Emma K Niemis

NUA BA2a Animation Blog

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BA2a Character Performance Evaluation

This project was actually quite a fun one to undertake, it was quite free and allowed me to pursue another form of stop motion animation that I haven’t properly tried before. Initially, I wanted to complete my character performance in After Effects, as I very much enjoyed the character rigging tutorials with NUA graduate and Lambda animator Millie. I had also just finished the BA2a Motion Graphics project, which I surprised myself, by wanting to animate more with this software by the end of it. However, stop motion is the animation type I want to fully explore the ins and outs of while I have the amazing equipment, studios and technicians around me to help me discover them. Which is why, ultimately, I chose to animate in stop motion with the ball and socket armatures available for me to animate with to my heart’s content.

Throughout the process I have enjoyed looking at a variety of research sources that have helped me better understand not just stop motion animation but also puppetry and the importance of acting for animation, always thinking about what your character’s motivations are even if its character design isn’t needed. I think my understanding of the processes of animation has expanded, especially in the production of a stop motion animation feature. Preparing me for beyond university in what to expect as well as what they need in a practitioner. In terms of my final outcome, I can definitely see an improvement in my animation since my first year, which is really exciting to see. I think it was the best that I could do without re-shooting, I put a lot of time and effort into the shoot, making sure the set up was perfect from the beginning and being as precise and accurate as I could be with my puppet’s movement. My favourite part of the animation is where the speaking puppet says “Shakespeare” because more of their gestures, their expressions and the lip sync are perfect in that moment for me. I do also have a few critiques, which my tutor also picked up on when I showed him. The listening puppet’s head and hands move too much in the first half of the animation, this is because I was afraid he would be too static if I didn’t move him, but realising my mistake halfway through filming, I improved this somewhat for the rest of the animation. The other improvement I would make if I was to shoot this again would be to plan the gestures and body movement so that the viewer can see a clear action and reaction, without having to watch the animation over to catch the other person’s movement. Overall, I think this was a very successful outcome that I have proudly put into my stop motion animation showreel for a submission for work experience at Aardman Animations.

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BA2a Character Bestiary Evaluation

This project has been quite the undertaking, from start to finish feels like several projects in one, especially for me because over the Christmas holidays I changed my character concept completely. This has been a long haul, full of stress and joy, but all of it was worth in the end, especially my puppet, Sweetie, whom I absolutely adore and still can’t get over the fact that I actually conceived him myself! However, I can’t not mention NUA’s on-hand puppet maker and animator Barry Leith, who with all his wisdom, was incredibly patient and giving to every one of us creating a stop motion puppet. I feel very lucky to be at a university that offers us regular expertise and guidance, face to face, from a professional freelance puppet maker, it’s fantastic. I also conducted a lot of primary and secondary research in this project, although quite a bit of it went towards my previous puppet idea. Speaking of, I would still very much like to pursue his character in the future, or some version of it, it just wasn’t working for me with these project’s restrictions and my own overcomplications.

Even though the context I choose was an incredibly difficult one, I felt like I was going back to my roots, what I enjoy seeing in my characters, a message, a confliction, something that gets me going. I have always enjoyed creating more conceptual art because I like to have a discussion, to hear what people think and how they interpret the piece. I hope my final animations leave people questioning and wanting to know more about this creature. I personally think I conveyed what I could convey without a child present in the animation, the rest is in my Character Bible and Research Portfolio, along with my own interpretations. Overall, I am really happy with my final outcomes, even though I didn’t have time to test all of the animations, I think there is a considerable improvement between the tests and final shoot as I took Barry’s advice, came prepared and took my time. I am also happy with the final Character Bible which clearly portrays my character’s evolution and narrative. The only improvements that I would make are to have some more digital artworks of my initial character designs, better showing my development in design digitally, not just in my sketchbook, and also doing a better job at recording the sound for my final animation, as they were too quiet in the final edit. In general, this has been a very successful project that I have learnt new skills from as well as having the freedom to develop the ones that matter the most to me.

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BA2a Character Bestiary Weekly Summary (Week 18)

Research Sources

-

I didn’t do any more research as I just finishing everything off this week.

Development

It’s done I finally finished all my BA2a Character Bestiary work! I think my Character Bible was successful in portraying and exploring my character, backed up by my research blog. I think the sequence and edit of animation #1 are what I wanted, I was a little ill on the day, so it isn’t perfect, it’s still a little jittery but ten times better than the test. I also put together my experimental reel which was quite fun to edit and seeing my progression in that way was great, I also love the spooky ending.

Strengths

I got all my work for this project finished in a good time, with minimal stress. I am really happy with all of the final outcomes, with only a few improvements to note here and there. These are mostly to do with the animation’s timing and smoothing out my movements, but if I look back at some of my stop motion animations in the first year, I have come a long way in this project, which I’m pretty proud of.

Area for Development

I still have quite a bit to do in terms of writing my thoughts on my blog posts, this is always the toughest part for me as I really struggle to articulate into the words a lot of the time, so I leave it until last minute. I aim to try and get over this fear of writing by doing some creative writing exercises in my spare time in the next unit, helping me to get used to just getting my words on the page, as well as helping me grow as a storyteller.

