The Star Wars galaxy has captivated audiences for over four decades with its classic tale of good versus evil set in a sci-fi realm far, far away. While the Skywalker Saga may be complete, the new animated anthology Star Wars Visions takes a fresh perspective on the beloved space opera through dynamic visual storytelling techniques. Split frames, mirrored images, and other stylized effects fracture the viewpoint, bringing a divided lens to the Star Wars mythos.
This new duality of vision connects Visions not just to the Jedi and Sith, but also to the AI world of computer vision through libraries like PyTorch's TorchVision. Both explore dual modes of sight that transform perception.
In this article
Part 1. Overview of Star Wars Visions
Visions presents nine animated short films from seven Japanese anime studios, allowing their signature visual flair and cultural perspectives to recast Star Wars in vivid new ways. Each studio explores the Force from different angles, filtered through their unique stylistic prisms. Kamikaze Douga’s The Duel fractures the screen through frames within frames, using floor division techniques to mirror and split perspectives. Other shorts incorporate concepts like ink-wash painting, woodblock prints, and manga influences.
Part 2. Double Vision vs Floor Division
Two key visual devices are at the heart of Visions’ dual outlook on Star Wars – double vision and floor division. Double vision is seen in shorts like Tatooine Rhapsody, where characters and objects are mirrored and multiplied within single shots. This creates a sense of perceptual duality, aptly fitting the dark and light duality of the Force.
Floor division refers to frames partitioned horizontally into upper and lower images. In The Duel, floor division splits wide landscape shots in two, with mirrored elements in both halves. This technique fractures a single vista into dual perspectives. Other shorts use floor division in innovative ways, like showing flashback images in the frame’s lower half.
Both double vision and floor division dually divide the field of view. This ruptures the united perspective of traditional cinema, opening up multiplied outlooks on the Star Wars universe. Just as the Jedi and Sith see the Force differently, Visions sees reality through a fractured lens.
Part 3. What is TorchVision?
While Visions may use double vision symbolically, computer vision libraries like PyTorch's TorchVision employ dual processing modes functionally for visual recognition tasks. TorchVision contains datasets, model architectures, and common image transformations for computer vision applications built on PyTorch.
A key component of TorchVision is its suite of models pre-trained on the ImageNet dataset for image classification. Most major model architectures are included, like ResNet, AlexNet, and VGG. By using models pre-trained on ImageNet's 14 million images spanning over 20,000 categories, TorchVision allows developers to apply transfer learning to new tasks.
Part 4. Role of TorchVision in Cinematic Industry
TorchVision's dual training approach has valuable applications in the cinematic industry as well. Visual effects studios can leverage TorchVision's pre-trained models for tasks like motion tracking, object replacement, and manipulated imagery detection.
Take motion tracking, where objects must be tracked across multiple frames as the camera moves. TorchVision's image classifiers can be fine-tuned to identify and follow specific objects through an entire shot. This automated tracking saves vast amounts of manual labor.
Object removal also benefits from transfer learning. A model pre-trained on ImageNet already understands a wide range of visual concepts. Fine-tuning on movies or TV shows further sharpens its ability to synthesize cohesive replacements for unwanted objects. This helps create seamless visual effects.
Part 5. Elevate Your Diagramming with EdrawMax
Just as TorchVision enables computer vision through pre-trained models, graphic design software like EdrawMax and Microsoft Visio empowers users through pre-made templates. With thousands of professionally designed templates for flowcharts, mind maps, network diagrams, fashion illustrations, and more, EdrawMax makes it easy for anyone to create stunning graphics.
With its user-friendly interface and array of floor division design tools, EdrawMax empowers users to explore divided visual narratives like those seen in Star Wars Visions.
The combination of pre-made templates and customizable elements unlocks your inner visual storyteller.
Here are the steps to create a simple mind map using EdrawMax:
Step 1: If you haven't already installed EdrawMax, download and install it on your computer. You can find the software on the EdrawMax official website. Launch EdrawMax on your computer. In the template categories, find and select the "Mind Map" template. EdrawMax provides various mind map templates to choose from.
Step 2: Double-click on the main topic box or click on it and start typing to enter your main idea or topic.
Step 3: Connect the main topic to its subtopics using lines or arrows.
Step 4: Customize the appearance of your mind map by changing colors, fonts, and styles.
Step 5: Once you've created your mind map, save your work. Click on "File" and then select "Save" or "Save As" to choose the location and filename for your mind map.
Tools like Microsoft Visio and EdrawMax showcase the power of building upon what came before to create something new. The dual nature of life always provides two sides to every story.
Conclusion
Star Wars Visions and TorchVision both demonstrate the energizing power of dual modes of perception. Just as the light and dark sides of the Force weave together a richer tapestry, divided visual frames open multiplied vantage points onto the truth. Double vision literally and symbolically expands our field of view.
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