Project #3

• Short 2D Motion Graphics Sequence (20%)
• Due end of Week 9
• Up to about 5 slots for class critique
• Format
  • 10 to 15 seconds
  • 1280px by 720px (720p); H.264
    (HD quality, widescreen aspect ratio)
  • Combination of photo-realistic, vector shape, and text elements
  • Must include at least one audio track
• Must attach a 300-word artist statement

Sound & Vision

The pursuit of a universal visual language

• Goal of avant-garde artists (WWI - WWII)
• Uniting sound + vision is a relevant goal today
• Art form that became commercialized

Compositing

• A mashup of separate sources to create a single scene
• Illusion of cohesion, but created in isolation
• Layered approach:
  • Actor filmed (often with greenscreen)
  • Text overlayed in foreground
  • Background keyed-in

Photomontage

• Creating a composite image using several photos
• Commonly coined the verb photoshopped
• Paved way for Dadaist art movement [photocollages]
• Popular applications:
  • Facial composite
  • Political propoganda
• Evolved from combination printing in 1800's...

Hanna Hoch, 1919

Cut with the Kitchen Knife through the Beer-Belly of the Weimar Republic

Raoul Hausmann, 1920
'ABCD'

kevin586, 2005

A self-portriat of user produced by FACES 3.0 Composite Software

Political Propaganda

Stalin with Nikolai Yezhov

Stalin w/o Nikolai Yezhov

Japanese Animation

• Anime is typically hand-drawn or computer animation
• High saturation + fantasy + heightened expressions
• Industry size is 430+ companies (declining since 2006)
• 1980s: Licensed works into US via VHS

Style & Technique

• Art quality > movement quality
  • Varies by production studio, but in general
  • Backgrounds based on real locations
• Cinematic approach to animation
  • Stage plays as method for American animation
  • Panning, zooming, distance, and angle shots
• Disproportional bodies
  • Large heads; super deformed
  • Exaggerated eye size
  • Unnatural hair colour
  • Iconic expressions

Anime &
Influence on
World Culture

• 1990s: Anime boom
  • Dedicated conventions 
  • Many successful movies/series
• Influenced American animation
  • Avatar: The Last Airbender & Teen Titans
  • Disney & Pixar influenced
    + collaboration with Studio Ghibli
• Product tie-ins with anime components
  • Halo: Legends
  • Animatrix

Influence on Culture

Otaku

• Japanese word meaning obsessed or nerd
• A pejorative, stemmed from stereotype
• Media spotlight in '89 from The Otaku Murderer
• Central theme of anime & academic research
• Typically obsessed with anime & manga
• Worth $2.5 billion
• Akihabara: Tokyo electronics neighborhood

Cosplay

• Short for costume play
• Often found at conventions,
  but common on Tokyo streets
• Not limited to anime & manga
• Used for advertising campaigns

America

• Focus on theatrical releases & commercial viability
• Disney, Pixar, Dreamworks
  • Blockbuster approach to animation
  • Big budgets with occasional experiments
• Domestic television market also proven profitable
  • Simpsons, Family Guy, South Park
  • Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon

Europe

• Artistic / experimental approach
• Outsourced to by American clients
• Influenced by both America & Japan
• 2D animation making a comeback

Canada

• Technological contribution
  • Peg Bars to hold & orient paper
  • Slash system (prior to cell animation)
• National Film Board of Canada (NFB), 1939
• Outsourcing & exploration contributions
  • Lots of grants provided by government
  • Pop-up studios to support big productions

3D Animation

• Modelled & rendered on the computer
• Virtual skeletons
• Physics engines
• Full control over physical processes
• Cheaper than 2D methods
• Reusable models

Industrial Light & Magic

• VFX company founded by George Lucas
• Adhoc approach to 3D animation
• Portfolio:
  • Star Wars
  • Indiana Jones
  • Harry Potter
  • Jurassic Park
  • Back to the Future
  • Lord of the Rings

Pixar

• Computer division of LucasFilm
• Incorporated using funds from Apple Inc.
• Bought by Disney
• Collaborations with Industrial Light & Magic
• Pixar Image Computer
  • Device designed for 3D animation
  • Lots of love, poor sales
  • Deal with Disney to produce Toy Story

Motion Capture

• Process of mapping/recording analogue movements digitally in 3-space
• Newer alternative to rotoscoping
• Typically markers attached to performer
• Markerless using Microsoft Kinect
• Multiple cameras surrounding set
• Facial movements captured using dedicated camera

Robert Zemeckis

• Forefront of state-of-the-art SFX
  • Who Framed Roger Rabbit
  • Forrest Gump
  • Back to the Future
• Performance Capture / Movements captured digitally
  • The Polar Express: Tom Hanks
  • Beowulf: Ray Winstone & Angelina Jolie
  • A Christmas Carol: Jim Carry & Gary Oldman

Match Moving

• Manually rotoscoped into scene
• New algorithms track & follow
• Chroma keying

Technique where computer graphics are rendered and inserted into scene using correct position, scale, orientation, and motion relative to all aspects in footage

Methods

The Uncanny Valley

Almost but not quite human = response of revulsion

• Typical in robotics
• Common with computer graphics (3D) 
  • Tin Toy
  • The Polar Express
  • Hugo
  • Final Fantasy

Tutorial

• Recap on cameras & lighting
• Easing options
• Motion blur
• Outputting H.264 video