Constructing-moving image

This is a blog for a creative course at GT. I'll be posting a lot of different things that relates to the topics we worked with, but mainly assignments from the class.

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Final report

(I before apologize for the lack of screenshots and examples. Due to technical difficulties and the fact that I am without a computer this will be from an iPad. I hope this will be taking into consideration when reading this post, thank you) Creating CMYK was a longer progress and something all of us worked together as a team to make happen. It all begun with developing the story, character and the world this character was a part of. Our team quickly decided that we wanted to relate to the theme of the class as much as possible and that was how we came up with the idea do having different room where the main character("the cube") would have different kind of life lessons. However, what I was in charge off was texture and to begin with the main focus for me was to create a pixel texture that would fit to the world, since we in the group had decided hat was the kind of theme we wanted to work with. Not only because the main character was a cube, but also because that was the kind of theme that we felt would convey and work the best together with our intentions of the game. So as for the walls inside of the game, to create those I worked forget her with Sofie since she has a lot of Photoshop experience and we wanted to make the texture as perfect as possible. The main focus with these textures was to make them sharp and clear in their colors and one of the main concerns for us was to make them too bright so one would not find them pleasant to look at. This turned out not to be too difficult with the pink and the blue color. The yellow, however, turned out to be a bit more difficult simply because it is hard to keep the color in its pure for. Without it being very bright and hard to look at for a longer period of time. But I dare say that we managed to pull it off in the end. Another texture that needed to be done was the cube itself. The first idea was to make each side a different color, but in the end we turned to an older idea of mixing more than color on one side. Meaning that the cube now contained all of the different colors on a side ( expect for the black one). This was supposed to imply that the cube was made up from the knowledge gained in every room and that was what made it "whole" as a character. As for all the texture in the rooms it was rather difficult to apply with all of the squares because of the different surfaces we had inside of the game. That meant that the pixel texture got stretched and looked weird in certain areas simply because the texture acted weirdly. So that was one of the things that I used a long time one to get to work. To make all of the surfaces look alike was simple to ensure that the player would focus on the game and the message and not have their attention taken away simply because of inconsistent patterns on the walls and I think that ended successfully. As for the plain color texture for all the objects in the various rooms, that was something that wasn't very hard to do. Since we had a lot of focus on the different colors in the game it was therefore a very simple choice to just pick out the colors in their purest form. With this I'm referring both to the name of the game, CMYK, and of course the colors cyan, magenta and yellow. And here I need to mention that I worked together with Sarah to create the black room with all of the stars. The things mentioned above was my main concern, but as mentioned before our project contained a lot of team work which meant that we all were overlapping each other's roles at some point as we tried to help each other as well as possible, because in the end we would stand with game that we all made together. This project has also made me realize some of my weaknesses such as scripting. I'm really not strong when it comes to this subject and I now know that it is something that I need to improve. Yet all in all I consider our project to have been very successful and I'm happy that I got to work together with the people in my group. I think that we ended up creating something great. And here is the link to the game: http://fatpandaclub.com/CMYK/CMYK_web.html

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Final project - my assignment

My part of the final project is texturizing. That means that I have to figure out what kind of texture we're going to use for our game. (However, as things are looking now the project will be hands all over. Meaning that I won't be the only one doing texture, neither will it be the only thing I do). Yet the main focus with all the texturing is our 4 main colors. The pink, the blue, the yellow and the black. These are the main colors that we're going to use throughout the entire game and all of them have different meanings compared to where one is in the game (they are all connected to things I have learned in my life). The main concern with these colors were not to make them too strong or too bright since that would make them hard to focus on and it would hurt the player's eyes. So instead of just one color for each room we went with the pixilated design so we could have more than just one shade of each color. This way we don't just bring a feel to the game, but we also stay true to our design so we don't only have a concept. By doing this the texture of especially the rooms has a better connection to the main character/"the cube". PICTURES WILL FOLLOW!

