tommhallett

[tommhallett]

BA2b: Proposal initial ideas and research

My first idea that i found most passionate to work on was the idea around stop-motion and the uncanny. At this point i didn't know how i would relate these two topics together however i did want to explore the link between them as individually i found both of these topics interesting in their own right.

Choosing this topic would also be of benefit to me as it is on the animation medium i am most invested in and aim to professionalise down.

I did have another option, potentially exploring down the route of 2D animation in regards to the animation process itself, however i feel this will need more research to make it a concrete idea for consideration for my proposal.

[tommhallett]

BA2b: Research Report Proposal

This week we had our project brief for our narrative element of BA2b. This project would be a proposal for a research report that we would finish writing in year 3.

BA2b is a writing exercise of a proposal for a research report. The proposal would be 1,000 words and could be either of four different report types.

Extended essay: This is a standard report type

Industry report: This is a report that analyses industry roles and practices

Technical report: This report asks a question/ proposes a hypothesis and runs an experiment to test it.

Editorial report: Has an article of 2,000 words and a 3,000 word essay. This requires two different writing types.

For the report we need to make sure that we;

- Choose the right topic

- The type of report for our topic

- Conduct preliminary research

- Formulate research questions

- Make sure research aims and worthwhile and achievable

- Conduct primary research

- respond to feedback

- collate a bibliography

What makes a good report?

- on a subject you are genuinely interested in

- planned carefully

- redrafted as much as possible 

- relevance for a contemporary audience

- Demonstrates specialist knowledge

- integrates with your creative practice

*PROPOSAL TEMPLATE INCLUDES A TIMELINE*

In the next coming weeks i will begin researching into the area of specification of animation that i am interested in, starting to collate preliminary research in the topic area for my proposal and my report.

[tommhallett]

BA2a: Narrative Strategies - Week 7

Learning Criteria: BA2a

LO1 - demonstrate knowledge and application of the key techniques, materials and processes associated with your subject.

LO2 - Identify relevant historical, cultural and ethical concepts & principles and apply them to a range of contexts.

LO3 - Demonstrate knowledge of problem-solving approaches used in your discipline and show a critical approach to practice-based enquiry in your work

LO4 - Critically reflect on the boundaries of your knowledge and learning

LO5 - Articulate the findings of your research and practice using appropriate means of production and communication

LO6 - Demonstrate your ability to identify, plan and where appropriate participate in relevant work-related learning.

Tone and style in your reflective essay.

The essay should be written in an appropriate academic tone. There must be citations and a bibliography. However, this is a reflective essay you can use the first person and write about your own experiences relevant to your creative process.

Structure of your reflective essay:

1. Explain how your screenplay was inspired by the set text. 

2. Discuss your writing process and the creative decisions you made.

3. Discuss how you would film your screenplay.

CHAPTER 10 SUMMARY - 5 STAGES OF TRAGEDY

1. Anticipation stage - Jekyll identifies his own dual nature and concocts a plan to set free his darker side.

2. Dream stage - The plan works and Jekyll begins to live his dual life.

3. Frustration stage - Things begin to go wrong, falling asleep as himself Jekyll wakes as Hyde instead. He resolves not to change anymore, he enjoys two months of severity. But his darker desires remain.

4. Nightmare stage - Unable to resist, Jekyll takes the powders and turns into Hyde again, he commits murder and becomes a wanted man. 

5. Destruction stage - The original salts Jekyll had used were ‘impure’ and he can no longer replicate it. His first death happens when the powders run out and hes forced to live as Hyde. His second death occurs as Hyde chooses suicide over the scaffold.

Just remember when writing the screenplay that it is important to not settle on the first idea or the first draft. 

If the premise isn't clear for your story you can try writing a log-line for your idea.

A log-line is a one-sentence summary or description of a film. Ideally no more than 30 words.

THE SEVEN BASIC PLOTS

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 to acquire an important object or to 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. They return with nothing but experiences.

Comedy - Light and humorous  with a happy or cheerful ending. The central motif is the triumph over adverse circumstances resulting in a successful or happy conclusion.

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

Tragedy - The protagonist is a villain who falls from grace and whose death is a happy ending.

Overcoming the monster - The protagonist must defeat an antagonistic force which threatens the protagonist and or their homeland.

[tommhallett]

BA2a: Narrative Strategies - Japanese culture/folklore.

Being very interested within Japanese culture and their folklore as well as having a love for the look of Japanese aesthetics within film, most notably for me being the film ‘47 ronin’ as well as other animation influences such as anime and manga. I wanted to focus my attention of Japanese folklore/culture and create a narrative from the extensive stories and interesting concepts they hold. 

