An experimental film which describes a life cycle of various abstract forms, from birth, maturation to death and allows audience to judge what creature they look like by imagination.
With the help of chemical reaction of putting food coloring in milk, the coloring molecules are pushed away to different directions continuously by milk molecules, which creates an unexpected “color explosion”. The autonomous chemistry not only creates chaos and but also serendipity and inspiration.
Specialising in the conception and production of immersive environments combining video, lighting, architecture, animation, sound and special effects to create remarkable visitor experiences.
Filming acrylic paint swirls in milk
Kinetic movement
Vibrant color
METHODOLOGY
Because of the nature of dish soap, it will push away the paint molecules to different directions continuously, which creates a color explosion.
The autonomous chemistry not only creates chaos and but also the freedom of imagination and inspiration.
I used Adobe After Effects to compose my shots, which is designed for motion graphics design mainly.
After the initial shoot, I realize some problems immediately:
The final output canvas is too wide;
It can’t contain one HD footage;
The color is washed out and not vibrant enough.
Mirror Effect
The good solution is mirroring the same footage.
Approach 1
By only flipping once and feathering the edges, the visual becomes like a lively and organic thing, a brain, a face and a creature.
Approach 2
By flipping 4 footages, it creates a nice pattern but doesn’t look like a live thing.
MOODBOARD
I decided to go for approach 1 which is more organic.
Reference from 3d model design as well as sci-fi movies, like <The Thing>, <Alien> and <Prometheus>.
Mood of mystery, alienation and isolation.
Taotie(饕餮)
It reminds me an ancient creature from Chinese culture called Taotie, which is often casted on bronze vessels dated back thousands of years ago from Shang and Zhou dynasty.
In ancient Chinese mythology, taotie (饕餮) is one of the “four evil creatures of the world” along with Hundun (渾沌), Qiongqi (窮奇)and Taowu (梼杌).
It has a very symmetrical deign with prominent facial features standing out.
Taotie on a ding bronze vessel from late Shang era
INITIAL STYLE-FRAMES
Single cell – complexity – single cell
Inverted the color.
Background is black now
MORE SHOOT
I’m using food coloring instead this time. Because it has more saturated color in milk
I tried to avoid more than 3 colors, or it will turn out too messy and formless.
After consulting, the choice of music seems to be a problem. The current one is a bit club-sounded. It needs more strangeness and Alien sound elements.
So I decided to browse more music options, here are 5 selected scores that I think is suitable.
Below is the visual sequences in the video: simplicity to complex, to Simplicity again
“The Thing” is an experimental and generative video art with the use of simple chemical reaction in milk, which depicts an alien’s lifecycle abstractly. The autonomous chemistry not only creates chaos and but also free imagination based on individual’s experience and background.
In this stage, the proposed work, in URL link below, is prototype 1, not final and still in the process. The design treatment and editing are going to be more polished in the final work.
Before starting actual filming, I went down art friend and supermarket to purchase acrylic, food color, milk, cups and ect.
Because I couldn’t find very liquid acrylic. Instead, I have to dilute the paint by myself. And I also prepare food color to try out, as I had the experience of mixing milk and food color before and want to see which medium is better.
Oli is to create bubbles and resemble alien’s big eyes. And dish soup like a catalytic agent is able to spread out the paint and create movement.
In the end, I kind find out that food color is actually better than acrylic paint, in terms of saturation and effect. Acrylic paint intends to sink down and after dropping in dish soup, the color will not be as saturated. But acrylic paint can create minimalistic kind of effect which is also usable.
I also noticed that I need to started small with one or two color, because after a while, the all the colors started to blend and became ugly. After mixing too many colors, it become messy and ugly.
After Effects Composition
All forms are composed in After Effects by simple masking and mirroring effects. I also inverted the color of footages to match my styleframes and moodboard.
Screenshots from After Effects composition
Motion Composition for testing on media wall
Next step, I will film more footages next week and try out adding some visual effects
Based on the moodboard and concept, I have created a set of styleframes that will set the style of the video. The final composition is going to be involved with more post production in After Effects. Because it is easier to control and achieve the storyline.
Inspired by Psychedelic revival, Moment Factory, I intended to create a video by introducing different planets in our Solar system in a abstract way, using acrylics and milk to form the texture of the planets’ surface with sound effects.
TIMELESS
I have created some animated photo loop for my previous project. I think it will be visually interesting to continue it.
“Timeless” is about creating a animated loop in a still images, which constructs a beauty between still and motion.
So for this time, I intended to create some daily life scenes in larger and wider composition due to the screen size and capture some routine that this city has like taking mrt, hanging cloth outside.
Datascapes
I wanted to use Air Passenger Arrivals’ data to create a visualisation, calculating the number of passengers coming from developed countries to the undeveloped to Singapore.
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