Interactive Animation at Wonderland Unbound

LOS ANGELES, CA - My animation and interactive installation were exhibited at USC Doheny Memorial Library as part of Wonderland Unbound, the 10 yr anniversary celebration of the library’s Lewis Carroll Special Collection

Wise Words (for the Modern Girl), Wonderland Unbound (2014) 

USC Doheny Memorial Library, LA, CA
Architectural Projection
4 projectors, 200 ft.wide x 50 ft. tall

Total Running Time: 2 min/ 30 sec.

Try Me, Wonderland Unbound Exhibition (2014)
USC Doheny Memorial Library, LA, CA
Interactive Installation, 6 ft H x 6 ft W x 12 ft D
Vertical Projection, 5ft H x 3.5 ft W
Playing Cards

Installation at Doheny Library

WORK-IN-PROGRESS

Artist Statement and Proposal

Installation Test at the Game Lab 

                  Click This Text to See Movie

CREDITS

Playing the role of Alice is Nesli Erten, whose performance was captured and processed in real-time with the Body Scrub device.

Original music was composed by Jacob Pernell.

Architectural Mapping by 7StarSun.

The root inspiration for this project is Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Salvador Dali; 1969 (see below.)

Many of the ideas for this project grew from brainstorming meetings with USC Roski BFA, Roxana Eslamieh.

This project was the final assignment for Animation Seminar; Spring 2014; Instructor Lisa Mann

Animation Seminar; Spring 2014; Instructor Lisa Mann

Hench-DADA Student Work

I really enjoy the DADA student shows. In a sense, they are the first round for First-Frame. Seeing my classmates work helps me better understand them – not just as makers and storytellers, but as individuals. Grouped by instructor and course topic gives me a chance to looking forward and think about what I would like to do in the upcoming classes. I hope if my work is screened at next semester’s seminar, it speaks true of who I am – or better yet, of who I want to be. Isn’t that why we’re all here?

"Let us think of education as the means of developing our greatest abilities, because in each of us there is a private hope and dream which, fulfilled, can be translated into benefit for everyone …"

Proclamation 3422: American Education Week
John F Kennedy, July 25, 1961

7StarSun; Projection Mapping Technical Directors

This was the rare occasion that seminar speakers are also soon-to-be collaborators. Seeing 7StarSun’s presentation, then seeing their studio space in the Big Art Lab gave me the impression that the vibe for our group screening at Doheny would be more Burning Man than Getty. I  realized we were making – or should be making – work that compliments an outdoor rave, than one that illuminates a scholarly understanding of Lewis Carroll. That was refreshing and energized me to use Dance and Humor in my storytelling – rather than to look for some new relevance of this 150 yr old story to our times.]  7StarSun and this collaborative effort to celebrate Lewis Carroll gave me the OK to try to make work that simple -happy!

Wonderland Unbound Projection Mapping

I thought I was done with my final project when I presented my interactive animation tool, and the Try Me filter during the seminar. I had after all, just shown 1 minute of animation and provided a tool for making more in real-time. But I could not pass up the opportunity to use four 26K projectors to cover the 200 ft, wide x 50 ft. tall face on Doheny. Memorial Library.   So I spent nearly every waking moment and some sleep time, in the form of dreams, making Wise Words (for the Modern Girl),  a 2 min 30 sec stand-alone animation. Seeing it was a thrill. Sometimes size does matter!

Pablo Valbuena; Space, Time and Perception

The thrust of Pablo Valbuena’s talk, that “Light Matters,” is fundamental knowledge for all visual artists. His assertion that “Light has memory” felt right, and sounded less obvious than his thesis. Though I did not understand his explanation, I imagine that by pushing away darkness, Light can reveal hidden truths; that by the time it hits our retina we are actually seeing what was there at the time of impact. Typically this difference in the time of initial impact and retina impact is negligible unless it is happening in the vast space of the universe, where astronomers are actually looking back in time.

Mr. Valbuena’s work was stylish and handsome. His work mapped to architectural space felt more like exercises, perhaps for projector calibration/registration, than meaningful works of Art. And his work, which extends real space into virtual, really only works from a fixed location/perspective, and looking through only one eye. But it did seem to correlate with his earlier comment that the perception of a Rainbow’s location is dependent POV.
I would like to see Valbuena's Time Tiling series on the geometric patterns of Islamic Architecture.

