I went to Barcelona and was really amazed by the colorful mosaics of Antonio Gaudi. I loved the free and organic feeling of it all, a fairy-tale aesthetic. At Parc Guell, one of his most famous projects, vibrant mosaics cover many of the structures such as columns, benches, and sculptures. The multicolored salamander fountain is one that leaves an impression on every visitor.

I wanted to get video footage but was stuck with my cheapo camera…that didn’t stop me. In fact, when I got home I looked at the footage and despite some shakiness I thought I could do something creative with it.

Then I had an inspiration; since I needed to practice using Flash anyway, I decided to try adding something animated to the video. A friend and I rendered a ball of colored segments somewhat resembling a space age mosaic and decided to have it travel over the video footage. One idea led to another and soon we started adding more scenes. We even went to Fort Tryon Park in uptown Manhattan to get video of mosaics there that were inspired by Gaudi­.

By the end of the project, a narrative had developed. The ball is an alien thing in space that senses the colorful mosaics and is drawn to Earth to investigate. Descending into Barcelona’s Parc Guell, the ball rolls along various mosaic covered surfaces, almost seeming amused by its discoveries! Then it ascends back into the sky only to land in New York at the park described above. In the end it goes back off into space to the tune of Prince’s “Take Me With You”.

Once you see the video, you’ll get the idea. I was inspired to take some mediocre footage and create something special with it. Now that I think of it, that’s what Gaudi­ did…he took shattered pieces of ceramics and put them together to make something completely unique. Watch The Video