Locomotion part 2

Regarding motion for digital images, what is so appealing about it to me is related to the editing. It's probably my most favorite part about production of audiovisual material. Editing is a job that requires a lot of polishing for every object you work at, yes maybe like most jobs or at least arts... Checking that the music works, verifying everything is in place and all fits well. There is always something more that can be improved, but there is still the sensation of progress even if keeps needing refining.

motion design exercise, by me

motion design exercise, by me

Interdiscipline and influences

It's very exiciting discovering the influences other artists have had to get to where they stand. It's like a collage and you can see where the thin stripes come from, how in the mind of the artist someone or something put that thought (concept, element, feeling, mood) in there and was developed further. From Hugo Ball to David Bowie and Klaus Nomi to Lady Gaga. From John Handy to King Crimson to Tool. From Ladislas Starewitch to Svankmajer to Michel Gondry and Terry Gilliam. From Kafka to Everyone.

The most interesting and beautiful is when it's truly merged and you can't really tell anymore for sure where each piece comes from, where has the inspiration been drawn from. Everything is in a mix of life experiences and different artistic disciplines and ideas.

Dinosaurs have influenced the last century very much.

 
King Crimson

That's ridiculous

There is so much attractiveness in the ridiculous. But this word has made a bad reputation in the daily life. In films and TV it's very different, is it not? When we say something is ridiculous it's because it's something incredible and even funny, worth to mention and to remember.

One of these is in the movie Inglourious Basterds, when the american soldiers want to fool the nazi general disguised as Italians, thinking he won't know a word of Italian but he speaks it flawlessly and makes them have a hard time. 

Inglourious Basterds by Quentin Tarantino

Sometimes that odd moment comes at some point suddenly, surprising us and even blowing our minds. Like in Svankmajer's Meat Love, where we were invited into a different world within the world we know and then taken back abruptly just like we got in.

short photo sequence, by me

Locomotion

This is a strange sensation. Recently I have been experiencing the pleasure of animating drawings (classical animation) and also digital images.

When I see my drawings suddenly become alive in the screen it is very satisfying. They are not anymore just dull lines badly traced, the drawing has drawn some beauty to itself somehow. It's probably the only thing that I like just because I made it and not because it's actually good.

short animation, by me

Svankmajer

Svankmajer is a surrealist artist who made various short films featuring all kind of things moving around in stop-motion fashion. Not only visually, but also his concepts are quite interestingly put, makes you really think about the visuals he manages. And that has become for me one of my major influences when it comes to audiovisual thinking, also awakening my curiosity for animation. When I saw his work all I wanted was to make stories out of anything.

Clever, mysterious and mind-boggling. Meat Love. This is the real deal with it.

He doesn't like the modern animation techniques and still today works with the materials we see in his classic works and live-action.

More about Jan Svankmajer
Svankmajer (IMDB)

Musicality

The music in audiovisuals is to me very important. High aesthetic value. A scene can look very different with different music (even if all of it is is apparently appropriate), even to the point of being disliked just because the wrong music has been chosen.

Many years ago I had an assigment to produce a photo sequence and it was disliked very much by numerous instructors, it was just disastrous apparently. Then what I did was select other song for the final review. They thought I had changed a lot of things about it and they liked the video a lot more, they couldn't notice what had been changed.

Would Quentin Tarantino movies had been the same if he had not been very careful with the selection of the songs for his movies even if other alternative songs carried the same mood? I don't think so. They have an extra meaning within the visuals. And the visuals have an extra meaning within the music.

Inglourious Basterds by Quentin Tarantino
song by David Bowie

The process

Once in a while there is something that makes one perceive (or even conceive) the world differently, not only in the daily life but also in the ways of artistic expression. I have for long felt that the best and most honest (and maybe the only) way for me professionally is the one of the arts, where I can be widely creative and give some meaning to what I do. 

Every time I found something since that would make me feel closer to arts, I would admire it and look further: It was the midpoint I guess, where my life gave a definitive change, when I got to listen King Crimson. It just made me want more, I was very excited... Since that moment I honor it and I call it my favorite music band of course. My mind started to be more open then I'd say.

In this video they look very unusual playing an unusual song. It was not their first I listened to but it is one of my favorites. They are a progressive rock band that still plays today (with different members). Their first album was considered one of the first conceptual albums 45 years ago.

King Crimson