Maya is Giving Me Trouble

I downloaded some models from Autodesk 123D Catch to prototype the Dolly-Zoom shot with more detail. Maya started crashing as soon as I got in today, and things only got worse. Around 8:30 the program crashed, and I could not even import one of my auto-saves from earlier, so I gave up. Wasting hours on a poorly constructed 3D scan that I am not even planning to use in the final is proving to be a waste of time, so I am going to make a good model from pictures I am taking  tomorrow.
Hopefully I will be able to get a decent prototype for Wednesday.

Coen Brothers on Every Frame a Painting

http://www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/news/a42468/coen-brothers-movies-explained/
Every Frame a Painting analysis of the Coen Brothers

Kinetic Typography Test

First try of the kinetic text poem for the butcher shop interior dolly-zoom scene.

Kinetic Typography Tutorial

Short Dolly Zoom

An extremely close wide angle to medium dolly zoom has a surprisingly comical effect

Kinetic Typography

Kinetic Typography Channel is all about moving text


Moonrise Kingdom Kinetic Typography. from ANALOG EIGHT on Vimeo.

https://vimeo.com/channels/kinetictypography

The Power of Joseph Campbell

My approach is based on the premise that resonance is a pattern that can be mapped reproduced. I am not suggesting quality can be evaluated or engineered with a formula like Komar and Melamid, but forms like the hero's journey and characteristics of protagonist vs. antagonist reoccur and can be as a reference to analyze and inform the creation of narrative work.
Joseph Campbell's theories were used by George Lucas to add a legendary epic quality to Star Wars, and I hope that analysis of similarities across mediums can be used to enhance and preserve aspects in a mixed medium. My project is testing this idea with a user driven animation that is attempting to preserve the intimate charm of a book while communicating in a way unique to the new form.

Motion Capture vs Motion Poem

The Motion Capture for the words in the street shot did not turn out as well as I hoped. Especially when you put it next to a motion poem like this:

I kind of envy the flow and camera freedom.

I was thinking something that was closer to the goose's feet might speed up the tempo. I think there is some sort of mental POV shot (Barsam 100) like this that is used to transition from one environment to another, but I cannot find a reference.

Anapestic Tetrameter

Understanding Metre with Dr Seuss

four rhythmic units of unstressed + unstressed +stressed sometimes referred to as a "reverse dactyl") in a line 
https://badtoverseblog.wordpress.com/2012/11/05/understanding-metre-with-dr-seuss/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anapestic_tetrameter

Another Glitchy Animatic

The render farm does not like to render beveled text without deleting history, so it intermittently dropped the font and skipped a few frames, but I got enough to put together a prototype.

Terminology

Terminology

Philosophical Framework

• Expositive - clarifying of reasons, arguments, and communications (Austin 162) 
• Utterance - string of words (Austin 76) in relation to my application - an aspect of the form with communicative properties (as separate from the intended message, interpretation, or psychological response) 
• Constative Utterance - relays information without eliciting a reaction or response; statement of fact (Austin 46) (Austin doubts possible the possibility; When and why does one give information without reception? (Austin 109) This term is much more valid in the context of a book, movie, or video game, because you can use the communicative elements of the medium separate from the discourse of the narrative. For example you can give the page number, the menu of a game, or the credits without it having any emotional reception. 
• Performative Utterance - performing of an action; not simply passively describing reality, but they are changing the reality they are describing (psychologically/socially) (Austin 19) • Performative Formula – The transformation of a constative utterance to a performative utterance (to make explicit) (Austin 33) 
•  Locution - the full units of speech (Austin 94) 
• Illocution - concerned with the communicative effect (Austin 94) 
• Perlocution - concerned with the result (Austin 94) 

Philosophical FrameworkAustin, J L. How to Do Things with Words. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1962. Print.

Cinematography

• dutch angle (Barsam 213)
• Dolly-Zoom
• Shot/reverse shot (Barsam 491)
• Self-reflexivity -"The quality of a form that reflects, mirrors, and even critiques itself" (Barsam 490) 

Barsam, Richard M. Looking at Movies: An Introduction to Film. New York: W.W. Norton, 2004. Print.