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BA2a Narrative Strategies Reflective Essay - Bibliography

Bausells, M. (2014) Haruki Murakami: 'My lifetime dream is to be sitting at the bottom of a well'’, The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2014/aug/24/haruki-murakami-my-lifetime-dream-is-to-be-sitting-at-the-bottom-of-a-well (Accessed: 13th February 2018)

Bozhinova, S. (2017) ‘The Little People in Haruki Murakami’s “1Q84”’, Medium. Available at: https://medium.com/@sarabozhinova/the-little-people-in-murakamis-1q84-a21cb6641d3b (Accessed: 13th February 2018)

British Library. ‘'A Chapter on Dreams' by Robert Louis Stevenson’, British Library. Available at: https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/a-chapter-on-dreams-by-robert-louis-stevenson (Accessed: 13th February 2018)

British Library. ‘Preface to Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’, British Library. Available at: https://www.bl.uk/collection-items/preface-to-strange-case-of-dr-jekyll-and-mr-hyde (Accessed: 13th February 2018)

Ecdysis Animation Studios (2018), Making of La Ballena Escarlata. Available at: https://vimeo.com/249134943 (Accessed: 13th February 2018)

Freud, S (1919) The Uncanny. Available at: http://web.mit.edu/allanmc/www/freud1.pdf (Accessed: 13th February 2018)

Heys, J. (2012) The Victorian Bedroom, Back In My Time: A Writer's Guide to the 19th Century, 25 August. Available at: http://backinmytime.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/the-victorian-bedroom.html (Accessed: 13th February 2018)

Huls, A. (2016), ‘8 Films That Artfully Combine Live Action with Animation’, Pond5, 26 July. Available at: https://blog.pond5.com/8431-8-films-that-artfully-combine-live-action-with-animation/ (Accessed: 13th February 2018)

Jones, K. (2017), ‘Magical Realism in Short Fiction by Kate Jones’, TSS Publishing, 20 July. Available at: https://www.theshortstory.co.uk/magical-realism-in-short-fiction-by-kate-jones/ (Accessed: 13th February 2018)

Launenstein & Lauenstein (2015), THE FALL - animated sequence. Available at: https://vimeo.com/102135611 (Accessed: 13th February 2018)

Moss, R. (2016) Dreaming with Robert Louis Stevenson in his birth city, Beliefnet, 26 June. (Available at: http://www.beliefnet.com/columnists/dreamgates/2013/06/robert-louis-stevenson-and-his-dream-helpers.html (Accessed: 13th February 2018)

Murakami, H. (2009), 1Q84: Books One and Two. London: Vintage 2012.

Murakami, H. (2010), 1Q84: Book Three. London: Vintage 2012.

Niemis, E. (2018) The Little People. Unpublished manuscript, Norwich University of the Arts.

Now Novel. (2016), ‘How to write a short story: 10 steps to a great read’, Now Novel, 22 February. Available at: https://www.nownovel.com/blog/how-to-write-a-short-story/ (Accessed: 13th February 2018)

Now Novel. (2017), ‘Writing tenses: 5 tips to get past, present and future right’, Now Novel, 26 January. Available at: https://www.nownovel.com/blog/writing-tenses-past-present-future/ (Accessed: 13th February 2018)

Old and Interesting. (2007) Four-poster in a cottage, Old and Interesting, 22 August. Available at: http://www.oldandinteresting.com/cottage-four-poster.aspx (Accessed: 13th February 2018)

Poole, S. (2014) ‘Haruki Murakami: 'I'm an outcast of the Japanese literary world'’, The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/sep/13/haruki-murakami-interview-colorless-tsukur-tazaki-and-his-years-of-pilgrimage (Accessed: 13th February 2018)

Quay. (2015) Directed by Christopher Nolan. London: Syncopy [DVD]

Retro VHS trailers (2013), James and the Giant Peach (1996) Trailer (VHS Capture). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqrGesf2xbg&t=3s (Accessed: 13th February 2018)

Stevenson, R, L. (1892), A Chapter on Dreams. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.

Stevenson, R, L. (2002), Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and Other Tales of Terror. England: Penguin Group.

Talarico, D. (2016) ‘Changing Your Pajamas: The Evolution of 7 Sleepwear Trends’, Mental Floss, 7 March. Available at: http://mentalfloss.com/article/75603/changing-your-pajamas-evolution-7-sleepwear-trends (Accessed: 13th February 2018)

The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica. (2014), ‘Magic Realism’, Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. Available at: https://www.britannica.com/art/magic-realism (Accessed: 13th February 2018)

Vitt, P. (2014) ‘Who are the "little people" mentioned in Haruki Murakami's novel 1Q84?’, Quora. Available at: https://www.quora.com/Who-are-the-little-people-mentioned-in-Haruki-Murakamis-novel-1Q84 (Accessed: 13th February 2018)

Vollenbroek, T. (2016), ‘The Art of Animating Horror: An Interview with Robert Morgan’, Cartoon Brew. Available at: https://www.cartoonbrew.com/interviews/art-animating-horror-interview-robert-morgan-129043.html (Accessed: 13th February 2018)

White, L. (2018) BA2a Narrative Strategies Week 3 Jekyll and Hyde, BA2a Narrative Strategies & Story Adaptation. Unpublished manuscript, Norwich University of the Arts.

