Prezentation / MA Film Practice
NTU Art& Design / FT Erasmus
I’d like to welcome you to my presentation. Today I am going to talk about my project which is a video installation controlled via interactive methods by user.
I am going to divide my presentation into 4 main parts
1. At the beginning I’d like to introduce myself, say a few words about my previous works and also about my educational background because I think that it is an important feature which allows you to understand an my point of view better.
2. Secondly, I am going to introduce you to my project and all things that are associated
a) from first idea / how it started
b) thought my investigation, methods did I used, my research, inspirations, key points, generally how project was developing, how project was changing during the creativity process and what came out of that.
3. Thirdly I am going to summarize all that things and get a conclusion
4. And if you will have any questions I’ll be glad to try to answer them at the end
I’ll take about 15 minutes
Right, so let’s get started. I’m Erasmus student at NTU on Master, I am making film practice here. I’ve arrived in the UK 2 and half months ago, I’ve never been here before. I am from Poland where I am a full time student on Academy of Fine Art, Multimedia Communication Department and my specialization is Animation Movie. I am also on Master, but in my country we need 2 years to get a Master Degree, so I am going to make my diploma movie next year.
During my studies at the Academy of Fine Arts we got a good education about the basic. At the beginning we had to pass through all fundamental courses from various areas of knowledge and creativity. In faculty of Multimedia Communication, on Film Department we used to use traditional techniques of animation mostly, so we are starting for example for paper cut – outs, non – camera, pixilation, stop motion model animation, drawn animation, friable matter – like animation in salt for example. We have also 3D and After Effects animation, but from the second, third year we have to choose which technique is most suitable for us. I decided to choose drawing technique but I can still afford for many experiments so I created my own experimental technique which includes traditional drawing frame by frame, digital photography, post production and additional effects I am doing using Adobe software. I find history of Polish animation is very wide and exciting so in my works I decided to link it all together – tradition and modernity, using knowledge and skills from different areas of interests and art disciplines that I gained through my previous education.
The same is for my project. I am going to connect traditional hand drawn animation and modern facilities to create a video installation which will be controlled via interactive methods by user. This subject I find fascinating and exciting cause I always wanted to explore relationship between the motion picture and the viewer. I would like to make my works / animations / videos more interactive because I wanted to be closer to peoples, touch them personally and deeply via my art. For the same reasons I prefer animation rather than still image because soliciting for attention of the viewer is like a marketing. I really like it when my art is nice, fun to play with, when it made to please. But the problem with animated movie is passing, happens in a certain place and time. I would like to create separated, independent space, kind of a place outside time. I would like to create an installation, closed space where the viewers could feel so comfortable and naturally to lose the sense of time and reality.
HOW IT STARTS
In the next part of my presentation I would like to explain
1.how it starts / from where I get an idea for this project
2.and talk about my inspirations, researches and investigations
It was few days before I came here. I was doing my exams before my Erasmus exchange, I was really busy and tired and because of it – very sensitive to stimulates, it was late night, about 3 am when I was coming back through empty streets alone, from my friend’s flat where we was working together in our project. So as I said, I was walking alone through empty, dormant streets, it was winter, everything around was covered by snow, it was completely quiet. I can heard just my steps and my breath. Suddenly, could you imagine how much I was surprised when I realized that I can hear a birds chirping! Let me remind you that it was 3 o clock in the morning. Then I looked up and I saw something very powerful ! there was a huge flock of the birds sitting on the snowy trees. They were the Rooks, a species of bird which usually sleeps in the night. The birds was chirping, flying in small groups, circled over the trees and returned to their previous places. Some thing was forming and disforming, over and over again from the beginning, like an eternal construction and deconstruction of reality. It has a lot of elements that inspired me. I was standing on the empty street, alone at 3 am, without any movement, I didn’t want to disturb them. Then, when I pulled a lighter from my pocket to light up my cigarette, a lighter has done very quiet sound and a small flash of the light. Suddenly, all the birds flew away in a hurry, frightened, accompanied by their clapping wings. I startled them. I was in the uncomfortable position as an intruder. This accident evoked in me so much emotions, so I decide to translate it into visual language of motion picture.
FIRST IDEA
Was just to animate this scene. In short – flock of birds on the trees / a lighter / startled birds flying away frightened ( you will never found out, if their are frightened just cause of a lighter or maybe there is something else?) but when I looked at critically I started to thing, how could I make this story more interesting for the viewers? I didn’t wanted to add anything to this story, I was rather thought about changing the ‘form’. Then I decided that this project, as an interactive video installation will be much more interesting when peoples will be able to play with the image.
I have done some research and noticed that motion picture can evoke different kind of emotions. It can, for example stimulate dormant areas of our mind or sensitive the viewer to stimuli received outside the cognitively , which is linked with the influences of the surrealist stream, very important for me as an artist. In my areas of interest they are also collective memories / forgotten memories and the phenomenon of voyeurism.
