Kurt Schwitters

Here are some images of work by Kurt Schwitters. I refered to some of Schwitters work last year and have often thought that his work would definately offer inspiration for backgounds within pieces of my own work.


http://www.tate.org.uk


http://www.tate.org.uk


http://www.tate.org.uk


http://www.tate.org.uk


http://www.tate.org.uk

New Edit

This is a new edit of the After Effects piece I put together last week. I've done a few tutorials and had a play over the last week or so and decided to change things around a bit.



In this edit I started having a go at making particaular layers 3D, enabling me to suggest the idea of depth. In the last edit the camera zoomed into the tv screen housed on the bikes frame and the video played full screen. This was fine, but the pitch that this was to be used in was focussing on the use of screens on the back of the bike. To suggest that video would play on the screens I fealt that it was necessary to play around with the use of camreas in After Effects, in order to enable the perception of depth. Im pleased with how this turned out, but I'm sure that i'll still have a play.

Sin City Green Screen

I found this video on Youtube last week and I've finally got around to posting it!

Now, I know that finding videos on youtube can be a bit 'iffy' sometimes as people can post what they want wether real or not, so if this is a fake I appologize! However they've gone to a lot of trouble and expense if it is!

I've got to say this scene at the beginning of Sin City is one of my favourite scenes. The reason why I think that this is interesting is because of the camera angles within it, the way that the tensio builds in the film whe he is about the shoot the lady in the red dress and the overall look of the film. It is very interesting to see the way that the footage was recorded using the green screen; a technique that I hope we get a chnace to use in the studio upstairs in photography at some point.


http://www.youtube.com

Genworth 'See Saw'

Shift the Balance!

This is another animation by Russel Brooke that I found on Passion Pictures website. I think that by taking a qwerky approach to the piece; he has brought a little humor to it, without detracting from the intended message.


http://www.passion-pictures.com

The way that the colour has been stripped down to black and white works well and complements the animations simplicity in the use of line and shape. The audio also works very well with the visuals. It isn't to loud and as the scene builds to reveal the outcome of the piece the audio does to. The audio isn't overbearing and I think that this also makes the piece however simple in style, work well as it appears clean and crisp.

London Pedicabs

I posted some info about after effects the other day and how looking at examples of work by designers and on the internet had inspired me to create a piece myself.

Over the last couple of months I have been doing some work for a guy based in London. The company is a marketing company with a diference. The company, 'London Pedicabs' operating out of Canary Warf, is now one of the contries larges Pedicab company. The company is a unique company making it's money by selling advertising campaigns. From big companies such as Vodafone, Tesco, Mastercard, Channel 4's Big Brother, O2 and Savanna Cider to name a few.

Some of the work I've created over the past months for the ranges from PhotoShop compositions, to 3D modelling and most recently my attempts at combining all three in my first attempt at using after effects.

3D Modelling:






After Effects piece:



Forgive me for the speed of the camera as it zooms into the TV screen on the bike. I do plan to slow this down, but when I put it together I was a bit blurry eyed at 3am this morning!

This piece was created as part of a bid for transport for the Olympic Village in London for the 2012 games. Integrating the most recent TV advert within the piece. Due to the nature of the company, rickshaw bikes are an ideal mode of transport for the Olympic Village, due to the nature of the newely established partnership with EDF and the Olympic 2012 comission for a greener Britain.

I think the reason why I am leaning towards wanting to create 2D work is because of the way that you can integrate lots of different elements within it. From 3D work, with video but also sitll having the opportunity to create visual effects in a 2D sense.

Deva Studios

I decided to take a look at some of the work that Deva Studios created. I found out that two of the films that they did animation work for 'Watchmen' and the 'Spirit'. Both films which I liked especially for the animation work within them.

I was going to put clips of both titles, however when I looked at their website was spoilt for choice, so I've put up their reel for 2008:


http://www.devastudios.com

Within this reel there are dynamic title sequences, 3D and 2D work. The work is vast in style from text animations in title sequences, to the the use of special effects fo both film and television.

Decisions, decisions, decisions . . .

Before we broke up for Summer when we were given the brief to create our blogs, we talked about the idea of using the blog as a basis to research many different areas. However, with the intention of trying to find a particaulr area with our field that we may like to direct our work towards.

I've been having a little think over the last few weeks, (but mainly over the last couple of days), about what sort of area within design I see myself going into and it's been interesting to consider.

