Category: Monochrome

Link to padlet: https://padlet.com/artslondon/monochrome-g2pl9027uv651rd6

Monday

On the first day we were introduced to the monochrome brief and the concept of experimental animation.

Our first task was blind contour drawing with objects. We did a non dominant hand drawing, a drawing where we drew what we felt, and a drawing where we couldn’t look at the page.

I really enjoyed this way of drawing and I think the outcome is really effective. As a class we had a look at everybody’s and some points I thought were interesting is that the drawings looked like someone else drew them. The way that you could see marks in the drawings getting harder as people got more confident with blind drawing is something I found very interesting and an idea to revisit.

Using these rubbings we created our own pattern animation after watching Jonathan Hodgson’s animation, Rug.

Once having a go at pattern animation with created patterns, we then went out onto the campus to find patterns and objects to create more animated tests with.

Wednesday

On Wednesday our first task was to write uninterrupted for 3 minutes. This was a time to write down any ideas and let things flow naturally. I struggled with this at first but as time went on, I found this a very therapeutic task and found it gave me a lot of visual ideas.

We were then given photocopies of articles and images and using a square template we were to cut out sections from these images that we felt resonated with our project.

I found this a difficult task as we were so early on in the project, I didn’t feel my project had much of an identity at this point. So I just started using the images I had chosen to come up with themes and narratives.

We played around with changing the order of the images we chose, to create different narratives. The themes I gathered from my images was the idea of community and solidarity, transitioning from to the other.

What I enjoyed about this workshop and Monday’s session, was working with existing material. I liked seeing how much I could do with an existing drawing or image.

As a collective, we all wrote down as many what if, and how questions about the project. After reviewing everyones questions the ones that stuck out to me the most were:

What if the film only used text?

What if we reversed a sound recording?

How could the feeling of a colour be portrayed with black and white imagery?

On Thursday I wanted to build on the sessions from the week with my own test. I wanted to incorporate pattern animation and working with an existing material/object.

I was also intrigued by the question of ‘What if the film only used text?’ whilst a receipt can have other shapes and symbols it is mostly text, paired with them being monochrome, I thought it was an ideal material to use.

I did some quick shots just using my phone and compiled them together. I zoomed in as much as I could and thought it was interesting to see the grain and texture of the receipt and the text printed onto it.

I played with using the numbers and having them change whilst getting progressively faster. I created my own sound, using the receipt itself to make crinkling noises and used a roll of masking tape to create an interesting sound for the ending.

I found this test really helpful for my project as it pointed me to a direction I was intruigued by and willing to revisit later. I liked the way the imagery built up in pace and sound, creating an overwhelming and uncomfortable sense of urgency for the viewer.

Friday

On Friday we looked into Richard Serra’s verb list. We had to pick two of these and create tests with paper. I found this a nice change in direction from anything we’d done in the past week but I didn’t find the process or end result to be as exciting as our other ways of working.

Lazy, Boring, Ugly

On the first day of the project Chris set us a mini brief – to explore the term monochrome in a lazy, ugly or boring way, thinking about the approaches we have used in the past week.

At first I struggled with this concept and it really challenged my normal way of thinking. I decided after seeing how effective my receipt test was, I wanted to try using another found material.

After researching the artist Yoshinao Satoh and his film Papers I wanted to try using a newspaper for a test.

Link to Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56EG957YinM

I really liked the fast paced nature of the animation and the way that things moved in a way that you would expect but it was still satisfying to watch as newspapers are never something you do see move.

A part that stood out to me especially, were the puzzle areas of the newspapers. I liked this idea as the puzzles in a newspaper start out blank, leaving you to fill them in, which is an idea I wanted to play with.

I did a few different tests using the sudoku puzzle as my canvas. I tried doing a time-lapse however the camera kept going out of focus so instead I tried a stop motion test, taking a phot every time I wrote down a number.

I thought this would fit the ‘boring’ theme as I don’t think watching someone else work out a sudoku puzzle is particularly exciting to watch however after making this test, I got feedback from people saying it was actually quite satisfying to watch. I also see that myself especially alongside the typewriter sounds I added.

