Adjusting my collages using TXT format and editing the code:

Over the break I continued with collage and using my scanner to create images...

Palm-Spin animation Coloured

Here is the completed animation with colour, but no background as of yet. I'll be working on adding in background images and footage and playing around with the scenery, but for now, here is the experimental gif in colour.
~S

More Animation Developments

Behold! Now back in Perth I've got access to the right version of Photoshop with the Timeline Feature, and here is the entire palm-spin animation I posted a coloured frame of against a photograph in my previous post.

I'm working on colouring the rest of the frames and setting them up against the same photograph, and will also be looking into taking a bit of live footage/film and playing around with that as well - my plan is to incorporate the animations with the live film.

Whilst this simple animation is using a figure in simple plain clothes, what I'm going to be working towards in incorporating the figure of Ronnie Shalvis in cosplay as part of this project, so really this is a bit of a test to see how I can combine the element of live film with animation.

Hopefully I'll have the coloured version finished by tomorrow night/Wednesday morning before class.

~S

development

Here are some more developments in my stereo-gif project. In these gifs I have attempted to refine the distance between the backgrounds in order to bring more stillness to the gif. Minimising this distance seems to appear much more effective and I am really liking the various movements that can be captured from the focal/foreground subjects. In the alpaca gifs (my grandparents live on a farm :P ), I have changed the focal point in each image in order to achieve a different effect.

development

I have been doing many more explorations through the world of stereo gifs as an attempt to perfect the balance between the animation of both photos so they appear fluid and have the best as possible 3D effect. I am trying to incorporate more objects into the composition in order to discover the best focal point in various compositional subjects. 

As a means of exploring the concept of materiality through my project, I am also testing out some effects and adjustments of the photos in Photoshop. These materiality of each subject is enhanced through the generation of animation, bringing the scenes to life through the 3D effect of gif animation. This material form of life is then further enhanced through various visual enhancements such as brightness and contrast. I particularly like the exposure adjustment which can control the amount of light that is allowed in the image. With some tweaking, these images can come to look more 'aged' and have a vintage appearance. The way in which photos capture the past is incredible and there is a strong sense of materiality that inhibits old photographs. I really want to mimic this kind of 'antique' materiality that really emphasises the lovely aesthetic of an aged photo.

(original)

Work update

So after revising my review feedback I have started considering scale, and also just finding the limits of Microsoft Word. I have been thinking about screen printing hand drawn arrows and maps onto the digital prints. Word wont let me warp the arrows, i'm not a fan of the straightness.

Update on the Idea I'm Playing With - Figure Animation on a Still Image/Footage

Okay so as promised I've got a couple of examples; the photo I've used is just from outside my back door, and i've used a couple of shots of (once again) Ronnie Shalvis doing a palm-spin and incorporated the two.

I don't have the right software to be able to create the entire gif animation and to export it, (i don't have the right version of Photoshop with the Timline option) so here is a frame i've basically sketched (VERY basic), and coloured with basic colours and no detail.

 I wanted to add the frame before this one, but for some reason Blogger isn't uploading it. Once i get back to Perth before the next class I'll finish this gif and present it in it's entirety, but for now this is as much as I can show (without Blogger wigging out on me and refusing to upload my images like a pouty child).

~S

Idea's Concerning this Project - Feedback Requested Please

hey guys so i've had an idea on what i'm aiming to do -

i've been trying to come up with ways to incorporate my gif making in with the idea of cosplay and i think i might have the answer. Remember when we were shown the video of the person being walked through the train station by the pre-recorded video? I'm thinking about doing something similar, that takes the viewer/s (you guys/whoever sees it) on a bit of a journey through still images.

Taking into account that the environment i can use will be limited, because we can't really go off campus, i'm thinking of looking into following some sort of path around the university campus, taking photographs of certain locations along the way that will be narrated in a video form, and over the top of the still image i'll edit in a piece of footage/an animated sequence of someone in cosplay taking a slightly different route - one that the viwer can't directly follow, but through verbal commands (the narration), can find an alternate route safely on foot to the next location.

