Fun While Learning ASL

My internship in college was spent preparing video assets to be used in an iPhone application that will be used to teach parents and toddlers sign language. It had a slightly different look before, but since the final thoughts on editing and style have been laid out, I have an example I can show. The project is still underway, so only one example for now...

Infinitesimal Rebranding Series

I originally branded infinitesima.net from the red, blue and green bars alone set on black. I'd become convinced the site felt too student, rather than a professional portfolio, in part because of the font and the emphasized I's in the logo (I wish I'd been more typographically aware), so months ago, I previewed a new black on white logo, which would have required a complete rebrand of the site.

Although that logo was well received, a couple people said my original branding was clever, and should be left, citing my Creations page headers which featured the original logo stylized to reference the title. So I left the branding concept and modified the text, basing it on the newer logo.

...although the text looked nicer (and kind of cool with the infinity in negative), I felt the bars looked out of place. A friend commented on the RGB making it look a bit amateur. After that, the more I looked at it the more out of place they felt. Rather than go back to the branding question, I kept the bars, but made them all grey. At this point I have an all grey on black concept, a little achromatic for a minimalist design site. Then inspiration. I think I've found my answer:

Lightsabers

This was an early assignment from my motions graphics class adding the lightsaber effect to a scene from Phantom Menace. I purposely avoided giving them the correct colours just so it was evident I didn't just take the final result right from the completed film.

Entering The Second Dimension

This was something I had done in After Effects with a jpg. Without such modern techniques, one would have to be mad to think you could truck a camera into a still image. Well, I'm about to walk with you into an asylum of old. May you find the help you need, as I have.

The Image:

And The Result:

Why, yes. Yes I Am a Nerd.

...now don't tell me you didn't also think of this a long time ago. I just had to photoshop a Kim Cardassian pic...

A Little Progress...

Not including the time preparing each individual frame, my Flash walk-cycle from early last summer, The Stranger, took me the better part of an evening to get working correctly. In part, that was because I hadn't learned very much Flash at all. I hadn't learned any Action Script yet but 'stop.'

Being the lover of after effects that I am, I decided to set out on taking some tutorial on animation. After the last posting on my blog, I completed this walk cycle in a lot less time than The Stranger. I simply hadn't uploaded it 'til now.

Coming Soon

Missed Opportunity?

I photoshopped several images to enter a photoplasty contest on Cracked.com, but due to being at my cottage and lacking internet, then internet being out at home when I got back I missed the deadline. But maybe that's okay.

The Topic: Things That Should Never Be Musicals.

My Creation:

Sources:
http://images.buycostumes.com/mgen/merchandiser/11656.jpg
https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAJhLF_DBZyuUx4TETVKqCdq-8cZv7yms9zQpFlW57chfewLwBuWAxiuU9za7lzQvuSLJXQOs2o9NWEArcF9dOMu4RTMO0I5kpmABlzDVEp___58JrWWOp5Fy-ORB72AUZFgP0WvyEXUc2/s1600/the-walking-dead-the-walking-dead-16919291-1200-960.jpg
http://www.nickcannon.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/jackson-lays-down-some-moves-in-the-zombie-dance-scene-from-his-1982-thriller-music-video-ct.jpg
http://backyard-tanks.com/Tank_T72_olive%20crop.jpj.jpg

Printed Tool Book

As a follow up to my previous post, I thought the best way to show my booklet would be physically. The next best thing is to just photograph it. On the off chance I don't get it back from my professor, I'd like this record of it for now because it's just so much cooler on paper than it was on screen. Even though that's what it is now in this entry. I should note that I'm extremely tired and should probably have waited 'til morning. And in the future I might refrain from blogging so late.

Addendum:

I've submitted the book, and received very positive feedback on the layouts, however having lacked the guidance offered had I been capable of attending those classes, I did have some typographic flaws I will fix up. Most notably I'll probably make the text colours more white. As you can see in the images some of them printed a little dark, plus I need more unity.

Reprinted

So... Somebody in my semester beat me to the punch. As I had broken my ankle, I was granted an extension on my final Print class assignment, which was to create a 12 page booklet plus cover. I had initially chosen Trent Reznor, as you'll note by my previous entry, but last week, while volunteering for the Seneca College booth at FITC, I had the chance to look at a few examples of that assignment. One was a booklet about Nine Inch Nails. It was very well done, and I had no desire to compete, as we all all know the difference between saying Nine Inch Nails and Trent Reznor is semantic.

