Goodbye 2016, Welcome 2017

by | Saturday, December 31, 2016

Since 2009, our family has made short videos to welcome the new year. These videos are great fun to create, often requiring days of discussion, planning, construction, shooting and editing. They are always typographical in nature, often with a visual twist or illusion. We have no budget to speak of—$10 is around as much as we have ever spent. Below is our latest effort, titled Perspective, shot on our dining table with a budget of around 7 dollars. Enjoy, and yes have a great 2017.

Perspective: Goodbye 2016, Welcome 2017
From Shreya, Soham, Smita & Punya

*****

Those interested can see videos from the years past by going to
Illusory New Year Videos
.

How was this done? 

The fun part of creating these videos is constructing the illusion itself. In this particular case, the challenge was to create a set of 3-D shapes that would make sense even when rotated by 90-degrees. The trickiest one by far was the number “2” – which needed to read “2” after rotation. The “6” becoming a “7,” in comparison, was relatively easy.  In addition, the words “Goodbye” had to become “Welcome” at the top of the image. We printed the letters in pairs, on little wooden cubes and placing them in the right orientation. Here are some photos from the process, sketches, final designs and more…

sketches
shapes

Initial sketches

Final designs

goodbye
welcome

Goodbye and Welcome – as seen from different points of view

setup

setup2

The final setup

A few randomly selected blog posts…

Understanding Chromics

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Facebook Username

I now have a facebook username! Hah! Check out http://www.facebook.com/punyamishra/

A defining moment?

Is this a defining moment of our time? One can just hope... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqoFwZUp5vc

Tasteless and offensive

Checking up on urban legends leads to tasteless and offensive error message. I recently received a forwarded email from a friend that listed a bunch of top-notch, companies that were filing for bankruptcy. The list included Blockbuster, Hollywood Video, Circuit City,...

APA & Torture

I had written previously (here and here) about the American Psychological Association's long connection with torture and other coercive information gathering techniques. I am still bothered by it. Today's NYTimes has a op-ed by Stanley Fish (titled Psychology and...

Tools “R” Us: When objects become you

Tools “R” Us: When objects become you

Danah Henriksen shared an article with me recently “When objects become extensions of you.” It is an interesting piece arguing that “Whether they are tools, toys, or mirror reflections, external objects temporarily become part of who we are all the time.” Essentially,...

The darker side of curiosity

The darker side of curiosity

Curiosity, the willingness to learn more, is often seen as a positive trait one that drives learning, and one can argue, it drives creativity and innovation. It has been argued as being important for leadership, among other things. I have prized curiosity in my own...

4 Comments

  1. Katie Morris

    Loved the video, and the idea of your family bonding and creating something with your time together!

    Reply
  2. Chanda

    Just loved it Punya!!

    Reply
  3. Gaurish

    It’s awesome. Happy new year!

    Reply

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