fmpyear1kanemann

[fmpyear1kanemann]

Thought of You - Ryan Woodward

This animation is completely incredible. It is possibly my favourite animation out of any I have ever watched online, all down to how perfectly it is constructed and how much skill was involved in the creation of it. I have seen it many times, and every time I find it so interesting, and I admire the amount of work that went into it. I love this animation because of the smoothness of it, and the simplistic, yet so complex style. The visuals are quite minimalist, but the animation is very, very complex and must have taken an insane amount of skill. This animation inspires me to create more hand drawn work of my own and I think I could learn a lot about figure and proportion from it. 

[fmpyear1kanemann]

Creosote - Red Nose Studio

This stop-motion animation is very odd, but has a strange charm to it. I like the style it has, and the character design is respectable, along with some subtle details that give it an extra boost of satisfaction. Despite this, there are some parts to this I do not like. For example, I think the music is terrible. I think it is completely awful to listen to and it doesn’t assist the animation at all. However, if they were aiming to boost the oddness of the project then it works well, but it is just uncomfortable to hear. However, overall I like this animation. 

[fmpyear1kanemann]

Aaron Blaise

Aaron Blaise is an artist and animator who has worked on multiple movies for Disney. He is well known for his work on Brother Bear, Aladdin and The Lion King. His animations are always insanely smooth and very impressive. I love his work and it really inspires me to create my own animation. Blaise is very good at including the principles in his work, which makes his characters exceptionally expressive and helps to display emotion perfectly. I can learn a lot from the quality and attention to detail that Aaron Blaise puts into his art. 

[fmpyear1kanemann]

Shawn Coss is a dark art artist from Ohio. He focuses on work that brings attention to mental illness and spreads awareness of the subject. He likes the people who view his work to not feel alone if they’re suffering. I absolutely love his drawings and they fit my style of drawing. I love the inktober series he did along with many of the drawings similar to this. His work relates heavily to my FMP as it’s to do with mental illness and isolation. A lot of his drawings depict some form of demon lurking over another character, much like what i’m trying to portray in my animation. The way he shows these kinds of images is so impressive and well created, and they really inspire me to create more of my own. 

[fmpyear1kanemann]

The Ward

The Ward is a 2010 thriller based around a woman who gets placed in a mental institution, and becomes terrorized by a ghost. The film plays on the theme of the supernatural and shows how the ghost focus’ on one person. It conveys the idea that the one character is haunted by the ghost, in a similar way to what I want to represent in my work with the demon of some kind. It is similar to other ghost related movies, like paranormal activity, where the ghosts become a constant reoccurring pest. 

[fmpyear1kanemann]

The Ring

The Ring is a 2002 horror movie that plays on the idea of urban legends. The movie is based off of a video tape that curses you if u watch it, causing you to die in the next 7 days. I think this is a clever idea and seems to hint that modern life can be dangerous. It seems to suggest that technology can be a curse instead of a blessing, and can really take over someones life. The scene that really sticks out to me is at the end, when the girl climbs through the screen. This links to my work because I want to convey hidden demons within modern technology, and in my animation the creature comes out of my characters phone screen, like in this scene with the TV screen. 

[fmpyear1kanemann]

History Of Mental Health

Mental disorders are widely known about and treated nowadays. However, this has not always been the case, and back in the 1800′s people were very uneducated about mental health and how it should be dealt with. In the early 1800′s people who were considered to be insane were put into mental institutions, bu they were a lot more like prisons. People in these buildings would be treated inhumanely; locked away from the rest of the world in dirty conditions, often chained to their beds and and never allowed to leave. They would also often be beaten and starved. This is mostly down to people having no knowledge of mental illness and no way of understanding that the person is suffering from a disorder. 

The whole topic of mental disorder seems to fascinate me because it seems like there is more people suffering in the modern world than there was before. This is mostly to do with the attitude we have towards it now, and how it is accepted as a more common issue that people are vocal about. However, it seems like a lot of people also misconceive what they feel as a mental disorder, when really they are just down or confused. I think there is a link between this apparent rise in depression and anxiety and the use of technology and social media. I think this because modern life can be a serious stress to someone with a slightly weaker mind than some, and many aspects of the internet seem to make people think they are not good enough. 

