Travel with Norman

Traveling with Norman

In 2014 I became part of the McLaren 2014 centenary celebration, traveling all over Scotland and England.
Four of us shared the teaching work, taking animation and stories of Norman to children from Shetland to Penarth and Dublin to Fife. We taught over 3,000 people animation techniques Norman would have used and introduced over 6,000 altogether to his ideas and films. It was a perfect use of the skills I learned on my masters degree and a very timely reminder of my love of travel! Open skies, road ahead, a mission to accomplish...a dream!

exhibition

I am beginning to sort through all my notes and sketchbooks to decide what I want to exhibit. John has specified that he wants me to show development stages in some way and sketch books seem the best source of evidence.

Reinhard in the end encouraged me to take images of the books to put in the frames. I am happy with the results even though it was extra work when I had little time. I was not clear how this would all look as only two frames were allocated each, but I managed to show a good cross section of work. So far there has been a good response to this. There are stills from the dance which show lighting and sketches of dance.

In the afternoon I work on linking all the sequences together.Anya Mya Zoe and Leila.
In the evening I ask Sandy Annan to rewrite the typed letter I am using ...to fit with the feel of the film.
At night I work on credits and photograph the signature from my letter from Norman.

public image

my task today was twofold.

I had to create an image for the masters web page which I felt would communicate my film well.
As I prepared to work on this in edit my share account announced it was full! I am not an expert in computer skills and it had not yet occurred to look at this every day. However now it has happened I see it is one of those learning curves that has given me knowledge which will now stay with me. Well I am hoping all the knowledge will stay of course but this is a mistake I will not make again in a hurry!! I thank my stars that it happened now and not in another week!That I was not mid edit but working on a side issue.
I duly purchased a portable hard drive which I will keep for film ( and Mac only!) and got back to work on clearing up the space. It has been useful as I would have to be doing it anyway...maybe just not now...and it serves to make me locate all my film and any material I may need in this last two weeks.

I have found it quite difficult to get rid of material tho as it is all linked...and I have alreday made the mistake earlier this semester of deleting something, to find it had a knock on effect on my other work. And although many peers decried the use of film tape that I have done...this is one situation where I was very lucky to have chosen to film this way. I have all my tapes carefully logged and indexed to use in the future!

So, the film title is settled...another change which I feel reflects the dance the letters and the emotional content...'Affectionately Yours...Norman'...and space is made on the edit share to work...I begin to sift through all my still images which I had stored over the last months for just this purpose (publicity) and try to choose which one holds all my ideas. In the end I make the choice but it is not a fantastic quality of shot so I have to do some work in photoshop to make it special. I choose a finish that reminds me of pastel or paint and sit back to scrutinise it.

I cannot get the idea out of my mind that I have to find some way to include a letter in some form...at first I try with images of me and then Norman writing and then a letter...then it suddenly comes to me!! The dancer looks as if she is writing a letter on the ice...so I set about fitting one or two letters to see what I can achieve. I use Final Cut for this in the end as I now know it so much better than photoshop!! I do not use the letter I had thought I would, but instead choose one I took at the archive which describes a Christmas film Norman made...I had noted it last week and rejected it in another phase of my project as it was taken at a strange angle. But I search it out realising it is perfect for my purpose now...as it appears to be fading into the distance. ( this I must admit was chance as the letter was two pages and I had folded it over and captured one page) I now know, as a result how to achieve this look! It is also on a whiter paper so gives me a much better resolution after working on it than the first letter and the words...Norman's...on it are particularly appropriate as they describe the animation process. He even gives a frame count...3,600 still drawings!!

I am pleased with the results but still see room for improvement. It will have to wait as time is running out to finish the film itself, but seeing this image clarifies many things about the film. And like all creative projects just as you reach the finish you begin to think about the future.

I can already see many ways forward for most of the ideas I have explored in my films. I am looking forward to sharing those ideas with the Stirling University Team and Karl the archivist. But this image in particular carries the emotion of the film and its journey, and portrays the connection between Norman, me and my research process and its outcome in terms of my creative response to the letters. In a sense I feel it is also a starting point for the next part of my journey, and by happenstance a letter arrived today inviting me to get involved with the centenary in 2014 of Norman's birth. One journey will end in two weeks and a new one will begin!!                                                       

a busy week!

