Digital Video magazine — June 2013
Pure Imagination: The Mind and Methodology of Digital Artist Kurtis Hough

Based in Portland, Oregon, Kurtis Hough (@kurtishough on Twitter) is a digital artist and filmmaker who has been making experimental time lapse films for more than a decade. Hough’s interest in the rhythms of the natural world is evident in his work, which combines the visual style of a nature documentary with CG animation to create a dreamlike, otherworldly feel.

“The goal is almost always a compulsion desire to express an image I have while listening to a piece of music, and to visually provoke a heightened feeling to the notes,” Hough says of his work, which includes 2004’s Stumble then rise on some awkward morning and, more recently, Toyland, Cryosphere and Warm Earth, Which I’ve Been Told, which were completed last year.

Set to music from Canadian trio A Silver Mt. Zion, the elegiac Stumble then rise is completely 3D animated, with elements created in Autodesk 3ds Max and then duplicated and manipulated in Adobe After Effects. “I saw in computer animation an entirely new art form that had endless possibilities, and I wanted to learn for myself what was possible,” Hough explains. “Lately I’ve found a similar approach with the emergence of DSLR cameras, which allow for accessible high-quality digital video.”

Hough acquired a Canon 5D Mark II DSLR camera in 2011 and, combined with his existing photography lenses, found it opened the doors on what he could do. “I would do long solo hikes into the wilderness with a backpack that included the 5D, a 100mm macro lens, two other lenses, and a lightweight aluminum tripod,” he describes. “I’ll often use and learn whatever tools are needed to express an idea I have. As the years go on I employ a lot of techniques I’ve learned along the way, and try to keep an eye open for new tools that can be used in a fresh way.” (Read full story…)