dan_silverstone|design

Under The Surface | Show_Animation

2011-06-05T10:02:00.000-07:00

It's been a brilliant show and is still going on for one more day in London tomorrow. Everything got finished on time and the whole thing looked amazing.

Finished show animation below if you missed it - one of the hardest animations I've had to do but it was well worth the hassle:

UTS_Show_Animation from Pica on Vimeo.

Under The Surface | Invitation

2011-05-27T05:06:00.000-07:00

UNDER THE SURFACE | FEED_NOISE: HND_GRAPHIC DESIGN GRADUATION SHOW 2011

The FEED HND Graphic Design programme is a hybrid of art and design, new technologies, programming, designing digital artworks for print, screens, galleries, live events and theatre.

The course focuses on research, thinking and doing from the view-point of every discipline. It is a renaissance of art, science, philosophy and future proofing. It is a new version of applied visual communication that embraces traditional image making whilst exploring the cutting edge.

Playfulness is at the very heart of what we do, whilst developing new design strategies, techniques and solutions.

_
Get involved. It's going to be a brilliant show!

Related links:
www.thisisfeed.co.uk
www.free-range.org.uk

Square One | Barnardo's Ad

2011-05-20T04:54:00.001-07:00

Mock-advert I created for children's charity Barnardo's. Created using footage from my FMP animation. Music by Sigur Rós - Saeglópur (heavily edited).

Barnardo's Advertisment from Pica on Vimeo.

Square One | Final_animation

2011-05-11T04:05:00.000-07:00

Final major animation. Minor tweaks here and there regarding sound but it's done.

Square_One - 11.05.11 from Pica on Vimeo.

Under The Surface | Animation_beginning

2011-05-06T05:26:00.000-07:00

The following clip is an introduction to the London show animation. The individual features of the faces will flip as the black triangles flip below. Song is an edited version of LCD Soundsystem's, Big Ideas. Edited in Mixmeister because it's too damn long!

Under The Surface | Animation_intro_test from Pica on Vimeo.

Under The Surface | Animation_process

2011-05-06T05:16:00.001-07:00

As a sideline project from my FMP, I, alongside two other students at BMC (Nathan Matthews and Lindsay Wiggin), have been tasked with branding our FMP exhibition down in London - this is on top of preparing my own FMP!

I've been going through different logos which depict the given name of the show and have also tasked myself with animating the 16 students who are taking part in the exhibition.

Nathan has since created more logos which will feature in the animation and printed media.

I started by photographing everyone's face in the studio, which were then edited in Photoshop to extract/lighten etc. The images below are screens of how the animation will eventually look - mixing up the facial features often ends up with some hilarious results:

Intro animation to follow...

Square One | Photo_album

2011-05-06T03:47:00.001-07:00

As the main title sequence featured snippets of past>present>past splices, I thought it'd be good to have those splices featured separately. One idea I've had is to carve out a photo album (make it look shoddy and old - like the original ones) and insert digital photo frames with video playback into them, whilst overlaying reprinted old photos to still give it that 'album' feel.

The point being, to allow the viewer to look deeper into a place or situation thus exaggerating the idea that every area has its history, and my history is still embedded into these areas.

Life passes us by so quickly. Blink and you’ll miss it.

Animation to follow... once it renders out and I get it scaled down to a suitable size for eBlogger!

Square One | Synopsis

2011-05-06T02:22:00.000-07:00

I've finally titled my final major project brief as 'Square One':

'Square one' — a starting point.
'Back to square one' — the beginning of a situation — to return to when things go wrong.

SQUARE ONE | Title_Sequence

‘Square One’ is based around a time when life was easy for me. A time when everything was in its right place. A time when I was growing up on Phillimore Road with my family and the family next door to ours, whom I am still in constant contact with to this day.

‘Square One’ is short title sequence and an introduction to my life.

The credits found within are not conventional credits, but rather credits which give recognition to the location and the people who played a major part in my upbringing. The title sequence pays particular attention to both my parents and the parents of my neighbours, who also provided my sister and I with the same love and support they gave their own children.

Namely, my mother, Francoise Silverstone and my father, Michael Silverstone, who died of a heart attack in 1996, without whom, I wouldn’t have had the experiences I had then, and turned out to be the person I am today.

The shots taken of modern day Phillimore Road have been slightly desaturated to explain that while the location and composition may be the same as that of the photographs taken years ago, the life and experiences surrounding the areas (the vibrant colours) have since long gone. However, the title sequence juxtaposes these current images against past photographs to show that this life and experience is still, and always will be, embedded within the location.

