Play and Time
Method: Time is focusing on loops. Cyclic animation, loops and repetition are a significant device to use in both linear and interactive productions. In this exercise, I will create a endless video animation on After Effects. First I will create a sketch of a flower on photoshop and place that image into after effects to create an endless cycle.
Context: In class, Matt showed us a video of a shot animation called "Black thin King" by Birdo. Some of the early animations were almost based entirely on loops - particularly because they worked well with rhythms of sound. I got inspired by Benoit Mandelbrot. He was the first one to use computer graphics to create and display fractual geometric images.The most famous computer-generated fractal is called the Mandelbrot set - a feathery, organic landscape that is comparable of the natural world, but is nonetheless completely virtual. It is infinitely complex, but it is built from an extremely simple equation repeated endlessly. Also when we look at optical illusions we could see the use of colour, light and patterns to create images. I've always wondered how they create these illusions and how it affects us. Benoit Mandelbrot showed the beauty in nature. He was very good in creating the endless playful geometry of fractals.
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Response/Reflection: I wanted to create this type of animation because it is related to my studio 3 project. My studio project is based on a series of unexpected short films. As you look at this repeating video you expect to see something new, but it's the same thing over and over again. I have chosen to use After Effects because I want to learn and explore the tools around. To start with my task, I first created a black and white fractual but it didn't turn out to be good. I realized that I was using a jpg image and I should have used a png image to get the shape. When I tried it again, it looked like one of those optical illusions of infinite zoom.
This is related to play because we are drawn towards patterns, rhythms, finding pleasure in cycles that we can expect or become familar to. This type of endless repetition loop is quite engaging as we can just stare as long as we want and the video just repeats eachtime. This repetition loop can also be used in an interactive way such as VR. It would be really interesting to take this as an 3D approach.