meganaw99-blog

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Thesis 28: ‘The Lonely Crowd’

In this thesis Debord explains that our economic system is founded on isolation and that consumer goods like televisions, phones and cars have the ability to isolate us. They serve as weapons for the system, reinforcing the isolation of ‘the lonely crowd’.

I chose this example because this thesis is arguably still relevant today. This is because, whether people are on trains, sat together at lunch or walking, the majority of people are on their phones, isolating ourselves.

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Some personal work I have started . . .

After over hearing some second years talking about the British Sound Library I decided to check it out. I was overwhelmed by the amount of recorded interviews, with all different walks of life. After spending hours choosing, I decided to take a section of Judith Kingscott’s oral history (1 of 12) to animate. I choose this interview because it reminded me of my granddad. This is because like Kingscott’s father, he never told me about his past and the challenges he faced. I started off by doing initial, quick sketches from my imagination as I listen to the recording. I then progressed onto story boarding and doing some animated tester sections. My plan is to continue with this after the assessment, do more research, experimentation before finishing my animation.

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Tate Exchange 

I joined Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance at the Tate for an evening of dancing. I got to observe dancing in its rawest form, no rehearsals, just pros and the general public dancing to the beat, with no rules or constraints. I found it hard to capture this, it came to a blur of bodies, 20 became one as they moved together. to the music. I enjoyed the challenge. and this is the result.

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Mouni Feddag

I really appreciate the way Feddag draws characters, especially how they are able to capture the human form. Whether this be how they capture a person walking with a heavy load or watering some plants. I like how they exaggerate the human form at times, using only simple shapes and colour to describe weight and suggest movement. 

I have decide to use Feddag work as inspiration for my characters in my new crowd scene based on Swindon Outlet Centre’s Easter Safari.

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Trip to the Natural History Museum 

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I have enjoy creating our board game Whirlwind Romance. In the review what people liked most about our game was our character cards and our narrative. The game works by people collecting (gaining boyfriends) and losing (gaining ex’s) character cards as they follow the path to the church. The aim is to get to the church with the least number of exes. The scenario cards depicted what would happen in your love life as you moved round the board. People testing our game felt emotionally involved, especially at times where the game allowed the player to make their own decisions, for example, picking what boyfriend to keep. In terms of improvement, I feel we needed to write more detailed rules, as well as come up with a way that you don’t end up with more than one boyfriend at the end to marry.

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Introduction to captions, Portfolio show and tell

In this seminar we looked at a number of different portfolios. The ones that worked best where those that  . . .

organised and presented clearly - every page had a similar format and aesthetic, this helped to maintain continuity. 

had blank page at the beginning, with just key information, set the tone of the portfolio.

had a strong first page and a strong last page. The best finished with a dynamic image.

demonstrated content, process and context throughout 

didn't overcrowd the page, sometimes just one image can be more powerful.

We also discussed captions, which should describe what the works about, as well as, the project/ brief it was made for (with module code).

Need to think about . . .

 How it was made? The scale? My approach? 

(potentially hyperlinking my GIFs and animation from Vimeo, and hide hyperlink in text)

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Week 10: 11th March. Play & Participation: Children's Media

This week we focused on a specific target audience of animation and illustration, by analysing work aim at children. We looked at arrange of different media, but in particular how illustrators and animators engage children.

For me an important part of children’s media is character. They shouldn’t be to complicated but complicated enough so that a child can feel a connection to them, whether this connection is formed through the child identifying with another child in illustrated books like Snoopy and Charlie Brown or come to adore a dog from Paw Patrol, or dream to be a princess like Cinderella. The most successful illustrations and animations aim at children are ones that make use of children’s imagination, making use of play and creativity.

Alice Through the Ages 

Alice is a good example, in my opinion, of how media aimed at children  has changed through the ages. The characters and narratives are the same in essence, but the medium and style in which these are depicted has changed dramatically. The original illustrated book has been adapted into an animation by Disney and then into a film in 2010, during this time colour has been added, forms simplified and the narrative twisted to suit a modern audience. 

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, John Tenniel, 1865

Alice in Wonderland (1951 film)

Alice in Wonderland (2010 film)

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Story Hacker Workshop

Research Week

This week I learnt about how storytelling is changing. It is something that is no longer constrained to the page or even the screen. VR and AR are changing how we communicate to an audience. Myra talked about her involved with ‘Somnai’, an immersive experience based on lucid dreaming. She explained the importance of VR and interactive theater in her project and how they were vital in provoking true emotions of fear and happiness. I also got my first look at Unity. I’m interested in having a go with this, maybe use some tutorials to create simple games.

