Introduction To Animation – Objects

Object Tasks

This page includes all of the tasks focusing on objects for our Introduction To Animation class.

For this project we focused mainly on re-framing our views on animation and the world around us, breaking down what it means to have a perspective and see other artist’s perspectives. Our task was to take and curate 20 images that tell a story- even if that story is only immediately visible to us.

For this collection of images I decided to walk around the area I live in and pay more attention to the world around me, paying more attention to small objects I wouldn’t otherwise notice. The story I wanted to tell was one of appreciating your environment and noticing the small things exist in a space we traditionally think of our own. I was surprised to find so many objects around me, especially the metal one (I’m not sure what it is, but it may originate from some building work or a vehicle) and it made me curious to find out the object’s stories. Who put them there, and where did they come from? In addition, it made me realise I hadn’t considered the people behind these objects: their creators, designers, and owners. I found this to be an invaluable exercise in opening my eyes to the world around me and being more present. However, one thing that challenged me was my location- I live on a large area of flat, open space. This can be quite barren compared to a city, and all the objects I found were very close to residential buildings or stores. I felt somewhat limited in the objects I could find because of this, and felt it may be more effective in a more ‘alive’ area such as London. Due to this, I would visit several busier areas if I were to do this exercise again.

Above, you can see three of my favourite images I have edited. The aim of this task was to “deconstruct” our images in order to make them unrecognisable- my photo editing skills are lacking, so I tried my best. I think the first image is still very recognisable superficially, but the atmosphere of the original object is altered. The object, a stunning glass watering can, evokes a feeling of beauty and a want to treasure this object in me, so by adding sharp patterns and traditionally aggressive colouring I aimed to change that completely. I feel it was successful. In the second image, the object is still recognisable as a glass bottle, but the viewer no longer knows whether it’s milk, alcohol, or something else. This leaves the interpretation up to the viewer, allowing their perspective on life to project onto what they see in this image. In the last image, I used every filter that caught my eye. I like how the lack of changing values in this piece makes it difficult for your eye to be drawn to anything, unlike the original image, and the added texture makes the words even more difficult to make out.

Part 2 – selecting and rearranging each other’s photos

This took place on the 14th October 2021 and I worked with Sy and Longqian. For this task, we each selected four pictures of each other’s work and arranged them to tell a story we understood. Looking at Sy’s work, I loved the circular shape language (alongside the occasional square) and head-on camera angle. It was very visually pleasing and somewhat calming, probably due mostly to the angle as it would be quite a different tone if another one, such as a dutch angle or a low one, were used. This particular task made me realise how much angles and symmetry impact how we as viewers see things, which of course is extremely important to notice when making films.

The images I selected from Longqian’s work focused on contrast- I picked two elegant looking objects vs two ones from a busy street. The difference between what each set of images evokes is quite striking, which helped me realise that the viewer will usually assign meaning to an object. This meaning will almost always come from their own perspective on the world and what they associate with that object or similar ones they’ve seen.

Now looking at my work, Sy and Nara picked out these images below. They arranged them to focus on colour, as each one has shades of orange and blue. I responded that each was a precious ‘object’ to me that I didn’t own but greatly enjoyed looking at. This process helped me realise how differently people can interpret your work, and even miss your intended meaning, but develop their own ones that are just as valid and can be quite interesting.

Group Film and Presentation

For our 20 second group film, we decided to focus on climate change but with a spookier, cult-like atmosphere with mythology symbolism. We visited the Tate Modern and looked at the Wellcome Collection for our research, and decided to focus on Simyn Gill. Below, I’ve attached pictures of our powerpoint for more detail.