January 2013

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My latest adventure in Design for Motion class: matte painting! Matte painting is not something I would have normally associated with motion media, but it can be a huge part of developing styleframes and storyboards. Typically when one thinks of matte paintings, they think of visual effects and movies. But mattes are used in tv shows and video games too.  Our professor mentioned Dylan Cole as a point of reference. Cole is a matte painter who’s done work for The Lord of the Rings series, Avatar, TRON: Legacy, Halo, Assassin’s Creed… just to name a few.

I almost died doing this assignment. Having put it off over the weekend, I worked around the clock for 48 straight hours to get it done. I really enjoyed it though – I wouldn’t have been able to focus so hard on it if I didn’t like it. My original concept was to depict the netherworld from Aztec creation mythology, but I ended up with a Happyland Pyramid more than a dark jungle with blood sacrifice -___- How did that happen? If this is nothing but an exercise in matte painting and compositing techniques, I’m happy.

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In digital media, compositing is the practice of combining multiple source images into one cohesive image.  It is a technique used in matte painting, concept art, styleframes, and storyboards.  We had to create six animal composites as our first assignment in Design for Motion – a class focusing on the development of boards, frames and other design elements for motion media.  Styleframes and storyboards are the preliminary steps taken before animation begins.  Being able to create realistic composites allows the designer to give their client (and the production team) a better idea of what the final animation will look like.

All too often I skimp on the preproduction process when tackling my animation assignments, so with this class it’s really nice to get back to basics and practice my Photoshop skills. Click through to see the rest of my composites and some of the source images.

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This entry was originally published on November 8th, 2011.  I am re-posting it to the top as I think it’s relevant to the Writing and New Media class I am currently taking.

trans·me·di·a/træns’ˈmidiə/
1. A new brand of storytelling involving multiple platforms and interaction components (Panel definition)
2. The technique of telling stories across multiple platforms and formats using current digital technologies (Wikipedia)

How do we make something compelling for the internet, which is full of artists and creatives themselves?

Panelists:
Adam Neuhaus
,
Senior Director of Development, Radical Media
Greg  Brunkalla, SCAD alum, creator/developer of T-Mobile’s Angry Birds Live
Evan Schectman, CTO, Radical Media, developed The Johnny Cash Project
Zach Lieberman, filmmaker, The West Side webisode series

I’m just going to dive right in here, interweaving background info on the panelists’ various projects with quotes and Q&A  topics discussed throughout the panel. Please keep in mind that I tried to write down what everyone said as accurately as I could, but you can assume that most of this is paraphrasing. Here goes!

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In October of last year, artist and motion graphic designer Carlo Vega came to SCAD to conduct a 3-day workshop with the MOME department. Unless you follow motion graphics design, you may not know his name, but you’ve probably seen his work.  Vega has done branding for MSNBC, The Today Show, and CMT.  His corporate clients include Bacardi, Coca-Cola, Nike, and Best Buy, among many others.  I believe around 70-80 motion media undergrad and grad students took part in the workshop, developing 15-second scenes that would be part of a larger, continuous streaming video web site experience: Metamorphosis. As it was October, the theme was Halloween/horror.  In my opinion that’s one of the funnest genres to work in, and one I’d never experimented with before.

Based on Carlo Vega’s resume, I was expecting someone loud, outgoing, and imtimidating- as many successful design professionals often are.  But he was almost the opposite of that.  At first, when we gathered in Monty for the work shop, I didn’t even notice he was in the room, until a friend pointed out who he was.  I had just taken him for another student.  He seemed nervous as he stood in the front of the room explaining the project and showing us the design boards. “I’ve never done something like this before,” he said.

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(work in progress kinetic type animation)

Hi blog. I missed you. How are you? I’m well.

Since last we spoke, fingers to keys to whatever goes on in your little computer brain (LIE! — new computer is a badass bohemoth of RAM, Graphics Cards and HD capacity), I have been busy.

I parted ways with the writing department momentarily. Over the summer I completed the last of my art history credits, took 2 other classes and worked 2 jobs and purchased aforementioned Mickey Rourke of a computer (The Wrestler version Rourke because, being a PC, it is ugly, and potentially virus-ridden, but does have muscle) for a cool $750. I payed out approximately a quarter of my soul to the corporate restaurant where I worked in order to pay for the damn contraption.  I broke up with my boyfriend, cried for a week straight, atoned for my sins and got back together.

I moved into a new apartment, one where the kitchen is not perpetually splattered with the remnants of my roommates’ carnalism. In the Fall I took 3 motion media studios. I way underestimated the magnitude of work that would come from 3 studio animation classes, but somehow I survived. And I have a lot of work to show for it. Take a look-see!

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