Paperwork - tests

In my first Projection test I identified two issues. The animation
needed to be more visually confusing, and secondly it needed a
sound track.
I went back to the original After Effects document and continued
to add further layers of text and numbers. In the end I had 6 saved
compositions of varying complexity. I ended up using the 5th
composition for the final outcome after finding the 6th animation too
visually confusing. I still wanted a balance between the intelligible
and unintelligible with key words or phrases emerging from the mix.
I also had to consider the banners on stage would further distort
and obstruct the flow of text. I have been considering using sound
for my current work and have been greatly influenced by Brian Eno’s
view that music can give you a que as to how long you should view
a work, effectively holding the viewer attention. Never experimenting
with sound before and due to the tight deadline I considered the
best avenue was to seek collaboration with another artist.

Paperwork - Contextual research

Paperwork - AfterEffects

My two key tasks were to create my ‘Management Jargon’
animation, and to design and test my banner deployment system.
Taking the jargon I had collected I copied it into a Photoshop file,
each separate paragraph or phrase on a separate layer.
This was then exported into Adobe After Effects. I intended to
create a simple animation with text traveling either horizontally or
vertically across the picture plain. It was a steep learning curve
but once I had established how Key frames could be set it proved
relatively simple. A host of You tube tutorials helping me overcome
each technical obstacle.

I soon established that background interest was needed, deciding
upon a layer of small zeros and ones set to a low opacity.
This helped add to the general ‘clutter’ of the work, making it more
visually confusing. After the success of using numbers to add
confusion in the background I also added larger sets of zeros and
ones at full opacity to appear in the foreground. These clusters of
numbers generally travelled faster than the text, creating yet more
visual interest. I used text of varying sizes and opacities to try and
create the illusion of depth so that the work appeared as a deep
unintelligible field of information. I slowed the movement of the
smaller & duller text so that it appeared it was in the background.
With larger text in the foreground appearing to travel through this
illusionistic space faster due to its proximity. This helped reinforce a
sense of depth.

I also experimented with text traveling at different angles and
appearing to move towards the viewer. However I felt this over
complicated the composition and so decided to keep the path
of the text fixed to horizontal or vertical. This seemed to fit the
impersonal mundane quality of the work.
In response to feedback that earlier animations looped too soon at
around 30 seconds I set the duration of the work at 3 minute 30
seconds. With each piece of text representing a layer I soon had an
animation with over 200 separate layers.
However I had encountered several issues with my first attempts:
The document was far too large, in order to achieve a high
resolution I had set dpi to 300 and the canvas size to 70x70cm.
This had made it slow to work with, and when I attempted to
render a clip I was presented with a 3 day wait. Also because I was
importing the layers from Photoshop the text seemed to lose clarity
in its translation.

I decided to abandon my first attempt, halving the size of the
canvas for my second work and avoiding using Photoshop, instead
text was generated using the After Effects type tool. This seemed to
work much better, render times were down to 6hrs and text didn’t
pixelate to badly when test projecting the work in my studio at over
6 metres.

AfterEffects screenshot

Banner system

Paperwork - Idea Development

With this mass of management speak I had the building blocks to
create the work. However there were still two key issues:

1) What software would I use to create the animation? - So far I
had been using Adobe Photoshop’s very limited animation tools to
create my work. I had already reached the limit of its capabilities
and needed to use a more sophisticated programme to realise
a professional outcome. The answer was to use Adobe After
Effects, as a programme I had not used it before but it had been
recommended by both Shaun Camp and Marcus Williams. It was
also able to work with Photoshop files so that artwork could be built
in Photoshop and then animated in After Effects. - However this did
still leave me with a sharp learning curve and not much time.

2) How was the work to be displayed and deployed? - Because
the director wanted the work to be viewed in the intermission it
needed to be stored during the first half, and quickly deployed at
the start of the 20 minute intermission. It then needed to be quickly
taken down again for the second half. Added to this was the issue
that there were to be two back to back performances, so it needed
to work twice.

My answer to this problem was to use banners of paper which
could be wound up and attached to the lighting rig, then be
dropped when needed, and ripped down after use. Aesthetically
I favoured this solution, by using reels of perforated fax paper I
could create an office like maze through which the audience could
wander. Perforated fax paper is also incredibly thin, no more than
60 GSM which would allow the projected image to be seen on both
sides of the columns.

Paperwork - Think Outside the Box!!!

While watching this first rehearsal I heard ‘Think Outside the Box’ a
number about the over use of management jargon. The whole song
being written as a string of generic sound bites often used in the
office environment.

I decided that office Jargon would be a great subject matter for
my installation. Text could replace the hand drawn brush marks of
earlier work. Creating dense patterned fields of unintelligible text
from which key phrases could emerge. My starting point for this
being the lyrics of the song ‘Think Outside the Box’. I then started
collecting phrases, clichés, and business mission statements until I
had a large store of jargon to drawn on. I wanted to make the work
banal, like in the musical information would be conveyed without
any clear understanding of why or whats really being said.

Paperwork -Rehersals

I was very conscious that the work I produced should relate to theproduction, I did not want to simply exhibit some of my existingwork. I wanted to produce something specific, which in some wayechoed themes in the main production, while at the same timeremaining distinct.I therefore arranged to attend rehearsals to get a feel for the work,hoping that this would prompt ideas.During this first rehearsal I managed to get a good feel for theproduction. It was also an opportunity to talk with the Writer AmyMallett. She talked in depth about the work, explaining its themesand messages. While very much still being a musical with songs,dancing, and jokes the work clearly had some underlying ‘dark’themes. Including institutionalization, harassment, loss of identity,etc. The office in which the musical is set is deliberately generic.The audience never exactly learning what the business does. Paperis filed, forms are filled, and orders are made. All without any clearreason, there is air of desperation which pervades many of thescenes.

Paperwork - The Physical Musical

This project became the main focus of my Professional

Development module.

The opportunity came about via a chance encounter with the

director and writer of the work during an exhibition opening. After

they outlined their upcoming production at Dance East I showed

them some examples of my work from my Concepts and Contexts

presentation. - Their feedback was very positive and they explained

how they felt my work might reinforce the contemporary feel they

were aiming for. They proposed that we meet again to discuss how

my work could feature as part of the production.

We discussed many ways in which the work could feature before,

during, or after the performance. The preferred option was that

the work would be seen during the interval on the main stage. The

audience members being invited on stage to wander through it.

After my Concepts and Contexts presentation I was keen to create

more work in which the viewer could move through an environment,

becoming part of the piece. 

However this created the problem that the work would need to be quickly set

up and then dismantled before the performance resumed. My final

outcomes for Concepts and Contexts had taken a whole day to set

up. It was agreed that I would go away and consider solutions to

this problem to see if this option was feasible.

We both agreed there might also be the opportunity to create a

permanent installation for the duration of the performance in the

foyer.

Synopsis

The story is set in a everyday office in 1980’s England, the main

character is the son of the recently deceased chief executive.

Arriving at the business to assume his fathers role he is mistaken

for a management trainee and taken on a whirlwind tour of the

business.