Digital Photography and Imaging | Project 4: Cinemagraphs - Self-Titled (Still & Animation)

4/12/2023 - 31/12/2023 (Week 11 - Week 14)
Yong Zhen Xing - 0359473
Digital Photography and Imaging - Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media / Taylor's University
Project 4 / Cinemagraphs - Self-Titled (Still & Animation)

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Contents :

1. Initial Planning

2. Process 1 (Self-Titled Poster)
        2.1 Outcome 1

3. Process 2 (Animated Poster)
        3.1 Outcome 2

4. Final Outcome

5. Reflection

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Project 4 :
For the final project, we needed to create an artwork about our interest/passions/dreams and then animate it through after effects.

Initial Planning :
A biography of myself :
Intro
My name is Yong Zhen Xing and I’m 19 years old. I have 2 older brothers which makes me the youngest in the family. I am also currently taking Bachelor of Design in Creative Media and I hope to be a game designer in the future!

Paragraph 1
I am an introvert! Which means I don’t really like socializing but I do have my own friend group that I’m comfortable with. I also have quite a lazy characteristic where I spend most of my time laying on bed and sleeping but I feel like that is caused by the workload in college! I found music as a way to calm myself and just enter my own zone for a while if I was feeling stressed out.

Paragraph 2
My hobby consists of mainly playing video games, doing some drawing on the side and a bit of photography. In terms of my main hobby, I always love exploring new games types and trying them out even if I wasn’t good at it. To me improving/mastering something is what makes that thing so fun to do! I also like space related things and really appreciate landscapes.

Summary
I would like to explore more in life, go to new places and achieve things on my bucket list. Hopefully one day, I will achieve my bucket list along with dreams of becoming a game designer!


A statement about my work :
Intro
I plan to make an artwork of myself to show my passion for the things I like and my passion/dream going forward. The theme I am going for would involve some elements of vaporwave/synthwave with a mixture of nature. The reason I chose a synthwave theme is because I see it as a theme of a game/thing being slowly developed which mixes well with my dreams and passion.

Paragraph 1
The idea/concept will be revolving around achieving or entering serenity. Using landscapes images such as mountains and the city to bring peace to the artwork. With the combination of synthwave theme, I would also use elements such as the sunset to bring together an interesting composition.

Paragraph 2
As for the main subject which is me, I would first experiment with different poses but generally I would either have 1 or 2 pictures of myself to give that effect that I am in my own world. Other elements such as music notes could also be used to show my love for music or a camera to show my love for photography.

Summary
To put it to short, I hope to convey serenity but in my own little digital world with no disturbance.

Mood Board / Reference :

fig 1.1, Reference 1


fig 1.2, Reference 2

 

fig 1.3, Reference 3

Sketches :

fig 1.4, 1.5, Idea Sketches (10/12/2023)

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The Making of the Artwork (Process 1) :

I first took 2 photos of myself.

fig 2.1, 2.2, Photos Of Me (15/12/2023)

Then I masked the subjects out to be added to a proper A4 format.

 fig 2.3, Masking Out Subject 1 (16/12/2023)

fig 2.4, Masking Out Subject 2 (16/12/2023)

 

fig 2.5, Masking Out Subject 3 (16/12/2023)

 

 

Using the masked subjects, I first plan out how the composition would roughly look like first.

 

fig 2.6, Masking Out Subject 3 (16/12/2023)

 

I imported the mountain first in Illustrator so I could make the vaporwave theme. I started with creating the mountain and ground first.

 

fig 2.7, Creating the Mountain and Floor (16/12/2023)

 

fig 2.8, Creating the Mountain and Floor 2 (16/12/2023)

 

 

Then I created the sunset based on the theme. This was the hardest element to create as the sides of the line needed to be adjusted following the side.

 

fig 2.9, Creating the Sunset (16/12/2023)

 

fig 2.10, Positioning the Sunset (16/12/2023)

Then I added a gradient to the sunset as well as added the buildings based on the theme. Glow was then added to enhance the effect of the vaporwave theme.

fig 2.11, Adding Buildings and Glow (16/12/2023)

After a quick import import to Photoshop, I reposition the mid-ground subject so it looks like it is in the artwork.

fig 2.12, Importing To Photoshop (17/12/2023)

Next, I added background and (temporary) ground colour. I also used a brush tool to colour around the 2 main subject to get that pop art style.

fig 2.13, Adding Colour Around the Subject (17/12/2023)

Next was to create the left side of the artwork, first I added onto the other side of the theme which was clouds, music notes and grass. I also gave the music note colour around it for that pop style effect. I also alter a bit from the sketch by replacing the buildings into cloud. This creates a more asymmetrical artwork but still having a balanced composition.