Using Parody Movies to Analyze Cinematic Phrases

I have noticed parody movies are pretty good for analyzing cinematic communication because they over emphasize typical devices for comedic effect.

Shaolin Soccer uses conventional editing techniques, but stretches the suspension of disbelief to a ridiculously unexpected extreme to mock the action film genre

The climax of Shaolin Soccer

Use of point of view editing

The cinematographer shows a series of progressively tight shots of a corner of the goal to communicate that the kicker is aiming for the tight corner and an eyeline-match cut of a look of determination to show the conflicting moral positions. This is a classic example of point of view editing.
The movie follows with separation editing (cuts between 2 or more characters to show conflicting goals). (Barsam 313)

Illocution of the Scene

explicit - the kicker (and by extension the protagonist's team) are facing a bigger problem than they are prepared for
implicit - popular action films exploit the audience's naivety

Perlocution of the Scene

explicit - the protagonist have a virtuous naivety

implicit - a sensation of humor and identification through the parallel naivety between the audience and the protagonist 

Barsam, Richard M. Looking at Movies: An Introduction to Film. New York: W.W. Norton, 2004. Print.

Barsam's example of separation editing is this scene from The Shining

and POV editing is this scene from The Birds

New Demo Reel

I put together a new reel for the Pixar intern opportunity. I tried to do a quick retexture some of my old stuff before I submitted, but I ran into some trouble linking maya and Mudbox and the files did not work in Maya 2016 (odd... I thought they were corrupt but they were fine in 2014).

Demo Reel from Jonny2Thumbs on Vimeo.

Another Dolly-Zoom Prototype

I think I should have left the "See" letters fixed. I attached them to the face so they could look at the camera, for dramatic effect.
This might work better if the text was black and the word was color, but I want the imagery to unfold. Maybe if they switch places, like the world starts white (with the texture of paper), and the text is color; then the text turns color, and the world turns black.

Integrating Interactive the aesthetic of a Book and Interactive Media

I am a little inspired by Lumnio City. The game environment was built and shot, and the characters were animated over using a lot of the same techniques I am using.The look of the environment is unmistakably real, and captures the aesthetic of a small handmade environment with a prominent short depth of focus and the texture of the paper.

I was thinking a similar technique mixed with a book sculpture might add more interactivity while enhancing the feel of a book.

Book Artists

Brian Dettmer

Emma Taylor

Mocap Text Prototype

Digital puppetry... The motion is going to need a lot of editing.

Trying to Excivate the Structure from the Psychoanalysis

Lacan's structural analysis of  real, symbolic, and imaginary is so intertwined with Freudian conjecture that I am having trouble concentrating on the philosophical forms.
Lacanian experience and almost speech act theory...

Lacanian Demands Really seemed to be going somewhere with the "lack in the real is transformed into the symbolic medium of language", but his philosophy is based on desire and envy.
I am hoping algebra might lead somewhere more pleasant... (Sesame Street?)

The four positions in each discourse are:

Agent = Upper left. This is the speaker of the discourse.

Other = Upper right. This is what the discourse is addressed to

Product = Lower right. This is what the discourse has created

Truth = Lower left. This is what the discourse attempted to express.

The four variables which occupy these positions are:

S1 = the master signifier

S2 = knowledge (le savoir)

$ = the subject (barred)

a = the objet petit a or surplus-jouissance



Langue encompasses the abstract, systematic rules and conventions of a signifying system; it is independent of, and pre-exists, individual users
parole meaningful utterance

A Couple More Words

Butcher shop interior (text world shot?)
down sidewalks
through doors
up aisles,
to places where people go
(Dolly zoom shot)
the things he expected to see
is not what people do

Setting up Nuke at home

I have been having trouble getting the lighting in my virtual environment and the footage to match up There is a bit of a black boarder on everything (especially the tuba or anything chrome), and the contrast on the colors has always needed a lot of tweaking. The guy from Renderman said a problem mixing linear RGB and sRGB  would cause a similar problem, and Adobe After Effects could not deal with linear RGB. So I downloaded Nuke, and I am trying figure out how to use it now.

interior

I am having some trouble with the prototype for the interior dollyzoom. I made the shape with a high poly-count boolean, and they can be glitchy. I will post some photos later, but the renders from frame to frame where different, so the video does not make any sense.