In the last few weeks there have been several revelations in my state of mind as I began to face my most uncertain future. A mixture of excitement, yearning, and shear terror of not knowing what I'm going to do...
As I considered and reconsidered going back into set design, maybe doing an MA, maybe working as a runner at a production house, things started to slowly fall into place. Or at least they are at the tipping point of falling.
I have recently been asked to do some projection designs for a relatively young theater company, co-created by a friend from high school, called Parrot in the Tank. Working on projection and multimedia design for their shows would, I believe, make for a wonderful final project, because it marries my interest in animation and motion graphics to my passion for theater design, and spatial narratives.
There are two upcoming projects for the company, and the first is similar to the work of Janet Cardiff, who's work I was exposed to through research by my classmate Gavin.
The piece that they - or should I say we as I've been asked to join the company as "official animator"- are working on is conceived as a site-specific performance for one audience member, using a hand-held imaging device such as a camcorder, to guide the viewer through the space. Planned performance is in mid-May, at the Roundhouse in Camden. The story, currently in the infant stages of development, tells the story of the man immortalized as a statue on the roof of the theater:
The statue is in actual fact one in a series by Anthony Gormley, placed in various spots around the UK.
The piece would conceptualize a story for this man, why he is standing on the edge of the roof, apparently about to commit suicide, and his connection to the theater. The performance will guide the viewer through the corridors of the Roundhouse, and will involve both the footage on the camera and live performance.
My part in the process is evolving as the idea of using animation increasingly enters the group's collective thought process. Initial ideas were for simple title animations to divide scenes, however my responsibilities have thankfully been expanded to animations that interact with the live footage.
This makes it the perfect opportunity to marry my desire to work with live footage, with my interest in motion graphics within a theatrical context.
One of the directors showed me the following music video as possible inspiration:
At the present moment, the project is fairly amorphous, yet, I look forward to working on this project not just as an exercise in motion graphics, but also collaborative work, which is something I've been yearning for for quite a while.
Currently I can identify several points of departure, in terms of research:
•Janet Cardiff
•Anthony Gormley
•Animation integrated into live-action.
•Design for the small screen.
•Animation in the context of theatrical performance.
