Funny Images
One of my favorite projects this year was definitely the funny image composition project. I really enjoyed getting to this of some dumb jokes, then using the Photoshop skills I learned for my surreal image to create some goofy and lighthearted images.
On the first slide is “Def Sheppard”, a play on the name of the band Def Leppard with a German shepherd photoshopped atop Joe Elliot’s head. I also changed up the L in their logo to an SH using Illustrator.
On the second slide is “Crash Be Upon Ye”, my take on the meme format of Eminem throwing something at the camera, in this case being a Photoshop crash warning (bit of a meta-joke here).
“Def Sheppard“
3-Image Composition
Behind the scenes
“Crash Be Upon Ye”
2-Image Composition
Behind the scenes
Motion Graphics
The motion graphics project was also absolutely one of my favorite projects at Freestyle. I got to dive deep into After Effects, unearthing a years-old idea I’ve had to animate a composition to a section in the song “The Future of the TAIKO DRUM / Taiko de Time Travel 2765” where the bpm and genre changes rapidly, representing different eras of music.
Behind the Scenes
To create my motion graphics composition, I used a handful of techniques– some of which I was familiar with, and some I learned. To get the pedometer effect on the big bpm number in the middle, I used a plugin I found on the internet. Then, for the waveforms, I used the audio visualizer effect built into After Effects, with some opacity automation as the song pans from left to right. Lastly, I used some clips from YouTube to serve as b-roll for each era represented in the music.
Multi-Layered Art Project
For my multi-layered art project, I chose to design and put together a lightbox. The inspiration for my lightbox was a concept of what a human hand would look like when infected with exomoss, a fictional substance I came up with for my worldbuilding project. There’s a mixture of amputation and melting skin, giving a big “body horror” vibe– this is because exomoss rapidly dehydrates and breaks down biological matter rapidly, causing excruciating pain to those infected with it. In the foreground, I used some sequentially rotating squares to frame the hand in a weird, kinda “mathematical” and “trippy” way, which alludes to the setting of our world (post-apocalyptic)
Below is a gallery of in-production images from both my physical assembly and digital assembly.
Reflection
I have a somewhat unique opinion on this project, considering I’ve been using 3D animation software in my animation election all year. I think 3D animation is super awesome, especially when making photorealistic renders. It’s almost like I get to paint reality in my own image. In this case, using 3D to show my multi-layer art isn’t exactly the same, but I appreciate how it gives myself and the viewers of my work the ability to view my lightbox at any angle, layer by layer, and with the colors I chose. 3D previewing, in that way, allows me to make an accessible model to pair with the real piece of art, allowing for greater understanding of what makes up the full composition.