FMP: Making Week

A rough sketch of the initial idea

Final idea, storyboarded

For the making week the group came together and discussed each of our projects and trying to discover a common ground conceptually, which proved near impossible. Therefore, we decided that the process of making would tie each of our projects into this piece. We decided to play with the term "Put a sock in it", which brought us to the concept of female oppression. Our film consists of plastic bottles, each with their own voice, being placed into a box and then stuffed with socks to block out the sound. Whilst this is happening the expression "put a sock in it" is being projected onto the box. After each bottle has been stuffed, examples of misogynistic rap lyrics are projected, scrolling across the box. 

If we had a longer time to complete the film, we would have edited it more to shorten the playing time, made the film brighter and changed the scrolling lyrics to a single line format to make them more legible. However, I feel as though the message is felt and the the sound, which we recorded on garageband using our own voices, works effectively in creating mood, but also serving their metaphorical purpose.

In regards to my personal project, it made me think about reversing the idea of escapism. The idea that a dream may in fact become the oppressor, rather than reality. Perhaps the dreamer experiences a great sense of freedom when awake and fears the trapped feelings that may swamp them in their dreams. the making week has also further confirmed my desire to create something more suggestive and obscure than literal, as it definitely risks becoming boring or obvious.

FMP: Tate Modern Visit

The Promise (1936) by Cecil Collins

Photo from https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/collins-the-promise-t01692

I went to visit the Tate Modern's Poetry and Dream room to increase my visual research for my Dream Logging project. Whilst there I cam across The Promise (above), which brought an interesting idea to mind. The pretty scene portrayed here presents two worlds, one above ground and adorned with light and life, the other in darkness, underground. These two worlds reminded me of the two states of dreaming I wanted to represent. My idea: Lucidity could be an "above ground" experience, travelling up for the depths (underground) of our subconscious psyche.  

This visit really started to get me excited about generating ideas and being really experimental with how I portray my message. Does the view really need to know that they are dreaming or witnessing a dream? Perhaps it is the feeling of a release of control is the most important factor here.

FMP: Dream structure and Perspective

Explanation of the process leading a lucid dream from my sketch book

Consideration of the viewers perspective in sketch book

Photos are authors own

In order to get the information I had gathered through research into the psychology of dreams, video blogs by lucid dreamers and the interviews I conducted, I created a flow chart of events that proceed the state of lucid dreaming. Whilst drawing this out I began to wander what it is that I am actually communicating to the viewer. Am I creating an informative piece about the process of achieving lucidity? Am I focusing on the lucid experience? Am I showing a struggle to obtain lucidity? Do I even want to include the idea of lucidity? Maybe, that almost magical feeling of being in a situation that you can't control, yet it is stimulating enough to create excitement within you, that an unconscious dream gives you is a form of escapism. 

During one of my interviews the interviewee said that when they had a particular dream, their perspective changed. I found this to be really strange. So it caused me to think about how I want the view to be experiencing the animation. I will start to experiment more with perspective.

FMP: The Interviews

Dream Map drawn out by an interviewee

Photo is authors own

I interviewed people about their dream experience, writing down some of the information, recording the interview and, in some cases, collecting drawings produced by the interviewee. The people I interviewed had experienced evils of lucidity, sleep paralysis and dreams that had appeared to have come true (premonitions). Through talking to these people I have been able to find out new quirks that people have during dream, most notably a change in perspective. I wish to interview people that had more extreme encounters with lucid dreaming and feel as though it is an ultimate escapism. I would also love to speak to some people first hand about astral plane experience to further enrich my research.

FMP: Berlin Trip

Berlin Wall, Germany (March, 2014)

Berlinische Galerie, Germany (March, 2014)

The Holocaust Memorial. Berlin, Germany (March, 2014)

Modified observation sketch of the holocaust memorial

The trip to Berlin, Germany was not too influential on my concept, but instead provided a lot of food for thought on my visual representations. The Berlin wall introduced different characters to me. Arising questions like, do I want to represent the characters as I saw them in my dreams? Do I want to be less literal? How can I make the characters contribute to the disturbing nature of the film I wish to produce? Should they be vibrant, obscure, flat, expressive etc? 

My visit to the Berlinische Galerie introduced me to the artist Franz Ackermann, who's art captivated me for hours. The experienced provoked so many questions and opened my eyes to the importance of detail, not necessarily in regards to intricacy, but what each and every part means, what it communicates. The manic, visual maps that Ackermann creates involve many different mediums including paint and photography, which creates layers and depth to the work. It was truly delightful to discover all the secrets that revealed themselves throughout each piece in pockets of detail.

The Holocaust Memorial was a daunting experience. We were gradually submerging in the graves of the dead, once again conjuring the idea of escape. In my sketch, the graves are beginning to fall and I have included the "Royal Road", leading the path out of the graves. This was a small idea I was working with on the spot, trying to illustrate what a break through into lucidity might do to the environment if I were dreaming in that second. It kind of conveys the initial state of mental escapism.