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Ryan Reading II

This article is about narratology and how the author sees it. In his eyes narratology is an unfinished project and that there still is space for expansion. Not to mention that he wants to explore what needs to be done to allow narratology to deal with interactive digital texts. To do this he mentions some of the properties the digital systems have:

-          Interactive and reactive nature

-          Volatile signs and variable display

-          Multiple sensory and semiotic channels

-          Networking capabilities

Of the listed properties above the author regards interactivity as the most important. Not all digital texts are interactive, but those that aren’t could usually be taken out of the computer and played by another medium. He then mentions that interactivity is what makes the difference between new and old media, but that it doesn’t affect storytelling, since a narrative usually is entirely up to the designer. Whereas interactivity demands input from the user to work.

The author then moves on to discussing different expansions of the classic narratology and in this case he focus on textual architecture, types of interactivity and the combination of these.

Textual architecture is a building composed of a story and discourse level. Depending on what kind of plot and timeline it can all look very different. He then mentions a lot of different examples of how a plot could look like depending on what kind of narrative the producer is looking for.

Types of interactivity: interactivity is an umbrella category that covers a wide variety of relations between a user and a text. The author then suggests that one distinguish interactivity in four different strategic forms based on two binary pairs: internal/external and exploratory/ontological.  He then mention various “Links” that allows the player to interact with the story, which all can be different compared to what kind of link they’re using.

After explaining all of these different categories he then mentions that there is hybrid categories as well, which does not fit into the above mentioned ones. And as for an ending for the different subjects he has discussed he makes 3 conclusions: 1. Digital narrative is about choice, and the more choices you give the user, the more pleasurable, or more aesthetically valuable the textual experience. 2. Narrative can be produced through a random combination of element, and by permuting a infinite set of textual fragments, it is possible to create a nearly infinite number of different stories. 3.  Becoming a character in a story s the ultimate narrative experience. 

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Open Design Project

So for my open design project I decided to continue my first project in unity. As mentioned before I wanted my character to actually reach up to the golden ball on top of the mountain, however to make things more advanced I imagined the ball would exploding the moment the character touches it.

The idea here is then that the pieces of the golden ball get spread all over this imaginary world that contains 5 different plants with each of their own element (and of course the first planet, which would make it 6 planets).

As one can see on the sketch above the small planets are very different and the idea was that each of them had a certain type of “fear/struggle/problem” that the character had to overcome while collecting pieces of the golden ball. The whole idea behind this is of course that the character in the end has collected a lot of experience while gathering the pieces of the golden ball. And instead of just reaching this “golden opportunity” he made it happen himself by collecting the pieces and gain the new knowledge himself. In that sense he ends up with a ball filled with “things he has learned in his life” that he can use in the future.

The first planet is earth:

For this planet I imagined a huge jungle filled with dangerous animals and various challenges that would make it hard to find the gold pieces as well as to get to the top of the big tree. I wanted the idea to symbolize the tree of knowledge, which is why it is so big and I wanted the character to recognize the power of history. There is a lot of things to learn about the past and I want to hint this by placing various “ruins” of an old civilization in the jungle. Acknowledging that sometimes things get lost in the process, but that shouldn’t mean that they should be forgotten.

The second planet is water:

For this planet I felt inspired by the Disney movie The Little Mermaid. I really like the idea of having a world under the sea. However, for the purpose of my design and the theme I decided to design this planet like a fish tank, since I wanted to add the feeling of being trapped and not having a way to get out. Because I know from experience that you can end up feeling like that, but the point is that you move on and find a way out of it. So this planet is all about finding the way out while searching for the golden pieces and that even though you’re trapped it doesn’t mean that you’re in a bad place. You can always work with what you have.