White, L. (2018) BA2a Narrative Strategies Week 5 Jekyll and Hyde, BA2a Narrative Strategies & Story Adaptation. Unpublished manuscript, Norwich University of the Arts.

White, L. (2018) BA2a Narrative Strategies Week 6 Jekyll and Hyde, BA2a Narrative Strategies & Story Adaptation. Unpublished manuscript, Norwich University of the Arts.

Zhoel13 (2017), Quay Brothers – Streets of Crocodile (1986). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=615&v=SUzoC-RlxBo (Accessed: 13th February 2018)

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BA2a Narrative Strategies - Reflective Essay (Final)

In this essay, I will be reflecting on my short story inspired by the themes of dreams and the uncanny in our set text Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886) by Robert Louis Stevenson. I will explore Magic Realism and the depiction of the Little People in the work of both Stevenson and Japanese author Haruki Murakami. Finally, I will be discussing how I would animate the short story with references to my inspirations in animation.

One of the key themes in and surrounding Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is dreams. In the book, the mystery of Mr Hyde and his mysterious relation to Dr Jekyll is unveiled through the perspective of Mr Utterson, as his ‘imagination was engaged or rather enslaved’ by the pair. Mr Utterson’s fixation was so intense that it plagued his unconscious mind and ‘even in his dreams, it had no face, or one that baffled him and melted before his eyes’ (Stevenson, 2002, p.13). Stevenson himself was also tormented in his dreams by images of a contorted Mr Hyde, providing him with fragments of a chilling tale that he so desperately desired. (Stevenson, 1892). Sigmund Freud described dreams as ‘the royal road to the unconscious’ often revealing repressed desires (White, 2018), and this has a clear connection to Dr Jekyll’s inability to suppress his dark cravings, resulting in the creation of Mr Hyde. The next theme within the book that sparked my interest was the uncanny, something that is unsettling because it is both familiar and unfamiliar. In the text, this is evoked by the presence of Hyde, who gives ‘an impression of deformity without any nameable malformation’ (Stevenson, 2002, p.16), a description that is continually reaffirmed throughout the book. This would be identified as uncanny by Ernst Jentsch definition, for its prolonged state of uncertainty (White, 2018).

Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is seen as a Magic Realist narrative with its ‘inclusion of fantastic or mythical elements into seemingly realistic fiction’ (The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica, 2014). This concept has always enticed me, I love to think that there are unknown elements in our lives that may one day reveal themselves to us. So, I decided to take this as a starting point for brainstorming an idea for my short story. Initially, I struggled to create a narrative based on, or inspired by, our set text because I found the language difficult to read. However, in one of our lectures, the mention of Stevenson’s Little People, the ‘substantive inventors and performers’ (Stevenson, 1892) of his imagination, instantly caught my attention. Inspiration then came from Haruki Murakami, one of my favourite writers, who coincidentally also wrote about creatures by the name of Little People. In Murakami’s books 1Q84 (2009-2010), ‘no one knows for sure who these Little People are’ (Murakami, 2009, p.604), they are neither good nor evil, they are something ‘that surpasses our understanding and our definitions’ (Murakami, 2009, pg. 631). There are a lot of similarities between Stevenson and Murakami in both their writing and their personalities, both are famous for their magical realism and with an avid imagination which Murakami described as ‘a kind of animal’ keeping it alive through writing (Bausells, 2014). Dreams are also a focal point in Murakami’s writing, acting as a gateway to an unknown world and allowing the Little People from that world to enter into ours.

I combined Stevenson’s dream fabricators and Murakami’s dimension walkers with my own imagination and developed this short story, an interaction between my version of the unidentified Stevenson and the Little People. My depictions of the Little People are particularly uncanny according to Freud’s definition of the word, as they are made visible when they ought to be a secret (White, 2018). Like Murakami, I didn’t plan my story extensively, I was excited to get started and see where it lead me. I am always drawn to the macabre in my work but trying to show, not tell with words was a welcome challenge. It did take several re-drafts to finalise my text, with most of my struggles deriving from my introductory paragraph, as I just couldn’t find the right words without describing too much. I was also conscious of being historically accurate with my portrayal of Stevenson and his life.  A lot of this came from the project’s lectures and my tutor’s knowledge of the writer, although Back In My Time: A Writer's Guide to the 19th Century’s article on the Victorian Bedroom (Huls, 2016) was enormously helpful in creating a clear picture in my head of what Stevenson’s chief place of residence might be like.

Most fictional stories and day to day texts today, such as News and Media, are written in the past tense, so it is no surprise that we feel a sense of unfamiliarity when consuming writing in a present tense. Despite the fact that I found it difficult to keep to writing in the present tense, I exploited this foreignness to create a sense of disquiet within my story. The winding sentences phrased in this way also work to make the reader slightly uneasy, which I felt appropriately reflected my magical realist narrative. It was also important for me to have the Little People coming into our world through Stevenson’s mouth as this is a clear opening for them to escape his mind, but it is also how the Little People do it in Murakami’s 1Q84. I also wanted them to be in a group to reflect their namesake and Murakami’s own words: ‘there is never just one’ (Murakami, 2009, p.624).

