Email Contact: Evan Lentz

Whilst looking at show reels today on various websites I found this site: www.MrLentz.com. I liked the work that he had within his portfolio and was intrigued to know a little more about the way that he composites 2.5D and 3D work.

Motion Graphic Artist + Photographer

www.MrLentz.com

I've replied to him asking if he will take a look at my work and he says he will so when he replies i'll post his response.

Influences

One of my strongest influences has to be 2.5d work. For example the work of Left Channel.

Container plus Lecture

Louis Vormittag

http://www.containerplus.co.uk/

Earlier on in the year Louis Vormittag from 'Container Plus' came to give us a talk. It was around the time that were were doing our cross pathway collaboration projects. Louis talked a lot about working in a team and the benefits and downfalls. She told us about the collaborations that she had been involved in and the problems that she'd had.

She showed us various pieces of her work which included various types of work from 2d Design, Shop Displays, Installations, through to web design.

Web Design:

It's interesting to see a different approach to web design. Combining illustrations, with photography and turning it into an interactive piece of work.

Illustration/ Photography:

I included these images as I thought that they highlighted the variety in the style that 'Container Plus' have. Although there is similarity in the style taken in both the web work and the installation pieces.

The main thing that I took away from this lecture was the insight that she gave us on working with other people in collaboration. Since the lecture I have collaborated a few times with different people and it has been enjoyable each time. I found this lecture useful and interesting and have refered to it since.

Discovery Channel Ident

This is the final outcome that I created for the recent Ident project:


The piece is primarily 3D, (however stripped down to vector lines), but also uses a little 2.5d for the smoke.

Tar Boy Animation

This is an animation that I found after talking to one of the 1st year illustration guys. I think that this animation is a brilliant example of 2.5d work.

This piece uses many elements which I have incorporated into my piece. For example the use of cogs and the stripped back styling. Definately I great stylised piece and something to consider when looking at how to style the piece for the Ident.

Testing

This is a test looking at the movement of the arm with the wheel.

My Influences

For this current project that I am working on I have taken influences from a number of different areas. For this project I have taken references from various different places. For example, Transport, Science, 3D Design and Animation.

Last week I went to the Science and industry museum in order to gain a further understanding of how different engineering machinery works:


This was beneficial as it allowed me to take direct references. I also used images of Stephenson Rocket to build from historical pieces.Building direct from the imagery made this easier for me as I was able to visualize how the rocket worked in a 3D sense.

Style Tests

These are some shots of the occlusion with my vector line renders. Although I think that the occlusions definitely adds a lot of depth to the piece and a sense of quality I am going to knock the levels down a little. I really like the style using both the vector line and occlusion, especially as I have intended from the start to use a stripped back look.

Addition Blogs Cross Pathway

Here are the links to the other projects that we used as support material earlier this year.

http://teammoist.blogspot.com/

http://lionscollaboration.blogspot.com/

Stop-Motion piece

I found this piece when looking on the Shellsuit Zombies blog earlier today. After finishing my 'Ever changing City' piece recently I found this piece especially interesting. This piece was created by animator Rob Carter. The full version is being shown at New Yorks museum of art and design.

Metropolis by Rob Carter - Last 3 minutes from Rob Carter on Vimeo.

Science and Industry Museum Visit

This morning I went to the Science and Industry Museum. I felt that it was necessary to go and have a look at some real engines and see how the different elements, (the pistons etc), all fit together. After developing my idea and way of working for the last week, I have decided that I need to find a good balance between the actual way that I model the steam engine and how it realistically works.

I need to ensure that the model looks realistic and operates in a the way that should. However, I also need to consider that whilst I want to achieve realism I should make sure that I don't labor too much about trying to achieve a photo realistic approach. What I've got to remember is that my Ident is a 10 sec piece in which it needs to get across what the channels about. So as long as I get the feel right then it should be more about the feeling of the movement and the momentum.

The video below is a short slide show of pictures that I took this morning. These photos show a range of mechanisms and parts:

I also took a video of a wheel and gears turning:

Green Flag Advert

When talking to Luke and Ste earlier today they suggested that I like at this recent TV advert for the green flag:



I think this is a perfect reference for me in terms of the sort of style and feel that I want to achieve with my series of Idents.

Psyop & Massmarket

Studio Visit: Psyop and Massmarket

12/11/09

Whilst in New York we got the opportunity to go and visit the studios of sister companies Psyop and Massmarket. We were shown around the studio, where there were lots of people working. These included flame artists, 3D designers and compositors we were shown a show reel of their work. The work was extremely professional and interesting to watch. Both their range of work and the type of work was varied and their were a few pieces that stood out to me.

We were met by a lady called Kimmy when we arrived at the studios, who was involved with the PR side of the company and had been there since the start when it was set up by the companies founders. It was a great experience to be within the studio as this was the first time that I had been on a proper studio visit. It was a relaxed and friendly atmosphere, however it was still clear that they had a lot of respect for the fact that they were in a professional environment too. They even had dogs running around the studio, 4 or 5 if I remember rightly, which gave the studio a real family orientated feel!

This is one of the pieces that they have created and by far was one of my favourite piece that they showed us:

It was an intriguing session and was an eye opener into the industry. Kimmy was interested in asking us questions and getting us involved and said that she would be happy for any of us to send our work over to her to get feedback on it, which is good to know.

Initial Style Tests

Here I have create a few tests. I have stripped the animation back to line vector renders and also added a little occlusion.

