audio

Three Flies - An Interactive Audio Visual Installation

annamcandrew — Thu, 08 May 2014 16:51:36 +0000

I’ve been fond of flies for a while now. I first really noticed their beauty when three of them danced above me a little while ago. They gently interrupted me one day when I was sitting under a tree. I was trying to write a song to no avail. I had almost given up, but something told me to persevere. I lifted my head and there they were, three, free flies, dancing in circles and so they inspired me. With the help of my guitarist, the song took a life of its own.

I so often find that whenever I push my creativity beyond the freedom it needs I’m confronted with an automatic block. It’s something I particularly struggle with in music as I find myself desperate to write songs to share with others. Giving it the freedom it deserves is one of the hardest things I find in the creative process.

I take my three flies song with me everywhere I go on my ukelele. I’ve played it live, for countless audiences. However, this time I wanted to combine the visual arts and audio in an installation in which people could still feel my sense of awe and fascination without being present in the piece.

Perhaps I have a certain soft spot for flies as they are one of the only insects that ever visit me in London (okay, perhaps the occasional spider). Or maybe it comes from the awareness that flies are insects that we humans and most animals tend to dismiss on the first instance of their presence. We have been conditioned to swat them or flick them out the way without giving them a second thought. It’s true they can be annoying, at times, but so can we all. Did you know flies have been around sixty-five million years, disproving the theory of evolution. They have helped cancer research to test endless treatments and they eat and digest the remains of dead creatures reducing the spread of diseases!

This piece was also inspired by Alexander Calder’s Mobile (1932) whose work appears to give life to the sculptures themselves. With the subtle but constant movement in his mobile the space is constantly being redefined in response to its environment, the air currents. I like to think that the flies I have created take on a life of their own too and that flies continue to inspire others.

"Three Flies" was written and composed by Anna McAndrew on the 12th October 2011 in St Roman de Codières, Cévennes, France. Recorded with James Sadras in Canaules et Argentières on the 14th October 2011. All Rights Reserved.

Musopen free/open music

cfollows — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 21:16:54 +0000

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creativecow.net Final Cut & After Effects tutorials

kcarlsen2 — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 13:55:12 +0000

Creativecow is a very useful site, providing support for Photoshop, digital video, editing, and media production, broadcasting, motion graphics and film making, including interviews and features.
As well as offering a film library it has tutorials in Final Cut Pro and Adobe After Effects.
Available from: www.creativecow.net

Here are some basic tutorials to get you started in Adobe After Effects . . .
Parenting Effects in After Effects with Mathew Fuller
Run Time 10:36 mins
http://library.creativecow.net/articles/fuller_mathew/AE-Parenting-Possibilities/video-tutorial
Creating a Run Cycle in After Effects Part 1 with Andrew Devis
Run Time 11:38 mins
http://library.creativecow.net/articles/devis_andrew/AE_Creating-Run-Cycle-1/video-tutorial
Creating a Run Cycle in After Effects Part 2 with Andrew Devis
Run Time 9:12 mins
http://library.creativecow.net/articles/devis_andrew/AE_Creating-Run-Cycle-2/video-tutorial

These tutorials explore options when working between Photoshop and After Effects for text and design . . .
Working with Comp layers with Richard Harrington
Run Time 8:30 mins
http://library.creativecow.net/articles/harrington_richard/PS_Layer-Comps/video-tutorial
Working with 3D Models with Richard Harrington
Run Time 8:29 mins
http://library.creativecow.net/articles/harrington_richard/PS_3D-Models/video-tutorial

Madonna and Child

annamcandrew — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 15:40:23 +0000

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Madonna and Child

annamcandrew — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 23:18:03 +0000

One night my brother and I came home to find many paintings my niece had made lying on the kitchen table. 'Hey this looks like the Madonna and Child' said Simon intrigued by the innocent creation of his daughter. I immediately thought of my fine art project in which we had to chose a painting in the national gallery and transcribe it. I wanted to create a work that was less focused on a specific object we can see, such as a canvas or sculpture and use a medium I had not before.

I took my dictaphone and recorded people talking about the painting my niece had made (please see recording and image below) without telling them what it was. This represents the audio guide I used in the national gallery to help me understand the paintings as the huge mass of them did not have much meaning or value until I knew the story behind them. It was interesting to see how varied people's dialogues were. Some giving an honest literal account of what they saw, and others letting their imagination flow. It made me think of many other themes, such as the conditioning society and schooling has on us, the suppression of our creativity and confidence in our own imaginations or even to what extend we can look into a scribble on a piece of paper and come up with so many meanings, which is sort of what a lot of conceptual art provokes us to do.