The area and the memories which encompass it have always stayed with me – there’s rarely a day that goes by when I don’t think about growing up at Phillimore Road, at a place I still call home. These memories often cloud my thoughts, to the point of wanting to go back and relive those days gone by. It is this grasp by which my memories have taken hold of me, which has made me question our lives and the purpose behind them.

We’re thrust into life, on our ‘one-way’ path, and for better or worse, we have to keep moving. There’s no time to stop and take it in. We have to let go of all that has happened and move on – but why? To what end? Am I unhappy about my upbringing or where I am in my life today? Not at all. Am I bitter about life’s unflinching, uncompromising, unexplainable timeline? Maybe. It’s not enough to simply say ‘that’s life’ and move on as if we understand what ‘that’ is.

‘Square One’ has reminded me that there’s more to life. That the enigma of life and death is so easily and readily overlooked, often because the answer’s too big for us to comprehend, but that shouldn’t stop us from thinking about it. I’m forever indebted to my family for the love they continue to show me, and I’m proud to be part of this world.

I only wish I knew more about it.

Pica | Showreel 2011

2011-03-20T02:17:00.000-07:00

Song is by Does It Offend You, Yeah? - Being Bad Feels Pretty Good.

Showreel_2011 from Dan Silverstone on Vimeo.

Homage | [untitled]_handwritten_test

2011-02-20T10:11:00.000-08:00

I've managed to break up and mask the handwritten font I'm using throughout the title sequence... took me ages, just for 12 seconds of animation:

[untitled]_photography_credits from Dan Silverstone on Vimeo.

When coupled/paired with the title sequence... it's worth the hassle:

[untitled]_test_handwriting from Dan Silverstone on Vimeo.

Homage | [untitled]_second_test

2011-02-15T08:03:00.000-08:00

I've begun to splice the present day footage with the past and visa-versa. I'll have to slow it down to match with the suggested audio:

[untitled]_test_2 from Dan Silverstone on Vimeo.

Homage | test_animation

2011-02-08T09:45:00.000-08:00

A test animation which uses some of the camera techniques I'll be using throughout the photo album parts. Paying attention to focus, aperture and motion:

[untitled]_test_animation from Dan Silverstone on Vimeo.

Homage | [untitled]_storyboard

2011-02-07T02:14:00.000-08:00

I've not long found out that the brief has changed to focus on parents. Luckily, it's not a case of 'back to the drawing board' as I feel my homage encompasses not only my parents, but the parents of my neighbours.

Text taken from my homage synopsis:

"[untitled] is based around a time when life was simple. A time when I was growing up on Phillimore Road with my family and the family next door to ours, whom I am still in constant contact with to this day. [untitled] is short title sequence, which not only acts as an introduction to a short film, but is also an introduction to my life.

The credits found within are not conventional credits, but rather credits which give recognition to the location and the people who played a major part in my upbringing. The title sequence pays particular attention to both my parents and the parents of my neighbours, who also provided my sister and I with the same love and support they gave their own children. Namely, my mother, Francoise Silverstone and my father, Michael Silverstone, who died of a heart attack in 1994, without whom, I wouldn’t have had the experiences I had then, and turned out to be the person I am today.

The shots taken of modern day Phillimore Road have been slightly desaturated to explain that while the location and composition may be the same as that of the photographs taken years ago, the life and experiences surrounding the areas (the vibrant colours) have since long gone. However, the title sequence juxtaposes these current images against past photographs to show that this life and experience is still, and will always be embedded within the location.
[untitled] is a homage to the people in my life who made my upbringing extremely unique and enjoyable, and one thatI will never forget."

The storyboards below are in draft stages as images and frame are still missing. The final animation may have to change to keep up with the brief. I hope it doesn't change again!

Now all I have to do is animate it...

Homage | [untitled]_photo_album

2011-02-07T01:49:00.000-08:00

I took the photos with a view to copy the composition from old childhood photos. I met up with my mother to grab a load of old photo albums, but only needed and scanned the ones which centred in and around the house. A few examples below [try not to laugh too much at my enormous slap-head]:

My idea was to splice the past with the present by using current-day footage and old photography. I began to make up my own albums whilst retaining the old battered look of the albums given to me:

The idea is that the current day footage would flick to the past photograph, which would then move through the album to the next old photo, which would then flick back into the current day:

By this point, I'd decided that my animation would be created in the style of a title sequence. An introduction to my life.

Homage | [untitled]_recce

2011-02-07T01:10:00.000-08:00

Homage brief: A single exploration on something which means something to me - print & animation brief. I went on a recce around the house I grew up in many MANY years ago. A time where it all began for me and a personal place which houses a lot of sentimental value. Contact sheets below.

