Alexei Tylevich (BLR), born 1972, lives and works in the United States. Studied visual art and design (Bachelor Degree in painting from Minsk School of Art), B. F. A. in Visual Communications from Minneapolis College of Art and Design. Works as a computer animator at XAOS since 1994.

One of the forces fueling my interest in exploring the synthetic environment of a computer animation system is the potentially explosive character of the resulting image.

This points to the much discussed questions of the reliability of "realistic" representation. The futile premise of "what's real?" seems to be drifting unavoidably towards the equally elusive idea of "perception". In terms of realisation, "Dead Air" served primarily as a battleground for intuitive visual approach vs. software expertise (a doomed enterprise?). It is yet another well known fact, that style can often tell a better story than the idea it represents. In the case of "Dead Air", the chosen stylistic methods are meant to serve as tribute to the cyberpunk 80's.

A style is made up of conventions and "rules", which led to a closer look at the "special effects" vernacular, i.e. its established commercial applications/expectations/ limitations. The rich chemistry of cliches: flying logos, camera fly-throughs, TV monitors, robots, 3D medical illustration; a predominantly mimetic approach to creating "life-like" appearances in modeling and lighting, expensive-looking cheap thrills. Endless possibilities for the grotesque (or miserable failure?).

Well, you can't have it all. At least now I know how to make a logo fly.


Technical Background

HW: SGI
SW: Wavefront