BA2 Animation - Squash and Stretch

Call of Duty: Black Ops (2:50 onwards)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YN-srBi4Fr8&NR=1&feature=endscreen


Bad Boys : Miami Takedown
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoTYsX83Zrg&feature=related

BA2 Animation - Guest Speaker Sean Millard

Today we had a visitor speak to all years about games, and the world of business outside of it. My pre-concevied notions of what a 'Creative Director' should look like were given a knock as we walked into the lecture theatre and saw him. Such a prestigious title as 'Creative Director' conjured up all sorts of images of formal attire and formal language. It was then surprising to see that Sean was wearing a hoodie, jeans, purple converse, and had a head full of curly hair. Wristbands adorned his forearms, and he had a 'Misfits' belt buckle on. This all came as a relief, a breath of fresh air, and a comfort. I saw that you didn't have to conform to any set format within the professional world of Games. I had already half-known this in theory, but now someone from the industry stood here before us all, and it made the theory whole.

He began by telling us that he had taken Fine Art at uni as 'a bit of a skive', and that it was the only thing he was really any good at. I was taken back by this statement. By him being unafraid to tell us something so revealing about his beginnings. Showing us that he was human, and not some super-driven, super-determined machine, that had always known what direction to take in life. This was comforting. He expressed a feeling of tedious boredom towards the industry, for companies always sticking to what they knew, simply rehashing what had been done before. He talked about innovation and new ideas, and how it was only evident in perhaps a couple of games a year. He told us that the 'people who call the shots' want only surefire bets when it comes to making games. Ideas that have been done over and over again, and that are guaranteed to bring in profit. Rather than adventurous, innovative concepts, that are more likely to entertain. Sean also explained that the radical approach to making new games was always a financial risk. But, to defend this alternative way, he said that we are here to entertain an audience, and not bore them. That making risks is good. I felt strongly that this was a fundamentally sound philosophy. Although, he went on to explain that things were beginning to chance within the industry. That new platforms such as the IPad, allowed lots of new companies to emerge and produce games, without all the massive financial backing of the larger companies. And that this left plenty of room for the innovation that was so sorely missing from the mainstream market.

Sean then built upon these points, by giving us some background information on himself. He highlighted a potential link between indie game developers, and what he was part of in his youth, the Punk subculture. How they would get together, organise themselves, put on their own shows, and demonstrate the punk ideal of 'Do it yourself'. He told us not to wait for other people to authorise our galleries. To get out there and be pro-active. My attention was fired up by the mention of Punk. I couldn't believe I was sitting here, listening to a high-ranking industry professional , talk about taking a punk attitude to the 'grown-up' world of business. He said how it was an attitude he carried with him through life, right up until today, and how it was something he let into everything he did. I found it very inspirational to listen to this message.

Someone in the audience then asked what Sean would look for in a potential employee's showreel. He immediately ruled out sci-fi archetypes like spaceships and robots. Because he had seen those a thousand times before. He would go for something fresh, something that he hadn't seen before. And I felt that I could relate to this also. If I was looking to employ someone in a creative role, I would want them to be highly imaginative, with their own take on things. Things that I personally would never have thought of. These would be very important factors. He continued by telling us about his friend at work, who has no border between her work and the rest of her life. That she was totally an illustrator, and not just someone who illustrated for money. This seemed to be what real passion was. Someone who lives and breathes what they do, someone who stays at work until 2am in the studio, rather than clocking off at 5.

I was very glad I had come along that afternoon, and spent time afterwards asking Sean more questions.

Project Mapping - Update 5

All of the work I included in my video projection, is from various past shows here at NUCA.

Here is a list of the students that I sampled from;
-Richard Booth
-Keyinde Ajayi
-Colin Ainsworth
-Terry Curtis
-Laura Cain
-Wai Li
-Gary Norman
-Jack Stewart

I have also included a link to all of the students work below : 

http://www.nuca.ac.uk/thegallery/archive2010-11/madegreeshow2011

Projection Mapping - Update 4

So, now I have a collection of images from which to choose from. I now need to devise a visually attractive way, of displaying them in sequence. For inspiration, my first stop was the brief itself. I looked back to the links that were attached to the end of it. All of them gave great examples of very slick, very creative light shows and projections. All were promoting various products, events etc. Our goal, was to promote the work here at NUCA. From the original examples the tutors had provided for us, I searched the web to find more of them. There I saw some spectacular shows, that illuminated the facades of buildings, and transformed them into  incredible visions.

One such video, was projected onto the immense 'Christ the Redeemer' statue in Brazil. It consisted of various urban and natural vistas, followed  by the statue being outlined with bright neon. The most memorable part came last. Firstly, the statue returned to its original look, but with a small, delicate butterfly fluttering up towards the chest. When the butterfly settled onto Christ's chest, the arms folded inwards, gently clasping the butterfly with his hands. The illusion was so believable, as the space where the arms would be, were completely blacked out, and with the combination of the night sky it was an incredible effect.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2STmHsZiUr4

Projection Mapping - Update 3

I took lots of examples of student's work from our website, and grouped them together into overlapping fields, based upon various parameters. Such as; text, dark imagery, fun etc. I did this so to have a smooth transition in my projection. Where artwork would roughly match with what was coming next, giving it a nice sense of cohesion.

Dark Imagery

Text Art

Projection Mapping - Update 2

I've chosen the main building on Duke Street to show my project on. Its a large, impressive building to look at, with beautiful, old architecture. Its got three main plains, or 'layers' to work on. These are its; roof, the main body of the building, and the three forward jutting facades. Its often used as a foyer to visitors, or to potential students on open days. Therefore, I think it would be suitable choice to showcase NUCA artwork on.

Projection Mapping - Update 1

 The first thing I have planned to do, is to visit all the Universities buildings. I will take some reference photos of them, and decide from these, which building to focus on. Hopefully, the buildings will inspire ideas from which I will work from.