Additional Informaiton for unit 3

Further to my essay report submitted on 12th June, 2006. I would like to add that I have worked on the second video after that. I would like to bring the attention of the assessors towards the hard work I put in the treatment of the second movie.

During this time I have been working on synchronizing the music with both the videos. As this is one of the unique features about this video. This is because the same music track and audio effects are used on both the videos.

The assessors would be able to see from the soft copy of the work submitted the amount of work that was put in editing and adding effects to the 2nd video. I have used different techniques. Following are some additional techniques that I used in the treatments.

• Alpha channels
• Blue screen
• Lightning and shine effects
• Blur effects
• Digital effects

The sound used on the project is all originally produced. Mr. Nicko Karavas of Edinburgh University has helped me produce the audio of these videos. I then edited and synchronized this with both the videos. This was done by keeping one video as standard and making the other based on the music to time it exactly the same with the audio.

I have used different digital effects to give a modernistic feel to the 2nd movie. As a result to all the effects used I ended up with more then 160 layers to the final movie. This can be seen in one of the screen shot of my blogg , “Screen Shot Movie 2b” fourth picture. You would be able to see that there is a laser lights, display screen, alpha channel dancers, digital effect on the right of the screen, as well as animation in all the work.

The dancers in the clubbing scene and the robot workers in the office scene of the 2nd movie were all created as low polygon models. These characters add richness to the video.

Screen Shots Movie 2d

Screen Shots Movie 2c

Screen Shots Movie 2b

Screen Shots Movie 2

Screen Shots Movie 1c

Screen Shots Movie 1b

Screen Shots Movie 1a

Screen Shots Movie 1

UNIT 3 ESSAY/REPORT

ARTIST STATEMENT:

The author since childhood liked to draw and expressing his feeling in drawings. The author did not want to loose his attachment towards art and creativity. This led him to take this field as profession.

Being brought up in Athens he was exposed to art right from the start. He has been studying different mediums. All mediums have there own specialists. Having expressed himself in different mediums he was always interested in 3D design and animation. It was a comparatively new medium for him.

The author makes art as a medium of communication. To him art captures a moment, a thought, a feeling, and an experience and it is then shared with another person or persons. The ways these experiences are expressed are totally up to the artist. Some want to express straight some want the audience to think what is being said. For the purpose of expression one need to be an expert, to be comfortable in the medium being used.

The author picked the current techniques like 3d animation and toon rendering e.g. in the works of Disney and Synthetique and implement them in his work with directing ideas from filmmakers like Robert Wiene, Dziga Vertov, Sergei M. Eisenstein, Tim Burton.

This project was completed by the author with the use of 3D characters which were developed, animated and rendered in 3D Studio max. The character animation was rendered with Toon rendering technique. The renderings have been edited and enriched with graphic in after effects.

The author thinks that art means to him as a blue print of his experience and ideas frozen in time in form of his art piece.

REFLECTION:
Critical analysis of out comes compared with intentions

For this purpose the author sent emails of the progress on the work done in different stages of the project to the tutors. Asking for their feed back and making necessary changes where ever it was found

Initially the author made the stories based the concept of alter ego. Where as the research that was intended to be done was technical in nature and based on combing different skills and techiniques. Later the author changed the research topic to get insight in the factor of “alter ego” of an art piece. Thus the movie as an art piece was remade reflecting an alter ego of itself. The concept of the stories remained the same.

There were three main objectives that were intended by the author initially.

The first was usage of different treatment to enrich and furbish the graphical portrayal of the subject. This was achieved by using extra layers during editing. The author made extra scences and then picked the best shots to get best possible results.

The second objective was to explore the combination of 2D layers, Alpha Channels and 3D animation. These outcomes can be seen in the short movie where the author has used all rendered the scenes from 3D software (3D studio Max) and added the layers and the alpha channels in editing software (After effects).

