Copyright

So for one of our assignments we had to copyright a piece of our work. I was slightly confused as to how to go about that but then I found that by uploading one's work to deviant art one could add a copyright license that way.

Scripting!

This was a session that I was eager to sink my teeth into yet equally eager to never bother with again! Just like complicated Mathematics or breakdancing scripting is something that I respect hugely and would love to be able to do well yet it's actual execution still gets on my tits and sometime makes me wonder why bother; just for record, no I don't do Maths any more and yes I can breakdance a little.

We tackled two basic scripts. We first learnt how to make objects rotate on an axis. Although at the time I was slightly frustrated with it all (I'm dyslexic and copying from a projector is kryptonite to me) I managed to finally bash in the correct code into the object contents box. Unfortunately I gave the wrong value to the wrong axis and thus my helicopter blade turns on the x axis not the y axis and looks a bit weird. If you look closely at the photo you'll see my avatar's helicopter propeller is at a bizarre angle. I guess I should change it when I have a moment.

Then we tackled a script designed to prompt textures to move and thus allowing for the creation of moving water. We created a simple cube and applied a water texture to it. Then we opened up the content editor and bashed in another script to govern the movement of the texture over the cube. Having saved the script to the texture, the texture began to move across the surface of the cube. Firstly though the texture went the wrong way. What to do ahh!!! I was bamboozled! Do need to play around with the script? "No" my tutor calmly told me, I just need to rotate the texture!

Chris Cunningham

Right now I'd say that a combination of the ideas I have in my head, what I like and the way I work all point me in the direction of creating music videos; music videos like these.

I find it of no coincidence that Chris Cunningham chooses to make videos in this case for three of my favorite artists, two of which are on the same label. His style of directing I feel is intimately linked to this genre of abstract, twisted, technically immense and in places somewhat sublime form of electronic music.

Like any good music video they have a narrative and in the top two videos they all start with a prolonged intro which sets the scene well. Most importantly though they exhibit something which I'm all too familiar with now; "the uncanny". Yes robots with human mannerisms and kids with human faces all make for a thoroughly chilling and powerful music video as well as a great trademark from the directors point of view!

Here are my two moodboards for the space station design. They in my eyes show two very different design approaches.

The board on the left has a very spherical and symmetrical feel to it whilst the board on right is meant to feel disjointed and complicated.

Kisho Kurokawa (Furnishings)

Back to our old friend Kisho again for a look at his small selection of furnishings . They stay true to his design principles by being very precise and detailed whilst being honest and not trying to cover up the materials used to make them.

I like their clean cut minimal feel but on a second glance I don't believe that designs like these would really be at home on a space station. They feel too brittle and fragile as well as seeming to stylish and austere. They don't really seem capable of being either something one would want to relax with after a trying day at the station nor something than may not be comfy but would at least save space and money. After seeing a photo of what I'm about to blog about next, I realised what these furnishings were lacking.

In My Shell

After starting out with looking a Japanese pods and architecture I felt that seeing a futuristic anime would give me another source of influence for futuristic design. The very popular Ghost in the Shell had been on my to see list for some time so I really had no excuse.

Many of the interiors were quite similar to those of Kurokawa; simple and "blocky". What really jumped out at me though were the costumes that the police wore. They were nicely padded and not to ostentatious. The bullet proof vests the policemen wear shown in the photo at the bottom are the lines I'm thinking along regarding the design for uniforms.

What also caught my eye were the scenes involving the exposure of robot's innards and other various situations where amorphous masses of wires shown to be spewing out. Images such as the one below of only the Robot's torso with wires protruding beneath are a beautifully chaotic juxtaposition of evidence of the complicated work involved in creating the wide array electronic contraptions, with the simple design that is placed over these structures in order to tidy it up.

In My Element

It was quite nice to learn that our friend Mr Kurokawa was designed some of the set for the legendary Sci-Fi movie The Fifth Element. This scene involves Korben finding Lee Lou in the "Autowash". Such a device has given me a little inspiration for the design of washing facilities.

In true Kuokawa style space can be saved by having the shower area contained within its own pod, which at the touch of a button slides away to make room for the platform to descend into its own drying area.

Yes I know that doesn't sound great in words, pictures will be a lot better at explaining.

Watch this space...

Kisho Kurokawa

Kisho Kurokawa co-founded the Metabolist movement which focused on the avant-garde rethinking of Asian architectural styles. He had a number of strong themes present within his work such as;

Impermanence, thanks to years of bombing and natural disasters,

attention to detail,

the honest showing of the raw materials used,

and the influence of other cultures whilst carefully preserving Japan's.