This week has been a bit crazy...the first of many such weeks to come is my guess! On the 16th July I had to search for clips I could not find of Zoe...found in capture scratch...under alicia!!! Then I continued editing and the drawing for the short dance sequence I am adding as an animation. I made them into a short movie to test them.I am spending so long in edit I am frozen by the time I get home at 9.00 pm. On the 17th I drew in the studio I am using...on the wall...and at home. On the 18th I had a job interview...huge!!!...but did not get the job On the 19th I started adding the animation to the live action to test. On the 20th I did one more film sequence in the studio...the last...which went really well.That was after a tutorial in the morning...which also went well. On the basis of the work done this week it is obvious that the film is now a response to a few of McLaren's letters but in particular the ones which signify his leaving Britain for America aboard a ship I now know througjh research was commissioned to take passengers on that journey during the war.(SS Caledonia). I am really excited about having made this journey in creative process and about this new focus. This trip was huge in terms of McLaren's future as it led to his going to join NFB of Canada eventually.The letter he wrote aboard the ship ...many pages...were beautiful in the way they express his feelings. It was a parting but an arrival I believe, to himself. And after all that I had to assist my husband in the running of Big Tent!! cooking for 30 and car park duty!!

title

I have been thinking about the title of my film and wondering if it still works.

This is another possible option....

studio space

I have moved to work in a black space...to get to grips with a few of the missing film sequences I need and to give me quiet drawing space to finish off the direct animation. It is lovely to have peace and room to be messy. It did not occur to me to paint the wee room I had black...but this is ideal. There is something about having space to create that is so important...and I have found it hard sometimes to be at my best when I do not feel that the space is inspiring at all. Again I reflect that it is more of an issue for me because I am dancing and drawing rather than on computer all the time.
So... first I made a black floor...board and paint... and got the feathers in...then coordinated the dancer...Zoe who I began with all those months ago. We had never managed another chance to complete so this was something I really wanted to do. I also wanted to have stills of her for record and realised the ones I had are not really in keeping with the work now.

               Lighting was minimal...found the shadow interesting...and managed to catch some really good moments with the feathers, hopefully I still have time to include this.

editing

Today I look through all the material I have on the edit account and decide some serious sorting needs to be done. As I go through everything this gives me a chance to take out still images which I will use later for PR etc.
I also spend some time today refamiliarising myself with all elements of Final Cut. Cropping especially is useful for some of my theatre space footage when there are curtains showing etc.
I break off to continue upstairs with scanning.

Later after 6pm I go back down to edit and take one clip I do really want and crop and feather edges...key frame by key frame...this is hard!!! Remembering now to render everything I do and save it where I can find it easily.

I also make a stop motion animation test with photos of blank letters...so that I can add it to the animatic for timing etc.

edit reflect continue

The learning curve over the last weeks has steepened! I found myself feeling I ma at the top of the cliff but only two thirds of me are actually on top and gravity is fighting with me while I try to pull the rest of me up!!!
I have bee sortinmg through my edit files to make  sure I do not miss anything and to make it easier to find material. The drawback is of course that things go off line when I change their location but since I am also clearer about the location of things that is not as big a problem as I thought!

After testing a dance animation in the edit I went home and continued to draw more to make a decent length of piece...I find I am also progressively clearer about my choices as the final stretch approaches. I have added a few little sequences which I want to add...for example ripples...and I can see that I am going to be using this skill lots in future!!!

I am beginning to use effects more and find I am now much faster too at sorting what needs to be added and then accomplishing it. I am adding colour to norman's letters...and frustratingly I would like to have a whole lot more time to work on the whole thing. But I guess this is the whole point...to learn something which may change your path and which will provide skills to enhance your creative practice. I certainly am doing that!

A couple of days ago I had a problem with the timeline on edit...some recognition error. This is hard ...as I have no idea yet how to solve such things...but other problems are easier to fix, e.g. Have you pressed the button that says 'NOW'? (Andrew...bless him!) But mostly now it is about testing and rendering and waiting to see the result. During the wait I reflect...and write up the blog of course...and I am rewriting all my notes on editing so that I can cement the learning. I am told however that if I do not use Final Cut for a while I will forget it all...

cut clip edit

I arranged a tutorial session with Nilla who as a lecturer in Time Based Art but who also has dance background and understanding of what I am attempting here. I meet her in the edit room and we discuss our projects. She is working on some film footsge too of a performance she did some time ago. we talk a little about filming performance as record versus as art form.