The third planet is fire:

For this planet I was inspired by the famous story about Pompeii (the old Greek village that got covered in dust because of a volcano) and I wanted to capture the feeling of a really bare and depressive landscape while I wanted it to have a dangerous vibe as well.  Here I wanted to express that even though it looks hopeless and as if one doesn’t stand a chance, it doesn’t mean that one should just give up. It’s about taking a chance and experiencing something new. For this planet I actually want the character to fail, meaning that I want the volcano to erupt and force the character to rush off the planet, because sometimes it’s okay to fail. As long as one understands that one has to get back up and try again. Because failing is something you learn a lot from as well. And since I want a lot of different life experiences in my game, I thought it was important to at least have one failure.  

The fourth planet is metal:

My vision for this planet was that it looked like something you would find inside a computer or some other kind of technology. I just wanted to express something mechanical and futuristic, because it’s hard living in our world without encountering some sort of technology/machines. For that reason the design is also very simple, it’s a big cube with a maze-like layout: meaning that one could easily get lost in there because everything looks the same. The idea behind this was to express how one could get confused with all the choices one has to make, especially as a young person. One goes from being a child with no responsibilities, to suddenly growing up and having to deal with the real world. Suddenly one has to make important decisions that will affect one’s life and that can be rather intimidating. However, as long as you follow your heart and what you believe in. I think it is possible to get to the other side and be happy with the choices one once made.  

The fifth planet is air:

This is the final planet, which is why I saved the element air for last, since I thought it would bring a nice closure to the game to end up in the sky. However, everything isn’t as beautiful as it seems. Since this is the last planet and the character is close to having collected all of the pieces of the golden ball I wanted to bring in an element of temptation. The city in the sky is made of gold and for that reason it is hard to find the right pieces that is missing from the golden ball. So the character has to work hard finding the right pieces and not just choose the fast why and pick the wrong pieces because that is the easy path and the quickest solution. The character has finally made it this far, so now it is time to prove that one actually has learned something from the other planets and put it into action.

 Note: one would by now also have noticed the yellow "bridge" between all of the planets. That is "the yellow brick road" from the Wizard of Oz, a concept I borrwed to make it very clear that if one followed it's dreams. It would be possible to get to the end/goal. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=THbY7EL8k5w)

And the black markings on the picture is to indicate where the pieces of the golden ball is. Just to get an impression of how many pieces there is throughout the game.

When the game ends I want to make it clear that the goal wasn’t just to collect the pieces of the golden ball, but rather collect the experiences and knowledge that the journey brought instead. What is worth keeping is not the golden ball instead, but rather everything the golden ball stands for: Things that the character has learned.

Inspiration:

Through the walkthrough of my open design I’ve mentioned different element that has caught my attention and has used as inspiration to the different planets. But for the game itself I mainly got inspired by other games that I myself have played and adore. One of them being Journey(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUErsZQvorY) for that simple reason that it is a beautiful game and I’m completely in love with the soundtrack. If possible I would want something similar for my game.

I was also inspired by Tomb Raider (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tt4rSFJZXfc) because I like the idea of having to solve puzzles and riddles to get through to the next level. That is an element I would love to integrate to the different planets so it isn’t just about finding the gold pieces various places, but one would actually have to think to get to them.

As for the layout for my game I was inspired by Kya (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qftiMWZY2cU), another game that I played a lot when I was younger.

I really like the idea of traveling between different planets in the same world, because that allowed me to create very different landscapes and textures. And because of that I also thinks it’s more interesting to travel through the world, since you never quite know what to expect next.

As for music I’m of course inspired by Journey’s soundtrack, but I was also inspired by lyrics by Snow Patrol (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trxn4EGtiX4) and Lady GaGa (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeWBS0JBNzQ). “Today I want to be the car crash, not just the traffic jam”, “I’m on the edge of glory and I’m hanging on a moment with you”. I just really like the theme of not holding back, taking a chance and go out of your comfort zone. Dreams only come true if you have the courage to peruse them and that sometimes means that you’ll fail, feel lost, alone or just don’t know what to do, but if you have a dream you should definitely fight for it and use all of your experience to get there. 

