Just An Animation Student @justananimationstudent-blog - Tumblr Blog

INSPIRATIONAL WORKS

Marco Bjorman

‘Operator’ – Sam Barnett

‘Silent Hill’ concept art

Jacob’s Ladder

PT - ‘Silent Hills’

‘Anthem’ – Ayn Rand

Prometheus

‘Frankenstein’ Mary Shelly

‘1984’ – George Orwell

Citizen Kane

Film Noir lighting

#critical studies

COLOUR BOARD

(reds are seen as a sign of imminent warning and danger, while important colours stand out. Decisively, the girl will have a blue colour not unlike in Schindler’s List, as blues are seen as tranquil, hopeful, peaceful and calm)

#critical studies

LIGHTING

#critical studies

Marco Bjorman

INSPIRATION

#critical studies

Marco Bjorkman

INSPIRATION

#critical studies

CHARACTER DESIGN

#critical studies

SET DESIGNS

#critical studies

SOUNDTRACK

The decided soundtrack will follow inspiration from other psychological horros such as ‘Silent Hill’. Audio effects such as glitching, tempo rising, cuts and static are a prolonging feature to put dread into a listener and tell of an imminent threat. Exemplar pieces have been made for these droning tracks. However, no conventional soundtrack is planned, as these surreal and bizarre effects add more atmosphere and ambiance. To give a soundtrack might step away from such an atmosphere and pyschological horror.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7QOpRGZy2s (PT ‘Silent Hills’ Soundtrack)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcYRCaISrnE (PT ‘Silent Hills’ - Calm Panic)

#critical studies

TREATMENT (simplified)

Act 1

1. Setting established

2. Scientist discovers electricity as a lightbulb

3. Lightbulb is used for his everyday life, such as reading, travelling and discovering other electrically-supported inventions

Act 2

1. He finishes his work for the day and heads to bed for night. While drawing the curtains, he spots a young girl on the docks

2 He replaces all his candles around his house, from the doorways, to the corridors and on his desk. His fireplace becomes cluttered with papers, books and copper wire. This begins his abandonment of fire as a source of light, and his fascination with electricity.

4. The lightbulb is fashioned into a lamp using his old candlestick. This helps his reading. He easily makes his way through his house. He shines a shoddy version of the flashlight out of his window and into the fog. The light pierces it. He keep the light by the window.

5. He reconstructs the lightbulb into different versions of the flashlight, from windup to replaceable battery. He fits a larger rotating light at the top of his ceiling, mimicking a lighthouse. This is to orchestrate his satisfaction of sharing his invention. He is, at this point, of rational mind

6. He begins to obsess over his invention, however, by keeping a magnitude of lightbulbs around his house. They are of every shape and size, littering his floors, stairs and desk.

7. He fears for his invention and locks up his bulbs, locks the doors and windows, and carries on working

Act 3

1. He continues working in maddening haste, when a flashlight behind him flashes red (a warning colour - inspired by ‘The Sixth Sense’). There is a creature next to him. The Tinker turns around to find nothing there, but is met with the crature ahead of him. He flies back in alarm

2. The phone rings, and he is met with an odd, eerie static and whispering. The door opens slowly and another creature enters to face him. It then disappears, and he follows for an escape, as it is the only direction towards the exit.

3. The Creature is discovered at the end of the hallway, and he runs back to his studio and scares off the creature with sunlight from his window. It disappears and the tinker faints.

4. He rebuilds the ‘lighthouse’, cleans his studio and hands a flashlight to the young girl spotted earlier. He looks much tidier, and nothing seems out of the ordinary. He is back to his rational self.

5. He sits in his armchair, back at his studio, and reads a book by lamplight. All of a sudden, familiar whispering comes from the still-locked chest. The tinker looks towards it, but goes back to his reading. The whispering stops. Despite him controlling his egotistical temptations, this shows that the urge to control, seek and have power will always follow.

#critical studies

SYNOPSIS

The working title of my piece, before I decided with ‘EGO’, was ‘The Mushroom’.

The original idea was to have my scientist ‘discover’ intelligence, or introduce it in some way to revolutionize the human race. The story takes a turn for the worst when all of society turn on each other, filled with fear, paranoia and arrogance. Even after a montage show-casing all benefits towards health, transport and shelter, industrial development can lead to war and betrayal. In the end, society meets a breaking point when faced with nuclear war, hence the title.

The fixed title of my work demonstrates the consequences of ego-ism in the studio of an unnamed tinker, who discovers electricity. He simplifies this in the form of a lightbulb, which he then repurposes for his tower by replacing all the candles. After many days reinventing the lightbulb in many shapes and sizes, from spotlights to flashlights, from lamps to table lamps, the Tinker is content and rational with his work.