I attended the opening of his exhibit at Project Young gallery. It’s a wonderful show about light artists, including works by Turrell and Campbell.

Stephen Hillenburg; The Art of The Pitch

This was my favorite presentation of the semester. Stephen Hillenburg showed us his path to realizing the elusive dream job. And this man-boy from California, via Oklahoma, made it look easy … like we could do it too!
Mr. Hillenburg certainly writes what he knows, and employs his life-long interest and college education in Marine biology – though I’m baffled why he would knowingly imply a household sponge is an ocean sponge.
He walked us through the Pitch Bible for SpongeBoy (later changed to SquarePants due to copyright rules) explaining it’s How/What/Where/ When/Why. He puts the main focus on the characters. He said: “The chemistry in the show is generated from its personalities.” He went in more depth by showing us the educational comic he made while at the Ocean Institute in Dana Point Harbor. And then we saw the comic book, which seemed to inform the TV series. I was struck by the enormity of his generosity when I realized he wasn’t just feeding us; he was teaching us how to fish.
Showing his first film, “The Green Beret,” connected the dots from where we are as students to making our first (really big) pitch.

Huckleberry Lain (aka Paul Shepherd); Experimental Visual Music, Expanded Cinema, and New Media.

Here it is – another wonderful example of what is possible after graduating from DADA. I applaud Mr. Shepherd for following his bliss, and for sharing it with us. We should all be so lucky to find our voice and express it so clearly, so soon after school. One change in language he may consider is to switch the word ‘experimental’ with ‘research’ in describing his work – and the work in the iotaCenter. As experimental films, it seems the audience doesn’t ask (or care) what the novel experiment is in the film. “Experimental” in Cinema in synonymous for strange, or weird. Calling it ‘Research” then demands the author clearly articulate the research goals, and the process for testing – and allows projects to still be considered informative, even if they fail as entertainment. In research, you often learn more from a failure than a success.

Elisabeth Mann replies:

I disagree. “Research” does not signify cutting edge the way “experimental” does. Research is not necessarily an alternative to the mainstream, in the way that the term experimental is (by definition.) Although experimental animation and commercial mainstream animation are not necessarily mutually exclusive (ie SpongeBob), research would seem to be the study or pursuit or practice of something, which may or may not be experimental. Research can be very mundane and ordinary and non-reactionary, unlike experimental work. The term avant-garde has pretty much been put to rest as a particular period of art and cinematic history, but the terms “experimental” and “alternative” are still widely in use. And, if experimental work is weird to you, it is probably as comfortable and “unweird” as sliced Wonderbread to someone else. Finally, the term “research” is associated with science. Not all of us produce work or have a process which falls into this category of scientific inquiry/method. Many artists are less scientific and more intuitive. Anyway, thanks Kurosh, for “the food for thought!”

The Future of Music Visuals 

 FIELD TRIP   Moogfest, Ashville, North Carolina

Thi Exquisite Forest is an online collaborative animation based on The Exquisite Corpse (Surrealists Yves Tanguy, Jacques Prévert, André Breton and Marcel Duchamp, France, 1925) which is based on the old parlor game Consequence. Mad Libs (Leonard Stern and Roger Price, USA, 1958) is another derivation of the game.*

From 2012 - 2014, website visitors could use an online drawing tool to create a short animation. Other visitors could then build off of that animation, resulting in branching, ever-evolving narratives resembling trees.

The project was conceived by Chris Milk and Aaron Koblin and produced by the Google Data Arts Team and Tate Modern. It makes extensive use of Google Chrome’s advanced web technologies, as well as Google App Engine and Cloud Storage.  A physical exhibit at Tate Modern was open for over one year beginning on July 23, 2012, and allowed visitors to participate using digital drawing tablets. As of August 1, 2014, the project is closed to new animations but the site is still open for those who wish to browse the forest of animations. 

* "There are no new ideas, just new media."
                                        Kurosh ValaNejad, 2014

Screen Novelties; Chris Finnegan, Mark Caballero, and Seamus Walsh

The guys from Screen Novelties leverage the magical math called synergy – where 1 +1 is greater than 2. And they enjoy its benefits of their collaboration (and cooperation,) by getting to run their own studio – and prioritizing playtime. They seem to have figured out how to have fun and get paid. It’s inspiring – and contagious, as I see similar synergy in many of the final projects.

