Bringing Ehrenberg’s Drawings to Life in 2D
We were all excited about the production exercise seminar as that was our entry point for exploring immersive digital worlds. Divided into three groups of three, each group was asked to develop a prototype for a project based on the digital collection of the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin (MfN). We were given some datasets to work with, for example: high resolution scans of microbiologist Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg’s 19th century drawings.
Being completely new to the subject, I had little understanding of it. But my interest grew as I went deep into it. It was fascinating to know that Ehrenberg was a great artist as well. He merged art with science in a manner which reminded me of the works of Leonardo da Vinci.
Ehrenberg devoted more than 30 years to the study of microorganisms and described thousands of new species. Although, his progress suffered from his reluctance to upgrade his microscope. However, if it was not for him, we might have continued to believe that what is not seen by the naked eye simply does not exist. Here is my favorite quote of him:
“The world of the small is wonderful and also great. And from the small, worlds are built.” — Ehrenberg (1795–1876)
The next step was to ideate over our project. We were introduced to different techniques like mind mapping and personification using Miro boards. I started thinking about the techniques used by the museum to preserve specimens. Theoretically, I could draw parallels with the Egyptian mummification processes. The idea of after-life gave birth to the idea of a parallel museum — a meta museum.
We named our group The Collectors. Facing a short deadline to present our prototypes, we had to buckle up and focus on one idea that could be concretized within the budgeted time. Considering my background from Computer Generated Imagery industry, I was given the task of bringing Ehrenberg’s drawings to life.
Animating Ehrenberg’s Drawings
Prototyping the animation was an important first step. After going through the scans of Ehrenberg’s work, I was relieved to come across drawings of Loxodes magnus. Their shapes were interesting and so were their movements. They would move constantly, trying to eat something and, I thought that their rhythmic movements would look great as animation.
I aspired to stay as faithful as possible with Ehrenberg’s style of drawing. It took me four days to make an animation of Loxodes. Starting on the first frame of the film with a drawing by Ehrenberg himself and using that as a starting point for the prototype, I made it move by drawing at the rate of 12 frames per second. Creating animation is a snail pace and arduous process, yet it leaves one feeling pleased through unraveling of complex emotions.
During the animation process, I realized that a way to bring Ehrenberg’s drawings to life was by doing more drawings. At the beginning, I had conveniently thought of taking the 3D route. But my perception changed as I sat down to work. Animation requires meticulous planning over time. But there was not much of that. Instead of opting for conventional pipelines, a more feasible option was to start immediately with Procreate, a digital illustration software. But soon I realized the limitations of this software and I had run out of time with no room to go back. Instead, I decided to double down on the drawings as this gave me stability and an impetus to finish.
Conclusion
A move towards the Earth’s better future can only be achieved through learning from our past and interacting with it. These animated virtual dioramas provide an area specific window into the past to experience life how it once was and gain knowledge from it. In retrospect, the production exercise was a revealing experience for me; one that inspired my thinking beyond conventional practices and applications of story, technology and art. I would like to thank the Internationale Filmschule Köln and MfN for all the support and knowledge they generously provided to us.
And thank you too, for being a wonderful reader!
