light and place

Today's encounter with light and place!! same time roughly this time further up the hill away from Balmerino....since I began this idea of catching a moment on my journeys home I have begun to look at the landscape in a very different way...I noticed today how different the light id looking out to the river..compared to

This.....which was on the other side of the road facing the opposite way.....I just happened to spy these amazing gnarled beech tree roots as I stopped to catch the light....as it peeked behind and through this cloud........................and to think these beech trees see this every day............                                      

Lawn with music!

Have listened to a variety of music over last week...about 50 tracks in all...and came across a perfect little track for the Lawn film....seeing it with the music makes me now want to finish it...I posted it early this am but could not view it on my pc...thought it was not here but...it is!!!  will think of the next part of the story          

light ...home time

The most recent in a series of photos I have taken all around the same time of day on my journey home..this one near Balhelvie on the Barony road from Dundee to Newburgh.                                                             

And this one....around the same time of day....6.00 pm ish......looking through the woods near Balmerino towards the low sun. Only in Sc otland have I seen views like this...something about the sun low in the sky gives the most wonderful light quality...and the drama of trees in silhouette.....I feel so lucky to live here!!

 

story telling...script

I am now at the point where my story ...for my project...is really taking shape. It is not going to be a story as in 'fairytale' or 'mystery' but perhaps now taking on more of a documentary feel. Some time back we had sessions with Mark Grindle , a scriptwriter, about script writing for film. He showed us a number of films he had written...and spent quite some time with us analysing what makes a good story.....plot...characters...do you want to see what happens...what is the disturbance...who is the protagonist..what is the question being dealt with. Somw of these questions were quite hard to answer in the first session..but we looked at a lot of examples and you kin dof get the feeling soon enough for what works and what does not. Mark listened to the group go through our ideas nad was encouraging..helping us all to ask ourselves.....will it work? are you trying to do too much here? Is it exciting>
Our second session with Mark was also great. He listened to our forming ideas...we each had to outluine our scripts...and again helped us to question our own practice. I am hoping I might have another chance to meet up with him next year when my film is a bit further on.
I feel I can already tell a good yarn...a lot of the work I do with children in dance involves telling stories through dance. I have come to get a sense of which stories are popular. In the end all the elements must be there for it to work well. I guess even as a documentary the story must be a good one.
since Mark's session I have looked at films in a new way...trying to decide why it is a good story or not...refining my likes and dislikes too. Simplicity is a good thing..I have always felt this...but I feel I try to pack too much in when I think of what I will approach in my work about McLaren.

Like him, I find it hard not to let my mind wander through all the possibilities....so many problems to solve!!

pastel experiments

Looking at McLaren's work in pastel had prompted me to try to do some pastel sketches. It is quite close to charcoal, depending on the type you choose. I really liked the quality of charcoal work,,,I have to be much bolder in my sketching style....braver in just diving into it.....and rubbing out does not obliterate your efforts.....not always a good thing!!!
I found some really fine pastel pencils which give a cleaner line than charcoal but have the smoothness I like about charcoal. I tried to work white on black...following McLaren's demo on the clip on technique for C'est L'Aviron, and white on grey,,,above....which allowed me to also add black for shadow and white for highlight. I like this effect...better than white on black..below...tho the model prefered this!!

Body Space Image

Over the first semester I have been exploring the connections between dance and animation.This is the main theme of my project. In order to do this I have had to look at a variety of animation techniques and to try them.... drawing , life drawing, sand animation, live action, pixilation, charcoal, 3D.....also to learn about film, camera techniques, photo shop, after effects, film styles...........directing, production,location......it's a long list!!
As well as this, I have constantly been reviewing my own dance practice and choreography. While reading The Animation Survival Kit (Richard Williams) I realise how much inner knowledge I have from my dance training. This is hard to describe sometimes, and it is only through discussion with other animators and through reading materials on animation that I fully understand the unique perspective I have as a dancer.
 What has been interesting to note in the pursuit of animation technique, especially the charcoal work, is that I 'perform' the moves in my mind as I am drawing them. Because I then draw the movement as an animation , in a curious way I become both performer and audience at the same time. This is a new experience for me...to capture this movement I feel ,in a drawing that also moves....this is really new!

