1EGNM 2007

Scott Wooden Becoming... // Semester 4

Becoming Fischli & WeissInitial Research

The initial part of this project led to the research into our respective artists. Getting know the people we were about to become was our initial stage into seeing in their eyes. Seeing their work, where they live, how they work and there philosophy are all key elements to getting know them.

In brief, Fischli & Weiss are a pair of artists who focus on the experimental side of contemporary art. They express there ideas through a large range of artistic forms from sculptures to video, installations and film. There work usually consists of creating artistic expressions from everyday objects with a side plate of humour and irony.

In essence their work is highly experimental and from their work we can see that they have a childlike approach to their work. This is evident in such works as, “In the Carpet Shop” and their most famous piece “Der Lauf Der Dinge” where objects interact with each other in an unusual but playful way.

Right - (In The Carpet Shop. 1979) Fischli & Weiss use sausage meat in a different context taking advantage of the different patterns and shapes to create a carpet shop environment.

Left - (The First Blush of Morning. 1984 ) This piece uses everyday objects in a delicate balancing act to create illusions which seem to defy gravity.Right - ( Der Lauf Der Dinge. 1987 ) This video piece uses the forces of nature and careful planning to create a playful chain reaction using everyday objects.

Left - (Rat and Bear. 2008-09 ) A recurring piece in their work which features a Rat and a Bear brought up in two earlier films (The least Resistance. 1981 and The Right Way. 1983 ) where they discuss their journey as an artists through Switzerland in a humorous way.

Right - ( Unknown ) Five heels arrange in such a way that gives it a new refreshing, playful perspective.

Becoming... // Semester 4Scott Wooden

EGNM 2007 2

Becoming Fischli & WeissExperience in their shoesTo become Fischli & Weiss we discussed their work and most importantly how they create their work. There is always an element of childlike creativity when you see any of their pieces and this can also be reflected in their design practice. We were particularly inspired by the video, “Der Lauf Der Dinge” (The Way Things Go), which reminded us of the Rube Goldberg machines which hold similar characteristics as Fischli & Weiss work.

After much discussion it was decided that we create one of these Rube Goldberg machines using objects we can find around the home. We also went into the project with no definite plan and started building the machine by experimenting, making mistakes and having fun. This practice will hopefully show through into the machine we make into an exciting bubbly piece.

Our Experience

Our initial feeling when we took on this experiment was uncertainty and doubt. To create a machine like this took a lot of patients and experimentation. With different objects gathered in a pile it was hard to see it become a chain reaction of interesting movements. Nonetheless we began with a positive attitude and creative things bit by bit.

Slowly we formed ideas, and little experiments where some worked and some failed but with a laugh which I think is important in Fischli and Weiss work. To enjoy these experiments is whats important and definitely a huge element in their work.

Outcome

Our final machine was a fairly good success with good runs and bad runs but what really helped us was the way we built it. Minimal planning, and a lot of more experiments gave us more ideas than if we though about it way before building.

A childs perspective on objects are fresh as they have no preconceived ideas on how to use it. No reference in what it could be used for. They play with new objects and find new, fun uses for them. Somewhere along growing up we forget or lose this way of thinking, but working on this project has brought it back up for me.

3EGNM 2007

Scott Wooden Becoming... // Semester 4

Initial IdeasFischli & Weiss // Developing My PracticeThe way Fischli & Weiss work is the key element I want to bring into my own practice. Childlike, playful, experimental and spontaneous is the angle I want to head towards when creating my outcome.

I developed a poster to summarise my findings and experience from the research of this project. The poster was designed with childlike themes and illustrations to carry along Fischli & Weiss ideas.

The rube goldberg like drawing is a representation of the earlier work we did and an illustrated metaphor for getting inspired by the Fischli & Weiss vat of knowledge.