I've had the chance to do a little bit of 3D work over the Summer and I've really enjoyed doing it, however after looking at lots of different types of animation I really like the look of some of the 2D work that i've seen, (well 2.5d) work. This type of work really appeals to me and I find it extremely interesting. The things that I like about this type of work is the way that a sense of 3D can be created; however it's all trickery!

I decided to have a look back through the 'Samples from Industry' file that we have at Uni and I think that these two pieces below sums up a lot of reasons why I like this type of work:


Left Channel


Deva Studios

As I enjoy 3D I can see myself integrating it with a composite piece using 2D elements, but as I enjoy very organic hand crafted type pieces I think that this can be achieved more successfully in some of the 2D work I've seen.

Over the past year myself, Ste and Rory have had mmany conversations about what we think we will eventually want to do.Whether I end up doing that is another matter, but time will tell. Maybe my opinion will change, after all first year has only just finished.

I've never been a fan of keeping a diary, but I suppose in a sense by collecting research within our blogs in a way we are keeping a diary; a design diary! Hopefully that should allow me to start making some decisions and possibly focus my research one way or another.

Skype

One thing that I've noticed since I started my blog, is I'm noticing things that inspire me and interest me even more than before. Dont get me wrong, since we started this course I do notice things and pick up on things more than I ever would before, but even more so since I've actually got a place to talk about them!

I saw this little advertsiment on the channel 4 website earlier today, so I decided to pop it on the blog, because I think that it's style and look allow for it to capture peoples attention. I think that because the blue lips are the only thing that people can see, it allows for us as viewers to concentrate more on what is actually being said.

We as viewers have the option to turn both the subtitles and the sound on and off. This is a nice option for us, suggesting that the creators want the user to feel in control, therefore trying to be as user friendly as possible.

http://www.channel4.com

After effects

Since I started this course I've always been interetesd in getting to know after effects and wanted to have a play. So I started looking on the internet for some tutorials and had a go yesterday. Whilst looking on the internet I stumbled across this piece. The video wasn't made by a pro, it was just a nice example that I found of what could be created in after effects.

This piece is not a perfect piece. It's too loud in areas and some of the audio overlaps each other, but I really like the way that the creators ideas are suggested.


http://www.youtube.com

Now I've seen this piece it's inspired me to have a go myself and have a look for some more composite work as this is possibily an area that I see myself going into. I might even post my own attempt at my after effects composition, but it depends how it turns out!

David Foldvari

Drung!

I've been familar with David Foldvari's work since I did the foundation course the year before last. I'm drawn in by his style of illustration. I think that he creates very intricate and thought provoking work. I especially like the way that he uses spot colour within his pieces, (in the image below for example).

This is a piece that he created recently for the Observer newspaper:


http://davidfoldvari.blogspot.com

Clothing by NCC

Well I've just been on NCC website to see if there was any new, cool stuff and these designs for t-shirts and the one for the hoody really stood out to me.




http://www.neasdencontrolcentre.com

I think that the designs are unique in style, one of the things that I love about NCC. The simplicity in the use of line and basic shpaes makes the designs seem bold and eye catching. I think these designs are definately one that I would buy myself. I love the colours that they have choen, especially the combination of the orange desing on the light grey hoody.

Heres an image of the 'Beams T' shop where the clothing is being sold:


http://www.neasdencontrolcentre.com

This looks like an aewsome shop, I wish we had one in Manchester!

Skoda Advert

After looking at the Audi Advert and talking about the Skoda I decided to take a look at their commercial which uses the idea of baking a cake.


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

For years Skodas haven't had the best reputation, however in recent years public oppinion has changed. This advert gives the impression that as well as the manufactures being a fun and exciting brand, a lot of time and care is put into the production of their cars.

Whilst looking for the advert I found something really qwirky on the Dailymails website. A set of instructions on how to bake the Skoda cake:



http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

Maybe its worth giving it a go!

Audi Q5 - Unboxed

I found this animation on 'Passion Pictures' website. This animation was created by Russell Brooke for the car company 'Audi'.


http://www.passion-pictures.com

My first impression of this advert was that it had a strong idea. Sometimes you can't beat a good idea, as without a solid idea to start with how can you intend on creating a successfull piece, unless you come across it purely by accident!

I think the use of the character brings life to the piece. By using an animate asspect, (the human figure), with the inanimate object, (the car), it brings a sense of life to the car. Overall I think that the idea of turning something, (in the case of this advert the cardboard box), into the final car is an aewsome idea, which we see used by many car companies nowadays.

