Sky Arts #2

QR from Leigh Harrison on Vimeo.

Carrying on from the previous Arts Ident I decided that I'd like to look more at After Effects and how I can manipulate imagery to create something new. From my research project I had been looking more at QR codes and I wanted to try and incorporate these into moving image in my research project and so extended this to my client work too. I personally haven't seen anything like this before used in advertising where the entire peice is composed of a barcode

Sky Arts #1

For my first Sky Arts potential submission I created a light painting based upon my research. Which can be found here.

Light Night - client ident 1 from Leigh Harrison on Vimeo.

This idea originally came from my research for club night visuals. I was inspired by the lighting effects used in the footage I was watching and decided I wanted to reflect this in my client work in some form. During my research I came across long exposure shots which created 'light paintings'. Through various experiments I found that I could achieve this effect using a timed flash and 7second exposure time on my camera. I originally intended to use a separate flash which was controlled however due to money I couldn't use that. To compromise I ended up using the flash on my phone which when set to an interval worked really well and allowed me to get the desired images. I would have liked to have experimented with a proper flash but as I didn't, I can't compare the results. The backdrop of the logo came from my location research - when I decided on the light painting I needed an area which was well lit in low light, wouldn’t be too busy as I would be taking long exposures and need there to be little interference and as I had to bring the home made light boxes with me the location needed to be easily accessible by foot. I considered the Arboretum and various places in the city centre but ultimately decided on the steps of Newton building as the lighting worked really well and allowed me to get the result I wanted. I took the background image on a long exposure then attempted to use the light boxes to create the logo, however when I was using them outdoors I just couldn't get the same effect as my initial experiments. To rectify this I decided to retake the logo shots at home and digitally composite the logo moving in after effects. I used Photoshop and after effects to initially help the logo to look as if it was part of the original image, and then to animate the letters to be inconsistent and have a DIY aesthetic. Overall I'm pleased with the final outcome, it would have been more satisfying to use all original images rather than have to composite but I've wanted to get more familiar with After Effects and this forced me to experiment and get used to the program.

Sky Arts first peice

This is the first ident I created in response to the open brief for Sky Arts. I used light painting/photoshop to create a 20 second clip in which the only stipulation was that the logo must form no longer than 12 seconds into the clip and hold for 8 seconds. I'm pleased with how it turned out although I know it's not perfect.

Arts experiments

Ideas for settings

I've been thinking about where I want to set my lightbox and how it's going to interact with the surroundings, I rediscovered these idents used to promote The Warehouse Project, a seasonal night club in Manchester, for it's 2010 season.

This made me think of the stairs of Newton which are lit up at night, which could be a prime location to set up.

Long exposure tests

Light box

I've started creating a light box, shown here in the first stage with no foil or coloured cellophane inside, although I do like the effect on its own without adding the colour. The fact that you can see the edges of the inside of the box (the orange parts at the side of the 'S') show that this experiment will need some tweaking before the final outcome but hopefully in the right setting I can get it looking how I want, experimenting with colour and different sized lettering.

Origami

Experimenting with origami to find some inspiration for some digital transitions for my research project and also I may use origami for one of my Sky Arts designs.

line art mood board

Clemence Behr

3D Geometric Installation by Clemence Behr

PROTEIGON

PROTEIGON from BURAYAN on Vimeo.


A stop motion, directed by Steve Braind for Parizan.
via

Ok Go

Ok Go's creative team need a pat on the back, consistently quirky and original the band recently broadcast a live performance which was pixelated using the avatars of people who tuned in to watch through facebook and twitter. A creative and interesting way of getting an audience interested in a live performance.

imgs

Light Effects and 3d Mapping

Shit Robot - Losing My Patience from DFA Records on Vimeo.

ManVsMachine

Looking into ManVsMachine's previous work I found that they specialize in idents, and also did work for Sky Arts. Their work involves a lot of digital compositing which unfortunately I don't have the skills to create, but the idea of building something and rewinding it is feasible.

More 4 Rebrand

More 4 has recently had a rebrand by design company ManVsMachine. I like the interpretation of the handmade aesthetic, instead of the hand drawn style which was in fashion a few years ago, creating a logo which can be built and can function in a real environment adds another dimension to the design, allowing it to be more flexible.

 I think the branding carries through exceptionally well into the idents and can imagine these being used in a real setting immeadietly. The branding chosen flows on really well from the original More4 branding with the use of shapes to form the logo but feels more accessible.

GIF Player

An animated gif is a digital file format where multiple images are being looped after each other, creating a short and small sized movie clip. The file type was first introduced in 1987 as a first online movie, but soon lost its function with the increasing speed of internet and the possibility to upload longer and bigger movies. The document type however has gained back some of its popularity and is even entering the field of Art today. In 1832, Jozeph Plateau, a Belgian physicist invented the phenakistiscope. The first device which was able to show a moving image and which is considered to be the pre-runner of modern cinema. The only down part however was the fact that it could only show short movie clips in a loop. An animated gif is exactly that, and after some research on Plateau’s original design, Pieterjan Grandry succeeded to build a device capable of playing animated gifs, incorporating led lights, microchips and magnetic sensors. The Gif player is a wooden box, much like a turntable, with a dimmer to adjust the speed of the animation and a small looking hole in the front.

text via.

I found this really interesting that people were still revisiting the now more or less defunct GIF, which seems to only have a life span on blogging sites such as tumblr. It's inspirational to see such simple things being given a new creative twist. I could imagine this kind of technique used on a much larger scale for cheap and effective advertising, for example on billboards, parts of the image could move, or even the moving photographs which became popular on the internet in which really slight things move, like a skirt blowing in the wind. I could see myself looking twice if I thought I saw a static billboard move out of the corner of my eye.

Apparati Effimeri, 3d Mapping

STEREOSCOPIC 3D MAPPING // STEP 01 from Apparati Effimeri on Vimeo.

This isn't an interactive 3d installation, however the final example shown I feel could be very effective used in a club environment, if a live artist drew the surroundings to highlight as the music played, then the surroundings moved and react to sound.

via.

Holton Rower

Tall paintings by Holton Rower. Large scale paintings mounted to walls.

Experiments for client project

For my short for Sky Arts I'm looking at experimental ways of mixing colour as an initial exploration,