final animation cut

Here is my animation, as submitted for the final review for project B.

final animation stills

diagrammatic_analysis

Each of the images are different renderings of 1 diagram that analyzed the movement of the male figure across the frame from the first clip. The film clips I made below are the composite of 5 layers; the bottom diagram is color-coded according to the literal layer of the figure in space. Both diagrams above the colored one represent a more accurate depiction of the temporal-spatial movement of the figure through the scene. I think his lateral movement and haphazard stride is also more apparent in both the black and white diagrams.

I'm slightly intimidated, as this diagram is only about a third (~7s) of the first clip.

process_b

and so it goes... the first investigation and subsequent model generated were a good study, but holding me back in terms of analyzing the unique properties of the scene. I am interested in studying the emergent relationship resulting from a literal overlay of sequential clips in order to explore movement of the characters across the frame. First, I split the whole scene into the camera clips in order to superimpose them. Though each is of different length, clips were lengthened to a finite amount of time (20s) to exaggerate movement and track new relationships between the different physical layers.

Ideally, the physical form of the 'person' would dissolve and allow for a new reading of this scene from the "Lady from Shanghai." I intend to diagram this process in order to record new interactions between clips when viewed simultaneously. Especially interesting is the way in which the male figure moves across the scene; his very specific gait as is directed and reflected across the number of mirrors proposes opportunities for an animate new surface from which to codify and model.

2a process

These are a series of process images that illustrate the direction I'm headed. All allude to the potential of the artifact, seen at the top right of each image in perspective.

2a structure

Another means of investigation for this exercise involves exploring the film sequence in "The Lady from Shanghai" from a two-dimensional point of view using light. In the sequence I chose, the cinematographer highlights objects moving across a series of frames instead of moving the camera to compose a narrative. Those objects (whether people or otherwise) shot with the most light are conceptually pushed into the foreground, as our eyes are first drawn to contrast and areas of maximum brightness. In order to better understand how the cinematographer was using light in the sequence, I abstracted each frame into 2 levels: light and dark. This is illustrated in the first image.

I chose to diagram each frame using one line, composed of seven control points, to illustrate how the objects moved within the frame of the camera. My intention is to diagram each scene in the x- and y-axes, which will subsequently inform a model (using time in the z-axis) to emphasize temporal/spatial movement across the sequence.

The third frame illustrates the "hulls" of the line, which could in itself become an interesting diagram for the final sequence. It further abstracts the line I created with control vertices. Something I've been wrestling with is how should these new diagrams function? Right now, they are represented by a single line but I've been playing with the idea of having them become an enclosed new shape that mutates over the sequence.

2a diagrammatic analysis (latest edit)

This is the second iteration of a diagram I finished for class last week. The first 40s are still the same, but the latter half of the video is new. My logic and structure imposed on the video were as follows:

blue lines = horizontal datum
yellow lines = vertical datum
white rectangles = objects in either foreground/background
yellow planes = approximated angle of the reflected figure in mirror

I focused (mostly) on the movement of the male figure across the frame(s) of the camera and those of the mirrors. Each image represents 1s of film. I found the last 15s to be especially compelling; there's a great deal of layering, transparency, and mutations in scale that are well-composed.