Grimworx

IVE MOVED BLOG.

2010-10-13T07:14:00.000-07:00

ATTN LECTURERS: My blog is now on Tumblr, where believe it or not there will be regular updates! So please check the reaons to give me a 1st over at

http://grimworxfilm.tumblr.com

thanks

2010-03-16T04:01:00.001-07:00

look at this

TITLE SEQUENCE

2010-02-23T15:43:00.000-08:00

Here's my title sequence I created for the film PSYCHO by Alfred Hitchcock. I wanted to give it a modern edge whilst keeping it in theme with the film. I aimed to create something that I believed Hitchcock would actually use. You can check it out in HD on the Vimeo website.

PSYCHO TITLE SEQUENCE from grimworx on Vimeo.

PORTFOLIO WORK

2010-02-02T08:12:00.001-08:00

Heres just a few low quality test shots I've been doing for some portfolio work. I will probably end up doing similar things in a music video im currently planning.

The first tecnhique is pretty close to the '300' style fight scenes, and the second is a 'real-time slomo' effect which will be used for 'epic' parts in the video.

Check it.

A LITTLE DESIGN WORK

2009-11-04T11:16:00.000-08:00

I decided to make this poster to show a fictional tour. Its in a grungy style to suit the genre of the music.

SIX SHOOTER SOUND ANALYSIS

2009-11-03T14:09:00.000-08:00

In our lecture today we viewed the award winning short film 'six shooter'. I focused on the sound design element. The first thing that became very apparent is that the audio is tied in with the perspective of the characters. For instance, when the main character is told his wife has died, all ambient noise is reduced to zero. As the man gradually leaves his thoughts and returns to reality, the ambient/background noise increases back to a 'normal' level. The same theme occurs throughout the film, with a scene waiting at a train station (with approaching train) being another good example. The use of silence was a great tool for creating tension and drama. In addition, the non-linear use of sound furthers this tension, with crescendos also clearly articulating the 'snap back to reality' theme.

AFTER EFFECTS

2009-11-03T11:29:00.000-08:00

Ive been toying lately with after effects. Seems like the program to go to when you actually want to do something cool with film.

I edited together a studio montage video from my band, and whacked together a few titles for it. I decided to adapt one of them for use in the short film MALac. Check it out.

ONLINE INTERACTIVITY

2009-04-29T03:36:00.000-07:00

www.deviantart.com

What does it look like?
Simlpe green 'flat' design, perfect conceptually considering it as a base for other to upload their own art. Possibly a more complex design could've been used to better suggest the content.

How easy is it to use?
The website itself is very easy to use. It contains a toolbar with easy to find/operate menus to each section. In addition to this, there is a search function making it even easier to locate content.

How relevant is the content of the site?
The content itself is 100% relevant to the website. It includes submitted artwork from registered users, and resources including stock photographs, brushes and textures available for free download.

How clearly is the content organised and designed?
Due to the nature of the website, the content is designed in varying standards. However considering the organisation of the content, the website supplies a generous layout. Each member has their own home page and gallery, allowing other users to browse easily and gather any information that has been submitted.

How does the design reflect the identity of the company?
Considering the simple design, I would suggest the design reflects the company well. Although some may say that such a simple design does not relflect such a high quality graphic art website, I beleive it provides the perfect canvas for all this art to be shown.

How does it reflect the philosophy of the company’s brand?
The company is well known as as an art community, providing a space for designers to come together and discuss techniques and designs, and also gather resources. The design of the website is very suitable.

How successful was the interaction design elements?
The download features of the website worked very well. As did the gallery features, which offered a 'zoom' feature to see the object at 100% size. You can also leave feedback and comments, which is integral for the concept of the website - and this feature works very well.

www.adam-powell.com

What does it look like?

Sleak, modern, minamilistic and dark.

How easy is it to use?

Extremely easy to use, very simple header tool bar

How relevant is the content of the site?

The website itself includes examples of Powell's work, which is mainly music video based. The concept behind the website is very fitting to the theme of his work.

How clearly is the content organised and designed?

Perhaps a touch cluttered and compact, however displayed well. Slightly cramped style to the layout and dosnt make use of available space. Simple black and white design.

How does the design reflect the identity of the company?

The simple modern and dark design reflects the work of Powell directly.

How successful was the interaction design elements?

All the interaction elements function well and are easy to use, however the cramped styling dosnt make the elements as obvious as they could be.

IDENTITIES - SHIRT DESIGN

2009-04-26T02:47:00.000-07:00

For my second object of choice, ive decided to go for a shirt design. I do alot fo little bits of work like this, either for my own band or other clients. Was restricted by 2 colours only to keep printing costs down which made it a little more challenging.

