journey2maya

[journey2maya]

Media Roles: Alternative Career Paths

Tattooing is an art that I have a high respect for and after getting my first tattoo I really do Feel attached to the idea of doing an apprenticeship whilst at university or after my studies. I’ve tried to look into apprenticeships around the Norwich area but so far I haven’t com up lucky.

I have however found this paid course that’s situated in Londonhttps://ukofficialtattooacademy.co.uk/tattoo-training-course/ 

It seems very good and with this sort of career path, anything will be an investment and it certainly something that I’m considering investing in 

[journey2maya]

Media Roles: An Interview with a Character Designer

Before Corona virus hit I was lucky enough to be able to make contact with Dan Kelby, As a freelance character designer is something that I aspire to be I thought that contacting him would be really helpful, not just to the project but also to my future. Below are the questions and answers.

What does a character designer do exactly?

The character designer’s principal job is to take a written or verbal description of a character and visualise it for the project in question. In the case of animation, by “visualise” I mean “convert the description into a final piece of artwork that can be animated.”

This includes rough sketches in the initial phase, then refinement of ideas based on feedback, and final design. It also usually includes technical drawings for the general pipeline such as character turnarounds, mouth shapes, expression sheets etc.

Visualising a character comes down to a lot of technical things like shape design, silhouette, proportion, costume etc. but character design is really all about capturing the personality of the character more than anything. They have to feel alive, like they’re a real person (or bunny, or dragon, or whatever). Good questions to ask yourself when designing are things like “Who is this character?” “What do they want?” “How do they feel?”

How many iterations does each character typically go through?

It’s hard to say as it depends! Sometimes you nail it within a few iterations, other times it can take longer. My job is to refine the idea into the vision that the Art Director/Producer/Director has in mind, which involves a little bit of guesswork regarding their own tastes, the style they want for the project etc.If you know what kind of thing they like, you can normally get there quicker. It’s good to remember that notes (ie. feedback) on your designs are completely normal and all a part of the job - it never happens that you submit designs and they just pick one and that’s it.

Also the golden rule is not to impose your own stylistic preferences in your designs if they don’t fit with the vision that the Director has for the project. For example, if you just draw in an Anime style and the project doesn’t have that look, none of your work will be approved as it’s just not the right thing for what they want. Also, as much as you may not agree with a note or decision the studio makes on your design, it’s your job not to argue and to just do what they want! That’s part of being a professional.

On my last job we were averaging two weeks per character, which looked a little bit like this. I had three Skype calls per week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday to go over feedback and address revisions:

Monday & Tues = Brief, Initial sketches

Weds = Feedback, more sketches

Thurs = More sketches/revisions

Fri - Feedback, more revisions if needed

WEEKEND

Mon = Feedback on Friday’s revisions, final idea chosen

Tues - Weds = Cleanup final idea, produce turnaround sheet

Thurs - Fri = Final design and approval

That’s just an example, though. After working with the studio for a few months, I knew the kind of thing my Art Director would reject right off the bat so I just didn’t draw that kind of stuff and we got there quicker on each character.

How did you know that being a character designer was right for you/ why did you want to be one?

I really love bringing characters to life and getting them from the written page into the “real world". I also really enjoy the broad scope of possibility with each one! The beginning of a project is my favourite time because it’s when the character is at their most malleable and they can be anything, there are no rules. You can go a bit crazy and let your imagination run wild. I also like the satisfaction of seeing my drawings and ideas come to life, animated by someone who knows what they’re doing! I just love to draw and I’ve always drawn my own characters ever since I was little. I tried animation but wasn’t any good at it :D

How did you form connections and gain the success you have now?

It was really down to constantly making new work and putting it online. My advice is to make a portfolio website and keep it simple to navigate and up to date, and share your work frequently on social media (Instagram, Twitter, Artstation, Tumblr, LinkedIn).

I also messaged other artists asking for advice, or commented on their work and struck up a rapport with them through asking questions about their work or art in general. The trick is just to keep drawing and putting your work online, as it keeps you visual and gets your name about. Be active in artistic communities - follow a lot of animation artists on Twitter, for example, and share links and cool resources when you aren't producing work. Those places are where peers post job links, resources, and just chat about the business.

[journey2maya]

Animation Appreciation Week 7: Chowder

for this week of animation appreciation i will not only focus on the animation of the show but also the character design, to coincide with the research I am doing for the media roles project. 

Chowder was one one of those early 2000 TV shows that were unique and bold  in the movements they made towards animation. The show was created by a former storyboard artist for SpongeBob SquarePants and The Grim Adventures Of Billy And Mandy, C,H. Greenblatt. Chowder, under the mentorship of Mung Daal, dreams of becoming a great chef one day. He’s eager to please but Is easily distracted and it’s this attitude that leads to antics to ensue over the course o each episode.

As this week there is a focus on character design, it is important to learn the origins of Chowder. Greenblatt had been sketching out concepts for Chowder since his days on SpongeBob. These sketches were worked on until finalized. Chowder himself was developed with no specific species in mind but rather with the intentions of invoking the image of a child’s soft squeeze toy. This plays into Chowders playful and childish nature. Shnitzel was created originally as a personal character design exercise in the late 90′s and here’s what Greenblatt has said about it:

“I was even going to try and  animate him in flash, so I did alternate pieces of him. Back then he was called “Tapiocaca.” He was supposed to be sort of like a big rock tiki monster that was always on fire. I even made a cool logo for him. Well I didn’t really do anything with him after that, but I still liked the design. So when I was forming the world of Chowder, he seemed like a good fit. I like to think of him as a living menhir from the Asterix comics”

Chowder had a slow start (being delayed to air 4 times) but it can be said that it was worth the wait. 

