Simple Animated Machines (Illusion of Life: Week 4 Exercise)

Task: Create simple animated machines using the shape, line and other tools of your choice in Toon Boom Harmony to explore motion and colour. Pick 3-5 different movements of your own body and create simple animated machines made from shapes and lines to enact these movements. Animate these movements in 3-5 separate experiments. Experiment with one of these animations or combine aspects of each to explore the use of many different colour schemes to evoke a different experience for the animations.

Reflection:

I picked the following three body movements to animate:

1. Rubbing my nose
2. Jumping
3. Dangling my leg while my legs are crossed.

Using Toon Boom Harmony again for a second time, I found myself more confident in using the software compared to last time. With the help of Ben, I also figured out the proper way to set up the animation: starting with the drawing, then pegging the layer, then finally adding any deformations to the shapes. I also learnt how to parent drawings to one another, and how to add a group of layers to a composite to make my node view easier to read. My intention was to limit myself to using only simple shapes, as the focus of my IOL inquiry is the use of abstract shapes and lines to visualise musical attributes, so I didn't want to use any complex elements.

For the first experiment, rubbing my nose, I focused on the interaction between the two shapes, and how the movement of the first shape affects the second one as it moves from side to side. Using the deformation tool here was really useful.

For the second experiment, jumping, I focused on the shape of the circle itself as it moves through the jumping motion: i.e. how the circle squeezes down (widening) before the take off; getting thinner as it moves through the air; altering the speed as it moves up and down; and its landing and impact to the ground.

For the third experiment, dangling my leg, I focused on how each shape affects the other through parenting the layers - transforming both positional and rotational values. I also focused on starting with a bigger movement of the whole leg, then gradually reducing this movement until it subtly stops.

For the different colour schemes, here are some keywords of my thoughts / feelings towards each one:

• Dark blue / cyan / magenta - pop, colourful, fun, modern
• Yellow / orange / brown - cultural, native, bright, sunny
• Blue variations - calming, peaceful, underwater, chilled
• Pale yellow / pink / blue - cute, childish, soft, cheeky
• Maroon / brown / olive - stylish, nature, night, forest
• Green variations - natural, cool, tranquil, relaxing

Through this exercise, I can see how different colour palettes can help with evoking a mood or feeling when it comes to my music visualisation, and really enhance different modes in a piece of music. For example, bright and warm colours evoke a happier mood that may be associated with a musical major key, while dark and cool colours may be associated with a musical minor key. Sharp, contrasting colours could indicate musical dissonance, while analogous colours could indicate musical harmony.