Bob Kurtz, founder of Kurtz & Friends Animation

So much of what Mr. Kurtz said rang true to me.

• Animation is choreography.
• Use a live-action editor
• Go out into the World and experience it, instead of spending time in theaters. It is real world experiences which will inform our work and help us find our voice. (This was echoing Lewis Carroll wise words “You can't learn without living” )
• If you repeat, then it’s a craft.
• Humor is hard to pull off. After hearing Mr. Kurtz speak I feel more comfortable with the genre knowing that Comedy has comedic rhythms and timing 1is critical!
• Mr. Kurtz’s words hit home when he compared his approach to that of a Ninja, in that he hijacks his client's projects and makes them his own.

James Atkinson

James Atkinson has built an impressive career and should feel proud of his many achievements in visual effects. I appreciate his frank comments about the sacrifices required by this career path, Here are some quotes from his talk:

• “Getting paid is the most important thing.”
• “Projected matte painting is our bread and butter”
• “Game people will make the most money.”
• “I’m the one-camera guy.”
• “Don’t fall in love with your own work.”
• “Content isn’t important.” – when describing why he is most proud of his commercial “Liberty Answers”

Maybe I am being idealistic, but I need to love what I am doing – and what the work is saying – before I am willing to sacrifice my health and happiness.

Evan Harbuck said:

One of the big takeaways for me was his response to Kurosh’s question about the content of his work and that to him the artistry of the craft and the caliber of the team you work with overshadows the shortcomings you may find in the content of your work. I think that’s a very important message for anyone, not just in animation, to find happiness in what you do.

Erin Shea said:

As Kurosh and Simón wrote about, the way he described his relationship to his work and his career was off-putting for me.

Amelia said:

I agree with Erin, Kurosh and Simon. Those quotes Kurosh! Taken out of context they are kind of funny, but as an artist attempting to pursue her passion, those statements are kind of terrifying.

Jan Nagel -Networking: The Art of Building Relationships

Ms. Nagel’s experience in networking cannot be matched, but perhaps it is that experience which makes her advice seems dated. Her basic advice is still sound. Interpreting it and applying it to today’s market is ultimately our job, not hers. Cohorts start making professional friendships and make sure you are genuine in how you represent yourself, your interests and your skillset.  Don’t charm your way into a job. Charm your way into a job you love .. because like Love the quicker you fall in, the quicker you fall out of work.

Erin Shae said:

I really appreciated when Lisa and Kurosh made a point of saying that networking/talking with curiosity to people must be genuine, because after being in Jan’s class for more than half the semester, I feel she often forgets to emphasize that.

Expanded Animation

Expanding Animation with Procedural Tools and/or Techniques

1 Machinima

We are used to cycling animation, but rarely do we recycle it. Machinima is the use of real-time computer graphics engines to create a cinematic production. Most often video games are used to generate the computer animation. Its culture is based on recording gameplay, which provides a context for spectatorship, effectively changing video game players into performers.

Red vs. Blue (2003) was a successful early episodic machinima. It’s a parody of first-person shooter (FPS) games, military life, and science fiction films. It uses the videogame Halo; Combat Evolved

Episode 1 of season1: http://youtu.be/9BAM9fgV-ts

This scene is the decision-making point of the branching narrative, 

In 2006, with the support of the U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences, I developed a pipeline to show “How to Use Machinima to Rapidly Create Interactive 3D Training Movies.”

2. Rapid Prototyping (aka 3D printing)

Link my Rapid Prototyping Workshop


Printers and Vendors in and around campus
Roski School of Fine-Arts
Contact: Ann Page, spage@usc.edu
Location: Harris Hall 112D
Class: FA436 “Art and Technology” http://roski.usc.edu/undergrad/areas/sculpture/436.html
Software: Maya, Rhino, Zprint
Hardware: zCorp 3D printer; 310 Plus printer http://www.zcorp.com
Printer Price: ~$20K (Used ones can be found for $7k)
Maximum dimensions: 10”h x 8”w x 8”d
Layer Thickness: 0.0035 and 0.004 inches
Material: Gypsum, water based binder and infiltrate (similar to super glue)
Material Costs: $8.00 per cubic inch plus cost of SA’s time

