11/30/09 experiment. So this is plagarism. But the effect is so fucking cool, I had to try it for myself. The 2 examples I based this on were actually shot paper, and this was made %100 in the computer, so I guess that’s a little change at least.
I first saw this technique in this breathtaking and FUN promo for Bonnaroo ‘09. This was directed by the visionary Elliot Jokelson. Please check him and his studio GHOST ROBOT out. You owe yourself. At the link to the video, there is also an interesting “making of” that shows all the labor required to make such pretty things.
From a little research, it seems that this technique was actually invented very recently around 2007 by Javan Ivey. He premiered his brilliant invention, which he calls Stratastencil, in the lovely film MY PAPER MIND. At his site, he says that he devised this based on the strata-cut technique, pioneered by the amazingly ahead of his time Oskar Fischinger in the 20s and re-invented and re-popularized by David Daniels in the early 90s. This is a compilation of just some of Daniels’ mind boggling stuff.
So this technique is not only beautiful, but it’s practically new! I have seen some other fellow animators short films made in this style, but it’s clear that the surface, nevermind the 19th layer, has not even been scratched.
Check back for possibly some more Stratastencil tests, and hopefully an entire commercial that I’m working on using this technique!
11/17/09 experiment.
Not sure exactly where this idea came from. Probably a little piece of my brain that is forever thinking about the Hipgnosis and George Hardie cover of DARK SIDE OF THE MOON, which I had a poster of throughout most of my childhood.
I’m also constantly inspired by light, and this is obviously an experiment dealing with how Red, Green, and Blue light is combined to create all possible colors, including the ones you are looking at right now. What is shown above actually only uses those 3 additive primaries, and the other colors are the pretty (and realistic) results of after effects’ blending modes!
For some more about the tech behind monitors and the gadgets we use every day, do yourself a favor and check out THE SECRET LIFE OF MACHINES. A brilliant, hilarious and educational show made by inventors Tim Hunkin and Rex Garrod. You can watch most of the episodes on YouTube, and the television episode is HERE.
I have to try more “light” experiments soon!
Experiment from 11/12/09.
This test was “inspired” by the title sequence to the movie “The Dead Zone” made in 1983 by Wayne Fitzgerald.
And after you’ve watched that, you can see that by “inspired” I just mean “stole”. But that was the result of trying to think of a better design and there truly not being one!
In these days of Ad, Title, and Music Video design being nothing but an assemblage or “puking up” of random after effects things, it still shocks me how subtle and effective these titles are.
Modern horror titles create a feeling of unease with quick grimy cuts, semi-gross images and blurry whatever. This practically all comes from the success of the masterful sequence from “Se7en” which was done in 1995 by Kyle cooper who interestingly sights the Dead Zone titles as one of his fisrt influences! Here is that too…
To me the sense of unease is far greater when, as in the Dead Zone titles, nothing is obscured or cut way from and you are forced to examine an image. The VERY slow simple title reveal crates an almost claustraphobic sense of impending weird.
So I guess what I’m saying is that it’s vital to experiment with creating emotions before just copying what’s known to work.
Which is not at all what I did.
;)
11/11/09 Experiment. Sort of riffing on the previous night’s test (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=da950Z1dDMc) with colored bars revealing text, but I wanted to try that style with a less frantic tone.
I think this works better as an animated logo rather than an element of something bigger, but I could see potentially moving the bars continuously and every time they’re raised they reveal new text. Hmmmmm…
Last night’s experiment. This was inspired by a random recollection of the “When I’m Sixty Four” section of YELLOW SUBMARINE.
When I was little, my parents used to rent movies for free from the local library for me. I think for at least a year straight, the only thing I rented was this movie.
What I remembered (and how my final design looks) are actually pretty removed from the original. But I love the horizontal bars moving in to create text. This is the original video…
this test’s inspiration @ 2:12 (and look for the hidden BLUE MEANIE!)
What outstanding design!!! I could do hundreds of shorts based on the ideas in this movie alone.
The art director was Heinz Edelmann. A german designer/illustrator who somehow managed to strike a psychedelic note that is part of human DNA. Here is a wonderful essay/interview with Edelmann, reflecting on a life’s worth of art and the current (2001) state of things…