One of the things that makes Chowder unique is that at the end of every episode there is a 30- second puppet  sequence that runs over the end credits. I remember that these were always fun to watch but at first they catch you a bit off guard because a 3D sequence is a bit jarring (in a good way) when you’ve been looking at 2D forms for about 15 minutes. It’s interesting to see the media shift as it doesn’t really change the show but adds a new layer to it.

Another unique factor of Chowder lays with the design features on the characters ‘ clothing. The patterns are developed as a full screen image and then sent to a production house where the characters are modified to fill the patterns in over the character clothing . Using this technique, when the character moves, their patterns do not follow but display a “static” background.

It makes for a really enchanting display and really does make Chowder stand out as a cartoon from a time where mixed media animation was  prevalent.

Pictured are the characters Shnitzel, Mung Daal, Chowder and Truffles.

Shnitzel is a rock monster who is the straight laced character that often gets frustrated by and feels the brunt of Chowders antics.

Mung Daal is the pridefull professional chef that has apparently been cooking for 386 years. He is married to Truffles but fancies himself a ladies man and feels it’s his mustache which makes him a proper chef. 

Chowder is the 9-11 year old child who acts as an apprentice to Mung and lives with him and Truffles. Chowder wants to become a great chef but he often gives into the impulse of eating the customer’s order. According to his creator, Chowder is a mix of a cat, a bear and a rabbit.

Truffles handles the business side of things.she is a mushroom pixie and, like Mung she is quite old and is usually the practical one and the only one with common sense. But she has a foul temper which is easily lost with her husband and is the source of fear for other characters.

[journey2maya]

Media Roles, Wednesday 11th March: Initial Research

Our first group presentation went well. At this stage little research was required as it was more about showcasing what we were interested in and what we wee going to research in the future. In my group we have quite a diverse range of interests so It will be interesting to see how they can fit together and seeing other groups presentations was quite inspiring and gave me some more ideas of the type of people to contact and where to go for information. 

[journey2maya]

Mystery Box, Monday 9th - Thursday 12th March: Iterations

Our work is mainly focused on working on our mystery box sequence. this week I managed to create different iterations.

This walk was similar to version one. the only real difference is the pacing. I made the run slightly faster to show the urgency.

I only got as far as the turn around with this version. It was more of a test to see what would happen if i mad the jump back less exaggerated and more realistic. I realised that the jump back I had in previous iterations would be hard to do in real life and it actually didn’t match what I did on my acting reference video.

 with this version I used tween machine. I think this was more of a detriment than a help as it made the whole animation look very weird and I became stuck and unsure how to fix it. 

[journey2maya]

Animation Appreciation, Week 6: The Koala Brothers

After hearing that one of our guest speakers, Tobias Four-acre, did work on the koala brothers I Just had to make an appreciation post for the show.

The Koala Brothers is an Australian-British stop-motion animated children’s television show that features the adventures of two koala brothers named Frank and Buster, as they seek to help their friends in a sleepy town in the Australian outback. A notable quality of the TV series is that although there can be differences of opinion and occasional instances of antisocial or thoughtless behaviour, there are no villains or disagreeable characters. This is partly the reason why the show makes for such a fond memory. It’s just nice wholesome content and it’s so calm. 

I mean just look at that theme song. It’s just so lovely and peaceful. But not only that, the theme song also perfectly shows what the show is all about through beautifully constructed character designs and scenery. the designs are simple yet charming so there is plenty to look at and appreciate without taking you away from the story.

I don’t think that the show would be ass successful if it were anything other than stop-motion. It just adds a layer to it and makes it really appealing to look at. 

[journey2maya]

CG Mystery Box, Thursday 27th-Friday 28th February: Acting It Out And Using the Reference

I really enjoy the acting workshops that we have with Sarah. They’re not only fun but good from a technical standpoint as it allows for a further understanding of movement through practice.

The idea I had for my sequence was to have a character sneak up to the mystery box because they’re curious. The box isn’t theirs but they want to know what’s inside to potentially take it. but once they see what’s inside they get scared and run away.

you can see a clear difference between my first and second attempt On the second go I made the reaction quicker, reducing the time between the look and the pull back in horror.

After I’d had a go myself, I directed other people.

It was nice to see other interpretations of my sequence. It’s really interesting to see which particular parts different people exaggerate and it will definitely help when putting together my sequence.

FRIDAY

On Friday we took what we did on Thursday and used it to help us do a rough cut animation of our mystery box sequence.

it was useful to break down the sequence like this 

here is the first version. I tried to play around with the pacing, making the reaction and the turnaround faster than the initial sneak. But the main aim here was to just get comfortable with the type of movement I was trying to create.

[journey2maya]

Concepts and Contexts, Thursday 27th February: Green Screen and After Effects

Today we were given a coffee cup that had been animated using plasticine. our job was to eliminate the plasticine using the after effects program.

we used a mask to cut around the cup on every frame. This was easy to do once I got my head round it and its clearly effective as you can no longer see the plasticine. 

once we had the cup isolated, we dropped a background onto the green screen and now we have a floating cup!

Or cups....

we played around with the rotate and scale tools by dragging more cups onto the scene.

overall this was quite an easy process. I got my head around after effects pretty quickly. the only thing that I wish I could change is possibly to be a bit more creative with how I positioned the extra cups and playwith rotate and scale a bit more .

[journey2maya]

CG Mystery Box, Tuesday 25th February: Stepped

Today we made our first steps towards the mystery box animation. we created a sequence that involved the  character walking up to an invisible box and reacting to what was inside of it by jumping back.

This is our starting position. 

We started by just placing down the contacts, going up the the box and just looking inside it. I think what I’ve done has worked well here. the contacts are clear. The only problem is it jut looks a bit stiff and looks more like it’s gliding along in stead of walking.

for the second iteration of this exercise I added a rotation to the hip so the legs don’t have to work as hard.

