SOMETIMES

My name is Sarah Hughes. This is my production blog.

[sarahs-production-blog]

With collaboration being a key element of the way our new capstone courses are structured it would be a waste to make a true animatic before that collaboration can begin. Especially with a piece like mine which doesn’t follow a traditional narrative structure. With that in mind I have created this video element which will hopefully convey the mood and some rough narrative points of my film. 

[sarahs-production-blog]

Forgot to post these style frames a while back so here they are.

[sarahs-production-blog]

Chapter 8 Reading

Storyboarding is “a way of visualizing the whole of your film.” They are necessary to planning out your animation because for animation most of the editing is done up front so to speak. Proper storyboarding requires an understanding and fusion of film language and formal art elements. I appreciate the sentiment expressed by Frank Gladstone in this chapter that it is “better to be clear than polished” for animation storyboards. I’m in a storyboarding class right now and it’s been interesting to see the variety of demands for different types of boards. However, I get more frustrated by the heavily detailed boards for things like gaming cinematics. For me they are to focused on the look and lose their sense of movement and flow. The animation boards are rougher but much better for following the flow of action. It takes time to learn how to strike a balance between limiting visual information and not impeding clarity of narrative.

[sarahs-production-blog]

Research & Dev

With the intention of creating a video element for my concept presentation for this class I set about gathering various videos that I felt had pieces that could help portray the mood and direction of my concept. However, I can’t seem to download them at a high quality and I don’t with to present a pixelated mess so for now I will dissect why I picked each video in an attempt to further the understanding of my concept.

Halfway to Nowhere

This was the video I selected for the pre-quarter assignment because it involved a physical transformation as well as a more metaphysical experience. For this assignment what I’m interested in is the beginning and end. The character transforms in the beginning and manages to return to her original form by the end bringing the piece full circle. It is my intention to bring Sometimes full circle in a similar manor.

Coda

Coda is relevant because of its style. It uses limited visual information to portray the locations of the world. This adds the the otherworldly experience of the the piece. Also, much of Coda is a single character experiencing life in a void like space. This could help explain the visual direction of my project though Coda is more thematically dramatic and heavy than my piece is intended to be.

Boys Latin

It turns of that several of things I am referencing happen to be music videos. I guess that is just what happens when one goes seeking narrative elements without a traditional narrative structure. I selected this animation because it involves a character whose body begins to transform and it frightens them which makes the transformations grow more out of control. When the character gets a better grip on his feelings his physical form settles again. This is relevant to my character’s emotional journey. She lets her thought get carried away and it causes her transformations. When she calms her mind she is returned to her normal state.

When I Was Done Dying

Adult Swim had this animation done for a song by Dan Deacon. It is a collaboration by a series of animators and the parts I am interested in referencing are by Dimitri Stankowicz and Masanobu Hiraoka respectively. Both parts involve a more abstracted character going through physical transformations against what is mostly void in the background. I’m also drawn to these pieces for their use of color.

Hallucinator

This piece I have selected partly because I think it is a good visual reference for something similar to the style I am attempting with my piece and partly because it is more lighthearted than the other pieces I have referenced. Specifically there is a part in this short where the character is waiting for an egg to hatch and the way it is cut together to make it seem like a lot of time has passed is funny. My pieces currently also includes a section about how time can work against us so it seemed relevant to include this.

Each of the titles listed above should be a functioning link to the video.

[charleshuettner]

[sarahs-production-blog]

Reading Chapter 7

Chapter 7 is about the various uses for dialogue in the animated short. It also points out that animation is visually driven and often times animated shorts have no dialogue at all. The dialogue you put in short needs to drive the story forward and not just be a verbal explanation of things the audience already understands visually. Dialogue can be used to explain things to characters and the audience that are essential to the plot or worldbuilding that would otherwise be unclear. However, characters shouldn’t just narrate their literal thoughts and feelings. Dialogue can also be used to just establish the mood of the piece. This dialogue is less directly informative but rather adds the flavor of whatever time and place the short is taking place in.

[sarahs-production-blog]

Reading Chapter 5

Chapter 5 discusses the process of constructing you’re a story for the animated short. This structure does seem to parallel the steps we’ve taken with assignments in class. Starting with a theme a building up our ideas. I thought the section that discussed ways in which knowing what your ending needs to be helps you build and fix the rest of your story. It helps let you know what points you need to hit. As I continue to revise the story beats in my concept I will probably need to be watchful that the “conflict intensifies.”

