soundsartblog - Tumblr blog

[soundsartblog]

[soundsartblog]

Backwaters of Kerala, India

Digital drawing done in Procreate

[soundsartblog]

Any feedback is appreciated :)

[soundsartblog]

Trying to get some practice with my Wacom before going off to uni

Any feedback is appreciated

[soundsartblog]

Reflection 8

With the animation being finished, I think there were some bits i could’ve improved on. I think if the timing of the animation was longer then it would’ve been more obvious to the audience what I’m trying to convey with the type of society the characters are in. I think the current animation is more subtle with my proposal but still conveys what I want it to, just in a more ambiguous way.

I think the colours could’ve been more stronger, it feels a bit faint but the colours that I wanted to be in the animation were there.

Overall I think the animation went well and I also managed to finish on time. I also got the storyboards done so I think almost everything is finished and it’s just the paperwork I have left to do.

[soundsartblog]

Artist Inspiration: Hayao Miyazaki

Hayao Miyazaki is a Japanese animator, director, screenplay writer and best known as the co-founder of Studio Ghibli. Miyazaki’s anime style films and he is also known as one of the greatest animation filmmakers. 

His films are flawless due to the amount of labour that is put into each film. The animators that work on these works alongside Miyazaki have a strict deadline and a lot of the time don’t end up finishing things such as storyboards. The work is meticulous and extremely detailed.

I really love Miyazaki’s films, especially the unique characters he comes up with. The stories that he does are so inspiring and has a hint of innocence and freshness to it. These works are made to enhance the imagination of the viewers, making them youthful and adventurous. The whole film itself, when you start stripping the work off, you realise that the detail and making of it is so complex and I think that’s what I also really appreciate about Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki.

Photos from ‘The Art of Spirited Away’

[soundsartblog]

Reflection 7

With the animation coming along, I can see how my research has gone hand in hand with my animation. I’ve put a lot of references that I researched about and shows a short snippet of someone’s last day and how they celebrate it with their friends and family.

From the beginning, the children are the only people that are recognisable along with a mother and a nurse. The nurse doesn’t really hold any significance but the mother does. As the audience sees, she will be wearing a white dress, signifying the death of someone, in this case, her child as the child will know when they are going to die.

As the animation progresses, the main character will wake up from a slumber and suddenly realise something, prompting them to leave their bedroom and a celebration occurs outside their room, since it is their last day. People are happy, they are talking and eating, music is playing in the background - referencing the different ways some cultures celebrate death. The main character realises it’s time to go and stands up and goes back into their room. I’ve also included references to a grave, the ground being brown and the door being grey so the main character ‘goes into their grave’ at the end.

Through this animation, we see that the people here in this society are happy knowing about their death and other peoples’ deaths. It seems like a utopian society where it seems like people are almost excited to die which is odd because the reaction is usually the opposite. To the audience, it would probably make them feel confused, thinking why people are happy knowing their last day and why they would be celebrating it, to them it might be a weird dystopian society where people have been brought up to think that certain way, much like the earlier books I read (Fahrenheit 451 and The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas). To the reader, they probably thought the characters weren’t normal.  

[soundsartblog]

Character design

The character that I’ve done is very cartoony I think. Her body proportions aren’t proportional but I still think it makes it look quite childish which brings back the idea of innocence as children seem more innocent. I think I messed up on the feet, they don’t look the way I want it to look in the first drawing but in the second and third, they look fine.

[soundsartblog]

Environment design

I liked the design of the hospital and the fineliner that I used really brings out the sharpness and detail of the building.

Using the pencil for my bedroom design was different as well as it was very sketchy and quick. I really liked it.

I think the only thing I would want to improve is maybe be more detailed with the pencil one as well, at least make sure the lines are straight the drawing isn’t wonky. I would also like to add colours to both the drawings. I might use crayon or oil pastels to match the sketchiness of the pencil drawing and watercolours for the pen to make the drawing soft and light.

[soundsartblog]

Reflection 6

I’ve started doing the key frames in my animation and finished my storyboards. I might be making my key frames slightly too detailed as I’m going over in the next layer so I’ve lost some time doing that. With my plan, I should be able to finish my animation on time. I might have to change my proposal slightly as I’ve delved a little further away from dystopia/ utopia and more into death with an element of dystopia or utopia.

Overall, my animation seems to be going fine and I should be able to finish on time.

[soundsartblog]

Reflection 5

I’ve changed my story again. With all the research that I’ve been doing, I wanted to make my story a more positive one. With my last story I think I was trying to deliberately make it sad and emotional which would make the audience probably more biased and think it was a dystopian society of knowing when you were going to die. 

I’ve started environment design roughly according to my script that i’ve done. I thought that my background characters should be plain, not only because they’re not part of the story but more the fact that I want them to be slightly robotic.I thought about what i would make my extra characters or background characters look like and I thought about making them just faceless human bodies. I think making them plain takes away ‘human’ from the characters. I kind of want it to look like they’re all the same and all thinking the same thing.The characters I want to do and draw completely, I want to make them look more human because I want them to showcase innocence and purity, like they’re ignorantly happy but not damaging anyone in any way. I don’t want the audience to be able to relate to them, I want them to solely focus on the main characters as it’s the day that the main character will die, not the supporting characters.

I’m still having some of the same elements in a lot of my stories but the plot is different each time. I think that this story will be the one I will stick with and progress as I do think I will be able to get this done in time, compared to my other stories where I’ve been slightly over-ambitious.

