Project development

I drew out this image on Illustrator and then coloured it in Photoshop.

I also added a few extra details. For example in the screen shot above I used the 'Add Noise' filter to make the dress look slightly sparkly. I also used the paintbrush tool to add shadows and highlights so that the characters looked more lifelike.

I added an effect to make it look like it was an image inside a picture frame. 

On After Effects I zoomed into the image so that it the audience wouldn't be aware that it was just a picture. However it appeared to be a bit pixelated, even though on Photoshop and Illustrator the image appeared to be high resolution.

Storyboard

The scene will open with Trayvon and his friends graduating from university. My research showed that he wanted to go to the University of Miami so I will show this. I will then show him getting a job as a pilot. Next I will show him getting married.

This will transition into a scene where Trayvon is shown coming home from work and greeting his wife. She holds a box behind her back and then presents it to him.

Trayvon opens the box which holds a positive pregnancy test. Him and his wife celebrate with a hug. At this point the story freezes and reverses. Trayvon is then shown in 2012 on the night of his murder.

Trayvon is denoted walking down the street. He is suddenly approached by a stranger with a gun. The scene ends with him being shot.

The conclusion will show how Trayvon's parents and family react to losing him. It will then show how the murderer, George Zimmerman, was found not guilty for the murder. The scene will end with outraged protesters.

Concept development

I rethought the beginning of my storyline again because I didn't think the idea I had was engaging enough. 

• I could introduce Trayvon's character by showing him at the park with a friend, as this is what happened the night before he was killed.
• The night he was killed, Trayvon went to the shop 7/11 and bought Skittles and Arizona. Unfortunately he never made it home. I could show his journey home which would build suspense.
• Trayvon often volunteered at a concession stand in Foranzo Park. I could show him doing this in order to show the audience that he was a good character. This would make it more emotive when he eventually is murdered.
• Trayvon had a keen interest in aviation, so I could show him daydreaming about his future life as a pilot.
• Alternatively, I could create a flash forward to different events in his life 

I think my last idea is the strongest because the audience will be able to gain a connection to his character. 

I drew out a couple of sketches of Trayvon as an adult and a late teenager.

I also started to draw out my storyboard. I changed around the order I wanted it quite a lot so it was handy to visualise the story on different pieces of paper.

Ideas Development 2 + Research

I made a further brainstorm and changed around my ideas. For the beginning of my narrative I thought that I could introduce the Black Lives Matter movement, instead of just talking about Trayvon. This would give the audience an insight to the wider context of the story. I could show some of the things that the movement stands for, for example, it's against police brutality and racial stereotyping. I could also show Trayvon at the same time these things are mentioned. This could lead up to the climax of the narrative which would be Trayvon's murder. In the conclusion I would make a point against ending stereotypes.

I also did some further research into the topic to help with my ideas:-

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/black-lives-matter/2/

http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2015/10/23/obama-black-lives-matter-movement-not-anti-police/

http://www.vox.com/2015/10/22/9600158/obama-black-lives-matter

http://www.bet.com/news/celebrities/2015/10/26/quentin-tarantino-black-lives-matter-protest-rally.html?sf14541075=1

http://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/a47842/the-women-behind-blacklivesmatter/?utm_content=bufferfbd41&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

• Mentions Trayvon - he made her think of his brother. Trayvon is a symbol that people can relate to, if you have a young male relative you'll be able to feel an emotive connection to him
• "A re-humanization project". My animation could look at the ways black lives are dehumanised and how this should be changed

http://www.wired.com/2015/10/how-black-lives-matter-uses-social-media-to-fight-the-power/?mbid=social_twitter

Practical Workshop 5

In class today we learnt further animating techniques and how to make a character move on After Effects

Added key frames so that I could change the position and roation of the arms. Made the body connect to the limbs by adjusting which part was the 'parent'.

Making Backgrounds

I wanted to try to create a background for my animation piece. I decided to use an image of a suburb in Florida, since this is the place where Trayvon lived.

