Friday, February 26, 2016

February 26th- Day 19 of SRP

Hello!
I can’t believe another week has already passed! (And that February is almost over as well!)
I continued training in After Effects this week a lot, which is always exciting for me. The illustrations are coming along nicely, but as I mentioned last week, they’re taking me a little longer than I would like. What I am planning on doing is finishing all the animations first, and then moving onto the static illustrations afterwards. This way the hardest work will be complete, and I can focus more intensively on the scene’s flow, and the details of all the illustrations.
Here’s something I’ve been working on this week, it’s not quite finished… but I’m saying that about all my artwork, since I am going to be going back over them later in the project.


With already a month gone, I figured this week that I should also start looking into completing some of the score I had planned. This is what I came up with so far…



Sorry I didn’t attach an audio file… but this is a little last minute, and the score still needs a lot of work. If I’m being honest with myself, I am probably going to start the score over form the beginning. This version above doesn’t really capture the feeling that I am trying for in this scene.
For the audio aspect of my project, what I’m planning on doing is having a looping song that plays over softly in the background while one is reading the story. It’s not meant to stand out so much as it is to create a mood for the reader, and keep him/her engaged in the story. Just like an illustration, music has its own way of speaking and telling stories, and I think that music is one of the most effective forms of emotional communication. (Technically, hybrid novels are not said to have auditory aspects in them. So what I’m doing is slightly unconventional… but I hope it pays off in the end!)
For next week, I have a new plan which I am very excited about. I took some time this week to sort through all of the illustrations and animations I have planned, and I grouped them in a specific way based on whatever their subjects were. For some reason, it helps me when I’m illustrating specific kinds of subjects.
Talk to you next week!

~Keanan~

8 comments:

  1. Keanan,

    Even though your animations are taking longer than you anticipated, they look amazing! You have some serious talent! Is the music you're planning on using your own composition?

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    1. Hi Alison,
      I'm glad you like the animations. I have to give credit to my mentor, as I am only learning how to animate, but thank you all the same!
      The score is one that I myself am composing (trying to anyways...) So this is definitely exciting and very new for me!
      I'm really loving your project right now by the way. It is honestly the coolest SRP that's being done right now in my opinion. Keep up the great work.

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  2. Can't wait to hear some of your music and see the finished product. Do you have any particular influences on the music you are composing?

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    1. I really love classical piano, and I think that works like Chopin's Nocturnes have been in the back of my head when I'm composing the song. The idea for having music that loops though actually came from me playing a video game that had really beautiful and relaxing music. All the songs were composed in a way that they were striking, but they didn't detract from the main content, so it's my goal to compose something of a similar quality.

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  3. Can't wait to hear some of your music and see the finished product. Do you have any particular influences on the music you are composing?

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  4. Hi Keanan, I love the idea of the background music... kind of like a theme song! I agree music definitely has a way with emotion; I can't wait to hear the final piece!

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  5. What impressive work! I think that it's fantastic that you are doing something untraditional and uncommon in the field of hybrid novels - especially given the fact that it is a relatively new genre!

    When you revisit your art, do you edit the actual drawing or the "layers" that you referred to earlier? Also, the score that you composed is lovely! Do you sit down at the piano or compose using another medium? I still have the footage of you playing prior to the Yale college visit! :)

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  6. Hi Ms. Mitrovich!
    So when I am revisiting my artwork, I go back and edit the layers that I was talking about.
    I'm glad you liked the beginning of the score, I've actually started a second version of it that's turning out well so far. Whenever I am trying to compose, I will be running back and forth from my laptop to my piano usually. I'll play what I've written, then venture out another measure or so, and then I keep repeating that process. I've never had any formal training on musical composition, so I could be doing all sorts of things wrong! But so far I am pleased with how it's all going along. At the end of the day, I am just glad I'm enjoying myself, and I am constantly learning new things and new techniques.

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