cut

At last after a whole day...7 15 or so till now...I have a render and copies of the film in the masters edit share account. plus one in my portable hard drive just in case!! I knew it could take a long time. but after leaving it to render all night it had not...two files had skipped off line...so render two began at around 8 30 after I reimported the files. The second time around the edit computer was full and stopped render 10 minutes from the end!! The third time it just stopped...there was a small unrendered section..only the credits at the end ..so take number four finally worked and we got it in to the account,I have stopped once for coffee and had no lunch - breakfast was at 6 am!! I think the sun is shining...just as well I came in so early.

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.

Focus

Today I wake up exhausted and wondering how I am going to get to the end of the week! I also have a lunch to prepare for 40 people for Sunday! and visitors arriving tomorrow and the next day to stay for a week. It is hard to get out in the morning without being rude and I am later in than I would want to be. It is a beautiful day and I decide to step back from it all and stop for lunch across from college. I have not been eating very much but sitting at a computer all day I guess I do not need it.


I sit in the sun for about 20 minutes to eat then in to edit.
I work on Zoe's section again tidying up and fixing it till I am happy with it. This section is devoted to feathers swans and transformation. I end up really focussed and complete the whole section and render it...it feels good. So stopping can be a good tactic! This time I also listen to music which I brought in. As usual the janitor comes to check on me and I leave at 8 15. I have got to know all the janitors and they have been great ...only one grump!! I realise to that I should always aim to finish early and leave the render overnight.

Some things have not made it into the film which is a shame..the face...the still of sherrifmuir just got forgotten. and I am still trying to solve the swan!! I ask Nuria about it and she kindly makes some great suggestions. We all have our favourite work modes but she now is realising  the style of my film. and also that I am not here to make a perfect animated film...that would take another degree!!

getting there

Having created one image on photoshop for the web I could not resist looking back at the many I have captured to see if they could be used in any way. Another huge skill for me. Also a lesson not to throw away any material...excellent for a hoarder like me!!! I will not be using this particular sequence with Mya dancing but I love it and maybe it will be part of a future continuation of Norman's letters!As a still image it captures perfectly the Hermes letter

"I do not know how to express the joy I felt"

And by a quirk of fate I read a section of Norman's drawings book and his words about  finding himself unable to say all he wanted to in words so he started using little drawings in letters. It feels to me that I am extending this idea into using dance and images in place of words.

Someone asked if there was going to be any narration...again I could quote Norman and say that words would spoil it!!

So I am getting there

I have a list of to do things each day and just work through it all...well not usually all ..some make it on to more than one days to do list! Mya's dancing has so much energy that I am glad I have two pieces of film of her and in the end I have chosen the other piece, not the one this image comes from. This will be paired with sand animation as a representation of the sea journey across the atlantic that Norman made in October 1939. I will also use Link's animated piece with wings for the sea hawk letter section. I think I need to make it a little more abstract to merge the wings and make them look less 'tacked on'. I could probably try adding some colour too.

I need to work on the swan too...and then draw up a list of credits. Actually I have been doing this as I go along, making sure I make a note of everyone who has been part of this process.

I have a section mixing water with dance and although I was sure this would be used I now have doubts. I can see my problem is what to leave out...not finding enough work to put in. A good problem to have tho...

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!!

feathers

Mark Haldane has agreed to help me trial a fall of feathers. I used the drawings I had made and we discussed how it would look. I want a full phrase of music and space to fade in and out so to be safe we agreed on 30 seconds.I also want the feathers to begin one at a time and to increase over 10 seconds to a full fall. I have tested this with the music of course. The original feathers look like this and above is the short sequence Mark has worked on.

animation

The first small piece of animation for the dance sequence I am working on. I am going to include about 3 times this much and know where it is going. I have already done some work on adding it with the live action but have had some trouble getting this to be recognised on my pc. some glitch between edit and exporting to quick time. My pc has also suddenly decided it does not want to recognise all elements of quick time...Is it trying to persuade me to upgrade or have I done it wrong...Let's see!! Thankfully I managed to try it out in an animatic...

stop.... rewind

I have made another animatic which I plan to show Sharon at tutorial tomorrow. I have rendered it and looked at it and before I even show it I can see things to improve on.The music is slightly out and the first letter needs to appear later. I need a picture of an addressed envelope and to add clips from letters. After Sharon sees it we also agree that the swan animation needs to be clearer so I have to find a solution for this...I would like to have re drawn the whole swan sequence...and I will now revisit the story board for timing. I also need a second piece of sound to add at the beginning so will go source this! I have a really lovely piece of animation to add too but still looking at how best to show this. I have a list to work on...mainly looking at all the dance footage again and making sure I have made the right choices about animation additions.

