Project 5

This project was relatively quick and painless. In editing, I focus mainly on masking with few other effects. Despite so little being used, I managed to create an interesting, interactive composition. There was one effect I had hoped to accomplish through masking on the text, but I couldn't figure it out.
The concept in this short piece steers right back toward my initial idea of rebellion. Although I am re-using previous characters, it saved me a lot more time. The graphic element is also apparent towards the end.

Project 4

Assignment Write-Up:

This project steered away from my original concept yet broadened my limitations. Instead of trying to express rebellion through images my mind stuck on (cowboys). I can find more imagery by broadening my concept to my art and experiences. The first project featured some of my sketches of cowboys while the second was more imagery inspiration for it. This last project animates the part of art in Mexican culture I found the most intriguing upon my visit their last year. I took characters and works of interest I photographed in the Museum of Mexican Folk art in Mexico City. I tried to create a simple context the characters could interact with that also expressed my experience in graphic design. I am excited to see what direction this project is taking me in. I aim to create more works like these to showcase my art and experiences. 

this is cute

Project 2, comp.1

Untitled from Kassey Pass on Vimeo.

Realization and New Direction

I think the reason for my troubles may be that I am thinking of After Effects as an illustrator's tool which is why my mind is only thinking in characters. But I am a designer so I need to think of this as an additive bonus tool for designers. I will go ahead with what I have so far for project 2 since it is complete, yet I would like to either re-do it or create a whole new project so I can apply more design.

This is a simple animation I think and it presents the characters in an interesting way

Project 2 Assignment write up

The first project was relatively simple because I took a group of characters I had created which were similar and style and simply added them into a setting which they could interact with which I typically do not do in my sketchbook. For this second project, I didn't really know where else to get my imagery but from the same place. Searching for new characters, they became less related in style which is why I tried to relate them through my project. I would like to have added a bit more elements to this project to make it make more sense. For example I wanted more backgrounds, a sound or two, and text. Yet even as I tried to add more context layers, my project continually froze up and pixelated my whole screen making it impossible to do anything. I'm not sure what the cause of this could be but I'm taking it as a sign that I need to start working and thinking differently. I think having seen more examples would maybe help lead me in a new direction because I feel somewhat lost as of now.

Great example of Stereotypical Cowgirls

Make note of the sounds they make. Its horrible!

some good and bad examples of girls with guns

Proposal

I have always considered myself of a rebellious nature. As an only child for the first seven years of my life, after my sister was born, I had to get even. I fought a lot with my parents through high school and I pretty much did any thing I wanted. Luckily, I had enough self motivation that throughout this rebellion, I continued to excel in school, which I guess is why I thought I should be able to get away with things.

I even feel that in many ways, I rebel against the conventions of being a woman. I often act in such a manner that is "un-lady-like," and when it's pointed out, I act out even more. I would assume that these tendencies are what infatuate me with outlaws.

So for my semester topic, I plan to investigate the different aspects of the rebellious mind. Considering my previous themes, my work will probably lean towards the female as opposed to the male but I do not wish to limit myself to that. I plan on using more playful, mystical images and subtly relating them to real-life situations, referring to the classic teenage rebellion.

I also aim to incorporate religion and religious symbols in comparison to these rebels. I will investigate how holy figures are represented and then transfer this sanctification to these rebels I create, which I hope will signify how I, along with many teens, idealize these rebels which makes them divine in a sense.

Film (revised)

Shootout (revised) from Kassey Pass on Vimeo.

Proposal (Outline)

Rebellion

A. Personal Relation

B. Symbols I Associate

1. Cowboys and Wild West

2. woman

3. Teens

C. Religion symbolism

Shootout: Project 1

Shootout from Kassey Pass on Vimeo.

Religion as an opposing theme

Typically in my artwork, I set unholy characters in religious contexts. So it seemed on perfect to use religion as an opposing theme to Rebellion. Many rebels are considered rebels because they defy principles valued by the church. Rock & Roll is a prime example because it was believed to have created the idea of the teen rebel, breaking up the typical idealized 1950's unified family by "brainwashing" the teens with their "loud guitar music." In the movie, Detroit Rock City, the son, sneaking out to go to a Kiss concert it caught by his excessively religious mother who his protesting the concert in the name of her god. Although these are opposing ideas, I have every intention of breaking this barrier by combining the two ideas in numerous ways. Here are the words:

God

Jesus

Saints

Allah

Mother (mary magdalene, Teresa)

