References to project 1

Finally have the time to update this blog a bit. Gona post up the references i had for this project before i forget.



That was the Matrix raining tutorial i found online. I tried to follow it, but it was too complicated for me due to my lack of understanding in After Effects. So in the end i had my own way of making the matrix effect. Though in the end im not plannin to use it, but still, it was worth the time to figure things out.

Ive also been lookin into the Matrix Triology movies and reading about them on Wikipedia. I wanted to look into A.I (Artificial Intelligence) movie, but i couldnt find it in the libary and the VDO Ezy near my place doesnt have it T^T

Matrix is kinda communicating a posthuman idea aswell, as Neo and the others are depending on machinese to take them into the matrix world and do all kinds of things. Though it was a story of machine against human, but the human also had to depend on the machines to destroy the machines, and the machines depends on the humans in the cask to provide them energy. So kinda like my idea of how machines and human are interdependent on each other.

smoke brush link

That was the smoke brushes i used in my animatics and rough cut.



I was plannin on using techno for sounds, but im rethinkin about this. BUt yeah, i looked into Daft Punk's music a bit for reference.

for my sounds, i went to Flash Kit for them.

Besides these references, my previous entries also stated that i had looked into the anime, Lain, and Ghost in the Shell.

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Haha, a reli cool vdo on youtube that Helen recommended



and a vdo that one of the master student recommended me to take a look at.



see, if only my 3D was THAT good, i wouldve done that too XD hahaha, just kidding.

animatic draft

The clip doesnt have sounds yet, im still tryin to look for suitable sounds for it. But please let me know what you think, thanks!

Concept Update!

After discussing with Troy, ive decided to go forth with my second concept (All-In-One), where posthuman is both illusional and real. The animation will focus on how Human (the "form") and techonology are interdependent on each other inorder to stay alive (ex, a computer itself is dead if there are no users using it, and a posthuman relies on technologies to get through his/her day). The illusional and real part of the idea comes in place when the "form" imagines an object (ex, a car) and the object becomes a real item for the "form" to use. Once the "form" uses the item, it then merges with it and thus, communicates the idea i mentioned in previous entry:

"we morph........ into the system"
"we merge.........with the system"
"we become a part of the system"

Im now conducting my character sketches, trying very hard to avoid directly using a human figure to represent the human form. Rather, i wanna try to use abstract elements to bring out the idea im tryin to communicate.

For characters, im going to incorporate the Taoism idea of Yin and Yang. According to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yin_yang), Yin and Yang are opposing forces that are interconnected and interdependent in the natural world, giving rise to each other in turn. Thus, my "form" will be represented by Yin and Yang to communicate the interdependent idea in a metaphoric way.

Now i just have to figure out the colors of the bkg and characters.


Im hoping by friday, ill have everything ready and start animating some clips to present on monday. Most likely, ill be working with illustrator, photoshop and aftereffects. Though Julz suggested tht i can use Flash and do what japanese animes always does (draw one image and pan it over to other layers and keyframes so that when you need to move, you only move small parts like the mouth), but i dont wanna use flash anymore T^T

Now im looking into some aftereffect tutorials, but i think for the effect im lookin to create, i better ask ppl instead, since i duno what its called.
Creative Cow


Some movies im looking into are Spirited Away, Lain, Ghost in the Shell.




For Lain, im lookin into the effects it has in the opening animation above; Like the computerized stuff that makes everything look liek its there but not really there.

PostHuman Project Unleashed!

OK, so first day back and we're introduced to our first project, ANIMATING THE POSTHUMAN (Posthuman: are ppl that relies on technologies to get through the day; how technologies affects our daily lives).

Though i havent really thought about how ill be going through with this project, but ive came up with two concepts that i might be working through with.

Concept 1 - Helen's day to day routines

Basically, this idea portrays myself as a posthuman, telling the story in a first person's perspective. It begins with Helen waking up with an electronic alarm clock (displaying reliance), getting herself ready to go out. When it comes to transportation, Helen drives her car (car, another form of technological development). She then heads to the store to grab some neccessities, which she will then do a self checkout (reliance on technology) before she heads home.

During the time, Helen will perform other forms of reliance like using her mobile for instant messaging and calling her friends. When she arrives back to her house, you'll see how her house is operated by a block of computer: the garage is operated by a computer (senses when the car arrives and closes when the car is parked inside), the lights and temperature regulator is switched on once Helen steps inside the house, the stove automatically switches on and starts cookin meals when Helen presses a few buttons for choosing cuisines, and the shower turns on with temperatures set by the detection of body temp when Helen steps into the shower (if youre cold, the shower becomes warmer, vice versa). After all this, Helen gets into bed and turns on her computer to check her emails, msn, facebook etc (just to show some daily things that people seem to MUST do before they sleep nowadays).

Once Helen is done with everythign and falls asleep, it goes into the ending of the animation, where electricity (in the animation, it is displayed as the main source of power to function all these "powerful" technology) fails and Helen's world goes into chaos because she cant do anything without these technologies (displaying what happens when we over-rely on technology); Helen cant cook cause she relies on the electronic stove to prepare her meals, Helen cant shower, cause it was all electrical, Helen cant even get out of her own house cuz shes locked in. Basically, Helen cant do jack and ends with her crying out loud.

What this concept is trying to communicate to its audience is that, though techonology is powerful and can do almost everything for us. In the end it is still just a machine, and when we rely on it too much, we cant do anything once they fail.

This is a more literal and direct approach towards teh project. For a more abstractive approach, i have here another concept to propose.

Concept 2 - All-in-One

This concept merges the idea of posthuman being just an illusion and posthuman as reality. Im not too sure whether my idea can communicate this idea thoroughly but what im planning to do is to display a form representing a human being (so...not exactly a human) doing some random things like getting into car or operating a computer. But what will be emphazised in this idea is how the "form" operates these equipments.

What i was thinkin was that the form will press a button, or "thinks" about the "item" and then the iteam (ex, the car) appears. This represents the illusional part of the idea because the car for example, is not really a real item in the world, it was only a "thought"(made-up) by the "form". Illusional, yet real, because the form will then be operating it (rides the car to certain places).

Then it shows how the "form" opperates a computer. Computers are no longer seperate objects from us, it becomes a part of us, or...we become a part of it.

"we morph........ into the system"
"we merge.........with the system"
"we become a part of the system"

So in the end of the animation, it shows how the "form" is just a million bits of data flowing in an empty space.

Quite abstractive, but duno yet whether it communicates teh idea effectively enough.


So yea, those are my two ideas, now im gona begin my reasearch and further develop them and see which one is more suitable for this project, or i might end up using something totally different. Feel free to comment =)