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final /  translate and transform 

Overall, I think I had a nice topic area, but I didn’t do nearly as much as I wanted. I had first started this brief ages ago with a different plan - of using sound and visualising it, but I realised that was out of my knowledge (in the way I wanted to / present it) so, I decide last minute to change topics, so I didnt have nothing. 

I think found type Is a good topic - gets you looking around more, and you can findsome really interning typefaces - I really love the M that I found (above) in my radiator - its very modern and reminds me of arm chair. I would never have noticed this shape if I wasn't pushing myself to look for this project. 

I needed to monochrome them as the different  backgrounds meant there was too much going on - the B+W looks a lot better, especially when removed from the background complexity, stand alone, you can really see the form of the shapes. 

But, overall, this was a massive flop, and I didnt really achieve much, but at least I gave it a go. 

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Some found type around my house. I found more obvious ones - like headphones reflecting an O, but then some more abstract ones like the A - but these ones lead to more funky shapes which are more intriguing. I was trying to and a whole al[habet, but I didnt manage to get all of the letterforms. So, I decided I wanted t make a work. 

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Mindmap of ideas:

Here is a mind map of ideas, I think I found the idea of experimental type the most appealing, so I wanted to go with that - be more loose and free. I then thought about found type, everything around you looks like somehitn/could be formed into a letterform. 

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Transform and Translate / Research 

image 1. tree of codes. really like this book. turned his favourite book into  his own but cutting away words and letters. love the deconstructed aspect of this. how by removing things, limiting it to a bare Skelton, you can still create something new. 

image 2 -  not necessarily sure if this relates, but I loved this collage of faces over the phones. transforming the phones into a face to translate something about out love of selfies? who knows. I just really like the collage aspect, and since this is a short project, maybe something like that could be interesting. 

IMage 3 - verticle music, transforming sounds from a location, and puts it back into the surroundings in terms of music - you’re meant to listen to these in the location its for, which is really interesting. I ike the idea of something having to specific to a moment/place. 

image 4 - Dracula bbc’s billboard. I love this it’s translating vampires coming out at night by transforming knives into a shadow vampire. could I use shadows? that could be quite fun and experimental. 

image 5 - typefaces. could I transform something ordinary into a typeface? this is more up my street, I like experimental type. 

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Final outcomes / Briefcase walk through?: 

Excuse the shoddy quality and set up, this was a last minute idea. But I thought I should get a video of someone rummaging through it, showing the interactivity. So I got my housemate to do it - although it’s quite hard to watch her faff about with things... :)

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Final Outcomes / Briefcase Presentation 2/2

I ran out of time to get into the photography studio, so excuse the wrinkled backdrop. This is ‘what’s in the briefcase?’ brought to life, in spired by Craig Oldham. It delves into the theories of whats actually in Pulp Fiction’s briefcase. But, sadly, even in this project, you’ll never find out. 

I like it being presented in a briefcase, it works and adds a realism and interactiveness to it. but, it is just too bog for the artefacts I have made. I think I will defiantly (before the exhibition) make a smaller one, fitting the theme of handmade props

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Final outcomes / briefcase Presentation 1/2

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Final Prop List / Inventory 

I love how this turned out, I ended up printing on A4 but having the dimensions/margins of a ‘legal’ document – making it long and thin, as I thought this document seemed like a legal guideline on a film set. But I didn’t want the actual page size to be too awkward compared to everything else, so that’s why it is printed on a normal size. I added the theories that I am going to include on it, which really works as an inventory – you get a small glimpse at what’s inside the briefcase.

But looking at this, I could definitely see handwriting working for this – mixed with the Courier font, as I feel like it’s missing an slight relaxed theme to it – this is very structured. Maybe in the future, if I develop this project further, I’ll re-look into this.

NOTE. THE PHOTO CARDS 

they were not meant to be that small, I printed them wrong when I was trying to figure out what side to print the phtotpaper on, but I actually really liked how delicate this size was, so I decided to stick with it and above shows the final size/look to the photo cards. really glad I went black and white as it means nothing is detracted from the pirece its on. 

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Experiment: Handwriting on the prop list / inventory

This was a failed experiment. I tried a handwriting look to the prop list – like the call sheet had, but I don’t think it would work with the rest of my stuff; I don’t have handwriting anywhere else. It was also just too messy and unthought out. I think I would need to make a lot of handwriting trials if I wanted to do this, which I just don’t have time for. So, I think I should just keep to the Courier type, as it is cohesive with the rest of my project.

