On February 11, 2009 at 7 p.m., the Kinetic Cinema screening at Chez Bushwick will feature a wide-variety of dance and movement animation videos. Curated by Doug Fox, blogger and founder of Great Dance, the program will show how directors, artists, choreographers and dancers have used different animation styles and techniques to capture, illustrate and transform human movement.
The program will feature 15 clips from video and film animations, theatrical movie releases, TV commercials, music videos, performances and installations, and student projects. Among the highlighted animation techniques will include hand-drawn 2D animation, 3D animation, live-action and computer graphics, stop-motion, rotoscoping, motion graphics, real-time performance animation, machinima and other animation styles. This program builds on Fox's online guide to "50 Dance and Movement Animations," which he published in January 2009 on GreatDance.com. He has interviewed many of the artists, animators, directors, choreographers and dancers who participated in the production of the videos which will be screened and he will share insights from these conversations during the Q&A section of the program.
Date/Time: February 11, 2009 7-9 p.m. Tickets: $10 at the door, no reservations. Location: Chez Bushwick, 304 Boerum St., Buzzer #11, Brooklyn, NY 11206. Phone: 718.418.4405 Web: www.chezbushwick.net Trains: L to Morgan Street Directions: Exit back of the train. Turn LEFT outside the station. Turn LEFT onto Boerum Street.
The screening portion of the program will be just over an hour and discussion will follow.
The following dance animation videos will be screened:
BALLET DANCER WARM-UPS (2007) -- 1:13 minutes 2D animator Susan Chien, for a life-drawing class at Massachusetts College of Art and Design, created a hand-drawn animation with a stop-motion feel that captures the movements of a human model.
BODY NAVIGATION (2008) -- 8:08 minutes Recoil Performance Group's dance installation with real-time, interactive graphics, premiered in Copenhagen as part of Danish Dance Theatre's LABYRINTH. Choreography by Tina Tarpgaard, and visual and interaction design by Ole Kristensen and Jonas Jongejan.
Chandon -- AFTER PARTY (2007) -- 34 seconds A combination of live action and computer graphics were used in this TV commercial featuring a Tango-dancing wireframe couple constructed from a champagne bottle cap. Produced by advertising agency Dentsu America.
CSI: NY -- "SECOND LIFE Virtual Experience" (2007) -- 1:47 minutes Nightclub dancing scene from CSI: NY. Machinima pioneers ILL Clan produced the in-world animations for CBS where a killer is tracked in the SECOND LIFE virtual world.
EN TUS BRAZOS (2006) -- 5:20 minutes A 3D narrative-based animation about a tragic accident that befalls a great Tango dancer of the 1920s. Direction and animation: François-Xavier Goby, Matthieu Landour and Edouard Jouret.
FEET OF SONG (1988) -- 5:27 minutes Inspired by African music and art, U.K.-based 2D animator and dancer Erica Russell, who grew-up in South Africa, explores rhythms, colors and moving forms.
GHOSTCATCHING (1999) -- 7:10 minutes Digital artists Paul Kaiser and Shelley Eshkar composed this 3D animation based on the captured movement and sound phrases of choreographer Bill T. Jones. This art installation premiered at The Cooper Union School of Art.
HUMAN SKATEBOARD (2007) -- 32 seconds A stop-motion TV commercial created for Sneaux Shoes by animation and video production company PES. Sneaux fans are encouraged to create and share their own stop-motion skateboarding adventures.
ILLUMINATED (2007) -- 4:13 minutes Animator Kevin Abbott modeled a 3D metallic character that moves to the motion-captured sequence of dancer David Curwen. Created and performed at Western Michigan University.
"Joinville Dance Festival Promotion" (2008) -- 30 seconds 3D animated video promotion for dance festival in Brazil. Design and characters inspired by illustrations of dance steps in teaching magazines. Direction: Frederico Freire, animation: Magno Borgo.
KINETICS (2008) -- 2:53 minutes Chicago-based visual designer Nicholas Schrunk produced this video that features the interplay of motion graphics and the break dancing of Damion "Daylight" Day, recorded with a high-speed video camera.
MR. FORTUNE (2006) -- 2:14 seconds Tel-Aviv-based animator Eric Lerner created this live action/CG animation that features the rhythmic ambulations of the stretchy Mr. Fortune as part of his graduation project at Bezalel Academy in Jerusalem.
REMINISCENCE (2008) -- 3:30 minutes Video artist Morgan Beringer used a variety of rotoscoping styles (tracing over live-action video footage) to capture the unique movement patterns of jugglers and movement artists.
TIMESCULPTURE (2008) -- 1:01 minutes Toshiba's TV ad builds on the bullet-time technique made famous by The Matrix. 200 HD camcorders captured a series of moving snapshots, which were then composited into a sequence of overlapping loops . Production Company: Hungry Man LTD, director: Mitch Stratten.
TRASH DANCE (2008) -- 1:03 minutes Oliver Fergusson-Taylor, then pursuing a Masters in Digital Effects at Bournemouth University, created this mixed live-action and computer graphics animation featuring a 3D model constructed of discarded materials and the break dancing of Exlis Staddon.
THE TRIPLETS OF BELLEVILLE (2003) -- 2:36 minute excerpt In a scene from this Academy Award-nominated animated feature, Madame Souza, while searching for her kidnapped grandson in a big metropolis, engages the Belleville Triplets in a song and dance number. Released in U.S. by Sony Pictures Classics. Courtesy of New Yorker Films.
WANDERLUST (2008) -- 7:38 minutes Bjork's award-winning music video, which was created with puppets, live-action video and computer graphics, can be viewed in both 2D and stereoscopic 3-D. Directed by Encyclopedia Pictura, produced by Ghost Robot, choreographed by Chris Elam.