For this iteration I don’t think the anticipation lasts long enough. The character goes into the jump too fast. The reaction doesn’t quite have the emphasis that I wanted it to have.

[journey2maya]

CG mystery Box, Monday 17th February, Introduction to CG Character Animation

Today we had the briefing for the mystery box project. It was a little overwhelming and it seems as though we have a lot to do with little time to do it. but for the first week were introduced to the character model that we would be using for the majority of the project. We were tasked with putting them in different poses. I found this slightly awkward as it was hard to think of what poses to do/ what would work. I also believe that I focused too much on the arms without dedicating too much attention to the legs which made each pose look slightly wrong. 

This is how the model looked before I got my hands on it.

This is the first pose that I tried out. My aim was to try something semi-simple, just to test the waters. For this pose I was imagining the character touching his bowler hat as if saying a polite ‘how do you do’ to someone.

I went a little crazy on this one and wanted to imitate something similar the the way the Joker moves with a sort of rag-doll like quality but I didn’t move the the arms properly and didn’t change the legs much from the previous pose but tried to rotate the torso slightly.

This pose was supposed to be a dab but I couldn’t get the angles right. I’m still not completely comfortable with using MAYA so perhaps this was too ambitious to attempt.

[journey2maya]

Animation Appreciation, Week 5: BLU

BLU is the pseudonym of an Italian artist who conceals their real identity.They were born in Senigallia. They live in Bologna and have been active in street art since 1999. BLU is another animator who I’ve had the pleasure of being shown on my foundation year. I think their anonymity adds to the animations and helps me to invest more.

Big Bang Big Boom is a master piece, a triumph. The whole style and vibe and flow of the sequence is amazing and so inspiring. I love how it jumps from one part to the next and how the painted forms change and shift into something completely different. 

It’s so expressive and unique, before BLU i’d never seen anything done on this big of a scale before. Normally animation is self contained but Big Bang Big Boom goes somewhere.

[journey2maya]

Stop Motion Puppet: Extra Sketches

I grew quite found of my Puppet so I decided to explore them in my sketchbook.

I drew the first one with my non-drawing hand. I decided to do a background in watercolour, mapping out the sort of environment I envision for the character. I picture them living in the clouds. It’s cold there but they have thick fluffy fur to keep them warm and a broad chest of feathers.

More detailed sketch that I added colour to. 

[journey2maya]

Animation Appreciation, Week 4: PES

Adam Pesapane was born on May 26, 1973 in Dover, New Jersey,the son of an elementary school principal and a hairdresser.The name "PES" is a family nickname deriving from the Italian surname "Pesapane".

Pesapane grew up in an Italian-American household in the Budd Lake section of Mount Olive Township, New Jersey and showed an early facility for drawing and painting.He attended Delbarton School, one of the nation's top private high schools,where he began exhibiting and selling his artwork.

Pesapane attended the University of Virginia as an Echols Scholar. In 1995 he earned a B.A. in English Literature and wrote his senior thesis on James Joyce's Ulysses. In addition to his English degree, Pesapane studied printmaking throughout all four years of college. He wrote and illustrated his own books, hand printing them using 15th-century techniques, and even made the paper they were printed on by pulping his own underwear.

In his senior year at U.Va, Pesapane lived on The Lawn, one of the University's highest honors. He lived at 33 West Lawn, in the room directly above the cornerstone of the University set by Thomas Jefferson in 1817.

After graduation, Pesapane moved to New York City where he landed his first job in the creative department of McCann-Erickson, a large advertising agency. He was hired because the agency's creative recruiter liked his portfolio of etchings, woodcuts, and lithographs, even though they bore no relevance to advertising.

Once inside the agency, Pesapane had daily exposure to award-winning commercials, short films, and music videos from around the world and first began thinking about making a film of his own. He cites the work of the Swedish directing collective Traktor, Michel Gondry, and Spike Jonze as influences from this period.

In 1998, while still working at the agency, Pesapane made his first film, a live-action short called Dogs of War. Based on a dream Pesapane had about hot dogs being dropped as bombs, the 48-second film "anticipates PES's animation work through the use of absurd humor, placing everyday objects in unfamiliar situations and slick editing that clearly shows the influence of advertising films."

I was shown PES on my foundation year and I found his work very inivative and inspiring.

Dogs Of War

It has quite a humorous twist to it doesn’t it?

I really love this one. I find the uses of objects quite imaginative and the animation itself is very smooth so when the ingredients get chopped into dice it’s not off putting or jarring at all and it seems almost natural. I just really like the technical brilliance and the whole feel of the animation. and the piece of comedy brings the whole thing down to earth, making it relatable and more mundane which reflects on PES’ uneventful upbringing.

[journey2maya]

Narratology: The Hero’s Journey

At one point whilst I was writing my essay I considered whether I could talk about the hero’s journey in relation to the characters Twilight Sparkle and Tempest Shadow. 

the characters don’t follow the formula religiously and there wasn’t enough room in my essay to touch upon it any way but I did think it was interesting that it can be applied in some ways. and its interesting to see the contrast between the journey that the two characters take.For Twilight its a physically journey but for Tempest it’s more of an emotional one.

Stage 1. Exposition

For Tempest this comes much later on in her arc. once her character of an antagonist has been established, we get her backstory.

 She didn’t always have a broken horn. losing her horn is what turns her away from the rest of pony society.forcing her to leave her comfortable life where she has friends because her broken horn is too destructive and she can’t play ball with them anymore.

 for Twilight we get the introduction scene where the ponies are prepping for the friendship festival. We get visual exposition as we are shown the lore of MLP through the actions of various background characters. The important thing here is we see Twilight in her natural habitat.