[fmpyear1kanemann]

Setting Up For The Show

These are my frames with my best worksheets in. I chose these ones as I think they demonstrate my processes well, and show some of my plans and initial ideas. I love some of the drawings in these worksheets and I think they’re a great representation of my drawing style and thought process. I also chose to display my animation playing on loop on a Mac. I thought about making an extended video to display a little bit more information on how I made it, but decided against this idea as I prefer it on its own. I also have my work laid out which already explains how I made the animation. 

The work that didn’t require any computer assistance was being set up outside the Mac room. Some models and photos were hung on walls, while some of the models were put onto podiums in the middle. None of my work was positioned here as it was all better suited in the Mac room, and much easier to display in there. 

[fmpyear1kanemann]

Evaluation

During this FMP I have enjoyed most of the things I have done, and I am happy with the work I have produced. I feel like I have done everything I can to effectively show my work and my processes. Overall I have kept to my project brief quite well, almost exactly following what I originally planned. The only differences were that I spent some extra time making trial animations and worksheets.

 My project idea was born during the process of making six mind-maps. I tried to include as many different ideas into these mind maps as possible, even if it was something I was not completely interested in, I put every idea into them regardless. I was initially thinking about doing another animation relating to one to the world wars, possibly involving an animal of some kind running through a battlefield. However, this didn’t seem to satisfy me enough, so I continued researching and making more spider diagrams with extra ideas. Eventually the topic of mental illness came into play and I realized how fascinated I was by the idea of hallucinations and seeing things that aren’t there. I decided at this point that I definitely wanted to put that into my FMP as I had so much interest in the topic. After doing some extra research and some drawings relating to the subject I knew that I was going to visually portray a character living with a severe mental disorder and show how hallucinations can haunt that person wherever they go. This gave me a lot of freedom, as I could draw pretty much whatever I wanted to make her see.

 I enjoyed making my animation a lot because I love putting my drawings into motion and bringing them to life. The process was strangely enjoyable, despite being a lot of work. I chose to do more work than I expected, making a background for almost every frame, often even three layers. However, If I had more time I would have made the animation at a higher framerate, as some of the scenes would look much better. I wanted my animation to have a rough look to it, and I think I displayed this well. I love the way the paper texture is visible and how the frames do have a slight movement to them. I also like how the scenes with multiple layers worked out, as I wasn’t sure if they would work. Despite this, they do look quite effective and I think that the way the creature is less clear from underneath works well. I feel as though I have learned a lot from this project that I did not know before, and that I have become a better animator through it. Drawing this animation by hand has shown me how much I love that approach, and that it is probably the technique I will continue using through year two.  I am happy with my final animation outcome, but I hope to keep improving on my abilities in the future.

 I carried out a lot of research in the process of creating this project. At the beginning my focus was on the female head and body shapes, to make sure I would be able to repetitively draw them effectively. This was something that I had not done much before in the past and I had to improve a lot before I started drawing the frames. I feel like I have learned a lot through that line of research and I am happy to have gained that skill. I was also focusing heavily on art based around mental illness. Artists and creators like Shawn Coss and Carlos Ramirez were large inspirations to the work I produced. I enjoyed looking at the topic of mental disorder as it is fascinating to me, and it seems like it is very commonly misconceived nowadays. My project is a visual representation of an unstated mental disorder, possibly something similar to schizophrenia, and I think I displayed this in a way that works, but is not too obvious. I didn’t want to explicitly state that my character had a disorder, but wanted to suggest it through her emotion and the strange occurrences. The research in which I carried out about these subjects built a strong structure for me to work off of, and it helped me greatly.

 The hand drawn technique was something I had to follow as I love to do it, and I love how it looks. I prefer the slightly messier and disorganised look to a hand drawn animation compared to a digital one. However, drawing every frame by hand created some issues for me. One of these was timing, as it takes a long while to hand draw hundreds of frames. It also takes a long time to take all the photos, edit any that need it and put them all together. The other issue I had was equipment, I needed a lightbox that was comfortable to work on for hours and one that was bright enough to show through multiple layers. I also needed to buy a stand for my phone so I could take all the photos without too much camera movement. Despite this, I did not really encounter many major issues in the project.

If I were to change anything next time I would probably add a scene or two to the animation. I would also work more on the detail of the visions she has and include some more hints that they are hallucinations that only she can see. Despite being happy with my work, there are glitches within some of it. If I were to do this again I may try to use videos for referencing, where I record people, or myself, doing the action that I want to animate and use it for help. I would also However, there isn’t much I would like to change.