Cinema FabLab
Location: TBD

Software: Catalyst®EX
Hardware: Dimension FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling); Uprint SST
http://www.dimensionprinting.com/3d-printers/3d-printing-uprint-video.aspx
Layer Thickness: 0.010 in
Printer Price: ~$15K (ICT purchased used printe, $12k, 600 hrs of use)
Maximum dimensions: 6”h x 8”w x 6”d
Material: ABSplus ™ - production grade thermoplastic
Material Costs: $10 per cubic inch, $6 per tray, …



Online Prototyping Services: www.shapeways.com/
List of the printable material: www.shapeways.com/materials
Laser cutting of many materials http://www.ponoko.com/photomake http://www.ipfl.co.uk/
Services close to USC http://www.crystalline-rp.com/ http://www.dinsmoreinc.com/


LA Hacker space, The Build Shop, Korea town, Bryan Jaycox bjaycox@gmail.com Same printer as Roski
Library of Free STL models http://www.thingiverse.com/
Pattern-making software: http://projectspace.co.nz/stuffed.html http://tamasoft.co.jp/pepakura-en/
Scanning from Stereo-pair photographs ($14) http://www.scannerkiller.com/welcome.html
Scanning iphone app: http://www.trimensional.com/
Scanning Service http://www.xyzrgb.com/
Scanning from 40 photos: http://labs.autodesk.com/technologies/photofly/

3. The Body Scrub Device, a virtual fun-house mirror

Media: Interactive Installation; Hardware: Kinect sensor, dual-boot Mac mini, High Definition LED screen; Software: Unity game-engine, Zigfu plug-in, Photoshop, After Effects
Dimensions: Adjustable; Shown here on s 42" LED screen, with a 16:9 aspect ratio.
Credits: The Body Scrub device was made for animators interested in interactive media. Its inaugural exhibition was at Mike Patterson, Candace Reckingier, and Nesli Ertien’s Rhythms and Visions 2, a Visions and Voices event. It was first discussed with Vangelis Lympouridis and Nesli Erten at the Whole Body Interaction Club, coded by Todd Furjmanski at the Game Innovation Lab, Nesli Erten created art for testing during development. and iterated as part of CTAN 462: Visual Effects, taught by Eric Hanson;


EXHIBITION HISTORY
2016 Field of Play, the Strong National Museum of Play, Rodchester, NY
2015 What Makes a Monster?, Doheny Memorial Library
2014 Wonderland Unbound, Doheny Memorial Library
Ghosting, Experimental Animation and Games,
2013 The Sideshow of the Absurd, Fine Arts Center of CO
Bedrocktober Fest, Bedrock Studios, Los Angeles, CA
Redefining Animation, School of Cinematic Arts Gallery
Society of Animations Studies Conference, USC
IndieCade Showcase at E3, Los Angeles, CA
Interactive Media Building Opening, USC School of Cinematic Arts, Los Angeles, CA
Firebird Rising, El Portal Theater, North Hollywood, CA
Rhythms and Visions: Expanded and Live 2, Visions and Voices, USC, Los Angeles, CA


In addition to exhibits featuring my filters, the have helped the following USC SCA Faculty and Students to make filters for their own exhibits
2015 What Makes a Monster?, by Brady Thomas Doheny Memorial Library
What Makes a Monster?, by James Cox, Doheny Memorial Library
2014 Elisabeth Raff, surface + depth: Media Arts + Practice UG showcase
Salon Make-Me-Over, by YoYo Lin, LA Art Walk
Glitch, by Joel Suarez, Bedrocktober Fest
2013 Blooming Flower by Nesli Erten, Rhythms and Visions 2
In Memoriam, by Christine Panushka
Redefining Animation, School of Cinematic Arts Gallery
Society of Animations Studies Conference, USC

4. Stereoscopy with the HyperView, i.e.: The Kneeler (2003)

The Hyperview offers the highest possible image quality for viewing stereoscopic images and animation. You can buy a hyperview from the Berezin Stereo Supplies website here. Or make one for a fraction of the cost by purchasing 4 front surface mirrors and some wood or plastic.




