Ella's Animation Journal: Ba1b

[ella-ba1b]

weekly summary: 28/01/19 - 04/02/19

sketchbook: This week i sketched out the comic strip for the two characters i recently designed. the comic is a metaphor of modern society and how people prefer not to see the world for what it is because it makes life easier. that is why the male character is smiling until he is given eyes to see. 

Morph project: This week i continued work on my animation. i struggled to morph the barrel directly back to the shape of a rose so i changed by animation plan. the animation now features a rose, morphing into a barrel, however, before the barrel returns to the shape of a rose, it transforms into a diamond. i chose a diamond because i thought the symbolism of a diamond would create connotations of the crown. this relates to my chosen film ‘V for vendetta’, because a lot of the plot focuses on the conflict between the crown/ government and the character V. 

Narrative research: today i found an interview by Emma Watson with Satrapi about the film. This research was especially helpful because it developed my understanding of the purpose behind the monochromatic art style. It also developed my understanding of the feminist influences within the film. 

source: Watson, E. (2016). 'Emma Watson Interviews Persepolis Author Marjane Satrapi'. Available at: https://www.vogue.com/article/emma-watson-interviews-marjane-satrapi (Accessed: 2 January 2019).

[ella-ba1b]

Sketch book project: 02/02/19

Today i began work on a comic, using the character ideas i designed previously. The comic’s intention is to be metaphorical for modern society.

This is a comic strip i made based on the characters i recently designed. it ia metaphor for modern society. i hope to add colour to it in the future. i would like to improve the composition of the third frame in the future. 

[ella-ba1b]

Essay research project: 30/01/19

[ella-ba1b]

Morph project: 29/01/19

[ella-ba1b]

weekly summary: 21/01/19 - 28/01/19

Morph project: This week i completed the formation of my second object, the barrel. i also added small details to the animation such as ash falling from the burning wick. i achieved this by key framing the opacity of grey ellipses. 

sketchbook:This week i attempted to create some character designs based on myself. i drew this same concept in two different art styles. This benefited by work process greatly because it allowed me to experiment and made it easier for me to identify what i thought worked best. 

Narrative research: This week i read some passages of the original novel of Persepolis. I believe this was a necessary step in my development because it allowed to confirm that the characteristics of the film were present in the original novel. Characteristics such as the film’s focus on modern society and politics. 

source: Satrapi. (2003, pp. 108). 'Persepolis'. London: Jonathan Cape.

[ella-ba1b]

Essay research: 25/01/19

Today i read some extracts from the original novel and found quotes that support my argument. I intend to use them in my essay.

[ella-ba1b]

sketch book project: 24/01/19

Today i developed some character ideas based on myself. i drew this in two different styles. i feel like exploring a variety of styles will bring me closer to developing my own distinctive art style. 

[ella-ba1b]

Morph project:

22/01/19; Today, I completed the transformation of the barrel and the wick burning away.

23/01/19: Today, I animated ash appearing as the wick burns away, using ellipses and manipulating the opacity.

[ella-ba1b]

weekly summary: 14/01/19- 21/01/19

sketch book: this week i made sketches of people i saw at a bar. this experienced forced me to develop me ability to draw in a timed circumstance because my subjects kept on moving. this experience also developed my understanding of the human form.

Morph project: This week i research more examples of animations that feature morphing and transformations. I really appreciated the artistic style of this animation because i worked with shapes that were already on the screen a lot instead of introducing entirely new shapes. the animation tended to use no more than two shapes at a time, this benefited my understanding of the use of colour and how not to rely on colour to portray an concept. 

Narrative research: This i research more sources that would develop my understanding of Satrapi’s true intention behind he film. I fund a really useful interview of Satrapi; Shaikh, N. Marjane Satrapi: 'I Will Always Be Iranian'. This interview really helped me develop an understanding of Satrapi’s beliefs on society and gave some context to narrative. 

Available at: https://asiasociety.org/marjane-satrapi-i-will-always-be-iranian (Accessed: 21 January 2019).

[ella-ba1b]

Essay project: 17/01/19

today i began work on my introduction, using some of the research i made previously. i also made some changes to my essay plan ,mainly structural changes. i used the ideas i already had and changes the plan from three paragraphs, to five paragraphs not including the introduction and the conclusion because i felt that some of my points were too much to put into one paragraph. i also did more research on the purpose of the story, using interviews from satrapi. 

[ella-ba1b]

sketch book project: 16/01/19

Today, i made some sketches of people at a bar. This experience benefited me because it forced me to produce sketches under timed circumstances. This helped me to let go of my desire to produce perfect drawings, instead of drawings with substance or purpose. 

[ella-ba1b]

Morph project: 15/01/19

I included screenshots from this animation because i found the transformations highly creative and i believe this helped inspire me in my own morph project. 

source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJqo90lNYLs&list=PLBBF7143F4A0A424D

[ella-ba1b]

Weekly summary: 07/01/19- 14/01/19

Morph project: This week i applied the knowledge i gained from watching a tutorial on how to create a fake 3-D effect on after effects. The instructions from the tutorial didn't perfectly fit my concept, so i’ll have to continue experimenting to achieve the effect of rotation. 

Narrative research: I familiarized myself with Vogler’s 8 character archetypes by identifying them within the animated film, ‘Up’. This experience benefited my planning for my essay because it refreshed my memory of Vogler’s 8 archetypes before my identification of those archetypes in the film, Persepolis. 

Sketch book: I made some sketches of some new character ideas which i will use to create a comic strip. i drew the male character without eyes as a metaphor of the idiom; ignorance is bliss. I’m going to use to concept to develop a narrative that is symbolic of modern society. 

[ella-ba1b]

Morph project: 09/01/19

I recently key framed the thorns to flip horizontally from one side of the rose stem to the other, to imitate the rose rotating. This idea was inspired by a YouTube tutorial I recently watched; ‘After Effects tutorial – Fake 3D in after effects’. Today i continued work on the rotation of the thorns. I noticed that once the thorn is half way through flipping horizontally it briefly disappears because the face of the shape is no longer facing the viewer. This prevented the rotation from looking realistic. So, I added a vertical ellipse that only appears underneath the thorn, once it is half way through flipping, to imitate the base of the thorn, which would still be visible at this point in its rotation, in real life.

[ella-ba1b]

Sketchbook project: 09/01/19

Today, i created these two characters, i intend to use them in a comic about modern society. 

[ella-ba1b]

Essay research: 08/01/19

Today in lesson, I created a plot summary of the animated film ‘Up’. I also familiarized myself with Vogler’s 8 archetypes by identifying these archetypes in the film.

[ella-ba1b]

weekly summary: 31/12/18- 07/01/19

Morph project: This week i watched an After Effects tutorial on how to create a fake 3-D effect. Although i don’t intend to apply everything that was done in the tutorial to my morph animation, watching the tutorial helped my understanding of how to use after effects.

Sketch book: i also visited a museum and did observational drawings of other students and taxidermy animals. i feel like this experience was very beneficial to my understanding of shape and form because it allowed my to create observational drawings of animals i wouldn't likely see in real life. This experience also developed my appreciation for the art surrounding the art, by this i mean the environment that the art is within, this came mainly in the form of other students and visitors of the museum. 

Narrative research: This week i revised Vogler’s 12 stages of the hero’s journey and used his theories to evaluate the film, Persepolis. I learnt that based on Vogler’s evaluations of conventional story telling, the film Persepolis, for the most part is categorized as unconventional story telling.