If I were to adapt my short story into an adult animated film, I would use a combination of stop motion animation and live action. The first sequence in Stevenson’s bedroom during the night would be in stop motion to make use of its innate uncanny qualities and create a dream-like atmosphere. This would be contrasted by the, undoubtedly real, live action sequence that follows the next morning. This technique is used in James and the Giant Peach (1996) and The Cat with Hands (2001), both to symbolise passage into a new world. However, I would have my sections reversed in comparison to these films, as I would choose to begin with animation and end with live action. To further exploit the uncanny sense provided by stop motion animation, I would animate the movement of the Little People puppets with missing in-between frames to make their movement more jittery and unnatural. In contrast, Stevenson’s puppet will be animated with smooth and consequently realistic movements. Because I couldn’t physically have the Little People puppets climb out from Stevenson’s mouth, I would need to maliciously plan my shots in the storyboard phase and explore my puppet’s limitations, so that I am fully prepared to retain believability in the shoot.

All the puppets would be made from scratch with wire armatures to be animated with pins. The Little People puppets, roughly 6” tall, would be considerably smaller than the Stevenson puppet at 12”. The Little People’s ill-fitting skin would be made using silicone or latex to achieve the fleshy quality, taking inspiration from the puppets used in the animated short film La Ballena Escarlata (Figure 2). Whereas the Stevenson puppet would be put together with old second-hand doll parts with the facial features of Stevenson, and his bedroom set would be dressed with equally used and old-fashioned objects. All these materials would be collected from antique fairs to be in line with the Victorian aesthetic. This is the process used by filmmakers the Brothers Quay (Figure 3), who start their stop motion projects in this way, working around the details of the chosen objects (Quay, 2015). Some props will be difficult to find in the right scale to compliment my large puppet, for instance, Stevenson’s nightshirt and four-poster bed, which I would have to make myself instead.

The key light source in the night scene would be a harsh, cold, blue-tinted light acting as moonlight through the window, this would create hard shadows on set and add to the unnerving atmosphere. I would use a strong blue tint for a stylised look to emphasise its dream-like quality. Subsequently, the morning scene’s key light source would be a soft, warm, orange-tinted light acting as the sun through the window, this would bounce off the interior of the set and fully illuminate the room. This lighting is more natural, but I would still use a strong orange tint to mimic early morning light and continue to keep it stylised. The Little People I created lack shadows, so to get around this issue without compromising the lighting of the set, I would mask out the shadows in post-production using Adobe After Effects. Finally, the soundtrack would consist of mostly ambience Foley sounds, for example, the ticking of the clock, which is very prominent in my story, to build anticipation.

Through this process, I have learnt that creative writing isn’t as scary as I thought and can be a really satisfying way of bringing my ideas to life. Although the set text wasn’t an immediate hit with me, I have found it to have very interesting narrative themes that I have enjoyed exploring in my writing and research. Time management proved to be the greatest struggle during the project. I am someone who comes to writing last in a workload as I really struggle to formulate my thoughts into words rather than images. It never gets easier, but I am determined to improve my attitude to complete these tasks to the best of my ability. On a whole, this project has been insightful, giving me the confidence to start writing more short fiction and encouraging me to pick up reading on a regular basis again, allowing me to grow not just as an animator but as a storyteller too.

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BA2a Character Bestiary Experimental Reel

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BA2a Character Performance Experimental Reel

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BA2a Narrative Strategies - Reflective Essay (2nd Draft)

In this essay, I will be reflecting on my short story inspired by the themes of dreams and the uncanny in our set text Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1886) by Robert Louis Stevenson. I will explore Magic Realism and the depiction of the ‘little people’ in both Stevenson and Japanese author Haruki Murakami’s work. Finally, I will be discussing how I would animate the short story with references to my inspirations in animation, as well as my research into the Victorian Era.

One of the key themes in and surrounding Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is dreams. In the book, this mystery of Mr Hyde is unveiled through the character of Gabriel Utterson, whose ‘imagination was engaged or rather enslaved’ by this man, ‘even in his dreams it had no face, or one that baffled him and melted before his eyes’ (Stevenson, 2002, p.13). Similarly, writer Robert Louis Stevenson was plagued by images of Mr Hyde and changing powders in his dreams, supplying him with his desired plot for this story (Stevenson, 1892). Freud described dreams as ‘the royal road to the unconscious’ often revealing repressed desires (White, 2018), which has a clear connection to Henry Jekyll’s inability to suppress his dark cravings, resulting in the creation of Edward Hyde. I was first introduced to Sigmund Freud in A Level Psychology, and although he has quite questionable ideas and theories, I always found them to be fascinating in their madness. Which leads me to the next theme I took an interest in within this tale, the Uncanny. This is also evoked by the presence of Hyde, who gives ‘an impression of deformity without any nameable malformation’ (Stevenson, 2002, p.16). This Ernst Jentsch would describe as uncanny from his essay On the Psychology of the Uncanny (1906) for its prolonged state of uncertainty (White, 2018).

Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is a Magic Realist narrative which is the ‘inclusion of fantastic or mythical elements into seemingly realistic fiction’ (The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica, 2014). This concept has always enticed me, I love to think that there are unknown elements in our lives that may one day reveal itself to you. So I thought this would be a good place to start when it came to brainstorming an idea for my short story. Initially, I struggled to think of a narrative based on or inspired by our set text because I found the language difficult to read, taking me out of the story and lacking to stir any ideas. However, in one of our lectures, the mention of Stevenson’s Little People, the ‘substantive inventors and performers’ (Stevenson, 1892,) of his imagination, instantly caught my attention. The author that I had instead been turning to for inspiration was Haruki Murakami, one of my favourite writers, who funnily enough also wrote about creatures by the name of Little People. In Murakami’s books 1Q84 (2009-2010), ‘no one knows for sure who these Little People are’ (Murakami, 2009, p.604), they are neither good nor evil, they are something ‘that surpasses our understanding and our definitions’ (Murakami, 2009, pg. 631). There are a lot of similarities between Stevenson and Murakami in both their writing and their personalities, both famous for their magical realism and with avid imaginations that Murakami described as ‘a kind of animal’ keeping it alive through writing (Bausells, 2014). Dreams are also a focal point in Murakami’s writing, acting as a gateway to an unknown world and allowing the Little People from that world into ours.

I combined Stevenson’s dream fabricators and Murakami’s dimension walkers with my own imagination and came up with this short story about these Little People. My depiction of the Little People are particularly uncanny according to Freud, they are both familiar and unfamiliar in their appearance and made visible to Stevenson when they ought to be a secret (White, 2018). Like Murakami, I didn’t plan my story extensively, I just ran with my exciting idea and started. I enjoyed writing about these strange creatures, I am always drawn to the macabre in my work but trying to show and not tell with words was a welcomed challenge. It did take several re-drafts to finalise my text, with most of my struggles deriving from my introductory paragraph, I just couldn’t find the right words for without describing too much. I was also conscious of being historically accurate with my portrayal of Stevenson and his life, a lot of this came from the project’s lectures and my tutor’s knowledge of the writer. However, Back In My Time: A Writer's Guide to the 19th Century’s article on the Victorian Bedroom (Huls, 2016) was extremely helpful in creating a clear picture in my head of what Stevenson’s chief place of living might be like.

Most fictional stories and day to day texts today, such as News and Media, are written in the past tense, so it is no surprise that we feel a sense of unfamiliarity when consuming writing in a present tense. Despite the fact that I found it difficult to keep to writing in the present tense, I exploited this foreignness to create a sense of disquiet within my story. The winding sentences phrased in this way also work to make the reader slightly uneasy, which I felt appropriately reflected my magical realist narrative. It was also important for me to have the little people coming into our world through Stevenson’s mouth as this is a clear opening for them to escape his mind, but also it is how the Little People do it in Murakami’s 1Q84 too, specifically through the mouth of a dead goat in one instance. I also wanted them to be in a group because of their namesake and Murakami’s own words which states ‘there is never just one’ (Murakami, 2009, p.624).

If I were to adapt my short story into an adult animated film, I would use a combination of stop motion animation and live action. The first sequence in Stevenson’s bedroom during the night would be in stop motion animation to make use of its innate uncanny qualities and create a dream-like atmosphere. This would be contrasted with the, undoubtedly real, live action sequence that follows the next morning. This technique is used in James and the Giant Peach (1996) directed by Henry Selick and The Cat with Hands (2001) directed by Robert Morgan, both to symbolise passage into a new world. However, I would have my sections reversed in comparison to these films, as I would choose to begin with animation and end with live action. To further exploit the uncanny sense provided by stop motion animation, I would animate the movement of the little people puppets with missing in-between frames to make their movement more jittery and unnatural. However, Stevenson’s puppet will be animated with smooth and consequently realistic movements. Because I can’t physically have the little people puppets climb out from Stevenson’s mouth, I would need to maliciously plan my shots in the storyboard phase and explore my puppet’s limitations, so that I am fully prepared to retain believability in the shoot.

All puppets would be made from scratch with wire armatures and animatable with pins. However, the little people at roughly 6” puppets, would be considerably smaller than the Stevenson puppet at 12”. The little people’s ill-fitting skin would be made using silicone or latex to achieve the fleshy quality, taking inspiration from the puppets used in the animated short film La Ballena Escarlata (Figure 2). Whereas the Stevenson puppet would be put together with old second-hand doll parts, and his bedroom set would be dressed with equally used and old-fashioned objects. All these materials would be collected from vintage and antique fairs to be in line with the Victorian aesthetic. This is the process of filmmakers the Brothers Quay (Figure 3), who start both their stop motion projects in this way, working around the details of the chosen objects. However, some props will be difficult to find in the right size to compliment my large puppet, for instance, Stevenson’s nightshirt and four-poster bed, which I would have to instead make myself.