To make two synchronized films and observe the viewers attention by recording their reaction was the third objective of the project. This goal was dropped during the execution of the project with the consent of the tutors. It was not possible for the author to work academically on the project to evaluate his work and make changes to the final product. Therefore the author focused on other goals.

To conduct research in the area of direction. The author conducted research by using internet and books. Please refer to the references to this research were submitted in the previous report.

The author with the help of this project improved his ability to express new artistic language. This was one of the main goals of this project.

A review of over all progress

The author thinks that he had more opportunity to explore in artistic experimentation and research as a student of the University than in his profession.

At the start of the course the author was thinking of the project from the learning perspective in the fields of the 3D design skills and techniques. Later this perspective was changed to put more emphasis on the concept of the movie and the progress. This was done after having feed back from the teacher.

From the point that the author started his project to point when the author is putting the finishing touches to the project, he has learnt knowledge of using techniques and skills and their respective background. These techniques and skills were achieved by thorough research and putting into practice the new skills learnt.

The author used differnet rendefing techniques. The first technique that was used was full toon rendering with flat colours. The character of the movie looked too stiff, and the animation genarally too 'clear' and predictable, so the mood changed to darker with only some spotlights in the scene. This experiment was black and white animation in order to add even darker touch. The author finalized in the hand drawn ink-pen style of treatment which gives more artistic and minimal look.

The installation for visual display would be made different than the traditional display. There would be two screens projecting both the movies simultaneosly on different screens. The sound is used as a link of the two movies.



Critical Analysis

Although the project is up to author’s expectation but there was always room for improvement. This could have been achieved by having a team based project.

The entire project was learning experience for the author. The author learnt new skills in 3D modelling and animation. Time management skills became better. Research was another important aspect of this project and based on research the author improved and learned new methods in the area of 3D modelling. This was all possible due to an active interest and dedication of the author. The author had a keen interest to learn new techniques that would help him overcome the difficulties that would arise in different phases of the project.

Some of the main difficulties the author faced were to learn in a very short time span 3D character modelling. Some ideas were changed or dropped after getting negative feedback from teacher and audience. There were strict dead lines to meet and this obstacle was met by efficient time management although some scene in the author perspective could be improved by introducing additional effects.





Strengths of the work done for the Project

The author likes the originality of his idea of the contrast between the two different treatments in one project, even though they are both made in 3D design software. The first have traditional touch i.e. ink pen drawn effect and the other a digital modern look.

All characters used in though out the project were developed by the author. No ready made 3D models were used.

Another unique idea of applied and experimented is two animations made on the same audio track. This was a challenge that would help the author to enhance his synchronization skills.

The author thinks that the camera angles and the blur effects used in the project are strength of the project.

The Digital effects which are used as impressionistic communication with audience in the second video were achieved by using alpha channels. The refraction and glow on the surfaces was another positive aspect of the project.

The author put extra work to achieve better results. Extra scences were made and then picked the best shots to achieve good camera angles. Also for the creation of the first movie three different styles were used. These styles were evaluated by panel of expert (university tutors). After feed back from the experts a final selection was made.

Almost all the scenes have their own background environments.

Weakness of the work done in the Project

The project undertaken by the author was an academic exercise. The author had some time and budget constraints, due to which the author thinks there were some short comings in the project. Some of the main weaknesses are as following.

The animation of the walking scenes could be improved by adding more realistic floating animation. Apart from the floating animation there were some limited movements of the character while walking or repetition in animation. This could be improved by the author if it was not for the time constraints due to academic reasons.

The author needs to learn and investigate more about the face controllers in character animation. This would help him make better facial expression and improve on lip sinking.

In conclusion the author has decided to upgrade his hardware used so that a better proficiency can be obtained in making heavy effects and time can be saved in rendering the files. As the author is new to 3D character animation he has decided to do further research in the area to achieve advance skills.