Here are a few shots through the process to give you an idea.

BOX DESIGN

2009-04-16T11:44:00.000-07:00

My box design will follow the same theme as the rest of my work - simple to use and directly linked to the themes/styles of my work. With this in mind, I have created a web template style box, in a dark and grungy theme. I was influenced from websites such as www.mindsiphon.com and www.adampowell.com. Anyway, check it out.

OTHER WORK

2009-04-16T11:38:00.000-07:00

Heres something ive been doing in what little spare time i've had. Its a new promo shot for my band. Heavily edited, but I think it serves to good effect.

And heres the original version.

LOGO CONTINUED

2009-04-16T11:29:00.000-07:00

Heres an updated template, and a finished version of my logo.

2009-03-12T10:31:00.000-07:00

LOGO INITIAL RESEARCH

This is a logo from a band called saosin. The main appeal of this logo is the simplicity of it. A custom font, in simple bold lettering. A logo is a representation, and thus should correspond with the image it is portraying. I will use a strong type face as I feel this will suggest that 'GRIMWORX' (my online work name) is strong and also imply a positive vibe.

Tim burton is by far one of my favourite directors. He uses over sized locations, and very gaunt colours to create an amazing dark and threatening atmostphere. This logo follows this theme, with a very eerie overall look. This is created by an eerie font, bleak colours and stereotypical 'scary' items such as a moon, found in the majority of horror films. I will very much to be attmepting my own logo to suggest dark and evil properties, as this is a running theme within my work. I will try to include an image (such as Burton's moon) in my own logo.

This is a well know logo taken from the amazing film '300' by Zack Snyder. Again, astrong bold font is used, and by using red, a colour typically associated with danger, the logo suggests a possible theme for the film. To further enforce this, the logo is placed in an invasive, threatening angle, complete with 'blood' effects. I will be considering angles and the use pf brushses in photoshop to further enhance my own logo.

Another band logo. The designer has decided to place emphasis on the 'O' logo, rather than the band name. Historically, particularly in war and such, a image or emblem has more effect than a text based logo. I find this an interesting concept. Its likely that I will attempt to incorporate a logo which can be used as a stand alone image alongside a text based version. For some reason, the emblem idea strikes more of a chord, and seems to be something society can related to better than simply text.

Adam Powell is a great director of music videos. Hes shot videos for many bands in the same genre as my own, and is likely the reason I appreciated his work so much. The main attraction of this logo for me, is the small message 'Hello hollywood...No Dont hang up' incorporated into the design. This small amount of humour suggests the nature of this director, and may help possible clients pick him to work with, in particular over 'faceless' companies. The logo also offers a 'handwritten' style font, that furthers the personal theme. I am very interested in being a people person over some corporate style business, so I will be reffering closely to this idea when creating my logo.

This is by far the most elaborate design ive looked at. A great strong look, with lots of appropriate images. Personally, I will be going for a more classy look, however I can appreciate the positives of this design.

MY TEXT SAMPLES

Here are several text samples I have downloaded from www.dafont.com. Its likely I will use at least one of these samples in my finished logo.

STAGE 1 OF DESIGN

Heres what I have decided to call the 'skeleton' of my logo. It incorporates many of the features of the logos I researched. I will go into explaining the design when its complete.

IDENTITIES

2009-01-14T11:41:00.000-08:00

Heres just a little something ive thrown together - hopefully will give you an insight to what kind of guy I am?!

OTHER WORK

2009-01-14T11:04:00.000-08:00

FLYER

This first piece is a small flyer to posted around the internet to aid my band. We are currently searching for a new guitarist, so needed a way of attracting possible members. I used resources from deviantart and dafont, in conjunction with photoshop. Im pretty pleased with the final result - as many people have applied already. Unfortunatley we have yet to find the right man for the job, but at least my flyer is working :)

PHOTOGRAPHS

My girlfriend takes photos of my band when we perform live, and generally I will edit them using photoshop before submitting them to our myspace - www.myspace.com/bagheraband

I edited these using photoshop cs3. and am quite happy with the results!

FOLLOWING WARCRAFT

2009-01-12T12:50:00.000-08:00

Week 1

So I decided to play warcraft as my avatar based game, as the others seemed rather un-inspiring. I have a friend who plays warcraft, and for a very long time I have regulary taken the piss...

However it seemed the lesser of two evils, so here goes.

The game started with prompting me to choose a race, and then a class. I decided to choose an Orc, simply because this was something i had heard of - Lord of the Rings anyone?

From the classes point of view, there was all manner of things such as mage, warlock, hunter etc to choose from, however i chose a straight forward warrior. So heres what I look like right now.

