Supa Dupa Pecha Kucha


These are the slides that I will use tonight at my Pecha Kucha.  Meanwhile, I'm going to watch this video about a dozen times.  Good thing there's a good soundtrack to it.  As I watch it, I'll think of what I'm going to say when I'm up there, giving that speech.  Hope to see you there.

Animated GIFS and the Internet

The internet has a long-standing history of both compassion and regret for the animated GIF.

First, an animated GIF is nothing more than a Graphics Interchange Format image, which was one of the first image formats for the web, that has been programmed to progress in a series of frames.

This image, for example, is a 6-frame animation which has been directly lifted from the 1985 Nintendo game "Super Mario Bros" and it repeats.  It is actually 16x16px originally, but has been enlarged to be about 300x300px.  It contains 3 different colors:  a dark brown, a light brown, and black.

Facebook does not allow animated GIFs to run as animations.  Instead, an imported animation will remain as the first frame only.

MySpace used to allow animated GIFs and they took over.  In fact many said that it made the site appear too abrasive in general.

Twitter at one point allowed animated GIFs as profile images, but this ceased to be allowed.  If you installed an animated GIF prior to November 2012, then it works.  But after that point, the service ceased to allow them.

Google+ allows animated GIFs to function as profile icons.  That is sort of a plus.  Because while some animated GIFs can be abrasive, if they're produced correctly they can be quite interesting.  Also, with the disadvantage of IOS (all iPads and iPhones) not allowing Adobe Flash Player to run, making Flash animations unseen on those devices, animated GIFs have a special place in those circumstances.

First Experiment: Featuring "Galaga"


SupaMural Stopmotion 1 from StereoMedia.Org on Vimeo.
We worked today at a studio in Erector Square, former site of the A.C. Gilbert Company, for the project to begin pioneering some new techniques.  We're currently troubleshooting some of the issues with paint, because as you can see, every time you paint over the old image to re-locate it to the left or right, it requires the use of more white paint.  After a couple of times doing this, it can get pretty soppy.  These are issues that will be addressed at the next discussion.
Spotlight Camera

During this troubleshooting period, we're using hand-cut stencils on a limited basis.  Learned a bunch about labelling these images.

Stopmotion is the process of taking a series of images with objects on screen in different positions.  This can be done with clay, pen and ink, legomen, and in this case, stencilled spraypaint.

Keep in mind that the complexity of the installation is mainly in the way that the art is applied / re-applied.  This can be prepared for by predicting the challenges, and then more challenges will be discovered when you actually start experimenting with different techniques.

As you can see, in this image, the traces of previous positions of the ship can be seen because the paint wasn't given proper time to dry, perhaps.  Ways this could be avoided / averted are by using a lower-pressure can, or by using a fan to dry the paint before re-applying the image into the next position.  Considered was the use of masking tape, simply painting onto masking tape and then removing it.  But that almost makes sense to paint the object onto something which can be re-positioned...  And that might be a better technique for the video, possibly...  So it's something to consider.  


A storage system of organizing these smaller version 8x10 stencils (where 1px=1cm, in these cases) are held in a 3-ring binder.  The stencils, before they're painted, look quite neat.  Organizing the stencils themselves by layers, and with names (such that the "Fighter" object stencil indicates which way is up, and the chronology of each layer is indicated by a number in the upper left hand corner), does the best way of keeping the project organized if you're working with a team or a group.  

Stay tuned and we'll learn ya more about Supa.






Concrete Goals

Project budget is extremely reasonable, considering the scope of the project.  That's not to say that more people can contribute or benefit from the available rewards.  Here's the link to that page.

Public Arts Projects

Animated Wall.

Create a series of stencils based on the shapes from actual games.
Then re-create scenes from classic games using stencils.
Use a camera to create a series of images for use in a stop-motion film.

Note:  The Wall Will Not Remain Animated When We Leave The Room.
In Fact, Note that The Wall Was Never Moving.  It's a Camera Trick.
But It's Extremely Time Consuming.  That's Why It Looks Cool On Film.

Proposed Location:  ArtSpace
Status:  Invited (awaiting funding)

Macro Wall.

Large-Scale Wall (30' Minimal).  Exactly precise to the original game.
Proposed images are still being considered.  Email SupaMural@Gmail to suggest.

