Morphing, Dance, Video: Jacolby Satterwhite and Hito Steyerl

Animation: An Interdisciplinary Journal, 2015

This article uses a special kind of distortion of spatial orientation in animation, which the author calls whole-screen metamorphosis, to problematize the relation that theories of camera movement often assume between a camera and its world. Recent developments in digital imaging have prompted confusion among scholars as to whether or not it makes still sense to talk about 'camera movement'-since, in many cases, real cameras were barely used (as in Gravity) or not at all (as in Frozen). The author argues that this confusion is frequently misguided: camera movement, as a tool of critical analysis, has always been based on a phenomenology of perspectival movement, regardless of any use (or non-use) of a real camera. However, animators sometimes play with perspectival movement in ways that undercut the more fundamental impression of a cinematic world, effectively metamorphosing our relation to it. Two kinds of this metamorphosis are explored. One, found in Norman McLaren's Blinkity Blank, creates a Gestalt switch of our impression of space; the other, found in Caroline Leaf's The Metamorphosis of Mr. Samsa, dissolves the sense of ground that is needed to support an impression of world, in a kind of becoming-animal of the camera. These phenomena point to a need for more nuanced accounts of relations between live-action, animated, and digital images. The camera in quotes The camera, once a cornerstone of film theory and criticism, has become an oddity today. In becoming digitized, it seems to be able to do more spectacular things more convincingly than ever before; but in so becoming, it seems to have stopped being, strictly speaking, a camera.

Medical history, 1998

Illustrations from the Wellcome Institute Library Images of Bodily Transformation SARAH BAKEWELL* My purpose is to tell of bodies which have been transformed into shapes of a different kind.1 In the beginning, according to Ovid, there was Chaos. All existence was merely "a shapeless uncoordinated mass, nothing but a weight of lifeless matter, whose ill-assorted elements were indiscriminately heaped together in one place".2 Heat was blended with cold, dry with damp, and hard with soft: everything interfered with everything else. Then a divine power separated the elements and set them in their rightful places, and matter acquired form. The earth was shaped into a ball, and human beings were created. Then, almost immediately, the trouble began, starting with an attack by giants on the kingdom of the gods. The rest of Ovid's work is a compilation of tales of transformation and shapeshifting, beginning with the original werewolf story, in which Lykaon angers Zeus and is punished by being changed into a wolf.

—An image is an artifact that depicts or records visual perception and morphing means that transition from one form to another. So, if we combine this two words then we get the term IMAGE MORPHIN G. Image morphing is the process in which transition of one image to another image takes place. This effect is firstly used in the movie " The Golden Magic " and then this technique came into the world to create effects in movies. Here in this paper we are going to concentrate on terms image morphing, mesh warping (a methodology of image morphing). As well as we have defined the term metamorphosis through which "image morphology" word has been derived. Along with it we have discussed different methodologies of image morphing and in depth we have concentrated on mesh warping.

2015

What is it 'to move' a photograph? Artistic tactics for destabilising and transforming images. This dissertation presents the findings of practice-led research that explores how artistic practices intervening in existing images 'move' images-in the sense of destabilise and transform. The notion 'to move' has guided this investigation and it has offered new insights on artistic tactics regarding the operations of de-contextualisation and re-contextualisation, montage, the categories of the still and the moving image and the 'affective encounter' that stems from touching. In parallel to exploring the artistic tactics of gleaning, working with archives, the performance-lecture, montage and the tactic I have called 'performing documents', this enquiry has also examined how images function, as this was crucial to conduct operations with them. Artistic practices that stemmed from existing images have been common over the last three decades. In the 1980s they operated through an understanding of the notion of 'appropriation' as 'pastiche'. In contrast, this investigation, which also begins from working with existing images, explores photography through performance. These two artistic forms have often been defined in oppositional terms. This enquiry argues for a 'performative materiality' to renovate the discourse on images instead of the usual privileging position of the 'textual'. This renovation deterritorialises and reterritorialises territories that are usually separated, in this case photography and performance, representation and presentation: putting these categories under pressure. As a result, this investigation re-conceptualises the notion of appropriation, through the practice of gleaning, towards an ethical and regenerative mode based on 'invocation', 'restitution' and 'profanation'. Specifically, the work/research makes evident a form of 'affective encountering' of images which acknowledges their materiality, advocating that the materiality of images contributes to the functioning of images as much as the indexicality (image content). Through a focus on the materiality of images, this enquiry has provided new, nuanced insights on the issue of the agency (and resistance) of images, on the images that challenge the categories still and moving image, and a shift from photographs as containers of time to producers of time. This investigation, based on the question "What is it 'to move' an image?", has generated new insights and reflections which allow us to understand images in a way that is more nuanced and dynamic, and yet grounded in their material properties. Rather than approaching these problems through prevailing methods, this enquiry has undertaken an innovative performative approach that explores the space in-between images, criss-crosses the margins and touches photographs. This performative approach-these affective encounters-have been central to challenge assumptions and offer new understandings of what images are and, more importantly, 'how they do what they do'. iii Acknowledgements Many people have provided help and support during the course of this research. First and foremost, I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisors Professor Tom Fisher, Dr. Katja Hock and Emma Cocker, as well as my initial supervisor Jean Baird, who gave generously of their time and expertise and from whose advice I have benefited enormously. I am especially grateful to Emma Cocker, for her thorough and judicious dedication to the practice and critical reading of the text and for being in constant dialogue with me on the project. Thanks also to Nottingham Trent University for funding this research. Within the Department of Fine Art, I would like to thank Joanne Lee and Duncan Higgins for their comments on sections of my work and also Jonathan Gillie, Jim Boxall and Geoffrey Litherland who provided extremely valuable technical support. I am grateful to Dr. Laura González for helping in the initial stages of this research when I was in need of support. Thank you, Maite Veláz for the ongoing dialogue regarding the formalisation of this research practice. Thanks, Izaskun Etxebarria for your insights when I tested out the exhibition for the first time. My belief in this project was sustained and encouraged by the stimulating conversations with Rosario Montero. I would also very much like to thank Dr. Jorge Oter for sharing his research with me, which has been of great benefit on the area of still images that move. I also want to thank the colleagues and friends Rebecca Lee, Dr. Rebecca Gamble, Dr.

