Objects At Rest

explorations in audio and moving imagery

Author: Grant

  • Vitruvius Update: February 2008

    VIT-UPDATE-20080225.jpg

    No Serlio, we are not done yet. I have finally got all the footage in order with a couple of proxy files [apparently that is the acceptable term for what I described previously] for editing in Vegas. The main sections of music have been recorded. Audio tracks and foley/effects work still remain.

    Another facet of this project has been to review the footage with a few rough cuts based on story board ideas from years ago. Indeed, Vitruvius is a project going back quite a bit and I’ll probably write about those details once the film is done. Some shots and scenes seems to be working while other sequences are not as definite. And so the editing begins, which for me is the ultimate “writing” activity of the film. I’ve started work on several test cuts of the film to determine where sections fall into place…and possibly where some things will get cut completely.

    In other news, I’ve started brainstorming for several future projects and doing test shots with an HV20 for my next stopmo experiment.

  • MonoMyth

    Well, while brainstorming ideas for future projects and researching things on the web I came across the MonoMyth site. What I like most though is the interactive MonoMyth creator and also the preset MonoMyths of some films to help illustrate the concept. UPDATE: Actually it’s only sort-of-nice. I thought it would let me create a myth circle and save it and come back to it later and such. But, as far as I can tell, it doesn’t. Still, the site is worth a look.

  • Vitruvius Project Update

    Slowly I am getting back into the Vitruvius project. Most of the puppet filming is done and now begins the task of creating the assets for post-production compositing. The Flash animation below is a test for the various line drawings that are planned for the film.

    The idea is to export animations such as this (running at 24fps) as image sequences for compositing with the stopmotion footage.

    In addition to the line drawing animations, I have been assembling portions of the Latin and Italian texts of Vitruvius and Serlio for the script. Finally, I will be revisiting the audio portions of the project including the music score in early 2008.

  • Armature 2008 – Tie Downs – UPDATED

    Update. I took another pair of carved shoes to try a modified design of the wire and brass nut. This time I wrapped the wire around the groove on the outside of the brass nut (see original posting below for context). I then placed the nut in a hole at the toe (instead of in the ankle) and curved the wire up through the ankle hole in the shoe. The idea is to allow for more flexibility of the wire at the ankle so it may not break as easily under repeated bending. My wire and brass nut are now similar to what Sven and Mike have done. I posted some pics of the new shoe:

    photo

    What may be different is that I am not permanently fixing the foot/shoe to the nut. The intent is for the design to allow me to have replacement armature parts, specifically wire. If my leg segment breaks I want to be able to swap out the wire and continue to use the shoe and possibly the brass nut. Hopefully this will allow me to do so since the brass nut and wire fit securely into the bottom of the shoe and I used hot glue (which I can release if needed) to hold it in place. In short, I can take the shoe off at any time.

    End of update, the original posting follows..

    I’ve been working on some tests for the armatures to be used in the next project. My design may not be original but I’m combining information from other stop motion animator blogs regarding tie-downs. I used the Hilligoss T-Shaped tie down for Vitruvius but this time I wanted to try something else. My new tie-downs are inspired by tips found in the blog archives of Mike and Sven and possibly other places that I can’t remember right now. For example, J-B Weld is the adhesive (Mike has mentioned that at one point) and the knurled brass nuts are placed in the foot (Sven posted something about those recently). I put the pics up on Flickr with notes and descriptions so go check them out if you like.

  • International Animation Day Recap

    October 29, 2007 was International Animation Day. The Atlanta Chapter of ASIFA screened 21 films at the High Museum of Art.

    In 2002, ASIFA, the International Animated Film Association, launched a global event to celebrate the art of animation. October 28th was proclaimed as International Animation Day, commemorating the first public performance of Emile Reynaud¹s Theatre Optique at the Grevin Museum in Paris in 1892. Each year, ASIFA groups around the world celebrate International Animation Day. In 2006 51 different countries in all the continents celebrated this day. – Source: ASIFA

    Apparently, all the ASIFA chapters around the world compile their local films on a DVD and send them out to the rest of the chapters. Each chapter then selects the films they want to show for their screening. The Atlanta screening contained films from Estonia, Bulgaria, Australia, Korea, Israel, Iran, and Hungary. The screening at the museum was great and I hope they are able to continue that partnership for this event. The turnout seemed pretty good and the films were great.

    For now I can’t find a web site with the Atlanta Listing for direct links to my favorite films (other than the link available above which you have to search through). Maybe updates will be posted in the future.