[sarahs-production-blog]

World:

It is my intention for the space my character occupies to be fairly vague as this will aid in the process of visual transitions and transformations. Flower occupies a state of mind more so than an actual location. As such the items around her will shift and change along with her inner monologue. The setting should move further away from what could be considered her ‘ordinary world’ and into a more metaphysical space as her thought process carries on. Essentially her room transforms with her. Chapter four mentions that locations and props within them should be set up to assist in telling the story. Things should be set up as necessary for the scene. My intent is to keep the set dressing as limited and streamlined as possible because my focus is the character’s actions. I think that minimal set items will make the transitions less clunky/confusing. 

These images are from the following animations: UPA’s Gerald McBoing Boing and Rooty Toot Toot, Lavatory Love Story, Red Bull commercial, Line Dance, Sketchy Ice Creams, Pocoyo, and The Man Who Planted Trees

[sarahs-production-blog]

Character

My film only has one principle character and for the time being I’ve decided to call her Flower. 

Chapter three in the textbook discusses ways we as creators can pull from our own life experience to inform the emotions of our characters. I have certainly done so for this project. My whole idea is basically an experiment through which I am trying to visualize some of my own questions about purpose and my place in the universe. Though I want to be clear that this is no deep philosophical analysis, its just the kinds of life questions one thinks about in the shower or when you zone out during a lecture class.

 Flower is a young adult. She’s trying to make a life for herself but doesn’t really have any idea what she’s doing yet. As she continues to age she is becoming less sure that she’ll ever actually reach a point where she feels like she knows what she’s doing. She thinks maybe we’re all just pretend to know what to do for each other’s sake. Flower isn’t pursuing some great quest, she just wants to be happy (and being financially stable would be cool with her to if we’re granting wishes).  Flower’s deepest fear is that she’ll wake up one day and realize she wasted her life. She doesn’t want to be old and unfulfilled. This is part of what sets of the the thought spiral that directs what can roughly be considered the plot of this short. Flower becomes overwhelmed with the tasks that lie ahead of her. She is uncertain of her ability to do the things she must and is more uncertain if they even matter in the grand scheme of things.

Here are some style and color variations of flower:

In my process of character creation I like to draw out a page of heads in several style variation. I think it helps me decide what I want from the character.

Here are some body styles and facial expressions.

[sarahs-production-blog]

STORY

Story beats:

·        Introduction to character/ tired & nervous

·        Character shrinks

·        Character grows large

·        Observes others arguing through window

·        Character doing a repetitive task

·        Character falls through the void

·        Lands on beach chairs

·        Day suddenly becomes night

·        Character sitting very impatiently as time passes very slowly

·        Character wears a mask and greets other also in a mask

·        Character’s physical form fluctuates

·        Deep breath/ characters form settles

·        Return to initial place/ character is calm

Treatment:

The girl approaches her desk littered with things she needs to get done. She seems partially still asleep at first but becomes nervous as she considers her work. She begins to shrink but manages to climb onto her desk. She tries to drag a pencil around to work but isn’t very successful. From there she begins to grow beyond her regular size. She peers in through and observes two people arguing. Now she and another character (or a duplicate of herself) are carrying a couch up a flight of stairs but the stairs are a loop so there is no foreseeable end to the task. The character falls and ends up landing on a lounge chair at the beach. She tries to start enjoying this newfound vacation time but nighttime drops like an anvil on the scene. Then she is in a different chair waiting for time to pass (perhaps a waiting room?) and it seems like she’s been waiting for a long time but when she checks the clock only two minutes have passed.  The girl picks up a mask and holds it in front of her face. She is greeted by another figure also holding a mask in front of their face. Putting down the mask she considers herself and her body begins to fluctuate in form. She takes a deep breath and her form returns to normal. She is back at her desk again but she seems more certain of herself now.

Possible narration:

Sometimes the world is to big. Simple tasks can seem insurmountable. Other times the world seems so small. Everyday conflicts feel petty. I wonder if what we do matters.

Necessary tasks can seem to yield no benefits, and it seems like the earth might drop out from beneath you.

Time can seem to be against you. Always to fast when you’re having fun and to slow when you’d rather be doing anything else.

Sometimes I am uncertain if I am myself. Is what I consider to be myself anything more than a mask put on for others? I wonder if there is such a thing as the true self or if we are nothing deeper than arbitrary characteristics.

However, I think its okay to not be sure of these things. I think that’s just part of being human.

[sarahs-production-blog]

Theme & logline

Theme: The theme of my project is self-reflection. I have always been a person who is kind of caught up in my own head. It’s a fairly natural occurrence to find myself wondering about my role in the universe. I want to explore questions about purpose and identity without imposing any sort of right or wrong answers. I don’t necessarily have a narrative end-goal in mind so much as I want this to be an exercise in visualizing the feelings one experiences when considering the self or their life.

Logline: A character goes through a series of physical transformations while considering their life.