I uploaded the image in to Illustrator to trace over the basic outlines of the houses and the street. I find it useful to use Illustrator for tracing as you can go back and edit out any jagged lines. This helps to create a more smooth, conventional cartoon effect.

I then used the image in Photoshop to colour it in. I used the magic wand tool and fill to place the colours. 

To give some depth to my image, I added a few layers. I used the noise filter to make the ground look more grainy. I added a gradient layer to the sky so that it didn't look so flat and used the paintbrush tool to create the appearance of clouds.

Here is what the textures layers look like without the background. You can see the different places where I added shading and detail.

Here is the final result. I think that this looks for more dynamic than the original version. I should incorporate some more details and textures in my backgrounds so that they look more engaging.

Viewing Log: Persepolis

Persepolis (2007) is an animated film based on the autobiographical graphic novel of Marjane Satrapi. It is focused on Satrapi as a child who grows up following the Iranian Revolution. This topic is relevant to the brief as it follows a historical and political event. It tackles the hard issue of war by using humour and a child as a protagonist. The film was nominated for an Academy Award. The use of a minimalist style makes the audience focus more on the storyline.

I'm inspired by the use of silhouettes that are frequently used throughout the film. It shows just enough detail so that the audience are aware of what's happening but the silhouettes create a dramatic sense of enigma. I could use a similar effect in my own piece when trying to animate the protesters in the Black Lives Matter campaigns.

I thought the use of vignettes were quite cool. A similar technique was used in Everything Will Be Okay.

I am fond of the use of plain backgrounds as I think it makes the characters stand out more. Moreover, I think this style wouldn't be too difficult to replicate (as I'm someone with not much experience with animation). I also think this style works well since the simplicity emphasises the bleak like the world they live in.

I like that it uses a non-traditional animation style, that isn't a replica of real life. Another feature I found inspiring was the use of transitions such as wipes. I think these would be useful to use in my own piece.

Black Lives Matter Research 3

Useful research links:

http://everydayfeminism.com/2015/06/post-racial-america-doesnt-exist/

http://everydayfeminism.com/2013/08/dont-be-george-zimmerman/

http://everydayfeminism.com/2015/04/myths-about-police-brutality/

http://everydayfeminism.com/2015/10/police-brutality-victim-blaming/

http://everydayfeminism.com/2015/03/blackness-isnt-the-problem/

http://everydayfeminism.com/2015/07/the-media-white-privilege/

Alternative Scriptwriting - Dancyger and Rush

The Restorative Three-Act Structure

Based on Aristotle's theory that stories have a beginning, middle and end. They are usually proportioned 1:2:1, so that the middle is the largest section. Each act rises up to a crisis or intensity. The resolution of this crisis leads to the next act. The plot point hooks the action and turns the story in another direction. The first act will introduce the set up for the storyline, the second act will have a confrontation with the characters and the third act will feature the resolution of the conflict. There's also a period of relaxation at the start of each act in order to break tension.

Character

The actions in the storyline should connect to the character. There should also be character development throughout the narrative. In the beginning, it should start with a simple character so that the audience gain an investment but also wonder. Story lines should focus on one central character. They could have an internal and external conflict, which would foreground the character's psychology. 

The first act:

The Point of No Return - The first act introduces the character to a situation they can't go back from. It should influence the character's subsequent actions and feelings,

False solution  - This seems to be a solution to the character's dilemma. However they will ultimately fail so that the plot can continue. The audience are led to believe that if they don't fail the story wouldn't cease. 

The second act:

Moving ahead of the character - In the second act, the character's are oblivious to their fate.

Act of consequence - In this part, the characters gain an insight to their problems. The audience are thus in sync with the characters, alleviating the burden of dramatic irony.

The third act

Recognition and restoration - The third act usually has an upbeat ending. The characters realise their failure and rise to overcome their conflict.