I feel I have always been aware of  my body and it's relationship to the space around it.....I found a description of something akin to this sense....
              Yvonne Rainer  'The Mind Is A Muscle'  ( Catherine Wood..Afterall books)
              'as a child when I was alone I would 'perform'....with the thought in mind that I was
              being watched. Now this reaction is becoming more and more unconscious, having
              been transmitted to my actions, speech, writings and my thought....  (p 32)

Of great benefit to me as a dancer with training and anatomical knowledge, is my ability to understand the mechanics of the movement as I go. I no longer stop to analyse these mechanical principles when I dance for myself, but  when I teach I will often explain them to others. Now in exploring animation I find this knowledge is extremely valuable....if not essential.
I also have studied the science of anatomy and physiology, as a remedial massage graduate, and so this knowledge is quite instinctive now.
I noticed that as I work with animating in charcoal I have to translate movement as I go....I will feel it in my body and then draw....I will know that to have the figure move this way or that I need to alter the hips, the shoulder...a certain move requires a certain shift in gravity...alignment..... I realise the process is very different for an animator NOT trained in movement, and can not imagine attempting the drawing without that training!!

Since I also have worked with massage and treating back pain, injuries etc, I can often look at someone walking and think....he has a hip problem....or she is going to have back problems in future...I can see alignment abnormality....can notice a curved spine, a dropped hip etc.....my training allows me to note these things and now to use them when creating animated figures.

As a choreographer, I translate my inner sense of line and form to other dancers...this is similar I feel to the act of animating. I have an inner semse of what I want from the dancer...worked out...I work with them to prepare we work on the moves and where they may lead..and I always encourage individual interpretation.
This seems to me to have so much in common with animation!
   
          
       ''There are only three things in animation
            1. anticipation
            2. action
            3. reaction
            and these imply the rest. Learn to do things well and you can animate well.''
                   ( Bill Tytla....from the aniamtion survival kit...Richard Williams..p 273)

In conclusion, my dance training and experience is a good basis from which to begin animation.
In addition the Laban work I have done over the years.....space, time, flow, effort......is an essential knowledge to have as an animator..........Now I have to work to bring all these skills together!!
       

3D or not

Just thinking through how I have explored various methods of practice this semester, I reflected again on my decision not to delve into 3D. I felt that there was no place really for me to do 3D work, although I did do an introduction and I do love it in film and the whole technology is really exciting.  I feel I would get so imersed in trying to learn I would not have time to do all the other things necessary for my own project.
However i did do some reading on the subject.The work of Kent Oberheu interested me...it has the feel of a dance set......e.g. 'The Frozen Etude' or  'The Running Dress'. The artistic sense is akin to choreography here. (The link with surrealist art is also clear....a topic dear to McLaren).
I could imagine collaboration between a choreographer and the animator on work  like Meats Meier's 'Mother Nature' .....but I could not really see the point of trying to do 3D myself. Somehow when you already can produce dance it does not feel necessary.

Eric Heller,s images of scientific illustration turned into art woeks suggest to me a landscape within which I could well imagine setting a dance piece.The science of the body does produce some amazing images!!
I also loved the set in 'The Cathedral' by Tomek Baginski......how I would love THAT as a dance set!!

I have seen quite a bit of visualisation of scientific material...this is an area I am also interested in and want to work with sometime in the future. In 2003 I collaborated with research scientists ( Heart cell... function and nerve cell...the origin of movement) to visualise their work through dance and music.
This semester I have had a visit  Ninewells Hospital and Teaching centre to look at the fabulous scanning equipment they have there.I also had a look at some of the imaging ...looking at circulation through the heart ..and feel it is a wonderful area for 3D animators to get involved in.

But that is for another time.
Right now I am only too aware that I have to focus on my project.....
Norman McLaren.....as choreographer.

It was however great to see a little of how the process works......and I have watched with awe at the work the rest of the cohort are producing for their going live project.

tag tool

http://vimeo.com/13544295
this link to Guerrilla gallery.....shows the tag tool in demo.
I joined a demo night up at The Hannah McLure centre recently where I watched a dancer interacting with the projection controlled by the tag tool.

