Where it started...

- My first post, my first idea, my first thoughts...

Heartbreak will be my milestone senior project at UMBC. This project is nothing like anything I have done before. Since I have started my journey as an animator, I have done puppets, hand drawn, computer and 3D animation, and at the end of it all I still have a lot of love for mixed media.

Throughout my academic career, I have met many teachers all producing engaging and fascinating works. Along the way being taught some of the programs that can allow me to do the same thing. I greatly appreciate all the opportunities given to me and the push to create something even if it’s simple.

This new adventure into interactive media, allows me to merge the theme of animation and storytelling with mixed media. With Heartbreak, this installation will invite people to touch and hear what a broken heart sounds like. Since last year working with Real-Time Animation, I grew a fondness of syncing sound and animation, after studying the work of Oskar Fischinger. This German-American artist was an abstract animator, filmmaker, and painter. Blending music and animation together well before the age of computer graphics. Using simple shapes and music to carry the piece, each one captivates my eye taking me on a journey. During this time, I was also introduced to a program called TouchDesigner. This program allows me to do projection mapping allowing interactivity.

At the root of it all, I want to evoke an emotion within you, while viewing something familiar. I welcome whomever to touch and listen and feel anguish, dejection, depression, and misery. Heartbreak is difficult, and the emotional stirring effects can for some lead to rock bottom, but its journey is a lesson in just another battle won.