Stage 2. The Call To Adventure

For Tempest there is an overlap with this stage and the previous one. however it could be argued that Tempest’s call is when the princesses refuse to surrender which forces her hand to leave the comfort of her skiff to assert her dominance and take action.

Twilight is forced out of Canterlot with her friends. The problem is Tempest and the newly found threat of the Storm King that threatens the cozy life of the ponies.

Stage 3 and and 4 are not present for Twilight but stage 4 is present for Tempest. 

There is a point in the movie where Tempest has a meeting with the Storm King who, in this context, is Tempest’s mentor. It is assumed that the Storm King acts as a sort of refuge for Tempest and is a negative mentor because he guides her on the path to doing wrong.

Stage 5. 

For Twilight this is when she and the mane six arrive at Kludgetown.

it is the first destination that introduces the mane six to the unknown world that they come across beyond Equestria.

This stage isn’t really present in Tempests arc.

Stage 6. Tests, allies, enemies.

Twilight begins to learn that the world they are now in the midst of is not Equestria and she and the mane six, meet Capper, Captain Celeano and Skystar who become allies in the final ordeal.

For Tempest. Its quite easy to work this stage out. Her enemies are the mane six and their allies. her allies are grubber and the storm guards and her loyalty to both herself and the Storm King are tested.

Stage 7. Approach the inmost cave

Twilight’s approach to the inmost cave is the journey to Seaquestria. It is where she faces the temptation as discussed in my essay. The pearl is like the red herring of the quest. we are led to believe that it is the goal but it’s actually the item that leads to Twilights down fall and for this reason it can be said that it is the beautiful woman of the story, whose purpose is to lead the hero astray with their tempting beauty and promise of sanctuary.

For Tempest this relates back to her back story. She and her friends lose their ball in a cave. Tempest is the one who is brave enough to go into the cave and retrieve it but it turns out its the cave of the ursa minor who is awoken by Tempest’s intrusion and lashes out at her which breaks off her horn.

Stage 8. the ordeal

This is the part where the hero’s fortunes hit rock bottom. Twilight looses her friends and they leave her on the beach alone after she blew up at Pinkie Pie. she gets captured by Tempest and her magic is taken from her, leaving her weak and without friends to support her.

Tempest doesn’t really face that great of an ordeal. In her back story she is abandoned by her friends after they witness how dangerous she is with her broken horn. she can’t play ball any more so they leave her for someone who can. Thy leave her when she needs them the most.

Stage 9. reward

The hero takes possession of the treasure they have been seeking. Tempest has fulfilled her goal of bringing twilight to the Storm King so she can have her horn restored and receive her treasure that she desires. 

Twilight doesn’t really receive a reward as her goal is non-material and cannot be held.

Stage 10. the road back

It is revealed that the Storm King never intended to restore Tempests horn. this breaks something inside of her. It breaks her, hurts her. The Storm King was the closest thing she had to a friend and hes betrayed her.

Twilight’s friends turn up to save her which gives Twilight a reason to get back up and fight for her world back

Stage 11. Resurrection

This is the final test. For Twilight this is when she must fly into the storm to follow the Storm King and the staff. Leaving behind her friends, maybe for good. her sacrifice is the decision she has to make and its her way to redeem her self from the mistake she made in Seaquestria.

For Tempest this is the moment when she saves the mane six from being turned into obsidian statues. she turns into one instead, pushing the Storm King over a balcony where he falls to the ground and smashes to pieces as he too was turned into a statue.

Tempest is saved by mane six who use the staff to stop her from falling to her death.

12. return with the elixir

This stage is one of the reasons why the movie does not fit the hero’s journey formula. Twilight returns to her ordinary world of Equestria with new allies and knowledge of outside lands but doesn’t really grow as a character.

Tempest returns to the world she knew as a filly. She is now reformed.

So it doesn’t follow the formula exactly but I thought it would be interesting to break it down. We can also go through the character archetypes for each of our characters. 

The hero : Tempest and Twilight

The shadow: Twilight and Tempest

The Trickster: Pinkie Pie for Twilight, Grubber for Tempest 

The mentor: Princess Celestia for Twilight, The Storm King for Tempest 

The Shape-shifter: In Twilight’s journey this could be the seaponies who are revealed to be the hippogriffs. in this case the term shape-shifter would be more literal. The Storm King could possibly be considered the shape-shifter as he is later revealed t be tempests enemy and was only using her to get what he wanted.

The Ally: the rest of the mane six for twilight and the storm guards for Tempest 

The Threshold Guardian: for Twilight this is the pearl. For Tempest I would argue that her threshold guardian is her desire to have her full horn back.

The Herald: For Tempest the herald would be the Ursa Minor. For Twilight it is the destruction that Tempest causes at the beginning of the film.

I may be reaching with some of them which is why it wouldn’t have made sense to dedicate my essay to discussing the parallels between the two hero’s journeys but it was still worth taking a look at which is why I posted it here.

[journey2maya]

Narratology: Final draft

Analyse your chosen narrative with close reference to the Hero’s Journey or another appropriate template

For this essay I have chosen to talk about the narrative structure of the 2017 film My Little Pony: The Movie. I will be making a structural analysis with reference to the Quest plot type as described in Cristopher Booker’s The seven basic plots. [Booker, 2005] I will be taking a look at how the animation enriches the narrative through choice of design.

The movie was produced by DHX media in collaboration with AllSpark pictures using Toon Boom Harmony production software [2] which specialises in integrating 3D elements with 2D characters. [3] The film emphasises traditional animation and is supported throughout with modern 3-D solutions. This was a change from the flash-animated TV show and along with this change of animation software there also came a change in art style. To quote Art Director Rebecca Dart; “for the feature film, the characters became more volumetric overall, meaning they have more of a roundness and softness for the 360 degree world of Equestria and beyond that we created for the movie.” [Dart, 2017, pg 22] This extract from the ‘art of’ book shows a comparison of the two styles.As shown In figure. 1.

