Travel Fellowship Proposal, Timeline, and Budget

         Ever since I was young, I’ve drawn the world around me. Buildings, people, animals- any and every thing was subject to my gaze, my #2 pencil, and my sketchbook. The world didn’t exist for any other purpose except for my creative endeavors.

As I’ve grown, that mindset of continually gathering inspiration from my surroundings has only grown. Since coming to the Memphis College of Art and having my artistic mind kindled, my passion for my art making has grown strong. My surroundings influence me substantially. The autumn colors of Overton Park, the geometry of Rust hall, the tables at a local pizza joint- every thing feeds into my head and brings me new ideas.

It’s this compulsion to draw inspiration from everything that has prompted me to apply for the Travel Fellowship Scholarship. While there are many things here in Memphis I love, the chance to leave the country and experience new places and new cultures is the chance of a lifetime, and I won’t pass it up. 

Going to Italy has always been a fantasy of mine, and there is no place in the world I would rather visit then Venice. The city, with it’s truly unique atmosphere and architecture, fascinates me. It is here that I would choose to investigate. For my project, I propose me going to Venice and doing what I truly love- draw from my surroundings. I would explore the city, experiencing it’s culture, it’s architecture, and it’s beauty. Taking with me my sketchbook, I’d fill every page with ideas for projects which I could then apply to my art: animation.

Animation is one of the purest forms of visual storytelling. No other art form breathes as much life into an idea, literally giving movement to line, form and color. I would take the findings and experiences I obtained from my venture into Venice and funnel them into an animation that would combine the beauty of the city and culture with my aesthetic. This coupling would make a piece that at once defines me as an artist, as well as my experiences in Italy. Then, taking the piece, I would make a web page dedicated to my trip. Documenting my journey from the start, the website will include journal entries, my sketchbook pages, and then the culmination of the experience as seen in my animation in a clearly organized timeline.

Of course, if I want to do this, I must also have the knowledge to carry it out. The question of whether or not I have the ability, drive, and the equipment to carry out this project is answered with a resounding yes. MCA has given me processes and knowledge I can use to both accumulate and utilize the data I would get from the trip, and I have also recently acquired a copy of ToonBoom Animate Pro, a professional grade animation program I would use in the construction of my final piece.

Attached with this proposal is both a timeframe, which I will adhere to adamantly to ensure efficient working, and a budget, which I will use to ensure the awarded scholarship is used effectively.

Venice is one of the most inspiring cities in the world, entrenched in culture and inspiration ripe for me to utilize. The Travel Fellowship Scholarship would allow me to not only experience this city, but also to create documentation and work that would truly draw from that experience. 

Timeline: 

• June 2, 2012- June 17, 2012: Depart from New Orleans, La. and arrive in Venice, Italy. Spend two weeks abroad, studying and drawing from the city and culture. On the 17, return to New Orleans.
• June 18, 2012- July 25, 2012: Work on and complete an animation drawing inspiration from the accumulated data and experiences of Venice.
• July 26, 2012- August 31, 2012: Work on and complete a website dedicated to the trip, encompassing all journal entries, sketchbook pages, and the finished animation in an orderly timeline.

Budget:

• Airfare (round trip): $1680
• Accommodations: $1500
• Food: $300
• Emergency Funds: $200

Storyboard for "Submarine"

Here's my animatic for my final. I feel pretty good about this piece, I think it can be very successful. Let's see how everyone else likes it in class, hm?

Assignment Write-up For E. Fiasco + Final Plans

For my tutorial, I decided to find and execute a nice underwater effect. Why? I'll explain in a sec. First, here are the videos I used for the tutorial.





I found these videos on youtube, and there from another site called shortformvideos.com. The narrator was clear and to the point, and the video was extremely easy to follow. All in all, an EXCELLENT tutorial. Here's the video I came up with:

I didn't fiddle too much with what the video taught- the effects were were really nice, and I honestly didn't feel the need to fix what wasn't broke.

