Thursday 28 September 2017

Collaboration - Animation Ideas

Our title is "Worlds Worst....." So what we could do is fill in the gap with different people e.g. "Worlds Worst" firefighter, student or even parent. We're keen on the idea of having many different scenarios in one animated short. The video below is an animated short conveying this idea.

 

Postmodern Definitions

Modernity - keeping to a contemporary culture, going with the modern.

Structuralism - is looking for structures underneath cultures and behaviors.

Ahistorical - means that it cannot date, it remains outside of history. You could say that its "timeless."

Irreducible - cannot be reduced anymore or simplified.

Objective - outside the personal experience.

Transparent - Something "see through" or trustworthy. A modern solution that brings light to society. Uncovering mysteries of the world.

Universal - understood by everyone. For example Maths is a "universal language"

Definitive - its finished, they're no more versions.

Postructuralism - came after structuralism. It challenges structuralism, disagreeing with "one size fits all."

Reflexivity - a more effective analysis, a non biased opinion.

The Unreliable Narrator - was first used by Wayne C. Booth in The Rhetoric of Fiction. Meaning an untrustworthy or unpredictable author. Sometimes the narrator wont give away all the information away, leaving the audience with many questions.

The Enlightenment Project - 1668 - 1789 This began when people stopped looking to God and started finding their own truths through science and the universe around them. Known as the "age of enlightenment." This links to modernity as it was a modern way of thinking, bringing new ideas to a traditional culture.















Wednesday 27 September 2017

5 Reasons Why The film Inception is Postmodern

Film Poster

Hyper Reality - in the film each of the characters enter each others dreams. In these dreams the characters bend reality to their ways and desires.

Dreaming

Intertextuality - During the film the Penrose Staircase is shown. This is known as the impossible staircase because it never ends. The architects can create what ever they can imagine within the dream. There is also another example of Intertextuality, when Ariadne stands in front of mirror that shows her reflection an infinite amount of times. The film is displaying how many worlds can reflect off just one world.

The Impossible Staircase

Time Bending - The film has a "what if" quality to it, making us ask many questions. For example "what if we were able to invade peoples dreams?", "would it be right to do this?" or "would I prefer hyper reality or just reality?"

Fragmented - the film has many disjointed and broken narratives, which can make the film confusing and uncomfortable. Very different to the Hollywood narrative that we are used to.

Simulation - many of the dreams would mimic memories from the characters past.





Wild West Towns - Influence Map

Wild West Towns

Life Drawing - Lesson 2

Continuous line drawing - Graphite Pencil (20 mins)

Continuous line drawings (3 - 5 minute poses) 

Tonal drawing (20 mins)
I've realized that when I draw with a continuous line, my drawings become less restricted and more fluid. It gives the life model more depth and tone. I'm going to use this technique more often!

Allocated Roles - Collaboration Project

Here are the main roles which we have allocated in our group:

Jennifer Ball: Producer (Animation)
Noah Greenhalgh: Director (Animation)
Rachel Holyhead: Production Designer

Job Roles by Jennifer Ball on Scribd

Tuesday 26 September 2017

Research - Design and Character

Animation Influence Map

Bugs Life Influence Map

Research - Design and Character

During character design we were each given an orange envelope which had a number inside. This number determined what character you would get. As well as their:

  • Conceit/trait
  • world/time period 
  • filmic scene
  • and animation action

The character I got was a Cowgirl. Her Conceit/trait is "quick to anger" and bugs. The world she needs to live in is a Wild West Town. The filmic scene needs to be "high noon" and the animation action is "Walking into A saloon."

Before I start designing anything, I have to do my research. This is so that I fully understand the character i'm creating. I've begun to explore historic cowgirls, artifacts and I've even included a small timeline:

Historic Cowgirls

Historical Artifacts

Timeline 

Monday 25 September 2017

Sunday 24 September 2017

Friday 22 September 2017

Postmodern Definitions

High Modernism - is a form of Modernism, relating to whats known as the 'modern era.' However High Modernism focuses on the improvement of science and technology to benefit society.

Capitalist - a person of wealth who invests their money into a business, industry or trade.  Whilst following the principles of capitalism.

Disconnected - when the connection from something is broken, or being disengaged from reality.

Superabundance - meaning excessive amounts of something.

Simulacra - came from the French theorist Jean Baudrillard in 1981. He explores how signs and symbols effect society.

Superficiality -  being shallow or lacking in any depth or substance.

Fragmentary - when parts are incomplete, broken or disconnected.

Pop - something that is modern or popular within the mass media.

Eclectic Nostalgia
- Eclectic means choosing from different sources. Nostalgia is feeling you get from remembering certain moments from the past.

Depthless - something that is superficial and shallow. Or even to deep to measure.

Flippant - having the wrong attitude in a serious setting in an attempt to be funny.

Pastiche - imitates various style and genres.

Bricolage - A piece of work involving a diverse range of mediums.

Aleatory - relying on unpredictable outcomes. Foe example rolling a Dice.

Wednesday 20 September 2017

5 Reasons Why the film "Kill Bill" is Postmodern

Postmodern Elements
The film Kill Bill came out in 2003, written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. The film is an Action/thriller. 

Figure 1

1. Pastiche - the film imitates many different styles and genres: Tarantino was inspired by the film Lady Snowblood, a Japanese film made in 1973. He copied many of the shots from this film. (See figure 2)

Figure 2

2. Intertextuality - Tarantino combines different genres by referencing Japanese Cinema, Horror, Western, Action and even scenes from his own films.

3. The Animated Scene - the character O - Ren Ishi's backstory is told within an animation, which is done in the style of Anime.This might be considered unusual in an Action/Thriller film, however seeing horror portrayed through this medium makes it new and different.

Figure 3

4. Hyper Reality - the film has many elements of hyperrealism. For example many of the fight scenes are really exaggerated to the point where people appear to defy the laws of gravity and fly through the air. The  excessive use of  blood that  spurts and spays out of the bodies is also a  little bit hard to believe!

Figure 4

5. The Music - most of the music played through out the film doesn't really match whats happening in the scene. For instance one of the fight scenes had pop music playing in the background and didn't appear to relate at all to what was on the screen

Tarantino breaks whats known as the "norm" in cinema, ie: the conventional, traditional portrayal of a horror story.  He does his own thing which does not conform to the stereotype of action thriller.




Life Drawing - Lesson 1

Charcoal - 20 minutes

Charcoal - 5 minute poses

Pencil - 20 minutes

Tuesday 19 September 2017

Logo Design Idea

Cosmic Orchid Studio - Logo Idea 

Here is my first logo idea. I decided to place a single Orchid on the moon as I didn't want to over complicate the design. Hopefully this will make it easier to remember as a viewer. 

Logo Design Influence Maps

Cosmic Influence Map






















Orchid Influence Map

As a group we wanted our studio name to be more personal. We did this by discussing our likes and interests. From this information we found two words that appealed to us: "Cosmic" and "Orchid." By adding Studios on the end we eventually came up with "Cosmic Orchid Studios." Although the words don't relate to each other we thought it made our name more unique and interesting.