Tips for Three-Act Skeleton

• Write a paragraph for each act
• Write the whole story in one paragraph; a sentence for each act
• Summarise thematic movement in one sentence

• Build up each act to to the previous
• Don't give too much away in the first act
• Focus. Each act should develop the characters, provide texture, make the audience feel emotion (whether it be happy or sad). and move the plot towards resolving the tension
• The first act should push the story upward, the end of the second act should bring it back down
• Avoid a "one act story" where the narrative arc doesn't change
• Keep a consistent tone; i.e. don't switch from comedy to drama

The reading raises the point that it's difficult to follow this structure when retelling a real-life event. This is relevant to my own story creating, as there are so many points that could be referenced. This means I will probably have to go beyond the normal structure. Dancyger and Rush suggest that one should foreground the conflict between focus and confusion.

Ideas Development

Here I drew out a quick sketch of my main character, Trayvon. I drew him in his iconic hoody because in many campaigns and protest, the hoody was shown as a symbol of innocence. People, especially young, black, males are often stigmatised for wearing hoodies, although obviously they have nothing to do with the way a person behaves.

I also tried to plan out the storyline for my animation.

• In the beginning I could outline the basic story of what happened to Trayvon. This pertains to the brief as I would be showing the "cause" for the event.
• The middle could show the formation of the Black Lives Matter movement. This would be the "effect" and "human impact" of the event. Visual elements could include iconography of angry protesters. 
• The ending of the piece could imagine how to move forward in the situation. It could imagine a world where everyone lives in harmony, in a similar way to Martin Luther King's 'I Have A Dream' speech.

Character Profile: Trayvon Martin

Name: Trayvon Martin
Born: February 5 1995
Miami, Florida, USA
Died: February 26 2012
Sanford, Florida, USA







Life:

• Grew up with his parents and older brother in Florida
• Saved his father's life by pulling him out of a fire
• Behavioural issues in high school

Personality traits:

• Kind and loving
• Shy
• Helpful

Hobbies and Interests:

• Playing sports video games
• American football
• Aviation
• Volunteering
• Rap music

Experimenting with drawing techniques

I began with this image of Trayvon Martin 

I attempted to trace it using Adobe Illustrator. I find it quite difficult using illustrator as the tools are quite fiddly. I used a different brush on his eyebrows in order to add texture. I also used different brushes to add shadows to his hoody.

I then experimented with drawing by hand. I just drew out a basic outline and a few shadows so that I could add colour digitally.

I used Photoshop to trace and colour the image. There were benefits and drawbacks of using this software. I found it much easier to use the magnetic lasso tool to select the outlines of the drawing. However this made the outlines look very jagged, whereas with Illustrator the lines are automatically smoothed out. On the plus side, I was able to give the image more depth by using the paintbrush tool to add shadows.

I think that with my next images I would like to use Illustrator to create the basic outlines or figures and then proceed to use Photoshop to add colour and details.

Art in Motion - Maureen Furniss

Most successful films take care with aural elements - voice, sound or music. Sounds are blended in a hierarchy: the most important sounds are the loudest. This is usually dialogue to effectively deliver narrative information and special effects and music are at a lower level. Changing the hierarchy by adjusting the volume levels changes the audiences' perception of what's happening. "The louder the sound the closer we take it to be."

Dialogue in animation:
In live action, voices are usually recorded at the same time as visuals. Usually in American animation, voices are recorded before visuals are finished. This allows for better synchronisatoin of lip movements to dialogue. This can also can influence character design, so that their voices match with their personality and how they look. The reading states that voices and visual elements should be interrelated. Moreover actions should be as convincing as lip syncing.




The reading mentioned how voice actors must alter their usual voices. It is important to cast a voice that is distinctive and clear. The video above is of a new Disney Princess. I thought it related to our theme since they cast a native Hawaiian actress which complies with questions of authentic ethnic representation.

Film Art: Sound in the Cinema

This reading was by Bordwell and Thompson

In film and animation the soundtrack is produced separate from the images, therefore it can be manipulated. Even silent films had orchestra, organ or piano. Sergei Eisenstein describes his as "synchronisation of senses" as the audience will connect what they see to what they hear. Sound and images at the same time are perceived as one event not two.