Pretty ghey. I continued with the game, and had to complete a few 'quests' in a training area - killing small creatures and collecting items, all fairly routine. Once i had completed a quest, I have to return to the character who orignally gave me it. In return for my hard work, I get some money and some experience points. Once I had completed enough quests, my XP bar reached full and I levelled up! Cool? I guess so, as all my stats increased, making it easier for me to kill all these creatures.

I had however run into a problem. I had to slay a particulary nasty scorpion...but couldnt find it! I had no choice other than to interact with other players...one of which was nice enough to let me follow him to my target. It quickly dawned on me that if it was this difficult to find things already, I was in trouble.

Week 2

I decided to carry on as I had started - collect all the quests from the area I was in, go complete them, then hand them all in at once. This removes pointless travelling back and forth, which is very time consuming. I quickly realise how huge this game is...theres thousands of people playing on each realm, with there being around 30 realms just in europe, I shudder to think how many of these realms exist in america and indeed collectivley around the world. The playing area is huge - rediculous. My identity in this world is severely insignificant. There seems to be a huge sense of pride in your personal character, from the armour you choose to the weapons you carry. I asked a person whos character looked particulary impressive, who told me his helmet alone cost 400 gold. I at this time have 50 copper - quite a way off affording anything such like. I was please with my level 8 character, because it had taken me hours to achieve it. However one step into the real game, and I am surrounded my level 50 and even 80 characters. I asked someone in the game about this, and it had apparently taken him over a year. Wow?

This screen shot shows the city of 'Ratchet', which i discovered after a lenghy swim.

Week 3

I feel im getting the hang of this now. My friend installed a file for me that shows me where the quests are on my map. Result. No longer did I have to search endlessly in general areas, I could find things so much quicker. I had levelled up considerably too, reaching a respectable level 22. My identity in this realm had become far more respectable, as now the low level guys were the ones asking me for help! 10 Geek points to me. It seems that this game has alot to do with creating an alternate ego...and to earn respect. Guys were always talking about 'awesome swords' and stuff, which was still abit too much geek for me, however it was obvious that by completing quests and gaining high quality items, respect could be earned. I decided to attmept to get into the spirit of things, and promptly set out on more quests. Perhaps some kids on the other side of the world will think I am cool if I get a better weapon? lol?

Week 4

I have literally been playing this game for hours on end. I hadnt realised, but each time you level up, it takes even more points to reach the next level. by now I am level 40, and it has taken so many hours I dont want to think about it. I have had several 12 hour straight sessions, and cannot deny becoming slightly addicted. It is easy to be consumed into this world, and I had a strange desire to make my character more impressive. I had joined groups with other players, to go kill large boss monsters to gain better weapons, where several had commented on what a good job I was doing. I have somehow transformed into some respectable character, who other players look to for help. Cool I guess. I had also been running around with a new sword, which had purple writing for its title. Another player had clicked on my character and inspected me, and told me that this sword was extremley rare. This seems to give me a much stronger identity - now im the guy with the cool sword!

Here what my character looks like now, quite a transformation from when I started!

1 SHOT FILM

2008-11-26T10:18:00.000-08:00

So heres my attempt at the 1 shot film project. This was originally a group project, but in the end I just decided to go solo. After many headaches trying to organise the group, half of them refused to reply to any emails...you guys suck.

Anyway, the theme behind this is people's thoughts vs their actions. I decided to steer away from the stereotypical ideas, such as poker games and 'dates'. People have 'meetings' in ques everyday, yet they usually say nothing to each other. Taking this idea, my video shows some typical northern lads waiting patientally in line. As you may expect, the words that come out of their mouths differ from their actions!

USE OF COLOUR AND LIGHT

2008-11-26T05:01:00.000-08:00

“Jane Bustin's paintings are minimal, simple abstracts of subdued colour.” Jane Bustin’s Holloway Road (2005), oil on aluminium, demonstrates perfectly the interplay of light and shadow. I found this a most attractive piece as the reflective silver aluminium contrasted with the deep matted black invokes a personal reaction within me: indeed, these are colours which represent me most. Looking at the piece, I kept the title in mind, “Holloway Road”. I found that the way the light is swallowed into the black area of the rectangle and is reflected back from the pure, shiny, luminous aluminium deeply representative. Bustin has produced a piece which truly exudes a long straight road; the tarmac represented by the deep black, the horizon, melting and shiny under the heat of the sun conveyed by the aluminium. Her clever use of oil on the aluminium creates a wonderful contrast with the metal. She embodies within this piece the properties of tarmac, being ‘matt’ in texture, but as the light shines on it, a greasy, almost hot wet texture appears, although, it is assumed, the paint is dry.