 The last week of this project was spent setting up for the show. I had two picture frames and a Mac to organize my work on. I put four of my best worksheets into the frames which are going on the wall, and I am using the Mac to play my animation on loop. I was initially worried that there was no way to show the actual hand drawn frames of my animation, as I wanted them to be seen to show how much work went into it. However, this was resolved by using a lightbox to lay some of my frames out on, demonstrating how I used the lightbox in the process.  Space was an issue while setting up as the lightbox is quite a large object, and I didn’t want to restrict the view of my Mac screen. However, this was not too hard to resolve, and I found ways around it. I have learnt a lot of very important skills and gained some invaluable knowledge from this project as a whole, and I am really happy with how everything has turned out after a lot of work. 

[fmpyear1kanemann]

Electroconvulsive Therapy

If someone is suffering from a severe, life-threatening mental disorder electroconvulsive therapy, developed in the 1950′s, can sometimes be carried out on them. The procedure involves sending the person into a seizure to temporarily reduce the symptoms of their mental condition. It is carried out multiple times, and is said to completely prevent the patients illness over time, without being carried out forever. However, it does not work for everyone and some feel like it completely violates them. ECT was carried out a lot from the 1950′s to the 1970′s, but is used less commonly in recent years. A lot of people view ECT as some form of punishment rather than a treatment, often because of the ways it has been displayed in film. 

[fmpyear1kanemann]

Catholic Church - Exorcism and Rites

The Catholic Church allows the use of exorcism for those who are believed to be possessed by, or under the control of a demon. The rite of exorcism states that the person in question still retains free will, but not physical control of their body. Before an exorcism takes place their is always a brief medical examination to try and discover possible mental illness. However, often the apparent sudden change in personality or physical ability cannot be explained by mental illness. 

[fmpyear1kanemann]

Mental Disorder in Film - Girl Interrupted

Girl Interrupted is a 1999 film starring Angelina Jolie that follows a woman’s 18-month experience of living inside a mental institution. It was directed by James Mangold. The movie is very heavily focused on mental illness and the effects it has on people. It shows how it can drive people to suicide and really destroy them emotionally. It is relevant for my project as I want to reference mental illness. After seeing some of the scenes I think this movie is very good at realistically portraying some of the true effects of mental disorders. 

[fmpyear1kanemann]

Pan’s Labyrinth

Pan’s Labyrinth is a dark fantasy film made in 2006. The movie suggests themes of mental illness and hallucination. I haven't seen the full movie, but after watching parts it seems as if the main character, a young girl, enters a fantasy world every day full of strange, other worldly creatures and environments. I think sometimes it seems like this world could just be a figment of her imagination, and only she can see it all. However, having not seen the entire movie this may not be the case. The monsters are very well designed and look very effective. This movie made me think about the project I'm making because it suggests a lot of the same ideas. 

[fmpyear1kanemann]

This is my final animation, ‘Line of Vision’. I am happy with how it has turned out, and I think the time put into drawing it has been worth it. I have enjoyed the process and hope to make more animation projects in the future. There are certain parts I could improve on, but I am happy to leave this how it is. The animation is roughly 10 frames per second but it varies throughout. Some parts needed to be faster/slower than others. I feel like I have portrayed the my idea and put it into motion well enough, but it’s not perfect.

[fmpyear1kanemann]

I spent some time adding the title to the rest of the animation, with some issues along the way but successful overall. I also added some dip to black transitions to necessary parts, like the beginning and end, and after the title. I am happy with the outcome, and it will be used for my FMP presentation, probably with no further adjustments. 

[fmpyear1kanemann]

This is the title animation I made for my project. I wanted to go for text that looked quality enough, but still clearly hand drawn like the rest of the animation. I also wanted to include some form of dynamic visuals in and around the title. I like how this looks and am happy to use this in my final project.

[fmpyear1kanemann]

Ghosts and Demons in Film - Mama

Mama is a horror movie made in 2013. It is a supernatural horror movie involving the idea of an unknown entity that follows characters, trying to protect them and nurture them. This entity just happens to be a freaky spirit lady who likes to scare people away. I like this movie quite a lot, and I really love the story that it uses. It links well to my project because of the idea of a spirit or entity forming an attachment with a character is part of what I want to show with my animation. I also really like the look of the creature in Mama, and most of the special effects are relatively well done.