Motion Design by Lúcia Rocha

motion design

projecto e relat贸rio 1

motion design

projecto e relat贸rio

Motion Design Design e texto de Lúcia Rocha Trabalho realizado no âmbito da Unidade Curricular Projecto/Estágio Faculdade de Belas Artes do Porto 2010/2011

1ª parte motion design computador motion design saul bass 2ª parte relatório de estágio entidade acolhedora objectivo do estágio metodologia resultados conclusão

1ÂŞ parte motion design computador motion design saul bass

computador in computer visions for artists and designers

‘Computer vision’ refers to a broad class of algorithms that allow computers to make intelligent assertions about digital images and video. Historically, the creation of computer vision systems has been regarded as the exclusive domain of expert researchers and engineers in the fields of signal processing and artificial intelligence. Likewise, the scope of application development for computer vision technologies, perhaps constrained by conventional structures for research funding, has generally been limited to military and law-enforcement purposes. ¶ Recently, however, improvements in software development tools for student programmers and interactive-media artists – in combination with the rapid growth of open-source code-sharing communities, predictable increases in PC processor speeds, and plummeting costs of digital video hardware – have made widespread artistic experimentation with computer vision techniques a reality. The result is a proliferation of new practitioners with an abundance of new application ideas, and the incorporation of computer vision techniques into the design vocabularies of novel artworks, games, home automation systems, and other areas. ¶ This article attempts to demystify computer vision for novice programmers, through a survey of new applications in the arts, system design considerations, and contemporary tools.

in experimenting design

In recent years the computer as an instrument of the arts and design has entered more and more into the public consciousness. In the field of music, the use of digital electronics for entertainment purposes has especially contributed to this trend, while in the field of graphics and film it has been mainly the effects of computer animation, which have prevailed as introductory and intermission sequences in television, as motion effects in advertising spots and as trick scenes in science fiction films. Âś As a result the experience of artists and programmers who have long been interested in computer graphics, more or less as a hobby, suddenly becomes commercially valuable, and !rom this class of people come a number of the founders and managers of American software houses which specialize in computer-generated pictorial effects. Computer graphics are interesting enough even in the form of non-moving pictures. On the one hand, the mathematical and logical way of thinking associated with programming has opened up access to a world of forms hardly known before, which may not be able to deny its derivation from constructivist principles but. through the inclusion of curves of a higher order, has left the outdated principle of horizontal/vertical far behind. This development has also brought in a new idea, perhaps also a new function for commercial artists: the expression of mathematical and scientific equations with the aid of images instead of formulae. On the other hand, there are already a number of â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Paintboxâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; and similar systems allowing the graphic designer or artist with conventional training to use his familiar manual methods within the field of computer graphics.

For example, he spreads his colours over a ‘tableau’, with free choice of form and distribution, by means of a control stylus and also has access to a great variety of operations not available to brush, pencil and paper. For example, parts of a picture can be displaced, deleted or zoomed; while in the enlarged mode, details can be inserted and the improved version replaced within the original picture. Orientation towards the manual method of working often involves renouncing mathematical operations and therefore a critical limitation of design possibilities. Whereas working with the computer pen or stylus is directed towards point-by-point alterations on the working surface, the mathematical or, more generally speaking, logically formulated procedure allows integral access, meaning that the operations can affect the whole picture at once, for example in the change-over from one colour shade to another, or transformations ranging from simple distortion to the replacement of style elements. ¶ All the methods of computer graphics mentioned so far have certainly proved an enrichment on practical or heuristic (trial and error) grounds but do not necessarily lead to artistic innovation. Those pictures which can be produced with mechanical or electronic drawing equipment could, in principle, also be produced manually, even though with a disproportionately greater expenditure of time and effort. ¶ The means of computer gra-phics can, nevertheless, also be applied to the opening up of new artistic dimensions, namely through the introduction of movement. In this way there is created an art-form which brings to pictorial art the changes· in the time dimension which are characteristic of music. In contrast with film and video, this new art form frees itself from the “likeness” and allows not only the composition of freely selectable elements but also interaction with a graphic program, or visual improvisation. Quite new and previously unsuspected aspects therby gain interest for the graphic artist for example the coordination of consecutive sequences of pictures. ¶ The programs written for graphic output not only fullfil the age-old wish for a precise ‘graphic note script’ but also prepare for the step into movement. It hardly makes sense to write a program only for a single picture; the instructions necessary for its build-up can always be so formulated that certain characteristic elements are made exchangeable or transformable.

