Lenticular Transport Animation on your morning commute. BONUS PROPOSAL!

Overview: The natural motion of the Liverpool trains are used as a platform for experimental animation, illustration, and graffiti. As subway cars pass the skin of the car transforms leaving viewers with a different image when it comes from when it goes. Graffiti is a language based in movement. Until now artists creating work on subway trains have been forced to place static images on a moving canvas. Lenticular Transport takes advantage of the inherent movement of the trains to create the first examples of animated graffiti.

Lenticular Printing Lenticular printing is a multi-step process consisting of creating a lenticular image from at least two existing images, and combining it with a lenticular lens. This process can be used to create effects of motion, 3d effects, or pictures which transform into each other. Once the various images are collected, they are flattened into individual, different frame files, and then digitally combined into a single final file in a process called interlacing.

Step 1: Identify Vendors Lenticulars are common in outdoor advertising. G.R.L. will identify and work closely w/ a local company in the costing and production of covering the outside of an entire train in animated graphics.

Examples of lenticulars: Postcard: Movie Poster:

Step 2: Artist Collaborators G.R.L.'s role will be in creating a system for animated lenticular graphics on Merseyrail subway cars. For the content of the visuals we will reach out to local and international illustrators, artists, and graffiti writers to create short animations at the scale of a full car. Ideal collaborators would range from Banksy to David Shrigley.

Step 3: Production The work created by the collaborating artists will be digitized, processed using lenticular creation software, printed, and mounted on the outside of a subway car.

Lenticular print applied to exterior of train

Step 4: Viewing Lenticular covered train cars will be introduced throughout the Merseyrail system. On the subway platform a viewer will see the car coming and as it passes the surface will animate.

Step 5: Updates New lenticular train cars with artwork from different artists will be added to the system throughout the course of the year. Once a pricing structure is reached with the vendor we will know exactly how many cars can be created throughout the course of the year. Ideally, a new car would be be introduced to the system every month.

Step 6: Alternative viewing Interactive documentation of the trains will be created and added to the Merseyrail website. Web visitors will be able to click and drag the various cars to view the animations in a virtual environment. Other options for documentation including lenticular postcards and posters could be sold online and in Merseyrail locations bringing in revenue to pay for the production of more lenticular train cars.

Budget: Costs: – artist fees – fees for collaborating artists (500 – 800 each) – travel / hotel costs Remaining will be divided by the cost per train and will determine the number of lenticular trains that can be produced. Possible Revenue: - Sales from lenticular postcards / posters on Merseyrail website, tourist locations, and stations can go back into the production of more lenticular cars.

Timeline: - 2 months – research vendors and collaborating artists - 2 months – Production time for collaborating artist(s) - 3 months – Production (printing, mounting, etc.) **** First Train(s) in rotation **** - every 1 – 3 months new trains are introduced