The binaries / dualities / opposites related to my project that I came up with in my brainstorm:
Class Task: Pick a binary / duality / opposite and animate them individually as two animated sequences. Then animate a third sequence that brings together or seeks to resolve them somehow using the principle of metamorphosis. You may use sound to support your final squence.
Music / Sound Credits: YouTube Audio Library
Long Road Ahead by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100588
Artist: http://incompetech.com/
Briefly discusses your choice of opposites/binaries in relation to your project.
The opposite / binary I chose was flowing and distinct. The reason why I chose this is because they are common attributes associated with the sound of different musical timbres, depending on how the instrument is played. For example, the strings section of the family can play flowing notes when the strings are bowed; but can also play short, distinct notes when the strings are plucked. They are often considered at the opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of musical performance.
What route you chose A or B? And why?
I chose Option A since I'll be producing an animation for my final project. This will be another good chance for me to practice my animation skills in Toon Boom Harmony.
Describe your thinking behind your approach to the experiments you conducted.
When I think of the word "flowing", I wanted to animate a continuous line that flowed across the screen, with bends and curves to depict the flow of music. While for "distinct", I had a very clear idea of using separate, unconnected shapes that appeared one by one in repetition. The hardest part was trying to connect the two together. In the end, I animated the line transforming into one of the distinct shapes, and have the shapes appear along the path of the original flowing line.
Reflect on the outcome pieces.
After getting a few pointers from Ben on how to animate the flowing line, I was quite happy with the result. I thought it looked really nice, and conveyed the keyword of 'flowing' well. I had a bit of trouble trying to get the timing right (I wanted it to speed up and slow down at certain points), but after a few goes, it turned out alright. Definitely need to practice more in this area though. The distinct shapes appearing individually was similar to one my previous week's responses, and perhaps I could've done something a bit more different in hindsight. I had the most difficulty trying to metamorphosise the two abstract forms as they were so different - I felt like what I did was just the easy way out. Definitely need to practice this a bit more when I have more time.
Is there any way your exercise might feed into your larger studio project or inspire an aspect of it?
Absolutely. The timbres in the musical track I'll be animating (Fossils from Carnival of the Animals by Camille Saint-Saens) will have both flowing and distinct timbres: the xylophone and piano has a very distinct sounds; while the strings and clarinet more flowing sounds. The strings in particular will switch between arco (bowed strings) and pizzicato (plucked strings), so it'll be interesting to see how metamorphosis can be used to visualise this frequent switching between the two.
By Helen Kwok
Email Helen Kwok
Published On: 15/09/2019