edit edit edit

The main task this week has been to refine the animation methods and make sure they will work in edit!
Some successes and some failures!!
The process of taking the still images through photoshop to final cut is laborious like all other processes I have been working on lately! So, for example, the snow film...it does not look quite right in the edit yet ...but I will have another go at that next week...I still have to try inverting the whole movie... There are a few different ways to do it. I will be working on the swan animation in the same way.
Today I have tried to perfect the re sizing process for each still frame in order to get it to fit in my film. Having done that I feel I am in a better position to continue. I am adding some still images too so I needed to get to grips with this. I have also been practicing today with layering those still images and altering their quality both on photoshop and in Final Cut.
I took some extra film last week and was not sure it would work but have now tested the place I wanted to use it...It will work as long as I get my animation to fit too so I am happy with that.

The first shows the obvious join... combining the two...still image and film  I quite like it as it looks a little like I imagined the performance might look with the film shown on a gauze in front of it. One day I will try this.

Something about this still also reminds me of 'The Still Point of The Turning World' which combined dance and sand animation. 

The second is not so obvious ...but the face should definately be to the side rather than superimposed on Zoe's face!This will be a good shot to use in the book tho!

It is a long journey indeed and I feel I am getting near...but the deadline seems soo close!!

I was also quite surprised that the film with Zoe does work. This still looks so like a bird!! feathers engulfing her...hope there is a place for this bit too...but conscious now of how much will not make the final cut...and will stay as supporting material!!

animation continues

I have been continuing to draw stills to attempt to capture a whole sequence of dance. In some ways it seems a very late stage to be adding anything ...I had a short sequence already...but in other ways it is the most obvious step to take. I need to understand fully how it works and why and when it looks right...or doesn't.... It is a skill I want to take with me when I leave... so very soon. I have also always known about myself  that the more mistakes I make the more I learn. John McGhee's words ring in my ears...Do not be afraid to make mistakes!!! I have tried so many different methods of animating movement and dance in particular and I look forward to the luxury of time next year to take these ideas forward but right now there are some things this film shouts out for. I begin by adding really too much detail and realise quite fast that It risks looking messy.  I also begin to understand the work process as I pare back on detail. So it looks like a bit like this ( this was a slightly rougher first sketch)........for about 50 frames.....

And after I have done 50 or so I begin to really focus on minimal lines to convey the movement. I also feel I want to have something that looks cleaner and can work as an invertion. I would love to have the time to paint them all I decide...colour in my next film!!!

So I cut back to the minimum ...and highlight the lines I want to emphasise...and feel it is loooking better.

Again I find capturing the sense of movement comes naturally...Though I still like the sketchy feel I have in my earliest drawings and plan to do a future animation in this style. Right now I resolve to finish the film in the best way possible in the time scale and not be distracted by drawing styles...

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.

Snowing!!

The other day when all the equipment was failing...at least that's how it felt... I had to take a long hard look at what I was doing.
I did honestly feel that the snow was taking up too much time and was incredibly humbled by my total lack of ability to sort it!! It made me realise that I could not manage at this stage without the help of technicians...what will I do when I have to leave them all behind!

In the midst of my despair Nuria...a level 3 student... took pity on me and asked me what exactly I was trying to do. I explained that I am trying to perfect a snowfall to add it to my film at a particular point in the choreography in order to highlight a feeling...the dance already embodies this emotion... but I want the animation I add to amplify the sense the dancer gives.

Nuria started to describe making snow in after effects...it will be able to show you quickly ..then you can see how it will look at least!! With mixed feelings...and frustration driving me to accept help and solutions... I followed her upstairs to try find the lab. Moving buildings has been really hard for all of us. Finding new routes to our new studio...getting around the blocked routes...finding all the now shifted equipment...lugging cameras and tripods up a hill and back through the entire building...and for me this time finding the technical crew in their new office, then the lab. So we at last found the lab and set down to look at my clip of dance. Nuria showed me how to set up the after effects for snow and how to alter timing, density, direction etc.

I stayed up in the lab quite a while and looked at other dance clips to see what I could do with these too.
I realised that not all the dance pieces would work for this. Early on in the filming sessions I did some work with a free held camera. Although the film is good, the image moves and this will present problems for me if I wanted to add after effects of this kind. Also in one of the clips the floor is really obvious and of course if snow as really falling it would be piling up on the floor. How would Iget round this? I am not trying to be realistic in any sense and if you have not been involved in creating dance it might be hard to understand this...I suppose some animators may look at my film and me very critical of issues like this. I just have to be very clear about what I am doing and to know why I make the choices I do. For sure they have to be informed choices!