Elements used :

 

fig 2.14, 2.15, 2.16, 2.17, 2.18, Elements Chosen (24/12/2023)

fig 2.19, Adding Cloud (24/12/2023)

 

fig 2.20, Adding Music Notes (24/12/2023)
 

 

I then added my text I designed in typography. This part was probably the hardest part since I hadn't plan it out. Luckily in that 11 letters I created, I could add a simple phrase that adds a narrative to my artwork, and that is "Into the Sides". This has about the same meaning of "Zones Of Life" but since the artwork could be seen in 2 sides, it was perfect to show the meaning. I also gave it a simple 3D effect with colour which makes it more attractive to look it!

fig 2.21, My "Curvy" Text (16/12/2023)

 

fig 2.22, Adding my Typography Text (24/12/2023)
 

fig 2.23, Giving 3D effect with colour (24/12/2023)

The final part of the artwork would be adding simple "S" shaped strokes around it. For this part, I switched back to Illustrator as I was more used to creating Illustrative elements there.

fig 2.24, Adding Elements 1 (24/12/2023)

fig 2.25, Adding Elements 2 (24/12/2023)

Another reason I used Illustrator was to create this vaporwave corner border which makes part of the composition look less empty.

fig 2.26, Adding Elements 3 (24/12/2023)

Outcome 1 :
The image below shows my Self-Titled artwork!

fig 2.27, Self-Titled "Zones Of Life"  (24/12/2023)

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The Making of the Animated Artwork (Process 2) :

First I looked up some vaporwave audio online and a simple slicing sound effect. After I found fitting audio, I made an edit in my editing software to include the slicing sound effect. Also made sure to add fade in and out so the audio doesn't start or end too abruptly.

fig 3.1, Editing Audio (30/12/2023)

 

Then it was time to finally create the animation, I started with a simple transition first.

fig 3.2, Creating the first transition (30/12/2023) 

 

Next, I wanted to animate as if elements started popping out to create a landscape, so I started off with that. I used track matte to hide the elements before they slide into picture.

 

fig 3.3, Animating the first transitions (30/12/2023)

After the main background and ground, I started animating so that more elements started to appear until eventually the full artwork. The initial start of the animation should already have all of the background elements in picture.

fig 3.4, Animating the first few elements (30/12/2023)

Then I animated the foreground and mid-ground subjects of myself to slide into the composition with a fading effect.

fig 3.5, Animating Myself (30/12/2023)

 

 

As for the text, since it was separated into 2 of the themes, I wanted it to have its own identity in the animation, that is the left side would be floating like a cloud and the right side would be a flashing neon sign. For the corner border, I also decided to go for a flashing effect.

fig 3.6, Animating the Text (30/12/2023)

 

fig 3.7, Animating the Text 2 (30/12/2023)  

 

 

Lastly would just be animating the remaining elements such as the simple movements of the music note as well as the wipe effect for the line strokes.

 

fig 3.8, Animating Elements 1 (30/12/2023)

 

I also decided to add the flash effect to the line strokes so it highlights the text more.

 

fig 3.9, Animating Elements 2 (30/12/2023) 

For the ending of the animation, the way I started should be the way it ends, so I animated where the elements slowly fade away followed by the mountains and ground slowly sliding away into the void.

fig 3.10, Animating the last transition (30/12/2023)

 

Outcome 2 :
The video below shows my Self-Titled animated artwork!

fig 3.11, Animated Self-Titled "Zones Of Life" (30/12/2023)

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Final Outcome :

fig 4.1, Final Self-Titled "Zones Of Life" (24/12/2023)

Artist Statement:
My artwork shows my hobbies I enjoy doing, the scenery mountain and city and the back shows me admiring the landscapes in our planet. The music notes shows that I enjoy listening to music while working with the foreground of me looking down to look like I am doing work. The other side of the artwork shows a slightly different theme as it represent my passion/dream side. The vaporwave theme is to convey something digital slowly being developed. That something would be my passion for game designing/making. The second picture of me in the mid-ground would represent me going to my dreams without much idea or expectation what I am getting myself into. This split enjoyment/passion in theming while I am walking down on the road shows interesting sides of me, a side of what I would call “Zones Of Life”.

fig 4.2, Final Animated Self-Titled "Zones Of Life" (30/12/2023)

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Reflection :
This final project has to be the most enjoyable project I have done in a while! I love the idea of taking 3 of the core subjects and combining it into 1. It really tests how good I am in each of it. Since the planning of this task, I already could have imagine how the composition would look and was excited on the execution of said task. While this task test on how well I know Photoshop, I also had to learn a new software and that is after effects. While it looked overwhelming at first, after learning the basics, I got used to it pretty quickly! It was honestly cool to see how easy it could be to animate things. I could definitely see myself using this software in the future especially for video editing. Finding a fitting audio for the animation was fun since my I enjoy listening to music! Editing it with a sound effect was equally as fun since I get to envision on how the animation would go. One thing I did struggle with was deciding what phrase to use for the poster since I was limited to 11 letters. With that being said, I was lucky to end up with something that matches my story narrative! The final artwork and animation was definitely how I envision it and I am proud of it! All in all an amazing final project to end off my first semester in degree!

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My Other Digital Photography and Imaging Task :

Project 1: Digital & Physical Collages

Project 2: Photoshop Exercises

Project 4: Cinemagraphs - Self-Titled [Current]


Progresses
Project 1 :
Week 1 (Graphic Design Composition)

Week 2 (Collage Design Elements)

Week 3 (Compositing Collage)

Week 4 (Digital Collage)

Week 5 (Hearst Mansion)

Week 6 (Recolouring Black & White)


Project 2 :
Week 7/8 (Double Exposure)

Week 9 (Conceptual Product Photoshoot)

Week 10 (After Effects Exercise)


Project 4 :
Week 11 (Self-Titled)

Week 12 (Self-Titled Part 2)

Week 13 (Self-Titled Part 3)

Week 14 (Self-Titled Part 4)