I'm interested in trying to incorporate a bit of parkour into this, so i'm going to be asking in a friend of mine to see if he can help - he's not as grandiose as Ronnie Shalvis (the parkour/free runner that i made my original gif of in his Assassin's Creed cosplay), but he's great at climbing stuff. once i get back to uni (currently at home in albany, brainstorming and reworking the original gif i made plus some newer ones), i'll see if i can't drag him in one day and see what he thinks. As for the locations i'll probably stick to some places close to the arts buildings, so it's easily accessible and not going to be a five-ten minute walk just to get things started in teh right place. there are plenty of spots i can think of already, but i'll be doing more location scouting just to be certain of my ideas once i get back to Perth.

Also, another thing i'm thinking of doing is having something at the end of the 'journey' i'd be taking the viewers on; perhaps the animated figure in cosplay will lead to something? perhaps an actual piece of cosplay hidden somewhere for the viewer to find? or maybe just an item that is iconic to that character. i'm not sure yet (feedback would be GREATLY appreciated, if you guys have any ideas at all).

Oh, and one more thing - i'll post a couple of edits i'm working on tomorrow, but i'd also like some feedback in what you guys know as far as cosplay and characters are concerned - if you guys play video games/watch movies/read books, etc, with any character with some sort of athletic/free running skill, who would you find most recognizable? i'm asking purely because i want the cosplay to be something everyone can recognize - it's no point in me presenting something about, say for instance, Thranduil, and none of you know who the heck he is by name or face. (By the way, Thranduil is from Lord of the Rings, he's Legolas' father and the Elevenking of Mirkwood. look him up.)
With this in mind, the most recognizable character i can proabably think of doing is Altair from the Assassin Creed games; this is based on the first gif i made, and going through it i showed the video showcasing his character in a modern city. if you all can recognize him as that weird guy in the white hood, then we're gold. but if anyone can think of a more recognizable character (no i will NOT be making the character Spiderman), then send me a message or leave a comment.

please guys. any and all feedback is really seriously appreciated.

~S

I began with the idea of layering some video over another video to give the effect of the video chasing the future. I originally tried to just get screen caps of the certain frame and play it over the video. The effect was awful. I realised I needed to opaque the each of the stills, so I went through and set the opacity to 50%. That is what the original edit was, which still wasn't the effect I was after.

I was taught that to get the effect I was after, I needed to photoshop each still and use the photoshop (.psd) file instead of the original screen capture. The results were immediate. This was the base for the videos in this post. I knew that I still needed to reduce the opacity of the still to see the video moving behind the stills. I used the 'Hard Light' effect on the video for emphasis and took some colour out of the over layed stills.

 

This is the same edit however I was playing around with the video effects, I had a rain effect and what looked like sun spots on all the stills.

quick little video of people throwing darts at the balloons. Audience participation experiment.

my part of development water balloons in motion

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=550416851737495&l=8250054462811408863
just link in this video, one of my part of development

DEVELOPMENT:

With my initial idea of distorting images by projecting onto balloons, and then revealing them by allowing for audiences to pop them, I have done a few tests.

I had technical difficulty working with the projector (because my laptop is a mac and I couldn’t figure out the settings) and so was stuck with an image of a landscape (not intentional). However, during the mishap, I realized that initial idea of projecting onto multiple coloured balloons would most likely not work because it was difficult to see colours on top of more colour. Also, images of a larger view such as a landscape were too easily recognized.

When I finally was able to borrow another laptop to work with, I googled and image of a black and white photo of a close up face, and the results vastly improved. However, the photo was still to recognizable unless looking from another angle.    

However, the photo was still to recognizable unless looking from another angle. I tried again on white coloured balloons, but once again I had technological difficulties. But I was still able to see some things that were helpful.

The colours were far clearer on the white balloons, and they blended better with the white pin board and so there wasn’t such a distinction and disruption in the flow of balloons. Another accident with the projector led me to think that using words could also be an interesting subject to project. The balloons didn’t necessarily distort the words, but made the sentence difficult to read. With the idea of having an image distorted and then a big reveal once balloons are popped, it could be interesting to have a phrase that is more meaningful projected onto the balloons. It could come across as insightful, especially if the phrase once the balloons were popped was not the phrase you initially thought was being projected. I think it would also be an area to explore because the audience participation would have somewhat changed. The relationship between the balloons and people would have changed, as instead of being an obstacle to reveal the real image, they could potentially become a lesson or symbolic of something depending on the phrase.

Over all, the canvas-like quality of the white balloons made me favour them over the red ones because of the versatility and the cleaner look of them. The white is quieter and easier for people to have their own interpretations and project their own ideas/thoughts/feelings onto as well as the literal projection.