Author: Ryan Rotella
-
MoCap Final: Out On The Field
Enjoy the rough draft of my Masculine Movements in Football video collage. I re-targeted a lot of motion data in Blender using a process that my colleague, Galt, documented very well on his blog with my Python script that I created and in conjunction with Mwni’s blender-animation-retargeting plugin.
-
Thesis Progress Update 3
For my Research-by-Making these past 2 weeks, I made 2 storytelling projects in 2 different mediums. First, I made a video collage by using Motion Capture data retargeted to 3D models in Blender as well as archival footage of my grandfather, father, and uncles playing football. This was a final for my class, Mocap for…
-
An Ode To Bridges
iterated on sand castles: project link here I walked past the Manhattan Bridge the other day. It made me stop and wonder. How many workers did it take to build the whole thing? How many setbacks? How did anybody get people to agree to actually go out into the water and lift each stone to its…
-
Project Update before the Final Week
Currently, our final project (Capturing Movement in American Football) is underway and making good progress. We had our third motion capture session last Saturday, October 4th. For this session, I invited a friend who is an actor, Nick Yañez-Atkins, to don a suit and play the role of a coach in my football concept. He…
-
Sandcastles, or The Invisibility of Editing
project demo link Directors get all the credit. Whenever most people (myself included) watch a movie, they think, “Wow, that Martin Scorsese… how did he think of all this?” And while good directors do think of practically every aspect of making a movie, editors are the ones really sewing a movie all together. Thelma Schoonmaker…
-
Progress Update 2: Research Findings & Reflections
Research Findings: What I Learned Since establishing my initial inquiry space, I’ve pursued a focused research trajectory that has significantly shaped my understanding of participatory performance, therapeutic theater, and the tension between spectacle and genuine emotional engagement. Drama Therapy and Applied Theatre: A Critical Distinction Following my advisor Luisa’s feedback, I explored the drama therapy…
-
Designing a MoCap Narrative
I’ve been struggling with the exact narrative form I want this piece about football to have. Part of me wants to have an exact script with dialogue, fleshed out characters, and a clear narrative arc. Currently, I do not have time to do that for this project’s scope (finish in the next 2 weeks). However,…
-
Becoming HyperNormal
What is a cliche? It is a phrase, regardless of its truthfulness or lack of, that we have heard ad nauseam. Many come to mind: the grass isn’t always greener on the other side, you can’t judge a book by its cover, etc. They are, of course, culturally dependent with every group of people having…
-
Archiving American Football: Building a movement database
In developing my Motion Capture project on masculine movements in American football and how they provoke emotion, I’ve begun a more production-oriented phase. This stage focuses on designing a movement database: a catalog of specific gestures, stances, and sequences to be captured in motion. Characters and Embodied Roles So far, I have three loose character…
-
Space as Place: Cadman Plaza Park
Documented first project for my Outside The Box class via slideshow.
Ryan Rotella 