Showing posts with label ARTISTS. Show all posts

Why marionettist?

A disabled person?

Does it make sense?



WHAT IS DANCE FOR ME

Okay... I think for many of us a word "Dance" means physical movements in certain sequence, a beautiful way to express emotions, and maybe for someone it is just an art-form and nothing else. For me personally, it was a passion - I loved to be there in an action. When I dance my body never lies. Expressed emotions is in those movements. I stopped dancing when I came to study at UCA. Dancing takes time and if you want to do it, you have to do it properly, you have to give all yourself. Once you start doing it, there is no way back, you will like it later, if you did enjoy it before. 

For me dance brings me in different stage. I do not know how to describe very well, but when I am in this motion I feel as a different person. I used to dance folk dancing in Latvia for 14 years of my life. I started when I was 5. Our dance culture is very orientated around dances with a partner. It is a very interesting feeling when you know that someone else is moving in same direction, doing same arm movements, jumps and rotations in the same time. It feels wonderful. I have to say, it feels wonderful when you know the choreography. Learning steps, positions and small details like where your head will be looking at takes time. It sometimes was a painful process. I remember being very exhausted in the middle of the training and the teacher says:"Come on, stand up. Let's do it again!" That repeats for many times and the energy is just going down and down. Learning technique for hours, sometimes for days and even weeks. I believe it is just part of what dance actually means! I lived that moment and I think it is all about the passion...

  Great dancers are not great because of their technique, they are great because of their passion. - Martha Graham

 THE IDEA BEHIND A DISABLED PERSON

 I was thinking of the unit a lot, how to make this idea interesting. I thought of folk-dancing, I have archive footage, I could do some dancing myself as well...But nothing was what I want.

On the last days before tutorials with Rachel I thought about possibilities for movements, traces what we leave behind us. The idea itself was not really clear. I wanted something around real life situations and simulating that with a dance movement. Basically using VFX compare two different motions. Human abilities to a car or a fruit that drops on the floor. Seeing how these objects reflects human body.

During the week I came up with another idea. What if human being starts to explore motion. How would it look like in reality if someone has never moved before.....AND I stopped there, because I really needed a background for my research... It simply did not make any sense...I tried to think of options, what is very different from a person who can do anything, use his body with no boundaries?


DISABLED PERSON

Active lifestyle and a disability is not what we try to imagine together.
How does it look? A dance with limits. Limitation is a challenge.

 I think, people don't like to think of something they cannot achieve because of different limits. Limits can be financial, physical, emotional and sometimes all together.
Solution?
Many just try to find a way around it.

In my story, a disabled person has found a hobby that takes him or her away from these thoughts in the head. Making puppets and playing with them very much symbolizes control over someones body. Therefore, I wanted to make a twist.
I wanted to show that this marionettist can take control over his or her body in the dream.

At this point, I could also improve my first idea about those traces we leave. I could use VFX to make strings to a human body, just like it is with marionettes.


I had a tutorial with Rachel Palmer and she showed me videos that being disabled does not stop you from dancing. At first I made my statement wrong, I did say, that disability may stop successful dance career for a person whose life has always been around dance.

I looked for videos and changed my statement that disability just puts some limits.





So there is this Dance Company Stopgap. They employ disabled and non-disabled artists who find innovative ways to collaborate. Stopgap value a pioneering spirit and are committed to making discoveries about integrating disabled and non-disabled people through dance.

Our productions seek to offer a window into a parallel world where human interdependence, strength and vulnerability play out with poetic realism.
This is something amazing, people who are disabled and can dance like a dancer from Stopgap just makes me look at myself and think, why I just sit down, I have to be in motion, I CAN AND I HAVE TO!


Strings and ropes

Controlling direction and motion.
Watching dance video I can see how motion can be made more visual involving VFX. representing strings for a dancer, just like a marionette. 
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I chose two very different videos that represent art in different centuries. The thing that I learned comparing them, no matter how old or new is the video - the idea will live further on. It might be and most likely is done again and again in different ways, using techniques that have never seen before, using post-production that may change the original message in many forms.

Dance is a performing art. It is like an active meditation. For me personally, dance is a relaxation, it is a circulation of energy (I am using my energy into physical motion and gaining it back through happiness). In my opinion, dance is like a music, it has its sequence. Dance can be a chaotic, coordinated, performed individually or in groups - it has no boundaries. Dance can symbolize deep feelings or everyday jokes, the value of which people do not think so much facing different problems or fun situations.



