The second topic I am keen on talking about in this blog segment is one that I have been researching even before this assignment came around and it is fashion. It is more specifically the crossover and links between fashion and animation.
I have been aware of fashion animator in a studio environment as a role of possibility for quite some time, yet when going through job descriptions it seems that the expectation for the role is more technically focused, leaving the artistic side of it to other team members.
Based on that I have been thinking of potentially going the freelance route and directing, pre-producing and animating all together, which would allow more space for me to make artistic decisions as well as execute the animation in a smaller scale than a studio of course.
Since I would state the human form is my biggest inspiration, it feels instinctive for me to gravitate towards the art of fashion. I am fascinated by how a piece of clothing can complement, enhance, change or just highlight bodies.
In fact, I feel what I love about drawing, animation and fashion are all the same things – shape, flow, gesture, fluidity. All of which to me translates to dynamics, energy and liveliness build in (in my case 2D art and animation) a flat drawing that becomes alive and if done well shows the deep understanding and craftsmanship of the artist. I just love all of this, it brings me great joy to consume and create such content.
I am yet to find the exact technique of intertwining animation with fashion that actually fulfils my expectations of a satisfying final piece. I have tried animating designs of mine in the past in my usual 2D (advert style for example) and I always reach the same conclusion – that 3D animation would visually do much better justice to a project of this sort.
However, as I have been looking into trying stop motion as a way of preserving the realism of textures and colours of fabrics. I am looking forward to potentially exploring this in Unit 3 as well as after graduation.