Figure. 1 [Dart et al, 2017 pg 20]

These small changes really make the difference. They allow the characters to feel more emotion and convey more emotion. This movie can be identified as a quest type narrative. to paraphrase Booker; in any quest story there is always a priceless goal which drives the hero’s passion to succeed. The hero and some companions must embark on a perilous journey filled with monsters, temptation and helpers, to reach their goal. The story is unresolved until the overriding objective has been secured.[Booker 2004 pg 69]

The plot of the movie is as follows; Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Rarity embark on an epic journey to save Equestria from the tyranny of the Storm King. Along the way, the Mane 6 meet new friends and face challenges as they travel beyond Equestria for the first time ever. At the start of the film we get introductions to our characters, including spike, to show a little of their personality. This is important because it makes the characters seem more real. They’re not just an accessory to Twilight's adventure, they’re individuals and they’re part of it in a big way.  Twilight Sparkle, the unofficial leader of the friend group, is being true to character and is worried that the festival won’t be perfect. As the Princess Of Friendship the pressure is all on her to make sure that everypony has a good time at the friendship festival.  Twilight’s friends rally around her in an attempt to reassure her that everything will be fine in the form of the song We Got This Together.

This song highlights the mane six’s teamwork and interpersonal relationship as strong. This Song also carries heavy foreshadowing as it implies that everything is certainty not going to go to plan. With dark clouds suddenly appearing, without any influence from the weather ponies, we are introduced to our first antagonist, Tempest Shadow. A jaded unicorn motivated by anger and a wish to be whole again. Her primary objective is to deliver the four princesses to the Storm King so he can siphon their magic using the Staff of Sucannas. Tempest doesn’t fit into this candy-coloured pastel world where friendship is the most powerful thing and her design is reflective of that. Her coat and mane are darker than that of the mane six making her different to the characters we know and trust.

The ponies refuse to surrender so Tempest turns the 3 princesses into obsidian statues, as shown in figure.2 and figure.3, forcing the mane six make a daring escape over one of the waterfalls that make up Canterlots’ architecture. Unequivocally this is what Booker refers to as the call [Booker, 2005 pg 70] Tempest's arrival and disruption is the reason why the mane six must embark on the quest. The Friendship Festival has gone terribly wrong and the stakes are high. Twilight and her friends have to make this journey to set things right. As said in ‘The Seven Basic Plots’, “surrounded by an atmosphere of menace and construction, the Quest hero and her friends feel under intense compulsion to get away.” [Booker 2005, pg 71]  This is exactly what has happened to the mane six and we now have a definite goal which is to save Equestria from the Storm King and Tempest Shadow.

Figure 2. [5]

Figure 3. [5]

Because this is a quest narrative, Twilight is accompanied by her friends who each have their own virtues and abilities that contribute to the success of the adventure. Or to the detriment. Pinkie pie is a particularly important part of Twilights company as she represents one of the 4 basic forms that a hero’s companion should be. A subtle alter-ego whose role is to serve as a foil, displaying qualities of the opposite of those shown by the hero.[Booker 2005 pg 72] for example in the ‘Epic Of Gilgamesh’ whenever Gilgamesh displays assets of courage and confidence it is Enkidu, his brother, who expresses fear and doubt. [Unknown, C.1800 BC tablet 2] In the MLP Movie when Twilight shows concern and worry, Pinkie Pie is only concerned about how much fun can be had and she derails the situation with her silly antics.

Booker notes that there should be a distinct challenge that the hero must face. For Twilight it’s  a temptation. The Mane six find themselves in Seaquestria, the underwater world that the hippogriffs were forced to inhabit to hide from the Storm King. The Queen of the hippogriffs used a magic pearl to turn her subjects into sea ponies. Twilight begs for the pearl as she believes it is the key to defeating the Storm King. Novo refuses to give her it. The mane six go to leave but notice that Skystar is sad because she’s never really had friends before . Twilight, surprisingly, encourages Pinkie pie to cheer her up with a song. When the song is finished we find out that this was just a ploy so everyone would be distracted whilst twilight tries to steal the pearl. (As shown in figure.4)

Figure.4 [5]

This leads to The mane six’s forced exit from seaquestria and more importantly Twilights downfall. Because Pinkie Pie was able to cram a lifetime of fun into one song the hippogriffs were going to give them the pearl as a thank you. Twilights lack of faith in her friends causes a big argument between her and Pinkie Pie which leaves twilight sitting alone on a greyscale beach. This makes her look even more isolated and alone as she is the only colourful thing in the scene. She is captured by Tempest who has been on the group's tail since the start. Tempest shares her backstory with Twilight. This gives us an insight into tempests motivation and creates a vulnerability in her. and she is taken back to Canterlot where we finally see the Storm King in full glory as he is able to steal the magic from all four princesses, channelling it through the Staff of Succannas, becoming omnipotent in the process. The Storm King casts Tempest aside, refusing to restore her horn as he had promised he would.

This is part the final ordeal Where the heroes come to the edge of their great goal [Booker 2004 pg 78] Twilight’s friends engage in an epic battle against the storm creatures with the help of Skystar and others. Near the end of the battle the staff creates a wretched Storm that takes Twilight, the Storm King and the staff away. This is the part in the story where our hero has her last “thrilling escape from death” [Booker 2005 pg 83] and returns with the staff to settle the skies. It is revealed the Storm King also survived the storm. And just when it seems like he has the upper hand and is about to turn the mane six into obsidian statues. Tempest jumps in to save them, reforming  herself and pushing the Storm King over the edge of the balcony so he smashes to pieces.

