Background Visuals: Design Development

Apps

Apps are so fast and easily accessible, making them a great forum for producing quick motion videos that can then be edited and distorted afterwards on more professional software (such as After Effects and Premier Pro). 

Forge of Neon


This app was perfect for drawing 3d LED styled imagery. It had a mixture of scenic options that meant the design could focus on an array of geometric shapes. Additionally it utilised a black background space which is perfect for the desired qualities that the design sought to have. Its variety of options meant that I was in control of the layout and colours, and thus could put into practice the theory and conclusions that had been drawn from prior investigations. 

As there are so many options, the design can become completely my own and was easily moulded to the designs intentions. There is a complete scene created and the user can zoom in and out accordingly, adding more layers and changing the direction and nature of the rotation. The ability to choose the length of the video was also handy, as it creates simple loops of the scene and can be rendered as a 6, 9, 15 or 30 second video - depending on how significant I thought each composition was. Moreover you are able to save in high quality (1080p) meaning the outcomes would be sufficient to use for large projections and the editing software. 





Final Videos Forge of Neon:

Blue Mandala / perfect geometry:

Pink & Colourful Mandala:

Neuron connection - green & red:

Cityscape / city lights:

Once the videos were exported, the design went on to further distort and manipulate the designs in line with the investigations. Gliche is a very responses app that allows the user to manipulate videos with an array of effects depending on how they drag and respond to the timings. The video can be spun and angled so that the design faces any direction pointed to, it can further be zoomed in and out, and one is able to go inside the layers of the design itself on certain settings. 

The effects include light distortion and mirroring, which meant I could develop the story inline with the previous investigations. Some linear effects when in practice also resembled sound waves which was another aim within the concept and story line. 

Gliche



Gliché has a variety of effects that can be applied to a video and is very responsive to the user. The flow and coherency of the effects are at the hand of the user, thus this app is perfect for playing around and distorting the same image in many different ways to create new productions / variations of the same subject. 

Pattern / distortion (scanning technique):

colour transition technique - a good/smooth way to transition from blue to pink mandala when composing the story: 

Light diffraction / tracers:

Mirroring:

Hypnosis:

Design reacting to context

sound waves & disco ball them:

What next?

These videos are to be ordered into groups of similar qualities that will flow together well. For instance, the direction they moved in, the colours, themes they project. As such all videos with matching aesthetics will be put onto an After Effects composition to be rendered into their own individual looped videos that could be played for an hour each. The end result was is to be several different videos that will evolve throughout the night, playing on the different themes (as interpreted from the brief) and colours to project different emotions that are still responsive to the electronic music and themes of the set brief. 

(mandala, geometry, hypnosis, trippy, neuron, city lights)

When putting the videos together it is important to remember that there can't be quick transitions. People will be zoning in and out the whole night, so the visuals should play for a while each, as its for long periods and not a short video that will be watched all the way through. That is to say, it's important that they fulfil their purpose. To someone watching it out of context they may seem boring, however it should be remembered when combining the videos that quick transitions are not relevant here, just smooth ones. 

As my last experience with After Effects was fresh, the transitions were very jolty and frantic. This time I want to focus on really successful transitions that are unnoticeable when they aren't from stark different videos.