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Final Screenplay 

(printing and binding)

I printed off my final screenplay the right size this time…and made sure the washers on the back (binding) were spraypainted gold to fit the brad in the front, there isn’t too much colour difference. Even though the font looks rather large – it is size 12pt – that is the genuine size of screenplays, so I decided to keep it, so everything is cohesive with a genuine screenplay format. Overall, I think this turned out successful, and feels like you’re holding an actual (on the thin side) film script.

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Mock Print: Final Cigarette net 

images 1/2 show me testing out the net I made, to make sure it worked it worked, which it did. So, my next move was to mock print the designed net last 3. I used my printer at home, so the alignment is awful, and the colours are off, but these can be fixed by printing in uni. But it was hard to make on this flimsy printer paper, so I will defiantly be using some thick paper/thin card.

Tried the ‘foil’ with shiny wrapping paper and it really worked, didn’t bother trying tin foil as I knew it would never be this smooth. Very pleased with it - once it’s printed well.

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Final Red Apple Cigarettes 

Here shows my final cigarette prop - making of, and finished. I really like how it turned out - its a bot more orange than it would be, as the printer in uni was lacking some inks, but if anything, it makes it look even older - something I was going for - to reflect the time of the film - 90s. love the foil - think it really works. this was just shiny wrapping paper, foil would’ve been too crinkly. this wrapping paper creates a neat finish. The sticker adds some nice detail, making it feel like it;s really sealed up. overall, I am happy with this, the card stock 130gsm is thick enough that it feels very stable in my hands - it also has two layers over most of the box - for the sleeve, so that also helps!

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Evaluation:

What informed/motivated my design decisions?

A key influence for my project/brief is Craig Oldham who, along with Rough Trade Books, create the Epiphany Editions - film props (books) brought to life in hopes of celebrating the film and the social, cultural and political themes of the time. This inspired my use of bringing to life a film prop, except I brought a prop and the theories surrounding the briefcase’s contents to life. 

Screenplays also influenced my design - I referenced the style of it to transcribe Quentin Tarantino’s answer to the question: ‘what’s in the briefcase?’ which think resonated the theme well - a transcript in the shape of a film script. I then bought this typewriter typeface (Courier) throughout my project; from my main body text in my theories spreads, to the ‘prop list’ marking the inventory of the briefcase. 

An obvious inspiration for my work is the actual Pulp Fiction (1994) film - I used the typefaces seen in the title sequence as the main ones for my project - like  Achen BOLD which is used for t remain title ‘Pulp Fiction’. This meant my work was cohesive with the subject matter - the film. I also used the colour palette of yellowed and black - again, to make cohesive with the film. I wanted it to feel like this project was a part of the film, which I think I did successfully, for the colour palette, to the matching font. 

But what really ‘motivated’ my project was my love for films, and bringing life to imaginary things. Being able to gather all the possible theories out there - answering the briefcase mystery - was fun and interesting to learn. 

What changes/developments has my project gone through?

My project went through quite a few changes; especially at the beginning. I first wanted to look at cinema and the issues raised with the pandemic, as well as the ever-increasingly digitalised world. But, this was very theory based, and I kept getting nowhere with it. This is when I developed it into looking more at director’s styles - filmmaking techniques. This was because I love certain director’s for their artistic direction - Wes Anderson’s use of colours, Taika Waititi’s humour. But this lead me nowhere.... I was lost for the first half of this project - going down a deep theory hole, until I came across Craig Oldham’s work, as it brought the thing I love (film), into Visual communication. 

I also hope the project that I’m handing in now, continues to develop and change. I am not 100% happy with this project, I think it has so much more potential - like making it more of a ‘collectors’ edition - the die-hard Pulp Fiction fans, by maybe making a more portable box - more professional. And take more time designing it - and adding more theories! Overall, this project is noway near done - as long as the question is unanswered, this project can continue to adapt. 

Did I manage my time well?

No, I did not. This main issue was that I didn’t really find my topic/idea until Easter - which meant I had a few weeks to delve into this projects. If I had found Craig Oldham's work sooner, and came up with my idea sooner, I think I would have had a lot more designing and experimenting  time.... meaning a better and more established outcome, a project in general. I feel I have only touched the surface of what I want to achieve with this project. 

How did I respond to feedback?