Lessons learnt

Following were the main lessons learnt by the author during this project:

• The author learnt how to create Blogs this would help the author to be more organized be in touch with other artists working in the same sector.

• The author improved on the animation techniques and timing.

• The author learnt the use of “Depth of the field” of a camera to produce blur effect in the 3D environment. This gives much more realistic when rendered.

• The author learnt how to use Harvard referencing. This would help him in perusing the PHD.

• Some new “Texturing techniques” were used in the project. For example Toon rendering was learnt during the execution of this project.

• The author experimented with new artistic expression in allegoric, minimal and symbolic techniques.

• Attaching objects to characters was learnt.

• Improved use of alpha channels both in editing and 3D software.

• The author gained the knowledge of basic floating of the animations but there room for improvement.

• Practical skills in management of projects and experience and ability to fulfil the needs of a client were also a very important aspect of the project that was improved during this project.

Plan for further development

The author of this document plans to do further research and enhance his skills in 3D animation. Some of the areas that he would like to focus on are facial expression animation and floating animation. Another thing the author would like to learn is how to plan a low polygon modeling. This is very important in video games projects where there is a limitation on the polygons. Which is directly involved with bit budgeting.

The author intends to use the expertise used in this degree in the field of advertising. It would help to made 3D video games, video editing and film making.

Apart from the working in the industry the author would like to work on independent films production and make short movies as leisure pursuits.

Further more the author wants to research the history of 3D modeling and dominant influences of different cultural production on 3D animation. The author has applied for PHD on this topic to be specific the research topic would be

“How the Japanese animation has influenced the character modeling of the West? And why eastern European animation which also evolved into a strong industry has not made a significant mark in the West?”

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Arnheim, R. (1969), Visual Thinking, Berkeley: University of California Press.

Ceram, C.W. (1965) The Archaeology of the Cinema, New York: Harcourt, Brace and World.

Friends of the National Film Archive. (1963), A season of the films of Sergei Eisestein : 1st October 1963-13th October1963, London, National Film Theatre

Hallas J. (1987), Masters of animation, London: BBC books.

Lucie-Smith, Edward. (1975), Movements in Art since 1945, London, Thames and Hudson

Nash, John Malcolm. (1974),Cubism, futurism and constructivism, London, Thames and Hudson

Roberts, Graham. (2000), The man with the movie camera, London, I.B. Tauris

Scenkel T. (1977), Exploring the cinema of figurative animation, PhD dissertation, New York University.


World Wide Web:

www.pixar.com
www.wikipedia.com
http://news.bbc.co.uk
http://www.pbs.org
http://www.ejumpcut.org/
http://blackboard.arts.ac.uk/
Science Museum in U. K. London
http://www.pixar.com/featurefilms/ts/
Van Eaton Galleries, A Brief Biography of McCay Winsor
http://www.vegalleries.com/winsorbio.html

CHANGES IN STYLE

this how the treatment of movie 01 changed under the instructions of Andy

How it is made

And this is how it is made step by step the touch of the movie 01

treatment for video1

After 2 tutorials with Andy we finalize in this treatment. It looks like handrawn with pencil. The reason we changed the treatment is beacause the animation didn't work that good at the first samples of video 1. The character looked too stiff, and the animation genarally too 'clear' and predictable, so we changed the mood to darker with only some spotlights in the scene. This experiment was b&w animation in order to add even darker touch. Finally Andy suggested to try something that more enigmatic with even less details. So the treatment now is this.
What i do step by step is:
1. i make a computer animation 3d scene in 3dsm
2. i put ink paint for overall material. the outlines blue (the colour of the pen) and the shadows red (i will explain later why)and everything else white.
3. I render the scene
4. I make a 3-4 frame sequence of handrawn scanned lines as loop in after effects.
5. i put on top the animated toon rendered movie, in after effects
6. Then I remove the red shadows with a keying effect. Now wherever used to be red (shadows) we will see the loop of animated lines of the layer behind.
7. i put on top a scanned image of a note book with 60% opacity
8.voila! is ready

