Exam: Evaluation

For this final piece, my idea was creating a combination of both physical and occult/ symbolic representations of the elements. My piece is an animation starting from the stars and ending at the ocean. I wanted to create a piece that was personal to me, which is why I ended up basing the star part of the aquarius star sign. The animation starts with the appearing of the the aquarius constellation. This was to show the actual apparel of the constellation. To make this seem more powerful, and more importantly seem more personal to me, I added my favourite aquarius quote. The next part is a series of patterns and shapes each representing a different element in some form. The first shape represents air, as the rotation somewhat resembles a fan, or the spinning of a tornado. The second represents is intended to represent earth as it starts to crack, making it seem as if a earthquake had hit. This one also could be seen as being a river, forcing its way through. The third symbol doesn't represent an element, but rather links back to the idea of stars and the varied sizes they come in. The fourth symbol represents a previous research into 'The Burning Man Festival'. I looked into this a while back, its a festival where they make large wooden constructs and then proceeding to set them on fire until they become ash. This is where I thought the construct like shape I used linked to this, so I made use of this with fire in order to make it present more ideas of the physical side of the elements. The symbol after this represents water, and I tried to make it resemble a whirlpool. The ocean scene became the ending because I felt like if I kept adding more it would simply become too much and ruin the piece. I decided on finishing how the peace started, with an aquarius symbol at the end, I had the thoughts of trying to incorporate some of my alchemy research into the piece, but I realised a direct addition would not work, so I decided by looping back to aquarius, I could create the metaphor of infinity, the ideal behind the Ouroboros, alchemical symbol of infinity.

 I decided on creating an animation for my final piece. Animation would make it easier for me to control the environment in which the animation takes place. To make the animation I used Photoshop for the backgrounds and the more advanced shapes. From there I would use Flash to create the main animation, and then final alter it in Premier to gain better control over how long a scene takes, how long the delays are and the addition of sound into the film.

I first created my main Idea after learning about both the physical and the occult side of the elements. I originally wanted to create a film to present this idea of mine, however, in the end I was unable due to technical failure. The animation idea was the next best thing and I felt that this was the best way to present it after the film. The graphical style that I used was based partially off my own style of graphics that I've been developing across the year, however I also believe I encorperated some of the stylings of Saul Bass. This created an interesting style to the work, however I believe that maybe the two styles shouldn't have combined. As I went through the exam I made changes to the basic storybaord idea. I started adding additional quotes and increased my use of the shape tweens, due to time issues and not having enough time to work on manual 'tweens'.

I felt that the quotes were likely the most powerful part of my piece. Using serious or deep quotes alongside graphics doesn't always work I have found, so I believe that they worked well to an extent in my piece. If I had a chance to redo any of the animation, It would be making the quotes stay on screen longer, and remaking the tweens to be more effective than the shape tweens. I felt that I had to rush a lot of the animation due to the time restraints, so In the future I will take longer with the planning and prep work before the exams.

Exam: Day 2

To start the second day, I actually went over the Aquarius scene and started remaking part of the scene. The part I remade was the transition at the end of the aquarius scene. This time I had changed from a rather messy looking quickly made spin and shrink, and changed it  to make use of a shape tween. I had learnt from the previous animation during the mock that these could not just be thrown into the animation, I had to adjust the images accordingly. This tween created an interesting effect as the star trails first formed into three circle, and then they over-layed forming the moon. This overlaying really worked out well, and also gave me an idea for some the changes between the patterns on the moon.

Once I had finished making adjustments to the aquarius scene, I continued work on the moon scene. The first thing I did was design the various patterns that would appear on the Moons in photoshop. In the end I decided on making the following five.

 
 














From here I loaded them into flash, with the intention of making each pattern do something different from one another. The first one I used(Top Row left) I decided on making it rotate at a high speed.

It was at this point that I decided to again use shape tweens to create the transitions between the different patterns. Doing this I found that I was able to create several new shapes which really added to the idea of it being abstract. This however did mean I had to do some minor editing of the patterns in flash, which was somewhat time consuming.

