Can what we watch change how we feel? Bluman Associates used Notch to explore how motion and colour can affect our brains chemical make-up.
Kat Kemsley, the host of the Notch Showcast podcast, caught up with Pod Bluman and Kyle Reseigh at Bluman Associates to discover how they created real-time visuals that spread optimism.
After graduating from Backstage ITV Creates commissioned artist June Mineyama-Smithson (MAMIMU) and neuroscientist Dr Tara Swart to create an ITV ident that raises awareness for Mental Health Week. On a mission to inject optimism into the world, their idea was to create visuals that induce happy hormones using colours and motions scientifically proven to positively affect the brain.
June brought Bluman Associates on board to help her create real-time graphics that could run in an immersive XR environment. The project titled ‘Optimum Optimism’ features a mirrored sculpture that reflects the virtual world around it.
Filmed at Bluman Associates in-house XR studio milkit.studio, the ident features three happiness-inducing looks and behind the scenes footage of how the idea came to life.
Where did the brief come from?
Pod: The brief came from ITV’s in-house creative agency, ITV Creative. They run a programme called ITV Creates, which curates artists and asks them to create a work centred around the ITV logo. The artwork is then filmed and produced into a set of idents.
ITV approached artist June Mineyama-Smithson and neuroscientist Dr Tara Swart to team up on a design for Mental Health Awareness Week. The brief was to create something that inspired happiness and optimism.
Cool, so where do you guys fit in?
Pod: June had seen some examples of XR over the past year, and it was a technique she wanted to try. We had just finished setting up milkit, our in-house XR studio, and disguise put us forward for the job. We were on hand to develop the content in line with June’s storyboard and help with the technical delivery of the project.
What was the creative process?
Pod: Dr Tara could inform June’s designs through her understanding of how visual stimuli affected four hormones in the brain: dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin and endorphins.
So, for example, she said that upward motion makes people feel uplifted and stimulates a certain one of those chemicals. June had the idea to make the ITV logo using mirrored material and place it in a virtual stage where the mirrored surface could reflect the stimuli around it. We worked closely with June and Tara to achieve their vision.
Kyle: Yeah, we spent about two months in pre-production, mocking up 3D visualisations and discussing the design over video calls with June and Tara. A lot of the research that Dr Tara presented referenced specific colours and motions that alter the brain, so our designs had to be quite precise to have the desired effect. We received the fabricated ITV logo a few days before our first discovery day shoot with the ITV crew, then we had a week to make a few more tweaks before the actual shoot.
What was the most challenging element of the production?
Pod: June was really quite detailed and prescriptive. After all, our designs had to be true to the scientific research behind the concept. Many elements hadn’t been done before, like working with a reflective surface — it wasn’t straightforward! We made sure that our team of designers created enough exposed parameters in Notch to give us the flexibility to make subtle changes once we were on set.
Kyle: Working with specific tones of colour became an interesting challenge when designing for XR because the LED colour calibration alters a colour’s appearance. Colours that had been agreed upon in our pre-visualisations weren’t appearing the same on stage. We had to make some quick adjustments by eye using the parameters we had created in Notch.
How was it working with a big broadcast agency and integrating a virtual production workflow?
Pod: We explained to June that to achieve this, we would have to disrupt ITVs usual way of doing things. We explained that the best way forward was to run a discovery day to test the looks and have a week in between to refine the content. ITV was a bit resistant to it, but after a little bit of persuasion from June and me, they agreed.
Kyle: Yeah, the discovery day gave us the chance to get on the same page with the production team and iron out any technical kinks. It was also an opportunity for ITV to capture behind the scenes footage that features in the ident and for June to request some final changes before the actual shoot a week later. It was hugely beneficial.
Earlier, you mentioned that working with a mirrored sculpture in XR hadn’t been done before..
Kyle: Yeah, we were pretty surprised to find that the mirrored surface created a moire effect along the logo’s curves. A few adjustments made in-camera resolved these issues — but I actually thought that the distortion looked quite cool! Another unexpected result was that the mirroring changed the pixel order, which meant some reflected hues were slightly different from the LED environment. This turned out to be quite a happy accident that can be seen in the final film as it helped the logo stand out.
Pod: We approached this project with a combination of caution and excitement. We knew we would be doing some stuff that hadn’t been done before, and there would be unexpected results. Fortunately, even with some happy accidents, it ended up looking great! And I think for us, what was really great was that June trusted in the process.
When she first approached us with the concept, we explained the process of working in XR and tried to scare her off a little bit! However, she said she felt comfortable going forward with the idea and felt safe and confident in our hands.
Pod Bluman, Owner and Project Director, Bluman Associates
Bluman Associates has been in existence for 12 years and specialises in advanced video technologies and their use in live events. In addition to his work at Bluman Associates, Pod also designed and produced a unique art installation called ‘An Exercise in Vulnerability’.
The installation was an experience that immersed 2 participants, unknown to each other, into an environment that encouraged them to use their intuition and used a combination of psychology and real-time motion graphics to create a connection and build a shared experience.
Kyle Reseigh, Notch Designer and Creative Technologist, Bluman Associates.
After graduating from Backstage Academy in 2018, Kyle joined Bluman Associates where he helped in the execution of high-quality projects across the world.
He’s worked on national and international shows including Dave at The Brits, Sotheby’s Monet Immersive Art Auction and Batman’s 80th Birthday.
We want to thank Pod and Kyle at Bluman Associates for talking to us about this project. If you want to learn more about how people create with Notch, listen to our Notch Showcast podcast!
