Karōshi

This seems to happen at the end of every summer, I begin working late evenings, then weekends, then weeks on end. It's rewarding, but also very taxing, so apologies for the lack of updates these past few weeks.

Given work is on my mind, I think it makes sense to talk about a project I really enjoyed this summer. I was the compositor for the 360s on Harley-Davidson's 2010 motorcycle models Sporster, Dyna and Touring. The other models were split with the Pasadena office of the studio I work for—Realtime Technology.


Part of my reason for talking about this is I can actually show it. Much of what I do is tied up in Non-Disclosure Agreements for ages, but the website went live in late July.

Doing a 360 can be quite unsettling. You try to make sure the key angles are dialed in right; your side angles, front and rear three-quarters, angles you'd typically show in still images. Yet, it's the frames in between that pose the biggest challenge. How do you make a motorcycle look attractive from dead front or rear when you have just a sliver of it to view? You slowly find, all things are unattractive at one angle at least.


Further, all those color adjustments and curves that blot out compositionally distracting elements or change tones must be adjusted on a per frame basis. So, while the final product is a two second 360 rotation, you have to carefully edit 60 images, then ensure there is a seamless transition between them. Once you do it for one bike, you have to carry it across all the bikes you work on, or in my case 18.

I'm certain some will be quick to chastise me and comment that this work doesn't have 'meaning' and would question its artistic challenge. I'd argue for the contrary.

It's pleasant in art school to operate without constraints—although one will quickly find that self-imposing some constraints on a project is useful—to exercise creative expression without consequence. However, the practicality of this trait is debatable. At some point, we all serve masters, and being creative within a box, to find expression, is an interesting task.

That's not to discredit the former, there is a lot of utility in broader expression and a lucky few of us may yet make a career from that alone. It's just that creative freedom in art school often seems to lend itself to a legion of crafty projects about our mums, the homes we grew up in, or our individuality condensed into a 'hand-made book' using the artist's 'own handwriting.'

While still trying to be polite, I think the majority of these projects lack meaning. Not that there is not substance, but it often isn't conveyed to the viewer. Sometimes moments are too personal to relate, the medium is inappropriate, or you force the viewer to work through too much. Whereas with this, there is explicit directive, even if the ends is materialistic.

You can check out all the 360s at at Harley-Davidson's website.