[elundberg3]

Ryan Reading

The narratives of the world are numberless. It can be written, spoken, be expressed through images and gestures. Not to mention it can be anything from a myth, legend, fable, tale, novella, epic, history, tragedy, drama, comedy, mime, painting, stained glass window, cinema, comics, news, conversation, etc.

Today our understanding of narrative has grown, because we now have terms such as transmedial and transdisplian. We now understand that media offers different narrative resources and that stories can be presented in different ways. Not to mention that transferring a story from one media to another doesn’t have any kind of consequences.

However, there are also limits to what storytelling can do, since it depends on a special type of narrative. For instance can semantic content often only work through visual or musical forms of narratives. What one needs to understand here is that there is a difference between oral and written narrative and that both of them has limits and benefits.

Yet the term ‘narrative’ is hard to define itself the moment transmedia is involved, since one would have to use a very board scope. Yet in the text ‘narrative’ as a term is defined as a combination of story and discourse.  (story being an event or sequence of events, and narrative discourse is those events as represented). However, the author divides the forms of narrative into different dimensions, so they are easier to gain an overview over: spatial dimension, temporal dimension, mental dimension, formal and pragmatic dimension.  The author then mention various types of ways to avoid getting the same representation created as well as the story, which is important when one is considering narrative. Not to mention that using the narrative correctly, one is able to evoke a certain type of emotions etc. if that is the wished intention.

There are different types of narrative modes, that being the external/internal, fictional/nonfictional, representational/simulative, diegetic/mimetic, autotelic/utilitarian, autonomous/illustrative, scripted/emergent, receptive/participatory, determinate/indeterminate, retrospective/simultaneous/prospective, literal/metaphorical.  Some of these modes have strong affinities for certain media, while others can appear in several physical supports, but no mode is totally medium-independent.

The author then defines what media is and what kind of semiotic behavior one would expect to find associated with this. Not to mention the benefits and negative points each of these has in comparison to storytelling. Here the key words worth noticing is: Media as semiotic phenomena, media as technologies and media as cultural practices.

To round everything up the author then mentions the different kind of features a medium can have: spatiotemporal extension, kinetic properties, number of semiotic channels and priority of sensory channels.

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Jenkins Reading

This article is an interview with Frank Rose and it discusses “transmedia entertainment” or as Rose calls it “deep media”. Transmedia or crossmedia puts focus on a new process of storytelling. For instance how you get a story across man different media platforms. Whereas deep media puts a focus onto the goal. This enables the audience to delve into a story at any level of depth they like, to immerse themselves in it.

They then start discussing the effect of videogames and Rose believes that the reason why these platforms have had such an influence in the entertainment sectors or the traditional practice is because it engage the audience directly. But also because games were becoming stories and stories were becoming games. Stories are an abstraction of life that one learns from. Stories give rise to play and play gives rise to stories.

They then mention that the new form of entertain has a different target and that it is designed to be engaged by collectives. Rose doesn’t know what kind of effect this will have on the future, but he does know that it has changed storytelling. (he uses the TV-show Lost as an example). Then staying on the topic storytelling, the two then discusses an older form of storytelling. Going all the way back to the novel of Robinson Crusoe and Dickens. What is important to remember here is how the writers communicated with the readers. In this case it was through mass productions of books.

Now people have become consumers and it’s a term that one has gotten used to. However, with the new technology people finally have a voice. And they again discuss how the audience can have a different level of depth with the different stories, depending on how they interact and research the story/world.

They then again discuss storytelling and how different forms, such as advertising, are breaking its bounds. We’re now living in a commercial culture and things keep on changing.

