WWU 2023 WORKSHOP
Western Washington University reached out to sponsor a two day workshop for their design department. The students were introduced to various techniques such as liquid light effects, controlling materials with magnets and processing their results with analog video hardware. They also learned digital animation techniques including features of adobe after effects, photogrammetry, software glitch and upscaling using AI tools. The students worked to a track by Computer Jazz and projected all their work as a 2.5 minute music video on the historic Herald Building in downtown Bellingham. Special thanks to Austin Shaw for getting me involved and for co-leading in the workshop.
Role: Workshop Instructor
Client: Western Washington University
Created: 2023
LIQUID LIGHT SHOW
The students got to experiment with Liquid Light Show techniques that involved pressing ink, watercolor, oil and alcohol between two glass plates. A light table and overhead projector were used for illumination of the liquids and each pass was filmed with a Black Magic 6K camera. They also learned how to import and color grade their footage in Davinci Resolve before working with their footage in Adobe Aftereffects.
MAGNETISM
The workshop allowed students to manipulate ferrofluid with magnets, introducing them to an alternate way of hand-animating content. The ferrofluid was placed in a petri dish and illuminated using Blinkinlabs Blinky Tape LED strip. The students learned how to program simple pattern animations on the LED strip and then film their interactions on a Cannon camera. In addition to ferrofluid, the students also experimented with manipulating iron filings with magnets. The iron filing powder was spread on a black sheet of paper and illuminated by two color-controlled LED panel lights.
ANALOG GLITCH PROCESSING
Once the students captured their live action footage and digital animations, they could run their content through various analog video glitch modules. They had access to both the Tachyons+ Dreamweapon and BPMC Premium Cable, which were output to a 13” Sony Trinitron TV. The effects were then re-captured on a Cannon camera to be color corrected and edited with Adobe Aftereffects.
DIGITAL EFFECTS PROCESSING
Throughout the workshop, students were introduced to several different digital techniques. At the opening of the project, they were shown how to edit to music and create looping shape animations in Aftereffects. Later demos included more detailed Aftereffects tricks like utilizing mosaic filters, time displacement, turbulent displacement and other presets. They were also shown how to use Luma AI for photoscanning, Hexfiend for software glitch, Topaz AI for upscaling footage and Davinci Resolve for color correction techniques.
PROJECTION MAPPING PRESENTATION
The students compiled all their pieces into a single music video, which was projected on the historic Herald Building in downtown Bellingham, WA. The piece was included on Bellingham’s monthly art walk and displayed alongside several alumni videos. Special thanks to Professor Kacey Morrow for leading the charge on the projection event.
CREDITS
Workshop Instructors: Peter Clark, Professor Austin Shaw
Hosted by: Western Washington University Design Department
Students: Nikki Araya, Cody Pham, Chloë Cho, Ximena Alvarez-Bravo, Sofia Pelkey, Jade Blue, Soleil Jeffery, Mason Voogt, Sam Ridges, Sofia Choi, Katie Butler, Warren Langerveld, Stephanie Rasa, Cam Gibb, Ross Osborne, Isaac Escovedo, Maya Crowder, Lucy Webb, Hannah Baumes, Ketric Petersen, Milo Melsen, Grace Stewart, Alex Seawall, Bella Mathiesar, Larry Obernberger, Noah Winston, Julian Cabrera, Elliot Fogarty, Owen Paznokas, Zoe Malee, Dawson Gyllenhammer, Faith Maples, Rowan Skipton, Gigi Krupa, Kerensa Suzara, Ingrid Larson, Paili Anth
Projection Coordinator: Professor Kacey Morrow
Music: Computer Jazz