That is why most works of computer graphics so far produced have the quality of a serie (even when they are finally presented as single pictures, being the optimum results of a series of modifications). If one divides the picture-defining elements into sufficiently small steps, one has already obtained the raw material for the movie sequence. Where electronic output devices are used, with monitoring screens modelled on the TV screen, the pictures can be output at such speed (always assuming sufficient computer capacity) that the impression of continuous movement is obtained in the picture sequence. It is well-known that approximately 25 frames per second are required for this effect. If one wishes to use this technique for the perspective representation of subjects from reality, for example a simulation of a traveling camera sequence over a fictitious landscape, the computing power required will be so great that one will approach the limits of the possible even with the largest computer systems available today. However, if one renounces the effect of the third dimension and is perhaps satisfied even with simply defined configurations, the picture sequence created in real time can be obtained even with simple personal computers. In all other cases, particularly when high resolution is required (demanding more computer time), the well-known trickfilm method of single-frame switching must be used. ¶ The production of a movie film by means of computer graphics may be explained by the example of the animated film ‘Metamorphoses’. The aim of the project was to compose a visual sequence, divided into several parts and lasting about ten minutes, which would give a rather meditative impression. To create the graphic material a high-performance picture processing system, normally used for the evaluation of satellite pictures, was made available. The high-resolution pictures – maximum 1024X 1024 – are composed interactively on monitoring screens and, when found acceptable, fed by computer control to a dimensionally stable and colour-fast repro camera, delivering pictures in a choice of three sizes (24 mm X 36 mm, 4 X 4 cm and 6 X 6 cm). The principle of mathematical generation chosen was the so-called ‘Fourier Transformation’, which makes it possible to obtain ornamental forms from simple graphic symbols.

The first result is a grey-scale image of 256 lighto-dark steps. These are coordinated with a colour sequence selected from 16 million shades. The arrangement can be altered within wide limits by means of a roller-ball control. making any required colour effect accessible. Since the preparation of the vast number of frames for a ten-minute run of single-frame switching proved too costly, we chose another way which allowed us to manage with only one frame per second instead of 25. Once the picture series had been coordinated and put in the right order, it was projected in soft focus and picked up by a video camera. It was possible to control the dynamics of the alteration by widely opening the aperture at different speeds; separate sequences were marked by stopping down and opening up. We obtained an additional dynamic variant by running the lV camera pictures into an analogue processing system, a Videosizer, which brought in additional effects of motion, granulation and colour. In this way the sequences were produced COJ1Secutively and, in a subsequent cutting stage, brought together into a whole. Finally the pictures were combined with music, for which a powerful music computer was available, with the appropriate output devices. ¶ The result the computer-generated film ‘Metamorphoses’, shows that it is really possible to use visual means to create sequences in which the combination of visual and audio effects produces a work more nearly resembling a musical performance than a product of the visual arts. Moreover, an experience made at the beginning of the photographic work repeated itself at this point: we thought at first that it would be painters who made use of the new medium, leading it into branches of art; in reality, such people showed a lack of interest and a new branch of the arts came into existence. ¶ Computer graphics have also been largely ignored by exponents of the visual arts. The people who are today concerned with computer animation come only to a small extent from the ranks of the visual arts. A much larger proportion of them rely on training as photographer or cameraman, mathematician or programmer. It is obvious that artistic possibilities opened up by computer graphic systems are leading to the formation of a new profession, standing somewhere between art and technology.