The manifesto shown left was created by the artists themselves and it underlines the principles of their work ethos. I found this manifesto quite informative and light hearted as it basically defines them and their work. The childlike essence, playfulness and high experimentation I experienced in becoming them are in this manifesto and thus my initial ideas are to try and illustrate or animate this.

Initial ideas for Development

From the experience and knowledge I have gathered from the research, I want to bring some digital life to their manifesto. I think that their way of working should be embraced by more people so I plan to spread their word by creating a video or animation.

A key process to creating this video is to take into the account the way Fischli & Weiss work and BE highly experimental, to have fun while doing it, and to approach work in a playful manner.

I plan to look at highly experimental ways of creating the video in terms of animating, compositing, and style to create a fresh original piece which hopefully reflects their manifesto in a vibrant way yet informative way.

Becoming... // Semester 4Scott Wooden

EGNM 2007 4

Idea DevelopmentSketches, Styles & StoryboardsI started out with initial sketches that give me a vague idea of the layout of the video. This followed on to more detailed storyboards and pre-vis experiments which help me shape and guide the final look of the film.

Initial Style Sketches

The sketches above are the initial rough drawings in the layout and form of my animation. I have gone for a similar approach of an animated rube goldberg machine which triggers various points of the animation. The illustrations consist of drawings or models of different objects found around the home. These decisions are entirely fluid in that depending on how things look I will experiment with other layout style as I create the piece. I will however focus on a certain style to ensure there is at least some element that is constant throughout.

Style Research

I undertook some research concerning the style of the animation and I was particularly interested in Noah Harris’s work on the E4 Ident. He has created a vivid, vibrant world full of playful elements and charming animations. I want to create some that has this similar feel with bright colours, and little animation elements that suggest the idea of playfulness.

Pre-Visualisation Experiments

Above are two quick visual experiments to help me decide what style to go down. The left focuses on Fischli & Weiss use of objects and how they take them out of context while the design on the right focuses on the playful, childlike approach of there work.

After some feedback and discussion on the designs I realised that I could try and fuse both together, having elements of the left and right would convey both meanings and further strengthen the relationship towards Fischli & Weiss.

The work above is an Ident for a cinema company. I particularly like the hand drawn animations in this piece as they are quite basic but the fact there are a lot of these small animations it creates an interesting visually engaging piece pull of life and depth.

(Photos Below) E4 Ident. 2007. Noah Harrishttp://www.noahharris.co.uk/

5EGNM 2007

Scott Wooden Becoming... // Semester 4

Idea DevelopmentFurther Development, Further StoryboardsTo create this piece, the animations will someone relate to each points in the manifesto, where each scene is one manifesto point. The storyboards were just a brief plan into each scene of the animation and how they will transition into one another. However keeping with Fischli & Weiss work methods most of the planning will be done as I create the animation, trying small experiments to see what works and what doesn’t. Although this may be more time consuming, it means I have more freedom to try unusual and unpredictable things which could lead to better ideas.

Storyboards

The first scene starts out with the title and with an animated sniffing W which comes across as curious, it taps the “better train” and the rube goldberg sequence starts.

This first scene takes the idea of “Do one thing at a time” and puts it in a chain reaction context with one thing causing another thing to do something.

The second scene “Know the problem” takes the idea of the light bulb of knowledge and lights up to light the scene and therefor the problem.

The third and fourth scenes (“Learn to listen” and “Ask Questions”), are about communication and thus there are ears and question marks which symbolise the listening and asking of questions, the town scene helps illustrate that we should do this in the outside world with everything around us, everyday and night.

The fifth scene, “Distinguish Sense, From Nonsense”, is similar from the previous scene getting the reader to think about this point in perspective the world around us.

The sixth point, “Admit Mistaks”, has been deliberately spelt wrong to make it seem ironic and humorous.

The last three points, (“Say it Simple”, “Be Calm”, and “Smile”), have all been placed in the same scene to express the similarities in these points. These three points all have a sense of optimism and simplicity so the timing of shots between these points is crucial for the message to be amplified within the reader, ensuring they read each point with enough time but not so much time that the previous point is lost.

