Dadaists:

Geoge Grosz

Hannah Höch

Marcel DuChamp

OUAN603 - Extended Practice: The Big Impressionism Research Haul

OUAN603 - Extended Practice:

The Big Impressionism Research Haul

What was Impressionism?

• Considered firstly distinctly modern movement in the art world
• It rejected the idea that the government controlled the exhibition of work in salons, which were a Paris biannual event
• The movement was shunned by prestigious art acadamies and institutes
• The Impressionists turned away from finer finishes and perfection and aimed to capture the impression of a piece, creating a sensory effect
• Many criticised the Impressionists as they felt their work was rough, amateur and unfinished

When and where did it take place?

• Start: Early 1870s to early 1890s
• Started developing in Paris in the 1860s 

Who were the major artists?

•  Camille Pissarro 
• Edouard Manet
• Edgar Degas
• Pierre-Auguste Renoir
• Berthe Morisot

Born: January 14, 1841 - Died: March 2, 1895

Berthe entered many of the prestigious "Salon de Paris" exhibitions and was highly spoken of, She was "described by Gustave Geffroy in 1894 as one of "les trois grandes dames" of Impressionism". She was a close friend and model of Manet, later marrying his brother. As a Christmas gift, Manet gave her an easel. Her paintings reflect the cultural and gender restrictions of the time, featuring women subjects and their daily lives. She was considered one of the great female pioneers of Impressionism which was controversial due to her gender (female artists were few and far between), and her choice of genre (Impressionism). 

•  Claude Monet

 Born: November 14, 1840 - Died: December 5, 1926 (Paris, France)

Monet was talented from a very young age, drawing caricatures and making pocket money from his art. His mother supported his decision to become and artist, however his father wanted him to inherit and take over the family grocery business.

Was Monet blind?

By 1907 he had painted many well-known paintings, but by then he had his first problem with his eyesight. He started to go blind. He still painted, though his eyes got worse. He wouldn't stop painting until he was nearly blind. In the last decade of his life Monet, nearly blind, painted a group of large water lily murals (Nympheas) for the Musee de l'Orangerie in Paris. - http://www.disabled-world.com/artman/publish/famous-blind.shtml

• Vincent Van Gogh (Post)

Born: March 30, 1853 - Died: July 29, 1890 (Netherlands)

Van Gogh was famously Bipolar, suffering from both manic and depressive episodes. Although his life was tumultuous and difficult, his illness inspired many of his great works of the post-impressionist era and influenced many future artists.

He was an avid drinker, often indulging in absinthe, kerosene, and turpentine. His hallucinations and experiences were possibly made worse by his impulsive behaviour and substance abuse, contributing to his paintings.

"In 1889 van Gogh committed himself to a mental hospital. He could barely take care of himself. He still continued to paint and painted one of his most famous paintings Starry Night. Many of his paintings during this time featured cypress trees and lots of swirling colors."

Did he really cut off his ear?

Yes. After an argument with painter Paul Gauguin, van Gogh went home and cut off part of his left ear with a razor blade. He then wrapped up the ear in a cloth and presented it to a woman as a "present".   He cut off "a portion of his right earlobe during a manic episode" - http://www.theartstory.org/artist-van-gogh-vincent-artworks.htm#pnt_2


What were the major works?

• Vetheuil in the Fog (1879) 
• In a Park (1874)
• (Post Impressionism) Starry Night (1889) (Painted whilst Gogh was in mental asylum) 

What were they trying to achieve?

• The Impressionists were trying to break away from the government's control over art and make a statement
• Abandon linear perspective and change their use of colours, opting for a lighter and more intense palette with thick, textured brushstrokes
• Stray away from the traditional styles and open the new century with an artistic revolution 

OUAN603 - Extended Practice: Copyrights

OUAN603 - Extended Practice:

Copyrights

It was inevitable that some images from each movement would need to be used in my animations to illustrate the piece and give it content, though copyright issues could arise from this. I needed to find a way to use images ideally that weren't under any copyright laws and were completely fine to use in my animation, of which is a non-profit educational piece.

The problem came with what would happen if a school or company ever contacted me in hope of using my animation, thus meaning possible profit and monetary benefits which would render some of the images unusable if they had strict laws on them. A good way to avoid running into any snags was to simply reference each image used underneath in a way that would be cohesive with the animation, and be sure to state who currently owns rights to the image. Further research lead me to this conclusion:

"Duration of Copyright

The International Berne Copyright treaty (Paris text 1971) states that copyright lasts until 50 years after the death of the author -- for countries that signed this treaty. European Community countries: artists rights societies and pay-per-view lobbies have unfortunately succeeded in raising this duration to 70 years after the artists death." - https://www.ibiblio.org/wm/about/copyright-issues.html




So, after the copright has run out, is the piece of work in the public domain, free to use as and when we please? If so, is it acceptable to use somebody else's photographs of a public domain artist's work as it cannot be considered a new rendition that has been altered enough to be a new piece of art?