To conclude; The mane six’s ordinary world is disrupted so they are forced on a journey to save it. The journey is fraught with in-known lands and temptation. Our hero is at one point on the edge of failure but in the end was able to overcome the threat that hung over them before. This is what makes this movie a quest narrative. The movie fits this narrative well and wouldn’t be as effective as it is had it been told with the template of hero’s journey or voyage and return in mind. Twilight doesn’t refuse the call and she is not alone on her quest so these two templates just wouldn’t work with the story and with this movie it’s more about expanding the world of Equestria and beyond and it’s focused more on the journey not the pony taking it as the other two templates would be.

Bibliography

[1] - Booker, C (2005) The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories, continuum

[2]- My Little Pony: The Movie (2027 film) available at: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Little_Pony:_The_Movie_(2017_film)

[3]- Toon Boom Harmony animation production software available at:

https://www.toonboom.com/products/harmony

[4]- Hasbro. Dart, R,et al (2017) The Art Of My Little Pony The Movie, VIZ Media LLC

[5]- My Little Pony: The Movie (2017) Directed by Jayson Thiessen [DVD] United States, AllSpark Pictures

[6]- Unknown. (C.1800 BC) The Epic Of Gilgamesh, Ancient Mesopotamia, self published  Clay tablet. Pdf available at:

https://uruk-warka.dk/Gilgamish/The%20Epic%20of%20Gilgamesh.pdf

I actually wasn’t expecting this draft to be the final one. I do think this is an improvement though. I got the word count down to 1,509, just by cutting out some necessary dribble that I realized wasn’t needed. 

[journey2maya]

Narratology: Second Draft

Analyse your chosen narrative with close reference to the Hero’s Journey or another appropriate template

For this essay I have chosen to talk about the narrative structure of the 2017 film My Little Pony: The Movie. I will be making a structural analysis with reference to the Quest plot type as described in Cristopher Booker’s The seven basic plots. [1] to paraphrase; in any quest story there is always a priceless goal which drives the hero’s passion to succeed. The hero and some companions must embark on a perilous journey filled with monsters, temptation and helpers, to reach their goal. The story is unresolved until the overriding objective has been secured.[Booker 2004 pg 69] I will be taking a look at how the animation enriches the narrative through choice of design and also touch on how the songs drive the narrative at certain points.

The movie was produced by DHX media in collaboration with AllSpark pictures using Toon Boom Harmony production software [2] which specialises in integrating 3D elements with 2D characters. [3] the film emphasises traditional animation and is supported throughout with modern 3-D solutions. The TV show is animated using flash and along with this change of animation software there also came a change in art style. To quote Art Director Rebecca Dart; for the feature film, the characters became more volumetric overall, meaning they have more of a roundness and softness for the 360 degree world of Equestria and beyond that we created for the movie.” [4] This extract from the ‘art of’ book shows a comparison of the two styles.

Figure 1. A style comparison. Page 20, 2017 [4]

These small changes really make the difference on the big screen and giving the ponies’ ears an inside fold allows the ears to swivel and be more expressive, closer to real life horse ears. The shimmer of the eyes also adds to the depth of emotion and these small changes are an example of how small changes really make the difference.

The plot of the movie is as follows; Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Rarity embark on an epic journey to save Equestria from the tyranny of the Storm King. Along the way, the Mane 6 meet new friends and face challenges as they travel beyond Equestria for the first time ever. From this summary we can pick out the key features of a quest story. The call; a sudden threat has arisen that gives purpose to a journey. [Booker, 2005 pg. 70] for this story it’s the threat of the Storm King.  The hero’s companions; Apple Jack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy and Rarity, along with the dragon assistant spike, accompany Twilight on her quest. The journey; the essential party of any quest story where our hero and their companions go through a series of terrible ordeals, receive help and guidance and are met with challenges they must overcome [Booker, 2005 pg. 73]. For the mane six this spans most of the movie. They go to a range of locations that play respective roles in pushing the narrative and I’ll be looking at each location in further detail. The helpers; characters that serve as an aid to the hero and her companions [Booker, 2005 pg. 77] ( the new friends they meet along the way) the helpers in this particular movie are quite important as they not only help during the journey but they also in what booker calls the ‘final ordeal’ it is the last battle between good and evil, where the hero comes to the edge of their goal [Booker,2005 pg. 78].

At the start of the film we see the ponies preparing for the first official Friendship Festival in Canterlot, Equestrias capital. Everywhere is bustling. The event is highly anticipated and each of the mane six are helping prepare by putting up decorations,and erecting tents and booths to sell many different wares through this we get introductions to our characters, including spike, to show a little of their personality. This is important because it makes the characters seem more real. They’re not just an accessory to Twilight's adventure, they’re individuals and they’re part of it in a big way.  Twilight Sparkle, the unofficial leader of the friend group, is being true to character and is worried that the festival won’t be perfect. As the Princess Of Friendship the pressure is all on her to make sure that everypony has a good time. Twilight’s friends rally around her in an attempt to reassure her that everything will be fine in the form of the song ‘We Got This Together.’

This song highlights the mane six’s teamwork and interpersonal relationship as strong. This Song also carries heavy foreshadowing as it implies that true to form, of a quest story, everything is certainty not going to go to plan but that the mane six will indeed face any problem together. However the genial atmosphere is cut with a knife when dark clouds loom over Canterlot, blackening the perfectly clear sky. Normally this wouldn’t be anything to worry about but in the lore of MLP, Pegasi ponies can control the weather. Twilight even gets frustrated because she “ordered perfect weather.” It’s a huge contrast to the previously established setting.