Proposed Location:  None Selected
Status:  None

Educational Products

A kit which allows you to produce your own SupaMural in your hometown on any sanctioned space.
Includes all of the information necessary to create your own animated 8 bit street art.

Website
A reference center full of all the information necessary to produce your own.
You're reading it right now, actually.

Book
Basically the information on the website, formatted neatly for a coffeetable.  Educational information about the history of computers and gets into some of the graphics analysis that takes place in the art program.

Video
Based on the art project.  Fosters the political message and explores some of the sociocultural evolution which has happened around videogames, as well as the history of computers and consoles.  A better description would probably not be a bad idea.

The budget has been devised to break even, so that the work takes care of itself.  Sounds like a ton of work for $2500 but kids at coffeeshops are working harder.  It's just to break even.

Your Questions: Addressed!

From Cliff Bailey on Google Plus:

Hi there, this sounds like a great idea.  I co-own and edit for a video production company.  If there is any support or any ideas I can help with please don't hesitate to ask!  Good luck with it!

Thanks Cliff.  Maybe if you can share the information about the project with your crowd, it might actually happen.  Then we can get into the specifics of the film editing.  

We've decided to work on a 1px = 1cm scale.  The first stencils for a beta test have been cut, and our test project is "Galaga."  It's sort of like a space invaders game.

The scene we're going to try to re-enact is one where the fighter zaps a bluebug, so they're called, and then the warper (another character) essentially lays out a tractor beam.  

We're still estimating frame rate. 

This "test pilot" will be part of the featured video.  Again, we're encouraging other groups to try it as part of the continuous 'retro/vintage' movement that perpetuates gaming.  We think that it's better than violent games.  It's kind of an 'art game' of sorts for people to play, and that's even better.  There is a strong contingent of parents out there that would agree with that philosophy.  

But we're way behind schedule in funding.  We don't do anything unless people want to see it happen.  Crowdsource funding is essentially the world saying, collectively, 'we want this to happen.'

Hopeful that has convinced you to participate in funding.  
If not, perhaps consider sharing the link to kickstarter to interested parties.  

Field Trip Recommendations

Oh yes.  #SupaMural.  One of the more timely ideas of our day.  Think about it.  The world needs more Street Art.  We all unanimously agree upon that.

Plus people gotta remember about the classics.

What could be more important than a guy with a hat on sideways with some big shades on, and a pair of binoculars?  Not much you might say.

The image below, the binoculars, were lifted from a videogame which came out in the 1980's.  It's a great design.  Examine the patterns and symmetry.  You'll be challenged to depict 'binoculars' using fewer pixels.

That's a part of the academic portion of Supamural.  It's not just an art project.  It's a study into the earliest days during the evolution of videogames.

Field Trip Recommendations


If your group wants to go on a field trip, and you live in New England, #Supamural recommends FunSpot in New Hampshire.  It's where world records are set.  It's the place where "King of Kong" was filmed.  It's the most accurate example of what a full-sized arcade would have looked like in the years between 1980-1996.  Read more about FunSpot.

Are you from a different geographic region?  Recommend a quality vintage arcade by sending an email with Subject:Classic Arcade in (Your Region).  Mailto:SupaMural@Gmail.Com

Galaga Warper Sections

Times 100%















More than an Art Project. It's a Movement.



Join us in New Haven this April 17th at Bentara, a Malaysian restaurant where the lead designer for the project will explain the goals and structure for the movement behind street artists producing 8bit graphics that are directly lifted from videogames.

This is not about a retro-obsessed gamer who wants to force his or her own personal aesthetic preferences into everybody's lives.  Well, maybe a little; you can decide.  It's supposed to really be about getting back to basics, and away from some of the chaos of where we are currently in the 21st century.

Not going to give away the entire speech right now. If this is something you want to know more about, then by all means, attend the Pecha Kucha event, next Wednesday, and see what this art movement is all about.

For A Social Cause

How It Inspires


The goal is to get kids to watch this video and learn something about videogame processors and the evolutionary history of computers, within the context of understanding programming language itself.  The video will also describe and break down some of the elements of animation within videogames, using popular classics as examples.

Further inspiration will come from the street art to be produced as a promotion for the video.  One piece might be 50' tall.  Another could be just a mere 15' in height.  There definitely will be an animated game to be used as an example in the lesson of stop motion photography, one of the subjects to be explained and dissected within the arts educational framework for the video.