This image to the left is of the interior of National Art centre in Tokyo. The holiday home below however combines the interior of a traditional Japanese tea house his own modern design. This capsule design was the exact design used for the pods on the Nakagin capsule tower.

The building above is a wing of

Sony's Osaka headquarters. The

manner in which it uses one long

central cylinder with capsules

protruding from it exemplifies the

kind of design ideas I've been

considering for arranging the living

space.

The photos below are interior views of the Nakagin capsule tower (exterior photos shown on the right and above). They expand somewhat from the more claustrophobic and simple capsule hotel I blogged about earlier. Never the less they are still coincidently very similar looking to the 2001 a Space Odyssey set.

The feel of simplicity and ergonomic efficiency seems to be a common theme within modern and certainly futuristic design.

Pods

I have always been intrigued by the city of Tokyo because of the fact that I believe that it's probably the closest environment to outer space that I can think of. So when the task of space station design was given to me I immediately began racking my brains for good examples of common futuristic design around today and Japanese pod hotels popped into my head.

The hotels make good use of little space especially with their simple minimal design. The second video incorporates full washing facilities as well. This minimal yet striking and elegant take seems to be a key characteristic of Japanese design.

Birds

The scene begins with the focus on the female protagonist exiting her vehicle. She proceeds to a jetty where a man helps her into a boat along with the cadged bird which she is carrying. She then leaves the jetty on her own in the boat. This I feel goes against the concept of the male gaze as she is independently making her own journey, thus remaining active as opposed to the man helping her into into the boat and then driving the boat himself across the lake. Upon exiting the boat she swiftly runs to a nearby house where she leaves both the caged bird and a letter before swiftly returning to her boat and immediately setting off ensuring that she isn't spotted by the male owner of the house she just left, by ducking low whilst in the boat. However the man still manages to catch sight of her through his binoculars at which point he gives a cheeky and somewhat lustful smile, thus being a prime example of the male gaze. This is somewhat countered by the man's chivalry in response to the woman being struck on the head by an angry bird, however this is quickly met with a prime example of the gaze as the entire male portion of the bar turns towards the woman on her entrance. Also once she has sat down, the owner offers his help too. One might call it chivalrously others may not and one may have a similar take on the conversation between the man and the women that follows.

Prick Images

I first came across Prick Images when they won a competition to have their visuals used on a weekly video podcast called "Pete Tong's Fast Tracks". This podcast was really nothing to do with motion graphics it was merely a weekly report on the world of dance music. However there was a section where the presenter (Pete Tong) would introduce an "upfront tune". This was a very very new tune on the scene that was so new it didn't have a music video and thus each week Pete Tong would ask any budding motion graphic artist to send in their work. Prick Images Obliged, won and then went from strength to strength being commissioned to create visuals for clubs such as Space Ibiza, Trailer Trash and even the 2007 Erasure world tour.

Prick image's work consists of mostly creating video art for nightclubs and D.Js however regularly Prick is asked to perform live V.J sets to accompany D.J performances.

www.myspace.com/prickimage

Rss Feeds

I have only been familiar with R.S.S feeds really for a few months now. What with the short amount of time that I've been familiar with them, combined with the fact that I pay little attention to them due to them clogging up my inbox means that most of my experience of them merely consists mass deleting. However every now and again I've kept one of the feed updates or two. This has only been on the rare occasions that I have found myself looking at the subject matter and been either somewhat intrigued or-and this is more often the case-seen that the message might be something important like a message from my tutor. Other than than that the feeds are a right pain in the arse as I can safely say that what with all the easily obtainable information flying around these days the last think I need is info that I don't even want obtain clogging up my inbox.

May I just say that I was asked to make this pointless post as part of my course so apologies for the boring rant.

Second Life; primitives and first impressions

After a long time getting frustrated with Maya and all its various pitfalls and options it was very nice to get to grips with a nice simple interface. Some may call it clunky and basic and I see what they mean but for me that's a small price to pay for ease of use.

Below is my nice little flag I made, attached

with ease to my naked avatar's hand.

Customising one's avatar is simple there's a nice array of obvious parameters covering in enough detail every major part of the body and similar parameters for any item of clothing one may so desire to add.

What really appeals to me about second life is of course is modeling ability. To create any shape one desires all that is needed is the right combination of primitives. With the simple option of "attach" its just like have one's own virtual Lego. It's basically like working with polygon primitives in Maya but with all one's various options (that are actually relevant) being placed intuitively where one expects them to be.