Still so much work to do...

Peer review and photography

Last week when I gave my presentation for peer review I showed this photo of work experimenting with wax. A group of worked together on this and I photographed the results, which we all agreed looked like a snow and ice landscape. I showed it at peer review partly to illustrate that I still continue to experiment and partly because only by photographing the work could we have stood back to look and thus reached this conclusion. Felix had a great idea for using this in my film. I had suggested it could be an alternative backdrop...he suggested it could be an animation backdrop and to try melting the wax slowly and filming the process. Then play the film in reverse. I think this is a really amazing idea...but I know I have run out of time to include it!!

I certainly feel I will use this idea as a still image behind a dance piece, but maybe a film would be good too!

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...

snow and scanners

Back in the studio today rather than edit and a peer review with the group. I felt my own last week went well and I was quite surprised, when I prepared my talk, how much work I have actually done since December (i.e. during semester 3).
I disciplined myself to present mostly work which I had done recently but had to go over the whole plan since not everyone knew the story etc.

Three others presented and I think they are all looking really brilliant. I am looking forward to seeing the show!!!

And after the review I am back working on snow. I have coloured all the images and tested again. Fixing a few glitches on the way. There was a flake missing at one point...but even after I had it all in the correct sequence, somehow one frame got into the wrong place and found its way into blank frames for about 20 frames!! Of course it could not do it by itself...I must have done it...When I exclaimed 'Oh There you are!!' someone with animation experience just laughed! I guessed this was a common problem which I was experiencing. It is sorted now and onto the scan. This whole process seems unnecessarily slow. The studio scanner has to be re programmed after every scan to import through photoshop...so it is taking forever!! I cannot help wondering why it is so slow and if there is not a faster way which I do not know yet.






In fact I just went back to save my last 25 or so scans and the pc attached to the scanner has broken down completely AAAARRRRGGGGGGHHHHHH another wasted hour or two and lost it all....

so I have scanned in the second machine (which is not geared up for animation)just to see the inversion instead!! I like the look and contiued down to the edit room with the intention of placing this slide into film to see how it would look. Unbelievably the computer in Edit 3 suddenly started to go too...it is not my day for technical genius I decided so I closed it quickly in case I lost anything, and beat a hasty retreat to the technicians for help. the scanner in the studio now has a functioning pc, and somone is going to look at Edit 3. Andrew is off sick...maybe the equipment is missing him!!

visualising the combination

I have spent hours in the edit rooms...its cold but for the first time I felt I really got to grips with quite a few things. I had a book on final cut with me which I selected from the library sale and which I can scribble over!
I managed to make a start on combining the live action and images of the ideas for animation. I managed also to start selecting material for a show reel as I go along thus saving me time in the later stages...when I will be panicking with everyone else!

here are two solutions for the dancer/ bird/ feather combination

The first Is Links work just to sample what the motion graphic might look like.

The second is a paste up of ideas from my feather and swan images. I wish I had got this far for the peer review but will get a few opinions on these before I carry on.   

how to realise the dance?

I am still trying to add other drawn ideas to my film but I also know I am running out of time!
I looked at a slightly different version of direct animation for dance... but I think this would be hard to clean up. It was good to keep this exploration going however and it still keeps me thinking about resolutions and keeps my drawing alive.

This is one of the last  frames from the short piece, the dancer begins curled and gradually rises up and starts to spin. the drawing does feel quite kinetic.....

motion graphics collaboration

DROPLETS from Simon Fiedler on Vimeo.


 see at... 00.42seconds... clip of shell appearing

Today Link and I have been discussing the transformation of the dancer to a swan and ways that we might achieve this. I have asked him to generate particles in a helix form moving upwards. I visualised that feathers or snow would be covering the dancer and then begin to rise.As they do the dancer would disappear and the swan appear from the snowstorm/feathers and fly into the sky. Link showed me one version of this he has worked on. The motion graphic does indeed look like snow and I suggested experimenting with the density ...termed birthrate... in the programme. There are definitely possibilities here.

This is different from my original idea where the dancer would fly...but I see possibility for that version too.
He has also showed me his development of motion graphic on the dancers arms...looking a lot like wings.

While discussing this Link also showed me two clips from vimeo tutor programmes. One is 'underwater particles float' which resembles clouds of fish and the other was this one above. Droplets. Both are connected to water and this has obvious links with my ideas. water, ice, snow etc. Link explained that the shell here is hidden till the end and I wondered if we could reverse this process thereby hiding the dancer. We agreed that this would be really exciting but probably unrealistic in the time left.
However, brilliantly Link has said he would want to work on this beyond the masters show so even if it can not be included there will be a future place for it.