Projection

Metropolis 1927, A Projection

Rhett Carlin | Spring 2024

Created using MadMapper, After Effects, Premiere Pro, and Photoshop. The inspiration behind this project was one of my favorite movies, Metropolis (1927) directed by Fritz Lang, and one of my favorite compositions, “Metropolis 1927” by Peter Graham.  Video stock was sourced from the movie itself with music sourced from the Black Dyke Band’s performance of Peter Graham’s music. 
      The projection was created by utilizing 3 seperate projectors within the UTD 3D studio. All effects were animated by myself, and all band characters were being controlled directly by me behind the scenes, pushing buttons in rhythym with the music (which unfortunately can be heard slightly in the video above).
      The story of Metropolis follows the same story as the tower of Babel, and I wanted to emulate this in my projection with a tale of atomic war that was still campy and silly. As a musician as well, I miss having the time to play my instrument and being able to directly control the projection with buttons being timed to the music gave me that exact same feeling. Its emblematic of my process as an artist, I am constantly attempting to infuse different mediums to create something fresh and impactful.

  
 

An Eclipse at the Omni

Rhett Carlin | Spring 2024

  

Created using MadMapper and Adobe After Effects under the direction of Andrew Scott, with the help and display of the Dallas Omni Hotel. In April 2024 a total solar eclipse was visible in Dallas, and with an upcoming opportunity to display my art on one of the largest canvases in the Dallas skyline, I created an animation in celebration of the once in a lifetime celestial event. The front of the Omni Hotel faces a major highway where it displays animations to hundreds of thousands of Dallas residents daily. I wanted to create something elegant yet instantly recognizable without being a visual nuissance to drivers.
       Going through multiple stages of critique and editing, this animation is what I concluded the project with. The animation played for the entirety of the month of April.