Composition - Time

7/10/14
The Effect Of Motion On Composition

Composition is further achieved by the addition of time allowing compositions to move through multiple states using rhythm and pace to accentuate the emotive experience. Repetition enables the use of visual pattern whilst motion further develops compositional play. 

For this project i am going to be creating a short series of stop motion animations that play with composition. 
I will use starting points that i developed in the previous project (Composition Static) I will identify the compositions that i think are the strongest and would work best to animate.
I am going to create short sequences that accentuate and communicate further the intended feeling. I will consider how the addition of time might add to this and how i can reach the movement the composition created for the word. 

Composition:

com·po·si·tion [kom-puh-zish-uhn] Noun.

1.  The combining of distinct parts or elements to form a whole.

2.  The manner in which such parts are combined or related.

3.  The result or product of composing; a mixture or compound.

4.  Arrangement of artistic parts so as to form a unified whole.

Time:

NOUN 

1 [MASS NOUN] The indefinite continued progress of existence and events in the past, present, and future regarded as a whole: 

travel through space and time one of the greatest wits of all time

6 [MASS NOUN] The rhythmic pattern of a piece of music, as expressed by a time signature: tunes in waltz time

SYNONYMS rhythm, tempo, beat, pulse, flow; metre, measure, cadence, pattern; accent, stress.

The tempo at which a piece of music is played or marked to be played.

ANIMATION IS ALL ABOUT TIMING

The definition of “visual” rhythm: movement by the repetition of objects

Could this, by it’s very nature, be animation?

Key

By this definition.ANIMATION IS RHYTHM

Definition: “visual rhythm” 

movement by the repetition of objects

visual patterns emphasizing repetition the alternating light & dark areas lead the flow of the eye when drawn across an image.

 Bridget Riley ‘Breath’ 1966

Movement of the eye is directed across the page and up and down the page by the alternating light and dark areas and the shapes they create together repeatedly lead the flow of the eye along with them one after the other etc. This is showing visual rhythem in the image. The shapes in the image also create that of sound waves in a way and emphasise this idea of visual rhythem and therefore shows a good starting exaple. This piece also shows some illusional qualities. 

Definition: “progressive rhythm” - 

the shape & size of the pickets in the fence appear to decrease from the left edge of the photo to the right edge.

The perspective of the image suggests quicker shorter movement towards the right of the image as the eye travels across it from the larger shapes created by the fence to the smaller shapes. The shorter lines making up the shapes on the right and gradual lac of space between each shape suggest that the movement is getting faster as the eye travels left to right across the image. 

Bridget Riley ‘Intake’ 1964

shows a similar example of the idea of movements in still image and progressive rhythm in an image, as the lines she shows get smaller towards the left of the image creating perspective and faster movement. 

The pronounced slant of a line gives it dynamic quality. The dynamic force is enhanced when the lines are unequal lengths and with unequal distance between them. This diagonal line suggests movement. 

Definition: “linear rhythm” 

characteristic flow of the individual line

Wider shot and slanted perspective emphasise a visual "line”. This leads the eye from one side of the image to the other creating movement in the image. The eye follows the thick line created in the centre of the fence caused by shadow and space.

Bridget Riley ‘Movement in Squares’ 1961

This piece shows suggested movement and line in the image due to the positioning and sizing of the shapes. This creates and illusion effect and makes the image appear to be a 3D curved form either side of where the line is created and making it appear as though the line is a gap between the two curves. This leads the eye up and down the line but also around where the curved illusions are created around the line. Following the suggested shape with the eyes. 

Norman McLaren Lines Vertical 1960

McLaren's has used the movement of the shapes to create a certain mood or feeling. the colours and the simplistic movements that overlap and aline, creating balanced compositions within the frame are creating a tranquil atmosphere. the music he has added to this piece shows this feeling portrayed as well and exaggerates it.

THE USE OF SPACE

Spaces between the forms, or the negative shapes, play just as great a role as the positives and they enable you to check the accuracy of your drawing. The positives make the negatives and negatives make the positives.

Stan Smith, Landscape painter

Use of positive and negative space & strong contrast for compositional effect, visual interest, narrative structure and atmosphere. 

Ruth Lingford 'Death Of a Mother' 1997

Norman McLaren:

“Movies move! How it moves is as important as what moves.”

A simple Jerky Creepy Walking effect used in horror films. from Winston Varn on Vimeo.