Shellsuit Zombie

Shellsuit Zombie
01/03/10

On the Monday night whilst in London, an evening was put on for us by Shellsuit Zombie, which is a project that is run by a group of graduate students. Their project is described as 'encouraging dialogue and ‘bridging the gap’ we hope that they will fall in love once again'.

This night was all about getting us involved in thinking about whats next! Trying to get us to consider the options after we graduate. Although this was intended for the third years, it was a good oportunity for us to start considering our options.

After talking to us and explaining a little about their own history they asked us to get into groups in which we had to have a go at putting together a capaign. We were asked to choose at random, two different pieces of paper. One with a celebrity and one with a product. We got 'Katie Price' and 'Guns', (will say no more about that), but it got us to look at how we could work as a group to quickly come up with a range of ideas.

The group weren't shy of speaking their mind which was great because they have been in the same position and they came across as being very honest. It was a great, productive night!

Lauren Moriarty

Visiting Lecture: Lauren Moriarty
05/03/10


On Friday we had a visiting lecture by textile/product designer Lauren Moriarty. Although her work is primarily textile based, she experiments a lot with materials and how her designs can be used as products. As I studied product design at A-S and A Level it was interesting to see how she took her original designs and modified them to suit the needs of a consumer.

Although Lauren Moriarty is a textile/product designer I found that her lecture was informative and relevant. I think that it's important within design to have interests and influences not just from our pathway. Although she operates within a different area in design than we do, I felt that a lot of what she was saying was relevant to the way that we work.

One of the main things that she talked to us about was the way that she promotes herself as a designer and how she uses her website to sell her own work. I found this part of the lecture extremely interesting and found myself make lots of notes, (maybe too many)! She also talked about funding and the options that were out there for students requiring funding for art projects.

Unlike some other lectures that we've had I found that she really wanted to help us and provide us with a as much help as she could.

One thing that I have considered is having the plans roll out at the begging of the animation. Although this is a nice idea in terms of how the Ident begins, do I have time? I'm not sure that I do, however if I'm clever with my timings then I could be a possibility.

Barbican Exhibition London

Gallery Visit: Barbican
01/03/10
After the studio visit to 'We are Seventeen' we went across to the Barbican. Whilst there we saw a couple of different exhibitions.

The first one was:
Céleste Boursier-Mougenot
New commission for The Curve

This exhibition was 'very out of the ordinary'. When we walked in we went through a curtain of beads and walked down the middle, there were screens on either side which were playing videos, however as we went around the corner there were lots of birds flying around, landing on guitars. This together as an installation formed a very interesting sound and in turn a piece. It was interesting to see an idea that didn't mind moving away from the norm.
http://www.barbican.org.uk/thecurve/blog/index.html

Ron Arad Exhibition
The second of the exhibitions that we went to see was the Ron Arad exhibition. This was a furniture exhibition, which featured lots of different types of chairs. The exhibition was split into two levels the ground floor and the upper level. On the ground floor there were lots of chairs that we were able to sit in and even a table-tennis table for us to play on.


The second floor showed a range of interesting chairs which ranged from traditional to modern ideas, using oil drums for example.

Overall the exhibition showed a variety of different chairs, which even thought it is quite far way from what we do as a pathway was still exciting to look at.

We are Seventeen

Studio Visit: We Are Seventeen
01/03/10

On Monday last week we went to see design company 'We are Seventeen' in London. Before visiting their studio I had taken a look on their website and liked the work in their portfolio.

After taking us through to their studio they got started straight away. Initially they started talking about their work and how they go about working on a project. The visit didn't feel too formal and they encouraged us to get involved in conversations about their work, which was great. There was a relaxed atmosphere in the studio which allowed us to feel comfortable, however you could tell that they were extremely passionate and professional about their work.

As we are creating Channel Idents at the moment, the work that they were showing us was very relevant and the visit couldn't have come at a better time! They showed us initial designs, presentation boards which they presented to their clients and the actual final outcomes. It was great to see the way that they go about working on a project from start to finish and how the way that their work has parallels to the approach that we take to our work.

It was mesmerising to see the amount of detail that they had to go into on one of their current Ident projects. Working with an AD Agency they had to create a set of guidelines in the format of a book, which would enable the clients to use the work that they had created in the correct and legal ways. Sometimes I think it's easy to forget about the minute details, so too see this being used in relation to their work was refreshing to see. I think that from looking at this it's definitely encouraged me to break my own ideas down even more, (even if this is just in my sketchbook breaking down my own ideas for my benefit).

It was also interesting to see that they were using the same programs that we use. The way that I enjoy working and the way that I think I would like to continue working, is using a mix of both 2.5D and 3D in my work. A lot of the work that they were showing us was 3D work taken into a 2.5D environment, or primarily 2.5D work. This type of work is definitely the way I see myself within the industry.

I think that this visit to London was great for us as 2nd years as we were able to visit the studio and galleries. Although we didn't have portfolio visits we were able to talk to the 3rd years about theirs. Not having the pressure of the visits ourselves made looking at industry not seem as daunting and actually the prospect of showing someone else my work a little more accessible.

Going to see 'We are Seventeen' made me feel excited to get into the world of work, however scary that may be! I emailed them later on last week just to say thanks for a great visit and was surprised when I received such a quick email response from George at 'We are Seventeen'. In the email he said to keep in touch and send over work at any time. So later on in the year/ course I think I will definitely take them up on that!