International Journal of Computer Applications Technology and Research, 2014

Image morphing has been the subject of much attention in recent years. It has proven to be a powerful visual effects tool in film and television, depicting the fluid transformation of one digital image into another. This paper reviews the growth of this field and describes recent advances in image morphing in terms of three areas: feature specification, warp generation methods, and transition control. These areas relate to the ease of use and quality of results. We will describe the role of radial basis functions, thin plate splines, energy minimization, and multilevel free-form deformations in advancing the state-of-the-art in image morphing. A comparison of various techniques for morphing one digital image in to another is made. We will compare various morphing techniques such as Feature based image morphing, Mesh and Thin Plate Splines based image morphing based on different attributes such as Computational Time, Visual Quality of Morphs obtained and Complexity involved in Selection of features. We will demonstrate the pros and cons of various techniques so as to allow the user to make an informed decision to suit his particular needs. Recent work on a generalized framework for morphing among multiple images will be described.

IEEE Multimedia, 1999

W e all want to change our appearance in some way. For example, makeup helps enhance appearance, although it primarily relates to the face. Many people try to change their moods by changing their accessories, clothes, and hairstyles. Some people even resort to plastic surgery to make permanent changes. We often observe behaviors that stem from a more radical desire for metamorphosis. For example, amusement parks and sightseeing areas sometimes have standing character boards of monsters or animation characters with their face areas cut out. Children and adults alike enjoy putting their faces into the cutouts and having their photographs taken (Figure ). People simply enjoy changing their forms. People aren't satisfied with just static metamorphosis, however. Children often pretend to act as their favorite movie heroes, monsters, and animation characters. A child's desire for dynamic metamorphosis apparently persists into adulthood. For example, MGM Studios in Santa Monica, California, provides an attraction that lets participants (mostly adults) appear in the scenes of popular TV shows. This experience excites the participants, and the audience also enjoys watching. Recently, the importance of communications between remotely located people has escalated due to the trend toward more collaboration and the increasing time, energy, and expense associated with transportation. Telephones have provided the major means of communication so far. However, for natural human communication, visual information also proves important. For this purpose, telecommunications manufacturers have developed video phones and videoconferencing systems. Yet users find it difficult to overcome the feeling that they're situated at distant locations. In addition, users hesitate to have their faces appear on the receiver's display. Developing technologies that enable a metamorphosis in appearance may offer the key to making remote visual communications widely used-and more fun. ATR Media Integration and Communications Research Laboratories (ATR MIC) have targeted communication environments in which remotely located people can communicate with each other via a virtual scene. A possible application of such an environment includes a virtual metamorphosis system. Realizing such a system requires estimating the facial expressions and body postures of the person to be "morphed" using noncontact and real-time methods and reproducing the information in the form the user desires. We emphasize that facial expressions and body postures should be estimated in a noncontact fashion, more specifically, by computer-vision-based technologies. Taking these requirements into consideration, ATR MIC developed three virtual metamorphsis The virtual metamorphosis system lets people change their forms into any other form in a virtual scene. To realize these changes, a computer vision system estimates facial expressions and body postures and reproduces them in a computer graphics avatar in real time. We introduce three systems in order of their development: the Virtual Kabuki system, Networked Theater, and "Shall We Dance?"