I first research Japanese folklore and stumbled upon a huge list of named and un-named creatures that existed within Japanese folklore. Examples being, tengu, Oiwa and Oni. It was the stories of Japanese demons called Oni that i found myself most intrigued by and went into researching their origins, motives and behaviour so i could understand the traits in which i could implement into a possible character for my story. 

Oni -

Oni, in Japanese folklore, a type of demonic creature often of giant size, great strength, and fearful appearance. They are generally considered to be foreign in origin, perhaps introduced into Japan from China along with Buddhism. Cruel and malicious, they can, nevertheless, be converted to Buddhism. Though oni have been depicted in various ways in Japanese legend and art, sometimes also as women, they are characteristically thought of as pink, red, or blue-grey in colour, with horns, three toes, three fingers, and on occasion with three eyes.

Once i had an idea about these mystical creatures i began to brainstorm how i could incorporate them into a Jekyll and Hyde adaptation. With Jekyll and Hyde being a story of addiction or the deep desires we have but are repressed, i thought more towards what my Jekyll character would want and desire and how the Oni could play a part in this.

My next influence came from the concept of werewolf films, primarily taking the idea of a creature that infects a host and brings out another side of them, trying the link the dual sides of Jekyll and Hyde to this idea, however i eventually dropped this idea as i didn't feel i could appropriately link it to Jekyll and Hyde and it took away the idea of dual personality's and made the focus on more of a monster hunter side.

Looking back into Japanese culture i found a Japanese ideal around dual personality's and behaviours of oneself, called Honne and Tatemae.

This concept, hugely important in Japanese relations relates to two different things.

Honne -  refers to what we really think in our hearts: opinions, thoughts, desires... The first kanji character of the word can have a meaning of "authentic", while the second means "sound". Clearly, honne is the "real voice" of an individual.

Tatemae -  refers to the behavior that we adopt in public, according to what is socially accepted or not by Japanese society. It could be translated as the "public facade".

This social construct of Japanese culture i found perfect as a way to bridge the gap between adapting the novella into a Japanese folklore story.

Knowing this i settled on having the Jekyll character deeply in-body this idea and wanted to use the Oni as a means of transformation, being the push my Jekyll character needs to transform into his Hyde. 

Looking again into the influence of film and media, i took inspiration from the concept of Venom and its affects on Peter Parker in the Spider-man comics and films, acting as a conduit for his dark personality and deep, selfish desires. In this sense my Oni would act as an entity that would bring out and emphasise my Jekyll Characters ‘Honne’.

[tommhallett]

BA2a: Narrative Strategies - Week 6

Writing a short film.

A good short film is:

1. Simple

2. Economical

3. Memorable

Simple:

Simplicity means focusing on a single core message. This comes from knowing exactly what you want to say and saying it as clearly as possible. If you fail to pick one clear focus you could risk confusing the audience.

Economical:

‘short stories don’t have spare meat on them’ - implying that in a short story only write what is necessary. Think about what line you put down on paper implies and costs.

Memorable:

Spend time on your ending, because audiences remember endings. You must create a story that leaves the audiences impacted.

Dialogue:

dialogue is a function of character. if you know your character your dialogue should flow easily. Always think about S.A.D

Status - who has the upper hand in the dialogue

Agenda - what is the purpose of the conversation? What do they hope to gain from it?

Desire - On a deeper level what do they want? what is their ultimate goal?

An important note to make is that characters should talk to each other, not to the audience. Explanation kills drama. The characters shouldn't come out and explain themselves, people don’t always say what they mean. You should keep an element of suspense. 

[tommhallett]

BA2a: Narrative Strategies - Group Feedback

In the group feedback session, i explained my story idea to see if other classmates and the project leader would see if it was worth continuing or if they would agree with problems it sets for myself. The feedback i received was positive about the concept of the idea, however the execution felt out of reach for this project or would need a lot more time to find, time i didn't have. 

However, in the feedback session i listened to other classmates thought of process for their story and found that most started with a cool character design or aesthetic they liked and moulded a story around that, finding the narrative. I thought this was an interesting approach to take to construct the story and decided that i would leave my initial idea a side and see if i could find a working story through this method and process.

[tommhallett]

BA2a: Narrative Strategies - Week 5

In this session we had a quiz about the novella to catch us back up on our knowledge of Jekyll and Hyde after the Christmas break. In addition to this we discussed writing the screenplay, with what preparation we should take as well as tips.