I can only assume that the reason why many of the major car companies use a similar sort of idea behind the advert, is because it works so well. The intersting thing is the way that they all seem to adopt different concepts on the basic idea. This is obviously suggesting the competetvie nature of business and how in order to succeed companies need to stay right on trend.

After seeing this advert it got me thinking about different car companies using the idea of turning 'something' into the final product, (the car). I came up with the following:

1. Honda cog, which uses the cars parts as a chain reaction in order to reveal the car at the end of the advert. A slightly different take on making the car from something, but priciply uses similar ideas.

2. Skoda, which is a great advert in which a car is made from cake and sweet.

Im glad I stumbled accross the work of Russell Brooke. At the moment it may seem like Im slightly obsessed with his work and honestly I probably am! The thing that I really find interesting about his work is the way that he seems to take different approaches and techniques to brief's. He does this mainly through the use of characters. He is able to create fantastic characters, however he cleverly integrates them into the advert as a way of supporting the brand and not detracting from the intended message.

Sony playstation 2 "ROBOT"

HAVE FUN!

This is another animation by Russell Brooke, which is all about having fun. This is shown to us in a scene where a character is enjoying themselves dancing. The idea of this advert is all about creating hype for the 'Playstation' brand and in creating a fun advert Im assuminng that that is the sole intention of the designer to suggesst to the audience that the 'Playstation' is fun for all.


http://www.passion-pictures.com

However annoying the soundtrack is, the line illustrations which have been animated are great examples of how simplicity can create fantastic looking animations. Not everything has to by complicated and complex to give a great outcome!

Harry Shotton

After recieving the recent newsletter from 'Noise' I thought I'd take a look at some of this years graduates work.

This piece was a colaborative piece by Harry Shotton, (illustrator/animator graduating this year from MMU), that he created with Gavin Sodo in the final year of his degree. You can see the full piece at the link posted below.


http://www.noisefestival.com

I like the whole piece, however the reason why I decided to inculde this section is because I wanted to show the titles of the piece. I think that they create the right mood for what is next to come. What I mean by that, is the way that there are breaks in the auido where there are moments of silence and the screen is black. These both definately create a sense of intruige and suspense.

The entire piece has an interesting subject matter, (im not quite sure exactly what that is), but I dont think that we completely need to understand that to appreciate that visaually it is a very nice animation.

The fact that the animation has been reduced to sepia tones allows for the audience to concentrate on the asspects within it, without being distracted by colours. The sepia tones also work well with the industrial feel of the piece.

The sound track that is used create a sense of a very industrial feeling environment, which with the suggestion of the mechanical parts within the animated heads definately works. Overalll I found this piece very interesting.

Heinz Ketchup TV Advert

Got Balls!

Who would expect that an advert about a product, wouldn't feature the product itself? They must be mad, mustn't they?

In this advert we dont actually see the product, (the Ketchup bottle), until the end in a pack shot. Throughout the advert in the situation that the bottle is being used in, (or should I say lack there of bottle), the 'Ketchup' is only suggested in the actions of the people using it.

Enjoy:



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNYeUijwkvw

This advert shows confidence in the brand, by not showing the bottle. As consumers we want to know that the people who are selling the product have confindence in their own brand and that is certainly being done in this advert. Great advert!

Fiction Records Website

I dont usaully sign up for for many website mailing lists, (as I get enough junk though as it is), but after looking on Elbows website the other day I found a link to 'Fiction Records' and my opinion slightly changed!

Here is an image of the website:

http://www.fictionrecords.co.uk

I really like the look of the site. I think the compostion works well, due the the way the illustrations at each side of the page seem to balance each other out. The black bars at each side also help to create a sense of balance, especially due ot the amount of white that is on the page.

I think that the images on the home page of the site are what caught my eye intially, as I think that the are extremely interesting. One thing that I think is exciting about this page is that although it has similar content and structure to other wensites the illustrations give the page life and its unconventional look is what makes the page come alive.

Looking at some of the images in a little more detail, they remind me of some of the work by Giacometti.

Close up's of some of the images within the background:





Giacommetti had a very clear style of working. His work ranged from paper based illustrations, to pieces of sculpture. Human form appeared in many of his pieces of work and this is reflected in the images below.

Here are some images of work by Giacometti:


http://www.tate.org.uk/


http://www.tate.org.uk/


http://www.tate.org.uk/

In the design of Fiction Records website I can see a close resemelance to the work of Giacometti and I think whether intentional or not somewhere within the design process he could have been a source of reference for the designer.