#its more of an exercise in commitment and linear visual storytelling

[mrsthunderkin]

Consistency? Who's she?

Part 2 >>> Part 4

[cameron-ashurst22]

Week 14 - Weekly Summary

Day 1 -Research project  

The hero’s journey lecture 

Proppian analysis 

Lack or desire often external; a thing that can be acquired.

The procreation reason, a star ends in sexual union or its symbolic manifestation through marriage.

The psychological reason, stories separate the disparate parts of our psyche .

Christopher Vogler:Three act structure (Act 1- separation), (Act 2- descent and initiation), (Act 3)

The 12 stages of the heroes journey according to Christopher vogler 

Ordinary world(exposition)

The hero has to be shown in his ordinary world to create vivid contrast with the strange new world he is about to enter.

2.   The call to adventure 

The hero is presented with a problem,, challenge or adventure to undertake.Once presented with a call to adventure, she can no longer remain indefinitely in the comfort of the ordinary world.

3. Refusal of the call (if the story features a reluctant hero)

Often at this point the hero balk at the threshold of adventure, refusing the call or expressing reluctance.

4. Meeting with the Mentor ( not present in all stories)

The function of the mentor is to prepare the hero to face the unknown. They may give advice, guidance or magical equipment.

5. Crossing the Threshold

Now the hero finally commits to the adventure and fully enters the special world of the story for the first time. Vogler says ‘ this is the moment when the story takes off and the adventure really gets going’.

6. Tests , allies enemies 

Once across the threshold the hero naturally encounters new challenges and tests, make Sallie and enemies, and begins to learn the rules of the special world.

7. Approach to the inmost cave 

The hero comes at the last to the edge of a dangerous place… where the objet of the quest is hidden. In this stage the hero makes preparations to enter the inmost cave.

8. The ordeal( Midpoint ,death and rebirth)

Here the fortunes of the hero hit bottom in a direct confrontation with his greater fear.The audience is held in suspense:will the hero live or die?

9.Reward ( seizing the sword)

The hero now takes the possession of the treasure she has come seeking, her reward. The sword could be important knowledge or experience.

10.The road back

The hero is not out of the woods yet. He may be pursued by vengeful forces that have been disturbed by the seizing of the sword, the elixir or the treasure.

11.Resurrection (climax)

This is the final test for the hero, who has to be tested once more to see if he has really learned the lessons of the ordeal.The hero is transformed by the experience.

12. Return with the elixir( denouement)

The hero returns to the ordinary world, but the journey is meaningless unless she brings back some elixir, treasure or lesson from the special world.

Modern day plot of revelation:

The infinite detailing of existents

Events take a lesser role

Character orientated 

Existents-

Characters 

Settings

Actions-

Actions 

Happenings 

2d storytelling where the protagonists don’t change. Change comes through overcoming a problem in the show itself or bring change to another character.

The 7 basic plots- Christopher Booker 2004

-Overcoming the monster - the protagonist must defeat an antagonistic force which threatens the protagonist and/or homeland

-Rags to riches- the poor protagonist acquires things such as power, wealth and a mate, before losing it all and gaining it back upon growing as a person.

-The quest- the protagonist and some companions set out too acquire an important object or get to a location facing many obstacles and temptations along the way.

-voyage and return- the protagonist goes to a strange land, and after overcoming the threats it poses to him/her, returns with nothing but experience.

-comedy- light and humorous with a happy or cheerful ending.Central motif is the triumph over adverse circumstance, resulting in a successful or happy conclusion.

-Tragedy- the protagonist is a villain who falls from grace and whose deaths is a happy ending.

-Rebirth- the protagonist is a Willian or otherwise unlikable character who redeems him/herself over the course of a story.

Traditional vs experimental animation

Traditional animation tends to imply that it is a film that tells a story in movie drawings…. And contains what has been called personality animations with which the narratives protagonists are played.But experimental animation can be more like graphic art in motion.

Paul wells signposts of experimental animation

Abstraction

-Might use shapes and forms rather than traditional character.More about rhythm and movement in their own right.

Specific non-continuity 

-Rejects ‘logical and linear continuity’. Prefers illogical and sometimes multiple continuities.

Interpretive form

-Subjective rather than objective.

Evolution of materiality

 -Concentrating on its very materiality.Colour shape and texture evoke certain moods and ideas and give pleasure in their own right.

Multiple style 

-freely combines styles and techniques, to best express the artists ’vision’ and ‘ challenge and rework orthodox codes and conventions’

Presence of the artist 

-these films are personal and subjective. Trying to reflect an absolutely individual vision.

Dynamics of musicality

-music becomes very important in experimental films which may resist dialogue.Trying to make visual music.

Riffing 

The term is used by Gerald Mast in Film theory and criticism(1974) for the technique used by short films In which gags take precedence over story.The film establishes a basic premise and ‘riffs’ on the possible consequences of this idea.

Day 2 - Stop motion induction

Today we had an induction into stop motion with Tine Kluth a well known stop motion animator and director who had worked on such projects like shaun the sheep and the clangers. I found the induction very interesting as  initially I was sceptical if I would enjoy doing stop motion animation. However I really did enjoy creating the movement for a test piece regarding to robot characters.The premise of moving each part of the model ever so slightly although I thought was time consuming was very fulfilling as seeing a smooth movement sequence come to life showed how I could use stop motion further in the future. We were split into teams and I was teamed up with Billy and James and we had the idea of making our robot characters walk towards each of and embrace . This movement helped enhance the puppets as we and clearly see the contrast between the characters and the relationship that they have together. However we found that we could get lost between frames not knowing were the next movement of the puppets should take place. To rectify this we kept playing the animation after every new frame was taken to ensure that the process was smooth and gave the best result.

Day 2- life drawing 

Today I life drawing the focus was on the medium of charcoal as the first exercise ensured that we covered the entire page in charcoal and used a rubber to create contrast and draw the figure.Initially I struggled with this concept as my charcoal base was too thick and using the charcoal stick onto of that to draw there was no defined lines to be created and I couldn’t see the figure.In the end two drawings of the first exercise I began to feel more comfortable and expressive with the medium and decided to add more depth to the shading to give highlights and tone.The final exercise of the day was to draw the figure with the charcoal background being present for an hour.I decided to focus heavily on the face and torso as I felt that I should practice more on facial expression as it could benefit my late work. The outcome of this looked good as there was a clear contrast from the background to the figure.However I could have placed more emphasis around the eyes as I feel like the eyes were lost in the background of the piece.