Please Fund This Project!  This isn't being pitched exactly as a Sandy Hook benefit or anything, but there's a belief that this approach could have some kind of a positive impact on teenagers; maybe on society as a whole, by encouraging people to re-familiarize themselves with the ancient classics of videogames.

This is a good example of what we're talking about here.  This is one of the scariest dudes ever from Super Mario.  He's like a dragon and he has spikes and he shoots flames.  Yet still it really doesn't translate the same way subconsciously as many of the popular military simulation games out there.

Take a look also at the blocky nature of the shapes.  These are pixellated because the original graphic is so incredibly small.  When you enlarge the image, you can see where the actual placement for each pixel is supposed to be.

You can learn more about Pixels by reading further into this blog.  Thanks!





What We're Up Against

Ultraviolent videogames are those in which you kill everyone on the planet until you are the last person alive.  It's a murderous fantasy played out by countless of our youth, and some of them counted among the ranks of Americans are serving life sentences (or death sentences) for acting out these fantasies in public.  One thing that all of these young people had in common was an obsession with first-person shooters.

Article from NY Times about studying the effects of playing violent video games from Feb. 11 2013 expresses while there's no guarantee that violent videogames compel antisocial psychopathic behavior, it will cause them to dish out more hot sauce [read article].

Call of Duty 4 had a marketing budget which could be estimated in the tens of millions.  While there's no way to compete with that fortune, it makes sense to create street art in favor of a newfound familiarity with classic videogames, with the interest of promoting those games with the same fervent intensity as the epic epidemics invading teenagers' brains with increasingly more incredible weaponry.

Not to set foot in this like a Low Jeeberman (Senator from CT) because being a cranky old guy who wants to invade Iraq and eliminate swear words from Rap music is not a priority.  But to take a stance in a creative, artistic way that inspires people, not one that limits the public to certain behavior by laws, but one which inspires the youth to get intrigued by something more interesting.

Funding Overview

Supamural is a conceptual art project which has only been done once  before (by a penguin). The project seeks to re-create scenes from classic videogames using stencils and stop motion photography. But this is more than just an art project. It's also a challenge to whichever group is doing it. 


Funding
 will go towards the personal time expended for the project, as well as for supplies and materials.  Time invested will be the equivalent of 4 full work weeks.  Additional support will go towards additional murals.  
Computers have evolved rapidly in the past 20 years. The computers of today are now more than 150,000 times faster in processor speed, with 15,000 times as much random access memory than their predecessors. Processing speed and RAM have evolved tremendously. It makes it still more amazing that game designers in the 80's were capable of creating the games they made, considering the limitations.
Screen resolution has improved immensely. On an old Nintendo Game, you were able to use only 13 colors at a time. This was to fit in a 256 by 256 canvas. Whereas today, a videogame can have millions of colors, on a screen with millions of pixels.
The most basic level of any computer image, regardless of when it was created, is thepixel. It's a single colored square.
You should seriously consider helping to fund this project.
Because videogames have been evolving with the rest of the technology.
Hyper-Realism is when something computer generated looks more real than something in real life. Here is an actual tank in Syria. Note how adding pixellated 8 bit graphics takes away from the hyper-realism.
There's something called "Conceptual Art." That's where you create a set of plans for people to follow. Meaning that you create not just an art project for yourself, but something that can be repeated by other groups.
The goal is to produce an educational film about videogames. As well as to produce a conceptual art project for groups to re-create. It will contain original 8 bit graphics that people can identify. Files will be made so that these images can be cut out by a plotter cutter on sheets to be used as stencils.
Participants will also learn about game design and game theory. And game design. For example the Galaga ship is only 16 pixels by 16 pixels in 3 colors.
The project goal is to re-enact a scene from a classic videogame. But the wall needs to be essentially "programmed" the same way the game is in order for the stop motion video to work correctly. All parameters must be taken into consideration.
It's a regimented series of tasks, from extracting graphics, to cutting shapes, to organizing the stencils. That's just the preparation work. A background needs to be prepared, and the end result will be a video we can use to help promote and encourage young people to try these awesome classic games.
This won't be an easy task, however. It will involve lots of organizing and planning. For example, the frame of each object and the position of that image relative to its previous position must be carefully planned, for every object on screen in order for the entire video to appear to be fully animated.
This is the right time for this, too. Right now, if you were born in 1970, you're about 40 or so. If you had kids in your 30's they're probably just entering their teens. Classic games are making the transition from retro to vintage right now as we speak.
This is the right time for this, too. Nothing beautifies a neighborhood like an 8-bit flying fish. And the minds of our youth today are trapped in some kind of guarded fortress. We must develop a strategy to bring them out into a safer environment.
This project won't cost a fortune. $2500 should be enough to get one done correctly. More funding will result in better work, certainly, but if there is enough support, we'll do more of these. There are some pretty cool rewards available.
We'd like to make these plans available to art teachers around the country, for teachers who are interested in creating something of the same caliber and quality. All that you need are the instructions, and that's what conceptual art is. Let's educate kids and fight back against hyper-realistic ultraviolent games with 8bit classic memories of a time when life was simpler and games were still just as fun.