Thoughts by Michael Greenhalgh about whether photographs of paintings should be classified in the public domain:

"There may be two copyrights: copyright in the artistic work (for example, a painting) and copyright in the photograph of the artistic work). You will generally need permission from the owner of copyright in the artistic work unless the copyright has expired. It is unlikely you need permission in relation to the photograph, if the photograph depicts nothing but the artistic work and is indistinguishable from other photographs of the same work. Otherwise, you will generally need permission from the owner of copyright in the photograph.

In other words, when someone photographs a painting of Van Gogh in a museum, producing a picture that is indistinguishable from other photographs of the same work, this cannot be considered an original art creation: it is precisely requested that the photographer annihilate his own personality to only mirror the artist’s own personality and reflect the artwork with maximum fidelity through the photograph. Thus, the photographer does not hold any copyright on the picture itself."


Okay, but what happens when a photographer of a public domain artist's work gets "stolen", despite the original work's copyrights not belonging to them in any way as they did not create the original piece? Well... 

http://www.vangoghgallery.com/ is a brilliant site set up by a man named David Brooks of which took him five years to fully develop. It features some of the rarities of Gogh's work, and took an incredible amount of effort for David to compile and collect scans and photographs for his audience. A short snippet from a New York Times article states how copyright breaching affected him:

"Last year, Mr. Brooks left his job at the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce to devote himself to the site full time. An Internet-based poster shop in Boston agreed to sponsor the site, and for the first time Mr. Brooks began earning a small amount of income from banner ads. He also entered into an agreement with a Dutch-based company named On-Site to publish his database as a CD-ROM. It looked like his dream of making a living as a van Gogh researcher was about to come true. 

That was until an e-mail message arrived last December, from a friend at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam. ''She said, 'I found this Web site, and I think the person is using a lot of your material, you'd better have a look,' '' Mr. Brooks recalled. 

Mr. Brooks said he was flabbergasted to discover that all the art images and all the letters appeared to have been copied from his site and reposted on About Van Gogh Art (www.about-van-gogh-art.com), a commercial site that sells everything from van Gogh lunch boxes to reproductions painted in China. Mr. Brooks recognized much of the digital work as his own. 

''I probably have about 15 images that you simply can't find anywhere in color,'' he said, ''and I found them on this guy's Web site, the same size, pixel for pixel.'" - http://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/17/technology/when-the-art-s-public-is-the-site-fair-game.html?pagewanted=all

I want to avoid taking anyone's hard work for granted by not breaching any copyright laws and regulations. Sometimes projects that feature others' works, especially deceased artists', can be a bit of a minefield. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5ZmVheuxpo - Coot Cat Learns Fair Use was a really handy video for me regarding some of the opinions and issues regardinf "fair use". I may consider contacting the individual holders/owners of the pieces of work I will need to use in my animation to ask for their permission just in case, otherwise it was suggested I talk to someone in the gallery of the college.

OUAN603 - Extended Practice: Sound Design

OUAN603 - Extended Practice:

Sound Design

With regards to sound, I spent a good few hours online simply listening to all kinds of varied music, hoping to find something that would set off a little lightbulb in my head or give me that feeling when something "just clicks" and works with thw project. First of all, a backing track should be established, and seeing as I wanted one consistent piece of music that would be faded in and out on each of my three animations, it was difficult to imagine the perfect track. I visited plenty of "free to use" sites hoping I would come across something that would suit the audience and the purpose.

Eventually, I fell in love with a piece of Jewish-style "Klezmer" music, a clarinet-based style usually featured in commercials/adverts, parties, and documentaries. Most pieces in this genre are happy and uplifting, despite being considered as jazz which can often feel a bit too deep.Something like this would be ideal and reflects the historical feel whilst staying creative and fun. The music definitely brought a smile to my face as it feels, not to be disrespectful, quite silly and daft as the sound of a clarinet is "trumpy", almost a musical equivalent of passing wind... This would certainly amuse anybody, let alone young adults with a sense of humour!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXySfsSX6pg - Heiser Bulgar, Naftule Brandwein
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kmGDTSTd__4 - The Happy Nigun : Let's Be Happy

Despite my love of these few tracks, I would need to somehow find a brilliant Klezmer track that was free to use in my project and wouldn't drop me into copyright problems.

http://www.purple-planet.com/fun-backgrounds/4586388999 - This site had some pretty good music that was free to use, so long as credit was given to the site. I may have a nosey around on here to see if there's anything suitable.

