Introduction (Purpuse of this Piece)
“The other realms” express a parallel universe explained by contemporary dance and visual arts in forms of 2D&3D animation, creating a multiverse traveling experience.
The whole experience conbined with three dimentions — start with the 2D & Geometric representation of body movements, continous with two dancers dancing on the water under a clear sky with smooth and fluid movement, concluded with dancing with cyberpunk and artificial bionic technology. Furthermore, the overall representation of the characters will be two or three-dimensional models of female and asexual bodies that are more close to the theme of surrealism.
In terms of sound used, each scene is accompanied by different music to express different emotions. But but the three tracks follow one style (pure music and light rythem) to make the whole project conbinded tightly. Specifically, that three song
In terms of sound used, each scene is accompanied by different music to express different emotions. But but the three tracks follow one style (pure music and light rythem) to make the whole project conbinded tightly. Specifically, that three song can give more varieties in choreography, those dynamic rhythm creates many possibilities for the posture and the atmospheric sound fits the theme and central idea.
Rolse and Responsibilities
Scene 1 —Zedan (Visual Design) Genevieve and Amanda (Dancers)
Scene 2 — Rosia (Visual Design) Leanne and Esther (Dancers)
Scene 3 — Shihui (Visual Design) Ming and Frendy (Dancers)
Scene One — Geometry
Inspirations and Research
- Technique and logic
Our inspitation was coming from an inspired and extremely satisfying slice of augmented reality video clip <<Ballet Rotoscope>> which capture the body movement outlines and extract other information from a video of dancers.
https://aeon.co/videos/a-ballerina-dances-with-the-geometry-of-her-own-movements
And I also do some research about rotoscope which was alwayse using to use to trace over motion picture footage, frame by frame, to produce realistic action. The Ballet Rotoscope was also get ideas from this animation technique. The main logic about those two is to traking motions from animator to realize different kinds of visual effects. Thus in my project, in order to realize the dot-line movement and geometric effect on dancers, the motion traking was needed.
2. Ways of Expression
After defining the general content and direction of the project, I start researching different kind of expressions.
There are mainly two styles of expressions — figurative draw the dot and line on the original video directly and abstraction of the geometric frame and network without human animated video. Those two styles are all alsome and will illustrate different emotions. After discussing with my groupmates, those two expretions will all be showing in my first scene. It will start with the abstract expressions (with just dot and moving networks) and transform to the figurative expression. Personally I think those types of expression will Interprete the physical beauty of dancers.
Creative Process and Working Flow
- Motion Capture (Rokoko)
First step is to transform dancers movement into data in order to do further edit.
Because I don’t need the dancers to be very precise with their body movements, the rokoko AI Mocap was used.
Dancers prepared a 1 minute dance for this part for further edit.
And then I imported this to Rokoko to get Human IK. Unfortunatly just one persons movement can be recgnized. So I will pay attention on this movement.
more personall thoughts do i like this
all of the shapes begin with dots and lines
scene transition storyline
2. Rendered animation with just dots (MAYA)
In the first part of my scene there will be just showing the animation of dots and geometries. In order to easily track motions, the skeleton ‘s hands and feets are needed to bond with sphere.
3. Motion Track and Vedio Edit (After Effect)
After import the rendered video in After Effect, I start using fast track to track four dots. But in the most time if the two dots will overlaping, moving too fask or crossing over each other, the tracking position would be inaccurate, so I would have to adjust them frame by frame.
And finally added lines here.
Additionally, I also worked on another version on the original video and it also looks so good in this stage
Draft of Critical Reflection
“The other realms” express a parallel universe explained by contemporary dance and visual arts in forms of 2D&3D animation, creating a multiverse traveling experience. This critical apprial will reflecte from two aspects– personal work and collebrations.
Personal work
My role in this project is design the visual part of the first scene. I began my work on this project by conducting extensive research on these themes as well as the history and evolution of contemporary dance. This research has helped me to identify key concepts and ideas that have informed my creative process.
Throughout the project, I experimented with different choreographic techniques, incorporating elements of animation and motion traking technology into my work. I found that working with these elements was both a challenge and an opportunity. For example, incorporating the animation and motion track into the choreography required careful planning and coordination to ensure that it enhanced rather than detracted from the overall performance. Additionally, this projet gave me a chance to learn and practice theories of After Effect and motion track. I would like to say that I really enjoy working about those two technologies.
In terms of personal growth, this project has pushed me to explore new ideas and techniques and to move beyond my comfort zone as just working some VR staff (Unity3D). I have found that my strengths lie in my ability to adapt to new ideas and techniques, while my weaknesses lie in my tendency to place too much emphasis on my own ideas.
Collaboration
Collaboration is a key aspect of this project as it involves working together with a team of dancers and VR students, sharing each ideas and made one thing togrther. Collaboration is sometimes challenging as we have to navigate different creative visions and personalities. However, the collaborative process also provides valuable opportunities to learn different aspects and feilds.
Collaborating with the dancers was particularly rewarding as we were able to exchange ideas and techniques to enhance the overall performance. The choreographers also played an important role in shaping the direction of the project, providing feedback and guidance throughout the creative process. Together we created a cohesive and impactful performance that explored the themes of virtual reality, tracking animation and contemporary dance.
Working with technologists was a new experience for me and a unique challenge. It is sometimes difficult to integrate technology into a performance in an organic and seamless way. However, working with technologists has allowed me to learn new skills and techniques and to develop a deeper understanding of the role of technology in contemporary dance.
In terms of personal growth, collaborating on students in LCDS has taught me the importance of communication, compromise and teamwork. It has also allowed me to expand my professional network and make connections with others in the creative community.
Conclusion
Overall, working on ‘Other Areas’ was a challenging but rewarding experience that allowed me to explore new ideas and techniques. Through my individual work and collaboration, I was able to move beyond my comfort zone and gain new skills and insights. While there were definitely challenges along the way, the final performance proved the power of collaboration and the potential of virtual reality to transform contemporary dance.