O computador veio aumentar o número de recursos para o artista produzir mais rapidamente os seus artefactos, assim como também, alterar a linguagem visual destes que, até então eram desenvolvidos manualmente. Uma das principais vantagens desta tecnologia que permitiu a ascensão de umas das vertentes do design gráfico, foi o aparecimento de efeitos gráficos que possibilitaram a imagem em movimento, muito comum na linguagem televisiva e que seria impossível reproduzir a partir do lápis e do papel.

motion design A ascensão do motion design deve-se, em grande parte, às melhorias tecnológicas, tendo em conta que os programas de computador para a indústria do cinema e do vídeo se tornaram mais acessíveis e poderosos no mercado. ¶ Uma das primeiras manifestações desta forma de arte surge com a animação tipográfica e de elementos gráficos básicos associados, por exemplo, aos títulos dos filmes. Um dos nomes a destacarse nesta forma de arte foi Saul Bass que introduziu a animação de texto – kinetic typography – utilizando técnicas de vídeo. ¶ Actualmente, para este efeito, utilizam-se os seguintes programas de edição: Adobe Flash, Adobe After Effects e Apple Motion, sendo que estes são os mais utilizados pelos designers, pois existem outros sofreares, mais complexos e sofisticados (cinema 4D, Autodesk Maya e Autodesk 3D Studio Max).

“The earliest application of kinetic typography is film title design. The collection of precedents here reveals a sense of history and also draws connections between visual innovations in 1959 and 1999. commenting on the nature of creativity in a discipline that as seen several re-births, Pablo Ferro states, ‘There is nothing new anymore. only that which has been forgotten.’ If this is indeed the case, then it is necessary to provide benchmarks in the evolution of film-title design to show not how to imitate, but how to transcend with the aid of digital technology.”

saul bass Saul Bass nasceu em Nova Iorque, no dia 8 de Maio de 1920. Este nome tornou-se célebre no design e cinema americanos em meados do século XX, tornando-se um paradigma nestas duas áreas. Bass iniciou a sua carreira no Art Students League em Manhattan, frequentando, mais tarde, as aulas de Gyorgy Kepes, no Brooklyn College, em Nova Iorque. Com Kepes, Saul Bass conheceu o estilo de design da Bauhaus e do Construtivismo Russo, deixando ambos influenciar o seu trabalho. ¶ Após um período como designer freelancer ou commercial artist, como designavam na altura, e director criativo em Nova Iorque, mudou-se para Los Angeles em 1946, começando a trabalhar para diferentes agencias. Só, posteriormente, formou a sua própria empresa/agencia, a Saul Bass Associates, em 1950, trabalhando principalmente em publicidade até o cineasta Preminger o convidar para elaborar o cartaz para o seu filme Carmen Jones (1954) e, mais tarde, o genérico, depois de ter ficado surpreendido com o trabalho de Bass. Bass ficou conhecido especialmente pelos seus trabalhos de animação para os genéricos de grandes cineastas do

cinema Americano, tendo sido nomeado o Designer Gráfico de 1957, nos Estados Unidos. ¶ Trabalhou para realizadores como Otto Preminger, Alfred Hitchcock, Stanley Kubrick e Martin Scorsese, criando para cada um dos filmes de autor um símbolo/ícone que traduzisse o enredo, para além dos cartazes que os realizadores lhe encomendavam para ilustrar as suas peças cinematográficas. Bass foi, portanto, um dos primeiros designers na criação de genéricos animados para animados para a abertura e fecho dos filmes, tendo produzido ao longo de 40 anos. ¶ É visível, em todos os genéricos que desenvolveu, uma espécie de continuidade do filme para o genérico e vice-versa, ao invés de surgirem apenas as letras brancas sobre o fundo preto, surgem imagens animadas que abrem e/ou fecham perfeitamente a narrativa. ¶ Saul Bass fugiu completamente à tradição com os seus objectos irregulares e a tipografia quebrada. Foi com base nestes conceitos que modificou a linguagem visual dos filmes, influenciando uma nova geração de designers. O seu trabalho rebuscou, de certa forma, o melhor do design Soviético dos anos 20, com as formas simples, sólidas e a negro.