Project Proposal Unit2 what has changed from pp1

Working title: Intersecting Lives

Aims
Intersecting lives is a project based on a merger of two short films through which the author wants to enhance aesthetically the graphical representation of a subject by using digital media and techniques. This project is based around answering the question: “Can an artwork have an alter-ego?”. Which the author intends to answer by researching and execution of a film
The viewer would be observing two films at the same time. The concept of the film is based on a single character having two alternate lives. The main aim of this project is the reconstruction of an art work which in this case is a film. Among numerous ways of reconstruction of a film the author intends to consecrate on storyline, direction, treatment and artistic language.

Objectives
The main objectives of the project are as followings.
 The Usage of different treatments to enrich and furbish the graphical portrayal of the subject
 To explore the combination of 2D layers, Alpha Channels and 3D animation
 To conduct research in the area of direction.
 To achieve ability to express in a new artistic language.

Rationale• Art Form
The author of the project wants to compose two films made with two different techniques, which would then be played simultaneously to the target audience. This would be achieved by playing two movie clips on a projector/ Television.

• Movies Concept
The Concept of the movie is based on a character and his alter ego. This idea was derived from the living style of the main stream people in a metropolis. Inspirited by living in the fast and dynamic environment of London and Athens where the author has spent most of his life. It has been observed by the author that the people living in a metropolis city struggle and is in entropy. These live are influenced heavily by the close as well as wider environmental conditions in which the person lives.


The first movie describes a person who is career oriented and wants to achieve status in the society. He is not the life of the party and is usually found lonely. But this person is highly respected in his career life. His hard work has paid off by reaping him what he has invested in.

In the second movie is the alter ego of the same person is shown. In this life form he is life of the party. He is a failure in his career life and is trying hard to make the ends meet. But enjoys his social success and is popular with the women and friends.

• Why the intersecting lives?
The author is a found philosophy and history. He read a book by Plutarch, titled “Paralliloi Vioi”(Parallel Lives). Plutarch (46-127AD) was Greek historian, biographer, and essayist. In his book he takes examples of famous people from Roman and Greek era and fined similarities in their lives. This notion was at the back of the authors mind and gave birth to the concept of this movie when he experienced life in the metropolis city. Intersecting lives is reverse concept of the “Paralliloi Vioi” it is based on two opposite life styles of the same person. It shows two life paths that a single person can take resulting in two different consequences.

• Treatment and Techniques
The author would rely on two major techniques for the treatment of the video. One being the usage of Alpha channels and 2 D layers and the other is going to be Toon rendering.

Alpha channel is an 8-bit layer in a graphics file format that is used for expressing translucency (transparency). The extra eight bits per pixel serves as a mask and represents 256 levels of translucency. For example, TIFF and PNG are graphics formats that support the 8-bit alpha channel. The GIF89a format supports a 1-bit alpha channel that allows one color on the palette to be translucent. Graphics formats that are native to their image editing application may support multiple alpha channels. (http://computing-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com)

Toon rendering animation (also called “cartoon rendering”, “cel-shading” or “cell-shading”) is a type of non-photorealistic rendering designed to make computer graphics appear to be hand-drawn. Cel-shading is often used to mimic the style of a comic book or cartoon. It is a relatively recent addition to computer graphics, most commonly turning up in console video games. Though the end result of cel-shading has a very simplistic feel like that of hand-drawn animation, the process is complex. The name comes from the clear sheets of acetate, called cels, which are painted on for use in traditional 2D animation, such as Disney classics. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki)

The Alpha channels and 2D layers are going to be used to create the environment of the video. For example the background and the props in are going to be in alpha channels. The characters in the video would be rendered in toon rendering technique.

The Alpha channels are going to be used to achieve a surrealistic style. The author would try to create an out of the world environment. The blending of a 3D character in this surrealistic environment would be used to give it an eye catchy modern look.