Eight Possible Space Station Features

1. Central computer, like "Hal".

Just like in Stanly Kubrick's "2001 A Space Odyssey", there will be computer that is in total control of all the station's main functions, thus leaving the crew to perform more important tasks. It's A.I will be such that it feels like an extra crew member, just like Hal.

2. Mechanical exterior grabbing arms.

These arms on the exterior of the ship can be used for getting hold of anything floating around.

3. Experience machines.

In the book Anarchy, State and Utopia by Robert Nozick, a concept called the experience machine offers the possibility of an alternate life but with one's own design. Of course this life wouldn't be real it would be merely a computer generated dream, yes just like The Matrix. With advances in technology all five senses could be controlled through putting the user into a dreamlike state using an advanced form of hypnosis carried out by a computer. Once under uses will experience one of ten

different framework scenarios of pleasure that will be none the less different each time due to the individual's reaction on that occasion. For example the computer hypnosis will engineer say the "rockstar scenario" and hypnotise the user until they are unconscious where they will then precede to influence their thoughts to the point where the user becomes "lucid" in their dream and in the situation of, in this case, a rockstar. From this point on the user is in complete control of their dream as they are lucid within it.

4. Passive gyms.

They would mould and sculpt your body into a programmed form using a combination of, lyposuction and electricity. The electricity would work in a similar manner to the technology present in the below toning belt. Prior to one's gym session, one inputs one's body preferences into the controlling computer. Any body type desired can be programmed.

5. 360 degree viewing gallery/common area.

A little annexed part specifically used for relaxing and viewing the beauty of space. A similar design to the C.N tower's circular viewing gallery.

6. Zero gravity combat area.

Seeing as this space station is designed for human life, artificial gravity is present to make things just like home. However on various unfamiliar territories outside the space station that the crew explore, they will of course be exploring in zero gravity. Therefore should there be any hostilities the crew would need to be trained in the art of zero gravity combat. The combat area is a fully padded 100 ft by 100 ft by 100ft room.

7. A different type of Loo.

In order to save time, space and the need for creating extra zero gravity space in order to house a traditional flushing loo (which would cost extra money), a group of three tubes (with replaceable caps for hygiene purposes) that can be inserted into the user, will act quickly to suck out any excrement in the blink of an eye. This is also more hygienic as it has the same effect as colonic irrigation and also uses similar technology.

8. A different type of Church.

A little before the creation of the space station, the human race underwent a massive change in consciousness. As a result of various middle east associated wars and the Indian civil war between Hindus and Muslims, that most consider the key factor in sabotaging India's imminent development into a more economically developed nation, the world collectively came to realise that religions involving blind faith in higher beings was both irrational and dangerous. Thus, thanks to the help of various celebrities, a new form of philosophy (not religion) known as "Nowism" takes its place. It is a combination of Zen teachings and various other self help techniques such as positive thinking and pre-visualising desired outcomes. Nowism churches involve a teacher who's role is similar to that of a modern day psychiatrist who sees individuals separately during the week to advise followers on the correct course of action in their lives whilst offering sympathy and paradoxically reminding followers that their lives are already complete if they detach from thought and honor the present moment. Weekly meditation sessions are held in the designated "Presence Room".

What does space sound like?

If space had a little atmospheric background music-which in reality wouldn't be audible due to space being a vacuum-then it would probably sound a little like this.

This track is one of my favorites from probably my favorite artists; Autechre. If you look back at-or remember-my first post then you'll see I posted a track of theirs.

This tune serves as a good blueprint for creating "spacey" sound effects as I intend on doing. Long sweeping sine wave pads and analogue synth stabs here and there with plenty of delay and reverb create the perfect "dreamy" soundscapes.

Trees and Jay

Here are the two final photo's for my photographic investigation on time.





Both images are a combination of three photos.

The photos making up the image on the left of my friend Jay was taken over the course of a minute whilst he was gaming; during a hectic session of Kane and Lynch his face exhibited a number of expressoins.

The photos making up the image on the right in contrast were taken over the course of three days with one photo being taken on each day. In this photo the trees remain still and in the moment no matter what time of day it is or who draws near.

Better Late Than Never!

Yes I know this is a little late, I in fact finished this back in December!

Anyway here is my final piece. After just under two months working with Maya I feel I just about have a basic knowledge of the software. I have never agreed with animation in general really, the whole concept of setting key frames and easing in and easing out has always got my goat. Never the less I plugged away and managed to squeeze out a rather primitive little set of shoes and ball.