Virgin (Guadelupe)

Zeus, goddesses

mountain, olympus

heaven, hell, purgatory

redemption, sanctify

holy (spirit, bible)

Sun and Moon Gods

angels, orbs, auras

halo

demons, possessions

resurrection, trinity

sacrifice

animals (lambs, doves, donkeys)

apples

Loral

thorns

divine, supernatural

death

stairway, gate

alter, candles, flowers, offering

prayer

rosemary

reincarnation

buddha, meditation

fire

nuns

choir

communion, bread and wine

the last supper

pure, innocent, white, cotton

Rebellion as a theme

For my semester study, I will explore the theme of rebels. A rebel can mean a number of different things and conjures many specific figures to people's minds. I myself feel a strong connection to the mindset a rebel may possess, and my being a girl can also mean many things. Women, from early times, project the notion of purity and elegance. But as the story of adam and eve goes, rebellion has burned deep within women since the beginning of time. I constantly try to defy the stereotype of females by buying boy clothes, urging others to play football, and even belching and Farting in the presence of others (emphasized the word FART because it pisses me of when girls feel they have to say toot.) therefore.... here are my words:

government

authority

regulations

haughty, fiery, feisty, tomcat

cowboy bandits

outlaws

criminals

liberators

oppressor/oppressed

fear

adrenalin

conniving, con men

guns/revolver

Bonnie & Clyde

protest/riot

hippies

black panther

mobsters

Al Capone

sex, drugs, rock&roll

Kiss concerts

piercings

Bulls, mustangs

heartless

destruction

hell, satan

pirates

cigarettes & booze

mask, hidden, deceit

blood

red & black

school girl

soil and staining

Possible ideas

1. I was thinking maybe i could use my puppets somehow or in an animated sense, just monsters in general.

2. Similar to the Kid Stays in the Picture, I would like to use photo collage of old family photos that I have.

3. I also LOVE dealing with certain characters defined by their own costumes, ie. cowboys, indians, luchadores. I think it would be really fun dealing with these characters and their props. Also I enjoy using religious symbolism so i could integrate holiness with my characters.

Ken Burns Response

Its remarkable to think that so simple of an idea that we so widely see today emerged from one person, Ken Burns. After watching some of his Civil War movie, I was wondering what it was precisely I was supposed to be looking for. Then I watched an interview with him to figure it out. He came up with the simple idea of presenting still images within movies which were typically considered only live action. By using this principle, one can bring truth into their film by presenting images that came from a time when live action film footage did not exist. But instead of simply flashing them on the screen like a slide show, the camera pans from side to side, up to down, and in and out. Burns explains how you create a story by doing this. For example, the camera may move pan upward on a figure slowly revealing an expression on their face which says something different than if it were to be just plainly shown.

In the Realm of the Unknown Response

In this movie, biographic content of Henry Darger's life alternate with his make-believe story accompanied with his own illustrations. To add life to his characters, some become animated to go along with the narrative. In most cases, the movements are simple. Bodies are deconstructed and put back together allowing limbs and heads to move. Simple shapes like wheels are rotated around to look moving. In some cases, an object is resized like explosion smoke so that it appears to be expanding. Unlike the other movie, the characters come to life yet overall still appear 2-dimensional, probably because the images are already so flat. The background seems less doctored than the other movie and the camera angles and movements are less complex.

The Kid Stays in the Picture Response

This movie seems to be a biography presented as an autobiography. To build the visual content of Robert Evan's life, multiple sources were used. Obviously real footage of Robert was used along with scenes from his movies. There are also multiple interviews with Robert along with his voice over narration throughout the entire film. On top of all the live action footage, still photographs appear very often. Many times throughout the film, the still photos are slightly animated to add action that follows the narration.

There are many editing techniques used on the still photography used in the movie to add meaning and interest to the sparse content. In some cases, people are cut from their backgrounds and layered on top of one another to show their interaction. Sometimes, color is added to parts of black and white photos. Camera angles change and move around the stills including zoom-ins and panning. Many times also, the camera spirals into and out of photos as they overlap with new images. The film is full of dissolves to express a dream of Robert's past experiences.

At other times throughout the film News articles and photos are animated and come to life as text pops out of its block and scrolls across the page as photos pop from their flat surface and float.

In short, the technical aspects of the film involve taking a small amount of content material and adding interesting animation and overlapping to allow the visual information to be much more interesting.