Homework 9.24.2014

Project Reflection
I was complimented on my smooth footage, especially in my dripping paint.  I was told that I needed to clean up my set a little (bunched up wires behind laptop).  I was told that I needed to take my concept a step further and mangle my ball of fuzz to the extreme.  I was complimented on relating colors and textures to the models in my video.  I got mixed reviews on the oddness of my ball.  Some didn't appreciate the fact that they couldn't relate to the ball because it was too weird.  Others liked the fact that the ball was so simple that they could relate to it.  I was told that the bedsheets and curtains were irrelevant in my introduction and should be traded out with something applicable.
I didn't really like the outcome of my project and wish I did take the piece a step further.

Launching the Imagination: Narrative

1. In a single image, the artist must carefully analyze their audience and ensure that they know about the symbolism and gestures behind the characters and signals.  It is more essential to provoke emotion through facial expressions and figures' body language to reduce any ambiguity.  Using multiple images, such as in a group, series or sequence, gives the artist more flexibility to really enthrall the viewer in the story they are trying to tell.
2. Causality is a style of storytelling in which each event causes the next in a linear fashion with a clear sense of cause and effect.
3. A rational approach provides solid facts to lure in the viewer.  Geico has driven their product into the minds of their audience to the point that they now advertise "Fifteen minutes can save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance.  Yeah, everybody knows that."
   An emotional approach relies on the audience's emotions to prove a point.  A recent Budweiser commercial uses a dog and his owner to convince viewers to not only party with Budweiser beer, but to drink responsibly.  The commercial begins with buidling a relationship between a man and his dog.  One day, the owner goes out to party with his friends with a case of Budweiser beers in hand.  The dog sits at home and waits for the owner to get home.  Once the audience assumes the owner has died in a car accident, he returns in the morning saying he stayed at Dave's house because he knew he had too much to drink.  The dog welcomes him home with kisses. (x)
   A serious ad relies on a delicate balance between serious content and engaging imagery to provoke a viewer to take action, particularly supporting a cause.  I personally have to turn away from the television whenever the ASPCA commercials play on Animal Planet.
   A humorous ad must be funny without offending the audience or demeaning the product.  Every year at Superbowl, Doritos never disappoints with their ads.
   A realistic ad relies on the viewer to find the ad relatable to be compelling.  These were especially effective when I was little and I wanted everything in every infomercial in between commercials on Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon.  A couple that come to mind are moon shoes, skip-its, rock 'em sock 'ems, miniature disc music players, etc.
4. A categorial approach to nonnarrative film focuses on the exploration of a single concept, act, or emotion.  Artist David Cata sews portraits of his family members into his hand (yes into his hand) and then rips out the stitches to reveal the tattered skin and slight bloodshed.  He documents his process before and after the art is removed.  This symbolizes and focuses on the strong and vital bond between Cata and his family.  Without them, he would be left in tatters. (x)
   A rhetoric approach uses sequential images to present an argument.  I have seen examples of this in powerful ad campaigns against child abuse ads.  (x)(x)
   An abstract approach uses change in shape, texture, color, and movement to create a compelling piece.  This is similar to the rotoscope piece we watched in class.

Berger: Opening the Gate

1. A swallow flies into the room, circles, and exits.  Berger takes the photos out of their folder.  His friends gasp, peer, and smile.  They look and ask questions.  The dogs offer a key for opening a door.  Figures hunt in the light.  A house burns.  A man approaches.  A cinema films 24 frames per second.  We see more than what we are humanly destined to.  Children hide behind things.  Dogs run and lead Sammallahti to his pictures.  Nomads travel alone.
   Berger's words paint a playful and daydream-like film in our heads of the space he lives and his excitement for the images.
2. Eadweard Muybridge is famous for documenting the precise phases of movement for both artistic and scientific purposes.  Without his images, people at the time did not know how a horse galloped.  Harris Hawk's "Stroboscope" allows us to see the movement of 3D-printed horses using a turntable and a strobe light.  Without the strobe light, we would only see a blur of white rotating on the turntable.

Can You Illusion It? (Project 1)

Artist Statement

Video: https://vimeo.com/107004515

 

In art, an artist intention is to create a memorable experience for the viewers in his work. One of my most memorable experiences was, when i first learned about Optical Illusions in my psychology class. Optical illusions are meant to attract the viewers’ attention for an extended amount of time. They create an illusion that a lot of times; they can only be seen after the viewer stares at them for a while. In the video, i wanted to create a playful view of all these illusions. For instance, the video shows the anatomy of these different illusions and how they can be formed. However, as i show the full illusion i do not allow the viewer to view the end product for too long. There is not a single frame that is longer than 15 milliseconds. Therefore it creates a feeling of wanting more. Many would not catch the illusion; however, they will enjoy the different designs created with the parts of its anatomy. I tried to look for those illusions that are commonly known and could be caught fast. However, my intention is to show the way they are formed and how they are just all simple shapes and forms creating a memorable experience to their viewers.

ENJOY!