MY MAIN QUESTIONS ARE:
1. What sort of emotions can be evoked by different kind of motion pictures
2. Is it possible to stimulti areas of our mind / awake forgotten memories of existence of which we cannot realize – by visual images which doesn’t represent anything particular, I mean not what is exactly shownd, but the ‘character’ of this image.
3. Realization of this project allows me to check how will traditional animation work as a part of interactive video installation. During this project I can also make some research connected with sensivity and stimulation received outside the cognitively.
INSPIRATIONS
When I decided to change animation into video installation I started to looking for some links and inspirations. My first idea was obvious. I’ve got associations with “The Birds” movie from 1963 directed by Alfred Hitchcock, however it was just visual associations, but while I was searching visual material and stills from this movie I have found also the Alfred Hitchcock Barbie Doll, it was fascinating for me.
Very helpful and interesting it was also a book “ The language of New Media” by Lev Manovich.
This research reminded me also about an exhibition which was about year ago in the Centre of Contemporary Art in Torun “ The Past is a Foreign Country”. They were a works of artist which materialized a places from memories, enliven imaginary geographies, ask questions about their relationship with identity but also analyzing and presenting the nature of the process of memory and forgetting. I’ve found also inspiring bumpers for mtv HD made by PSYOP – New York Based Artist. It was an abstract 2D / 3D / rotoscopy animation created for new mtv channel.
Talking about inspirations I’d like to mention the person of Norman Leto, difficult to classify artist. His paintings and films are abstractive, expressionist, move social themes and autobiographical. He doing computer stimulation ( behaviour of the crowd, the physical simulation etc.)
Now, let’s turn back to description of my project.
1. How I am going to do that?
2. How it will work and looks?
3. How it will working?
Ad.1.
I am plan to design the animation the animation whilst at NTU with a view to the animation being controlled via interactive methods by user, drawn manually, frame by frame – starting from researches connected with birds flight paths and information found in specialist ornithology books. Through materials collected and recorded by me from nature – kind of registration of my observation, nextly I produced pencil tests – every particular bird and backgrounds ( I am on this etap now ) and finally – to colour the pencil tests and put it all together in postproduction using After Effects. Music which I want to use as a soundtrack will be recorded and mixed by me. So far, I recorded many noises and sounds form the ambiental environment during my every day in Notts – to finally mix it with electronic music created by professional DJ from south California. The interactive production will be prototyped in Poznan as my tutor decided. To summary – I’ll produce from 30 to 60 seconds of animation in loops.
Ad.2.
I am going to create a separate, independent space in the gallery for example, when the viewers could go into it, play with interactive animation and loose the sense of the time and reality. I am going to put the viewer in the uncomfortable position, as an intruder, cause when you will enter to this space, the web cam as a motion detector will detect your presence or you will activate it by sound – when you will clap your hands for example, and turn on via the program (written by programmer), the suitable video track and you will see that you just terrified a flock of a birds, which are flying away from the frame. If you will stop moving and the electronic device cannot detect your movement, it will automatically turn on the second video track, when the birds will turn back to their previous places and you will as a voyeurist can observe can observe in real time their natural behaviour. This is a kind of metaphorical tale, connected with collective memory as a philosophy.
METODOLOGY
For methodology I’ll create dark, cosy place, turn on the visualization controlled interactive device. If it won’t detect any movement – program will turn on the track with natural behaviours of birds. If you will move, detector will detect your presence it will turn on the video track with a birds frightened flying away. If you will stop moving, detector via program will turn on track with birds coming back.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
About my learning outcomes, I think that during my work on this project allows me to gain more experience in the classical animation. I’ll prove my knowledge about the birds, their natural behaviour and paths of their movement. I will also improve my research skills and develop my own research methods and what is most important for me – do some research to gain a wider knowledge about interactive solutions using motion detector. I’ve also done my reflective journal blog, when you can currently check results of my work.
CONCLUSION
So, to conclude I’ve told you about me, my educational background, inspirations, research, all details about my project, methodology and learning outcomes. I think that during my work on this project will allow develop my knowledge and skills to develop myself.
Between 28th of March and 8th of April I will do a colouring of my previous pencil test and make a postproduction – to connect all parts of my project together, including music track and video track and finally get about 30 seconds to one minute of animation which becomes a part of video installation. Interactive post production will be prototyped in Poznan.
Generally I wont to stimulate the viewers via stimulties, to encourage them to try to focus on how you receive this visual image and what kind of impressions it had brought to you.
Thank you for your attention.
Now, if you have any questions I’ll be glad to try to answer them.
some examples of my previous workas / stills from animated movies
how to make Prezentation?
