Stuart Livesey EMP

EMP Evaluation

At the start of this project I really struggled with figuring out what exactly it was that I wanted to produce. I knew that I wanted to continue doing animation or motion graphics work like I did in my specialist project, but choosing the subject matter was pretty difficult. I had an idea in my head of the graphical style I wanted to achieve, and wanted to further develop the style from my specialist project videos - but finding a subject or reason to base my work around is what I alway find the biggest challenge when starting a new project.

After tutorials and discussion with Liam, I came upon the idea of creating visuals to a pre existing narrative, such as a fairy tale or children’s story. I ended up deciding to look in to things more along the lines of myth and legend. Nearly every fairy tale or kids story has bits in it that would be awesome to create visuals to but normally feature quite a heavy message or moral at the end, which I wasn’t too keen on. I then started to look more in to stories of legend and myth, stories that have really cool ideas and imagery, without the moral cliche bolted on at the end. This then led me on to looking at folk lore and tall tales.

From wikipedia - A tall tale is a story with unbelievable elements, related as if it were true and factual. Some such stories are exaggerations of actual events, fish stories (‘the fish that got away’) such as, “that fish was so big, why I tell ya’, it nearly sank the boat when I pulled it in!” Other tall tales are completely fictional tales in a familiar setting, such as the American Old West or the beginning of the Industrial Age.

The type of stories that really grabbed my attention were the american tall tales. These tales were often told by people when traveling across north america, and the people they told re told the story, but added their own twist on it, or a new addition to the story. The stories become very exaggerated, and I like the way that there are so so many different variations of the same story.

There are many great american tall tales, such as the famous Johnny Appleseed - a young man who traveled the west of america planting apple trees or Pecos Bills, a legendary cowboy who ‘tamed’ the wild west. The tale I ended up settling on is that of Paul Bunyan, a giant lumberjack of great skill. There are so many ‘facts’ added to the story of Paul Bunyan now that it is hard to see what the original story is. In america it is a way of jokingly explaining things to do with the environment to kids. For example, one of the myths is that Paul Bunyan was so big that his footsteps filled with water and created the thousand lakes of north east america, and he dug the great lakes to swim in. Another is that he created mountains to hold up the sky. I found it really interesting how there were so so many different versions of the story of Paul Bunyan, and it excited me, as there was so much material to create my visuals from.

I did some research, and watched and read loads of different Paul Bunyan stories, always making notes of ‘facts’ I found particularly amusing or could create interesting visuals from. Once I had gathered all my ideas together, I found it alot easier to get started with my work. I spent a lot of time in the specialist project creating a visual style, so storyboarding and getting started was easier than I usually find it.

As with my previous project, I took visual inspiration from many illustration based artists who all use an organic hand made feel to their work, and I wanted to give my visuals this same organic feel – create them as if they were cut out of materials and filmed as if it was a stop motion piece from above. I used the techniques I perfected working in After Effects in the specialist, such as layering everything in the scene and adding a spot light focused in the middle of the scene as if it was being looked at from a top down perspective.

I started off creating what I then wanted to be an opening scene, with a floor level view through the trees. I used the lighting and shadows to create the atmosphere, and finished the scene, which looked great. But there was something missing, the spark I had last project and the enthusiasm I had to create visuals on the computer had gone. I found myself really lacking motivation and I just wasn’t getting excited to do more. This was obviously a bad way to feel a third of the way through my final major project, which was really worrying me.

With my work this year I have always been trying to do one thing - make my computer created shapes and compositions look like they have depth, and that organic, material feel to them, as if they are layered on top of each other and filmed form above. So why not do exactly what I’ve been trying to digitally imitate - create a hand cut stop motion piece filmed from the top down? 

I had a choice - either carry on going with After Effects, and not enjoy it, or take the leap and just create a stop motion piece. I decided to go for it, and I don’t regret that decision at all! I was really worried that if I carried on doing what I was already getting sick of doing then I wouldn’t be excited by it, and it would really show through in my work. Switching mediums was great because I got back that fresh, exciting challenge of working with something I had little experience with, and it was all new. It was healthy to be outside of my comfort zone.