Linked is my groups immersive theater murder mystery game  

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1rkEzNnZgxfMZRfV0I4hj4NRsZFeAFwJIOWOSXfXwcEY/edit?usp=sharing

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Week 9: 4th March. Spatial Design

This week we looked at illustration and animation beyond the confines of the page or the screen, and instead looked at them in public spaces, in the form of street art and installations. We also questioned how the ‘space’ in which these animations/ illustrations exist influences the body and how to experience art.

‘No Ball Games’ Banksy in Tottenham 

Banksy: ‘The people who truly deface our neighbourhoods are the companies that scrawl giant slogans across buildings and buses trying to make us feel inadequate unless we buy their stuff. They expect to be able to shout their message in your face from every available  surface but you’re never allowed to answer back. Well, they started the fight and the wall is the weapon of choice to hit them back’(in Young 2014,  p. 28-9) 

I like this idea of being able to 'answer back’. Its alright for companies to dominate public spaces with their advertisements and messages designed to make us feel dishearten, making us buy into their products and services, so they can line their pockets. However, it is considered wrong and unlawful for us to respond. Its vandalism! A violation of property! When questionably street artists like Banksy, are just using these companies weapon against them.  

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Iveta Karpathyova 

Karpathyova is a Canadian illustrator/animator, who specializes in hand drawn rotoscoping and visual music. I have learnt form her ways of showing my animations statically in my portfolio. For example, for my experimental animations and my animatic, I might show the number of frames I made, as well as, how I created them. 

http://www.ivetaka.com/about

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After researching Eleanor Davis comic ‘In Our Eden’ I was asked to redraw a page from someones else’s chosen comic using Davis’ style (as shown above). I was given a page from Brecht Evens comic 'Patherman’ (as shown below). I found this a challenge, especially because Evens ignores comic conventions. He doesn’t use panels, or guttering, to separate his drawing, instead all his drawing exist in the same frame. They format their comics very different to tell their story.

Brecht Evens ‘Patherman’

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Eleanor Davis

American illustrator and cartoonist who creates work for both adults and children. The pages below are from her book ‘How to Be Happy’. Davis’s style varies greatly in ‘How to Be Happy’, which is comprised of lots of short stories, one of which is ‘In Our Eden’. What drew me to this, was how Davis can create detailed emotive illustrations, using simple of colour as her medium. Her work is expressive, although uncomplicated. 

http://www.tcj.com/reviews/how-to-be-happy/ - A Helpful article

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Week 7: 19th February. Comics and Visual Narrative

In this lecture we looked at sequential art and comics as a way of visually telling stories. We picked apart comics looking at how every panel and the way it is composed on the page, effects the narrative. The composition, shape and size of panels can influence the pace of the narrative and create tension through juxtaposition. This varies depending on not only genre of the comic but also the culture its produced in and for.

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Introduction to InDesign and capturing work

This Friday I was inducted on InDesign and set up my 20 page portfolio. I then began organizing my work, looking back through past projects and noting down what I might want to include. I started scanning in and photographing my work, especially from my sketchbooks to support my final pieces. 

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Steve Simpson

Best known for his hand lettered packaging design, playful character designs and illustrated barcodes. 

I have found Steve Simpsons online portfolio unique, in the way that many focus on mainly content, neglecting process and context. Simpson’s portfolio is an archive of different projects he has undertaken, which mainly focus on marketing. For each project, Simpson has included a digital version of his illustrations, as well as the context in which these illustrations were used. For example, Simpson’s ‘Universal Studios Cup’ project includes rough sketches, digital worked up illustrations and the final illustration in its context. This demonstrates all three areas of capturing and presenting work. 

Another of Simpson’s projects was a book cover design for ‘Good Red Herring’, written by Susan Maxwell's. This has given me ideas on how I might present my book covers, especially after continuing on with the Penguin Design brief and entering the competition. 

https://stevesimpson.com/good-red-herring-jacket

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Going On a Walk from Calne to Chippenham

After receiving the brief  ‘ Editing and sequence: Interpretation Adaptation pt.1 – Research’, I decided to do some research into my own towns history in Wiltshire. I found out upon visiting the local heritage centre, that around the same time of the American Civil war, a train station and tracks were laid between my home town of Calne and the neighboring town of Chippenham. The station has now closed and little of the track remains. A cycle path now marks where the track once was. I decided to go location drawing analysing all what remains of the past.