ARCTIC TURN: Some Ideas by Nitin Shekhar

PLEASE NOTE



These are some initial thoughts on the visuals based
on what the music (provided by you) along with the
imagery (documentaries and photographs) of the
place Svalbard evoked in me. We will have to delve
deeper into the ideas that have informed the music
in order to bring out the deeper subtexts behind the
set of videos we have set out to create.

The images are representational and are indicative of

how the final video might look. The final ideas would
of course have to be storyboarded and rough
animatics would be provided to provide better
judgement. I have provided the style frames that are
indicative of how the final frames might look along
with certain mood board images that shows the
scope of how far the ideas can be taken forward.
There are references under each of the style frames
that shows similar work that has already been done.
I looked at several imagery associated with Svalbard and the
Arctic in general and made a mood board that best reflects
my understanding of the landscape. Please feel free to
provide any additional material if you feel so.
IDEAS
IDEA 1

EXPLORING THE ARCTIC

TOPOGRAPHY

The ice sheets at the arctic are

a window to the history of the
planet going back millions of
years. This idea is inspired by
the layers of ice sheets
covering the poles of the
planet.

These layered torn paper

shadows start looking like
aerial footage of the arctic
landscape. These layers would
be rendered in 3D software.
The play of light on these layers
would form the basis of the
interaction of visuals with the
music.
TORN PAPERS

Layered torn paper shadows that looks

like aerial footage
STYLE FRAME:

Now this is a quick render on

photoshop without any details
and we can still make out the
form of the ice sheets and polar
bear. Once we work out which
idea to go ahead with, these
frames can be detailed out
further. The camera can glide
through these setups with the
lights playing around.

REFERENCES

Paper Dreams - https://vimeo.com/11970647

My Paper Mind - https://vimeo.com/688393
IDEA 2
CREATION OF THE LANDSCAPES

The features of the arctic

landscape feel like dabs of
watercolour on a piece of
paper. We can make the
elements of the music interact
with the animation in a way that
seems like a painting coming to
life. The various layers of
details of the arctic landscape
could come to life as dabs of
watercolour.
Watercolour footage collage that reacts to audio.
Each element reacting to the various musical
elements retracting, going forward or spreading.
Another treatment idea
could be using varying
degrees of noise instead
of watercolour elements
with white noise on black
background. The amount
of noise could be used as
a device to interact with
music piece. The shapes
themselves could be
adapted to the
landscapes or the fauna
found in the arctic or
even something abstract.
STYLE FRAME:

Here we cans how the various

elements of the image could
come in from various parts of
the frame. We can start off
with the camera focussed on a
certain part of the footage and
then gradually reveal the entire
piece as the music progresses.

REFERENCES

Marco Polo Title Sequence - https://vimeo.com/114350322

BMW “Ink” - https://vimeo.com/16651690
IDEA 3
The Whole is Greater than
the Sum of its Parts

Making the music interact with

the imagery can be done in
numerous ways. One of them
being that the imagery
becomes more than the sum of
it’s parts. The idea is to use
abstract videos that come
together to form a larger
landscape. The videos within
these frames maybe textures
or archival footage. The videos
would become open to multiple
interpretation in some cases.
The experimentation could go into
unique realms with the images forming
grids and the grids reacting to the
music.
A single footage could be interpreted
in multiple ways too.
STYLE FRAME:

Using relevant footages that

connect with the larger theme
this form of treatment can
become open to interpretation.
This treatment would also free
us up in using certain open
source footage and re
contextualising them for the
specific movements.

REFERENCES

Bibio - À tout à l’heure - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XofNbkTkuP8

La Chica - Oasis - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00Q0YmCRa1Y
Gradients

While it’s very easy to

typecast the arctic as a
black and white space.
The music itself evoked a
sense of seeing colours
for me. We can play with
the gradients with
colours mixing into one
another.
STYLE FRAME:

Playing with the gradients we

can layer these frames with the
camera gliding through these
landscapes. We can further
enhance these frames by
adding colour to it. This
treatment would completely
free our reliance on any real
footage and we can play and
manipulate the moods through
the play of colours and
compositions interacting with
the music.

REFERENCES

Spotify New Music Friday —https://vimeo.com/197140176

Colour Study #1 - https://vimeo.com/82121667
COMPARISON
Thank You www.nitinshekhar.com