1998

Many contemporary artists intend to challenge the viewer's modes of perception by manipulating traditional imagery, but does this transformation of cultural stock images constitute a transformation in the audience? This paper will examine artists who appropriate images using reproductive technologies in an attempt to reach a large audience and initiate social change.

cumincades.scix.net

Instants of Metamorphosis 01 is an interactive video installation that is the first emergence of a process-based collective work by the Double Collective. Using a methodology-based on systemic measures of complexity and organization, the work is being documented and analyzed by focusing on the connections, the dialogue between the elements, and the emergences. The methodological parameters contribute to the conceiving and designing of the installation in a performative and process-based collective way, focusing the role of the audience in mixing the virtual and the material dimensions as part of a delicate network dialogue that happens between, through and beyond this dimension, allowing the subject to became a trans-actor.

Hipercine, relaciones arte-cine, cine contemporaneo, pintura contemporánea

The fi gure of metamorphosis is the essence of animation, a conception expressed by the term of Plasmaticity developed by the Russian fi lm theoretician Sergei M. Eisenstein. Metamorphosis is present in animation both conceptually -within the process of creation of an animated feature, and visually -as a dominant fi gure and subject of animated fi lms. While its conceptual presence can be found in any animated fi lm through the transformation of the lines from one image to the other, its presence as a subject is relatively punctual within the major animated features by the main American and European studios. In Japan, this fi gure plays a particularly important role in animation within all genres and graphic styles. One explanation can be found in the cultural aspects and the artistic traditions in Japan, where metamorphosis is already strongly present. Through the use of this fi gure, Japanese animation refl ects on the Japanese society, questioning individual and national identity and modern life but also expresses the dreams of its individuals. Through the three types of metamorphosis that characterize Japanese animation: instability of the form, instability of identity and the metamorphosis from form to substance, we'll see how the cultural heritage and the techniques of animation bind through the fi gure of metamorphosis, contributing together to the unique aesthetic of Japanese animation.

2015

Abstract. ShapeShifting TV denotes an approach to interactive television pro-grammes that can adapt during delivery to the preferences of the active viewers. ShapeShifting TV is based on a declarative language called Narrative Structure Language (NSL) and is accompanied by a set of genre and production inde-pendent authoring and delivery tools. ShapeShifting TV was validated via a number of productions. A Golden Age – a configurable interactive documentary – is one of them. This paper presents the production of A Golden Age within the ShapeShifting paradigm.

Proceedings of the 2018 International Conference on Advanced Visual Interfaces

Choreomorphy is inspired by the Greek words "choros" (dance) and "morphe" (shape). Visual metaphors, such as the notion of transformation, and visual imagery are widely used in various movement and dance practices, education, and artistic creation. Motion capture and comprehensive movement representation technologies, if appropriately employed can become valuable tools in this field. Choreomorphy is a system for a whole-body interactive experience, using Motion Capture and 3D technologies, that allows the users to experiment with different body and movement visualisation in real-time. The system offers a variety of avatars, visualizations of movement and environments which can be easily selected through a simple GUI. The motivation of designing this system is the exploration of different avatars as "digital selves" and the reflection on the impact of seeing one's own body as an avatar that can vary in shape, size, gender and human vs. non-human characteristics, while dancing and improvising. Choreomorphy is interoperable with different motion capture systems, including, but not limited to inertial, optical, and Kinect. The 3D representations and interactions are constantly updated through an explorative codesign process with dance artists and professionals in different sessions and venues.

Although in public common sense and institutional circuits a notion prevails that dance only fulfils its nature as a live art form, several practitioners have been exploring remarkable and creative endeavours that defy that understanding. Furthermore, stop animation, data processing and motion capture technologies enable choreography to expand beyond the human body, challenging the reasoning that dance must have a corporeal manifestation. While theoretical discussions define dance as a system that combines various elements, they also emphasize the role of performer to represent the discipline. Looking at early experiences that have transferred theatre performance to the cinema and new media dances that encourage sensual human-computer interactions, this article reviews how choreographers resolve the challenges of migration and keep the body as a central medium to articulate artistic knowledge and identity.

Animating Film Theory, 2014

Animating Film Theory begins from the premise that cinema and media studies in the early twenty-first century needs a better understanding of the relationship between two of the field's most unwieldy and unstable organizing concepts: "animation" and "film theory."1 As the increasingly digital nature of cinema now forces animation to the forefront of our conversations, it becomes ever clearer that for film theorists, it has really never made sense to ignore animation. Tom Gunning has recently described the marginalization of animation as "one of the great scandals of film theory."2 Marginalization, of course, is not the same as total neglect; and in order to respond productively to this apparent scandal, we need to consider both where and when this marginalization has happened in the history of film theory, and where and when it hasn't happened.