Idea #1
Brief: create a Multi-screen moving image work of 1 or more minutes.
Theme: An exploration of the relationship between the Human and Digital World.
Interpret this is your own way, creating a world of fantasy or taking inspiration from artificial intelligence research and medical science.
Having had a few tutorials on After Effects whilst still at uni, i could navigate the basics but i was still finding it difficult to remember how to achieve certain movements or animations. I attended (virtually) one of Angie Stone's sessions which was very thorough but, I found it hard to concentrate as there wasn't actually someone physically there to guide you. I played around in After Effects after her tutorial and just couldn't get the hang of it. I would successfully create a sequence of something simple like a circle moving from one side to the other but then i'd play it through and it would disappear.I wasn't sure what I was doing wrong and no online tutorials seemed to be able to resolve my issues. At this point I was just getting frustrated with myself because I couldn't seem to understand the software but getting frustrated just meant I wasn't getting anywhere and I at least needed to come up with a concept. I set my focus on coming up with an idea that i could then develop as a concept. I wanted to be able to take more time to get to grips with After Effects and have a solid idea to do that with.
The exploration of the relationship between the Human and Digital world is such a wonderfully broad theme, as each world affects each other in so many different ways. The argument is that the digital world is having a vastly negative effect on our planet and the human race.However, without parts of it, certain aspects of everyday life would be a lot more challenging. Apps like Zoom and Facetime connect us with friends and family across the world and keep us in touch when we need it most; like in the unlikely event of a global pandemic,when meeting up in the flesh becomes a distant memory. Businesses can be created online, research can be found easily and films can be watched with the family on the TV. Cars allow us to travel long distances in no time at all and planes take us to far away destinations we dream about. Technology has so many positive elements however, it's negatives rather shadow these. Social media is addictive and dangerous, roads are polluted with traffic and people resort to chucking rubbish out of the windows, plane fumes clog our clean air and more room has to be made for all this technology. Trees are cut down and forests are stripped to build new complexes with the use of new technologies. The development of AI robots feels scarily similar to the catastrophic ending's to most science fiction 'Robot's take over the world' films. I think that the introduction of Robots being used to assist and exist along side humans is interesting subject matter, as it's one kind of promised technology the vast majority of the planet hasn't experienced yet.
I thought about how I could include robots in my multi-screen composition and the first thing that came to mind was to think about the most natural thing possible vs the most artificial. I thought about the beauty of natural birth and how strange it would be if there came a day where babies could be born in multiple different ways. The 2005 film 'Robots', directed by Chris Wedge, is a perfect example of the opposite to a natural birth.
At the beginning of this animated comedy, two Robots are expecting a baby. But it's not what you think. Their baby comes packaged and ready to build like IKEA furniture. It takes them a while to get the construction right but soon enough, their robot baby lets out it's first cry and they are parents. There's still a sense of togetherness in this process as the parents make the baby together, even though it's a completely artificial conception. It's still far from any kind of natural birth we're used to. Taking inspiration from this film, I could create an animation on one screen of two robots constructing a baby from a package, and contrast this with an animation of two humans and a natural birth on the other screen. I definitely want my composition to be animated, as animating and drawing are my weaknesses. I want to strengthen those skills.
I brought out a drawing tablet and started experimenting on Animate to see what i could come up with. The thing i struggled with was knowing what parts I should create new layers for to enable them to move on After Effects. It meant thinking about every movement ahead of time which was difficult to picture. It's also easy to lose track of what layer moves what aspect of the body. I got some advice on the basics of creating a character in Animate and then transitioning it to After Effects. This was really helpful as it gave me hope that i could actually come out with a moving image to submit as well as just the concept. I drafted up a simple character design for a robot in Animate:
I then imported him into After Effects and managed to understand the use of the anchor point properly and get his arm to move as though he was waving. I know it sounds simple but that's what i needed to get my head around it and really understand the software. I was now more confident and excited to start creating more characters on Animate and exploring After Effects' possibilities further.