Loudness is often changed in film for example in busy or crowded areas there will be the sound of traffic. The volume is then lowered when characters speak.

Timbre describes the feel of a sound for example if it's nasal or mellow.

Sound in cinema is not always created for each individual piece. For example the "Wilhem scream" was first used in 1951 and can be heard in many other films.

Theory Workshop 4

All sounds in our piece have to be copyright free or have permission from the owner.

"Rhythm is one of the most powerful aspects of sound, for it works on our bodies at deep levels." Film Art:281

In Peter and the Wolf, classic instruments such as the strings and the bassoon are used to symbolise different characters rather than using vocal dialogue. 

In contrast, The Simpsons has just 11 voice actors to provide the voices for over 100 characters. This stresses the importance of voice in order to convey each character's persona.

I think in my animation I would like for the visuals to follow the beat. However the sound I use will be added after I have created the visuals, therefore I will probably need to tweak it to fit properly.

These are the elements usually included in film and animation:

Music (atmospheric, soundtrack)

Voice (dialogue, voiceover etc)

Sound (noise, sound effects)

In class, my tutor helped me with my project development. She suggested that I focus on framing. Perhaps I should start with main point of narrative, introducing the topic, then break it down and build the narrative back up again.

Black Lives Matter Research Part 2

"Rooted in the experiences of Black people in this country who actively resist our de-humanization, #BlackLivesMatter is a call to action and a response to the virulent anti-Black racism that permeates our society"When we say Black Lives Matter, we are broadening the conversation around state violence to include all of the ways in which Black people are intentionally left powerless at the hands of the state.  We are talking about the ways in which Black lives are deprived of our basic human rights and dignity."#BlackLivesMatter is working for a world where Black lives are no longer systematically and intentionally targeted for demise."- www.blacklivesmatter.com/about


In the video above President Obama empathises with the family of Trayvon Martin and says that he could have been in his position 35 years ago. What he means by this is what happened to Martin could easily have been any other black teen, as they are constantly stereotyped and subsequently targeted. Obama opens the question of how the situation would be different if it had be a white teen involved in a similar incident. Many would argue that in a different case, the murderer would have been apprehended. Obama seems to be okay with protesting as long as it's non violent; this suggests that he can understand the need for the Black Lives Matter campaign. Obama wants police officers to be trained more efficiently in order to give the public a better sense of trust. He had already inforced a racial profiling legislation and wants to review laws such as the stand your ground law in order to make the public feel more safe.

Practical Workshop 3

In class today we learned how to animate images on Adobe After Effects. This software works in a similar way to Photoshop and illustrator whereby different layers are used. On each layer you can control what action it makes.

I created a simple sequence in which a moon appeared and rotated. This was done by creating key frames and adjusting the size and angle the moon appeared at each frame. Next I used an image of an alien and made it appear to move around the moon. The movement was created by drawing out a pathway, again using key frames to outline the positions. I also emphasised the movement of the alien by using the directional blur technique, to make it appear as if the alien was moving at a fast pace. I also used the squash and stretch technique to exaggerate sharp movements. This was done by using the scale tool and closely places key frames.

Here is what the animation looked like:

Don Hertzfeldt

Don Hertzfeldt is a writer, animator and independent film maker from America. He supports his work through self distribution and refuses the use of advertisements. His animations are usually hand-drawn stick figures with story lines involving black humour. He traditionally uses pen and paper then a 16mm or 35mm camera to photograph his work. This technique can be describes as stop motion.
His short film Rejected was nominated for an Oscar.

Everything Will Be Ok

Hertzfeldt humorously comments on life and its unexpected possibilities. This film gives the viewer an insight to the protagonist's deteriorating psyche. In terms of visual style I love how Hertzfeldt has used vignette to show different things happening at once. 

Hertzfeldt is a perfect example of how you don't have to be an amazing drawer to have a successful animation.