She helps through some problems I have encountered and shows me how to find filters she though t might be useful. I amtrying to get a slightly more abstract look on some clips so we look at the luma key. I certainly see great possibility and will try it out on some of my footage. By now I ma making copious notes on all I am learning.
Both Malcolm and Nilla have also talked me through some of the shortcuts on the keyboard but in the end I choose to do it the long way round!!

dance film

over the last weeks I have been working on choreography for film...but with the intention of using that dance film for a specific reason. I am trying to visualise the feeling of skating....not just the look of it. I have tried sketches of skaters but it just did not capture how I feel about what skating suggests to me . And it seems to suggest more to others too.It has been amazing to see the reaction from a variety of people when I talk about it and I feel my practice is beginning to capture that sense I have of skating being a flowing experience both in the watcher and the accomplished skater. In this short test I am trying to capture the spiral........an imaginary line that surrounds the skater.....

I took the film and with some work in after effects managed to capture something special. Clearly Mclaren has influenced me but it is not simply an aping of his work. The choreography was geared to getting this shape......and to giving me another view of the dance. I have made clear choices about the time between repeat frames ( 0.5 seconds)and slowed the whole sequence down for maximum effect.

I worked on another section of the dance, not shown here, where 1 second separates the multiple image repeats but it is not as effective...and yet it shows something different in the sequence...and it definitely has some possible use for future....

next phase for the storyboard

From the storyboard I have worked on an animatic. Pinning down the timing was a great process.....and the music and images follow the plan . And again I dwell on the process of the choreographer in comparison to that of the animator. I think the feedback for the choreographer happens more instantaneously as there is an opportunity to watch a playback as you go along. However this will always involve having your dancers with you to perform the sequence you have been working on. You can film of course and look back at it afterwards and in a sense you can edit...which will involve another major rehearsal time. And you can then imagine how it will be with light...but you would have to have  a technical rehearsal with technicians and dancers to verify this. It does not generally involve sitting at a computer although some choreographers have done this. Merce Cunnungham worked with a choreogaphic tool and John Anderson has also developed a computer tool for choreographers.

Anyhow, for the present, animatic is the method employed at this stage in the game...that has been frustrating and exciting.....I am making great progress in the edits and realise how much I have learned...but in the end it is vital to practice what you have learned at the next possible opportunity. Again the parallels with dance are clear. If you do not practice what you have rehearsed there is no chance of that memory reaching or staying in your muscles. So when I meet up with Malcolm to learn more it will be a two day tutorial ..with a heap of practice between!!


So here is version 1 of the animatic

script development

This was the first draft of the story which I used to develop the ideas with the composer and the dancer.

Norman's Skates

1.Title page
2.Skates appear
3. Norman is seen at the typewriter
3. We see his letter (or hear?) in which he describes skating in 1943
4. Fade
5.We see a skater alone on the ice making patterns on the ice..tall and graceful.
    (possibly this is Norman dressed in icelandic sweater from letter)
6.the ice patterns begin to take on a life of their own, rising from the ice to make patterns in the air
7.the loops become a dancer
8.a second dancer joins to make a pas de deux
9.A hen is briefl;y disturbed at the edge of the ice
10.ice is sprayed up to accompany the scene and one dancer becomes a swan.
11.the swan flies off
12.A final loop(from the remaining dancer) on the ice becomes Norman's signature
as the dancer disappears
13.the letter is folded and put into an envelope
14 Norman stands puts on his coat and picks up the letter exiting..in a multiple image

This gave Finn a really clear idea of where the film was going and of the key images within it. the music he produced as a result is beautiful and we have been working with this music.
The script has changed a little as we progress...some things seem not so relevant while other parts seem suddenly more important to emphasise. I am sure we will change things again as the process develops and I decide what is possible (and probably impossible!) to achieve!

Habitat and Iain Gardner

Last year I was introduced to Iain Gardner's work and watched this clip of his work with a dance company in Dresden. At the time I was in the early stages of my course and not sure of my direction. I met Iain first in Stirling while at The University of Stirling Archive when he came to meet up with Karl and Don McWilliams.
There was not time then to go into his work as we were all discussing Norman McLaren and his upcoming centenary, but I went away and looked at the video he made about the process and how his thinking had developed on the links between animation and dance. Now of course this is totally relevant to me in my quest to collaborate between both art forms, and I feel I could benefit from a lengthy discussion with Iain on the topic.