I think subconsciously I was making it something satisfying to watch as that’s how it feels to complete one of these puzzles.

This test, whilst not necessarily being ‘boring’, I think was a very successful test in pointing me in the direction I wanted to take for this project. I liked that you can see the lighting change with how long it was taking me to complete the puzzle, you can see the paper moving and creating dents where my hand had been resting, you can see an eraser moving periodically and I think overall it has a very handmade feel to it, which I enjoyed.

Monday

This week was all about materiality and how could we push the limits of the material chosen.

A film we were shown that particularly stood out to me was Jane Aaron’s Travelling Light. I liked that it makes you believe it’s one thing at first and then it’s revealed that it’s actually another.

Our first task was about hand drawn animation and after being shown some films we were left to explore the process ourselves. We had to all start with the same square template and go from there. I tried out straight ahead animation as I feel it is the most organic.

The test I ended up with was okay, but it didn’t excite me very much, I liked the movement but maybe if it was a different material like ink, or clay it would feel more intriguing to me.

Wednesday

On Wednesday we continued with our hand drawn test, but Chris introduced an idea to fold our paper over and over to create six smaller frames out of one piece of paper, forcing us to change the scale in which we were drawing and see how that would effect the final animation. I found this addition to make the process much more exciting and satisfying as there were more challenges with this, forcing me to be creative.

I drew out the square template in the centre of the paper for 24 frames and found as many textures around my room as I could.

Friday

Friday was our first session in the stop motion room, where we brought in our own materials we wanted to explore and creating our own tests.

After my sudoku test I was really interested in using the newspaper as inspiration, especially the puzzle sections. It got me thinking about printmaking and how I could use other methods of printmaking to animate, in this case I was looking into monotype.

I thought the crossword puzzle would be an interesting one to play with. The shape is similar to the sudoku (a square grid) however certain parts are blocked out which makes for a distinctive, iconic look.

I did some tests with a receipt as well and that turned out to be an interesting look, however for this specific animation, I was focused on the crossword.

I think the final test was successful, whilst the outcome is not what I thought it would look like, I ended up liking it more. That you could see where my hand was pressed on the ink when drawing gives it a very human feel that I liked.

As the ink dried fairly quickly, the drawings are rough and often unfinished, but this gave a more interesting movement for the animation.

I found this outcome interesting as these crossword shapes are something you see perfectly printed in the newspaper with its’ blocky shapes and uniform lines, so it was nice to see it in a messy unconventional way.

Monday

Starting the week off with another session doing our own tests in the studio, Chris encouraged us to try using physical objects instead of 2d and hand drawn tests, the objects giving us it’s own limitations to work with.

I chose to use a pack of playing cards, taking out the red cards. I thought after looking at my previous tests and what was successful, the cards gave me a good opportunity to work with more pattern animation and also numbers, with the sudoku tests being my inspiration.

I managed to get two tests out of this session. I wasn’t massively happy with either of them and found it very difficult to get started. Every time I came up with any sort of idea I kept shooting it down as it felt too obvious. After speaking with Chris he told me that’s not necessarily a bad thing and to just run with it.

He mentioned that just doing the ‘obvious’ thing can lead to other interesting ideas.

In a couple of our sessions recently he has spoken about the approach of making first and thinking later, and thinking through making. That whilst making our tests we are making loads of creative choices that we can then reflect on later. I found this extremely helpful in moving forward with the project.

Wednesday

Today we went on a walk as a group. We got set up with some sound recorders and went out on our route. We would stop at intervals and read extracts of texts and some poetry. The aim for the walk was to slow down, reflect and just be in ‘receive’ mode, to let ideas come to us and to let our minds wander and question.

I found this a bit strange at first, but it turned out to be rather therapeutic. I found that I did get a few ideas by just letting my thoughts wander.

One of my main recurring thoughts I was having throughout the walk, was how much it felt like Alice in Wonderland. One moment we were walking past these massively tall buildings that make you feel absolutely tiny, the next we’re turning down a cobbled street where the cars are from 1950, the small buildings make you feel like a giant and you almost forget you’re in London.