Magical World


The idea?  To install 8Bit graphics as street art, directly lifted from videogames.  Like computer code, these images must be precisely interpreted in order for visuals to "work" correctly, with your support.

Project Goals
Ultra-violent hyper-realistic videogames are all the rage these days.  Literally in certain cases.  It's been noted that with regards to many of the more concerning moments in recent history, that the perpetrators of the most violent crimes were obsessed with first-person shooter games.

The very first videogames were extremely limited by the abilities of the processors at the time.  Still these games were loved by millions.  This project seeks to reintroduce the public to the imagery from those games, which is basic in nature, sometimes only 16 by 16 pixels, but still very familiar.

  • Educate the youth of today about the first generation of videogames.
  • Beautify urban areas with familiar art that remains familiar in everyones' minds.
  • Reinforce the importance of non-violence in videogames as a social cause.

This project seeks to re-establish the classic age of videogames, during the 1980's, as a way of encouraging young people to explore that world.

Process Chronology

Raise Funds

Obviously you can't have an awesome art installation project without funds being raised.
If the goals are met, then the rest of the steps can be proceeded to.

Extract Graphics
Take game screen shots and save as transparent Png and increase the scale by 1600%

Export to Cutter Platform
Cut images by programming a machine, using .4 Mylar 4'x5' Sheets.

Get Wall
ArtSpace in New Haven has offered a nice-sized 6' by 4' wall for the project.

Paint Project
Using the techniques described in this site, the artwork will be applied to the wall.

Animate Project
Using other techniques also described in this site, animations will be created.

Take Stop Motion Photography
Make a video using animation in stop motion art.

Make Educational Film
Use the stop motion and other materials to create an educational film about art, videogames, computers, and programming.

Thanks and Credit

Cut-outs will be produced with help from Channel1Online.Com
Much Thanks to Lou Cox and the New Haven Community

Indoor Installation This Summer with space offered by ArtSpace
Much Thanks to Helen, Mike, Shannon, JP and everyone at Artspace

The Expressed Support and Interest of Stereomedia
Thanks to Sol Lewitt installer Will Reynolds for help and inspiration
Thanks to Kyle Skar, Architect, for problem-solving support

Links and Support

Funding and Support Provided By You (Hopefully)

Really hope that you'll find this project worth funding.  

Games and Emulators

You can play original 80's games on your computer, whether it's a Mac or PC.  They're free, via this great online resource:  Nestopia.  To find the actual games, you can go to CoolRoms.  Have fun!

And if you want to get really crazy with it and kick it immensely Old School, try getting this awesome USB controller which will give you the true experience of playing some of these original games.


You can learn more about Emulators.

Kickstarter Video


Kickstarter Supamural from StereoMedia on Vimeo.

Kickstarter Rewards

$1:    The satisfaction of knowing you helped create an awesome video. You will be notified of the URL when the film is complete. It will contain the stopmotion animation of 8-Bit videogames that we pioneered.

$5:      Secret URL to hidden SpacePirate.Co.Uk music from Stereomedia.Org

$10:    Password and secret URL to "Progress Page" as the process evolves.

$15:    Cassette Tape Recorded and made directly by the one known as Spacepirate.Co.Uk

$25:    Ticket to screening of educational film. To be held in New Haven, CT on a weekday night in early October. Exact location is undecided. Film will be 45 minutes long.

$75:    Magazine-style edition of plans for the project, with accompanying DVD which will contain all of the plans for how to create your own SupaMural.

$100:   8" by 10" paper-sized stencil of 8bit object to be used as demonstrated in the short film. 