Outcomes
On satisfactory completion of this project, the author is going to demonstrate:
• Practical skills in management of projects.
• Morphing scenes and switching channels
• Experience and ability to fulfill the needs of a client.
• Practical skills in Techniques used for the project.
• Increase background and knowledge by researching in the right context.
• An ability to express the author’s idea into visual art.

Media

• Software

• 3D Studio Max
• Maya
• Adobe After Effects
• Adobe Premier
• Adobe Photoshop
• Adobe Illustrator
• Nero CD/dvd burner
• Windows XP



• Hardware

• Fujitsu Siemens Pentium 4 (Laptop with CD Writer)
• Samsung Digital Camera



Methodologies

• The screening
The Author would like to make to videos played simultaneously. Depending on what hardware facility that would be provided by the university on the day of exhibition, the author would decide on how to present the videos. The two ideas that would be finalized with the consent of the course leader are:
• The videos would be screened on two walls on different angles.
• Or played on a screen or a TV where the audience would have the power to change from one video to the other. This would add interactivity for the audience.

• Research

o Visual Research
For visual research the author would use the resources available in the library and would also use internet. Especially research will be made on movies related to film’s reconstruction. Here the author would act upon the guidelines provided by his tutors to concentrate on the right resources to gain maximum benefit in minimal time.

o Contextual Research
The contextual research the author intend to research on the internet and cinema, exhibitions so he can improve his existing knowledge of short film and digital art.

o Technology Research
The author intend to do research in the technological methods and tools used in the developing alpha channels and Toon rendering. This would help him to enhance his creativity to new dimensions.








Risk Assessment

The author will evaluate the project on different stages to prevent possible failure in meeting the objectives of the project. Following are the possible risk that can occur.

• Virus Infection:
The author is going to use the latest anti-virus and keep it updated in order to prevent the infection of virus. Back up copies would be made on external drives and on write-able CD’s to prevent data loss.

• Failure of Hardware:
The equipment used to execute the final presentation of the project would be checked in advance in order to avoid malfunction during the exhibition. Back up of presentation would be taken in two or more forms for example. In the form of DVD and USB external drive.

The other factors of risk like unexpected accidents or health problem are not being considered here as they are beyond the control of the humans.














Timetable
December –
Project Planning
Determining Critical path to reach project objectives
Research on Alpha Channels and blue screen
Research on the 3D modeling
Research on Animation
Research on Concept of Alter Ego
Story boards

January
Experimenting techniques of Alpha Channels
Experimenting and Research in Toon rendering
Script Writing
Researching Sound track and Voice over
Finalizing in Style and Concept

February
Executing the project
Bit budgeting

March – April
Presentation of prototype
Executing the project
Editing

May – June
Final editing
Presentation and reflection







Bibliography
• Web Reference:
• Definition of Alpha Channels Retrieved: November, 2005 from http://computing-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/alpha+channel
• Definition of Toon rendering Retrieved: November, 2005 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cel_shading
• Background and concept Retrieved: October, 2005 from http://www.hdfcbank.com/index.htm
• Alter Ego and 3d characters Retrived: February 2006, from http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/3683260.stm
• Alter Ego in art Retrived: March 2006, from http://www.pbs.org/art21/education/individuals/lesson3.html

• Book Reference:

• Friedlein, Ashley. (2001), “Web Project Management”, Morgan Kaufmann Publisher, San Francisco.
• Nash, John Malcolm. (1974),“Cubism, futurism and constructivism”, London, Thames and Hudson
• Nakov, Andrei. (1975),“The Laboratory Period (1912-1921) of Russian Constructivism”, London, Annely Juda Fine Art
• Mestrius, Plutarch. (unknown), “Parallel lives”, Harvard University Press.
• Roberts, Graham. (2000), “The man with the movie camera”, London, I.B. Tauris

