Archive for the ‘animation’ Category
“Dance” Animation by
Last fall, I had the great pleasure of working with Hunter College Macaulay Honors student Ashley van der Grinten to create this beautiful animation. “Dance” is a collaboration between Ms. van der Grinten, videographer and dancer Shanika Powell and dancer Christina McEachern. The final animation is a beautiful and creative hand drawn work that brings to life an abstracted human figure that dances across your screen.
That Angry Inch – Putin’s Twitch
I’ve been following closely the dispute between Russia and the Ukraine regarding Crimea. At first, it seemed to be no more than a power grab by Russia for all sorts of reasons from capitalist power to cultural identity to saving face from a post cold-war reality. I’m not sure that this is not all true from the perspective of Russia, however, from the view of those who dissented and revolted against the Ukraine, it seems even more complex. Without living the reality, who knows, however from a distant observation, I couldn’t help, but create the GIF below.
Putin’s Twitch
There’s more to come soon!
“The Commute” – An Animation by Joy Ling
The Commute from Joy Ling on Vimeo.
The Department of Film & Media Studies at Hunter only has a couple of 2D animation courses – an Introduction to 2D Animation and a Motion Graphics course, so generally the work reflects that students are just getting started with animation. There are, however, amazing projects that come out of these courses. The professor of last fall 2014 Intro to 2D Animation, Anita Cheng, sent me the animation “The Commute” by Hunter Media Studies junior Joy Ling and I am so impressed by the work that I had to make note of it. Also I believe that any New Yorker who rides the subway can identify with it!
HTML5 Sketch – “God Walks”
Over the last couple of years, I’ve been doing small web sketches comprised of photos that I’ve shot and animations or illustrations that I’ve done. Since the Charlie Hebdo attack, I’ve been thinking about God or higher being in its most popular forms which lead to a visual idea that I quickly assembled. Below is the rotoscope loop of a male nude walking with a rotation of the heads of primary religious figures as popularly depicted. And here’s the gif embedded in an HTML page with music and 3d effects walking through digital space…
God Walks
Stop Motion Workshop with Robert Lyons
Animation Table
In mid-October, I attended a workshop titled “Experiencing Stop Motion with Robert Lyons” at Pratt and it was a great introduction to starting a stop motion studio on a tight budget.
The puppets were made from a range of materials such as : steel armature wire 9 gauge for 6-8 inch puppets that can be braided using a drill and vice for skeleton, Super Sculpey for flesh, Pro-Poxy for hard sections that will be drilled into such as the feet and to help support the puppets – Matthews Microgrip painted in chroma key green.
Animation Puppets
And for the stop motion production, Robert presented the following equipment:
Canon T3i Rebel
Camera: Canon T3i Rebel, EOS HD
Motion Control: DitoGear OmniSlider track which costs $2916 which includes the DragonBridge pictured below to control movement of the slider from the software.
Software: Dragonframe Stop Motion
Dragon Bridge Controller
In the studio, a traditional head mount is used for the camera with customized protractor to measure the degrees of rotation. A great addition to the studio would be the DitoGear™ OmniHead at $2,721.89
Above the table mounted to the ceiling is a light grid.
Light Grid
New Audio for “a geography of being | una geografia de ser”
New audio for “a geography of being | una geografia de ser” click the image to play
Level 2 from “a geography of being | una geografia de ser” click the image to play
“a geography of being | una geografia de ser” click the image to play
Emotions of a Toddler
Emotions of a toddler
I just dug this up from an animation I was working on in 2010.
In Production – “Mediated Idols”
Mediated Idols – work in progress
Yesterday, I had a studio visit with folks from Museo del Barrio which gave me an opportunity to assemble current work and talk about it. My focus over the last few months has been a combination of hand-drawn animations and wooden sculptures which will come together in a new media sculpture series titled “Mediated Idols.”
Earth Explosion – roughly a third of the stills from a short animation
About “Mediated Idols”
The editors of DE-WESTERNIZING MEDIA STUDIES, Curran and Park ask the following questions in the book’s introduction:
1. How do the media relate to the power structure of society?
2. What influences the media and where does control over the media lie?
3. How has the media influenced society?
4. What effect has media and new media had on the media system and society?
In considering these questions, my initial response is cannibalization. Historically, the cannibalization of one civilization by an emerging civilization. In contemporary reality, the transformation of highly mediated popular culture by either youth subcultures or ethnic specific cannibalizations that transform globalized pop culture in unexpected manners.
In creating the “Mediated Idols,” I am studying artifacts from the pre-Aztec city Teotihuacan that had far reaching influence geographically and through time. As I look at these Mesoamerican artifacts, I am as well studying contemporary popular cultural icons that fade only to reappear in new formats. “Mediated Idols” will combine the physicality of past artifacts with virtual representation and data of contemporary life. As stand alone sculptures, “Mediated Idols” will present greater attention to material and form than the “Undocumented Drones.” The animations will also have greater coherence with the sculptures.
Other images from the studio visit…
Studio Visit, June 2014
“from Somoza to Ortega”, roughly a quarter of the stills from a short animation
Rafael Grampá’s “Dark Noir”
I generally, do not like the concept of corporate art or the making of art work closely tied to a corporate sponsor. Of course some forms of art of a long history of corporate/business funding in order to be realized, and amazing work can come of it, that would otherwise be beyond the scope of what a single artist or collective without the financial means of investors would be able to realize (and much of that work, I chalk up as entertainment, rather than art)…
When I encounter something so well-crafted and combines various forms of media, I can’t help but set aside my ethics of what is and isn’t art and the necessary division between big money and creativity… One such work is graphic/comic book artist Rafael Grampá “collaboration” with or through Absolut Vodka – “Dark Noir”. I very much would like to see the full animation, but even this excerpt presents a sense of how visually stunning this work is and that it effectively combines 3D and 2D animation with the main characters and settings in 3D and the demons as 2D art work. Now where to see the entire animation!
Metamorphosis of Ortega into Somoza
With each manipulation of the Nicaraguan constitution by Ortega and the Sandinista party, I feel a deep sadness for the impoverished country. I am also dumbfounded at the short-sightedness of the ruling party and the ignorant avarice of Daniel Ortega who will not hand over the political reigns of the country to a new generation. Prosperity has been illusive to this small country that has suffered a long-lasting dictatorship, natural disaster, a popular revolution and seemingly inherent political corruption. If only a true leader would emerge who seeks an end to corruption and the engineering of a society striving for the well-being of all its people. Unfortunately, since the Nicaraguan National Assembly elected to eliminate presidential term limits, an end to poverty and corruption appears as distant as the worst period of the Somoza dynasty. Ortega has effectively become Somoza.