The Golden Arm

from psycho to vertigo in 6 chapters in design

Psycho, the chilling mystery classic directed by Alfred Hitchcock, is one of Bassâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most visually dynamic title sequences. Bold crisp gray horizontal lines slide rapidly across the viewing frame and cover it completely. The main title treatment, set in an all-capital sans serif, bold typeface, appears horizontally severed and out of vertical alignment. The two sections of the title break apart slightly in a jerking motion, as if trying to find each other, which relates conceptually to the psychotic schizophrenia of the main character, Norman Bates, who thinks he is his mother. The gray lines slide out of the frame, allowing the title sections to unite. The lines then re-emerge vertically in opposite directions from the horizontal center and completely cover the viewing frame, then move upward like a curtain to reveal the opening scene. Then as the film proceeds, it becomes clear that the horizontal gray lines are a graphic metaphor for the opening scene which begins with an aerial zoom into the window of an apartment with partially closed venetian blinds. The vertical gray lines, on the other hand, are a metaphor for the final scene in which Norman Bates is put behind bars. Bass also served as the pictorial consultant for the now-famous shower murder scene. The opening sequence to the 1958 film Vertigo combines live action, typography, and advanced optical effects that compete with the capabilities of computer technology almost 40 years later. The camera pans up to a closely cropped face of a woman, and then zooms into her eye which becomes the focal point in the viewing frame. As a red hue envelopes the image, the main title treatment emerges from the center of the pupil and zooms forward out of the frame. Following the

title, a spinning, spiral-shaped web of lines zooms forward to capture the dizzying sensation felt by those afflicted with vertigo. The final credit, that of director Alfred Hitchcock, emerges from the womanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pupil, in a similar way to the main title, to end the sequence. The main title and credits are set in a bold, outlined slab serif typeface. This highly functional typeface allows the letters of the title to be tightly spaced while maintaining readability and enhancing the visual impact of the sequence. Later in his career, Bass began using live action in his titles. The sequences Bass created using this approach actually became the first scene of the film, and introduced the audience to the plot as opposed to simply Identifying the film. Nine Hours to Rama is a film about the assassination of Mohandas K. Gandhi and the nine hours immediately preceding this tragedy. Marching strings of Hindi typographic character provide a textured backdrop that opens the title sequence. An image of a stopwatch and the main title treatment fade in as the camera zooms to an extreme close-up of the watch. An intricate pattern of circles replaces the Indian characters as the camera continues its journey closer to the ticking second hand. The camera then takes the audience to the gear mechanisms inside the body of the watch before puling back to focus again on the second hand as it transforms into the wheer of a locomotive. Bass uses the motions of the watch and the locomotive as metaphors for the unavoidable ticking away of Ghandiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s last hours, minutes, and seconds. The title treatment, typeset in a functional sans serif, performs the minimal task of titling the film, but does not distract from the activity of images and textures to introduce the story.

bibliografia

Vision in Motion, L. Moholy-Nagy; Paul Theobald and Company 1969 – Institute of Design; The Complete Guide to Digital Graphic Design, Consultant Editors, Gordon, Bob, Gordon, Maggie – Thames and Hudson; Type in Motion, Innovations in digital graphics, Bellantoni, Jeff; Woolman, Matt; Thames & Hudson; Graphic Design, A New History, F. Eskilson, Stephen – Laurence King Publishing; Experimenting Design; G. Biesele, Igildo – ABC Edition Zurich; Diseño Audiovisual, Ràfols, Rafael; Colomer, Antoni – GG Diseño; 6 Chapters in Design, Foreword by Meggs, Philip B. – Chronicle Books, San Francisco; Para que serve o design gráfico?, Twemlow, Alice – Editorial Gustavo Gili.

2ª parte relatório de estágio entidade acolhedora metodologia resultados conclusão

entidade acolhedora O Porto Canal é o único canal regional em Portugal, cujos temas abordados estão relacionados com o Grande Porto e o Norte do País. Este pode ser visto não só a nível nacional, como também internacional, pois é um canal emitido por cabo, o que o coloca, de imediato, em concorrência com canais de todo o mundo. Contudo, o objectivo principal é, sem dúvida, conquistar o público do norte, que é, ao fim ao cabo, o seu público de referência. ¶ É importante mencionar que, apesar de estagiar no espaço do canal, os trabalhos desenvolvidos ao longo deste período não eram direccionados apenas para o Porto Canal, porque este está associado a uma outra empresa – Media Luso –, “uma das empresas líderes na Europa no âmbito da produção televisiva”, para a qual produzem, constantemente, variados projectos. ¶ Dentro do departamento de grafismo, onde estagiámos ao longo do segundo semestre, são realizados trabalhos de animação, ilustração e editorial, sendo que intervimos, na maior parte dos casos, para a elaboração de projectos mais relacionados com as duas últimas áreas referidas.

