Final Project Artist Statement

Wow, it's hard to believe it's actually over. I'm a bit sad, as this will probably be the last art class I ever take. But as I continue on to my Marketing major, I know that this class will be a source of reflection and thought that I will use for years to come, in deciding what works (whether it be for consumers, colleagues, or just my own taste). It was a joy to be in this class, and I only wish we all had taken it for a longer amount of time.

But enough of the sentiments, on to my final artist statement!

In my attempt to use Photoshop's animation tools to create a final piece, I chose the word "Transformation" to define my statement. However, this project in particular turned into something I never had imagined. Each step pushed through an evolution that I had know way of knowing existed. As I have mentioned before, I actually prefer this method of taking risks in artwork in order to achieve an end goal, rather than play it safe and end up with something unimpressive to myself.

The first day that we talked about animation in the classroom, I had imagined something small in scale, only a few frames long. Something loop-able, and something neat. I took my movie poster and added a few changes, to come up with this:

The idea was that this was much like a flickering neon sign. I liked how it turned out, and so my curiosity grew, for pushing photoshop to it's limits. I wanted to see how far I could go.

And so, my next step was to take a video, and edit it. This was far more complicated than I had ever imagined. First, I had to take a video. Next, I had to convert it to .MOV format, next I had to import it into Photoshop by means of layers, and then I had to edit each individual layer.

This was by far the most repetitive, tedious work I've done for this class. A simple test run of different effects and filters took hours to make. Partly because of photoshop's stingy interface for animation, and partly due to my inexperience.

After this, I wanted to pursue something even more ambitious. Instead of a flickering image, and instead of a random 10 second clip, I wanted to do more. I wanted a video of choice, I wanted to make my own video and explore the world. I wanted it to be longer than 10 seconds. I didn't want it to be silent, I wanted music. And lastly, I wanted it to explore even more effects in photoshop than previous times.

And so, here's the process:

1. Take a long, single video of me walking around the library.

2. Convert the video into an .AVI format, and edit it to create a single, cohesive video.

3. Split this video up into smaller clips, so that Photoshop can handle it.

4. Convert these clips into .MOV so that Photoshop can import it.

5. Import into Photoshop (Video from Layers) and skip every 5th frame to reduce frame count.

I was working for hours on hundreds upon hundreds of frames and layers. It become so complicated, that I knew there was no turning back. Trying to edit this again would be virtually impossible. However, I am glad how it turned out, and I feel that the song is appropriate with the video.

Unlike other projects, this one wasn't as focused and pinpoint on a single idea (like women, or emotion). That's the only thing I didn't like, but I feel that it's still a good animation, and demonstrates a good amount of work.

I suppose the video was sort of dream like. Things that occurred were other-worldly. Such as the tower collapsing, my hands being charcoal, people looking like dark figures and growling at me, floors trying to eat me, and shoes that turn color.

It seems a bit random, I know, but I feel it sort encapsulates this idea of being inside your own head, and floating around. Even a simply trip to the library can become a crazy adventure inside your own head.