Samuel+Chan+Fall+2015

Hi! My name is Samuel Chan, I am a sophomore. Currently undecided but thinking about a major in Japanese. I have not worked with any of the software we will be using in this class before but am very excited to learn! I have minimum experience with art. I have taken art history in high school and created a few pots in elementary school. I took this class because I thought it would be a cool introduction to art and thought that the use of computers would be a nice modern take on how art can be created. I know how to make sushi! I am really interested in Computer graphics, specifically geared towards video games. I am interested in how it is created, how the physics behind it all works and just how it comes together to create a reality that people can dive into.

Augmented Reality Project Description:

I used mainly the same process for each GIF. First create a shortened clip with Premiere via trimming, shown in the first image below. Then export that clip as an .mov file. If no further work is needed, I simply looped that clip in the Aurasma software, also shown below.



For another element of the project I had used After Effects to incorporate Kinetic Typography directly onto a photo, as seen with the Cherry Blossom.



Once all was said and done, the rendering process came. This actually proved quite difficult. Aurasma only allows a file size of 100 MB or lower, so you have to play with a few of the settings. I found that lower the setting from Best to Half was a good compensation without losing too much quality. Then just switch the file to .mov and you are set.



After repeating this process for the rest of the GIFs, it came time to put it all together. A cool aspect of Aurasma and AR is the fact that the space itself can be used. I wanted to incorporate some movement into the piece corresponding to the GIF on screen. So with the bubbles going upwards, I place the GIF higher up on the trigger so the viewer would need to move the phone in order to see the rising bubbles. With the Jellyfish, I put it further down for a similar effect.



Overall, this was a very funny and thought provoking project that pulled together all the elements of the semester very nicely.

The trigger image I chose is of the paintings of anatomical hearts on the first floor stairwell in Smith Hall. I had found these paintings interesting since the first day of class, why were they there and what did they mean? My piece is about the heart and specifically the journey that I am still on. I hope to promote questions that can evoke similar emotions in the viewer through the questions I pose and the media I use. I begin with a GIF of bubbles with the question, “Where does your heart belong?” The bubbles convey an atmosphere of depth and despair as one sinks into the sea. The question is a heavy one and personally I still do not have an answer. The next GIF is of some Jellyfish with the phrase, “You may search the depths to find something beautiful.” Personally, I find jellyfish extremely beautiful and elegant. However, this form of comfort is a bit fleeting and not too meaningful. With the idea of meaning and feelings of impermanence, I use a photo I took of the cherry blossoms last spring.

Cherry blossoms are a very pretty flower but can only be enjoyed for about a week once they bloom. The nature of cherry blossoms captures the essence of life and how short it can be. With these two examples I intend to show how the heart can become attached to things that are easily forgotten. I do not think of jellyfish and cherry blossoms when I feel strong emotion.

The next segment is a picture taken in Kogan Plaza where GW Has just recently decorated the trees with Christmas lights. The view is very pretty at night and has been very nice to see after coming out of the library from studying. However, I took image out of focus with the caption, “How do you maintain focus when searching?” There are two meanings behind this, the first being that the heart is something that constantly switches its attention to something that is slightly more interesting and makes it hard to focus in on one thing. The second being, during finals season it becomes difficult to focus on the things that aren’t linked to our success. Time becomes too precious and we allow life to pass by too quickly and become an unclear picture.

To end the piece I have a GIF of origami hearts I made on top of a playing record player. The various hearts are to represent how in even one person, there are many hearts to follow. There is always something that captures our heart in a moment. The record player is something that has very cyclical nature and illustrates how the heart can be very roundabout and overflow one with endless emotion. The record player is also a literal visualization of how the “heart is so easily played.”

It was very tough to actually depict all this information in such a project. Thus I use lots of questions and media important to me. This is not so much a project intended for the viewer, but one intended to help the viewer experience what I have been learning.

Short Film Project

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Surrealist Project

Images I used for the final design of the surrealism project.

Background image used.

With Godzilla and historical image.

Added elements and initial shadowing.

Added textures and more shadowing

Completed Project!

Response to Article: Questions: If it was so difficult to even work with colored objects on the computer, what caused the interest in using a computer as a source for creating? How did layers, transparency, and compositing come about? How did someone know that these would solve many of the problems creators faced? Does the excessive use of computerization and motion graphics pose a problem for the future? Will creators more readily rely on software and other creators’ content rather than their own creation?

The advancements made to motion graphics are very interesting. At the start of the craft, designers were having trouble simply working with color. And due to the extreme amount of money needed to use machines such as Paintbox, it was simply illogical. But due to a few advancements in software, the computer instantly became a very logical medium to create work that is now used in almost everything we see today. After watching a few of the examples Manovich listed, such as the music videos for //Go!// by Common or //Don’t Panic// by Coldplay and Reebok’s I-Pimp Black Basketball commercial, it was weird to think that these were all made using the same method. Even further, modern day commercials, tv shows, movies and everyday videos all use methods similar to those used years ago, yet presently look much more realistic. The way that accessible software created such advancements in about a decade is tremendous. This is particularly interesting when thinking of how film-makers and designers were pretty much stuck in the 1800s when it came to effects until computerization. With small advancements in technology, major advantages rise. But I believe the element that had the most effect was the ability to manipulate single elements in a piece. With the introduction of layers, transparency, and compositions, seamless scenarios could be created. And that is how we have work that looks the way it does today. This adds in a cool new dimension to anything that is brought onto the computer. If I physical image is brought into a motion graphics design, it is no longer a physical picture, but something that can be manipulated into a video or scene. It almost takes on a new identity and this possibility really progressed motion graphics. However, this leads me to question whether software can be created to advance what we already have. With the limited knowledge of motion graphics back in the 90s, I can only imagine what could be possible with the knowledge accessible today.

Kinetic Typography Project media type="youtube" key="8oOCbZPwbBw" width="560" height="315"

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