We are introduced to our first antagonist: Tempest Shadow. A jaded unicorn motivated by anger and a wish to be whole again. She is dedicated to being the Storm Kings Hench-pony and chief bounty hunter, all so he can retire her horn after she delivers on the promise to retrieve the magic of the four princesses for the Storm King’s use. Tempest is supposed to look different and like an outcast because it relates to her story arc and past. She has a darker palette than we would normally see which instantly makes her read as an antagonist. She doesn’t look like the other characters and we don’t know her so we shouldn’t trust her. A great example of changes the design department made were for the better.

Figure 2. Design concepts for ‘Cosmos’ as Tempest was originally going to be called.Pg 46 2017 [4]

Tempest asks for surrender which, of course he princesses refuse. This is when things go from bad to worse. An army of Storm creatures are revealed as their air ships emerge from the fog. They come down on Canterlot, capturing ponies who dare to flee.

Tempest turns Three of the  princesses,Celestia Luna and Cadence, into obsidian statues.

Figure 3. Cadence is about to be engulfed [5] 2017

Figure 3. Twilight saves Princess Luna from smashing to pieces [5] 2017

The final words of Princess Celestia, to her sister Luna, is to fly south and seek the help from the queen of the hippo…

She is unable to finish what she was going to say and Luna I’m unable to carry out the mission as they are both encased in an obsidian prison.Twilight is the only princess left and so, with her friends, they all make a daring escape over on of the waterfalls that make up Canterlots architecture. Unequivocally this is what Booker refers to as ‘the call’ [Booker, 2005 pg 70]] Tempest's arrival and disruption is the reason why the mane six must embark on the quest the Friendship Festival has gone terribly wrong and the stakes are high. Twilight and her friends have to make this journey to set things right. As said in Booker, ‘surrounded by an atmosphere of menace and construction, the Quest hero and her friends feel under intense compulsion to get away.” [Booker 2005, pg 71]  This is exactly what has happened to the mane six and we now have a definite goal- to save Equestria from the Storm King and Tempest Shadow.

The next stage, perhaps one of the most defining of a quest story that Christopher Booker has identified, which is certainly present in the movie, is that Twilight isn’t alone in the journey she has to take. Twilight is accompanied by her friends who each have their own virtues and abilities that contribute to the success of the adventure. Or to the detriment.

Pinkie pie is a particularly important part of Twilights company as she represents one of the 4 basic forms that a hero’s companion should be. A subtle alter-ego whose role is to serve as a foil, displaying qualities of the opposite of those shown by the hero.[Booker 2005 pg 72] for example in the ‘Epic Of Gilgamesh’ whenever Gilgamesh displays assets of courage and confidence it is Enkidu, his brother, who expresses fear and doubt. [Unknown, C.1800 BC tablet 2] In the MLP Movie when Twilight shows concern and worry, Pinkie Pie is only concerned about how much fun can be had and she derails the situation with her silly antics.

Through all the obstacles that the Mane 6 face. Their arrival in seaquestria is the most crucial. It is where Twilight is faced with one of the specific obstacles that Booker notes must be present. Twilight succumbs to a temptation. Seaquestria is the underwater world that the hippogriffs were forced to inhabit to hide from the Storm King. The Queen of the hippogriffs used a magic pearl to turn her subjects into sea ponies. Pinkie pie makes friends with Queen Novos daughter, Princess Skystar and Twilight realised that the pearl can transform the ponies of Canterlot into

An army that can defeat the Storm King however Novo refuses to give her it. The mane six go to leave but notice that Skystar is sad because her new friends are leaving. Twilight, surprisingly, encourages Pinkie pie to cheer her up with a song. When the song is finished we find out that this was just a ploy so everyone would be distracted whilst twilight tries to steal the pearl.

Figure 4. Twilight is tangled in the jellyfish cage that guards the pearl. [5] 2017

This leads to The mane six’s forced exit from seaquestria and more importantly Twilights downfall. Because Pinkie Pie was able to cram a lifetime of fun into one song the hippogriffs were going to give them the pearl as a thank you. Twilights lack of faith in her friends causes a big argument between her and Pinkie Pie which leaves twilight sitting alone on a greyscale beach. This makes her look even more isolated and alone as she is the only colourful thing in the scene. She is captured by Tempest who has been on the groups tail since the start. Tempest shares her backstory with Twilight. This gives us an insight into tempests motivation and creates a vulnerability in her. and she is taken back to Canterlot where we finally see the Storm King in full glory as he is able to steal the magic from all four princesses, channelling it through the staff of succannas, becoming omnipotent in the process. The Storm King casts Tempest aside, refusing to restore her horn as he had promised he would.

After Twilight is captured and left weak without her magic we get the last stage of a classic quest story; the final ordeal Where the heroes come to the edge of their great goal [Booker 2004 pg 78] Twilight’s friends engage in an epic battle against the storm creatures with the help of Skystar and some other friends they made on their journey. Near the end of the battle the staff creates a wretched Storm that takes Twilight, the Storm King and the staff away. Twilight's friends are of course distraught but this is the part in the story where our hero has her last ‘thrilling escape from death’ [Booker 2005 pg 83] and returns with the staff and settles the skies.

Unfortunately the fight isn’t over as the Storm King also survived the storm. it seems like he has the upper hand and is about to turn the mane six into obsidian statues. Tempest jumps in front of the mane six to save them, reforming  herself and pushing the Storm King over the edge so he smashes to pieces. The mane six save tempest and together the seven of them release the princesses and save equestria. Our hero Twilight has reached her goal and so the quest has ended.

This version was more focused but it was still too detailed. I took out the images that weren’t needed and I went in a slightly different direction. Choosing only to focus on one of the locations the mane six voyage to so I could focus on it more and make a more detailed and structured analysis. 

[journey2maya]

Narratology: Essay First Draft

Analyse your chosen narrative with close reference to the Hero’s Journey or another appropriate template.