This clip on process really is a mirror on my thinking!! What a shame that he was not still teaching on the masters course!!
He was at the 2011 dance film festival in Edinburgh and I went along to hear him talk about dance in animation.He also has looked at McLaren's work very closely and argues that animators in some ways are dancers. He was very open about the problems he encountered in trying collaborate with dance. This is a (dance)journey which for him has only started and which he will be on for some time!
I feel I could learn a huge amount from him and will endeavour to meet up with him again during the next phase of my work.

Film trailer from Habitat 2010

edit re-edit ..up skill...

Working with drawings and film in the edit for hours and hours over the last few weeks.....trying to decide what works and what does not. Nothing to show really at this moment. There are two moments in my film which will require a lot of attention...and as yet I have not solved the issues of how best to tackle them.

So far I know how I want it to look and so the tests need to see if this is possible. I feel I have learned so much in the process about edit skills so the practice will never be wasted.



In finding the poses I lost some of the quality of the original                
 but this is fine..it is still an experiment at this stage. Always need to see how these will look in film.... I have booked up a session with Malcolm next term as I have identified a need to upskill in a few areas mainly edit and film. I have also now identified a few potential team members for the next phase which is great.

I sometimes feel my expectations are set too high..and so I am often dissapointed at how slowly things move on. I expect this will change with a team. Sometimes I am reminded of that phrase..The more I learn the more I realise how much I do not know!!
I am itching to get back to filming more dance in better conditions tho.

There are just so many problems to solve....

tho I realise I am not the only one who can do that ...             

and I need to ask for help more often!

It is all such different process from choreography but I am really enjoying the challenge of it. It is amazing to examine my choreography in this detail...frame by frame as it were. De constructing movement in order to re construct it again. Once or twice I have also wondered about the motion capture experiments which did not ever develop. It is a shame that we did not get to Ninewells to pursue this as I would have liked to see what this produced. I have heard that there was some dance work done there very recently and I am hoping to see the results

For the meantime I have to work with my choreography and constntly try to find ways to integrate it with animation in order to visualise how both can portray emotion.....and ideas. It is in the end all an exploration of how animators use movement and how that is comparable with how I as choreographer use movement. Finding the common ground and then crossover value is going to be an ongoing question... Back to the drawing board..... edit re edit and up skill!!

                        

storyboard

Having narrowed down the script somewhat since the original draft ... now have a storyboard to work with...and have been working with for a few weeks..a few new image shave made their way into this.

The first is the use of one of my horizon/light/water photos...originally done to explore the light around the areas where McLaren went walking and which he said influenced him greatly in his pastel animation scenes from films such as La Haut sur Ces Montagnes.
I visualise a swan taking off from the water across this skyline ..it has become a symbol for me of transformation.
My exploration of these skies also has some relevance in my search for evocative scenes which stir emotional response.

The second addition is the photo which was accepted for exhibition and which I felt reflected the exact light Mclaren found within that same film. I have here added my version of the face in the sky.
As I write this I wish I could now have a dialogue with Norman!!
My version is Scottish rather than canadian...but the face seems Greek to me. This was meant, i am sure to represent ancient folk tradition which is the basis for the set of films mclaren made. I recently found text to accompany this scene which describes a skier returning from the mountain and stumbling across a little hamlet where there was folk song and dance going on in the ancient tradition.

Next was my version of a McLaren hen...at first i wanted the hen to be disturbed at the edge of the ice...then I thought maybe he could feature near the end...and he appears in the storyboard but I am still not sure about him(or her)..I have discussed this with lots of people who were generous with their feedback and criticism.....I am not sure if the image is congruent with the overall feeling so far....maybe instead the hen could look more like one of Norman's original drawings from the book??

This hen has a slightly more comical look...and could easily become the line again since it is one continuous line itself...this is my version of Norman's ..tho my original idea was to hint at his 'trademark' hen........it feels as the film idea progresses this gets more irrelevant.