FMP: Un Chien Andalou

Un Chien Andalou (1929) screen shot

Un Chien Andalou (1929) by Luis Buñuel and Salvador Dalí was a really helpful film to watch. The experience allowed me to form a clearer idea of the sort of animation I want to produce, in regards to how it is received by the view. Not only do I want it to be an experience that the viewer embarks on, but also a cause of disturbance and discomfort... something that someone would want to escape from. This short film was constructed through a combination of the artists dreams manifest content and that of random sense ideas that seemed to fit well between them both. I now I'm pondering on how I am going to build up my story board. Will it be a sort of montage of my manifest content, will it be a similar process to the making of Un Chien Andalou or could I take a completely different direction?

FMP: Dream Psychology Research

Research in my sketch book

Authors own

Moving away from the idea of dream analysis, I looked at the harder facts about dreaming e.g. the brain activity involved, dream frequency and duration and other avenues associated with dreaming (lucidity, astral planing and sleep paralysis). Astral planing and sleep paralysis were really effective concepts to play with in regards to what I want to communicate. The animation that I wish to produce is all about the very real, human desire to escape, but also exploring it as an art (training yourself to lucid dream). The Astral Plane world is a very obvious escape from reality, it is almost seen as a more intense, however, enlightened realm. Whereas, on the other end of the spectrum, sleep paralysis is the ultimate state of restriction that one can only wish to escape from. Playing with this juxtaposition could creative something strongly communicative.

An informative video I watched that explains the process of lucid dreaming: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYSX51xBkos 

FMP: Dream Psychology Research

Dream psychology research in my sketch book

Authors own

Of course, I had to research Freudian theory as it influenced so much art and is the most outrageous, common knowledge theory for dream analysis. Carl Gustav Jung's dramatic structure theory proved to be very helpful to my particular media of choice (animation), as it provided a rough outline of the structure of dreams and which section of the dream is most important. This could be something for me to consider when generating storyboards. Another thing that caught my attention was a quote by Sigmund Freud:

"Dreams are the Royal Road to the Unconscious."  

This quote generated strong imagery for me and it could be a potential component to my final storyboard. The "Royal Road" could be an effective symbolic device that insinuates an entrance or exit of the unconscious.  

FMP: Observational Drawing

Observational sketches, modified to look more psychedelic

Authors own

The act of observational drawing allowed me to move away for collecting loads of information for a while and just become a little more hands on and fluid with my research. Experimenting with the visual side of my concept and creating nonsensical ideas inspired by my research into Dadaism. If I were to improve anything about the drawings I produced (something I will keep in mind for future observational drawing I will do for this project) I would have liked to included different layers, building on the psychedelic quality of the images.

FMP: Inspiring Quote

"...the simplest surrealist act consists of dashing down into the street, pistol in hand, and firing blindly..." - Andre Breton

FMP: Dream Logging Research

Series of screen shots taken from the short film Destino (2003) by Salvador Dalí (surrealist) and Walt Disney (animator). 

Merz by Kurt Schwitters (dadaist) 

Photo's are not authors own

I have looked into some of the artists that participated in the Surreal and Dada art movements. This stage of my research has opened a lot of doors into how I can represent the themes I am working with, which are dream state, lucidity and escapism. Dalí has worked a lot with the manifest content of his dreams, along side other surrealists like Vladimir Kush and Georgio De Chirico. Destino, which is fundamentally a montage of Dalí's previous paintings, creates a strong example of how a dream may play out in ones mind, therefore I took substantial amounts of inspiration from it. Moving on from this research I won't to produce a series of observational/life drawings that I will then manipulate in a slightly surrealist/dadaist manner. Dadaism was quite a hard art movement to grasp, but I suppose that is the whole point. This kind of, nonsensical, "do whatever you like" approach that seems to be the foundations of the movement correlates very well with the lucid state of dreaming, where the dreamer is conscious of the fact that they are still asleep and, through mental discipline, can proceed to change their dream environment and situation.  

You Are Here: Final Animation

Train Strike

Authors own

This is my 30 second animation that explores the evolution of the name of the street that we today call Cannon Street. It is a visual piece, with no narrative, just experimentation of transitions, sound, insinuated actions and style. 

I find the most successful components of this animation to be the switch between two styles to give the viewer some indication of the environment they are being introduced to. Also, the insinuation of movement in the arches that pass the flame as it flickers out to make way for the incoming train. I do wish I could have done more with the sound, creating a mix that explored all of the interesting audible recordings I made. I also feel as though the flame could have been developed more, but because of my very basic knowledge of After Effects I was not able to create anything more elaborate in the time I had to complete this project. For future projects, I will make sure I put some time aside to explore software I haven't tried out yet that may come in handy in the production stage. 

You Are Here: Medium and Layout

Media experimentation

Layout development

Through doing media experimentation I successfully identified a medium that would work best for the hand drawn section of my animation. This was watercolour as it has a ghostly feel about it, much as the past does, which is where the viewer is being taken. However, one annoying thing about using watercolour is it wrinkles the pages if they are too thin. Hopefully, this does not show up on the scans.

