Freedom & Liberty: Research and Concept

Research into Freedom & Liberty, including definitions (authors own)

Screen shot of freedom (google search)

Olympics: Black Power Salute (right to left: John Carlos, Tommie Smith and Peter Norman)

Source: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/mar/30/black-power-salute-1968-olympics

For this project I aim to make a short animated piece that communicates something about Freedom and Liberty, and what it means to me. I started my research, looking into dictionary definitions of the terms and then diversified my sources onto the world wide web and that of other peoples opinions on the matter. I then watched documentaries and films such as, The Naked Rambler, that explores others opinions on what freedom is, in this case to be publicly nude without being antagonised. I also watched the films, The Truman Show and Bruce Almighty (both staring Jim Carey). I found something very interesting being said in Bruce Almighty, which was about the idea of playing God and the limits to that power. We as humans all have free will, we make our own decisions and choose our own paths. This can be manipulated by those around us, but ultimately it is our choice (unless you believe in destiny). However, in animation an animator has the job of playing God and the poor character has absolutely no free will. In continuing this project I will work with the concept of free will.

I then looked into historical revolutions, such as the black power movement and freedom fighters. I found it to be rich in potential visual metaphors. The black panther could be a great visual metaphor for me to play with, as well as the salute (seen above) . Oppressed, black people were almost completely without freedom, but the Black Panther movement was them using their free will to make a difference. Just like them, I want my character to fight back.

Title Sequence: Kiss the Girls Storyboard

Final storyboard for the Kiss the Girls title sequence (left) and Style/media experimentation (right)

Photo is authors own

Creating the final storyboard for Kiss the Girls was great as a starting point for how I would like the sequence to look and what medium I could use to effectively produce the ideas seen within it. I really like the potential for a strong sense of style and atmosphere for the sequence. However, I'm not sure how well the first box, which would be live action, will fit in with the rest of the sequence. I was surprised how hard it was to find purpose in the flow of the sequence as it did not have a narrative and was relying solely on visual representations.

Experimenting with the style/medium a of the title sequence was the most creatively rewarding part of the process. I was able to explore ideas and identify what would work best in representing the themes of the film. I initially started working with newspaper print in relation to a scene in the movie where one of the killers has a safe full of newspaper clippings. Once I had tried out a few different ideas, I took them into flash and made a series of short animations. This gave me a clear indication of what would work best on the whole. It was a shock to find how engrossed you can become in exploring ideas and metaphors. In future I will definitely give myself a stricter amount of time in which I'm allowed to do this. 

Metamorphosis: Final Animation

Authors own

This is the final animation of my story, which I entitled 'Gregory's Soul' that explores the concept of metamorphosis through life, death and the spirit world. Overall, I am pleased with my outcome as it evokes the emotions I was aiming to strike in the viewers. I think the choices I made during production, e.g.  choosing to make it in black and white, the music I chose, the idea of inverting the tones once we entered the spirit world, were the prime reasons the mood of the piece was so well received. If I were to improve this animation I would of taken care to include more frames and movement, as in some places it does seem a little static and incomprehensible. However, these are points I can take on board and carry forward for my next animated projects. In order to avoid this happening in future projects I could make animatics before I start final production, making sure all transitions and keyframes work accordingly. 

I made the animation by hand using a lightbox to aid me. I then scanned each image into Flash and put them into sequence.The inverted colour frames where scanned into Photoshop, where I edited them and then imported them into Flash. Once this was done I add fade out transitions and small movements, such as blinking and the bug sprat entrance, using Flash. I then exported the file into iMovie where I added a glowing effect on the second half of the animation and included rolling credits at the end. 

I was surprised at just how time consuming the animation process is and how much there is to consider. In order to help my future animations, creating a check list would really help make things run more smoothly. 

Metamorphosis: Screen Shots

Screen Shots of final animation

Photos are authors own

These screen shots are organised chronologically to give a rough idea of the storyline. Evaluation of final piece is to be found on the next post. I have included these images incase you cannot watch the actual animation. 

Metamorphosis: Title Card

Title card development

Photo is authors own

I really enjoyed this part of the project as I was able to focus my attention on what the animation was all about and try to portray that in one still image. I was working with the idea of foreshadowing, and how I could use that term literally. I worked with a few different view points and also thought about how I could produce visual meaning behind the shadow cast by Gregory as he prepares to get into bed. The last image on the page seen above is my final design, which I believe to be effective. The large shadow cast by Gregory creates a daunting atmosphere, as it haunts the space, towering over him. I included a mouth on the shadow to suggest it being a separate entity, although a part of Gregory, just as death will be.

Metamorphosis: Initial Idea

Photos are author own

My initial idea was based on metamorphosis as a super power, looking at examples like, The Hulk, Ben 10 and Megamind. I made a storyboard (first image) that included a boy who was teasing his sister and in order to avoid the consequences he turns into a rock. However, whilst he is still in rock form a man walks by and kicks him across the ground. When the boy turns back into his rightful form he has a huge dent in his head. This worked as a good starting point, but the story needed to be developed more. Most people felt as though the struggles the boy is put through should be elaborated and more extreme. So I expanded the story to include him getting kicked into a river and having to battle through numerous obstacles, whilst getting pushes down the current. I found the process of developing my story challenging because I had to make sure the audience was able to empathise with the character, but still find his experience comical. This is a hard thing to master. 

I then went on to designing the character using illustrator (second image), which was a very fun experience. I was able to create a character that before only existed in my mind and visually express the temperament of the boy. I think my initial character design was successful, but I found myself loosing interest in the concept I had chosen for the project. I want to create a more metaphorical, in-depth representation of metamorphosis. 

'New' Poster

 This is a photo of my final poster.

This is a photo of the idea generation for my poster from my sketch book.

(All images are authors own)

I found the the generating of ideas for my poster very easy as I already had a concept set out from working with the film to work with. I decided to go with 3D type of the word 'New' that casted a shadow that shaped out the word 'Old'. I then pasted the word 'New' onto a music stave to represent the connection the film had with new things within music. The decision to make 'New' 3D was to represent the current 3D movement in film, bringing its font into present time, which then casts a shadow that spells 'old'. This is supposed to represent that everything that is new is foreshadowed by the old and, in turn, is some kind of reincarnation of the old. I felt as though this poster idea was the strongest in metaphorically communicating my ideas on the word new and what our film was about. However, because I did the poster by hand there were some problems with colour smudging and text not being level on the page. If I were to change anything about the poster I would make sure I gridded the page properly and to avoid smudging, perhaps used a program like illustrator to create the final outcome. 

The task to create a poster was one that I very much enjoyed. It started to make me think more about the audience and what may or may not work in trying to attract attention or effectively communicate something visually. I feel that the poster has strong visual communication, but I don't know if it would stand out in a high street for example. Although, the use of red for the word new, situated at the centre of the poster and dragging upwards to the top of the page, which is sat in a white space my work in turning a few heads.

Fashion and Textiles: Final Piece Colour Copied

 

These three images are colour copies of my final piece, which allow you to see the construction and design of the shoe in more detail. For example, you can see the small, simple bit of illustration I done on the bottom of the shoe and how and where I used newspaper or brown paper. I really like these images they because the copier has created a mysterious perspective. The material closest to us is squashed up against the surface of the glass, whereas that latter material is casted in ominous shadow: in oblivion.