Masterclass Richard Layzell

Last week I joined a fabulous masterclass with Richard Layzell on Performance Art. It was a really mixed group of students from Philosophy, Art, Media Art, Time Based Art,Fine Art and me from Animation and Visualisation masters. We started out with a mix of warm ups which I enjoyed and which were good as starting points for those new to performance, and also for me to remind myself of where I come from! Richard was good at choosing warm up material for such amixed group. It was a pretty hectic week for me so I spent some time deciding whether it was relevant to me at all, but was assured by Pernilla and Mel that it would be a great experience for me. They were right!
As a dancer/ choreographer I have spent many hours putting together performance, but performance art is something I had not fully engaged with, except for a day as a  clown at the launch of a Dundee exhibtion many years ago!! I know I needed to think about a different approach for my Masters project so this was a great way to begin.
What struck me first was Richard's presence. He is very gentle gentleman! He has a wealth of experience which he only touched on in day 3. And he has an air of timelessness...he could be from the 20s 40s rather than present day. One of the films he showed on our final day reminded me of one of the actors Norman McLaren used for Neighbours. It also turned out Richard and I know many of the same people around dance and theatre.
Quite quickly on day one he had us all doing a short sketch about our surroundings. I was amazed at the speed with which Richard facilitated this with non performers- a tribute to his ability as a workshop leader and his individual qualities. I was also really impressed with the fantastic ideas generated by the group.....and so was Richard!! We commented on it later.
Day 2 saw us all out in public making a filmed performance piece. I had decide I would dance...tho the task was risk taking so I had to find a risky setting...I ended up inside and outside the overgate shopping centre and sang as well as danced. In some ways the risks I perceived did not actually exist in the end. A bit like the adrenaline rush before a show.I am used to putting myself into another 'head space' when I perform and I am able to shut out the outside world..but also to interact at the same time. In fact my dance piece became really interesting when an old man stopped to stare then started asking me if I was doing this for charity....do we somehow have permission to do MAD things in public if it is for a good cause?? interesting debate to be had here!!!So I had to both stay 'in the zone' and interact with this guy....
In terms of my own project, McLaren would have been intensely shy about performing, but at the same time I believe, able to be in that zone too. It felt like a very McLaren thing to do somehow....I can't explain why yet but think it will become clear.When the group saw back my film they could not believe what I had done.
It has always amazed me how different personal comfort zones can be and what people find to be 'scary'!
On day 3 we worked indoors to create a third piece based on all our work in the previous two days.
My idea was based around my dance piece...which involved a symbolic throwing off of clothing items....trying to free myself...The group I worked with helped develop this into something the whole 12  or so of us could do as a performance.
I also had wondered what would happen if we all turned to look at the audience and turned them into the show. So we combined these two ideas......and that ran well into the next group's piece.
All in all it was a brilliant experience and as I reflect on it I know it will find a way into my final work net year!

figure

Sharon has suggested I try some charcoal animation. I like this as an idea and feel it would be  a good way to capture dance. I had a go..it is really amazing to do....and I love the results although I am still learning about timing and I realise this will take an enormous amount of work to produce something I am happy with. I can move on with this by getting back to Reinhard's life drawing class and working in charcoal there too. for some reason I seem to be unable to transfer the clips of these tests.......the joys of a digital imigrant!!
I do feel too that I could use this technique for a part of my film where I want to explore the links between dance and animation.I loved the quality of the charcoal where it has been rubbed out...a little memory for me of McLaren's pas de deux came when I played back the sketches I was working on. Being able to see where the body had been as it wsa moving on.....

and on a second attempt I managed to get the video to copy.......yes!!!!

sand work/ fruit tree

Some time back I was introduced to sand animation by Sharon. I have had a couple of shots at this now and it is  certainly an extremely good way to explore animation timing. I find as I am working I am completely absorbed in the task.......hours have passed and I did not notice!! But I find this work much more satisfying than working at the computer. I think a lot about the timing ...how that is related to dance..but feel I am still at such an early stage that I am still looking for how to describe these connections.
I felt one of the areas I am passionate about at the moment is fruit and fruit trees... we are trying to replant / graft heritage pear trees in Newburgh and I have pear, apple ,plum and cherry trees in my own garden.So it seemed like a good topic for my first attempt at sand animation.!

Norman's Skates

 

In the archive in Stirling University there are some of McLaren's letters home. He wrote weekly to his mother back home in Stirling. One of the letters refers to the ice flow moving up and down the Hudson River with the tide. I was in Newburgh (Scotland) the week before I read this letter and the ice flow was in fact doing that exact thing........ There was also a description of Norman skating. It struck me that this was something that would be good to focus in on. I foung these skates of my dads and worked with them.trying to animate them to tell their own story....I need to work on it, but there is the seed of an idea here......                        

chair test

            Having spent some time getting used to issues to do with timing I thought it would be fun to have a go at a chairy tale in the studio. I have always loved McLaren's chairy tale, a story of a downtroddden chair trying to let it's user know he should respect it a little more!!! So I has a go...thanks for the help Omar Adam and Mark H.The results were ....interesting!!!!  Music would be really good with some of these small tests I am doing   another challenge for the future!                                                  ..                                                                 