After discussing background sound with peers and tutors, it was decided that maybe music would be too overpowering and distract the audience from the main feature - the voice acting. I already had a fantastic collection of sound effects to use alongside the dialogue, so music would be too much and would also be extra unnecessary work considering I'd have to find a suitable musician that specialised in clarinets/Klezmer (very niche and difficult to find).

I acted on all the feedback I received and went against the idea of using background music. I now have a strong set of voice actors to work with, and a good sound effects library at hand. This will give the animation the charisma and life they need to captivate the audience.

OUAN603 - Extended Practice: Storyboards (Finalised)

OUAN603 - Extended Practice:

Storyboards (Finalised)

Impressionism

Dadaism

Surrealism

OUAN603 - Extended Practice: Scripting

OUAN603 - Extended Practice:

Scripting

One of the first tasks I would need to work on was of course the scripting. What is a good educational animation worth without a well-developed plot to keep the audience gripped and focused? A rough plotline I had stuck in my head was something along the lines of this:

Opening Sequences

(Title music, bright colourful, theme of graphics/2D shapes)

Scene One - Impressionism

Brief introduction to the movement, key dates and historical background. Mention of a few of the key figures, leading onto am introduction to Van Gogh (add in some fun facts such as correct pronunciation - humour can be added i.e "Imagine you've got something stuck in your throat and you're choking. Gogh sounds a little bit like a huge chunk of phlegm that you can't quite shift!" 

Character is established. Use character's puppet-like movement to make noises, point, and direct the audience to the information on-screen. Facial expressions and exaggerated animation can be used to entertain and add a certain appeal.

Scene Two - Surrealism

Follow the same idea of introduction > establishment of character > key facts > follow through onto next movement

Scene Three - Dadaism

Same theme of introduction > establishment > key information. Include a nice round-off scene where all three movements are talked about as a whole, introduce all three characters to the scene to conclude the animation.

Further Ideas

After much "umming and aahing" on a collective title for these animations, I decided to go for "Art in 60 Seconds" as it's snappy and to the point and gives me yet another goal: a sixty-second exact deadline! 

A rough draft of my scripts will be uploaded in due course.

OUAN603 - Extended Practice: Motion Tests (After Effects) - Extended Practice: Motion Tests (After Effects)

OUAN603 - Extended Practice:

Motion Tests (After Effects)


One of the main extensions I wanted to get my hands on for the initial testing phase was of course DUIK, a free add on to After Effects that some of the second years had used and I really liked the look of. I asked Mike kindly if he would get DUIK on at least one of the Macs so that I could do  short test before the research crit, however he hasn't yet spoken to the technicians about it so I'll have to wait and work around this.

DUIK, according to the second years who have used it, say it is easy to use and gives a really nice effect and makes the puppet tool really smooth and lovely. The motion is apparently better and there's a wide variety of stuff it can do. I will use DUIK over Easter as soon as I have created my nine puppets in Photoshop.

Get Duik:

http://duduf.net/index.php/products/after-effects/duik/download/

OUAN603 - Extended Practice: Initial Character Sketches

OUAN603 - Extended Practice:

Initial Character Sketches

OUAN603 - Extended Practice: Material Play & Rough Tests

OUAN603 - Extended Practice:

Material Play & Rough Tests

https://helpx.adobe.com/after-effects/how-to/adobe-character-animator.html (An interesting tutorial regarding the use of Adobe Character Animator)

http://blogs.adobe.com/aftereffects/2015/04/adobe-character-animator-revealed.html

https://helpx.adobe.com/after-effects/character-animator.html#Install%20Adobe%20Character%20Animator

The above links are some great sites I found on the Adobe Character Animator extension of Creative Cloud 2015. I was incredibly keen to try this out and have a play with the features and weigh up the pros and cons, comparing with frame by frame animation. However, after the meeting with the principal and her team, it was made apparant that due to Apple's operating system issues, CC2015 cannot run on the current system and thus will not be available anytime this academic year for me to or any others to use. So, in order to find a way around this, I ventured around looking for new methods of animating my puppets.