FIRE FLIGHT

Fire Flight is a promotional music video featuring the dancers from The Phoenix Dance Theatre in Leeds, England. The project was shot on the Phantom Flex camera at 1,000 frames per second. It was produced by Ink Films (www.inkfilms.co.uk) and the creative and director by Uber Agency (www.uberagency.com).



Directors idea was to add fire in the post to make it look like dancers have been set alight. The project took just over a year to complete with 6 months being dedicated by Ben Daure to create the rendered fire in Maya. Daure had never even opened Maya before and it was Chris Birks of VTR North that showed him how to use the program allowing him to focus on creating the fire post work. The video was edited using Maya, After Effects and Adobe Premiere.

Phoenix Dance Theatre is the UK’s longest standing contemporary dance company outside of London. I think the video stands out and works for the dancers how hard-working they are... Phoenix Dance Company was formed in 1981 by David Hamilton. Almost 40 years of work has been filmed in this art-piece to reach attention to their achievements over the years.

Watching this video, I try to notice all those tools they have used to implement the movement. VFX has been used a lot and it works amazing bearing in mind that the editor has never been using Maya before. I like the fire because it reminds my eyes where the motion was a second ago. It leaves a trace after every motion the body does. It is something that performer is in front of every thought.
GIRL HUNT BALLET

 Fred Astaire and Cyd Charisse, 1953. This dance piece is from the musical film “The Band Wagon (1953)”.

First, it reminded me music videos of Micheal Jackson. It is very different from the first video. It is more theatrical performance art. The power the man use to show his personality has been reflected using the group of people. I think it reflects world's idea what makes his or her personality. It is not the position but the people who are around you. For example, the leader of the country can come in the room and no one will stand up, later on, another leader is coming in and everyone will stand up and will give an honor to him or her. It is about the respect from others not about the name of the position. In this dance video, it is well performed. The main guy is in a light gray suit. Everyone around him is in black. The red colour in the room sets the mood to anger, to some actions. He is challenged later on by a lady in red dress. That is his opportunity to be more powerful over others. He uses it and there is a competition between both dancers. 

It well though out. Starting from lights and environment. Using different outfits, ages and using specific space. ending with an actual story behind it, ending with changes and interesting actions that turns out differently than expected.
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In the piece, you are viewing five separate screens working as a vocal circuit. Four of the Screens act as distributors of information. Starting from the left (Screen 1) something is said, moving along it reaches the middle screen, upon receiving the news the middle screen reacts, the reaction is later heard/seen by another passing on the story. The middle screen acts as a Breeder and Target for gossip it plays a victim of rumour. Shocked by the words it has come to hear, it addresses the viewer with the words “just between you and me” in hope to seal the spreading; in natural fact, nothing stays private. The circuit loops again, middle screen reacts with anger “Beat the shit out of a pillow” yet making another headline.


The main concept is not about who is in the beginning or in the end. It is all about others who are in the same chain of information. One of them can mislead and draw people to the wrong conclusions. It is really about telling the wrong idea. When you think how someone has given you the wrong information you also think of synonyms such as betray, deceive, dupe, fudge, misrepresent, temp, bait, bluff, lure, scam, hoodwink, deceive, entice, seduce, victimize, suck in, pull wool over eyes, manipulate.


Rumours have been spread all across the world every second. It is an infinitive circuit that cannot be cut. There always will be a source and a point where things are going to be said. 

Our first installation was inspired by a Chinese saying, referring to the three monkeys of their divine pantheon. See No Evil, Hear No Evil, Speak No Evil. In the first idea, we did it simply, A source, three monkeys in the middle and the speaker at the end. Easy to understand - The source wants to say message which goes and reaches the speaker. The information can be truth and it can be misleading because of three persons in the middle.

We developed other ideas keeping the main concept of three monkeys. To represent the more precise real-life situation, we put the main character in the middle, but this time, this character is both - the SPEAKER and the SOURCE.
Why I think it is more realistic? In the first idea source wants to give a message itself, but in another - someone just heard the source saying things and passing them further. Sooner or later the source will know that there is romour of his spoken word. Reacting differently each time, the main character in the middle will be saying what he has heard. the information he has just said gets passed around again. It is almost like an infinitive loop that will never end. Messages keep travel and changing all the time to make the perfect form and expression.
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As I mentioned in previous posts, our installation is presenting the result of evil behavior. It is about the communication nowadays... The source can be completely innocent so as the speaker, but the messenger is the one who makes the rules. Particularly in our installation, the way of changing the message is cleared in three ways.