Programme of Study

The working title of my MSc is........................
If I were a dancer; Norman as Choreographer

Rationale
As A choreographer , my basic language is movement. Norman McLaren has said the same is true of himself. He created a number of films using dance or dancers; Pas de deux, Adagio and Narcissus among them. I am interested in his love of dance and the relationship between dance and animation. Nera the end of his life,he stated that if he had been a dancer he would no doubt have constructed movement in a completely different way. I feel drawn to trying to understand how he might ahve done this.
Who was the man? What motivated him? What kind of dance might he have choreographed?
It is clear he was a shy sensitive man who was deeply influenced by music. He used it to graet effect.
He also sought to move people emotionally with his films.
This is something I have also sought to do during some of my recent dance projects.

By researching  his history, his ideas and his work I hope to understand more about him.
By studying animation technique and in particular the techniques he pioneered I hope to have a clearer picture of his art form.

Aims
To investigate the creative mind of Norman McLaren through his personal history and work.
To investigate his love of dance music and movement.
To explore links between dance and animation.

Storyboard

photo Ochlochy pond, Dunblane

                                                                   (where I learned to skate on ice!!)

Feb 14th 2011 at last I manage a first meeting with Wayne Thomas about storyboard. We have a discussion about my project and my ideas so far. after the session with Wayne I have a clearer idea of how to set out my plans .......this is my task for our next meeting!

Feb 22nd I present my ideas in a sketched out format for Wayne. It is great talking through the ideas afresh as it helps me to be clearer about where I am going with all this. We also discover some strange coincidences...I talk of music I will use (my son Finn's )and discover Wayne's daughter is at the same college. I talk of my plan to use the childhood skating experience I seem to share with Norman and discover Wayne knows the area well where I learned to skate!!!

March 3rd I have tried to storyboard my ideas for my film and present them to Wayne. I feel that I am not very clear at first but am reassured that the ideas i speak of are very clear to him. I certainly have a picture in my mind, but, like choreography it is hard to present that idea to anyone else. But I know that i will have to make my storyboards clear if I am to enlist help.
Wayne shows me some of his own storyboard work and talks me through the process and the rationale behind it. This is all brilliant for me.
I also talk Wayne through some of my family research...i have now photos of the family from Norman's mum and her 7 siblings...my grandfather being one, and their parents....and one grandmother from the previous generation. I realise how much I have as I look through it again......

"Thought of You"

Possibly the best animated dance piece I have seen so far. Having also looked at the blog on how this was made, I love it even more.The quality of movement Ryan achieves is really moving...in all senses of the word!!! I think the fact that he worked very closely with the choreographer of this piece is key to how he manages to transmit the emotion of the work.
The music is also really lovely...there has been an instant reaction from everyone I have shown it to....and I gather the same experience has been had by many others!! The choreography follows the music in a great way...catching the meanings behind the words beautifully. The potential of animation to add another level to the work is clear here. Somehow the extensions of leg, arm etc just seem to last a tiny bit longer....holding on to the best qualities of the dance and increasing them......
The overall length of the piece is also just right..tho I can see this developed into a suite of dance pieces following a story...maybe two solos..a group piece.
It certainly grabbed me and I was left thinking......  I WISH I COULD DO THAT !!

All Made Up

31st January 2011 we started working on a 48 hour film project..
After a rundown on film roles...i.e director, producer etc..we were given a task...a one minute film idea containing 3 characters, 10 shots max, 7 min, dialogue, music and sound.
I found this a bit daunting but an image did come to mind for which I then sketched a script.
We spent time with Peter on how to pitch an idea and were sent home to prepare. astonishingly my script was chosen along with one other and production began right away. I had to prepare a script, storyboard it and form a team to take the idea on.
This was all new ground for me but once I got started it seemed to get easier.
 In my team I then had to be the producer.
Our director, James Bell was a joy to work with. Clear in his instructions, and focused on task. We worked really well as team with Adam thomson in charge of camera shot and Kaye editing.
It was hard as the writer to stand back and let james take over but made easier by my confidence in him.
 I enclose here the list of shots we planned .with some changes to the original ideas.
The team was brilliant. We worked on day one, to plan, so that day two went as smoothly as possible.
I as producer had to make a time schedule and to list props, locations, find actors, find props make up etc.