For the next pattern(Top row Right) I decided on having the spikes of the pattern branch out across the moon. This almost looked as if it where a river being formed along the surface. I didn't intend for the river idea at first, however once I saw the connection, I decided on making it more prominent. I feel this scene is somewhat off the elements at times, so finding this connection was good. Alternatively, they could be seen as cracks on the surface, like an Earthquake had it. This gave me the idea of having earth, an element I hadn't originally planned on incorporating, into the piece.

The next pattern (Mid row left) I decided on having each spike become a circle. These circles all came out relatively well. I was questioning on whether to leave this part out of the piece because it wasn't the most relevant, however in the end I decided to keep it.

The next pattern was actually inspired by the idea of 'The Burning Man Festival'. The shape I used almost looks like some form of wooden construct. This then brought in the idea to edit and re-use the old fire from a prior experiment. I then used this to overlay the moon and create a burning effect. While the moon was mostly covered I changed the shape into a ball and let it be revealed as the fire went away.

The final transition I decided would be a simple one. I again started to make it rotate quickly, however at half way it changes and reverses the spin.

Now that the moon patterns where complete, all that remained for this scene was making the transition to the ocean scene. To do this I over-layed the large moon onto the ocean background, and then made it fade out, so that the ocean would be revealed.

For the ocean scene, I decided that rather than using more patterns, I made the decision to end the animation sooner, to do this I included another quote and made it fade in and out of the scene.

With both scenes now made, the next stage was to render them, and bring them into Adobe Premier to do the final editing.


Final Piece:

Exam: Day 1

For the first day the plan was to try to complete the starting star scene, and make progress on the moon scene.

To start with I took my gathered resources and starting work on the fade in stars showing the aquarius constellation. I did this using PhotoShop and made each star a separate image.

From the black dots I changed them to white, and then used the glow layer effect to make them resemble stars more.

The next stage was to import the .PNG stars into Flash. I found that I had issues with using flash for this. At first I found that the .PNGs would not allow the use of the Alpha control function, which would have allowed me to make the stars fade in, in order. I managed to solve this issue however by converting the .PNGs to symbols within Flash. This did however cost me some time.

Once I had set it so all the stars appear faded in order, I next needed to move on to the next step which was to make a line 'flow' through all the stars. I wanted this line to follows the same pattern/ order in which the stars initially appeared. For the lines I decided on wanting a wavy-ish line connecting them all. To accomplish this, I felt using the brush tool was the best way of making these lines as I had greater control over them.

Once I had connected the stars, I decided to re-use an old quote. This was the previously used quote to do with Aquarius, which I really liked. I made the text fade in after the lines had formed.

My next step, was to make the stars 'Shoot'. As previously mentioned this part was inspired by the effect created when a camera leaves the shutter open when taking pictures of the night sky.
To do this again used the Brush tool, to create movement trails to show that the stars are falling.

Although in still frame the lines don't look very good, when actually playing the movement overlays each other and creates an impact.

Now that this was done, all that remained to finish for the aquarius scene, would be the transition into the next scene. For this, I planned on having all the trails, forming together to create the moon.

From here I needed to work on the moon patterns 'Dancing' on the surface. I wanted to make these patterns resemble fire in a way, powerful, destructive, yet creative and shapeless. To do this I again turned to flash.

I started by making the moon, fade in a glow. To do this I used the moon from my prep work, placed it overlaying the moon and played with the alpha again. This created a really nice fade as I made the moon slightly bigger, it created a fading in ring around the original moon, which then became a full glow, making it seem like the creation of a new moon.

To start the patterns I decided on having two spike looking patterns circle the moon, colliding at opposite sides of the moon. I found this to be a good start as It got me thinking about how else I could control the patterns.

Day 2 To do List

- Finish Moon Scene(Inner Pattern - Transition to Ocean)
- Create Ocean Scene
- Add Sound (Audio file needs minor editing, found it prep folder)
- Add Titles (If theirs time)
- Evaluation (Priority)

Exam Preparation

In preparation for the upcoming exam. I began working on what I could before the exam. To start off I started creating backgrounds to use in the animation. The first scene was going to be known as 'The Aquarius Scene'. For this scene I needed a blank 'space' background. It would hold the various stars  of the aquarius constellation. This did not have to be detailed so after looking back over my previous piece to do with star signs, I decided to use features of it in my animation.