I took these photos as I feel they connected with my project and the tests I had recently done. The uniform shapes and lines felt similar to the compositions I have been working with.

When we walked past this, I found it quite interesting as it looked rather out of place. The bright colours and straight grid sat next to the dull wonky pavement and brick walls, felt very appealing and fit in with my ideas about Alice in Wonderland and feeling misplaced.

After we returned from the walk, Chris asked us to reflect on our thoughts and feelings from the walk, and to listen back to the recordings we had gathered and create a pyschogeographic map of the walk, on how we experienced it.

I had some off cuts from my mono prints and used them to collage my map together.

I took my idea of feeling too small and too big in the city and ran with it. I wanted to try and make it somewhat uniform as that’s what the walk felt like, seeing a lot of very clearly planned and thought out buildings and pavements.

Friday

To end the week we were continuing making our own tests exploring any more materials we could.

As a lot of my work so far had been found materials and objects, I wanted to try somethings different. So I used paint of perspex.

I wasn’t really sure what I wanted to do with it at first and had no clear idea or plan for this test, so just used Chris’ idea of thinking through making and just began working.

I zoomed in really far and found that the texture of the brushstrokes made a interesting composition that reminded me of the barcodes from my work with the receipt.

I feel as though this test has potential and is something I want to explore further.

The sound of silence

At the beginning of the week, Chris set us another mini ‘brief’, for us to create a test exploring the sound of silence. He showed us a couple artists giving their interpretations of it, I found Bill Viola’s interview particularly absorbing.

I recorded me and my friends playing a card game as not only did I feel it connected to my previous tests but I felt that even though the act of placing the cards down is quiet, what those cards can mean, is loud.

I wanted to revisit the newspaper and the square template and played with composition.

Though it is a fairly simple test, I think it was quite effective. I edited my original recording and duplicated the sound of the cards being shuffled towards the end whilst the visuals got quicker to create this overwhelming pace which I am happy with the end result.

Monday

Going into the production section of the project, I didn’t have a massively clear idea yet about what my final film would look like however because I had built up lots of tests to reflect back on, I felt confident in the process of creating my film.

As I had explore a few different materials I wanted to make a decision on what to move forward with. I chose to further explore the receipts and to experiment with incorporating the paint into the piece.

Monday was mainly spent playing around with the camera and trying to zoom in as far as I possibly could. I had a bit of trouble as when the camera zoomed in all the way, it struggled to focus properly. I also played with using the push in mask on dragon frame and this was very useful to get even closer, past what the camera could do.

I found when exporting it came out slightly grainy, which I actually thought worked well. It had a slightly hazy feel and you could really see the texture of the receipt. However I had to be careful as there were a few moments where midway through the test the camera would lose focus and I would struggle to get it back to its original state.

Wednesday

Now I familiarised myself with the camera setup I was happy with, on Wednesday I was able to just jump straight in and get on with some more shots.

I wanted to have another go focusing on the barcode elements of receipts. As I had gathered lots of different receipts I noticed how they have different sizes, lengths and width of the bars; so I wanted to try and play with that.

For this test I wanted to be mindful of the cropping, to see how it would look if the composition was all lines and there was no context of the rest of the receipt. I also found that a lot of the receipts had creases and folds in the barcodes, and instead of flattening it out, I wanted to see how that would add any extra movement to the shot.

I found this to be extremely effective and I really like the added element and wanted to embrace this for the future shots.

Another test I did was using the whole of the receipt. I used loads of different receipts and, similar to my previous tests, wanted to create an overwhelming build up of visuals. My idea was to find blank parts of the receipts and slowly start revealing more and more of the receipt, random numbers, symbols, then letters to words. I thought it would be interesting to play with the idea of the audience not knowing what they’re looking at until it is slowly revealed.

I feel that this test was very successful and I was pleased with the outcome.

Whilst I don’t think my initial intention worked as I wanted – I should’ve made the build up even slower if I wanted there to be a ‘reveal’, however I still think this test revealed something interesting that I wanted to build on.