The night scene will have a cold grade to bring out the blues and beiges in the set, contrasted by the morning scene that would have a warm grade to emphasise the now new world full of oranges and yellows. The main light source in both scenes would be from the moon or sun through the window, using minimal dim lights only where it is necessary but otherwise I would want to create as much shadow as I can. Yet, the little people I created will lack shadows, so to get around this issue without it implementing the lighting of the set, I would mask out the shadows in post-production using Adobe After Effects. Finally, the soundtrack would consist of mostly ambience Foley sounds, for example, the ticking of the clock, which is very prominent in my story, to add to the sensation of unease.

Through this process, I have learnt that creative writing isn’t as scary as I thought and can be a really satisfying way of bringing my ideas to life. Although the set text wasn’t a hit with me, I have found it to have very interesting narrative themes that I enjoyed exploring in my writing and research. What I would do differently is start my research and essay earlier, I am someone who comes to writing last in a workload as I really struggle to formulate my thoughts into words, it never gets easier but I am determined to improve my attitude in order to complete these tasks to the best to my ability. On a whole, this project has been insightful, giving me the confidence to start writing more short fiction and encouraging me to pick up reading on a regular basis again, allowing me to grow not just as an animator but a storyteller too.

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Final Animation #1

For this animation’s sound design I did end up finding suitable sound for moving clothing. All of the sound clips I got from online sources so had better volume, however, I wanted volume to be kept as similar as possible to the other animations so that if they are shown one after another, the sound wouldn’t be disorienting in terms of how loud they were. Throughout my animations, I have kept the ticking of the clock to have continuity and to make it feel like it is all happening at around the same time. When listening back to the sound design in this animation, I think the head tilt sound effect at the end should be louder, otherwise the sound works well. Watching all of the animations back, there is a clear build in sound as the story progresses through these animations. Starting with this one, that is the most quiet, to the most intense and long lasting sound of the humming in the final animation, working to carry the tension forward and keep the viewer intrigued. 

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Final Animation #1 (without sound design)

This is my final animation for the first sequence in the series of animations for Sweetie. I have my puppet emerging from the corner of the doll house, from the darkness, a product of a child’s distress, into the light to provide comfort, however still shrouded in shadow to continue theme of duality in my character. I also had warmer lighting compared to the other animations to suggest early morning. In terms of the animation, the movement of my puppet getting up is 10 times more smooth than my test animation and the movement of the clothing around the puppet appears smoother too, distracting less from the puppet. I love first part when the hand comes up out of the clothing, it moves perfectly and the clothes around it move very realistically too. I forgot to mention that the inspiration for this movement came from this scene in Corpse Bride:

However there is still quite a few things I would change in this animation if I had the time. I wasn’t feeling very well in this session but I powered through because it was the only slot left to film this final sequence before deadline. Also the puppet’s left thumb moves about a lot without me noticing during filming because it became loose and I didn’t have anymore glue left. Back to the animation itself, the head tilt at the end isn’t as good as first try, the focus on the puppet isn’t quite sharp enough towards the end and again I had difficulty pinning the feet without disturbing clothes around it too much, so the feet are not firm on the ground at the end. Overall this is much better than first time and I am happy with it, I just wish I had felt better when filming so I would have noticed these little slip ups. 

[ekniemisba2a]

BA2a Narrative Strategies - Reflective Essay (Plan & 1st Draft)

INTRODUCTION

In this essay, I will be reflecting on my short story inspired by the themes of dreams and the uncanny in our set text The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (1885) by Robert Louis Stevenson. I will explore Magic Realism and the depiction of the ‘little people’ in both Stevenson’s essay A Chapter on Dreams (1892) and Haruki Murakami’s 1Q84 (2010). Finally, I will be discussing how I would animate the short story with references to my inspirations in animation, as well as my research into the Victorian Era.

FIRST PARAGRAPH

Dreams and Uncanny by Freud *and Jentsch (definitions and about)

Stevenson's A Chapter on Dreams & the link to the book, symbolism to do with sleep in the book, dreams and uncanny in book

Magic realism (definition, Stevenson’s and Murakami’s book)

Little People inserts in both essay and 1Q84

SECOND PARAGRAPH

Why I choose to write about the little people – I thought of Murakami, one of my favourite writers, love uncanny things, images of the story came to me quite easily

Writing process – little bored by Jekyll and Hyde due to old-fashioned writing, intrigued by little people, excited to explore it in both Stevenson and Murakami, when writing had difficulty with tenses and writing without describing too fully, leaving it for the reader to come up with their own images in their imagination, enjoyed creating how I would interpret the little people to look, show don’t tell

Talk about Murakami writing style inspiration?

Present tense (why I use and reserach)

Most fictional stories and day to day texts, such as News and Media, are written in the past tense, so it is no surprise that we feel a sense of unfamiliarity when consuming writing in a present tense. Despite the fact that I found it difficult to keep to writing in the present tense, I exploited this foreignness to create a sense of disquiet within my story. The winding sentences phrased in this tense also work to make the reader slightly uneasy, which I felt appropriately reflected my magical realist narrative.