• Movies Reference:
For Background and concepts:
• The Double Life of Veronique (1991)
• Being John Malkovich (1999)
• Fight Club (1999)
• Run Lola Run (1999)
• Octyabr (1927)
• Man with a camera (1929)

Maria's tutorials

The structure of these tutorials was quite different. Groups of 4-5 students we had a discussion with the tutor for 1 hour almost each group. Maria gave us 3 cards to write 3 answers in order to help the conversation flow. Every card was referring to question.
1st question: what captured our attention in our project?
My answer here was: The concept that captures my attention is the experimentation to recreate an artwork. The reason that this issue is important to me is because it makes me feel the freedom of changing style and treatment to something unknown and new.
2nd question: How this will be visible in your work?
My answer was: This issue will be visible via the presentation of two different treatments of a movie at the same time. The audience will be able to notice and even compare the two treatments.
And 3rd question: What kind of problems that are we going to face for this concept?
The answer here was: a- the short time that is available for the execution of two movies (the direction, the script, the 3d modelling, the animation have to be done by one person). This problem I think can be solved because I am used to work with tough deadlines. The other problem is that to making a film with your well-known skills is not so difficult but to find out a new treatment for a film cannot be forced to fit with the timelines so easy. I don’t like just to make a cut-and-paste solution to be ok with a course, but to gain something out of it.

Maria’s feedback was satisfying because actually didn’t want to change anything from the project but just added some other ideas. For instance I could make the objects or characters pass from one screen to another real-time. Whenever this pass is happening then the treatment of their appearance will change to the standard of the movie.

My feed back for Maria’s tutorial is that for one more time was very helpful, creative and optimistic even though am a fan of the strict critic. These turorials motivated me to work harder. I liked that we had the chance to change ideas and ask question during the conversation with the classmates.

ESSAY MADA2

Submitted by: Emmanouil Kanellos.
Student Number: KAN0569862
Unit Code: MADA2
Unit Leader: Andrew Stiff
Course: Masters in Digital Art



CAN AN ARTWORK HAVE AN ALTER-EGO?


Abstract

In the following short essay the author of this project has discussed the theme and the research of the project. The project is addressing the question ‘Can an art work have an Alter-Ego?’ The author tries to discover a new language of expression via art. The medium chosen for this purpose is the animation movie. For this purpose the author has done some research in specifically in the areas of direction, animation, rendering and artistic movements. The author intends to conduct experimentation with the video technique in order get the alter–ego of the art work. He has given examples of earlier artist who had worked on such projects and based his research on their work. These artists have experimented by using different art forms and different new for their era techniques. Taking influence and using them as a guideline the author is exploring into new boundaries. The research work is mainly based on study of books, websites and movies and examples of the work relevant to the project are quoted.



Research Question

"If you have the chance to be somebody else who would you like to be?" The etymology of Alter-ego is: alter (Latin: other) ego (Greek: self, I). In other words if a person is not satisfied with his current conditions or way of living in the society in most cases he looks up to another person real or imaginative. What if we transfer this concept in the art and specifically in the film making arts. Since the video as a medium can be more narrative. Therefore if we take a video as the artwork and then experiment with the contents, then the remake of the video would be one of its possible forms of its alter-ego. Reconstruction of a movie can be made in many ways. The author intent to conduct research on four main areas: storyline, direction, treatment and artistic language and answer to the question: “Can an artwork have an alter-ego?”


Critical Literature Review
The key resources of the project are:

Ladommatos, Andrew (1984), “History of Art”, Cyprus, O.E.D.B.
This book contains a historical and aesthetic contact of all the periods of art, from the ancient art till today. It contains information painting, sculpture, architecture and modern art. Moreover analyzes briefly every style and movement and helps the reader to continue his own research on the specific area.

Maudsley, Nigel (2003), “Research Methods and Principles of the Digital Moving Image”, London, London Metropolitan University
This is a technically based book which aims to make the reader discover different techniques of video editing and digital effects by tutorials of editing software such as After Effects and Premiere.