Viewing Log: The Lion King and The Emperor's New Groove

The Lion King
I think this film relates to the Re-imagining Animation reading as it teaches kids many life lessons such as dealing with death.

The animation style is quite elaborate for example the sceneries are painted beautifully:

In the beginning of this scene the camera tracks along with Simba and Nala and the background moves with them. The sequence shows a variety of shots and angles for example an aerial shot and a canted angle shot:

In the musical sequence, the visuals subvert the conventions of real life. The colours are inverted appearing more abstract. This emphasises Wells' reading in which animation does not need to replicate real life:

Moreover the animation transcends physical boundaries of real life, showing multiple animals structured on top of each other, creating a fantastical, circus-like atmosphere: 

The Emperor's New Groove
In terms of story line I found it quite interesting how this movie flouts the usual convention of children's film as the main character is quite unlikable. Kuzco is arrogant, selfish and puts other people in terrible situations. When he himself is turned into a llama by the antagonist, Yzma, the audience are somewhat lead to believe that he deserved what he got, rather than empathising with him.

When analysing the visuals, I noticed how the backgrounds were still whilst the characters moved on top. The characters appeared to be less detailed in comparison, which makes it easier for the animators as they have to move and be changed a lot.

Other backgrounds featured just plain, gradient colours:

These were quite effective in emphasising the movement of the characters. It works especially well with the character Kuzco who is extremely self indulgent, therefore isolating him from the background exaggerates his persona.

Re-Imagining Animation: Authorshop - Paul Wells

In this reading, Wells explores questions of authorship within animation, and how much it is valued within entertainment. There are many different methods of creating animation such as single person, back-bedroom studios and major production houses. This leads to different definitions of what authorship is; this could be an auteur, director, artist, film maker, or simply an animator.
Wells explains how only recently have mass production companies such as Disney and Warner Bros been considered relevant in terms of authorship. Instead, the independent artists were deemed more important than large scale animation directors. Wells argues that there shouldn't be such a division between different styles and all creators of animation should be valued and respected equally.

Key words:
Commerce - This refers to creative industries who create animation for a large profit.
Culture: Popular culture refers to animation such as The Simpsons, Disney or Anime. Art culture usually resists the notion of animation.

In terms of 'art', animation is usually viewed as insubstantial, lightweight and juvenile, despite its usefulness. This may be due to the fact that the majority of mass media animation is aimed at children and is largely distributed in broadcast media or gaming. However these forms of animated media can still provide intellectual value, even when aimed at children. For example, Wells highlights the game Animal Crossing which teaches children capitalist values. Furthermore many television programmes teach life lessons whilst still being entertaining.

"The persistent juvenilisation of animation to lend innocence and stealth to adult agendas demands understanding and attention" Johnny Hardstaff

Advertisements and promotions often use animation or graphic design. Graphic designers use the term in order to be separate from the stereotype of animation being like Disney etc. It is interesting that Wells highlights this style of animation because like many others, when I think of animation I automatically think of it in terms of movies and television shows rather than other informative pieces.
Wells states that animation is often underestimated without considering its freedom of expression.

Animator Don Hertzfeldt points out that most animators use the same, most up to date technology making everything look and feel the same. He suggests the use of 100 years worth of equipment. He argues that with animation you're not forced to compromise with reality, however a lot of popular animation achieves photo-realism rather than try escape it. I'm inspired by Hertzfeldt's values since, my first thought was to create an animated piece that replicates real life, but now I'd like to think outside the box and creative something more abstract. The fun with animation is being able to create anything from your imagination, there's no need for it to look like a cartoon version of film.

Practical Workshop 2

In class today we experimented with creating brushes on Photoshop. The pictures below show my attempts at creating scenery using the paintbrush tool. I think this is useful in giving the settings more depth rather than being simple and flat.

Next we used Illustrator to create cartoon illustrations. We traced over stills from the film The Grand Budapest Hotel.

 I used Photoshop to convert the image to black and white so that it could more easily be traced over.

I then used the pen on the tablet to trace over the girl's face and hair and parts of the background.