THIRD PARAGRAPH

How I would animate story

- stop motion (night scene – more dreamlike) and live action (day/morning scene)

- jittery animation (skip some in-betweens) for little people, make them seem extra uncanny, compared to stop motion of Stevenson, much smoother movements

- puppet ideas, inspiration: James and giant peach and Robert Morgan

- set and costume: Victorian four-poster bed in modest room and long nightshirt (research) with inspiration from Brothers Quay (aesthetic)

- cold grade for night scene, blues and beige, lots of shadows, light only from moon through thin blinds

- warmer grade for early morning scene, oranges and yellows, light only from sun through thin blinds

- soundtrack: very little, just ambient noise with tick of clock and Stevenson moves

- adult audience

- issues with sizing, would have to make Stevenson puppet bigger than usual and little people quite a bit smaller than usual, puppet’s bleached skin appearance done with silicone or latex then painted

- when little people come out of Stevenson’s mouth, show close up shot of face with arm coming out then cut to shot at back of head so that I don’t have to show them coming fully out the mouth, have the head cover up what I don’t want viewer to see, illusion of them morphing but having odd movements and covering them in dark so see mainly the shape of them at first, then reveal their complexation as the walk across the bedchamber

- Said in short story text that the little people don’t cast shadows, so I would take them out in post, just need to make sure to take several shots of the set before filming them in it to remove them

If I were to adapt my short story into an animated film, I would use a combination of stop motion animation and live action. The first sequence in Stevenson’s bedroom during the night would be in stop motion animation to make use of its innate uncanny qualities and create a dream-like atmosphere. This would be contrasted by the, undoubtedly real, live action sequence that follows the next morning. This technique is used in James and the Giant Peach (1996) directed by Henry Selick and The Cat with Hands (2001) directed by Robert Morgan, both to symbolise passage into a new world. However, I would have my sections reversed in comparison to these films, as I would choose to begin with animation and end with live action. To further exploit the uncanny sense provided by stop motion animation, I would animate the movement of the little people puppets with missing in-between frames to make their movement more jittery and unnatural. However, Stevenson’s puppet will be animated with smooth and consequently realistic movements.

All puppets would be made from scratch with wire armatures and animatable with pins. However, the little people at roughly 6” puppets, would be considerably smaller than the Stevenson puppet at 12”. The little people’s ill-fitting skin would be made using silicone or latex to achieve the fleshy quality. Whereas the Stevenson puppet would be put together with old second-hand doll parts, and his bedroom set would be dressed with equally used and old-fashioned objects. All of these materials would be collected from vintage and antique fairs to be in line with the Victorian aesthetic. This is the process of filmmakers the Brothers Quay, who start both their stop motion projects in this way, working around the details of the chosen objects. However, some props will be difficult to find in the right size to compliment my large puppet, for example, his nightshirt and bed, which I would have to instead make myself. Another issue with sizing is in the sequence when the little people emerge from Stevenson’s mouth, to get past this I would have a close up shot of the mouth with a little person prop arm moving out of it, then cut to a behind the head shot of Stevenson so I that I don’t have to show the whole bodies of the puppets coming out of his mouth.

CONCLUSION

what I’ve learnt: writing in present tense, writing the short story, Victorian Era, Stevenson

what do differently: start essay research and essay earlier, could have had draft marked by tutor if done earlier, manage time better!

project on whole: learnt a lot about dream theories and uncanny as well as Victorians, enjoyed fascinating lectures, didn’t enjoy the book so much but appreciate the writing, beautifully written and classic, enjoyed writing, quite excited about the concept of animating my own story, may animate it in the future

[ekniemisba2a]

BA2a Character Bestiary Weekly Summary (Week 17)

Research Sources

Primary video reference for animation #3

This week I didn’t do much in the way of research, but at the beginning of the week, I did film a video of myself rocking Sweetie back and forth for reference in the 3rd animation that I filmed later on in the week. I think it was also helpful in knowing exactly what movements I wanted for the animation in order to create an accurate storyboard and subsequent animatic.

Development

During this week I was able to achieve what I set out to in the previous weekly summary, except I was so happy with the first animation I filmed of Sweetie’s third animation, that I decided not to reshoot it. I also didn’t have time to shoot my final version of the first animation. However, I think the reshoot of the second animation came out really well, that research from last week and Barry’s advice on the tears really paid off.  The sound studio recording session went well but when I was editing them to my animations, I just couldn’t get them to be as loud as I would have wanted.

Strengths

I have only one more animation to film, and the animations I did film are big improvements compared to what I filmed last year. I’m glad I asked Barry for animation advise because I haven’t done that before, but I found it very useful as he understood my puppet and it’s limitations.  

Area for Development

The earliest slot I could get for my final shoot was Tuesday, so I’m going to have to do my sound design and experimental reels quite last minute. Next week I need to finish everything off, including my Character Bible and blog.

[ekniemisba1b-2]

These are some incredibly intricate sets of the Brothers Quay that I found when doing my research for the BA1b Research Media Industries presentation. According to my sources, the sets are even more important to the Quays than their characters/puppets acting as “poetic vessels” that give the animation a sense of atmosphere and mood where the puppet is a tiny element. I really love how they build their sets, the detail and thought that has gone into it, is very clear to me. I wish that in my mystery box project, that we had time to build our own set because I think it would be a lot better for my wasteland world than a photoshop drawing of mine. It would be great to make something from old, found materials similar to the Quays that really screams my aesthetic. I also just generally prefer making these things with my hands rather than drawing them out, but oh well I can still try and channel the Quays in my photoshop backdrop and do it to the best of my ability.