King, Mike (2003), “3d Moving Image production”, London, London Metropolitan University
Dr King explains different techniques of 3d animation from the basic to the experienced. He covers a field of 3d modeling, 3d animation, 3d texturing and 3d rendering. It can be very helpful for the beginners.

Nash, John Malcolm. (1974),“Cubism, futurism and constructivism”, London, Thames and Hudson
This book contains information for three unique movements of the 20th century. Very informative for the reconstruction of art issue. European and Russian artists saw their theme from another ankle.

Friends of the National Film Archive. (1963), “A season of the films of Sergei Eisestein : 1st October 1963-13th October1963”, London, National Film Theatre
A tribute to the artworks of one of the most important constructivist filmmakers and his revolutionary techniques. Descriptions of the radical black and white movies such as October, Potemkin, Que Viva Mexico etc








Content

Exploration is an in built characteristic of human nature. We try to explore either to reach our goals or because we are curious. The mystery of the unknown has always charmed us. To satisfy this curiosity people take risks and experiment. This in-turn leads us into development and guides the society to evolve into civilization. If we did not have this curiosity and the urge to explore and develop the society would stay static in primitive age. But because of this characteristic, humans live in houses, travel on the seas skies and space, use electricity, use computers, and have found cure to diseases by using variety of medicines, there is variety in what we eat and different styles of music and art. In art, artists experimented and used different techniques, material and mediums to find a new language of expression. This gave birth to new movements.

I think that when experiment is successful it leads to development. Artists used to take a long time to make one step of an artistic movement to another. Classic art was going on for hundreds of years and the same happened with the Christian art. Then Renaissance, Neoclassicism, Baroque, Rococo lasted half century to a full century each. In the 20th century every movement last for a few years and in the 21st this evolution has been even faster and reached to the point that an artist has the chance to experiment a lot of different styles in a life time.

An experiment of different styles is also the aims or the theme for my project. Through this course I want to find out a new language of expression, a language which is more influenced by art as a medium of expression. Coming from an advertising background, where things are driven by the needs and the demand of the customer, what I was missing is the freedom and liberty of expression which fine art offers. This was something that I urge to experience and I guess that forms the base of my motivation for my master in digital arts. This in turn has helped me to open my horizons in something almost unknown to me. I try to find my alter-ego artist. I have taken this issue and made this as a theme to my project. I am trying to answer the question “Can an artwork have an alter-ego?" where I make two movies - an animation movie with the knowledge I already have and another experiment movie where I have the liberty of experimentation and I investigate the freedom of fine art and find a way of expression of its alter ego.

To achieve this goal I planned in unit 1 of this course, I would greatly benefit by and understanding what other artists have done related to the reconstruction of art and at the same time developing the skills I need to execute this project. Artists in the past have developed different ways to 'see' a theme. For instance the symbolists replaced real objects or situations with symbols to express an allegorical meaning. I also developed a better understanding of Cubist movement. The Cubists analyzed the objects of their theme and re-assembled them presented another reality in an abstract form. Pablo Picasso said : ‘ I draw the objects the way I think not the way I see’ (cited in Ladommatos. 1984, p139). One more movement that wanted to escape from the solid imitation of reality is the Surrealism. Andre Breton founder of this movement gives us a fine definition of the surrealistic language of expression: ‘I think that in the futuristic combination of two conditions who seem to be dissimilar, the dream and the reality in creation of an absolute reality – a super realism or surrealism.’ (cited in Ladommatos. 1984, p140)

In my project the experiments of another way of expression will take place in the 3d animation field. Moreover after researching different techniques in 3d animation movies I have come to a decision that for one of the movies am going to use a rendering technique that I have not used before. This is the quite modern technique and is gaining popularity. It is called Non Photorealistic Rendering (NPR). The reason I want my renderings to be NPR is because it gives a mainstream mood that I think fits better to one of the movies. Cel-shaded or Toon rendering is the most common of the artistic rendering styles of NPR, makes the rendered works appear hand-drawn like comic strips and traditional cartoons. Toon rendering has also its tricks in animation that I am exploring.