I had already seen a lot of stop motion, and stop motion style work, and I definitely knew what I liked and disliked, so I took a look over bookmarked favorites with a fresh eye, looking at the techniques used and the composition. I got the feel for it pretty quickly, and this all made me really excited to get started, so I started on setting up a dodgy camera rig in my living room - filming top down on to a table.

After figuring out how it all worked and conducting tests to figure out lighting, the camera’s aperture, frame rate and many other things, I worked my ideas and sketches for my would-be After Effects animation in to ideas that could work with cut out bits of paper, felt, foam and string on my table top.
I think I did a good job in getting ideas across with this medium, as I had to simplify a lot from earlier ideas. I used this to change my story from having a more ‘traditional’ narrative, with shots of the lumberjack walking through forests and such in to a more simplistic, stylised and possibly abstract take on animation, using block shapes instead of going into fine detail. I think that this gives my animation a really nice aesthetic, and I’m pleased with how it looks. I made conscious decisions such as to move the camera around a bit, leave cut up bits of material around the side of the frame, and not worry about things moving around slightly to add to the hand cut and home made aesthetic.

I was quite lucky in this project, I didn’t run in to as many problems as I anticipated. Being able to have it not be the end of the world if I jogged a bit of felt or knock the table out by a millimeter was really helpful and healthy for me whilst working, I could concentrate more on the composition and the feel of the piece. Last project I was driving myself crazy, always spending, or perhaps wasting, a lot of time on the smallest details that no one would ever notice. I guess in retrospect that this project was the opposite to this problem - I wanted all the mistakes to be there. I’m glad I did this, as I love the way it looks, and I think it really adds to it.

Having used – and loved – Adobe After Effects for previous projects I thought that it wouldn’t take as long as before to produce my work, as I would be using this software and am no longer ‘learning’ it, as I had experienced it all in the specialist. When I changed to doing a more traditional stop motion piece it naturally meant that I was learning how to do everything again, so it took me a bit longer to produce my visuals than I had initially planned.

I found myself really really enjoying doing the transitions between the scenes, and I think that these are really strong in the video. When I was storyboarding, I was thinking back to how fun it was last project, creating mini scenes. My downfall last time was the transitions between the pieces, which ended up getting watered down and watered down till it was just a fade to black, and then a fade back in from black. With this project I really tried to creatively tie all the scenes together in an organic way, which I think comes across in the final piece. Doing this meant I didn’t get bored of one certain piece, and had the freedom to play with lots of different ideas in different scenes.

I have learnt lots of things from this project. I greatly benefited from having the confidence to change my medium after I had already started animating - completely throwing my time plan out the window! It felt like a fresh start, and gave me the motivation I lacked when I started off on After Effects. I also think I have improved the way I think about things and how important it is to have a solid plan of what ideas you want to get across and the feel you want to give your work. If I hadn’t established this before I switched over to stop motion then I would have been back to square one, and wouldn’t have been able to produce the same level of work.

My project may not be the most ground-breaking piece of stop motion, but I feel that I used the medium in a simple way, and concentrated on the look and composition of my work rather than the technical side of things. I’m really really pleased with how it turned out, and I think that the medium worked better for the style of my shots and the story that I was telling, and I think I achieved my goal of making a modest piece of work that I would be proud to show off.

test shots

different experiments with speeds and frame rates:

test one 15s from stuart livesey on Vimeo.

test one 20s from stuart livesey on Vimeo.

from the above video i can see that there was some issues with motion blur from when i was moving my hands mid shot, so here is another one with no motion blur, and at the speed i have decided on:

test two 400% from stuart livesey on Vimeo.

another test with things moving on the table at the same speed:

test sun 400% from stuart livesey on Vimeo.

learning agreement

Name: Stuart Livesey

Course: BA (hons) Digital Media Productions

Level: 6

Unit: Extended Major Project

Reference number: IMD603

Credit points: 60

Study hours: 600

Tutors: Phil Beards, Liam Birtles

Synopsis of Study
For my extended major project I will be producing a visual piece of animation. I will
use the skills I have already gained on my foundation degree in interactive media, and in the specialist project earlier this academic year to create animation based graphics using my own original artwork. My final piece is what I will be leaving university with, and so I want to make it a showcase for both my technical ability with the software and creative ideas. Whilst I feel I have produced some good work on this course so far, I want my final piece to be something I am really proud to show people, an impressive but modest presentation of what I want to do.