Tool is my other great love in music, so I chose to go with them. But, I wanted to step out even once more. Anyone choosing a band or musician would have some sort of bio perhaps, the band's origins and a description of their work. So I did not chronicle the band's history, I decided to focus on a single album. Anyone who knows me, knows I chose Lateralus.

Initially, I wanted to have one page per song, but then I would be robbing some songs of deserved spreads, due to the page limitation (I'm sure my teacher would accept more, but I need to get this in. I might create one for myself on my own time). Also, one of the main focuses on the assignment was spreads. Furthermore, the content had to have a little more to it. Columns, for example.

My solution was to:

• List the tracks first and display the band
• Describe the concept of the album
• Describe the creation of the album
• Give lyrics and information for the three singles, "Schism", "Parabola" and "Lateralus"
• End with a "Reflection" summary (with the lyrics of that song)

I've decided to post my favourite of the spreads for this assignment, the "Creation" spread.

Copy is modified for the spread from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lateralus.

The image is from a Tool t-shirt called "Think Man"

How Could I Forget...

I've uploaded my personal demo reel... Check it out at http://www.vimeo.com/22691902

Two Page Spread

I've not yet mentioned on my blog that I'd broken my ankle and required surgery. I'm okay, but as a result, I had fallen behind a bit in school, particularly in my print class, as all of my appointments were scheduled Tuesdays, my print class day.

Thankfully, I have a most understanding professor in that course, so I will be submitting my final in the coming weeks. My second last assignment however, was to create a two page spread, as a sort of rough layout to start the final, which will be a 12 page (plus cover) magazine that we chose a topic for. I've chosen Trent Reznor.

Infinitesima Logo on White v.2

The more accented infinity symbol version on my latest pamphlet design.

Tilt Shift

Thanks to Gail MacKenzie for retweeting Youtube's link

http://youtube-trends.blogspot.com/2011/04/10-popular-tilt-shift-short-films.html

...making me need to learn the technique. Not just for film, but photography also.

Unfortunately, on my student budget of nothing I have to settle with simulating it; I can't afford to buy a lens, much less one to rig into a tilt shift lens (see the Youtube link for a how to).

So, just for fun, it was off to the creative commons on good old Flickr.

The shot's look better from above, to give the miniature model illusion more credibility.

Here's the original and manipulate versions:

Next: Video.

Fighter Parallax

http://vimeo.com/21618061

Learning To Fly

So I've been working on it for several days anyway, but tomorrow, I will be formally assigned an After Effects project "introducing" the concept of parallax. The assignment asks for a minimum 8 layer composition, creating the illusion of 3d with 2d imagery.

Having been a fan of Andrew Kramer's work on videocopilot.net, I was familiar with the concept already, so six days ago, I began compiling assets from the internet and modifying them in photoshop considerably, readying myself for this project. This is the first project in a long time (outside of my video work) that I've felt compelled to far exceed my requirements, but I love this feeling.

More To Come...

Old DMA Ninja Film

My latest After Effects project was to take 1 second footage of two ninjas provided by our professor and key out the bluescreen and put in appropriate background.

Because I was a big fan of the early Mortal Kombat arcades and couldn't help but think of Raiden and Shang Tsung, I started looking for levels from either MK1 or MK2.

But, I decided the footage would look out of place on those backdrops, I just googled "Japan" and found an old grainy photo at http://peace.maripo.com/images/slc_japan.jpg

That made this project for me, but after colour correction and matching the grain, it was missing one touch of that old film look. I remembered an early tutorial on videocopilot.net which featured blank 8mm film. I added it and voila.

The Start of Rebranding

So I started toying around with the idea of rebranding my website, starting with my logo. I like the RGB bars and how they tied my site together, but the drive behind my entire purpose with that site was originally based on its name, Infinitesima (in case you're wondering, it's pronounced "infinite-ESS-immah"), which is derived from the word infinitesimal, meaning infinitely small.

At any rate, I wanted it to be tied with the concepts of infinity and zero, and not so much the primary colours of light.

Here's my new logo, to be displayed on white, rather than black

Obi Wallace Kenobi

So my first update of fourth semester is the second Motion Graphics lab: We took a 1 second clip from Braveheart and gave one of the Scotts a lightsaber. Perhaps an unfair advantage over the English, but Longshanks' reign was a bloody one...