Minor Project: Orb Test #2 - TV Static

For this test I wanted to experiment with the idea of TV static for the line When I see other people's bodies I see static. I tried to ensure that the environment itself was relevant to the phrase...so in this case - the orb takes the place of a person (or many people) that would be present in the subway/underground. I chose this location because public transportation, especially the Underground, is a source of anxiety for me because it makes me feel trapped, claustrophobic, paranoid, and violated due to the lack of personal space and loud ambient noises (which is why I see people as 'static' or 'bees' in those situations).

For this test, I used Mental Ray again but I applied a simple surface shader to the orb since I knew I was going to add the static in AE. Again, the shadow isn't perfect but I hope it looks decent. I used a 'jiggle' deformer on sphere and animated various channels on that deformer as well as the bend deformer and the entire group to move the object around the scene. I also rendered out a 'matte pass' to cut out the orb and allow me to add in the static.

I downloaded general stock TV static footage and used it on the orb. I also created a blend/bleed on the orb just to soften the edges slightly. I also added an 'inner shadow' to add some depth as well as an 'outer glow' to pick out the orb from the background a little bit. I adjusted the background image using Color Finesse because I wanted there to be more contrast and less saturation. I've realised that I feel it's important that the environments and/or objects are not that saturated (if not black & white). This is because when I feel depressed or anxious, I feel the world turns almost grey and feels very dull and harsh. I also added in a glitch effect to the orb using some settings on the Fractal Noise and Displacement Map effects in AE. On top of that I also added a vignette and some film grain.

I actually really like how this experiment turned out, I really like the idea of literally replacing 'what I see' (ex. people/crowds of people) with what my mind turns it into (ex. static). I think it's something that I should at least experiment more with and see what possibilities are there.