My name is Peter Strauss and I am a full time student at Ryerson University School of Image Arts studying New Media. I am also a multimedia artist which a great interest in design in several different aspects in the field. I tend to experiment with different programs and methods of presentation from vector based graphics in Illustrator for print media, to raster graphics in Photoshop for web and digital presentation.
I am constantly expanding my skillset and have recently been doing post-production video work, specifically in Adobe After Effects and Premiere Pro for visual effects and editing.
I also have an unhealthy interest in film which you may notice in some of my stylistic influence and my writing available online.
If you would like to contact me, you can do so at peterstrauss@gmail.com
LINKS
My Vimeo - my videos, available for download My Blog - A blog about film, art, games, television, and more. My Twitter - I tweet about films, games, design, inspirations, neat stuff, but mostly the irritating and banal aspects of everyday life. My Ryerson Page - Often similar to this portfolio, my school page is more focused on the weekly tasks of school-related projects. Also has a blog. My Movies - 200+ is my personal movie site project, where I categorize my favourite films and write (hopefully) detailed and insightful articles on the strengths of particular films. An expermental site in Javascript and jQuery. Flickr Photosets - Photosets that show my print work if you don't want to look at them on this site. My IMDb Profile - It's packed.
A grid based website that was an experiment in scaling and PHP. The entire grid perfectly scales up and down depending on window size or monitor resolution while retaining it's orientation. Clicking on an album brings up a PHP pop-up window. All text within these windows are from external PHP files.
HTML; CSS; PHP
This is a Wordpress based blog. The theme is a slightly modified "Equilibrium" by ON. This website was meant as a testing ground for working with Wordpress codex. The blog focuses on dream sequences as they appear in film and television and is meant to analyize and dissect these scenes. Posts feature small essays and through several plug-ins videos appear popped-out a lightbox using JWplayer and categorized alphabetically by medium, title, and episode. The website is also an experiment in satisfying social media expectations through social bookmarks and integrated Twitter. Plug-ins used include Shadowbox, JWPlayer for Wordpress, AZIndex, and Google Analyticator.
Wordpress (HTML; CSS; PHP)
A personal project to experiment with Javascript, CSS, Scriptaculous, and other tools. As well as a space to practice writing and my obsessive love for movies.
If link is not working, view image preview HERE.
HTML; CSS; Javascript
An extensive site designed in Photoshop and hosted by Gamespy, a leading site in the video games press. My design and administration now offline, image preview only available. Site managed over 100 views per day in it's four year run.
A colourful and bright concept design for video-blogging social media website "Vlog-n" establishing the light-hearted social nature of the website.
An eccentric design for a blog about dreams. Using a tablet pen, I simulated a hand-drawn aesthetic for the fluffy cartoon dream cloud behind the text as well as the fluffy, hand made embossing on the text. Just for fun and a little extra subtlty, the dream bubble and fluff is in shaped after a human brain.
My portfolio site header design was meant to be simplistic but with a sense of depth. Using vector graphics to create a sizable text file, then Photoshop to create shading.
An alternative to my original design with a more original concept on the typography.
A blog placeholder title experimenting in using 3D tools with Illustrator, followed by applying textures in Photoshop.
Client requested a new logo to represent the research group. Final product is a cool coloured design meant to represent integrating technologies and lifestyles. Logo active 2007-present.
Title design for my personal music site. Design concept directly mimics the look of the minimalist site itself.
A spin on the average childrens alphabet book. This book both explores the rich colour and beauty of space through varying visual styles, as well as offering advanced topics and elements of space for consideration and study. Preview is scaled down from original file-size, some quality loss may have occured. If preview is still too large, view in 603x775 instead.
A book made for course "Issues and Topics in Design" which acted as a portfolio for works completed in that course. Made with the feel of a retro arcade video game. Professionally printed by Canon Canada.
24-page (not including covers) humour magazine created in InDesign to build skills with print design and layout. Project was professionally printed by Canon Canada. PDF online preview available.
A personal project hand-drawn with a Wacom Tablet in Photoshop. Using the pivotal scene from the film Psycho as reference, the illustration is meant to depict the fragility of Hitchcock's leading lady, or most of his leading ladies by comparison. (WORK IN PROGRESS)
An early poster project based on the "Green Iran" campaign. Avoiding predictable use of the colour green, the poster instead combines pop-art presentation with a monster-movie feel, giving the rebellious people at the bottom an appearance of insignifance, but through their actions an image of strength against odds.
Holding many cover designs for Criterion Collection DVDs as inspiration, this dual portrait of hip-hop star Kanye West was hand drawn with a Wacom Tablet in Photoshop.