My work is going to be loosely based, or inspired by the American folk or ‘tall tale’ of Paul Bunyan. This tall tale is a fictional story of a giant lumberjack called Paul Bunyan, who ‘helped build’ America. It is a very well known tall tale, and has been retold many times, with numerous different additions to the story. Instead of having an obvious narrative behind the work I want to pull in different bits of and additions to the tale from many different versions.

During this project I would also like to explore otherʼs work that inspires me, and enhance my own style so that I can make visuals that I myself would love if I were to stumble upon them. In this sense I will be uploading my final video online and tagging it appropriately, so that my visuals can reach a receptive audience.

I am also going to concentrate on making my visuals in high definition, to make them look as visually rich as possible and to keep up to current industry standards. Aswell as researching artists who inspire me I will look in to who is at the top of the industry, who is doing exciting new things and what is happening in my subject area. This will give me an idea of the standards out there, and give me a positive goal to aim towards.

I feel that if I meet these targets I will be well prepared to go in to the professional work, and have some work that not only I enjoyed doing, but is something I’m happy with and proud to show people.


Aims
A1 To provide you with the opportunities to exercise and enhance your knowledge and abilities in the development of a body of creative and technically competent work appropriate to your course aims and criteria at Level 6.
A2 To provide opportunities for you to learn from the increased complexity and rigour of creative production required for this unit.
A3 To encourage you to apply the advanced level of discipline and time-management which are required during the unit.
A4 To encourage you to work independently, albeit with supervision, in the development of your work, in a way which reflects contemporary professional practice. You are also encouraged to work effectively as a team member where this is demanded by your project or subject specialism.


Learning Outcomes
On completion of this unit you will be able to:
LO1 Demonstrate the ability to rigorously apply specialist knowledge, understanding and creativity in the production of your extended major project.
LO2 Demonstrate the ability to manage the complexity of practice demanded by the extended major project by managing your time and work efficiently.
LO3 Demonstrate ability in the coherent use of various representation techniques, documentation and presentations to specialist and non-specialist audiences.
LO4 Demonstrate your awareness of the ethical, social and cultural issues appropriate to the concept of a responsible professional practitioner, whether working independently or as part of a team.



Assessment Requirements
Body of work to be identified through and in the negotiated Learning Agreement – 100%
Assessment Criteria
Evidence of realisation through the application of technical knowledge and skills – Specialist knowledge and understanding are evident and applied in the work (LO1)
Evidence of understanding through critical evaluation and reflection – Informing the development and management of the project (LO2)
Evidence of realisation through presentation – The communication and presentation of ideas reflects best contemporary practice (LO3)
Evidence of knowledge of concepts, contexts, criticism and theory – The work demonstrates awareness of concepts relevant to the responsible professional practitioner (LO4)


Signed: Stuart Livesey

opening scene

i have finally started animating! the deadlines drawing nearer and nearer so im really glad ive actually started, and its gone well!

i have started at the beginning of the narative, as this just seems like the most natural way to work for me.

as i did last project, i produced all my flat vector images in photoshop with a smidge of illustrator, and then imported them as cropped layers to the mighty after effects beast. i based the scene from the photos i took from my walk in the woods, and used the colour schemes i created in kuler.

this is what the photoshop image looks like:

INSERT THIS IMAGE HERE

i think that by doing this method, and then adding depth to the layers in after effects looks top, and by adding the lighting i experimented with in my glass onion project i can achieve the mood and atmosphere im going for:

here are some snap shots of the lighting settings i used to create the shadows.

the toughest bit is animating the foot/ankle stepping in to the scene, which i am still fiddling with. here are stills of me working on the footstep, with the rabbit running off when the foot lands (not finished yet, wont take long at all though!)

and heres an early version of the opening scene without audio. still tweaking the foot/ankle movements to make it look less shit and more good. but im still happy so far!

opening test from stuart livesey on Vimeo.

colour palette - forest

for my opening scene the scenery is going to be based in a forest/woodland environment.

i have taken the photos i took the other day and created colour swatches in adobe kuler. kuler is an internet application from adobe systems that lets you try out, create and save various color schemes. it allows you to upload your own photo and it will pick colours, which you can tweak individually or by a mood - such as bright, muted, deep, dark. it picks colours that both visually and mathematically ‘go’ together.