The internet is about immersiveness. It’s about redefining our relationship to entertainment and marketing and each other. People need time to absorb that. Stuff is coming at us at amazing speed, but that doesn’t make us any faster at knowing what to make of it. We think we’re living on Internet time, but the Internet is in no hurry to reveal its secrets

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Virtual Camera Project/Unity 3D

so this is my project. The idea behind it is to relate it to what I've learned. In this case it is "You have to fight for your dreams". This is expressed through the video by the many things that the main character has to get through. The desert, maze and fire. But in the end the character gets to the other side where everything is light an good. The idea is that the character have to move up to the golden ball on top of the mountain. (but that will be for the next project)

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Wolf Reading

One shared element between film, television and video games is the use of on-screen and off-screen in the creation of a diegetic world. However, what is important to remember is that video games added elements of navigation and interaction that led to a diegetic space which is unlike any other media.

Off-screen space in video games is different from what seen on film. In a video game one would see both the representation and implication. Not to mention it doesn’t have a default structure, so it can be shaped n many various ways. The video game is also interactive, allowing the viewer to choose which spaces to appear on-screen or off. Meaning that the player actually can explore off-screen space.  (of course there will be technical limitations to the space, but that depends on a lot of different variables).

The author then list different spatial structures to explain that there are a lot of different spaces that has their own niches. 1. No visual space; all text-based and example on this would be The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (1984). 2. One screen, contained and example would be Spacewar!. 3. One screen, contained, with wraparound(objects leaving one side of the screen and immediately reappear on the opposite side) this would for instance be computer space (1971). 4. Scrolling on one axis and example would be Street Racer (1978). 5. Scrolling on two axes an example would be SimCity (1989). 6. Adjacent spaces displayed one at a time, an example would be the arcade game Berzerk (1980). 7. Layers of independently moving planes (multiple scrolling background) a very good example for this would be Super Mario Brothers. 8. Spaces allowing z-axis movement into and out of the frame, Atari’s Battlezone (1980) is an example of this. 9. Multiple, nonadjacent spaces displayed on-screen simultaneously, Atlus’ High Velocity (1995) is an example of this.  10. Interactive three-dimensional environment an example of this would be Dragon’s Lair or Myst. It all depends on the camera and navigation available. 11. Represented or “mapped” spaces, Defender (1980) is an example of this.

The author then suggests different ways to create a 3D space, using various games as examples of different methods. However, as long as one has a strategy it should be possible to work something out, even with limited resources. Because there are many different methods to do so, not to mention that the video games over the years has become more and more convincing and photorealistic.

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Nitsche Reading

This text is about montage of moving images in 3D video games. However, the scope is limited on this essay because the subject is very wide. For that reason this essay only deals with editing during interactive gameplay that somehow initiated by the player. It will also only look at montage of moving images that deal with the diegetic fiction game world and the game title.

There is a difference between montage in film compared to montage in video games. Video games render their images in a parallel to the unfolding action, meaning there is a real-time simulation. This allows direct interactive access to the rendered event which is called “direct manipulation”. For this very reason a virtual game camera gives much more freedom than those one would see used for creating a film. So unlike film, a 3D game space actually allows the player to interact and maybe trigger different movements with the camera because of their actions.

However, this doesn’t mean that you can’t see elements of film in games. The author mentions the use of mise-en-scene that was used to create a believable world for a game. (That being through foreground, background, dynamic framing, blocking and other aspects). This meant that as the games started to grow spatiality, the semiotics of the moving image grew in importance as well. As a result, montage has become a silent force in video games.

Montage in games has to focus not on the image level but the diegetic game world level. It has to support interactive access, the player’s impact on the event.  In games the player is asked to apply a found meaning not only to the image but also to the depicted situation upon it. However, editing in games is often connected to the generation of movement through space. One could say that it creates game space much like editing a film creates cinematic space.

Yet it is also worth mentioning that there is a difference between a player’s control. It can either be direct or indirect when it comes to montage in a video game. Direct: where the player has direct control over a cut. Orientation view and photo camera view.Indirect: where the player has indirect control. Change of view triggered by spatial progress. (Meaning that the cut is not triggered by direct button pressing, but by events within the game world). A very important thing to note is that games isn’t becoming “more like films”, but rather that they are developing their own moving image traditions in the area of montage.

