00:00 c.u.
Animation Laboratory sign
Wide
– Chris Webster with students
c.u.
computer screen and animation edit
c.u
edit timeline
c.u.
animation on computer
Wide
– student at computer
Guide Voice: How important is the link between
sound and vision?
Animation students at the University of the West of England are
involved in an exciting collaboration with students from the Royal
Academy of Music to investigate how the creative process develops
– and the importance of the link between sound and
vision.
00:21 SOT: Chris Webster, Head of Animation,
University of West of England – “Animation
without creative sound, because it isn’t just music, but
without creative sound, is like fish without chips, it’s just
not rounded off right and I think that’s where a lot of
animators, film makers make a big mistake. They sometimes see sound
as almost like just audible wallpaper, something that’s put
on after the event, as subservient to the moving image. Wrong!
That’s not the way it works. Film making is about sound and
vision”.
00:57 Wide
– student manipulating plasticine figure
c.u.
student’s hands and figure
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student
Student
and computer recording film frames
Wide
– student and animation set
Animation
manipulation seen on computer screen
Wide
– students in studio
c.u.
student’s face
Focus
pull – animation in computer screen
Plasticine
figure viewed through set
Guide Voice: Starting from a blank sheet,
animation students are paired at random with a musical composer to
create a one-minute film. After the initial meeting, much of the
collaboration is conducted via the internet and e-mail to exchange
ideas and work towards the finished piece.
The students have just five weeks to come up with a result. A
minute of animated film requires a lot of work from the film maker.
For a composer, the limitation of working in such a short time
scale is hugely challenging.
Unlike traditional approaches where the composer creates music
to fit a film, or as sometimes happens in animation, the film is
drawn to fit in with the music, neither partner is pre-eminent,
creating a truly collaborative experience.
01:39 SOT: Chris Webster -
"As a commercial animator/film maker you’re going to be
working with a whole bunch of people – cameramen, editors,
designers, producers – each one have got a very very
important creative role. Within Universities it’s important
to get that across to individual students so they can understand
the entire process. Those are very, very rare animals that actually
do all of these things on their own project, they’re bound to
be working with other creative individuals that’s why this
project is absolutely vital - to prepare students for entry
into the commercial world, that’s our job."
02:20 10
sec clip from “EU4A”, animation by Mary Murphy, music
by Adam Melvin
10
sec clip from “Breakdown”, animation by Francine
Breslin, music by John Douglas Templeton
Exterior,
University of Plymouth
Wide,
researchers at computers
c.u.
“emotions” programme on computer
screen
Guide Voice: The strength of this collaborative
approach can be seen in these short excerpts from two of the
finished films. Further down into the South West of England
researchers at the University of Plymouth are developing their own
approaches to composing film music.
02:50 SOT: Eduardo Miranda, Head of Research
Group, Computer Music Research Laboratory, University of
Plymouth – “We’re interested in
devising programmes to compose music, so one of the main focuses of
our research is to design software for musical composition. And
we’re interested in programmes that can compose music
automatically”.
03:09 c.u.
music programme running on computer screen
c.u.
Patricio De Silva at computer
c.u.
code on screen
c.u.
music stave on screen
Guide Voice: Currently there are two main
approaches to the research at Plymouth. Patricio De Silva, visiting
research fellow, is investigating the rules behind individual
pieces of music – breaking down the works of the great
composers in order to extract their musical DNA.
03:24 SOT: Patricio De Silva, Visiting Research
Fellow, Computer Music Research Lab,
University of Plymouth
- “I want to know why certain works,
when I listen to them I find them appealing, I find them beautiful.
Why do I keep going back to Beethoven works, why do I keep going
back to Bach works? We have no explanation, we have no
musicologists, no theorists that can provide these type of answers.
Why do we find beauty in certain works? Well, I’m trying to
explain the creative process by replicating the creative
process.”
03:52 c.u.
Code scrolling on screen, music playing
c.u.
Patricio De Silva
Focus
pull – music stave
c.u.
Patricio De Silva
c.u.
Music Stave
Eduardo
Miranda at computer screen
c.u.
“Emotions” programme running
c.u.
physiological data
extreme
c.u. as above
c.u.
programme running
Guide Voice: It’s just possible that, one
day, the application of these rules may enable us to hear a new
piece of music inseparable in style from original works composed
centuries ago – or even to hear how Bach might have
interpreted the Beatles!
Their other project focuses on the link between music and
emotion. Physiological reactions to a piece of music are recorded
in terms of heartbeat and adrenalin release. By placing the music
and the physical data into a computer programme the link can be
made between music and emotion. What are the advantages of such an
approach?
04:24 SOT: Eduardo Miranda –
“To work for example with film music, where the computer
would watch the film, only the images, then would work out by
looking at the faces of the characters there, the colours, the
weather and other factors and then work out how to compose the
music for those particular sections of the film.”
04:46 Wide
– Eduardo and Patricio at their computers
c.u.
“emotions” programme running
c.u.
data running
Guide Voice: This could result in film music
that takes us back to the golden age of silent movies, when a
musician would interpret action on the screen as it occurred; A
return to music that reflects and enhances what’s
really happening within the film.
05:00 Ends