Friday

To end the week, I wanted to revisit animating with paint. I wanted to see how it would look transitioning from receipt to paint and vice versa.

This time I was set up at the multiplane, so I spent some time fiddling around with the lighting and camera to see what worked well. I ended up using a Lightbox and putting the perspex over the top and so the light was coming from beneath the paint.

I did a few short tests expanding from my original one. My main focus was looking into the texture of the brushstrokes and how I could manipulate them. In one test I started to use cotton buds for a variation of line and this made an interesting composition.

Whilst I think I came across some interesting imagery with these tests, I don’t feel they work well with the overall film. I put the receipt tests and paint tests onto a timeline so see how they transition from one to another and it was not as seamless as I had wanted.

I decided to just stick solely to working with the receipts. `However had I have a longer project, I think I would revisit the paint and mixed process element.

Monday

Going into the final week of the project I had a much clearer vision of my final film. To resolve the issue of the camera going out of focus, I photocopied the receipts and enlarged them.

The only downside to this, was that I lost some of the original texture from using the actual receipts, but decided that it was better to do this.

A lot of my shots so far were focusing on the barcodes and the numbers, so I wanted to try and look at the words in the receipts and see what I could do with them. The main words that are repeated on multiple receipts are, total, please, change, balance, and card. The words that stuck out to me were please and change. Paired together I think they create a powerful message.

I also did some lighting changes, I realised through my tests from week 4, I wanted my final film to have a cold and gritty feel so I made amendments to the lighting.

I wanted to have these two words pop up in the midst of fast movement, almost to catch the viewer of guard and break the fourth wall. As it goes on I wanted these words to have more and more screen time until it is the only thing to look at.

Tuesday

I decided to come in on Tuesday to continue working as we wouldn’t have Fridays session to work.

All the shots I had done so far were really close up and whilst it was still obvious the material I am working with, I wanted to explore some shots zooming out.

I did some replacement animation with the receipts on the multilane set up. I experimented with the lighting and found that a really low light from one side worked really effectively as it displayed all the crinkles and folds in the receipt and created some beautiful harsh shadows.

Originally I had the black foam background directly underneath the receipt but soon realised my mistake and that I needed to move it to the second layer of the multilane as when the receipts were moving, the background was moving alongside them.

I was pleasantly surprised by this test and really like how it looks as though they’re floating in a void.

Wednesday

I came in early for the session as I knew I had a lot to get done, so first thing I did was put all my clips so far onto the timeline to see where I was at and where I needed to fill in the gaps.

I found that my shots were working really well so far and I really loved the mix of closeup and wide shots. I started experimenting with intercutting clips together and really got a sense of what this film should look like.

As an experiment earlier in the week, I tried photocopying a receipt onto another receipt and the printer messed up and it printed it diagonally with big blocks of black ink covering areas. At first I discarded this as a fail and was going to put it inside my sketchbook, but then thought it would be interesting to animate with.

Prompted by this discovery, I wanted to try photocopying onto clear acetate and animate the acetate moving on top of the original receipt.

This was also extremely effective and if I had more time for this project, it is definitely something I would explore even further as I feel it has a lot of potential.

I spent the rest of the session playing around on the timeline and figuring out worked well and what didn’t.

Thursday

As my animation itself was finished, I dedicated this day to sound. I was already thinking about sound throughout the whole production process, so the weekend prior I went to lidl and recorded the soundscape.

I started by just putting the sound alongside the visuals and see what stuck out to me. I immediately picked up on certain sounds like paper bags crinkling, basket handles being slammed, beeping, trolley carts, and the instructions from the self checkouts.

I spent the whole day testing and playing with the sound. Chopping up certain sounds and different beeps. As my intention for the film was to get more intense as it went on, I followed that with the sound.

I found this process extremely enjoyable, much more than I anticipated. I found it really fun to assign certain visuals, to sounds. When the numbers go up, I chopped up the beeping noise to make it really fast and match the speed of the visuals.

Overall I am extremely happy with how the sound turned out and it completely changed my view on the final film.

I would definitely be willing to explore sound as a primary inspiration for a future project.