The background for the 'Aquarius Scene' was this:

The next scene in which the patterns would be "Dancing" on the moon would also require a blank background, so I decided on using the previous background again, however I also made a moon to position on the piece.

The next scene, would be the Ocean Scene. This scene required both the sky, moon and ocean in it, as well as a reflection of the moon on the water.

Also for preparation, I found the constellation of aquarius in a basic stick and dot form, which would allow for basic guidance and creation of the the Aquarius scene.

My next part of the preparation was finding the suitable sound to use for this piece. In the end I decided taking a section from a song called 'What I've Done' by Linkin Park. There music videos themselves nearly always find some way of linking to the elements, normally through earth and fire, so I felt using their song would be an interesting idea. I had taken the starting intro from the song. I took only the first 10 - 15 seconds so that I could edit it during the exam for better use within the piece.

Final Idea: StoryBoarding

As I found during the last mock, I needed more planning for my animations. Since I have again decided on an animation, I will start by taking my ideas and putting them into storyboard format.

I decided on continuing to add to the storyboard as when these are made they may not add up to be long enough for an animation. To alter this I decided on creating more scene ideas, and extending past ones in order to lengthen the animation, as well as giving myself the ability to add or remove scenes as I like.

Inspiration: Starry Nights

What really inspired me for a scene of the animation was after learning what you could do with a camera and stars. If someone takes a picture of the sky at night, when all the stars are out, and leaves the shutter open for a prolonged period of time, the camera will capture the image of the stars trails.

The results normally end with this being the result:

I found this effect to be really interesting. It captures the light as the star is moving, and creates this beautiful star pattern. This idea of manipulating the universes natural beauty really inspired me. In terms of elements this links in well to the idea of star signs as the constellations would also produce this kind of effect.

I wanted to experiment with my own version of this Shutter Stars, however unfortunately the nights since I have discovered this have been cloudy, with very few clearly visible stars.

Artist Research: Saul Bass

Name: Saul Bass

Occupation: Graphic Designer, Title Designer, Film Director

Born: 8th May 1920

Died: 25th April 1996

Nationality: American

Although Saul Bass wasn't technically an artist, he was however a Graphic Designer. He invented his own style of graphics, which where normally made of sharp-edged basic shapes. They mainly just make use of two colours and don't often feature any extra colours. It was Saul Bass who designed and created the opening sequences for several of Alfred Hitchcock's films, Including: Psycho, North by Northwest, and a few others.

This is the in colour version of the Psycho, it was coloured in the styling of Saul Bass and still made use of all the original animation. The opening title itself isn't complex at all, however it still seems to work really well with the music used. 

I thought that this would be a good inspiration for my animation as I could take some of the ideas from Saul Bass's style and add it to my own to create my animation.

Idea Choice

In the end, I decided on making an animation, which combined ideas from both animation ideas that I had. I wanted to start with the stars, and then use them to display ideas of the occult and physical side of the elements. It was here that I decided to search for an animator/ graphics designer, who could give me inspiration for how to style my animation.

Exam: Top Ideas

To start of the planning of the final piece, I made a list of the main Ideas I had for the Final Exam Piece.

Experiment - Alchemy and the Elements

The basic ideas of Alchemy I've known for a while, however after looking through star signs they showed further links between the Elements and Alchemy. Alchemy makes full use of symbols in its design and in the past was used by many in pursuit of various goals.

In Europe, the most commonly known theory for Alchemy was the transmutation of common metals (e.g. Lead) and making it into rare metals (Such as silver or gold).

This alone was interesting however I thought that the most interesting theory, which many alchemists aimed to create, was the Philosophers stone.

To start this idea, I began by looking into the different symbols used in Alchemy, and their meanings.

Each region had their own set of rules for alchemy, these lead to different used for the symbols and how they were used.

The three primes were seen as the base reagents in the alchemical process.

In Western Alchemy, most experiments were started with the four basic elements, the symbols that were used are taken from the Hellenic.