objectivo do estágio

O objectivo principal do estágio é aplicar os conhecimentos adquiridos em ambiente académico em ambiente profissional, o que implica, de imediato, o contacto com o cliente que é um dos aspectos mais relevantes desta experiência que é estagiar. Estagiar no Porto Canal foi bastante enriquecedor a este nível, tendo em conta que, um dos projectos em que participei, a construção do layout para o site da agência de viagens Media Travel, obrigou a um contacto intensivo com o cliente.

metodologia

Todos os trabalhos desenvolvidos ao longo do estágio foram desenvolvidos em grupo, de modo que as tarefas eram sempre divididas entre duas estagiárias (eu e mais uma estudante do mesmo curso) mais dois elementos da equipa de grafismo, responsáveis pela orientação dos projectos.

projectos

Os projectos realizados inicialmente, produzidos directamente para o Canal em si, basearam-se na construção de layouts para os programas televisivos. Entretanto, colaborámos com ilustrações tipográficas para um genérico de um programa de Pedro Abrunhosa – O meu coração faz boom – para a RTP1.

projecto media travel

O projecto mais longo e importante que tivemos em mãos foi a construção do layout para uma agência de viagens que se lançou recentemente no mercado – Media Travel. Primeiramente, participámos no projecto com ideias, contudo, poucos dias depois já estávamos dentro deste e activamente, começando a colaborar quer na construção do layout para a página na internet, o qual foi aprovado com sucesso e encontra-se online (http://www.mediatravel.com.pt/), quer para o desenvolvimento da identidade corporativa, do economato básico e dos convites para a inauguração do espaço da empresa. ¶ A Media Travel & Logistics, formada em 2010, é uma empresa que surge para satisfazer as necessidades de viagem e logística do grupo na qual está integrada, Grupo Media Pro. A empresa posiciona-se no mercado de viagens e oferece aos seus clientes um serviço Premium no transporte de pessoas e mercadorias. Num propósito de travel management center, e com uma equipa sénior dedicada a Media Travel & Logistics combina as condições necessárias, humanas e técnicas, para satisfazer as maiores exigências. ¶ O layout foi desenvolvido em torno de uma linguagem dinâmica, característica que o próprio cliente mencionou que queria ter presente, tendo em conta a personalidade da empresa. Partindo deste princípio, fizemos o levantamento de situações nas quais nos pudéssemos apoiar para os primeiros esboços. ¶ A ideia nasceu da linguagem utilizada na página do designer Bruce Mau. Esta é uma página que con-

tém um portefólio de artista, sendo até algo complexa no que se refere à leitura da informação. Mesmo assim aproveitámos a ideia da forma básica do quadrado e a partir daí iniciámos a construção da nossa própria linguagem visual, o que implicou a pesquisa e tratamento de imagens, o tratamento de texto, o planeamento de grelhas específicas para que a movimentação dos diversos elementos da página funcionasse com coerência, etc. Quase todos os dias existiram pequenas alterações a fazer e estas eram preparadas e enviadas para o programador. ¶ Todo o projecto durou cerca de dois meses e este incluiu ainda, para além dos objectos já mencionados, um vídeo para a promoção da empresa, no qual já não intervimos.

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conclusão

O design é actualmente alvo da pressão exercida pelo mercado de trabalho e o cliente é a representação literal deste fenómeno. A sua presença é que determina a velocidade com que um projecto se desenvolve. É de acordo com as suas exigências que o projecto vive e mesmo que o designer não esteja em total acordo com as ideias do cliente, a palavra final é sua em quase todos os casos, a não que o artista possua, de facto o dom da palavra e seja suficientemente seguro e convincente em relação às ideias que defende. Caso contrário acontecerá o que aconteceu connosco estagiárias que, na maioria das situações tivemos que ceder às exigências do cliente, mesmo que por momentos tenhamos conseguido prevalecer com algumas ideias. ¶ Esta relação entre o criador e o cliente é, sem dúvida, o que permite a ascenção do design no mercado enquanto negócio e forma de arte, pois de não existisse um comprador ou crítico o design, este estaria fechado num ciclo vicioso (criador e projecto, projecto e criador, e vice-versa).