Feedback regarding the length and flow of my animation was questioned, and it was later suggested that three individual one-minute animations would be more appropriate for both me and the audience as (not to be patronising) it would hold their attention and they would "feel okay giving up a minute of their time". I feel that this would make the scripting easier as it will mean I do not have to have the characters interacting with one another and I focus wholly on their individual movements without having to create some kind of flow and connection between them all having one movement lead onto another. 

After having a short play with Character Animator in the mezzanine, it was decided that actually, it wasn't that suitable as the movement was very jerky and not in way that would be easy to pass off as the jerkiness of regular puppets. The program itself ran quite slowly and had a myriad of errors and problems. I also wondered about how my voice actors would possibly be able to act in front of a webcam in their home studios with their own copy of character animator using my own pre-made puppets on one collective file sent out to them so that they could record their facial expressions and movement. It all seemed to complex and a bit silly and unreasonable. I abandoned the idea of Character Animator and instead moved onto the idea of either using the regular built-in puppet tool in After Effects or a free extension called DUIK that allowed you to create more realistic movements that take into account the natural restrictions that our bodies have, such as the way our bones can't bend past a certain degree. I plan to play with these a bit more and decide on the most appropriate.

OUAN603 - Extended Practice: A Look into The Movements

OUAN603 - Extended Practice:

A Look into The Movements

"Art History Timeline for Dummies"

Impressionism (1865–1885)

Capturing fleeting effects of natural light

Monet, Manet, Renoir, Pissarro, Cassatt, Morisot, Degas

Franco-Prussian War (1870–1871); Unification of Germany (1871)

Post-Impressionism (1885–1910)

A soft revolt against Impressionism

Van Gogh, Gauguin, Cézanne, Seurat

Belle Époque (late-19th-century Golden Age); Japan defeats Russia (1905)

Dada and Surrealism (1917–1950)

Ridiculous art; painting dreams and exploring the unconscious

Duchamp, Dalí,    Ernst, Magritte, de Chirico, Dali

Disillusionment after World War I; The Great Depression (1929–1938); World War II (1939–1945) and Nazi horrors; atomic bombs dropped on Japan (1945)

Source: http://www.theartstory.org/section_movements_timeline.htm

 

 

http://www.theartstory.org/section_movements_timeline.htm

http://www.theartstory.org/section_movements_timeline.htm

http://www.theartstory.org/section_movements_timeline.htm

OUAN603 - Extended Practice: Statement of Intent

OUAN603 - Extended Practice:

Statement of Intent

As a means of finalising our ideas and committing to our chosen projects, we each filled out a statement of intent. This meant that whatever we had chosen to do, it was written as proof and there was no backing out or changing our plans. This was quite daunting as I have a terrible habit of getting bored with ideas so very easily. Commitment is a big thing and with something as unpredictable as my animation skills (things can quickly go from bad to worse!) it was an idea I had to be sure of.

After writing up and submitting, I could now be clear that my project was on its way and I could get on with the research and development stage confidently. I was unsure about where I stood as after the briefing in October, not much work has been done to further the project as Context of Practice got in the way massively and there was much panic about what needed to be done Extended-wise.

Our statement asked us if we were to be working with anybody or taking on any contributions for our projects. Although I am not working on anybody else's as of yet, (there may be some small input if anyone needs and asks for my help i.e research, contacting people on behalf of others, production-type work?) I have asked Rosy is she would kindly consider helping me out with a short title sequence as she is also working in After Effects and has a fantastic, punchy, graphic-design-type style that would really work with my target audience. Below is the email I sent her proposing a collaboration:

Hi Rosy,

You mentioned that you were taking on a couple of briefs for your Extended Practice regarding title sequences and I'd be really grateful if you could consider my animation for a title sequence please?

I'm working on a 3-5 minute educational graphic-design-stylised short about the History of Major Art Movements. I've chosen to create animations for Impressionism, Surrealism, and Dadaism, creating three puppet-like characters (one for each movement) that will narrate and talk about each respective art style. The target audience is high school students of around 13-18 years old, so bright colours, funky text, and anything fun will fit perfectly! I'm using After Effects for my animation and think your style is perfect and will look great with my piece. (I'm after that clean, 'graphicy' look that you're really good at!)

Personally, my animation will be a mix between the style of Horrible Histories, Little Big Planet (texturised, 2D shapes with bright colours), and Terry Gilliam's Monty Python works. My opening sequence aims to be very short, about 10-20 seconds long at most. I'm really keen on the old "Art Attack" opening too.  

I completely understand if you've taken a few on already and don't have enough time, so don't worry if you can't accept it. If you want any more info, let me know too. 

Cheers,

Grace :)