Jennifer Chambers's piece "Chain" focuses on the concept of the mundane, average activities that animals around us engage in, but then elevates these activities to the spritual. She accomplishes this by utilizing color and basic symbolism to characterize the animals, as opposed to true to life imagery. The silence of the piece allows for viewers to meditate upon the actions taking place before them, and focus upon their own reactions to the movement and color, creating, in essence, a symphony without sound. To achieve the blended coloration of the piece, Jennifer's technique involves the use of chalk pastels and hand blended symbols.

Revamped to a new, improved statement!

Jennifer Chambers's piece "Chain" focuses on the concept of the spirituality of animals by abstracting their basic activities that they engage in, thus elevating them to more of a conceptual idea. The basic colors and symbolism of the piece allow the viewer to contemplate the activities that are occurring before them. The piece is interspersed with some sound effects to identify each animal, and relies upon a subtle synthesized background track, which will allow viewers to focus upon the symphony of color provided by the use of chalk pastels.

Progress report....

Okay, so, progress up to this point has been somewhat slow. My piece has gone through several evolutions, and finally de-evolutions back to my original idea. I first encountered some difficulty with using pastels, then attempted to create my piece in flash and photoshop. Neither of these tools gave the same effect as the hand drawn pastel images, which have proven to be a bit more work, but a far more blended, smooth image, which is what i really wanted for this piece. So, to this point, i have completed the first scene, and managed to get a really good pencil test. My original calendar also needs to be updated , due to the fact that my estimations of the amount of frames each scene would require is way off, which means my animation might potentially end up being closer to 30 to 40 seconds, as opposed to a full minute. So, my new schedule goes as follows for the rest of the class:
Mar 30 - Apr 6
- Finish drawing the frames for scene two (cat chasing crow), pencil test (Wednesday)

Apr 7 - Apr 13
- Finish drawing frames for scene three(dog chasing cat), pencil test

Apr 14 - Apr 20
- Finish drawing frames for scene four (dog chained to tree), pencil test

Apr 21 - Apr 27
- Finish drawings for scenes, including in betweens where needed
- Draw opening and closing scenes
- Clean up in After Effects
- Incorporate in some ambient sounds where/if necessary
- Insert Animation title and credits
- Decide to either re-scan or continue with camera shots for final animation

Apr 28
- Finalize menus for the DVD (if we are taught how)
- Master final version to DVD


Annnd.... A quicktime file of my current progress.... As uploaded in my photobucket:

http://s25.photobucket.com/albums/c63/Dragonwings67/?action=view¤t=smallCHAMBERS_TEST1.flv

Artist Statement - Rough Version

Jennifer Chambers's piece "Chain" focuses on the concept of the mundane, average activities that animals around us engage in, but then elevates these activities to the spritual. She accomplishes this by utilizing color and basic symbolism to characterize the animals, as opposed to true to life imagery. The silence of the piece allows for viewers to meditate upon the actions taking place before them, and focus upon their own reactions to the movement and color, creating, in essence, a symphony without sound. To achieve the blended coloration of the piece, Jennifer's technique involves the use of chalk pastels and hand blended symbols.

Animation Progress Calendar
ARTC 400 Spring 2008


Estimated Length of Animation: 50 seconds to around 1 minute

Working Title: "Chain" (Very much a working title)

Technique(s) used: Handrawn Pastel Animation


Week of:

Mar 10 - 16
- Gather Supplies, formulate basic sketches, time frame, and sequences


Mar 17 - 23
- Refine basic sketches and technique for each sequence (storyboard style)

Mar 24 - 30
- 225 frames drawn and 110 scanned

Mar 30 - Apr 6
- 225 frames drawn and 110 scanned

Apr 7 - Apr 13
- 225 frames drawn and 110 scanned

Apr 14 - Apr 20
- 225 frames drawn and 110 scanned

Apr 21 - Apr 27
- Finish scanning frames
- Clean up in After Effects
- Incorporate in some ambient sounds where/if necessary
-Insert Animation title and credits

Apr 28
- Finalize menus for the DVD (if we are taught how)
- Master final version to DVD


Notes:
You must be very specific and list measurable milestones. For instance, you may say, "I will draw 200 cards and scan in half of them" Specify how much of the animation you will work on that week and the technique or task you will perform.

Six drawings of a character doing an action-type thing

Some ideas for a final project

Final project? Oh dear, what's that?

Now that I've gotten that out of my system, I was really intrigued by the idea of using some other medium than just pencil and pen. I really like the motion of the one animation shown in class (the one with the dancing figures, I can't recall the name), as well as the feel that the use of blended materials gave. I'm thinking that I might end up with a bland of traditonal (line drawn) animation with pastels to give a soft, even sort of color.

As for concept, I've felt really drawn to the more abstract animations that utilize shape and color to tell a story. I was thinking, however, of having the shapes morph into more recognizable things (I guess I love the idea of metamorphosis). So, as for a concept, I almost picture showing some sort of food chain - a predator and prey relationship between things. Granted, this might be really really ambitious, but I can picture it in my mind so well - one small thing manifests itself, is eaten, that thing is eaten, etc, etc. I'm thinking it might be a fun way to utilize animal locomotion to tell a recognizable story without words.

So, then, a recap:
1. Soft, fluid colors
2. Probably no lines
3. Focus on color (possibly music)
4. Animal locomotion
5. Predator/Prey relationships
6. Metamorphosis

Global Warming

Ten Critical Issues
1. Massive production of Carbon Dioxide and other green house gasses
2. New Technology and Old Habits - This limits how active people become in making changes
3. Warming of Ocean waters by a full degree (fahrenheit) since the 70's
4. Tropical storms that come as a result of warmer waters
5. Melting of polar ice caps - the only way the earth can deflect heat is diminishing!
6. Drought as a result of global warming - an imbalance of water distribution
7. Forest fires as a result of drought
8. Loss of delicate flora and fauna that cannot withstand the temperature changes
9. Introduction of tons of freshwater into saltwater oceans as a result of melting ice caps
10. Slowing of the Gulf Stream as a result of added freshwater

Ten Solutions to the Problem
1. Live greener - use solar energy, geothermal heat, etc. as a way to cut carbon production
2. Drive a hybrid car instead of a gas guzzler
3. Recycle - can be done with anything! Such as clothing, even!
4. Lessen your carbon footprint - move to a smaller house.
5. Live up, not out - skyscrapers have a smaller carbon footprint than any other type of dwelling
6. Share rides or ride the bus
7. Turn down the heat in the winter time and rely upon cross ventilation to cool your house in the summer, as opposed to the AC
8. Become a vegetarian - beef farms produce many greenhouse gasses
9. Plant Trees (or bamboo) - this helps to give off beneficial oxygen
10. Use the internet - this can help to reduce paper trails created by bills, etc.

Both this reading and An Inconvenient Truth scared me somewhat - it's frightening to think of how the damage that was started during the industrial revolution has caught up with humankind. I did, however, find the suggestions of how to improve our carbon output to be very interesting - if everyone was willing to do these small things, it seems that it would really help to save the environment, or to at least assuage further damage.