By Pamela Joseph with Kurosh ValaNejad, and sound by Liliana Mejia
Multimedia, multi-sensory, interactive, stereoscopic installation
Delivery Device: 4’ wide x 5’ deep x 5’ high
Enclosure: 5” wide x 7” deep x 8’7” high

Body Scrub; Gender

Gender is a virtual mirror, that uses a prerendered animation of a blue male symbol changing into a pink female symbol.

Input frames for the Gender filter.

It is intended for display outside of public bathrooms.

Restroom facilities, Interactive Media Bldg

It reflects users as male and female symbols.

Gender was developed at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, and was tested during the school's annual faculty retreat in March, 2014.

Gender was an official selection at the Moogfest conference in Durham, North Carolina, May 19-22, 2016. 

North Carolina has become the epicenter of a political battle over transgender rights, because the highly controversial House Bill 2, a.k.a. the bathroom law

Users interaction footage: Carolina Theater, 1st-floor Bathrooms

 

REVIEWS
Noisey, VICE’s Music Channel, Rave Inspired Art Project is Breaking Down Gender

Electronic Ladyland; Moogfest’s quest to Equalize
Consequence of Sound, 8 performances to pair with panel (pg3)

Hardware: Kinect sensor, dual-boot Mac mini, HD LED screen; 

Software: Unity game-engine, Zigfu plug-in

Dimensions: Adjustable;  16:9 aspect ratio.

A Fieldtrip to The Huntington

SAN MARIN0, California – Standing in the outer vault of The Huntington Library, I had a real-life arrowhead moment* as I watched curator Daniel Lewis hand Tracy Fullerton Henry David Thoreau’s handwritten manuscripts of Walden (or Life in the Woods.) I was there with the team from the USC Game Innovation Lab making Walden, a game. At first glance lab research assistant, Logan Ver Hoef said: “Thoreau’s handwriting really was terrible.”

These documents, and literally billions of dollars worth of literary works, are kept safe in the Library’s sanctum sanctorum, the inner-vault of which we briefly caught a glimpse. Seeing, touching and reading them energized us during a critical week – as we finalized the game’s first festival build. We are grateful to Professors Peter Mancall and Bill Deverell, our colleagues at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences, for referring us to The Huntington, where we were able to connect with our project’s mother-ship**.

Moved by the magnitude of wisdom represented in this tomb of books, project director Tracy Fullerton felt privileged and humbled. “After so many solitary research trips to the pond, sharing this fieldtrip with the team was really a special moment.”

Inside the climate-controlled, nuclear-bomb-proof vault, we delighted in the smell of old books. As we left, the change in humidity triggered a sneeze and comment from research assistant Alexander Mathew. “That was like $5000 of manuscript dust I just cleared from my sinuses.”

Left to Right: Todd Furmanski, Alexander Mathew, Tracy Fullerton, Logan Ver Hoef, Kurosh ValaNejad
Alex is holding the tattered lab copy of Walden. Tracy brought along the copy she read as a teenager.

__________

*In Walden, a game, when players balance their basic and higher needs, they reach a state of inspiration revealing the buried arrowheads around them. When picked up, quotes from Walden (the book) are paired with framed vista, further enriching their aesthetic experience. At the 2011 Chicago Humanities Festival, Tracy describes how the environment serves as a meter for the player’s state (of balance.)

** The term “mother ship” emerged from industry and was coined by Henry Jenkins as referring to the primary work which anchors a franchise.

(Click any image to see its larger source image.)

We stopped for a team picture in the Gallery of Quotes.

Tracy reads a key passage from the printer’s proof of Walden during a tour of the Library Exhibition Hall.




__________

Daniel Lewis is the Dibner Senior Curator of the History of Science, Medicine, and Technology and the head of the manuscripts department at The Huntington. He occasionally lectures at USC!

To learn how USC Doctoral and post-doctoral students of the Huntington-USC Institute on California and the West enjoy resident scholar status at the Huntington, read Treasures of the Huntington by Pamela J. Johnson from the Spring 2006 issue of USC Trojan Family Magazine.

If you visit The Huntington, don’t miss Beautiful Science: Ideas that Changed the World a wonderful exhibit curated by Mr. Lewis. It was recognized for Excellence in Exhibition Design in 2009 by the National Association of Museum Exhibits.