Shades of Light
Ringling College of Art + Design| 2020 | Art Direction, Design, Animation
An exploration of the beauty found in everyday objects, in things that we don’t pay attention to, like the play of light and shadow.
PART I
EXPLORATION
Using footage of natural elements as inspiration; finding different techniques of representing the most essential part of that footage. The goal is abstraction trough design, with a sensibility to motion.
NATURE AS INSPIRATION
For inspiration I looked at abstract photography, light photography, and my personal albums. I often find myself appreciating the shapes created by light and shadow. Caustics. Be it light that is dancing between tree leaves, or interesting shadows projected on building, there is something about all these little moments in nature that create something beautiful.
PROCESS
I collected as much footage as I could. I experimented with different types of lights and cameras. To edit the footage I used After Effects and Premiere. For the Title I used Cinema 4D and Octane.
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TITLE DESIGN
I started by trying to capture the final title in camera, by using cut paper both in natural light and in the studio. The experiment wasn't very successful, so I tried to recreate the same thing inside of Cinema 4D and rendered it in Octane.
FIRST EDIT
For this first edit, I wanted to find the right sound that would evoke the feeling of calm and contemplation. Then, I started populating the timeline with different footage, trying to organize it and seeing what I have so far.
FEEDBACK &
OTHER THOUGTS
Looking at this rough first draft, I now knew that everything needs to be simplified. More abstraction, no objects should be in the frame. There also needs to be some sort of progression. Simple to complex. Black and white to color. Also, I will be looking to give this piece more of a purpose, that will help in informing some of the decisions I will be taking.
PART II
MAKING A PLAN
I was focusing on this idea of visual progression. Starting simple, no color, to more complex visuals. Doing part of it in Cinema 4D, and catching the rest on camera.
THINGS THAT DIDN'T
GO ANYWHERE
I kept exploring with different techniques, mixing Cinema 4D renders with footage or drawings. Most of the things I had didn't take me anywhere, but I was eager to find more interesting solutions when it came to abstracting and distilling the footage.
FINDING A PURPOSE
I have finally decided to name the piece 'Shades of Light', then to use it as a title sequence for a fictious fundraising event organized by Aperture magazine, which is a photography magazine.
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TYPOGRAPHY
I started working with black & white static frames, in order to remove all distractions. I chose Akzidenz-Grotesk Regular as the typeface, and then used the large letterforms as design elements trought the piece.
EDIT BREAKDOWN
I mixed a lot of different unconventional techniques when finishing up these edits. Here is a short breakdown of one of the scenes I have created, mostly in After Effects.
