Steve Reich_Eight Lines_Octet_VIDEO

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Let's begin with some music!




This first post is about the concert performed on 23rd of February at the amazing Teatro Comunale, Bologna.

I was asked by Fontana Mix Ensemble (http://www.fontanamix.it/EXITIME-04/FontanaMIX.html) to create a video to be projected during the play of the Steve Reich's Eight Lines - Octet.

That kind of music, with a continuous thus evolving path made me think of a something growing and replicating, equal to itself but at the same time under a constant, subtle changing. So I started thinking and I made some storyboarding.




The animation was made with 3ds max, utilizing most keyframe and morphing tecniques and some modificators applied like noises to the forms.
The noise should in someway connect with the music rhythm, I would like the elments resonated with the music, and I discovered it is possible to tune the modificatore with an audio file, or even a microphone (due to the necessity of render the video I chose the first option, undestanding that the vibration would not be completely tuned with the execution, but I thought after all it wasn't strictly necessary doing it, it was just an influence)




Here is what it looked like

To make the element proliferate I create a "ghost" copy of the first one, with the same modificators, unhided it at a certain time, fistly overlapped to the former object and then gradually changing it's phasing and detaching from it to create a new independent element.










While spreading I introduced a sort of interaction between elements at a particular moment, like a link to develop a new kind of organism before proliferating again.









Then I moved on with some new variation, also in object colors and reflections (everything using keyframe animation)

The rendering took a long time (it was a 20 minutes movie, 25 frame for second with a resolution of 1024x768), about 24 hours, and it was made possible thanks to the patience, and the computer, of my iron friend ing. Mario Da Deppo. Also very important technical tips from Alessandro "Zompa" Zomparelli (http://alessandrozompa.altervista.org/)

Some tries

The video was played while the ensemble, conducted by Yoichi Sugiyama, performed Steve Reich's piece.

I was very satisfied about that.

The link to the event (in which other various pieces where performed) can be found here http://www.fontanamix.it/EXITIME-05/IX.html

Here are some images of the events. You can see how cool and huge the theater is.




Some shot during the dress rehearsal












And last but not least two little video excerpts!

Hope you liked the work, I will enjoy to receive your feedbacks!
[you can find this and more videos on my youtube channel