using adobe bridge i can import the swatches in to adobe photoshop/illustrator and use the colours in my work to enhance the mood and feel of the woodland environment.

inspiration - scott benson

Rebranding from Scott Benson on Vimeo.

this short piece of motion graphics from scott benson, as well as visually being clean and beautiful, really made me stop and think.

please watch the video first before continuing reading!

from scott benson:

As artists, animators, designers and other creatives, we are often called upon to lend our talents and skills to give a new face to a product, a company, or an idea. We make political campaign ads. We make soft drink commercials. We make internal videos for fortune 500 companies. We donate our time to promote small things we feel great about, yet also work to rebrand some of the worst corporations on earth. We do both of these things because it is part of the business. One day it’s a friendly, green face on a known polluter and the next it’s a designer brand that wants to look like a grassroots social movement. Sometimes it’s a music video whose depiction of women is questionable, sometimes it’s a political ad whose facts we know are not quite right.

What responsibility do we have in this, if any? I’m not condemning anyone in particular, and I’m not saying we need some sort of vice squad roaming around calling one another out. But I’ve talked to so many people in this business who see themselves as just a tool to be used, no more than a sentient, albeit creative, installation of Photoshop. But we are more than our copies of Adobe Creative Suite. We are more than our pencils. We are more than our workstations and our client list. We are sentient, choosing people. Our talent is powerful. But we’re often more interested in how big the name is, how big the paycheck is, and how creative we can be that we can forget what our real impact is. Is being a professional putting aside our own hangups and doing work for clients with whom we actively disagree, or is that giving up a part of ourselves that is acutely human? Are such ideals a sign of naivete, or something precious to be guarded?

So think about it. Have a line somewhere, or have a reason not to have one. If you’re cool with what you’re doing - awesome! Have a blast and make great things! I look forward to seeing them! But please, think before you rebrand. Do it because you choose to, not simply because it’s your function. We’ve all been there, but it’s a discussion that doesn’t seem to happen enough.

Feel free to leave questions or comments.

To answer a frequently asked question, all of the art and animation and even that weird tone at the end was made in After Effects.

And lastly: Yes, I think segregation is terrible- morally, socially, philosophically and historically. That’s why I picked it. To show how easily - through cute, approachable, creative advertising - something truly horrifying can be rebranded, repackaged and promoted. And whose responsibility is that - the client who ordered it, the artist who made it, the viewer who accepted it, or none, or all?

there is also an interesting interview/Q&A with scott here

search for narrative - paul revere

so recently ive been looking for a narative, or something to base my visuals on.

i was going to create visuals to a song, to create a music video. but ive decided that this was a pretty unoriginal idea of mine, and that i needed something better to base my work on for the emp.

i was slightly stumped for a bit, and couldnt really think of anything suitable. my mind kept bringing me back round to the predictable route of music, as that seems to be what im doing most of the time, most days - listening to music.

i was listening to a new track that had leaked from a pop punk band called four year strong called paul revere’s midnight ride, which lead me to look up more about this character, as i thought i had heard this phrase before. 

according to wikipedia paul revere was, amongst other things, a horseback messenger in america in the late 1700’s. his ‘midnight ride’ occurred on the night of April 18/19th 1775 when he and another man called william dawes rode from boston to lexington to warn people of the advance of the british army. the warning they delivered enabled the militia to repel the british troops.

what fascinated me most about this little story was that at the time revere’s role was not particularly noted or praised at all. however in 1861 - over 40 years after his death - a poem was written about the ride called ‘paul revere’s ride’ by henry longfellow.

the opening lines go: 

Listen, my children, and you shall hear
Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere,
On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-Five;
Hardly a man is now alive
Who remembers that famous day and year

the poem is very well known in america, and the story now has the same level of fame in america as the story of guy fawkes in the united kingdom. many myths and urban legends have come from the tale, mainly due to people, especially in the past, taking longfellow’s poem as the truth. the poem dramatises and exaggerates the ride and the obstacles that the riders had to overcome along the way. 

it fascinates me how a simple story gains added elements through being retold. although the story of paul revere is an interesting one, i am going to explore other short stories, fairy tales, legends, myths and folk lore to find something that i can use to base my work on for this project.