[ekniemisba2a]

This is the sort of set I would theoretically build for my stop motion animated short story, something quite Victorian-esque but with odd elements from the found objects, I would make it out of, adding to the dreamlike quality of the sequence.

I have recently put together my own set from a doll house I found on the side of a road in London for my BA2a Character Bestiary project (pictures below).

I really enjoyed making the dollhouse more like a set that I could fit into the studio and look nice from the inside. Therefore I think I would enjoy spending more time on making a set look the part for my short story’s Victorian era if I were to adapt it. I also really enjoy going to antique and vintage fairs so finding objects for my set, characters and costume would be a new and exciting experience for me.

I also recently found this film and realised that it would also be very interesting to have the live action sequence, in the morning, filmed in a stop motion fashion like The Secret Adventures of Tom Thumb. I think the sizing of the human and Tom Thumb would be similar sizing to what I would want out of my Little People puppets too with a similar odd look to them.

[ekniemisba2a]

Final Animation #3

Again, in this animation I recorded my own voice over and certain sound effects and I am very pleased with how well I timed it, it came out perfectly! The sound is also too quiet for my liking but not as bad, every decision I made with the sound is very similar to what I talked about in my previous post, just edited to suit this animation instead. 

[ekniemisba2a]

Final Animation #2

I recorded this sound design myself so that the timing could be perfect, however, the sound is definitely too quiet. Due to the fact the that sound studio is pretty much all booked up and I am running out of time I wont be able to record this again any louder. Therefore, I have stuck with this audio and increased the volume as much as I can. I edited my voice’s pitch so that it was a little higher and more childlike, fitting the puppet nicely. As well as the voice over, I included the ticking of the clock and a sound of plastic hitting plastic for when my puppet rubs their face. The ticking I included for tension and to create an environment, as a child would usually have a clock in their room, this a got online. The sound of the doll’s movement was something I recorded by fiddling with a doll’s head, I didn’t use the Foley mic as my slot wasn’t very long and I didn’t have much time but I still think it works well if not a little quiet. I decided to not include sound for the clothing moving as I think it would distract from the main sound design, be too clutter and I just couldn’t sound good enough for this job.

[ekniemisba2a]

BA2a Story Strategies Short Story (Final)

The colours are too bright, the images are too rich, cruelly carving themselves into the dream and bleeding into the man’s unconscious mind. Like all dreams, the splattering of imageries is in clear sequence until they are not, splitting and re-joining to new sequences at offhand places, a truth that the sleeping man readily accepts without question. But this time, the obscure reality isn’t just of human making.

As the images come to a stop, behind the man’s relaxed lips there is a stirring on his tongue. Tiny figures steadily crawl forth from his gullet, their forms stretch and morph as they emerge by the light of the waning moon. Their pale flesh casts no shadows as they prowl along the sleeping man’s chin and chest. Twisted humanoid features are covered in a shroud of bleached skin that doesn’t quite sit right on their limbs. Their eyes are tiny deep-set pools of black, and their walk, jittery. But, like wind-up toys, the silent footfalls keep pace with the tick of the clock on the mantle, as they cross the expanse of the slumbering man’s chamber. The odd beings pay no mind to a stirring in the bedcovers as the larger creature starts to stare drowsily at their shapes through blurred vision.

The man doesn’t dare disturb the delicate air between the ghostly figures and himself, for fear the illusion will be lost. As if hearing his thoughts out loud, the last of the creatures perching on the window sill, snaps its head back to look straight at the quivering man before him. Those abnormal eyes bore into the bright eyes opposite, revealing nothing and everything in their unspoken stare. A stillness envelops the room, but the man isn’t afraid, his mind now emptied but surprisingly calm. With a slight tilt of his head, he acknowledges the small being as if an age-old friend. Then just like that, the figure vanishes into the night, leaving the weary soul alone in the now empty chamber. Shivering, he is swiftly made aware of the chill air that has swept into the room, then feels a haze of drowsiness in its wake. Heavy eyelids flutter shut and the beat of the clock proceeds to recede further and further away.

Early morning sunlight filters through thin blinds onto the ancient floorboards. The room is a modest one, a regular four-poster bed accompanied by a cluttered bedside table. Everything the man needs is to hand as his sickly nature means spending most of his days confined to his chambers. This is a man who welcomes his dreams with open arms, finding untold pleasure in the adventures he could never experience himself. But the apparitions from last night are something entirely new. Those sickening images still cling to his mind like sweat, deeply uncomfortable but also unbelievably thrilling. Not only do the still vivid pictures of his dreams haunt his waking mind but those little people, what were those things? With sudden vigour he sits up against the headboard of his crib, searching for any lingering sign of their presence in his room. None of his belongings have been disturbed, everything is in its place, but as he looks towards the fresh new world outside, the window is ever so slightly ajar.