$100:   Paid Internship. Host a paid intern for the day. Cost covers personal expenses and labor for one day. You will get an email describing who your funding benefited, and what they did to help create the finished product.

$200:   Hardcover Book version of plans for the project, with accompanying DVD which will contain all of the plans for how to create your own SupaMural.

$500:   3' x 4' canvas of still frame from the art project. Item depends on which project is voted for.

Books and magazine print material ($75 reward, $200 reward) will be produced on Blurb.
Material for each of these will be somewhat different, although some content will be the same.  
Whereas the Stencils and cut-outs will be produced by Channel1Online

Visit Kickstarter Page

Legend Of Zelda (parts)

This game was made by Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka in 1986.
Here are some of the original graphics:

Link
Flame
  Sword
Spider (yellow)
Spider (blue)

These are really small.   They will be enlarged soon.

Castles
Level One
Level 7
Some of the graphics and maps were extracted by NesMaps.Com

Creating the Graphics.

This looks like a printer, but it actually cuts things.  
The images from the videogames are incredibly small.  In fact, many of them are only 16 pixels by pixels.  To compare, the computer screen on an iPhone4 is 960 pixels by 640 pixels.  

In order to make these images precise, and still much larger, the best way to do this is to essentially cut them out of stencils.  And why do that by hand when you can program a machine to do it for you?

The files that will appear on this page will be the Illustrator (AI) files that you can use on your own graphics vinyl cutting printer.  They'll be the same files used in the project, if funding is successful.  



Adobe Illustrator file types will be used for the cutting of the stencils.  The standard feature "Export Screenshot" from the Nestopia Emulator for Macintosh will be used to obtain the graphics.  Different frames will be extracted by timing the shortcut keys (ctrl+s).  These will then be enlarged to the specified size (1px = 2" or 3" approximately), due to the restraints for the particular cutter that we'll be using.  

Altogether, it will be a good resource if you are a teacher and you have access to one of these machines and would like to create this sort of project for your school or art group in your area.  Files will be folders full of .AI files for cutting shapes pertaining to the games (identified by the name of the folder).  

Kickstarter Page


You can contribute to this project simply by visiting the Kickstarter page.  It's a very simple to understand platform for fundraising. 


If the project gets funded, then you get rewards.  If it is not funded, then none of the potential supporters get pay a fee.  

Meanwhile feel free to learn more about classic 8-Bit games here on this website.  The educational part of the site is free! 

If the project goes over funding by some degree, and more people choose to support it than has been budgeted ($2500), then additional 8-Bit murals will probably be created.  

Check out some of the features, watch videos, and learn more!

View the Full Kickstarter Fundraising Page


Kickstarter $200 Award

The textbooks will be produced by "Blurb" and be of a hardcover 8x10 quality feel.  This is an example of what the book will look like (video).

The book will be approximately 30 pages in length, and contain relevant information pertaining to the evolution of games, as well as the importance of udnerstanding "the classics;" both an anthropological and culturally relevant history of the human mind as it became first locked into interaction with computers in the form of some of the earliest video games.

Award for $200 contribution.

Kickstarter Video



Contribute

Pecha Kucha Slideshow Preview

Audio Samples

More to be announced.

http://woolyss.com/chipmusic-samples.php
http://spacepirate.co.uk

Frequently Asked Questions

1.  Has this really never been done before? 

8-Bit graphics have been adopted into street art before.
Here's a link to the only other example I could find.

2.  Do you have a wall picked out?

Not yet.  Probably somewhere in New Haven, CT unless you would like to offer a space elsewhere.
Looking for something south-facing with good foot traffic exposure.

3.  How big will the project be?

Estimating that the characters for the animation will be probably about 36" tall, approximately.
Meaning that the whole size should be more than 10' tall by 50' wide in all likelihood.

4.  It's not going to move when it's done, though?

The wall will be left "as-is" on the last day of animating.  We might pick a phenomenal "action scene" to leave it set to.  Groups who have obtained the Conceptual Art plans will be able to use those plans to continue animating the wall in the future, hopefully becoming part of an art program for a local high school in the area.  That's part of the educational cause behind it.

5.  Contact Info?

Yes, contact Stereomedia@Gmail.Com if you would like more information or to speak to the organizer directly.  You can also tweet to @StereoUSA as well.