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Truffaut reading

This text is an interview with Hitchcock and he talks about various things concerning the creation of a movie. To explain different examples he mainly uses his own creations, such as birds and psycho to explain different terms and ideas behind filmmaking.

He mentions that directors often are aware of space and how to use it. Not to mention that realism in this aspect also plays an important part. They then discuss how to place the camera and how the different use of this tool can bring different effects on screen and to what the director wants to convey with a certain frame. And of course that it is always important to keep in mind exactly what the purpose of the scene is. If not then it will not have the wished effect.

In the interview he also mentioned that it sometimes doesn’t work out as planned. Even though he sketches exactly how he wants the different frames/scenes to look like. He still discovers that it worked better on drawing than on film and for that reason it is also important experiment a little bit. This will help the director to nail the right scene. After this he talks a lot about the famous shower scene and just how long it actually took them to get those couple of seconds just right.  45 seconds took them 7 days to get right. This just proves that getting the right scene with the right mood and expression can take a long time, even if you’re an accomplished director. 

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Affron reading

Juan Antonio Ramirez has defined six properties of cinematic set design. These points are a help as a first condition for the analysis of the narrative function of décor. The author then mentions Cappabianca, Bandini and Vaizzi, who all looked at the elements of décor differently. However, what is important to note here is that décor elements wouldn’t exist without framing, choice of angle, editing, sets and of course the old forms: lighting, acting and sound. Again, these components can be used to analyzing the difference between cinematic set design and other arts and métiers. (painting, architecture, music, prose narrative). They also mention that there is a difference between theater and cinema and that is something to beware of when one for instance is analysing a design set, because in the opinion of Bandini and Viazzi: Set design plays a very big role and it is therefore important to be analyzing it properly. However, this is when the author introduces Eric Newton whom synthesizes the comparisons between both film décor and theatrical décor.  The important point here is that when used properly the set design is easier to understand.

Of course one also needs to notice the fusion between character and décor, since both of them plays an important part. With this notion the writer mentions three functions of décor that affects the set: decorative function, the localizing function, and the symbolic function. And the text then mentions that the best way to achieve a good design set is by analyzing and understanding what is needed for the set. And for this reason they have different levels as to how to understand a design set: Level one: set as denotation. Level two: set as punctuation. Level three: set as embellishment. Level four: set as artifice. Level five: Set as narrative.

However another important thing about décor is the reality that it brings to the film. Even though the décor might be modified it is still meant to give a certain feel or a certain expression, which is what, makes the audience convey the movie in different or certain ways. (making the movie feel real, unreal etc. ) And of course that it is a really important part of the film and that it is almost impossible to have a film without a setting. It helps the viewers understand the theme of the film without actually having it described or spelled out for them.

[elundberg3]

Maya Comic Project - part II

For my scene i chose to create the room of my character (Jessica Day from new girl), but instead of just creating her room I tried to incorporate the year’s theme into the scene. I did this by actually using one of the 3 objects I created previously in maya. (I did this because I like that there is a “connection” between the projects that I create and the theme). So as seen on the screenshots below I used my book once more, because books really have been an important part of my life. When I was a child that was where all the magic happened! And that is what I’m trying to illustrate with my storyboard. Books are magic and you only need a little imagination to make the story come alive:

The first shot is of the room where you can see the bed and parts of the curtain. This shot is simply meant to set the seeting for the story.

The second shot is further inside the room where one has a better view of the window. However, the main idea with this shot is that the audience is supposed to notice the blue light on the floor and want to see where it is headed/pointing at.

Then one finally get to see what is in the spotlight and here the person is supposed to notice the book. (which will become clearer with the following shots)

One would now noticed that the focus is on the book since the picture has zoomed in on it.