When people think about My Little Pony they often cast their mind back to the 80’s- 90’s film and various TV show iterations that were mainly made to sell toys. Therefore, anything that’s even remotely My Little Pony related will have that edge of nostalgia. I’ve always been a fan of My Little Pony, the 2010 reboot of the show, of which the 2017 movie is based on, means a great deal to me which is why I’ve chosen to analyse the movie for my essay.

The movie was produced by DHX media in collaboration with AllSpark pictures, using Toon Boom Harmony production software [ ] which specialises in integrating 3D elements with 2D characters. [ ] What’s also interesting is the ponies received a ‘slight makeover’ in the art style department. The art style from the movie is different to that of the show. This can most notably be seen with the character rainbow dash.

Fig 1. Rainbow Dash from the movie

Fig 2. Rainbow Dash from the show

As you can see, Fig 1shows  the inner ear shape is different and the ears themselves are slightly pointed. This allows the ears to be more expressive and to be more akin to real life horse ears. The line art is thinner and is a darker tone of the inside colour to increase appeal and ease of animation. The eyes were given sparkles and transparent highlights as opposed to the harsh white ones in the show style. This adds emotion to the characters and requires less detail in the line art stage.

There is a deleted scene that was set to act as a prologue to the movie. It gives a bit of exposition to those who aren’t familiar with the shows lore using beautifully animated and designed stained glass windows

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=58gHan8imw4

The plot of the movie is undoubtedly that of a quest. To give an overview; the menacing Storm King invades Canterlot with with intentions to steal the magic from the four princesses. It’s up to the mane six, they must make a journey that takes them outside the borders of equestria for the first time, travelling through a seedy town, an undersea world and engaging in a thrilling race to save Equestria from the Storm King’s rein.

At the start of the film we see the ponies preparing for the first ever friendship festival in Canterlot, Equestrias capital. Everything is exciting and happy. We get miniature introductions to the rest of the mane six, including spike, to show a little of their personality. This is important because it makes the characters seem more real. They’re not just an accessory to Twilight's adventure, they’re individuals and they’re part of it in a big way.  Twilight Sparkle, the unofficial leader of the friend group, is being true to character and is worried that the festival won’t be perfect. As the Princess Of Friendship the pressure is all on her to make sure that everypony has a good time. Twilight’s friends rally around her in an attempt to reassure her that everything will be fine in the form of a song. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=b29_SumLQv8

The song ‘We Got This Together” prooves to be very important during the movie. It represents the code of teamwork and relationship between the mane six. It is called back to throughout the movie. It is also important because the song ends when Pinkie Pie launches a giant 5-tier cake which lands on top of Twilight, spilling out everywhere because the ‘easy bake confetti cannon’ didn’t go exactly as planned. We then get the first stage of a classic quest story; the call.

Dark clouds loom over Canterlot, blackening the perfectly clear sky. Normally this wouldn’t be anything to worry about but in the lore of MLP, Pegasi ponies can control the weather. Twilight even gets frustrated because she “ordered perfect weather.” It’s a huge contrast to the start of the film. Morale was high and everypony was happy, enjoying the facilities. The sky was clear and bright, colourful and pastel.

We are introduced to our first antagonist. Tempest shadow. The Storm Kings Loyal henchman/ bounty hunter.

Fig 3. Tempest asks for surrender

Tempest instantly stands out as a character. Hwr colour palette is darker than normal, most characters in the film and tv show have a Pastel or bright colour palette. It is often only the antagonists that have the darker look which is why Princess Luna despite being one of the protagonists, has a darker palette as she used to be the tyrannical Nightmare moon but bass reformed by the mane six. Tempest is also a unicorn with a broken horn, making her even more of an outsider to the audience.

When the princesses refuse to surrender their magic an army of airships emerge from the fog and the Storm guards jump down from Tempest’s skiff to terrorise and capture the ponies.

Fig 4. The Storm guards reveal their existence

Tempest turns the three princesses, Celestia, Luna and Cadence, into obsidian statues.

Fig 5. Princess Cadence has been affected

Fig 6. Twilight saves Princess Luna from smashing to pieces

Before Celestia is completely encased in this prison she tells Luna to fly south and seek help from the queen of the hippogriffs but is cut off and only manages to say hippo. Twilight over hears this and managed to escape with her friends by going over one of the waterfalls that make up caterlots architecture.

This scene is recognised as the call because it sets the journey in nothing and gives us a need for one. Princess Celestia is Twilight’s mentor and therefore acts as the wise old man figure in the film. She gives the mane six the goal of the quest which is believed to be the task of finding the queen of the hippos and that was all Twilight heard.

The next identifying factor of a quest story, perhaps one of the most defining which is certainly present in the movie, is Twilight isn’t alone in taking this journey towards her new-found goal. Twilight is accompanied by her friends who each have their own virtues and abilities that contribute to the success of the adventure.

The first of Twilight's friends to show this is Rarity, the element of generosity. The ponies are trudging through a desert, exhausted and near hallucination until they come across a city and we’re introduced to our first key location; Kludgetown.

The city is run- down. It’s dark and made of sharp angles and shapes where as Canterlot is very round and picturesque. This contrasts with the mane six also. It reiterates that they really are far from home and makes them seem very small as the world has now because much bigger and more unknown.

Fig 5. A comparison between Kludgetown and Canterlot exteriors

Pinkie Pie inevitably draws attention to the mane six by asking directions. This gets the mane six cornered by the locals who try to buy the mane six's' possessions such as spike, and Rarity’s hair.

At this point we are introduced to our first helper character, Capper, an anthropomorphic con-artist cat

This iteration of my essay was far too long. It was well over the word limit and I hadn’t even got to the conclusion yet. I went into far too much detail and gave too much context where it wasn’t needed. Some of images were also unnecessary.