With the Theory of Planetary metals, only the celestial bodies visible to the naked eye where linked to deities and presented as part of the alchemical equations.

I found that all the different symbols where really interesting, however the meaning behind them all even more so.

Another symbol that is seen frequently throughout alchemy, is the Ouroboros, a symbol seen throughout time, often used to show the idea of infinite. Its depicted as a dragon or serpent eating its own tail in a loop.

For experimenting, I started combining the various symbols to see how they would look, at this point I didn't take the symbols meanings into account, but rather how it looked.

For this one, I used the Fire Symbol as the outer walls, the Sol Symbol in the centre, and then used the three primes in the gaps which were created. After thinking about the meanings, The sun, is made of gas and fire, the Sun is in centre, like how it is in our solar system.

Next I decided on using a circle for the outer part of the symbol, however I decided on using the symbol of the ouroboros instead of just a circle. As said previously the Ouroboros in symbol form represents the infinite. I thought this would be interesting to see how it would look alongside the alchemical symbols.
My first version was this:

This symbol is made from the symbols of fire, water and sun. With this version the Ouroboros was within the circle.

With this version I actually replaced the circle itself with the Ouroboros.

Star Signs Experimental Piece

I want this piece to be personal to me, yet still capture the ideas of the occult and star signs. To start with I thought of different ideas which relate to the star signs.

The list I thought of was:

- Sky

- Stars

- Water Bearer

- Wind

- Night Sky

With these ideas I decided on creating a night scape, which was then related to the idea of Air and Aquarius.

My first step was to create the background.

I started with a dark blue background, and added in an inner shadow via photoshop. This was just to get an idea of how I could proceed with the idea.

I next decided to make the background an even darker blue as I felt that black would be too dark, but this blue wasn't quite dark enough.

My next step was to introduce the constellation into the 'Night Sky'. I used the previously posted basic form of the constellation and changed its colours to white, this was the start of creating the stars, however at this point they were just basic circles, so they didn't really seem powerful or dramatic like I envisioned this piece to be.

My next step was to make the stars actually look like stars.

To do this I played around with a layer effect called 'Outer Glow'. This worked out quite nicely as the stars finally stood out and glowed rather than just being simple circles.

Next I made some small adjustments, again darkening the background a bit, and also making the inner shadow more prominent. I also made the constellation slight more central.

Now that I had the constellation and background, I needed to make the ideas of Air and Aquarius known. I first decided on adding the idea of aquarius to the piece. I began by looking at how other people envisioned Aquarius online. What I previously knew about Aquarius before the research was that it was known as the 'Water Bearer', aquarius was either presented as a male or female pouring water from a jug, normally the latter. For this I decided I would need to make my own image of someone pouring a jug of water. 

Since I was unable to do this at the time I decided to work on the more personal side by using one of the quotes I had found previously. I decided on using the first quote I had found:

"Creativity flows through the veins of individuals with the Aquarius sign."

I found a font called 'Fairy Dust' which I had used a few years ago, however I felt that it really worked for the flowing creation that the quote talked about.

I decided that the 'FairyDust' font may not have been the best choice. I started playing around with other fonts to see which one I felt worked best.

This one makes uses of a font called 'Beyond Wonderland'. I feel that this is a better suited font for this piece.

This font is known as 'Windlass' which although it looks nice, I didn't feel that it was as interesting as the previous two fonts.

In the end I decided on using the 'Beyond Wonderland' font, however I felt that the text needed resizing. I also decided on adding in a drop shadow to the text to see what effect it would have.

I found that the smaller font size and drop shadow worked well for the piece, however I still felt that although I knew that the piece would have the hands added in later, it still needed something more. From this I decided on adding another symbol used to represent Aquarius.

I decided on using the wave sign of Aquarius and having it faded in the background.

With this I had planned on having the jug pourer in the top left corner, however this may change. For now I feel that adding an element of Air to it would make it further relate to the theme. 

Experiment - Star Signs and Elements

Before now I had only really been looking into the more physical representations of the elements, and how they can be used for creation and destruction. I however, was inspired to think of an idea that doesn't consider the elements as physical, but rather symbolic.