Zine|Dyslexicon

2010-11-23T13:48:00.000-08:00

Progression and some posters based around Dyslexicon.

dyslexia - dĭs-lĕk'sē-ə

n.
A learning disorder marked by impairment of the ability to recognise and comprehend written words.

lexicon - lĕk'sĭ-kŏn
n., pl., -cons, or -ca
A stock of terms commonly used in a particular profession, subject, or style; a vocabulary: the lexicon of surrealist art.

dyslexicon - dĭs-lĕk'-sĭ-kŏn
n., pl., -cons, or -ca
A log of terms, expressions, words and sentences which are often confusing, complicated to understand and are not commonly recognised or used in any profession, subject, or style; a vocabulary of frank, unconfined drivel: the dyslexicon of my mind.

FEED_Night|Beautiful_TV

2010-11-09T03:29:00.000-08:00

Initial poster design and progression for the next FEED night.

Christmas Card|Tower

2010-11-08T12:36:00.000-08:00

Christmas card design based around the BT Tower in Birmingham City Centre. The background image on the snowy image was taken from my office and flipped, as the clouds were the perfect shape and texture to create a snow-covered ground.

24hrs|03.08.10

2010-09-29T23:37:00.000-07:00

For the brief, I decided to record one day of my life. Taking data from the 3rd August 2010 and having no particular reason why I chose that date, I noted down the times it took to do certain tasks throughout the day.

As the day went on into night, it was apparent that my day had consisted of much more than physical tasks. Occurances and happenings which would change how I felt about the day had an impact on other aspects of the day, which would continue to have a knock on effect on other aspects of the day. Looking back over the day I realised that I couldn't just illustrate simple 'everyday' tasks, I'd have to break each one of these tasks up into their own respective areas.

I also broke my complete day up into two separate ares: 1) Passive and 2) Active or 1) Conscious 2) Unconscious. Including thoughts and feelings into the day opened up Pandora's Box.

Then of course there was the fact that the world doesn't revolve around me (!) and what was equally as important was the lives of everyone else within that 24hrs. 'Death of a Street Drinker', '11yr olds on the pill' and 'degrading treatment for asylum seekers', were some of the tabloid headlines of that day.

Four days after researching what happened on the day of my data capture, a blog entitled "Love really is greater than death", was printed in the Guardian by Dr Karen Woo. Karen Woo was the British surgeon and medical aid worker who was killed along with nine colleagues in Afghanistan over the weekend bef0re my data capture. Her blog began with the words: "Nothing in life is for sure, nothing that you see today will always be here tomorrow...".

This could not be more relevant to the brief and to what I'm going to attempt to design. Anything could happen in the blink of an eye. Twenty fours hours is a mere blip in our lives, depending on what happens of course. A lot of the time, we'll go through a day without thinking about the last but upon closer inspection, each one is so intricate it's practically impossible to illustrate a complete day.

HOME|Music_Ident#2

2010-06-20T15:13:00.000-07:00

Got a bit carried away and created a longer ident for HOMEMusic using the monster and video from the previous music ident.

HOME|Documentary_ident-2

2010-05-31T09:12:00.000-07:00

Another documentary ident, although I feel this one is better suited
to the HOME brand.

HOME|Documentary_ident-1

2010-05-27T08:14:00.000-07:00

Quite happy with this documentary/nature-style ident although it doesn't quite fit in with the look of my HOME brand. More to follow...

HOME|Documentary_ident

2010-05-20T08:20:00.000-07:00

A work in progress...

HOME|Music_ident

2010-05-16T03:37:00.000-07:00

An idea I had was to bombard the viewer with the HOME logo to the sound of music. Not sure if I want to add more to this but I think it serves its purpose as it stands although it's sort of lost it's vigor after being uploaded onto eblogger. (audio and visuals aren't the same on low resolution!) The tune's called 'Rocket Soul' by Plump DJs.

Ident sheet below.

HOME|Film_ident/stings

2010-05-16T01:00:00.000-07:00

One of my HOME film/movie stings in which the monster from the HOME ident walks past a city centre office block. The photos were originally taken from my workplace.

Ident/stings sheet below, explaining the animation process through shots and audio.

HOME|Film_ident_screens/logo

2010-05-07T04:21:00.000-07:00

My HOME Logo (with slogan).

Early screens for an ident created for the 'film/movie' area of the HOME channel.
Much more to follow...

Record Label|CD_album_cover

2010-04-08T14:54:00.000-07:00

An album cover for the indie/electro band Ursa Major on the record
label Overtly Covert.

The cover is created from card which folds around the CD.
The CD is then placed into the cover sleeve.

NB. Band and record label are completely fictitious.

Side Project|Pica_Magazine

2010-03-25T00:47:00.001-07:00

Early shots of something else I'm working on alongside my FMP. Pica magazine - based around around gaming art and culture.