Still playing with the spread of information we wanted to base the piece on the passing and delivery of words, how things said by others can’t be monitored nor controlled. In the piece, you are viewing five separate screens working as a vocal circuit. Four of the Screens act as distributors of information. Starting from the left (Screen 1) something is said, moving along it reaches the middle screen, upon receiving the news the middle screen reacts, the reaction is later heard/seen by another passing on the story. The middle screen acts as a Breeder and Target for gossip it plays a victim of rumor. Shocked by the words it has come to hear, it addresses the viewer with the words “just between you and me” in hope to seal the spreading; in natural fact, nothing stays private. The circuit loops again, middle screen reacts with anger “Beat the shit out of a pillow” yet making another headline.

CIRCUIT

I am working together with Ivan and at the very beginning, we both agreed what are our roles. Ivan is the author of pictures and digital drawings. He was in charge of characters. Meanwhile, my role was "HOW TO MAKE IT POSSIBLE?". To learn 3D animation in less than one month - I did not know how able I am to do it, so I did not risk it. So, Ivan found a solution, he showed me video of Micheal Jackson and I decide to look deeper into the production process

Having in mind this interesting video I look for another. Each video took my attention more and more.








After a good research, I found out what is Morph Motion - Still to Still. Soon I had a RE:Flex plugin on my Adobe After Effects.

I run few tests and realized that on trial version nothing is going to work. It put a huge cross over the image - watermarked.

Having this problem made me think of ways around it. So I came with a solution to generate huge pictures, edit them with the watermark and then just crop needed frame in Adobe Premiere.

I ended up with 11.5K footage on my computer. All videos and sequences were about this size leaving portrait area for FULL HD resolution. 1080x1920p PORTRAIT!

I watched tutorials how to use RE:Flex motion morph for different files - videos, still images and animations. I was very into this technique and I am glad I explored it. First tests went bad, but I got use to it. One portrait took me about 4 hours to turn sideways and open its mouth.

What motion morph does is basically takes the points defined by me and blends together with the image next. I have to go frame by frame and move shapes that are different for two frames between.

Here is a video that is taken for 4.5 hours.

In total, I made fully 6 portraits. Morphing and later on exporting through Adobe Premiere in .MOV H.264 1080x1920p 25fps.

After generating motion from still, it was time for motions. Each motion was trimmed separately like sequence. It was more like a sequence of the sequence of the sequence. Files on files.
As you can see. For each face, I had approximately 22-30 masks and each mask has to be keyframed. Well, that would be easy, but each mask, like layer for hair consisted of 200 points which need to be separately moved because masks are changing their own shape. 

In my opinion, we set roles very clever. Ivan was in charge of characters. As soon as he finished one face I began to draw shapes and move pictures in After Effects. I think his process was not easier, all layers and texture took a long time. Meanwhile, I was working with different sizes, trying to figure out pixel ratio and frame times in certain seconds. 

 We had issues, particularly my Adobe crashed for like 5 times. 

I would say that I was excited by the process learning a new technique... but closer to the end and I got very tired. Every single point needs to be checked in all frames, keyframed every single second and because of different drawings, all shapes changed their form every single frame. 

 It was challenging, even more, because of something I have never been aware of. I got new experience and a feeling of great teamwork. 
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Brian Helgeland

He is also a successful writer and director, born in Providence, United States.
Although he says something else about himself, "I’m not a writer; I’m a filmmaker. If I wanted to be a writer I’d be a novelist. If I wanted to write dialogue, I’d be a playwright. But I want to make films so I’m a film-maker; I’m no different than a costume designer, or a DOP, a director. I make movies for a living."