And with this shot you can see magic happening! The earth is coming out of the book almost as if the text/story has come to life.

The same goes for this picture as the moon show up aswell.

And last put not least one is finally able to see the stars as well. Only making it more magical to look at.

So the connection to the theme with this story board is of course "I have learned in my life that books are wonderful. (both containing new adventures and knowledge)" and "I have learned in my life that I believe in fairy tales and happy endings". I think that these two go hand in hand, since many fairy tales and happy endings are expressed through books and usually it is those happy endings that makes a book worth reading.

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Performative Interventions: The Progression of 4D Art in a Virtual 3D World

Art in the 21 century has extended the conventional media of time-based, or 4D work. To come to this conclusion the author has interviewed Second life artist, to understand how they use and explore time. An important thing to note is that the idea of time has changed from passive to interactive through the last couple of years. Machinima is an example of this, since it’s a filmmaking technique that is applied within an interactive immersive 3D space.

Another art movement within this virtual world is Fluxus, which was identified in the 1960’s. The introduced the concept of the viewer becoming the work of art through active participation. Meaning that this includes experimental events such as happens, where people are encouraged to meet up and be a part of the event. This forced the audiences to think in new ways and that is what Second Life artists are doing today. They try to break down the conventional ideas about “what art is”. Not to mention that performance artists are a group of people that increasingly with time really have incorporated technological media into their pieces.

The author then mentions that the Second life performance artists see immersion as means of taking their art directly to a global audience while not needing the physical space to do so. But there are always exceptions to the rule, since there also exists something such as mixed reality art, where one would see a mixture between virtual reality and real life. Meaning that this kind of art actually needs physical space. (This kind of art can for instance be used to explore new forms of sexuality and identity). However, another important thing to remember is that even virtual art and performances, still will be judged by the reaction of the viewer.

So to wrap things up: immersive 4D art in second life combines sensors, video, sound, streaming, web cams, projections, programming, the web platform and other technologies to produce immersion, interactive and participatory performances and installations. With this audiences are able to experiment and experience with real and fictional places at the same time. 

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Bordwell II - Mise-En-Scene

Mise-en-scene means  ”Putting into the scene” and this refers what is in the film frame. (setting, lighting, costume, and behavior of figures). One shouldn’t examine the realism of mise-en-scene, but rather its functions.  (Some may seek for realism, but others might not). Mélies was the creator of this concept and he actually came across it by accident, but quickly understood how powerful this method was.  When manipulating sets, the director will use props. It means that an object in a scene has a special function in the ongoing action and that is borrowed from the mise-en-scene concept. Costumes can play important motivic and causal roles in narratives. Not to mention costumes often is coordinated by the setting. This is related to mise-en-scene, especially because of makeup! Back in the days, makeup was needed to see the actors’ faces, today it has become more of a part with the costume, but it still holds the same attributes. (Even though it today mainly have the function of not being seen). But the use of makeup of course depends on the genre of movie. When it comes to lighting there are too types of shadows: attached shadows (shading) or cast shadows.  These help creating an understanding of the setting. Not to mention it shapes the shot’s overall composition. However, when discussing lighting there are four major features important to remember: quality, direction, source, and color. There are a lot of different examples of lighten, its effects and how to use it and that most lighting is taken on set, but with time there has been a lot of technical progress. This means that you can use filters or something similar if a special light or shade is wanted for the movie.

Even though animated figures can become important in mise-en-scene (since they create the setting from scratch), the most important and familiar is still the expression and movement that actors are playing through their roles/characters. The performance is created to be filmed and therefore shares a lot of values with mise-en-scene.

So, setting, costume, lighting and staging are the components of mise-en-scene. However, what is important to remember is that none of these elements will work alone. Usually it will be a combination of more than one. The space (shallow-space, deep-space) created in a movie is therefore important when talking about mise-en-scene. Not to mention that time plays an important role as well.  And last but not least the narrative, which plays a huge part depending on how one wants to use mise-en-scene.