Designing this robot however, made me move away from my initial idea of split-screen robots, as i felt like i wanted to create characters that could move more freely. Robots in their nature are quite rigid and their movements are slow. Now i understood the basics of animating, I wanted to push myself further and think more imaginatively.
Theme: An exploration of the relationship between the Human and Digital World.
Interpret this is your own way, creating a world of fantasy or taking inspiration from artificial intelligence research and medical science.
Having had a few tutorials on After Effects whilst still at uni, i could navigate the basics but i was still finding it difficult to remember how to achieve certain movements or animations. I attended (virtually) one of Angie Stone's sessions which was very thorough but, I found it hard to concentrate as there wasn't actually someone physically there to guide you. I played around in After Effects after her tutorial and just couldn't get the hang of it. I would successfully create a sequence of something simple like a circle moving from one side to the other but then i'd play it through and it would disappear.I wasn't sure what I was doing wrong and no online tutorials seemed to be able to resolve my issues. At this point I was just getting frustrated with myself because I couldn't seem to understand the software but getting frustrated just meant I wasn't getting anywhere and I at least needed to come up with a concept. I set my focus on coming up with an idea that i could then develop as a concept. I wanted to be able to take more time to get to grips with After Effects and have a solid idea to do that with.
The exploration of the relationship between the Human and Digital world is such a wonderfully broad theme, as each world affects each other in so many different ways. The argument is that the digital world is having a vastly negative effect on our planet and the human race.However, without parts of it, certain aspects of everyday life would be a lot more challenging. Apps like Zoom and Facetime connect us with friends and family across the world and keep us in touch when we need it most; like in the unlikely event of a global pandemic,when meeting up in the flesh becomes a distant memory. Businesses can be created online, research can be found easily and films can be watched with the family on the TV. Cars allow us to travel long distances in no time at all and planes take us to far away destinations we dream about. Technology has so many positive elements however, it's negatives rather shadow these. Social media is addictive and dangerous, roads are polluted with traffic and people resort to chucking rubbish out of the windows, plane fumes clog our clean air and more room has to be made for all this technology. Trees are cut down and forests are stripped to build new complexes with the use of new technologies. The development of AI robots feels scarily similar to the catastrophic ending's to most science fiction 'Robot's take over the world' films. I think that the introduction of Robots being used to assist and exist along side humans is interesting subject matter, as it's one kind of promised technology the vast majority of the planet hasn't experienced yet.
I thought about how I could include robots in my multi-screen composition and the first thing that came to mind was to think about the most natural thing possible vs the most artificial. I thought about the beauty of natural birth and how strange it would be if there came a day where babies could be born in multiple different ways. The 2005 film 'Robots', directed by Chris Wedge, is a perfect example of the opposite to a natural birth.
At the beginning of this animated comedy, two Robots are expecting a baby. But it's not what you think. Their baby comes packaged and ready to build like IKEA furniture. It takes them a while to get the construction right but soon enough, their robot baby lets out it's first cry and they are parents. There's still a sense of togetherness in this process as the parents make the baby together, even though it's a completely artificial conception. It's still far from any kind of natural birth we're used to. Taking inspiration from this film, I could create an animation on one screen of two robots constructing a baby from a package, and contrast this with an animation of two humans and a natural birth on the other screen. I definitely want my composition to be animated, as animating and drawing are my weaknesses. I want to strengthen those skills.
I brought out a drawing tablet and started experimenting on Animate to see what i could come up with. The thing i struggled with was knowing what parts I should create new layers for to enable them to move on After Effects. It meant thinking about every movement ahead of time which was difficult to picture. It's also easy to lose track of what layer moves what aspect of the body. I got some advice on the basics of creating a character in Animate and then transitioning it to After Effects. This was really helpful as it gave me hope that i could actually come out with a moving image to submit as well as just the concept. I drafted up a simple character design for a robot in Animate:
Designing this robot however, made me move away from my initial idea of split-screen robots, as i felt like i wanted to create characters that could move more freely. Robots in their nature are quite rigid and their movements are slow. Now i understood the basics of animating, I wanted to push myself further and think more imaginatively.
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