FMP|Test_screens

2010-01-27T06:19:00.001-08:00

My initial idea of how these paths could look against photography or a moving image. I'll be adding brief descriptions to each of the arrows. I think the more paths there are, the more intense and detailed the image will look. Can't wait to aminate footage... once I start filming!

A rough test of how the animation could pan out. Need to get angles and rotations spot on throughout though.

FMP|Initial_proposal

2010-01-22T08:28:00.000-08:00

Reform|final_poster/animation...

2009-12-01T17:22:00.001-08:00

Maybe a few tweaks, here and there...

Reform|sneak_preview

2009-11-25T07:37:00.000-08:00

A sneaky preview as to where I'm up to with my animation and poster for this brief. Don't want to give too much away at the moment as designs may change in these last few days, although the snippet of the poster on the right wouldn't look too bad as a banner...

Reform|fragile_nucleus

2009-11-17T16:45:00.000-08:00

Reform|the_science_behind_After_Effects

2009-11-11T08:37:00.000-08:00

I've started to animate projectile lilies, which head towards a circle - the circle being the casing of the conker. Taking this almost violent movement towards the conker, I thought about what would happen after impact. Then thinking about impact, I thought about what reactions, forces and explosions would be involved once the lilies join with the conker.

Going down this path of impacts and reactions, I started to treat the conker as an atom, rather than a conker. Using inspiration from the 'origami cranes' legend (Fold 1000 origami cranes and your hearts desires will come true - Hiroshima survivor folds 1000 cranes in the hope to heal her radiation poisoning, notices everyone around her is dying, so instead wishes for world peace) I had a look at Imi's images of conkers, and noticed how when bundled together, they formed the basis of an atomic nucleus.

I now plan to pair this idea with noises around the theme of 'war'. Watch this space...

Reform|horse_chestnut/折り紙

2009-10-21T13:16:00.000-07:00

Spent some time sticking cutouts of my lily to a printout of Imi's conker. Below is the end result. Not bad if you look at it from a distance. Was a bit of a pain to get the perspective right as I didn't have enough photos so, I had to duplicate, flip and rotate half of them. Looked a bit too bland so I thought I'd have a play around in Photoshop to give it some depth.

THEN, I thought I'd run it through a scanner at the lowest quality setting then have a play with it in InDesign. I'm happy with the results...

Reform|Cinema_4D Hell

2009-10-17T16:19:00.000-07:00

Cinema 4D is an unforgiving program. My first time using it and it's taken me ages just to make this. It's not much, but it's a start.

Reform|this could be the start of something...

2009-10-14T11:14:00.001-07:00

Teamed up with Imi who chose a conker as his object of manipulation. Now all we have to do is animate the two of them. Since typing this, Imi's left me in the dirt and excelled with animating all sorts of spikey stuff. He did, however, give me some of his brilliant sketches of his conker which I've used to conjure up how the pair (origami lily and conker) could work together in an animation.

Have started to create the lily on Cinmea 4D. More to follow...

Reform|early stages, origami and crap unicorns

2009-10-14T10:54:00.000-07:00

Brief: Photograph and sketch an object of your chosing then merge the object with someone else object to create a hybrid. Design a poster and create a 20 second animation based on this hybrid.

My chosen obeject is an origami lily. Why? Because I read the brief incorrectly thinking that the initial object had to be based around 'reform'? Maybe...

One hour in Borders' 'craft' section was enough to tell me that I needed to leave Borders and never return. After endless hours of attempting to master the unicorn, then succeeding, then realising my unicorn looked half llama, half shit (pictures to come), I decided to crawl before I could walk and create a lily. 2hrs later (1am Wednesday evening) and the lily was born.

deRail

2009-10-13T12:44:00.000-07:00

Typography brief: Design a font based around transportation (or something to that effect).

I chose to base my idea around the overhead power cables along the Birmingham railway lines. Looking at any linear sturcture you can pretty much make any shape or letterform quite easily, however, adding in all the trimmings (plylons, bolts, couplings, lighting etc) and making sure each cable correctly connected to the other was a pain in the arse I really didn't see coming.

The end product? I'm pretty proud of it.

A few of my favourite letters:

F3ED

2009-10-13T12:20:00.000-07:00

Brief: Merge the three cities, Birmingham, Manchester and Salford together to create a final image/hybrid, which celebrates FEED's third birthday.

This piece of work was also entered into the FEED exhibition at Plus+ International Design Expo 2008.

Press Start

2009-10-05T14:25:00.000-07:00

This is the finished work from a 'corporate identity' brief I was given sometime ago. I liked it so much, I've slapped it all around my blog!

Brand Guidelines below: