The Kick About #4 - Orpheus (1950)

Inspired by the film Orpheus (1950) I knew exactly what I was going to create when I seen the new prompt for this weeks kick about, It was the night before my birthday and I was sitting out in the tiny garden in my previous London apartment, I was drinking red wine and smoking a cigarette and frankly was feeling rather shit, not sure if it was the birthday blues or if was a amalgamation of other things but my neighbours behind my house were having a party;  they recently installed some outside lighting which surrounded their roomy garden in a blazing warm hue that lit up the brick of their apartment like an beacon in the night.

In my garden there is a full length mirror that is perched against a rickety garden shed that is full of art supplies and spiders. The light from the neighbours garden was reflecting brilliantly against the mirror - it looked otherworldly placed against the black shed and darkness of my garden, like the light didn’t belong in the darkness. I thought to myself I wish that that was a fucking portal so I could step through, leave this place and see some happy faces. The neighbours next door continued to dance and sing into the night.

I really enjoy these kick About's over at Red's Kingdom! it is completely opening my eyes to seeing the potential in the mundane. Hopefully sooner rather than later I can save up a few bob to get a good camera so I can take things a step further,  a good camera will help inspire me to not only see but also capture composition, angles, light and shadow. Ideally I wanted to take the mirror plopped against my rickety garden shed and bring it around London with me, placing it and tilting it in the right direction to capture the light against the dark.. someday I'll get that camera.

Dance of The Happy Shades - A Micro Short

Dance Of The Happy Shades from Graeme Daly on Vimeo.

For the Metropolis kick About Prompt over at Red's Kingdom I was drawing and animating the creative responses using a particular set of brushes that is always my go to,  I was in my bathroom and opened up my medicine cabinet and just as I did the light from outside was shining into the window and through a crack of the medicine cabinet door, it was creating this brilliant concentrated brush stroke of dancing illuminating light that mimics one of the brushes I love to use in Photoshop. I took out my phone and filmed myself opening and closing the medicine cabinet door over and over again... as I knew this would not last long because of how pinprick precise the light was in that moment.

I went back to animating and drawing the Metropolis prompt and assumed I could incorporate the light somehow but nothing came of it, so I decided to keep it in the vault. Flash forward to now and not having any idea what to incorporate into the newest prompt over at Red's Kingdom “Dance of the Happy Shades” I realised that I could work with the video’s to produce something... So I started to play.  A lot of what is going on fell into place through experimenting by mixing all the videos together, playing with blend modes, light, shadow and shapes. The stunning song is Grey Drops by Sergey Cheremisinov, I based the imagery around the song as when listening to Sergey’s unique pieces I imagine something odd and intriguing coming to life, something with a lot of texture. That fuzzy crackle and that wooden creak that spontaneously hits - I envisioned things moving in the shadows that shouldn’t move.

The best thing about creating like this is something magical happens by itself, As I was swinging the medicine cabinet door I noticed that it looked like the light was giving way to these phantom spectres, which were projecting part of themselves away and then consuming themselves again with every swing of the door, Everything started to intensify and became apparent when I edited the film together and then I ended up with story thanks to a peculiar bit of light in my medicine cabinet. 

Dance of The Happy Shades - Original Footage from Graeme Daly on Vimeo.

The Kick About #2 - Metropolis

The second creative dosage of the fortnightly kick about over at Reds Kingdom was created using the prompt "Metropolis" It couldn't have came at a better time as I am currently manifesting a 3D Metropolis, inspired by the Concept Art for my current animated short - The Green Glider 

With this prompt I wanted to capture the energy and constant movement that encompasses a Metropolis - Like a long exposure shot caught in an instant with lots of energy in the line-work and brightness in the blinding city lights,  I had a go of animating it too as I want to incorporate such elements into The Green Glider so it felt good to get some practice.

I also couldn’t help but pay homage to Metropolis by Fritz Lang - it’s one of my favourites!  Those harrowing tunnels with the workers heads hung low as they approach the underbelly of the city always stuck with me.”