Das (Cosplay) Model

Here is Assignment 3, Music Video. I chose to use Kraftwerk for this assessment, a warning that there is slight nudity towards the end of the video.

Assignment 3, Reflection

Reflection in Regards to my video Kraftwerk - Das Model;

Why did I choose this song for my Assignment,

I chose this song because I am actually a fan of the band and have been listening to them for
years. I chose this particular track out of the group because i find a deep resonance with the music track and the style of the band.

The Identity of the Song,

I chose to use the lyric 'Das Model' and interpret it to one of a more mainstream audience.
What with the large cosplay (costume play) fanbase in Brisbane i thought it appropriate to
base my video upon the craze that is Cosplay. The identity is made up with the use of Cosplay models making poses to the music, using different transitions and effects. The end of the song i believe is very symbolic of the Cosplay sub culture, the last scene you will note is a line of identical women in cardboard boxes with barcodes on their legs.
To me that symbolises a prototypical-clone mentality of the cosplay culture; which is essentially the copying of a certain characters dress sense. Cosplay is popularised and mostly derived from manga and video games; people choosing to dress as their favourite character from an Anime or TV show.

The Syle,

The video is shot on a large comic book sheet, with black borders. In keeping with Kraftwerk music videos i added a robot theme to the video, a theme that becomes more apparent towards the end. The heads at the start are images i drew from my own head that i outlined and coloured, again to fit with the Kraftwerk image.

Symbols,

I chose to use confronting imagery and outlandish story archs to capture a symbolic ending.

Motion,

The movement of the piece is very robotic, and i chose to go with a more technologically advanced and creative movement to the piece. With the arm in the middle and the resizing of the disc mask half way through. I chose to animate the keyboard at the start to give it more edge and to keep with the Kraftwerk style. (note that the keys played are the actual notes of the song).

The composition in regards to the Identity,

As a whole i believe that the composition contributes to the identity of the Kraftwerk image and sound. Using robotic movements and effects i believe i have created an animation that captures the Kraftwerk element. While doing so also adding a modern edge through the gritty realism of the last three scenes.

What would I do differently?

In hindsight i would have animated the models a little better and given them more character as opposed to the still images moving across the screen. Overall i think the animation of the keyboard was a tiny bit out of time and i should have spent more time on that also. I would have also used the keyboard more consistently and would have animated the whole songs notes.

References

All cosplay models, camera and copperdisc are creative commons images sourced from Google
Image of keyboard is owned by Yamaha
Deviantart sources - Warehouse by Eufrosis
- Warehouse 2 by kls204
- Warehouse by mnphotobug
Music by Kraftwerk

Physical Graffiti - Animated Masks

For this one we were asked to make a short video that would show three images that we turned into stencil graffiti, being revealed by animated masks.
I chose to use three of my favourite musicians faces for this exercisel; Siouxsie Sioux, Trent Reznor and Robert Smith. By pulling the pictures into photoshop and playing with the levels I created a still black and white image, I deleted the white background and used a change to colour tool in the final composition, so that it would match the wall behind it.
This is the final outcome:

Physical Graffiti - Sin City Imitation

For this exercise we grabbed an image with a creative commons licence off of flickr,
and then turned the image into a strictly black and white image.
Then playing with layers and effects, we created rain and gave the image a dialogue box, to insinuate a comic book effect similar to SinCity.
Here are two examples:

Assignment 1, Reflection

Here are just a series of questions I asked myself, just to help explain the project below;

How does the motion contribute to the identity?
I designed the movement to be erratic so that it would reflect my own personality in a workspace. The way the music works with the movement also contributes to that factor.

How does the composition contribute to the identity?
The composition contributes to the Identity of work and life in a confusing rush of images. Slowing down and speeding up randomly. The identity is essentially my mind combined with the workspace of the animation lab on level 5 of Z2.

Who is your target audience?
Art purveyors, people with an abstract way of thinking.

Who do you want to exclude?
Anybody who can’t understand the randomness of the composition.

AfterEffects Techniques used;

In the production of this animatic I used a lot of different effects. I also tried to mix a few different mediums to the project through drawn animation and montage.
I added a few fades and position changes coupled with some comp layers and a camera to create a certain level of depth to the assessment.
I remixed a track using audacity and brought it into the composition.
I recorded my own footage and sped it up – fading a still image into a live action sequence.
For the montage I used the “change to colour” tool to blend the white into the background but leave the main picture in the foreground, I then animated it to be a face that opens its mouth as (using a camera coupled with a null) it zooms into its mouth and fades to a box spinning in mid air (a use of drawn animation (using change to colour to give it that grainy effect)).


Reference list for Assignment 1

Several images i found on google, all with creative commons licences.
Boney M's Rasputin remixed for the soundtrack
Psyche's Goodbye Horses remixed fot the soundtrack
Oingo Boingo's Little Girls remixed for the soundtrack
Pictures of the lightbox taken by me
Video of me taken by Rosanna Grayson
Rotating box drawn and compiled by me
Project compiled and organised by me

Temporal Identity - Assessment 1

My temporal identity, called "My Obsession", by ArthurCG 2008.

Check out the reflection part above this.

Chameleon Phonics

For this exercise we were asked to make an animation based upon moving text.

We were given some audio and told to match the text with the words in a dynamic and exciting way, so as to capture the attention of the viewer. This is my attempt, the timing goes out a little around the middle (which i couldn't fix because the project became corrupted).