[two_thirds]
Relax
[/two_thirds]
[one_third]
[/one_third]
I’m not new to practicing yoga, but I am a long way from being a yogi. One of the most difficult things that I have learned to do is clear my mind. It’s not easy. It’s amazing how much I can think about when trying not to think about anything at all.
While thinking on a concept for the Flash project, I attended a yoga class at Columbus Commons. It’s a neat experience. The sun shines down, the air is fresh, and the sounds of the city area all around. As I was laying in shavasana at the end of the practice, I stared up at the blue sky and saw the clouds slowly drifting by. I closed my eyes and color danced across my eyelids. In the distance, I could hear the yoga instructor softly telling the group to relax, to clear our minds, and to be present and in the moment. As I lie in the grass, I drifted into total relaxation, but only after flashes of random images popped into my head. And, there it was… my concept!
Making an Animation
I am well-versed with Flash, so I use a lot of layers and motion tweening. There is a lot of movement in my Flash animations. One of the parts I like best about my animation is the cloud movement and the blinking. I had an image of a blue sky with clouds, and then I made a transparent PNG file of clouds in Photoshop. This layer slowly moves from left to right over the top of the blue sky with clouds, and it gives the illusion that the clouds are moving. The blinks are a simple shape layer which quickly fades in and out over the top of the cloud layers. Since blinking is involuntary, none of the blink frames are the same.
Version 1
The first version of my Flash project was fast-paced, and this was mostly due to the music. I made a track with Garage Band and added a beat to it. The animation is timed well, and the text and images move with the beat. All of the images are photos or screenshots that I took, and the text is phrases that I hear at yoga practice. While I do like the published animation, it didn’t quite convey the eventual resting of the mind.
The Update
The second version of the Flash project contains the same elements as the first, but it is slower. I changed the music. I found a longer track in Garage Band which sounded similar to music heard in yoga class. Since the music is slower, the pacing of the animation is slower. There is not a rapid display of images, but rather, lingering images which slowly fade to black. In this animation, I fade out the music in the middle to convey the state of being half-asleep and half-awake, which can be experienced when lying in shavasana.
Thoughts
I like the updated version of my project because it conveys more of my experience at yoga when lying on the floor. There is no rhyme or reason to the thoughts that jump into my head while I’m trying to clear my mind. However, listening to the instructor and focusing on his or her words helps me to be present and in that moment.
I pay attention to details, so I obsess over the smallest things. A lot of time was devoted to the timing of both of these animations. I previewed the animation with every small tweak that was made in order to make sure that it was just right. The ultimate idea was to convey an experience and to interpret what goes on in my head while at yoga. I think I captured it well.