Class Reel

A compilation of all our work from this semester.

EXPLORATIONS WITH ED

EXPLORATION IV

Create an Identity (ID or Ident) package for the SyFy network. These will be use to creatively identify the channel and to visually illustrate the power of imagination. The product will be a collection of different, 15 second animations. The conclusion of each animation will clearly display the channel logo for a minimum of 2 seconds. The final deliverable will be in the form of Quick Time mov file with audio. 16 : 9 ratio.

Syfy has been a channel that I've been wanting to work with for some time now, mainly because I'm a big fan of all of their network branding. Their creativity and cleverness have made the network standout from other similar to it. Hence I believe it will be fun but at the same time a challenge to be able to level up to the already wel recognized id's they have created.

MY APPROACH:
I wanted to bring out the strange yet humorous situations we experience through the network's shows. For this reason I decided to combine a very natural environment along with an artificial and futuristic one, and through this represent the versatility of the programs the Syfy network provides

ANIMATIC:

EXPLORATION II

Create 6 Short Animations with slates output as one movie. Using hand drawn animation, we will be exploring the basic ball bounce with squash and stretch and parabolic arcs. Shoot all animations on 2's.

Emphasis will be on gaining control over your animation and creating very smooth, clean motion and correct timing.

EXPLORATION III

Create a :10-:15 (10-15 second) animation with audio that interprets movement from an original video source using stop motion or hand drawn animation. Shoot animation at 15 FPS.

-- In the final deliverable movie, include a 3 second slate which includes your name and the title: “Exploration 3”, and one second of black after the slate and one second of black after the animation.

-- The animation must begin with “chaotic” or “meaningless” movement unrelated to the video, and then transition to “meaningful” movement based on the motion in the video.

Animator Profile: Norman McLaren

"Animation is not the art of drawings that move but the art of movements that are drawn"

                                                               Norman McLaren

Norman McLaren, was a Canadian animator first born in Scottland.   Known for numerous works in areas of animation and filmmaking, including abstract film, visual music, drawn on film animation and combining graphics with sound.

McLaren dedicate his whole life to experimenting the art of cinema within animation. Many of the styles, tricks and effects of animation that we're used to seeing in todays world of motion and animation were results of this artist's experimentation.

 







McLaren was born on April 11 in Stirling Scotland. As a young boy he had always been passionate about visual arts and design. Thus he went on to study at Glasgow University, where he then got involved with Glasgow Film Society where he discovered the role cinema and film played in the world of design. 

Because of his low budget and lack of income, he began animating and playing with negatives and film. In 1934 two of his handmade films won the Scottisch Amateur Film Festival.

After this he was offered a job in the general Post Office Film Unit in London. He worked as a camerographer during the spanish civil war which left such a horrible impact on him that he chose to flee to the US and became part of Canada's National Film Board.

Some consider him to be a "poet of animated film" by the way in which he correlated image, color and sound.

His first films created in Montreal were "Five for five", "Dollar Dance" both of which deal with the war. 

He found the National Film Board's department of Animation.In his work, music always played a very important role. He created the first 3d films. He would apply animation to everything he could and anything he knew. He created a technique called "Pixelation" which he applied to his Oscar winning animation "Neighbours", as well as other animations where he continued to scratch film and paint over the celuloid. Such as "Caprice in colors"  

Another important element that he employed a lot in his animations was the art of dancing. In his last years of animating he created a series of phenomenal shorts "Adagio, Narciso and Pas de deux" 

all of which bring out a unique sensation of dance that had never been experienced before by the viewers. Almost as if he had truly grasped the essence and feeling of the dancers.

He also created a series of films called Animated Motion together with Grant Munro. This series was a compilation of many of his works where he analyzes the notions of time and space in function with frame by frame filming. 

Norman McLaren received numerous awards for his works. He was influence by idols such as Einstein and Newton.  He himself has influenced endles number of artists and we see how many of today's animations use this artist's principals and style to recreate their own animations or give it their own personal twist. 

He was also able to participate with works in Asia, making his name well known within other nationalities. This is a man that left a print wherever he went, and how even years after his death he is still recognized as the poet of animation.