A first year design project familiarizing students with the various tools of Photoshop. Using more involved methods of selecting colour regions or creating a mosaic to simple methods such as using paint tools, the series illustrates the various powers and capabilities of graphic manipulation.
Here you will find a collection of written pieces in various subjects. These essays may not be used by anyone else without proper credit to myself, and only referenced with the proper citation. All essays are in PDF format.
2010; 10 pages; 2,328 words; PDF format; 84KB. Films from Hollywood's Golden Age, particularly those during the Great War, are difficult for audiences today to connect with, and the answer to why that is lies in relevance. Films made in the 1930's were catering to an audience gripped by world war, and the propaganda that is laced within the most famous films of that era were unapologetic which truly helps us understand the times. This is no longer relevant today, which is why great films like Mrs. Miniver get lost in time. This essay dissects the state of America during World War II and the role of films in the war effort. By looking at Mrs. Miniver, one of the most successful films of the period, we can understand how propaganda was used and how the public reacted to it.
Alienation in and outside the city of Alphaville
2009; 8 pages; 2,209 words. Jean-Luc Godard's Alphaville is one of the most challenging films of the filmmakers career, considering he has made a career out of making challenging films, that is saying a lot. Alphaville shatters our notion of science-fiction by blending the familiar with the unknown in environments that are uncanny to the viewer; we are in a constant state of alienation. The films ability to create the sensation of alienation is bridged between the alienation between the backgrounds and characteristics of the protagonists, the dreamscape world and the viewer, and the film itself and it's reluctance from being categorized as French New Wave by breaking the rules of a style that is defined by it's nature to break rules. Alphaville is a film that escapes clarity, instead existing in the gray areas between familiar and unknown.
PROCESSING / ARDUINO
Processing and Arduino are open source programming languages that work in conjunction with the Arduino microcontroller.
Brainwave was an experiential art piece meant to interact with participants by using two sonar sensors mimicking both an x and y axis to distort a sound file. No matter what position or movement made by the person, their action would alter the sonar values in one or both of the sensors, altering the sound. The sound worked with a laser which pulsated based on bass frequencies. Therefore, the movement of the participant would alter both the sound frequency and the pattern of the laser.
The data of one sensor was sent from Arduino to Processing and sent over a network to the other Processing sketch. This network offered a wireless connection between the two sensors which were seperated over a wide area. The second Processing sketch took values from the client, as well as values from the Arduino attached to that computer locally. This server sketch did all of the computing itself, the first Processing sketch was merely used to throw values.
An experiment skeletons, rigging, and Inverse Kinematics in Autodesk Maya. An octopus model was used for greater experimentation with moving joints and various limbs at once. Some textures were used to help learn techniques in UV mapping.
Opening credits for short spy-thriller Interception. Text has a unique reflective grid-based look that simulates the structure-based conspiracy theme prevalent in spy thrillers. The reflective animated surface of the text attempts to capture the "urban glow" of a metropolis after dark in the same vein as films by Michael Mann, which was appropriate for this film as the HD video and shooting style is highly influenced by Mann's work.
Also performed minor visual touch-ups such as bullet-wound effect, muzzle flash, and lighting correction.
VIDEO NOT YET AVAILABLE FOR PREVIEW. CHECK BACK FOR UPDATES.
Promotional video for Ryerson University Mass Exodus Fashion Show. The black and white video springs to life when colour "bleeds" out of the flowers that fall from the character as she walks down a hallway. Filmed by Miles Jay.
Video that opened the Ryerson University 2010 Fashion Show in front of audience for each of the shows four nights. Client requested that the chalk-drawn orbs become "glowing" at the end through colour, not saturation. By highlighting the chalk and using a bleed-out visual technique, the video gives the impression of a magical, but organic, presence, which reflects the nature of the show itself.
A stop motion project using empty CD cases to create a music visualizer. Ambitious project is incomplete due to time constraints, but this video represents the concept and technical exercise as intended.
Song: "I'm Not Safer Than A Bank" - Matthew Good
Using only still images and animating in After Effects CS4, the project uses various techniques such as creating depth in an image and layering and image to appear 3D. Using these various techniques to create a comic-book animation allowed me enough freedom to experiment with the capabilities of After Effects in my first complete project with the program.
Using footage from another source and essentially remixing it to create something new. This scene is from Saving Private Ryan, re-edited with music from Philip Glass Ensemble to mimic the stylizations of films by Zack Snyder. Snyder, opposed to Spielberg, often employs slow-motion to intensify and glorify scenes of action and violence, whereas Spielberg maintains a tone of harsh realism. Applying Snyder sensibilities to one of this films most intense sequences makes the film appear completely different, as well as raising the issue of violence glorification in cinema.
HTML; CSS; PHP
Wordpress (HTML; CSS; PHP)
HTML; CSS; Javascript