Norman is in the essence of the film...but maybe the audience do not need to know that?

maybe it is enough that I have explored the hen in all its guises..and not necessary that it is around......

drawing the choreography

I have taken the film of the choreography and been working  on finding which sequence I want to use for animation. I also looked again at Norman's dancer drawings. The idea is that these drawings also contain the spiral shape which I want to use from the skating patterns

In the end this particular position is one I really like in both the live action film and in the drawings..After adding the spiraling line around the figure I felt this could work for a transition point..where the dancing figure begins to appear from the ice................from the loops and upwards...............this must be a next step to try.

choreography

Have been working on choreography based on the theme of skating. It has helped to also visualise this feeling in another form..i.e. drawing..and to talk to people about skating and what it makes them think of or feel. Working with that sense I have experimented myself with some moves...trying to internalise what that feeling is about...to retain the memory of that movement in order to translate it to a dancer. It has been quite a journey. Having a film script worked out has also helped...something to show the dancer as well as talking about my ideas. Sharing my collected images has also somehow helped to tranlate my feelings to the dancer. I have never worked on one plane in my art...always wanted to draw from other disciplines in my pursuit of visualisation. I have so many photos too which I use as a satrting point .Having music commissioned is great.
The process for that also needed the images (and script of course). The dancer really responded well to the music....actually everyone I have played the track to has said it really captures my images (or imagined ideas?)well.

 with the dancer I worked on two distict sequences. One for floor..with the transition from drawn image to live action in mind....and the other across the floor...with skating in mind..and perhaps the transition to swan..as mentioned before.

The camera was hand held..and although we thought at first this would make the edit quite difficult...it has given some quite interesting effects. Someone also said it had a kind if old fashioed feel to it....mmmm

I certainly aim to re take the footage...and to do it again with lighting from the side. The technical crew were not available for this take...but I want to see how that will work out.

having Emily dressed in black but with arms showing gave us a good idea of how white...costume maybe....looks and highlighted the effect we worked on afterwards.

When we take it again I will try less white on the legs...and would like to try in the SDT dance studio which is mostly light...with darker costume.

The lines on the floor also threatened to present a problem..but like the hand held camera they also provided interesting opportunities ...

All in all I am happy with the choreography and have a lot of materrial to work on before I next see the dancer.

more light and water

I am now really getting into landscape photography. What relevance I hear you ask?? As Calum Colvin said....'A study of light and form'...and I feel it is entirely relevant when I will certainly be dealing with water in my film..even if it is frozen...and I will also have to work with light!

And water and light are emotive...everyone responds to the sunset and sunrise...the coming and going of the light...it is human nature to follow the light....although those of us living in the depths of the city (and the college!)do not really mind if it is light or not....others among us find rural life tricky when it is dark...we pay heed to the light...we notice when our veg patch stops growing because of the lack of light.And there is also the old Celtic myth about the worlds end (Finisterre) being where the sun sets in the West......I notice the light every day...and especially on my journey to Dundee!!!..............................................................

Humans react to light...we are meant to.....we are designed to wake at dawn and sleep in the dark....!!!
Tho few of us really pay heed to that instinct....

The Tay bridge really sits very nicely on a horizon at dusk!!! This kind of sight always makes me stop to look

Then there are days that end like this.....not too many of these...and you really have to stop...and go to the water's edge to take it all in..all this pink......surreal........is it the end? or another beginning?

So still...so dramatic it looks like the moon...if it had water that is.......and from all this....close up the water is amazing...maybe I could use THIS in my film????

water or ice?

On a recent visit to Dunkeld...one of my favourite places...My son took this photo, looking into a pool of water. When I saw it after it struck me that it looked almost as if the water was about to freeze. I have collected many images now of water,,flowing, still, frozen..in a quest to find the perfect setting for my film.

I probably have more than enough material for more than one film!!

skating visualised

Talking to people about skating has been fascinating.Even for those who would never be able to experience that gliding, effortless motion of a perfect skate on ice, the feeling they have is strong. Skating evokes a feeling...an E Motion....almost like it suggests you can fly. I need to capture this in some way. I have tried drawing people skating but this does not get across the sensation. It is definitely more to do woth visualisation and less to do with reality.I close my eyes and imagine I am able to do anything I like across the ice...How does this look in my mind?

And this is what I have come up with......in fact it is a still from an animation of my visualisation of skating.
I recently talked witha a dance group about this concept and a few of the group immediately began to trace a very similar pattern in space. What is it about ice skating that does spark this reaction?