I would really like to do something with a static painting, and then some kind of animation overlayed on top, using my projector. I’m not entirely sure what direction I want to go with this yet, I mean if I want it to tell some sort of story, or if I want it to be more abstract. I’m leaning more towards abstract because I feel like abstractness conveys the idea of light more. For this idea, I’m thinking the painting itself will be the main focus, and the animation will just enhance/add to the painting, like maybe overlaying some dancing sparkles to convey the feeling of light sparkling on water or dust shining as it falls. What do you guys think about the abstract/sparkles idea? Or should I go with a more realistic approach?
Here’s some inspiration for the background painting.
I’m also considering using a bright light focused on a painting, and then perhaps multiple overlayed plastic films on the light to create different sections/colors of the painting.
If anyone has suggestions on what software to use for the animation, let me know. Maybe I can get Adobe Animate through the school…
I really like the idea of the painting changing for different moments of the animation, here is a light artist that makes something sort of like that: https://www.carnovsky.com/RGB.htm maybe you can also draw inspiration from there. I would use Adobe Premier Pro and Adobe After Effects for the animation, they are easy and very intuitive to use.
I think adding elements like sparkles and other reflective things could be cool since you could could play with how they interact with the animation, but also look into like fabric and mesh since it could cast some real interesting geometric shadows (if your planning on still using like a bright light). Its so cool that your doing something really abstract, but what’s your thought process behind the painting itself, like what’s the idea that you plan on making abstract?
I like the abstract/particles idea over a realistic approach. If you have time you could take it a step further and add a secondary animation on top of the first (a ripple effect if you go the water sparkling route?). The color films over the lights would have a cool effect, especially mixed with the projector, I’m curious how they would interact. I’m not too familiar with animation software, but After Effects is always an option. What emotion is the piece supposed to invoke? What materials will you use for the base painting?
This is a great idea to take your art skills to the next level! I think if you lean towards the abstract you should go with the sparkles, while if you go more concrete the light should work to enhance the story, such as how Thea suggested.