[elundberg3]

Maya Comic Project - part I

I have chosen the character Jessica Day (Zoey Deschanel) from the show New Girl. I chose this character because I really like her personality and I’m convinced that she is the type of character that has a lot of interesting things in her bedroom.

Her room isn’t that big, but because of the huge brown window with white curtains that has a city view, there is a lot of light brought into the room, which makes it look bigger. Two of the walls are industrial bricks and the two others have this beautiful sky blue/aqua color. Her room has a lot of colors (mainly pastel), but especially on the bed that has a very interesting flower pattern and pillows with a lot of different vintage looking print. One would also find a lot of unique and kitschy lamps, not to mention her two nightstands with different design, making them mismatching.

On the walls there are a lot of framed pictures, mainly art work in form of botanical print and illustrations. However, this room is filled with small cute things that make it girly and a little bit corny at the same time. One would fine different purses, such as a sliver one, leather one and a knitted one, a metal mesh cage hung up to use as a book case, small glass bottles filled with seashells and a bulletin board with a chalk board over it. One would also find chests with jewelry and a desk with a chair and a mirror where the character keeps her make-up, perfumes etc.

Of course one cannot forget about her walk in closet (which isn’t that big, but a girl’s best friend!). This closet is black and contains the character’s clothes. There is also a rug in a beige color to be found in the middle of the room’s floor and as mentioned before a lot of books in her book case. All in all you can expect to find small, cute and old fashioned/vintage objects in this room and a lot of pastel colors!

If one want to know more about Jessica Day, check outthis link!: http://newgirl.wikia.com/wiki/Jessica_Day

[elundberg3]

I have learned in my life:

1.That nothing comes easy

2. That a dream is worth fighting for

3. That you sometimes have to fight for what you believe in

4. That you have to feel confident about yourself

5. That it is okay to fail

6. That movies can be full of inspiration

7. That it is important to have fun

8. That music is something I can’t live without

9. That I enjoy spending my time together with other people

10. That I love to sleep

11. That books are wonderful. (both containing new adventures and knowledge)

12. That I am a huge Jane Austen fan

13. That I believe in fairy tales and happy endings

14.  That accessories can make an outfit

15. That animation/cartoons etc. usually holds a deeper meaning than what just meets the eye

16.  That being creative is awesome!

17.  That you don’t have to be afraid to ask for help

18. That you always need to be true to yourself

19. That changes are good

20. That if you can dream it, you can do it!

[elundberg3]

Observations on film art - Bordwell

This text is all about explaining what the movie Hugo is all about, not to mention that the author mentions George Méliès whom the story is about.  The movie is created by Scorsese and he has used 3D for this movie to make it even more spectacular.

The movie is centered aroundMéliès’ work and tries to recreate “Magic” with the narrative and different sources of effects such as 3D. Not to mention Scores expanded the characters from the original novel to make the narrative more interesting. However, the situations and characters that we encounter in Hugo are common in early cinema. Meaning that there is a classic set of characters and even though there are different plots throughout the movie. All of them end happily, yet they are represented as being reality within Hugo.

She mentioned that the structure of the narrative reflects the simplicity of each short films. It conforms well to the four-part narrative structure that she also mentions has a conventional practice in classical storytelling. Yet this practice also seems to break into two halves, the first about cruelty and the second about the sort of kindness that makes possible the happy endings. This has special meaning to the film and how the characters evolve. However, what is important to know is that Hugo ends up finding what he is searching for, a father figure and thereby happiness.

Yet she does mention that this is a type of movie that is meant for both children and adults, since it has a deeper meaning too it than a cartoon or something similar to that.

She then talks a lot about Méliès, his life, his family, his accomplishments and how he became poplar once more. But she finishes off saying that Hugo, without a doubt, represents the best that can be done with current 3D technology. (even though she also thought that the 2D version was good).