Animating "Creativity": ysabetwordsmith

Animating "Creativity"

Yesterday I wrote a shape poem, "Creativity." I don't use this form very often, but the concept popped into my head in response to a prompt from

ellenmillion. What I did was sketch out a static, 2D version of what is really an animated, 3D concept. It is patterned like an atom, with words tightly packed like the parts of a nucleus, and then other words in different fonts filling two energy layers (two words on two ellipses, then eight words on four larger ellipses) like electrons. The challenges are:

* I'm not very good at freehand drawing, so the rough drafts are sloppy.
* I'm not very good at manipulating computer programs, so my ability to animate this is probably insufficient.
* Based on my previous rassling with MS Word, I do not think its "draw" feature is sufficient to make an elegant version of the static, 2D version -- at least not in my hands -- which is why I scribbled the concept sketch on paper.
* I checked PowerPoint. It does some cool animation tricks, one of which is even an ellipse, but not stuff that looks like it would work for animating this poem.
* My ordinary pricing scheme doesn't really apply here. The poem has just a few words. The pattern is what makes it cool. It didn't take very long to imagine, but rendering it in a marketable form will definitely take significant time.

Possible solutions:

* I could try to scrapbook this into a more elegant static, 2D version. I have some stencils of ellipses, and my computer has plenty of fonts so that I could print out the words and stick them on their orbits. A scrapbooked poem can then be photographed or scanned, and uploaded for viewing.
* I could work with someone else who is good at manipulating computer programs or otherwise animating things. (This would get them a byline like "animated by Clever Person" along with mine.) I have seen atoms and other things animated in programs such as Java and Flash, and there are other animation programs, and for all I know there might even be an atom generator with customizable labels. Either a 2D or a 3D animation could work; my concept sketch is sort of in-between those (i.e. some words are upside-down but none are mirror-written). An animated poem could be ... um, put on the web somehow, somewhere, preferably by someone more skilled than myself.

minor_architect has expressed some interest in co-sponsoring this if it can be animated. I don't know if that would appeal to anyone else, or if anyone would be interested in a static, 2D version done with scrapbooking tools.

Thoughts? Other options? Does anyone have skills that might help? Does this sound cool enough to pursue further?

Deleted comment

Thank you!

ysabetwordsmith

March 3 2010, 19:50:46 UTC 11 years ago

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This is useful to know.

Re: Thank you!

March 3 2010, 20:02:17 UTC 11 years ago

Sure, go ahead. I am planning to work up a list of unsold poems with their thumbnails. Right now, I need to go start the Amazing Mango Ham for tonight's supper.

Well...

March 3 2010, 19:50:24 UTC 11 years ago

Traditional cell animation would work, but is totally outside my skill set.

Re: Well...

March 3 2010, 19:57:15 UTC 11 years ago

*laugh* My partner Doug is a serious animation fan. Our living room is lined with short and long animation from television, movie, and other contexts. I have learned quite a bit about animation just by osmosis, and I am somewhat a fan of the medium myself.

ellenmillion

March 4 2010, 02:16:10 UTC 11 years ago

I don't do animation, but I could probably digitize it statically for you in Photoshop!

Hmm...

March 4 2010, 23:57:43 UTC 11 years ago

Like a cleaner version of the messy pencil sketch I have now?

laffingkat

March 4 2010, 05:00:57 UTC 11 years ago

I love the idea! I'll ask around to see if any of my friends would be willing and able to help.

ericatrandom

March 4 2010, 05:22:27 UTC 11 years ago

Hi. I sent a PM with some info. Not sure how my timing would work on this, but I can do it. And if time gets in the way for me, I can connect you to others (i.e. students) who might do it free just for experience or demo-reel material. Let me know!

Welcome!

March 4 2010, 05:41:31 UTC 11 years ago

I got that, and replied with more info. I don't have a hard deadline here, so there's some flexibility with time. Student connection is an option too. Whether it's you or someone else, I'd expect to give artist credit, and the artist could have reprint rights, since it would basically be a collaboration.

siege

March 4 2010, 09:36:11 UTC 11 years ago

I might suggest "former" animator

shatterstripes, who once worked among the staff of Ren and Stimpy's production team.

March 6 2010, 01:31:20 UTC 11 years ago

I loved that show during the John Kricfalusi days. Though, the animation didn't go downhill after. The storylines did. Sidebar... my dog and cat were named Ren and Stimpy because I was wearing that tee the day we finally picked them up from the kennel (they'd been abandoned and we had to wait for any potential owners to show).

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