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Animationbathysphere

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PROJECT SESSION - 17th MAY 2007
The project at Bathysphere started with a working meeting with Francis O'Donnell Smith, (Aurelie Installation) and Animators Max Crow & Aaron Bradbury, plus Bathysphere musicians Chris and Stu.

NOTES
The group considered the possibility of working with video footage in addition to animated visuals ... possible locations discussed were an old disused factory (Woollsey site) - a fragmented and broken down ghost of industry-scape and also a childrens play area (Knighton Park) - an idea of an ethereal being playing with animated structures in a play area. Other ideas included an old Psychiatric Hospital. Stu offered to take recce pictures of Knighton Park and the group discussed shooting on High Definition to maximise the video quality, particularly if filming in low light.

Knighton Park on a nice day

CONCEPTS/THEMES
Chris and Stu's idea of Instrumentalism - Music composition developed from old circuitry out of dysfunctional electronic toys - an Electro acoustic composition. The idea of content reflecting creative process/principle of Gestalt was motioned. Bathysphere's interest in the deconstruction of technology (e.g. software constructed to smooth over the problems of sound reproduction used for different and often opposite purposes) and what happens when the technology doesn't work - brutal sounds are often the result. The visuals to follow the sound track pattern of building up and breaking down from (Francis) - the idea of a Rubiks cube style movement and possibility of using modulation to analyse signals digitally to reflect the audio patterns (Max/Aaron) Max particularly liked the idea of using long exposure video camera footage of patterns of light activity/repeated shapes that could be used to compliment the rhythms - these would be looped and superimposed. Based on similar previous work, Francis had the idea of looping similar still images. (possibly shooting this activity in the locations and/or in a controlled environment with still images as backdrop?

The future is here at Knighton Park!

Building the narrative sequence and the purpose of images - a sonic pinball style and the idea of visuals providing cues to the progression of the soundtrack/graphic mapping to guide a viewer through the track. An animated being could be moving through the area and effecting its environment/bringing it to life. A frenzied and fractured perspective to match the sound score. An initial idea of one long track, the idea modified for the location (Knighton Park) to include apparatus there and possibly in other parks. Overall idea - to make the apparatus animated in some kind of destructive way i.e not what a park would normally be.

Would you trust this Park?

Watch this space and steer clear from the play parks!! _______________________________________________________________

BATYSPHERE PROJECT BLOG by MAX CROW - Tuesday 19th June 2007
Since meeting young Master Bradbury I have been compelled to volunteer him for things, rescuing burning ducks, scaling oily lampposts and animating art house pop promos. There he was, happily animating toys and musical devices, but I coerced him into a life of back to back non-stop production.

So onward to the project, we met the musical sorcerers, Bathysphere. Their track, Kon-tech is not something I really understand. To me its just sequence of sound effects. I don't know if in the avant-garde world its Kylie or Bowie. I did listen to the track on a loop non stop one morning and I didn't hate it, so it can't be too bad. (But where are the beats?)

Out of the meeting we got what they were trying to achieve with the sounds and what they wanted to convey visually. Form the track we agreed that it lent itself to some very mad experimental animation opportunities. The elements they were keen to include were photography, animation and a playground or disused warehouse. My main mission was to film myself running about with lights. So after a few hours of discussion about the project, about possible locations, techniques and me reminding everyone how much better their project would be if I ran about with lights, we decided on a new hi-tech play ground in the south of Leicester. Everyone agreed we would film with live action cameras and the composite me in running about with lights as also the only direction that this project could go in. Something like that and with few animated bits for Master Bradbury to make it a bit more cool.

We were supposed to meet them all there a few days later but Bathysphere and the students were unable to make it so Master Bradbury and I endeavoured to find the place on our own using satellite imagery. We couldn't find it and panicked but then remembered that it was a recent build and so we figured it didn't exist yet in the virtual world. Armed with a print out of Google we adventured forth and found it quite easily actually. The rest of the evening we ran about with cameras trying to make each other sick and fall off of the various slides and mad spinny things. Its really quite a dangerous place. Fun aside we didn't like the location as it was just too nice, but we liked the idea of a playground which was "alive" with movement and energy, so we decided to take the elements we shot and try and bring them into a digital world. We also made some experimental pieces and cut the live action footage to the sound track to create a kind of mood piece. After much thought and deliberation we came up with a plan which I will explain a bit later into the project as more pieces develop.

Max
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Sometime in the not too distant past, in a playground near you...

Not content with spending time in one large playground, Mssrs Crow and Bradbury journeyed forth in search of even more inspiration...

What an idyllic playground setting at the foot of the Leicester Prison walls

'The camera took on a life of its own' claims Bradbury

The animators enjoy a heady mix of uncertainty, forgetfulness, deep thought and hunger...
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EARLY 'REAL-LIFE' PROTOTYPE OF THE ANIMATION TO THE TRACK