I added the submarine for one pretty major reason: my final. I chose the water and the submarine because, for my final, I want to make a piece that focuses on a submarine moving through various environments in the ocean. Always moving left to right, and for the majority of the video in the middle of the screen, the submarine will move through it's surroundings, unfazed by the many things happening around it. The story will be broken up into various scenes, all of which being different from the last. I love the idea of "the journey," and this piece speaks fully unto that love. The sub will be our anchor in this vast strange world, also speaking for a few other topics I'm interested in- technology vs. nature and the idea of vast loneliness.

Here are ideas I have for the scenes:

1) We open on the sub. It's already moving along, establishing that it's been doing this for a long time.
2) the sub moves through a coral forest, disturbing sleeping fish.
3) the sub moves through a pitch black cave, the only light coming from a mounted headlamp.
4) Blue whales swim past the submarine, huge in scale and majestic.
5) The submarine moves through a pirate ship, lost on the bottom of the sea.
6) Dolphins play around the sub, nudging at it.
7) Sharks surround shark cages, with the people inside waving to the sub.
8) A giant squid swims past, and then reaches for the sub, only to be thwarted as the sub moves into a jellyfish forest.
9) The sub passes some divers observing some ocean life, who wave.
10) The sub moves up a steady incline, then surfaces on a beach. Having reached the end of it's journey, the subs hatch opens, and the pilot pokes his head out and stretches.

All in all, I think I could easily do this piece, thanks to the nature of the animation. A lot of the scenes require very little animation- just the set up of the environment, the subs steady jostling, the moving objects. It's gonna be a pretty fun little piece to work on. Plus, the split scene format will make for good transitions and easy compiling. AND the "splitness" will allow me some wiggle room, giving me space to experiment without compromising the entire piece.

When I think about how I want to speak to my audience- I really want them to walk away from a whimsical piece, thinking about the vastness of the world, and how small we are in comparison. I also want them to think about the journey the sub makes, and why it makes the journey. By not explicably making the reason obvious to the viewer, they'll think on it and project their own thoughts to it, and that will make the piece a little more personal to the individual.

Camera Test Write Up

So after fooling around with the camera for a little while, I decided to go with a collage-like piece. I like the aesthetic of pieces like this, and, being a fan of "Paris Street, Rainy Day," I thought, "Why not animate this a little?"

The piece itself is pretty simple, just moving through space, with moving figures. I just wanted to experiment with how well the shadows work with the different layers. I like how the aesthetic looks, so I may end up using similar effects  in my final. We'll see how the class responds.

Quick Write-Up on Blue (pre-audio)

AW YEAH FINISHED MY STORYBOARD!!

So I'm really happy that I got through to the end. I still haven't touched up a lot of my criticisms, but I will between this, and the audio grade. I'm in a really good place with this piece, and I finally feel like I'm beginning to understand why people like this damn program.

The final, final, final, final Write Up

Voila! Here it is. This piece is finally done enough for me to send it off and feel... okay about it. I'm still frustrated with quite a few parts of it, namely the whole have a gigantic comp that is not even being fully used and just has most of the movie in it. O and it's blown up by like 3000%. Next time, I swear that the mistakes I made this time around will be fixed, not only for a better project, but so I can actually make my vision of the piece a reality. 

That being said, Blue is still a piece I'm proud of. It was, more than anything, a learning experience on time management, and how much I need to edit down my ideas in order to make good, well-built, and succinct animations. This is the kind of piece you work months on and give it everything, not three all nighters a week (trust me, I'd do more if I could, but my I need to try and pass my other classes, too). 

So thank you, AfterEffects. Thank you Blue. I've learned a lot about the two of you, and I think that in the future our relationship will just keep getting better and better. Until then, adieu.

Midterm Revision, Plus Thumbnails

So here's a revised version of the project I turned in last class. The piece is stil really rough; I haven't had a chance to go back and edit everything that I have been critiqued on. I spent the last two days working on trying to resolve the piece, creating a new background and assets, hoping that the editing and animating would go by quickly. Sadly this wasn't the case, And I had to make ANOTHER false ending. This one, however, makes sense, and does resolve the piece, but in such a way that frustrates me- I still haven't had a chance to follow my storyboard, and I am going to be paying for it.

So heres the thumbnails I picked from the piece that I thought put it in a nutshell:

I'm especially pleased with how the sunset thumb came out- it really captures the mood I was trying to set.

And here's my video...