I think I responded well - whether it was things I needed to hear, or research to look up, I think I listened and acted upon it well. For instance, When Rich said it Amy be best to go back - to artistic direction over colour and semiotics, as it would take me down a theory hole for weeks - which I don’t have time for - I listened and realised that going back to what I had before was the right thing to do - and I am glad I did this. Otherwise, I wouldn't have come up with this mysterious project - that I really enjoyed learning about. 

Are there areas of my design process that need more practice?

Yes, there are defiantly areas of my design process that need more practice. I really lacked experimentation this term - I just found that I didn't have the time for it. By the time I finally knew what topic I was doing, I old had a few weeks left. So, my time management and experimentation needs to be improved. 

What have I learnt from this unit?

I have learnt a lot - especially about myself...I think I need to stop thinking about things and just start doing them - then maybe I would achieve more in the time given, or even, have left. I have also learnt that I need to refresh my design skills - I think I should be constantly reading and discovering new design-base things. For example, constantly check Itnicethat and creative review, to see whats going on and be with the times. I think this would make idea generating in the beginning easier - knowing whats out there currently and in-style, to help draw inspiration from - this will be something I need to do/will be useful when I’m in the real work and in a real job. 

Reflect - Are there any improvements that I would make to my final outcome?

I would make quite a few improvements to my outcome. I think it needs a lot of work. For example, my designs/layouts for my theories are really under thought - I didn't have as much time as I would’ve liked to have on them - my fault entirely. I think refining some details - like fonts size and leading would be something I would like to go back to - for when I am applying to real-world jobs and for the exhibition. I also want to work on the presentation - I would love to make a full short clip on somebody rummaging through the briefcase - better quality than my sad attempt, as well as maybe scrap the briefcase and [resent it in a professional box - more designed an thought out. But, I am happy with my project in general - I love the topic of it, and the mystery that still doesn’t reveal itself, even after looking through all of the theories. But it is definitely a project to come back to. 

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type experiments: 

trying to work out the drop shadow and the right colours. turns out, Pulp Fiction has two ways the title can look - depending on the background. If the background is red, the main colour will be more yellow. and if the background is black, the main colours is more of an orange. so, seeming as I am working with ball backgrounds (mostly, over other colours apart from white) the orange made sense too choose. I also figured out that the drop shadow should only be around 5 down arrow keys, as anymore messes up the alignment of the show - not making it go straight down, but out as well. 

this was useful, and will be what im sticking to from now on. 

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I really wanted to try blocking out any unnecessary words/info, hinting at the classified nature of this briefcase’s contents, as well as highlighting the important bits on the page (what I was trying to experiment with on my final screenplay). I really liked the concept, so I tried it. Now I wouldn’t say it highlights the answer, but it does hide the rest, and fits the theme of not ever knowing what’s in the briefcase, so I decided to leave it in.

But I would like to point out that this could’ve been done a lot better – I will be re-doing this before the exhibition, as the execution of this is rather poor. It didn’t help that I used my printer’s scanner, as the uni ones were not working, so this is definitely something to re-work and re-visit. I just ran out of time to improve it before hand in.

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editing images. 

black and white 

upped contrast a litt and brightness down a. tiny bit. 

did same for cash. 

putting them into photo cards. need to do cigarette. but need to print off first. 

photographing them got way better results than scanning -  they were clear and I could edit them to how I wanted – old and scratchy-looking, like they’ve been sitting in a 90s suitcase for a while.

In order to show the ephemera in a layout form, inspired by The Prisoner of Zelda, I decided to make photocards (bottom) for the objects - almost like they were missing, and the photo is what it looks like. I went for a very simple look - almost like a polaroid, with B+W photography because a coloured attempt (2nd to last image) was just too much against the spreads. 

Also, they are all photos coinciding to the theories in the editorial layout, apart from the lighter and cash – which I photographed myself. They are props outside of the theories, that I wanted to include to make it really feel like you are opening a Pulp Fiction briefcase.

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Making the Wad of cash : physical ephemera. 

I bought a pack of fake prop dollars to make the wad of cash Vincent has in the film, as it’s a common/big possibility that cash is inside the briefcase. But it looked too fresh, so I crumpled it up, then put folded it with an elastic band, like he has in the film. This really did the trick, and made the money look more real, as it wasn’t just flat paper.  

And photographing them (these are only a few, as they are all very similar to look at) - for photo cards - physical ephemera for the prop list - to have a paper clipped image, so removable/losable, yet digitalised and 2 dimensional for fitting with the rest of the work. 

Images below : final images chosen 

need to edit and make print out cigarette to photograph.