Blessing to Misfortune
September 2021 at Genius Loci Weimar
Blessing to Misfortune tells the sad story of Johanna Catharina Höhn, a maid that got into an unwanted pregnancy. With no support at all, she went crazy and killed her newborn, ultimately being sentenced to death. The Bastille has a very unique shape, so we decided to go away from standard mapping approaches and go very narrative, using the parts of the building like panels in a graphic novel. With facial Performance Capture in Unreal Engine we were able to create nuanced performances. The Footage was stylized using Machine Learning and heavily processed in After Effects to create a hand-drawn, analogue feel.
The violin you see at this performance was built around the year 1750...
Credits: Concept by John Tettenborn and Kourtney Lara Ross
Animation/ Direction: John Tettenborn
Machine Learning training and programming: John Tettenborn
Motion Capture Performances: John Tettenborn Kourtney Lara Ross
Music composition, recording and live Performance: Kourtney Lara Ross
Creative Consulting for dramaturgy and storyboard development: Hendrik Wendler / Genius Loci Beate Seidel / DNT Weimar
Video Recordings in Weimar: Marius Böttcher
Violin rental: Musik Herrfurth, Berlin
Software used: Cinema 4D, After Effects, Runwayml Machine Learning, Unreal Engine, Ableton Live