[soundsartblog]

The Brand New Testament

Brand New Testament is a Belgian movie about God and how he lives with his family, his wife and his son and daughter in an apartment in Brussels. God is seen to be abusive with his 10 year old daughter Ea. It is revealed that God created mankind specifically for him to torture. He does this via a computer that he has. One day, after being hit by her father, she decides to rebel against him and accesses the computer. On the computer it shows everyone’s exact death dates which Ea sends to everyone via text.

After Ea’s actions, everyone goes into a frenzy, doing what they want knowing that this will not be the day they day. Ea decides to write a Brand New Testament, following her brother’s (Jesus Christ) footsteps. She goes around to find her apostles and in a way, helps and encourages them to do what they would never dream about doing, especially now that they know when they’re going to die.

This was a really interesting concept. The fact that God is a writer and in an apartment in Brussels is really funny but the other thing I was really surprised about was why anyone would intentionally go and hurt themselves or hurt others, knowing they weren’t going to die that day. If I knew when I was going to die, I think I would still go on about my life normally instead of trying dangerous things. However, I feel like that was the partly the point of the whole movie. Thinking, ‘what’s the point of being so safe when you know you’re not going to die anyway’.

[soundsartblog]

The Sinking of MV Sewol

MV Sewol sinking is known to be one of Korea’s most tragic disaster. There were over 200 students that died in the sinking and the Captain and the crew members were no where to be found. This story barely got any new coverage in Korea.

In their last moments, the students called out for help to the police and also called their families, telling them ‘goodbyes’ and ‘i love you’s’ as they sank.

This disaster gave me an idea. If the students and other members on board knew that they were going to die that day, would the events have played out differently, would they have calmly accepted death was coming or would they have been emotional.

[soundsartblog]

Reflection 4

I changed my story again because I felt that my new story was much better and a stronger idea for this theme compared to my last one. What I’m slightly worried about is the amount of time I have left to animate. I spoke with my personal tutor and as she read my script, she said that it would be better to cut off the dialogue or make it look like the sound was coming from elsewhere without having to show the character as the time it takes to animate lip-syncing will take a while.

I’ve also thought about cutting down while I animate so if I feel that I’m not able to finish the animation, it’s best that I cut down on ‘fluffy’ bits of the animation that adds to the amount of work. Realistically, I should be able to animate at least 30-40 seconds of a short film.

[soundsartblog]

undefined

To test different animation programs, this is a quick test of a girl turning around I did in FireAlpaca.

I thought that the brushes in this program were really fluid and drew accurately what I wanted. I also really like the style of the program. While using it, I found the settings a bit confusing and I don’t know if i would want to produce my animation in here due to the time constraint.

Overall, I think for short animations or gifs, I would use this program.

[soundsartblog]

Celebrating Death

While people usually mourn when their family or friends die, there are some cultures where death is celebrated.

New Orleans - Jazz Festival

The Jazz Festival in New Orleans, Louisiana. It’s a mix of West African, French and African American traditions. This festival merges the mourning and the celebrating the death of the deceased. There is usually a marching band that is provided by the family of the deceased. The band starts off by playing somber music, hymns for the mourning and then slowly progresses to more lively music after the dead are buried.

Bali - Cremation

A funeral ritual called Ngaben is performed to send the dead into the afterlife. It is a Buddhist ceremony. The dead are displayed as if they are sleeping and the family will treat them as if they are still alive, no tears are shed as they believe the dead are either reincarnated or have found enlightenment. The coffin is burnt, signifying that the spirit is free now to reincarnate. Those who help with the ceremony are honoured to do so as it is a sacred ceremony. Usually the more privileged burn the body within a few days after death but for the less privileged, they bury the body first and then cremate the body in a mass village ceremony.

Madagascar -  Turning Of The Bones

Famadihana is an important ceremony which requires the family of the deceased to remove their bodies from their crypts and rewrap them in fresh cloth. They then dance around the tomb along to live music. The point of this tradition is the belief that once the body is completely decomposed, the spirit is free to go to the afterlife. The custom usually has extended family members also attend the ceremony as a way of cementing and celebrating close family ties. The family also get blessings from the dead and tell stories about the dead.

Mexico - Dia de Muertos

Dia de Muertos is a holiday that is dated back to the Aztec Empire. The family of the deceased usually display a photo of the dead on their grave and bring their favourite things. This can include food or it can be an object. As the day goes on, they also tell stories about the dead in a way of keeping them alive. The reason the tradition is encouraged is so that the souls of the dead are present and are listening to the living’s prayers and stories.

[soundsartblog]

Death in Different Cultures

In many different cultures, there are a number of rituals they perform when it comes to death.

In Korea, cremation is a common thing that the people do. They usually put the cremated body into the colourful pot which is then displayed in their version of a funeral place or even made into colourful beads. These beads are not usually worn but could also be on display in a Korean home.

In China , white is worn to the funeral. This is mainly due to religion. Funeral mourning periods vary depending on the age of deceased but some are known to go on for 100 days. Some may hire professional wailers due to the belief that the younger generation in China do no show any emotion.

In Japan. death is celebrated as they believe that death is seen as liberation. In Japan, life is seen as cynical and linear so the dead are seen to power over the living, such as giving them a blessing or a curse. Deaths of family and relatives are also celebrated during a three day festival in August called Obon.

Ghana believes that there is an afterlife, also with a new tradition of having elaborate coffins. Funerals are a bigger affair and often costs more than weddings.

In the Hindu culture, it is preferred to die at home surrounded by family. Hindus also wear white to the funeral. No one brings any food to the wake but to a ceremony 13 days after the death. It is believed that the soul gets reincarnated according to one’s karma. The body is usually cremated and then poured down into the Ganges or in Rameshswaram.