The Video: Gregor

Check out "Gregor" on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/165597259

Although it is quite different from what I had originally imagined, I am happy with the result of my efforts. Sometimes it is better to let the medium take over and allow room for change. This way both the project and the idea can develop and evolve. This is a lesson I have struggled with this semester in both my Digital Art and Sculpture classes, but I think I'm starting to get it. After Effects has been a lot of fun, especially now that I am more familiar with the software.

Gregor's Final Moments

So close to finished! I have one "scene" left. I have just knocked off Gregor's head with a clipart apple. Once his head rejoins the rest of himself and the apple rolls away, a violin will begin playing, just as it does in the book. (In the book, Gregor is also seriously wounded by an apple tossed from his father, though it lodges in his back and not his face).

Gregor's sister's violin playing precedes Gregor death the next day. The music has a profound impact on him, and is perhaps the culmination of of his new-found humanity within his cockroach body. No way could I leave out this important theme! The apple was mostly for fun--that's my favorite part of the video so far--but this is for symbolic significance.

Gregor's World

Having so much fun playing with effects in Adobe After Effects; there are so many! For a while I definitely got lost in all the cool and strange built-in animations to place on objects, but I have returned somewhat to a place of sanity.

I've been watching some of Monty Python's Flying Circus lately and I have no doubt that Terry Gilliam's animations and the general tone of the show have continued to inform my work. Of course, it does help that Kafka's stories reside somewhat in that realm of the strange and unidentifiable, and the medium I have selected of a sort of digital cut paper surely contributes as well.

For a while I had stalled on this project. My excitement dwindled as my original idea faded and I became less excited about the software. Now that I have re-established a direction, I am in a much better place and in fact almost finished!

Bringing Gregor to Life

Stalled out on the project for the last few days. I made a photoshop document of a cockroach to separate all the body parts into layers for easier animation. This I can import into Adobe After Effects and access each layer individually to move the legs, antennae, etc.

Learning After Effects on my own has been a bit of a challenge, but the software is somewhat similar to Premiere so it's going ok.

The greatest obstacle has been the dilemma of how to proceed. I somewhat regret that I am not creating something physical, like a print, and I feel lost as far as how to convey the story. Suddenly it feels like I can envision a 2-D product more easily than the planned video.

I have two ideas I am debating between.
1. Students walks across Hoval as the background becomes slowly covered in painted brushstrokes rather than reality. This will signify internal change, a change in perception of one's environment.
2. Student falls asleep in Dinand, has dream of turning into cockroach, wakes up to find it wasn't a dream at all.

Gregor in Real Life

I want to make a video interpretation of Kafka's Metamorphosis.
It will either be a GIF or a short animated film. One plan is to use "Gregor"'s surroundings to convey the internal changes in his mind: while still human, the surroundings will be photo-realistic. When a bug, the setting will shift to paintings, e.g. van Gogh's "Bedroom". I would also like there to be a transitional period during which painted props begin cropping up in the photo world. In Kafka's story the alteration is abrupt, but it might be nice to have this overlap.

My other idea is to animate the transformation process from man to bug. Perhaps a bit more visually challenging, I'm not sure. Going to play around with After Effects and see what I can do

Should be lots of fun, lots of work, and lots of thinking.

Meanwhile, I am also working on a sculpture inspired by Steppenwolf. So much books!
Maybe next will be Gogol... an overcoat, a nose...

FCO Final Edit

The video is finished! This project has been awesome--thanks again to Ivan and Joey for acting, and to Colby for lending his voice for the intro! I'm sad that it's over but happy with our final product.

Here's the link for the final version of Feeling Checked Out: https://vimeo.com/161192692

Animation!