In the Summer of 2010 I led fourth semester motion design students at the Berliner Technische Kunsthochschule in an Analog Motion Graphics assignment to visualize a series of haiku poems.
The 21 poems were written and recited by Branden Dashiell – a wonderful poet and old friend from college – who put a contemporary twist on traditional themes of seasons and days of the week. The students were challenged to find different techniques to interpret the poems. Approaches included the capillary action of coffee spreading through a paper towel, elaborate paper cut-outs, plexiglas manipulation of raw meat, as well as capturing the reflections from various different shiny surfaces. The final results are a colorful mixture of very abstract and more illustrative work.

The poet Brandon Dashiell.

Come join us at the DMY Maker Lab!
9-13 June 2010
DMY Festival
Tempelhof Airport, Berlin

The DMY Maker Lab will be a celebration of Open Design through practice, presentations, and collaborative action, created by instigators and participants alike.

The DMY Maker Lab is an emergent event, enabled by Jay Cousins, Gabriel Shalom, Michelle Thorne, Pedro Pineda, and Luis Berríos-Negrón. Initiated by numerous members of the Berlin Open Design community and sponsored by DMY, Etsy and Becks, and ultimately created in collaboration with you!

At the Maker Lab, we’ll be hosting various stations for participants to learn, play and build upon the design of others. With an array of processes, technologies and tools such as 3D printers, laser cutters, bio plastics, Arduino, analog motion graphics, weaving, knitting, and other do-it-yourself technologies, participants will learn and create together.

At the center of the event is a Mindscape, a discussion cluster featuring workshops, sessions, and conversations about open design. Most of all, we welcome you to stop by and share your thoughts, even plan a session spontaneously using our open space format. Topics could include new collaboration methods, the future of open design, business models, as well as sharing skills on specific design processes.

In addition we will be encouraging everyone who participates to engage in the documentation process, either by helping to build and transform an evolving monument, or by contributing digitally as an immediator; posting photos to our flickr group ( flickr.com/groups/dmymakerlab ) and/or sending tweets using the #dmymakerlab tag.

From this point of inspiration along with instructions, demonstrations and workshops, we invite you to engage with the space, tools, processes and people. To create together, participating in our numerous activities, or even instigating your own.

We would be thrilled if you would like stop by, lead a discussion, or share a skill, run a workshop, or begin a collaborative project at the Maker Lab. Please contact Pedro pedro_pb (at) live (dot) com or Michelle michelle (at) creativecommons (dot) org to schedule a time and topic or to attend one of the specific workshops.

Visit od10beta.info/dmy-maker-lab/ or dmy-berlin.com/en/festival/2010/maker-lab/ for more info on specific workshops, resources and events.

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music:
“Illusion” by Maersk

from the monome community remix project

photos:
flickr.com/groups/dmymakerlab

video:
Annika Bauer, Patrizia Kommerell, Gabriel Shalom
ks12.net

Click here to view the embedded video.

A thought-provoking speech about the effects of the pace of life in different parts of the world, visualized with hi-speed whiteboard info graphics. A frenetic and humorous approach which demonstrates the power of a good graphic recording can also make for great analog motion. Thanks to Mark Frazier for the link. Incidentally, our friend Anna Lena Schiller is a great graphic recorder in Berlin!

With this great example of analog motion the Langara College showed their “tips for better ideas” in an inventive and creative way. Instead of literally illustrating them, they found a mixture of different techniques for the visualization. In addition to papercrafted collages there is also a use of light and shadow, accordion folding, black light, and many other devices which work well in the context of the sketchbook format. An elaborate, funny, and often surprising piece.

During the Winter semester 2009/2010 I led a class of 23 fourth semester motion design students at the Berliner Technische Kunsthochschule in an Analog Motion Graphics assignment to collaboratively re-create a vintage drive-in movie theater intermission film. The original intermission film was obtained from the Internet Archive. I transcribed the audio track into an eleven page screenplay which, together with the audio, was used as the basis of the assignment. Students were not shown the original film until the end of the semester at the final presentation.

Using the audio and text as a guide, each group of students pitched concepts for their favorite of the 25 different clips in the film and created approximately 60 seconds of material using Analog Motion techniques. Students often spoofed the informational/commercial messages in the film, offering a critical and at times farcical update to the dated language and cultural assumptions from the 1960s-era film.

This gory and slightly naughty piece uses a very nice combination of flip-book style page turning and stop motion to keep us fascinated with the motion. Yet like many animated shorts the sound design creates an added emotional depth which makes the piece. Thanks to Annika Bauer for the link.

A simple use of the light-bending properties of a glass of beer from Magico Nakamura is only a slightly foamy taste of the genius she’s been involved with in the recent past:

Click here to view the embedded video.

This brilliant fan-made hypercubist work is a phenomenal example of the way in which choreography and graphic concepts can collide using analog methods.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Two versions of a video for the song This Lamb Sells Condos and then a making-of video/music video set to the Arctic Circle showcase a nice combination of live action with overhead transparency and shadow puppets. Admirably choreographed single takes encompass all the various elements aided by focal adjustments. Thanks for the tip from Zeesy Powers, the female performer in the videos.

The new Google Chrome ads are a real treat in how they use analog techniques to depict a wholly digital technology. Graceful camera movements and a live harp player give the spots an added freshness. The future is looking bright for analog motion when even Google is spending campaign dollars knitting and spilling ink into water