Artist Research - Chris Cunningham

Chris Cunningham

During my research of CGI and its use in films, I came across Chris Cunningham's work which incorporates and uses CGI to create very strange and sinister pieces. Cunningham is famous for having worked with special effects on numerous films and music videos, particularly with prominent musicians such as Aphex Twin, Bjork and Madonna. He generally seems to use a variety of media from CGI effects through to robotics and prosthetics. 

Rubber Johnny - Chris Cunningham & Aphex Twin

"Rubber Johnny" is based around the wheelchair bound character which the film is named after who is shown being interviewed and babbling incomprehensibly and later the film shows his raving and performing tricks on his wheelchair. The whole short film is filmed in an infrared view helping to add to the uneasiness and disturbing nature of the film.

 The animation Rubber Johnny is a collaboration piece with Aphex Twin creating the jumpy, distorted soundtrack to the short film but also helping to time the characters movements and expressions.

The way CGI is used is to give the impression that "Rubber Johnny" is bouncing around the room and also to give the impression of his limbs stretching erratically.

When Johnny's face presses up against the glass in time to the music, rather than using CGI, Cunningham chose to have the head be created from prosthetics and bits of rubber to create a more disturbing, realistic effect.

NCI410 Digital Skills Acquisition - Update 24th February

Update

The past week, I have successfully modelled my character in Cinema 4D and have tried rigging my character at home. However after transferring the model to the college work environment, due to backwards compatibility issues, some of the model and all of the rigging must be re-done.

With the basic character concepts and developments complete, I have decided to turn my attention more towards the 3D work, as with previous experience, I have noticed how time consuming the 3D work is. The only 2D work I will really focus on this week is the process of creating a physical concept page which could be presented in conjunction with the written and digital work.

With the deadline for this module being on the 7th of March, It is at this stage in development that I should make sure that the bulk of the work is complete. Having attempted walk cycles in college before, I know that they do not take up a very long time and can probably be left to the final week to do. The idea of adding textures and extra details to the 3D character, although non essential, has been researched this week, just so that it is visible that I have considered their application and so if they are added, the thought process can be viewed. 

Targets

This week in 3D I will try to

• Rig the main body for example, Torso, Arms, Legs and Head.
• Attempt the rigging for the fingers of my character
• Look into Xpresso Tags and the use of controllers for eventually animating my walk cycle
• Briefly research textures to apply to the character provided the work is completed on time

This week in 2D I will try to

• Finally decide on the coloration of my character for the concept page
• Create the finalized layout for the character concept page including pantone reference etc
• Make a digital storyboard to use if time allows a more complex animation
• Add the character backstory to the concept page

This week in Written Work I will try to

• Write 300ish words on Mixed Media animation
• Write 300ish words on 2D animation
• Try to do 300 words on 3D animation
• Document the rigging process and the research into Xpresso Tags and other 3D techniques

NCI410 Digital Skills Acquisition - Update 17th February

Update

This week in college I made a rig for an extremely basic character so that I could hopefully understand the rigging process better for my character. This included learning how to create rigged joints for segmented and also "Spaghetti Armed" characters in Cinema 4D.

In the lesson I used some of the basic sketches for my character to experiment with linework in Adobe Illustrator. I also attempted a black and white image which I had planned to laser cut into a material to create a print helping to create a more physical representation of my progress in learning Adobe Illustrator.

As far as the written work is progressing, I wrote the brief study on pixilation for my animation research but have not yet started on the essay due to focussing on the 3D work.

Targets

This week in 3D I will try to

• Complete the 3D model of my character so it is ready for rigging
• Try a basic character rig to see the practicality of my characters model
• Learn a new effect in Cinema 4D

This week in 2D I will try to

• Complete the basic final outlines for my character sheet
• Create the outlines for my character expression page
• Work more on the black and white vector work to potentially make a print
• Think up a backstory for my character

This week in Written Work I will try to

• Create a basic plan for my 1500 word essay