ABIGAIL ATWELL
RINGLING
X
BARCO
PROJECTION
To create an engaging projection for the Larry Thompson building at Ringling college of art and design. In order for this to be successful we had to create a projection that utilized Trompe l'oeil.
design+animation= Abigail Atwell
sound design = Kelly Warner
THE CLIENT
For this project a projector was sponsored by Barco. A company that makes and provides state of the art projectors. Our projections will have to show off the brightness and overall quality of the projector provided worth over $100k.
CHOSEN CONCEPT
The concept that my team and professors advised me to choose was the 4th idea.
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In this concept the overall delight would be bright lights traveling along the paths created. My trompe-L'eoil would be depth creating shadows giving the illusion that this is happening inside the building. The top of the design also features false perspective with scale exaggeration creating the illusion that objects are coming out of the composition.
TROMPE L'OEIL?
In order to succeed we first needed to understand how we achieve trompe l'oeil. I started by creating a file in After Effects using the 3D tool and lighting to give the illusion that the space was really there and that the objects were coming out at you. For the test we did it in a hallway where the audience was sitting on the floor. We had to take this into consideration for the illusion to be successful.
1ST STEPS
First plan of action would be create an accurate representation of the space in cinema 4d. I did this by placing a mockup image in cinema 4d and tracing it. A shape layer was also provided by our Professor Ed.
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After this I had to build me scene. The way I did this was by creating spline baths and spline wrapping cubes onto them. I then created shapes, added an emission material and put them in a cloner which I then spline wrapped as well. ​
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To create the illusion that these splines were coming out with the screen I added tapers to exaggerate their size.
CHALLENGES
The challenge I faced was making the depth obvious as well as making sure the shapes traveling on a spline weren't breaking as seen in the first pass animation.
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I realized that I could animate the lights in a cloner which solved the breaking issue. In order to create depth, I positioned the paths distanced from one another as well as changing their scale. With exaggerated scale and shadows it creates the illusion.
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MISTAKES
FIXES
MOCK UP
LIVE TEST
MOCK UPS + TESTS
To fully understand how our animation was going to look, we used a mock up. This helped us visualize our piece out on the wall and gave us an opportunity to see if it works.
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We did one test with a projector our department head which isn't as strong as the one we will use, however, it was good for a test round.
FINAL
In my final animation I created fun animation that interacted with the music. I separated each band of lights to represent each stem in the song chosen. This way I could ensure that the animation remained engaging. Thanks to Kelly Warner I had sound design that really changed the piece altogether!
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A final edition was changing a band of lights to spell out "Jazz" for the finale. I think it adds a fun touch to the end!