This is a video i found where the artist in the video is showing the viewers how to create a jerking walk illusion that looks very suited to the horror genre and has been used in various horror films to create an eerie uneasy feeling and to add a sense of horror to the film such as in 'The Ring' this technique has be used. I thought this was a good example of how movement itself can portray a feeling and add narrative and atmosphere to a visual piece of work. In this video by simply having the actor moving in a twitchy unusual way and 'contorting' the body in strange positions as they walk this can create a very uneasy look to the scene, and creates an unhuman like appeaerence and therefore adds mystery and fear. As the creator of this video mentions when talking about how to create this effect, the way in which the actor moves effects and has an impact on the audience to create this feeling of horror and this same idea of movement could be looked at with regards to moving a composition of shapes (which is what i will be doing in this project). The idea of having shapes in a composition twitching and jerking in similar ways could also have this effect on the audience to some degree. 

What I Did:

I decided to chose my threatening, tension and euphoric compositions to explore movement and capturing the essence and nature of the word in the movements of my animations as well as the static compositions i have created. I will then, if i complete these and am happy with them choose others of my compositions to move if i have time. 

Threatening movements:

Sudden fast movements, slow to build tension and rise the feeling of threat. All shapes closing in on the white space. 

I created some thumbnail story boards in my sketch book before i started creating the movements for my threatening composition on istop motion. This was my first attempt:

My thought process behind this moving composition was to have the thick dark boarder close in on the frame to start with, to create an uneasy feeling right from the beginning of the clip. i then made the pointed shapes move in from the dark boarder threatening to close in on the light space within the frame. Then i made the shapes move back into the boarder slightly, fairly slowly, and had them jolt back in towards the centre of the frame in stabbing motions to create increased feelings on tension and danger i then had all the shapes push into the line in the composition threatening to break it however not breaking it as this would end the treat and turn it to action. 
I decided however that i was not happy with these results. I think that the shapes moving back into the frame, gave a release of tension and threat and some breathing space, however i wanted to create a building sensation of tension in my piece. Also i think that by making the shapes touch and stab the line in the composition this could actually be the end of the threat in the piece as it could look like the shapes are already attacking the central line and there for no long only appearing to be threatening. 

This was the next attempt i created to try and give the feeling of threat that i wanted. I made the entire thing move more slowly and made myself have more control over the movements and how slowly they move. I made the whole frame move in very slow to create a slow building feeling of threat and increasing darkness. i then made the shapes move out of the dark frame still moving very slowly, and twitching slightly as they move in to create feelings of unease as this is an emotion that comes with the feeling of threat. I had the line in the composition slide in quickly more so just to experiment with different levels of speed in the composition than anything as i still had the sharp shapes moving slow when this happens however the effect worked. I then had the frame and the shapes squash in even more closing in on the light spaces to an extreme amount and rising the feeling of suffocation and threat of suffocation and threat of darkness. 

The previous video unfortunately shows my hand in parts and some masking tape on the edges in parts which i had used to secure the card i was working with (so that things didn't move that were supposed to stay still as i was creating my animation). Thank fully as this animation was was pure black in the areas where these things shows i was able to simply mask them out in photoshop on each frame. I also adjusted the levels to correct the lighting and light balance error at the end of the video where all the shapes go greyish and show where they overlapped etc as this ruined the intended feeling of the finally and build up to the finally of increased threat. 

Tense Movements:

The idea i had behind these movements was to have a contrast of fast and extremely slow pase of movement to amplify the tense feelings when the shapes moved slow about the touch and getting closer and closer to each other. And to draw out this time of when they would touch to increase tension. This means that there is a tense space and tense sensation of time both being shown at the same time when i make my shapes draw up close to each other. However my overall movement of this animation was far too fast and the same atmosphere is not created because of this. The pace of the movement of shapes at the end needs to take even longer i think to really emphasise and exaggerate this feeling of unbearably close tension yet no touch to draw out and the extended length of time is what will enhance this. 

In this moving composition i used the same idea as the animation i made previously for my tension composition, however i made everything much slower and more drawn out and i also made the shapes push backwards when the rectangle gets close to the smaller square however still not letting them touch creating that feeling of tension and almost magnetic repulsion being forced and squashed towards each other with the repelling tension in between them. I then make all the shapes move back towards the left once the larger square meets up with the rectangle at a very slow past again creating an extended feeling of lack of resolution of touch and therefore amplifying the tensions.

Again this animation had a couple of masking tape scraps present in the side of the frame and so like i did with the threatening composition i removed these mistakes in photoshop frame by frame. This created an overall more organised and simplistic visual effect to my pice with less distractions contrasting inside the frame and therefore drawing all attention to the movements of the composition itself and allowing my animation to deliver its message and feelings at full capacity.