Designing the layout of the train station was pretty straightforward. I based it on how the actual station looks presently, with a few minor changes. Mainly, I just simplified the environment, taking away things like pillars and enhancing the colours to give it a more cartoony feel. One thing I did not think about though, was the design of the train tracks. I future, I will make sure I have got every aspect of my design right before I start marking over it in pen and colouring it.

You Are Here: Final Storyboard and Animatic

Final Storyboard

Animatic of final storyboard

Authors own

This was the first time I had made an animatic for any of my animation projects and I found it really helpful. I was able to get a better grasp of time and how each sequence of my storyboard will plan out. In turn, I was able to see what would in fact work well and what would not. I decided that I no longer wanted to include the candle stick as it seems too clunky, and instead just a lone flame. Also, in a critic with my tutor, he mentioned that the London bombings springs to mind. In order for me to avoid that connection I have to think about the nature of the flame I decide to animate. Will it be erratic? Will it dance? Will it throb gently? Also, what colour will it be? And how do I extend to insinuate the idea of fire? I am leaning towards the idea of using materials found at the train station such as, a newspaper. I now plan on studying the movements and colours of different flames to see what kind of emotional response they provoke.  

You Are Here: Storyboard Development

Storyboard development (left) and visual research (right)

Authors own

Through developing my storyboard I was able to concentrate on what was to be visually important within my final animation. I want it to run smoothly against the eyes, so therefore I concerned myself with clever transitions and subtle changes that insinuate things rather that embodied them. I was working with the name of the old street 'candlewick', packing the storyboard full of visual puns. Half way through making the storyboard, I came up with the idea of creating the first half, where we are leaving Candlewick Street, by hand, giving it an antique feel to reflect its historical nature. Therefore, the second half would look much more digital and modern, using simple aesthetics or perhaps even photographic collage.

You Are Here: Storyboarding

Storyboarding my ideas

Photo is authors own

1) Objects in the underground that are attached to the walls come alive and are calling out for help.

2) A visual idea, without narrative, that responds to the secondary research I did on Cannon Street and plays with the idea of the trains candle-like glow as it travels through the tunnel. The area used to be called Candlewick Street.

3) Playing with scale. The aspects of the space that I noticed the most are enlarged e.g. a huge pigeon stands next to a small man.

4) They are watching. This idea was based on the amount of CCTV equipment/cameras I saw situated in the station, together with one abandoned glove. The cameras come alive and create a mega robot that controls the people within the station.

It was relieving to finally come up with a few storyboarded ideas as there was so much information to work with. I find myself most drawn to the second idea, as I feel it will be interesting to work on a non-narrative piece and explore visual metaphors. However, I don't know how well received it would be by an audience, because effectively it is an educational piece on the history of the area. Moving forward with this idea I will return to the station and record more videos and sound, which could potentially be used in the final piece.

You Are Here: Visiting Cannon Street Station

Photos I took whilst at Cannon Street

Sketches and recordings made at Cannon Street Station

All photos are authors own

Going to Cannon Street and taking time to get in touch with the area, study it, delving into its finest details was a really fascinating experience and it provoked many potential ideas. I found this way of working to be really successful in generating ideas. A great way to become inspired. As I sat just watching, listening and experiencing the ambiance my brain was already working up potential narratives. It was also a really good opportunity just to do some drawing and study mundane life. However, I did find the whole experience rather exhausting and I barely left the station as I wanted to explore it before going out on the street. Although, I think it would be quite interesting just to concentrate on the station. More specifically, the underground.

You Are Here: Drawing Trip Around Greenwich

Examples of drawings I did on the trip around Greenwich

These are literally just scribbles, but that document some interesting stages of the trip. Relating back to strange social encounters, pleasant emotions and narrative ideas.

'You Are Here' Project

Photos of my surroundings on a walk along the Thames, in Greenwich

Authors own

Screen shot of Ed Barrnett's Man Up 

 Screen shot of Sally Arthur's A to Z 

The aim of this project is to produce a 30 second animation that says something about a certain area within London. This area was picked randomly, using a map, a pin and blindfold. I was blindfolded and asked to place the pin anywhere on the map after being spun round multiple times. My pinned area was Cannon Street.

In preparation for this project we watched a few short animations based on the notion of the city. They all had a very strong sense of style and something different to communicate about the city. Man Up looked into the life of a builder working on a crane, it was highly comical, but ending in tragedy. A to Z looked into the busy life of woman that lived in the city and her habit of collecting and gathering. These short films opened my eyes to the possible avenues I could go down, but also urged me to think more outside the box and concern myself with ideas that have not yet been explored.
I also went on a drawing trip around Greenwich and made some interesting sketches, took photos and wrote down thoughts, feelings etc. This was a great way to practice gathering primary research and try out a new way of work (being on the move). This experience will make my first visit to Cannon Street a lot more productive.

Freedom & Liberty: Experimentation

Screen shot of walk cycle GIF

In order for me to understand the movements involved in walking I read a section of the book 'The Animators Survival Kit' by Richard Williams. This allowed me to experiment with and experience making walk cycles. This will come in handy when I start to animate my character. I made this walk cycle on Flash.