This lead me to researching into the Occult side of this, where I found how they linked into the Zodiac and their constellations. I have previously looked up the zodiacs and learnt about them in my past, so using them with the idea of the elements sounds to me like a really interesting approach to the theme.

I have found that each member of the Zodiac each belongs in one of the four categories of the elements, which are as followed:

Earth
- Capricorn
- Virgo
- Taurus

Fire
- Leo
- Sagittarius
- Aries

Water
- Cancer
- Scorpio
- Pisces

Air
- Aquarius
- Libra
- Gemini

Interestingly enough, each Star Sign/ Zodiac are also shown having traits given to the people who fall under them, I found these to be an interesting concept and decided to research what each Zodiac had for their traits:

Aries (21st March - 20th April)
- The strengths of Aries are: Adventurous, energetic, courageous and confident.
- The weaknesses are: Self-centered, short-tempered, impulsive and impatient.

Taurus (21st April - 21st May)
- The strengths of Taurus are: Compassionate, dependable, loyal, reliable, physical and mental strength.
- The weaknesses traits are: Stubbornness, aggressiveness, sensitivity and difficulty to accept change.

Gemini (22nd May - 21st June)
- The strengths of Gemini are: Jovial, Good communication skills, inquisitiveness and flexibility.
- The weaknesses are: Selfishness, restlessness, confusing personalities and difficulty towards being on time.

Cancer (22nd June - 23rd July)
- The strengths of Cancer are: Adaptability, loyalty, strong bonds with family and empathy.
- The weaknesses are: Moodiness, sensitivity, emotional outbursts and indecisiveness.

Leo (24th July - 23rd August)
- The strengths of Leo are: Kindness, Big-Heartedbess, energetic, optimistic, honesty, loyalty
- The weaknesses are: Prone to Jealousy, Possessiveness, egotism, or a dominating personality.

Virgo (24th August - 23rd September)
- The strengths of Virgo are: Perfectionist, realistic, practical, dependable, sincere and patient.
- The weaknesses are: Far too critical, restless, lack demonstrativeness and often push themselves too far.

Libra (24th September - 23rd October)
- The positive traits of Libra are: Patience, balance, gregarious, loving, affectionate, cheerful, energetic and socially gifted
- The weaknesses are: Indecisiveness, carelessness, prone to indulgence and being overly emotional and sensitive.

Scorpio (24th October - 21st November)
- The strengths of Scorpio are: Loyalty, trustworthiness, passionate, charismatic, caring and patience.
- The weaknesses are: Stubbornness, jealousy, overly sensitive and egotistical.

Sagittarius (22nd November - 21st December)
- The strengths of Sagittarius are: Honesty, forthrightness, lightheartedness, intellectual and good communication skills.
- The weaknesses are: Sharp tongue, prone to change, restlessness and a flirtatious nature.

Capricorn (22nd December - 20th January)
- The strengths of Capricorn are: Hardworking, responsible, reliable, loyal, sincerity and strong will power.
- The weaknesses are: Introvert, obstinate, short tempered and difficulty accepting authority.

Aquarius (21st January - 19th February)
- The strengths of Aquarius are: Friendly, affable, intelligent, kind, compassionate and practical.
- The weaknesses are: Unpredictable, adamant, dislike towards making commitments and hatred towards conventions.

Pisces (20th February - 20th March)
- The strengths of Pisces are: Intuitive, empathetic, uninterested in material things and a sharp memory.
- The weaknesses are: Overly emotional or sensitive, prone to wistfulness, mood swings and inflexibility.



I decided that for an experiment, I would take the element and star sign which I fell under and use them for the base of my experiment.

My birthday is January 31st, which makes me an 'Aquarius', so my Element is 'Air'.

During my research I found this quote which I found to be really inspiring towards the idea of me being an Aquarius, this was:

"Creativity flows through the veins of individuals with the Aquarius sign."
I then decided to research further into the constellation which is Aquarius. I found that Aquarius is the symbol of the water bearer, making it seem odd that it's element is air.
My research into the Air element told me that those in the air category are primarily focused on intellectual pursuits and innovation. They are typically thinking of creative or unorthodox ideas, and often are involved by introducing clever remarks and wit. They are thought to be constantly testing things and theorising. This is were I found a second inspiration quote:

"To them, reality is a laboratory in which they may experiment and record."