2008-11-21T11:25:00.000-08:00

I decided to change the colours of a very simple, apple and banana. I checked on the colour wheel, and was shown that classically, blue and green are colours which compliment each other. I originally chose the red apple and yellow banana, because these colours also work well together.

This was a really quick effort in photoshop, and is not a tool I have ever used before...But given more time and a larger project, I am sure I could do a better job!

RULE OF THIRDS

2008-11-21T10:40:00.000-08:00

The rule of thirds is a compositional rule of thumb in visual arts such as painting, photography and and design. The rule states that an image should be imagined as divided into nine equal parts by two equally-spaced horizontal lines and two equally-spaced vertical lines, and that important compositional elements should be placed along these lines or their intersections. Proponents of this technique claim that aligning an image with these points creates more tension, energy and interest in the photo than simply centering the feature would.

In the video, I have clearly demonstrated the use of the rule of thirds. By using this method, much more drama amd interest is created, rather than keeping the dog center of shot. The rule of thirds can be applied by lining up subjects with the guiding lines, placing the horizon on the top or bottom line instead of the center, or allowing linear features in the photograph to flow from section to section. In addition, many photographers recommend treating any "rule" of composition as more of a guideline, since pleasing photographs can often be made while ignoring one or more such rules.

Taken from : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_thirds

Journal Task-Understanding Design Methodologies

2008-11-18T05:01:00.000-08:00

As a semi professional drummer, I have found that it can be as equally important to look good, as it is to sound good. The music industry is now as much about image as it is the music the band produces. To this end, I bought DW drums. Top end sound, with great finishes. When people see these drums, they know instantly of the quality. By playing these drums, people will take me seriously, before I even play a beat. This also translates over to how people view my band. These drums are a statment. These drums are a message to the world about my personality.

I was willing to spend the cash for several reasons. The first, was that i desired to have the quality of the instrument, as drumming is an important aspect of my life. The second, as previously stated, is that these drums send out a message to all who i perform for. It suggests I take my drumming/band very seriously, and this is very much a message I wish to send out.

PIXIL ANIMATION PROJECT

2008-11-05T08:37:00.000-08:00

I decided to give this a go with blue tack for two reasons. The first simply is that I thought due to the nature of the material, I would have unlimited time to swap change and edit things. The second, is that I originally attempted use my dog, and found blue tack to be much more obediant.

Its farrr from perfect...but I'm fairly pleased with it as a first attempt. Given the time and extra experience I would be able to create something much better - and look forward to doing so!

1st JOURNAL TASK

2008-10-27T15:50:00.000-07:00

SaeHan[1] Information Systems were the first to launch mp3 players on a mass produced scale. Since then, many companies have begun creating their own versions, with great competition to create something unique. Apple’s iPod[2] quickly became more popular than their competitors, not only having created an extremely useable product, but also firmly planted a new monument in society. The iPod became the latest fashion accessory, aided worldwide by media pr campaigns. The slick white headphones had taken over the world. The constant struggle to create an mp3 player with extra features had been outdone by a solid, easy to use, sleek design. Apple managed to maintain their dominance ever since, always being 1 step ahead, especially concerning image.
Possibly further re-enforcing their leading status, Apple took the mp3 and thought outside the box. Similarly to mp3’s, mobile telephone companies compete fiercely to create ‘that’ product which strikes a chord within society and becomes popular. However, society is particular with their products. There becomes a point where a mobile phone has too many features, or perhaps just not the right combination. It could potentially be agreed that the more features a product has, the better, however each of these features must live up to an existing standard that society expects. The internet is a perfect example of this. The internet is now a staple in society. Things which were once done ‘manually’, such as banking, reading books, or delivering letters are now done digitally in an instance via the internet. Phone makers such as ‘Black Berry’[3] and numerous other phone makers jumped at the chance to make the internet available on phones. However, this was very much a ‘watered down’ version, and did not give full access as society wanted or expected.
Apple once again hit the nail on the head, and gave society exactly what it wanted. By mixing 2 popular products, the Iphone[4] was born. Combining all the best aspects of both the mp3 player and mobile phones, a product was created that has the possibility to change the way in which society functions. Providing high quality internet, an Ipod quality mp3 player, and video player capabilities, plus a handful of ‘gimmicks’ such as games, it’s no surprise why it became such a popular product. The launch of the Iphone has asked society a question, and sent out a threat to other competing companies. Why go to an internet café, when you can browse your emails in the park? Why stand in queues on your lunch break when you can bank online in minutes? Why buy several products, when it’s all in one affordable package?

[1]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MP3_player
[2] http://www.apple.com/uk/itunes/
[3] http://www.blackberry.com/
[4] http://www.apple.com/uk/iphone/