VIDEO: BALLERINA'S MESMERISING MOVEMENTS TRACED BY AN ALGORITHM

Euphrates – a Japanese collaborative of artists, researchers and designers led by Masahiko Sato at Keio Unversity –  has created an experimental short film that mesmerizingly follows the movement of a ballerina using a rotoscope animation method. The technique is applied to trace motion picture footage, frame by frame. Masahiko Sato and Euphrates' interpretation build on the approach to accurately shadow the step-by-step motion of the ballerina as she dances across the room.

The Ballet Rotoscope traces the lines and curves of the dancer's body as she moves, shapes and geometries that follow the dance trajectory become abstract animations, each generated mathematical methods. These independently-moving lines were created by connecting the movement of the ballerina's joint, using a computer-based algorithm to find and outline her specific movements within the shape. 

Have a look at the video to see how the algorithms trace the ballerina's movements across the dance studio:

project info:

creative director: Masahiko Sato 

art director: Kohji Robert Yamamoto (EUPHRATES) 

film director: Kohji Robert Yamamoto(EUPHRATES), Masaya Ishikawa (TOPICS) 

camera: Masashi Sato (EUPHRATES) 

graphics programmer: Masasuke Yasumoto 

rotoscoping: Ryo Oshima, Akio Tokita

dance: Kurimu Urabe

musical performance: Emi Ogawa 

music: ‘pirates’ from the second act 

choreography guidance: Fuka Arimitsu (studio Ando · Troyes) 

studio cooperation: studio ARCHITANZ 

equipment cooperation: CINEMAX ltd. 

casting cooperation: Bound promotion co., Ltd. 

coordination: Miyuki Tanaka (21_21 DESIGN SIGHT) 

production: EUPHRATES