He very well known because of the film "42", the story of Jackie Robinson from his signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers organization in 1945 to his historic 1947 rookie season when he broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball. I have seen this film and it takes me into the scene right away.
I think it is already a huge research and talent to make something that realistic from 1945. Helgeland has played around very well facing the racism which was the biggest obstacle for many talented black people. 
He makes the same realistic feeling again with the environment and actors in the film "Legend", a British gangster thriller about the exploits of the Kray twins. Rising from London's underworld to become unlikely celebrities at the height of the swinging 60s. I think that Brian Helgeland has explored human relationships, history and politics to direct a film something like "Legend" or "42".
"I always think a movie is a giant funnel, as big as this building, with a little tiny pinhole at the bottom and everyone, whether it’s the production or whether it’s the screenplay, you fill this enormous funnel with all the stuff and one drop comes out and that’s the movie or the script when it’s the script. The more you dump into that funnel to get that drop, the better it’s going to be. It doesn’t mean it’s going to be any good, but that’s a whole other thing."

I would say, watching his films it takes in different universe. Every single detail shows how precise he is in his work. A huge research of politics, historical facts and human relationships is leading to result that blows everyone's mind. 

Human networking? Brian is interested in different countries. He tries to relate each area to people that lives there. His grandfather was a Norwegian, who moved to United States. Since he knows that he explores and tries to find points that works together in history. 


 In his films like "42" he involves a lot of signs of politics and historical facts. He has explored environment to the smallest detail. In my opinion his key for films is perfectionism. I want to say that the films I have seen has been made very detailed visually and historically. I love his patience. 
"42" placed in 1946, Jackie Robinson is a Negro League baseball player who never takes racism lying down. Brian gives the viewer a sense of time, identity for each person in a film. Very well done work and a huge research under it...
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Steve Rodney McQueen


He is an English director, video artist, screenwriter and producer, known for 12 Years a Slave (2013), Shame (2011) and Hunger (2008). For his artwork, McQueen has received the Turner Prize, the highest award given to a British visual artist. He has also won an Academy Award, BAFTA Award for Best Film, Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture - Drama.


He has never been interested in pleasing mainstream tastes, but no matter how uncompromising his work, it keeps becoming more and more popular. People describe him as a very polite and businesslike person.
McQueen's film pitilessly documents the beatings, lynchings, rape and brutality of a slave-owning class half-demented by its own moral corruption, and routinely reduces audiences to tears. "There's been a kind of amnesia," he says, "or not wanting to focus on this, because of it being so painful. It's kind of crazy. We can deal with the second world war and the Holocaust and so forth and what not, but this side of history, maybe because it was so hideous, people just do not want to see. People do not want to engage."

HIS PERSONALITY AND LIFESTYLE SPEAKS FOR ITSELF - Maps & Networking. He always explored and tried to understand how things works together.
I found out how much McQueen uses nature of authority. He studied a lot of human senses. How they react, how they resist. He says that the human body is the art itself. He explores human relationships and tries to involve that in his films a lot.


In one of the interviews from The Guardian he admits that the reason why he reflects these relationships could be his memories. "This is hard because I'm going back to certain times in my life I haven't really thought about for a long time. And maybe I avoided that because it was always a very difficult time in a way, and a lot of people were damaged on that journey, friends of mine. And it was all because of people not giving a fuck." He was ignored and left with his own opinions alone.
About his childhood I found pretty interesting quote for that time, "Authority was good, that wasn't a problem. I wasn't a troublemaker, I was good. I was one of the cool kids, on account of being big and good at football". But in same time he admits that the most powerless in his life he felt during the time in school, it was horrible.

"I was a painter before, and it was always about the frame, of course. But within this frame, somehow, because of movement, because of things passing through the frame, it seemed to have a life bigger than the actual frame itself. That's the thing that gave me the passion to sort of want to make films." - Steve McQueen


Steve Rodney McQueen has explored a lot about the history. Reading his notes you can tell how  much he feels a shame and embarrassment about the history. 

 His work "12 years a slave" shows politics and history more than anything else. Very powerful movie in my opinion. It shows slavery form different perspective letting audition feel like being there in the same time with everyone else. 

 12 Years A Slave is based on a book McQueen's wife came across while he was working on an idea about a free African-American from the north kidnapped into slavery in the deep south. A prosperous black New York businessman, drugged by traffickers and sold into slavery, who escaped 12 years later and published a memoir detailing the horror of Louisiana plantation life.

 I am not really into the history but watching the movie everything feels natural and real. Every single scene let us feel the motion of that time. How politics work at that time. You have money and power, you do whatever you want. Money was the power over humans. The racism and horrible attitude made the history that nobody wants to bring up.
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