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Graham Tunnadine comments

Graham Tunnadine writes:

I remember making some of those. Most of them were awful.

I'm proud of the Time Flies and the Escher staircase and also a Magritte one (which isn't there). They were all very tricky to do with the animation. I remember doing the crystal ball and the kettle (but where is the steam, and why did I feel the need to get in the picture?). Some of the images were designed by a guy called Will who was a friend of Stephen Crouch (the boss). SC came up with the Glasnost image. I used a team team of theatre model makers for most of the models.

I vaguely remember the others. We had a contract to do 60 images in about 3 months, which was far to many to do well. We were clearly second guessing what we thought would be popular. So I think the quality wore thin in places. The shot gun was by the assistant at holoscan, Henry.

I would like to see the Escher staircase again. I tried to design it so that the perspective, which can only work perfectly from one position was forgotten about by animating the figures from one position to the next. We made 6 models of the staircase, each with the figures 1 inch apart. The next model would have the figures one sixth further on and so on until position five. Position 7 would be the same as position 1, position 8 would be the same as position 2 etc. I used 42 masks and shot positions 1,7,13,20,26,33,40 of the first model; positions 2,8,14,21,27,34,41 of the second model and so on through to the 6th model at 6,12,19,25,32,39. The masks had 1cm slots placed 6cms apart to try to align to stereo pair viewing widths. All the figures only travel about 1 inch and then start again, so over the parallax of the hologram you get the appearance that they have moved about the distance of six figures. This I call the "light-rope" technique (as in disco light chains). I have used it many times including the other Escher mobius loop where the animation is repeated over a short distance but appears to start again and continue. To keep modelling costs down we used standard architectural model figures, but what is really nice is that we sorted them in size so that gradually they morph from one figure to the next. For example, I think I remember a man in a raincoat taking off his hat which then becomes a woman's handbag and a skirt. This carries on around until you have children morphing and possibly even a dog at the back!

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An Invitation

The Jonathan Ross Hologram Collection website has been running for fifteen years so we decided it was time for a new look.

The new format has scope for lots more material so I would like to invite all the holographers whose work is featured here to submit background information, stories and images to supplement those I have provided. That way we can work together to make this the best resource on holographic imaging to be found on the web.

About the Collection

The Jonathan Ross Hologram Collection, based in London, UK, is one of the largest resources in the world for creative, display and commercial holography.

A number of touring exhibitions, containing work from the collection, have been presented in outstanding museums and galleries both within the UK and abroad. Information about new acquisitions and exhibitions is added here on a regular basis.  

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