I had to storyboard for the original 'pitch' but with James the team refined these and discussed them until we were all happy with the final plan. we also kept strictly to the brief in limiting the shots to 10 and in working closely as a team. By the time we started shooting at 11 am on day two everything was in place and we were all clear in our various roles.             

I had to procure our actor, sandy, and apply make up at 10.30 am and to brief him on exactly what we wanted him to do. all the shots and sound bites we did with him were great.   Then the production team  headed off to our next location. We planned all the remaining shots in and around this location but had to mask windows etc so this was a long process. All went according to plan, and looking back the shots were very different (some) from how I as writer imagined. Adam did a great job behind the camera and we all pitched in to set up the scenes etc.                                                                                            

                             Edit was also a huge task.

                                                                             Kaye doing the initial edit and then a team approach to the final cut.   

               

And here's the resulting        one minute film....All Made Up

Exploring Practce

Coming to an animation and visualisation  masters course as a choreographer has been an interesting journey so far. There are many skills to learn about..in order to make informed choices for my film and animation work. To date,skills explored have included SLR camera work,digital video camera, filming in a group..class topic -Dundee-, life drawing, after effects, brief introduction to 3D animation on Maya, and of course learning to blog!

Life Drawing
It is a long time since I last did life drawing so my first attempts were a bit rough! I felt I could only sit for a short time on the first two sessions but things improved slowly and I now feel I can concentrate quite some time.
Taking this into thoughts about animation I feel I would certainly like to do some sketches of dance to work with. I will contact Janet Smith at Scottish dance Theatre to arrange to sit in on class.

quick sketches....sept/oct 2010

I have already made a decision not to use 3D myself but have identified artists who would willingly collaborate with me should I change my mind on this. I have also made a decision to include 2D animation work and am working on my own drawing skills with this in mind. Again there are artists who would work on this with me. The life drawing is a challenge I am really enjoying, and would like soon to try to capture some quick images of movement. Perhaps the best way is to tee up a session at Scottish dance Theatre, so I will talk to Janet Smith about this. I had a phone call on Friday from a year 2 animation student who would not only like to work on some animation with me but was also an accomplished dancer herself. There seems to me an ideal opportunity to have dance/ film /drawing/ animation crossover here so later in the term we will meet up and test the water.....or maybe snow!!! as right now I am looking out at 8 inches of snow on the roof tops and hedge!!! I am already thinking of movement sequences to work with, and on Friday looked back at some of my past choreography searching for material. I will get into the edit suite and make a short clip of my work for this purpose.

Newburgh shoreline in the snow.............
On Friday I also spent 2 hours with Malcolm looking at after effects...lots of ideas there for me..thank you Lucy for setting this up.

 

life drawing ....getting there slowly!

I have tried a mix of materials to draw with. I like softer pencils but also graphite sticks. I love working witrh charcoal but have not tried to sketch figures with this yet. My tutor, Sharon should be able to help me with this!!  I have looked at animation withcharcoal and really like the effect. It seems to me this would lend itself well to dance drawings and help achieve the sense of fluidity I am looking for................   

At last I managed to buy a decent camera. I want to do some stop motion work so a camera is an essential! I found a Fujifilm finepix HS10 and so far am pleased. My first shot was this majestic tree on the back road to Sheriffmuir. The stormy weather had suddenly given way to a patch of sunshine!!

                                                                                                                                      

Norman' skates

These are not actually Norman's skates, but my dad's. They are from the same time in history and I remember my father wearing them when he taught me to skate in Dunblane's ochlochy park. When I found these in the attic, I thought of the letter Norman wrote home to his mum about skating on the ice behind his home in Canada in 1943. The war was on and my dad was a prisoner of war in Stalag 20 B in Germany.  Norman was a free man skating in Montreal!! While my dad's skates would be sitting unused at home. I thought these ice skates could be used to tell a little tale of their own!!!           

 Although I have not taken the film on ice I chose a concrete surface which seemed to me to be close to the colour of muddy ice and to sepia photos. This gives the images a timeless quality I think....

 so this is Norman working away in his studio...not in 1943 but much later..he had his new specs which he felt he had to have...his old tortoiseshell ones seemed rather old fashioned he said..            

and below is a picture of my dad, Jim, in 1943 sent from Stalag XXB on the Eastern border of Germany. Such a contrast for two cousins!!!!!!!                                                                     

 Here is a fragment of a letter sent home from Germany from my dad in 1943      

and this is a fragment of a letter from Norman to Jim in 1981. He has mistakenly called Jim his nephew!! and Jim has penciled in COUSIN!!