Below is a basic image showing the layout of the Aquarius constellation:

I decided that this was going to be included in a piece made of this as it seems a good way of connecting the different idea. I could also use this to envisage the idea of "Creativity flowing through the veins" as I thought the lines between the stars could represent the veins.

- Work Continued in next Post

Artist Research: Bill Viola

Name: Bill Viola

Occupation: Video Artist, Electronic Artist, New Media Artist

Born: 25th January 1951

Nationality: American

About his work

Bill Viola's work often featured the themes of fundamental human features, including death, birth, aspects of consciousness. Some of his works included making use of the basic elements such as fire and water, which is good as it relates to our theme of the four elements. He often made use of slow-motion in his videos, which made them seem more dramatic and powerful.

Viola's Three Structures

What I found really interesting was his theory on how he believes there are three different structures to describe the patterns of data structures: Branching, Matrix and Schizo.

- Branching: A structure which takes the user straight from point A to point B

- Matrix: Like the branching system, crossed over with multiple other branches, the user could enter at any      point, and come out at any point.

- Schizo: A structure which is random, where the user could become lost.

Although his three structures may not directly link to his work, however It probably adds to his idea of humans consciousness.

Experiment - Watching the World Burn

For an experiment I decided to create a short animation using Flash. Out of the elements I had a good amount amount of wind and air related pieces, but none towards the ideas of Fire. This lead to the inspiration of burning the world. I created a quick graphical globe within Photoshop and placed it in Flash.

Then, by using the 'Burn' Tool I created a second 'burnt' globe.

With this I then created an overlaying fire effect for the actual way of burning in the animation. I have attempted creating realistic animated fire overlays in the past, however with this time I went for a graphical looking fire.

After placing the needed files into flash, I began using the burnt globe as an overlay for the clean globe. I then adjusted the Alpha of the burnt globe to make it seem as if the globe was being burned by the fire.

The end result was this:

I felt that this piece was interesting to do as by searching for pieces similar to this one, I found a Video Artist called Bill Viola. I though that this would be a turning point in my ideas and inspirations for the rest of the exam.

Photograms - Photoshop Edit

I decided to take the third attempt at photograms into Photoshop and play around with the settings. I first adjusted the levels and exposure.

I next decided to use some of the filters to see what sot of appearances I could get.

Filter: Photocopy

The 'Photocopy' filter on photoshop made it seem to use much more dynamic negative lighting. The shapes are more prominent which makes it look like a shadow, again with an Idea of corruption, like the previous Ink Drop piece. My favourite part of this version is the black spike shapes that spread from the bottom.

Filter: Plaster


The 'Plaster' effect makes the piece look like a splatter of some kind. Although the original shapes are no longer visible, the splash effect are shapes in their own right and looks like colour water has been splashed against the page.

Filter: Bas Relief


The 'Bas Relief' filter makes the image seem as its embossed in stone. It almost looks like the parts have been fossilised. This links to the idea of Earth I felt as the stone like appearance of the image worked well.

Filter: Half-Tone

The 'Half-Tone' filter reminded me again of the Ink drop experiment. It looked similar to when the black ink spread across the water.






















Cyanotype Experimentation

 Filter: Graphic Pen

I though that this version looked interesting as it looked almost ghostly. The shapes are hard to make sense of, however the filter as changed the cyan background into one that resembles TV static, which I find rather different from the usual.

Filter: Sumi-E

With this filter, it looks as if the objects are beginning to fade away, the edges look like they are falling apart, this fading into darkness effect which has been created is something I will have to look into again, as although it doesn't link to the theme of the elements yet, I feel it could be altered to.

Layer effects

This version was made with layer effects, opposed to the previous filters. I used an emboss and drop shadow effect on the gear and feather to make them stand out from the rest. It looks as if the parts are being held above the paper, giving it an interesting effect.