Week 1 - Play and Self Observation
http://magistudio.net/work/advanced-play-design-week-1-activity
The theme for Week 1 had to do with self observation. My discipline is animation so I needed to find a way to tie how I would express myself using the methods of Advanced Play Design. Because this theme revolved around showcasing our internal self, I chose the keyword “reflection” from APD to help guide my exercise. My method for this week was to incorporate an object from the real world and digitize it with animation. As we were in a classroom, the first thing I “observed” was a keyboard, which prompted me to choose that object. The context behind this was that I was integrating the theme of observation literally from that moment, but it was also a representation of my work. Most of my time and work is spent in front of a computer, so I felt a keyboard was a fitting object to choose. Adding on, I also wanted to show my main emotion throughout the day, so I decided to use the keyboard to create a short ASCII emoticon using boxes that also reflected the emotion. The boxes type out “:-)” by jovially bouncing about on the keyboard.
Week 2 - Play and Tinkering
http://magistudio.net/work/advanced-play-design-week-2-activity
For week 2, I decided to tackle the theme in a way that forced me to open up to ways of animating that I would normally never even attempt given normal circumstances. My method for this week was implementing various iterations to one simple motion: a ball bouncing. The keywords I chose were “risk”, “experiment”, “methods”, and “discovery” from APD. The context for the exercise has to do with what we learned in class. Brendan told us that tinkering can be a way to iterate from the bottom-up. In my case, the ball bouncing was my ingredient and I now could choose a plethora of different methods to use that ingredient. By responding to the exercise through 60FPS, with a mouse, and without certain principles of animation, I learned that even a simple animation can feel new and introduce challenges. For instance, I learned that the way I tackle certain principles of animation can produce a completely different feel to the final product.
Week 3 - Play and Materiality
http://magistudio.net/work/advanced-play-design-week-3-play-and-materiality
My method for week 3 was to use my discipline, the theme, and APD all in an equal manner so that the exercise would have a nice balance of everything. I decided to create an animation that required me to physically be there for it to make sense. This was due to the fact that I would have to be there to create the platform for the 2D character to run and slide on. This was my way of introducing play to the exercise. The context for materiality was that it could be used to connect the physical and digital world. Finally, I chose the keywords, “making”, “experiment”, and “interactivity” for APD. This was definitely a new experience for me because I never created a work that required me to be there as a way of completing the story. All my work was always fully digital so mixing myself into the work was a nice new experience. The exercise required a lot of trial and error as I would miss my mark with the platform or miss the location entirely.
Week 4 - Play and Place
http://magistudio.net/work/apd-week-4-play-and-place
The class exercise we did really helped in making this week’s exercise come to fruition. The method I chose was to conjoin a 2D software program with a 3D program, and create an animation that interlinks the two as if it’s in one area. The class exercise helped me because I wrote myself down as both a 2D and 3D animator, which sparked the idea of using two different mediums to play with place. The context for place came from the idea of using it to mix realities and put a character formed in one platform to a platform it is unfamiliar with. I chose the keyword, “inquiry” for APD because I wanted to conduct a mini research for myself. The inquiry was, “What would happen if a 2D character entered a 3D world?”. This ties in with the theme of “place” because I’m relocating an object to an unfamiliar environment and seeing how it adapts or behaves. I’ve also incorporated interactivity and play because this is another example where I require to be there for the animation to work. I need to press play on the 2D software and then press play on the 3D software at the right moment so that the transition of the character travelling syncs up.
Week 5 - Play and Object
http://magistudio.net/work/apd-week-5-play-and-object-2
For my method for Week 5, I went back to digital animation but focused more on the exploration of my Major project’s endeavour. We learned that the theme of object could be used as the subject for the exercise, as well as incorporate modification to it. The context for my project is that I’m trying to find ways to successfully show an intangible character’s characteristic and feeling to the audience by utilizing Principles of Animation and Illusion of Life. I decided to tie that with this week’s theme of Object by creating a set of reactions based on what form the ball (object) was taking at that time depending on its modification. I focused on “experimentation”, “exploration”, and “making” for APD because I was experimenting with the way I approached the reaction. The experiment involved animating the character’s reaction as a byproduct of the object. To elaborate, there was no pre-planning or iterations of the character for me to choose the most fitting response. As soon as I wrote what shape the ball took, I immediately began animating with the idea of portraying the feelings properly to the audience in mind. My studio project delves into the importance of movement, so the simplistic character for this exercise helped me drill into that practice.
Rationale
All 5 of the exercise helped in setting the direction for my studio project. My major project has to do with finding ways of imbuing believability to an intangible character so that it elicits a proper response from the audience. Week 1 played with the idea of expressing emotion to the audience, which is one of my goals for my studio project. One of the ways of making the situation and character be believable is to properly emote what the character is feeling in that given circumstance for the audience to relate. Week 2 played with tinkering various principles of animation. I learned that excessive squash and stretching can portray a completely different feel to the product. This means that the way I implement certain techniques to the character will have a big effect on how it persuades the audience’s feeling of that moment. Week 3 helped unlock my awareness of collaborating the physical world to the digital world. Could the location and environment of where the people are viewing the animation for my major project potentially skew the way they respond to the intangible character’s motion? Could I control the way light and sound is used both outside and inside the animation to persuade the audience to respond in a certain way? Week 4 helped my understanding of the importance of place. My focus for the project was towards the character and his movement. But now I realize a good amount of care is needed on the environment as well in helping with believability. The way the character responds to his environment is crucial for the integrity of the subject. Because week 5 was more directed towards the studio project already, no further explanation was needed.
By JeeHoon Oh
Email JeeHoon Oh
Published On: 20/08/2018