Animation Link and Artist Statement

LINK


Artist Statement:

Back during the Cold War, the threat of nuclear devices was real, and based on all of the popular media of the time, it was on everyone’s minds. But since our conflicts with the major other world powers have ceased, the fear has dissipated as well. We’re no longer worrying about the very real possibility that the bombs could fall at any second, and instead have turned the nuclear holocaust into a sort of possible, almost romanticized, future, as seen in quite a few video games and movies. In short, people have seem to forgotten how horrifying these weapons, possessed by the majority of the world powers, are, and the sheer destruction and potential mega death capable from just one bomb.

            With my animation, I wanted to look into the last few moments of a dog that somehow survived a major nuclear bombing. My main point was to emphasize the total emptiness and lack of hope that would come from such circumstances. It’s easy for humans to sympathize with a dog; they’re completely innocent creatures that depend on humans for their survival the majority of the time. To see one suffering under the effects of human folly, and having no home to return to, would most effectively convey the sense of loss and the hopelessness of the situation.

            Much of the public, and much of the government’s past propaganda, believe that building a fallout shelter or even sitting in your basement with a couple week’s worth of food could ensure your survival during a nuclear bomb. But what people don’t realize is that you won’t live. If the powers that be decided one day to nuke every major city in the country, nobody would survive. It’s impossible. I wanted that message to come across in this animation, but in a much more vague, subtle way.

Project 1

Artist Statement/The Four Elements

This stop-motion movie is about the decomposition of the human body by the four elements of earth, air, water, and fire. Our human ancestors worshipped these elements because through them, dead bodies were seized back by the Earth mother. They believed that the elements absorbed the souls of the deceased and that it is the channel of reincarnation. Growing up in a western, civilized culture I have felt that our culture tries to avoid the subject of death due to strong fears. Funerals are sad events, and we try to hold on to lives of our loved ones as strong as we can. However, ancient cultures would celebrate the death of loved ones, for they believed they were now in the hands of the sacred mother, subject to a beautiful recycling of energy, back into the ebb and flow of life. They did not fear death, but rather worshipped and praised death. Through this process of creating a human body and then destroying it, I intentionally embodied the role of mother earth. I created the body out of clay, paper mache, and food-based blood and organs and used representation of the elements to systematically decompose the body as if it were happening through natural processes. The flesh-eating beetles and dirt are earth, the origami birds are air, the boiling water with baking soda and vinegar is water, and the fire is, of course, fire. I performed this stop-motion throughout the duration of an entire night. I suffered from the cold night air, sleep deprivation, and mosquito attacks throughout the filming process. This contributed to the dark and eerie subject that I was meditating upon. I enjoyed suffering a little bit while contemplating something I have been taught to fear my entire life. I gave me the courage to let go of my fears and accept the inevitable. Through letting go of my body feelings of discomfort, I was letting go of my body entirety. To submit to the natural forces of the Earth is to be in harmony with your existence. I am grateful to have gained a level of comfortability with my own body through this god-like embodiment of dark spirits.

link to vimeo: https://vimeo.com/107066377

Project 01 Artist statement and video link

https://vimeo.com/107066727

Julian Farmer

Project 1: The Elusive

Artist statement

Bull

Runtime: 56.17 secs

Pastel drawn animation

The video begins with a young calf standing for the first time. The video then follows the calf into adulthood, becoming a large bull.  The calf is placed at the left side of the paper, making what is observed literally one sided. Like the distinct difference of masculinity and femininity, the calf was given a side the second it was born. The animation is created using grey scale chalk pastels. Like William Kentridge’s animations, I create the image and erase and alter it slightly to create movement. The short animation is a general blip of the bull’s life but using the bull as a metaphor for masculinity as it has in art for centuries, I hope this begs the question of masculinity being a simple aspect of male life. Most of my work includes animal imagery to speak about the human condition. Animals are great vessels to describe this because it removes the subject from humanity and allows for a new perspective. Since most art requires some type of self-relation to itself I hope people will wonder if their life is as matter of fact as he bulls.

A young calf’s life as a masculine bull is instinctual and linear. Is a man’s life as simple?

Project 01 Artist Statement

“Make-Down”

In the modern world, women are bombarded with images that undermine their self confidence. They are held to a standard of beauty that is only attainable through surgery, makeup, photoshop, or a combination of these. This is often done through commercials or other means of advertising. And yet, the women in these commercials, their “before” images are just as gorgeous as the “after” pictures. Women’s advertising is nonsensical and detrimental to the public’s mental health. In ads for women’s razors, the legs that they “shave” are already hairless, because god forbid a woman’s leg have hair on television (even if it would better demonstrate the product being offered). In commercials advertising shampoo, the women’s hair is already styled beforehand. In ads offering concealer, the women have flawless and glowing skin.

This is because showing imperfections, or the process to achieving the look that is offered, ruins the illusion of perfection. In my movie “Make-Down” I capture something that is not often put to camera: applying makeup in a setting that is not meant to advertise it. Most of the video is in black and white, symbolizing how naked I (and many other women) feel without makeup applied, the only saturation being in places where I am applying makeup. I use rotoscoping and exaggerated colors to highlight where… edits to my face were made. At the end, I brush off some foundation to see the skin underneath, and finding it acceptable, I then wipe off half my makeup. The video is then flipped, so the makeup is desaturated, and the “barefaced” half is in full saturation, signaling a return of confidence in my ability to not be self concious about the way I look.

Link to Project 1

http://vimeo.com/107060679