Coming from a more technological based and advertising background I had a total different view for art and animation. So in the beginning I had a hard time in understanding art perspective. I think my research and observations has helped me and now I have a much better understanding of this prospective. Things have started to make more sense to me but there is still a lot to learn. Andrew Stanton director of ‘Pixar’ animation studios in an interview explains why a director should see an animation with artistic eye and use the computer as a tool:

As animation seems to be moving to a more technically based medium, I think one of the most powerful things is to have both an artistic background and technical knowledge. With animatics you have to be able to draw well and know the computer. For directing, you have to have a writer's sensibility and artistic background. Learn the technology but don't let it get in the way of what has made animation so great in the days when there were no computers. (Andrew Stanton, Pixar's official web-site www.pixar.com).

Talking about the 3d animation area is important to note an interesting exhibition that took place in Proud Gallery in London between 8th -28th of October 2004 which is related to my research – ‘The Alter Ego exhibition’. In that exhibition on-line video gamers met each other’s alter-ego in the form of 3d characters in a 3d environment. The reporter of BBC Jo Twist notes:

Virtual people are to step offline and reveal themselves in a "real-life" photography exhibition.
The Alter Ego display shows what kind of virtual characters people choose to be in online games and 3D worlds. (Jo Twist, news/bbc.co.uk)


Another source of my development is the environment provided by the university and the faculty in-charge of running our course. For example our tutors have given me very useful references for reconstructive methods in film-making; I researched them and found out some interesting aspects. One of these film makers is Sergei M. Eisenstein. I have learnt that he lived during Soviet Revolution era and he is a good example of the artists who tried new methods in their artworks. He was famous because of his style and the camera angles especially with his movie "Potemkin". After this movie Eisenstein had new project called "October", where he tried out a different artistic language with experimental montage and new cinematic ideas. The authorities didn't like the movie though and the film critics were bad too. In jump-cut online issues professor Murray Spebber notes that when Eisestein asked about his freedom of style in his movie October he described it as : “the first embryonic step towards a totally new form of film expression”.(cited in ejumpcut.org from Jump Cut no 14, 1977, p14-22)

In conclusion I would say that this project helps me to look into the unknown and quench the thirst of my curiosity of the art and experimentation in the medium of digital arts. I found this year a great opportunity of artistic experimentation and research.



Bibliography

Arnason, H. (1977), “History of Modern Art: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture”, London, Thames and Hudson

Brion, Marcel. (1966), “Art and Romantic Era”, London, Thames and Hudson.

Friends of the National Film Archive. (1963), “A season of the films of Sergei Eisestein : 1st October 1963-13th October1963”, London, National Film Theatre

Gray, Camiella. (1971), “The Russian Experiment in Art 1863-1922”, London, Thames and Hudson

King, Mike (2003), “3d moving image production”, London, London Metropolitan University

Ladommatos, Andrew (1984), “History of Art”, Cyprus, O.E.D.B.

Lucie-Smith, Edward. (1975), “Movements in Art since 1945”, London, Thames and Hudson

Maudsley, Nigel (2003), “Research Methods and Principles of the Digital Moving Image”, London, London Metropolitan University


Nash, John Malcolm. (1974),“Cubism, futurism and constructivism”, London, Thames and Hudson

Roberts, Graham. (2000), “The man with the movie camera”, London, I.B. Tauris

Saunders, Dave. (1994), “The World’s Best Advertising Photography”, London, Batsford

Web

www.pixar.com
www.wikipedia.com
http://news.bbc.co.uk
http://www.pbs.org
http://www.ejumpcut.org/
http://blackboard.arts.ac.uk/