However, he earns a grimmer side of him, who wishes to keep his discoveries to himself, realizing how important his lightbulb is. He becomes paranoid and egotistical, blocking the window, barring the doors and locking up his lightbulbs in a chest to keep them ‘safe’.

Locking himself up in his studio, his arrogance and madness takes the form of a humanoid, disfigured creature which chases him through the tower. Cornered in his studio, he tears off the curtains of the window, bringing forth natural light into the room. this serves as the turning point of the Tinker, who no longer relies on lightbulbs for light. The creature disappears and the Tinker decides to share his invention to the world. One of the last scenes is of a young girl being handed his flashlight, a symbol of hope for the new generation.

#critical studies

Background research and inspiration derived from Shelly’s original source, the Greek Titan Prometheus. In the original myth, Prometheus brings down fire of the Gods to man, only to be punished by Zeus for eternity. It tells the risk of “overreaching and unintended consequences”, while Prometheus is praised for the creation of industrial development, human development and a champion of mankind.

‘Anthem’ is a book written by Ayn Rand. It is a dystopian novella where humanity has entered a Dark Age, having their individuality eliminated. The protagonist rediscovers the lightbulb by doing unauthorized research, and is chased out of the city. He runs off with the girl he has fallen in love with and renames themselves Prometheus and Gaia.

This dystopian, futuristic and Orwellian version of Prometheus/Frankenstein is what spurred me to decide on a psychological horror of Shelly’s novel.

#critical studies

The story I have chosen to adapt is Mary Shelly’s ‘Frankenstein’, the story of a scientist bringing life to a hideous creature designed from many corpses, using non-descriptive alchemist and scientific means.

#critical studies

3D Interior (bedroom)

Maya 2018 Software

A crude practice on character designing, from photo to drawing.

Just follow the basic steps of cartoon character designing.

#Visual Communication 1 #character design #Tutorial

Drawing practice during character design workshop

#Visual Communication 1 #Drawing #Drawing Practice

Colour In Cinematography

Colour in film has been used for dramatic effect, for the simple reason of emotionally enrapturing an audience, drawing them into the scene to manipulate their reactions and emotions towards the film. In media key terms, this is described as audience positioning; a term used by media theorist Stuart Hall. Colour, specifically, has a strong tie-in with symbolism and psychology. Colour can alternatively be used to foreshadow tragedy/horror/new beginnings etc, as well as build suspense and dread. Additionally, using colour in a specific way can give the film a signature look not seen in other films by comparison. The Great Gatsby is an example of turning muted pinks and whites to push Daisy’s apparent beauty and innocence.

Films used as examples

· The Great Gatsby (Baz Luhrmann, 2013)

· Black Mirror (Charlie Brooker, 2011 - )

· Bladerunner 2049 (Denis Villeneuve, 2017)

· The King’s Speech (Tom Hooper, 2010)

· The Shining (Stanley Kubrick, 1980)

· The Grand Budapest Hotel (Wes Anderson, 2014)

#Critical Studies #Story-telling

Every film follows a rule called the 3 – Act Structure, whether it’s subtly or in a very straight-forward manner. Act I to III is broken up into three story sections: Setup, confrontation and resolution. It follows a mountain structure to visualize basic storytelling patterns, the highest point being the climax (main culmination) in the story. To set an example…

Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away follows the basic 3 – Act Structure in this order:

THE INCITING INCIDENT – Chihiro and her parents are moving when they get lost. They seek help in a nearby abandoned amusement park.

LOCK-IN – As the park gets closer to night, spirits begin to appear, which traps Chihiro as her parents are also turned into pigs.

MIDPOINT/FIRST CULMINATION – Chihiro befriends a spirit boy named Haku who instructs her to get a job at Yubaba’s bathhouse. She succeeds, but at the cost of her identity, now at the witch’s mercy.

CLIMAX/MAIN CULMINATION – The spirit No-Face starts to become corrupted within the Bathhouse. Chihiro leads him out as he begins to devour the workers. Meanwhile, Haku is also cursed by Yubaba’s sister, Zeniba for stealing her golden seal.

ACT TWIST – Chihiro confronts Zeniba and apologizes on Haku’s behalf. As thanks, she offers a job to No-Face and gives advice to Chihiro on how to free Haku. Returning to the bathhouse, Chihiro reclaims her identity and rescues her parents, before leaving the spirit world and returning to their car. Chihiro and Haku promise to meet again someday.

This structure can help flesh out an otherwise complex - even boring - story into a much more memorable and cohesive tale.

#Critical Studies #Narrative #Story-telling

Trending Blogs

Recently Viewed Blogs

Just An Animation Student