Becoming... // Semester 4Scott Wooden

EGNM 2007 6

Final PieceMaking-of, Experiments & ScreenshotsMaking the animation was a fairly complicated process as there where a number of elements in each shot which had to be individually animated.

To create the playful, illustrative style I hand drew a number of animations to be placed in composition later. These animations where drawn frame by frame on tracing paper and later scanned, positioned and edited on the computer. Each element was saved in a SWF. file which then could be pulled at any time in After Effects.

The fact that I was combining 3D and 2D hand drawn animation was an interesting experiment and it gives the video an interesting visual style. The two types of animation seem to blend together without rejecting each others different aesthetic qualities. The colours of the animation helped with this ensuring they both blend together seamlessly.

Compositing, lighting and grading was also an important factor to ensure the animation was visual engaging and seamless.

Compositing the Scene

The first plate is the raw render straight from the 3D program, This is imported in a compositing software (After Effects). It is then firstly colour corrected to get the best visual appearance from it. In this case I was trying to get as much colour out of it without looking over saturated.

Next step is any camera blurring there may be in the scene, to add those in, such as close distant shots or anything that would be out of focus. Lighting comes after this ensuring that there is a realistic glow on anything lit, this happens when light is directly pointed at the camera (Lens flares). By the end you end up with a more realistic scene with visual interest and depth.

From top left to right - Falling Debris, Birds Flying, Wheel Spinning, Weights, Wind Swirl.

(Below) This one frame of the final animation after is has been scanned and edited in photoshop and flash.

Music & Sound Effects

Choosing the music to go behind this animation was a very important factor to the contribution of the feel and tone of it. I wanted something that was fairly upbeat and rhythmic as there were a number of fast paced shots and movements which in certain scenes of the animation. I was also looking for something clean, and simple therefore a single instrumental piece seemed appropriate.

Sound effects help give 3D animations or anything on screen a sense of spacial depth and thus necessary for this piece. They also help the audience imagine that particular scene such as the ambient noises in the city and at night.

7EGNM 2007

Scott Wooden Becoming... // Semester 4

Final PieceFinal Outcome & Evaluation

I think the final outcome turned out really well in terms of getting its message across in a refreshing, original and entertaining way. The animation flows from one scene to another in a seamless manner and each point is emphasised well with the animations. In terms of colour I went towards pastel shades as it portrays the idea of being young, fun and innocent. Similar to the way Fischli & Weiss work, and this simplistic style is followed throughout the animation. This is further evident in the content of the animation where everything is simplified with blocks for cars, and buildings, which can also be thought of building blocks that children play with.

In terms of my own practice and the inspiration of working I gained from Fischli & Weiss, I feel that I really have embraced their manifesto through this work. The experimental style of combining two animation methods together was certainly new and unusual for me, but the outcome turned out for the best and with more developing could certainly become an interesting aspect of my work.

This animation is intended for creatives alike who need a fresh perspective in the way of working, or anyone who needs inspiration on how to work better. Socially, this way of working is seen as impractical and time wasting as the success to fail ratio is much higher than if you planned everything before hand. It also may be more time consuming as you are constantly experimenting new and original ideas with unpredictable outcomes.

There is still a lot of improve in this piece and in my design practice in terms of efficiency, research and planning. The video still needs quite a few tweaks to really get the message across. For instance although I have taken into consideration the fluidity and seamlessness of the piece each scene needs to be more similar in terms of visual style. There is a very distinct change between a number of scenes with the amount of detail, the colour, and textures. My design practice caused this to happen from the wild experimentation with style and colour. I feel as though my research could have been more thorough in styles for the animation, that way I could have had a clearer idea of the colours and textures to use for this piece.

Overall, I feel as though I have created a good outcome in response to Fischli & Weiss work and their design practice philosophy and style is something I will always consider through future projects.