The first stage we should take for our screenplay would be to construct a beat sheet. This beet sheet is a simple list, often bullet-pointed which would note down the key points of our story. 

Once we have constructed a beat sheet we would then move onto writing an outline. An outline is the next step up from a beet sheet and is adding the meat to the bones in a sense, adding extra detail to the points, writing in full sentences and paragraphs.

The screenplay should be 1000 words (+/-) 10% with a reflective essay to justify your reasoning. The screenplay format should be written in courier 12 point font, which is industry standard.

5 Basic Conventions:

1) Give each new scene a heading, written in caps. (INT./EXT.)

2) The slug line is always followed by scene action/description. (THE BACK BEDROOM, MAX’S HOUSE)

3) Dialogue lay-out, headed by the speaker’s name. Single spaced, appears in the centre column down the page.

4) Parentheticals - (laughing, shakes head, etc)

5) Sound - V.O = voiceover, O.S = Off-screen

Screenplay format for live-action compared to animation is more or less the same. However, animation is a more uniquely visual medium so the screenplay should reflect that in its format.

[tommhallett]

BA2a: Narrative Strategies - Initial story idea.

My initial story idea for the Jekyll and Hyde story adaptation product was to create a story around the dual personality's we have on the internet. I wanted to take influence from television shows and storytellers such as that of black-mirror and the twilight zone and try to write a truly surreal but relate-able story about the conflict and juxtaposition between our real selves and that of our online personas. 

This idea however was very challenging to fit within the allocated 1,000 words and i found myself struggling to write a cohesive and streamlined screenplay that got my concept across as well as fit within the limit. In addition to this when i thought how the screenplay would be visualised, the medium of stop-motion would be very difficult to use. I knew i wanted to use stop-motion for this project and when reflecting my idea against the medium i wanted to use i found that they were the most compatible for storytelling. The idea would work better with mediums such as 3D digital or 2D and stop-motion was somewhat limiting to my idea or would just be more time-consuming to achieve what my story was about.

[tommhallett]

BA2a: Narrative Strategies - Week 4

In this week we went over the summary of chapters 3 & 4 and how Stevenson wrote the chapters and its descriptions in the way he did. As well as the genre of Gothic Horror.

In these chapters, Hyde ends up killing a politician and Stevenson writes it in contrast with romanticism. The association of the politician ‘Carew’ with innocence and beauty makes the violence more shocking by contrast. It turns Carew into a martyr like figure.

Jekyll and Hyde gave a rebirth to the genre of gothic horror with Stevenson replacing the traditional gothic setting of the ancestral home with the space of the urban laboratory.

Gothic horror is full of moments that breach the ‘uncanny’ 

The uncanny - Strange, mysterious, eerie, unsettling, unnerving, unearthly. The uncanny makes is feel uncomfortable and we cant always say exactly why.

The ‘dual brain’ 

Victorians believed in the theory of the dual brain. The left brain housing the seat of logic and reason and the right brain being the home for emotions.

It was a strong belief that women and ‘savages’ were strong in the right brain.

Victorians also believed that your personality could be read in the shape of your skull. They believed that the lower class, the poor compared to the rich was determined by the shape of ones skull. This was called Phrenology.

[tommhallett]

BA2a: Narrative Strategies - Week 3

 In this week’s session we looked into shame culture and moral surveillance as well as the divided self, meaning the Id, ego, super-ego.

We now know from the novella that Jekyll didn’t create Hyde for good, he deliberately created Hyde to behave badly. Jekyll used Hyde as a way of escapism from his repressed identity of a Victorian man.

Categories of emotion:

‘Appetites’ - This relates to base desires such as ‘lust’

‘Sentiments’ - Which were seen as voluntary and associated with moral behaviours.

Sublimation:

Diverting a base, sexual or biological urge into something more socially acceptable.

‘Psychic apparatus’ identified by Freud in 1923 consisted of the Id, Ego and Superego.

The Id:

Primitive, unorganized, emotional. Represents the unconscious.

The Super-ego:

Our internalisation, how we ought to behave, opposition to the Id.

The Ego:

Represents the conscious mind. acts as the intermediary between the Id and the external world.

[tommhallett]

BA2a: Narrative Strategies - Jekyll & Hyde Adaptations

The Novella of Jekyll and Hyde has endeared many decades being a story that has many messages buried within that are still relevant throughout generations. Due to this the novella has had it fair share of adaptations. To be more specific, there have been over 123 filmed versions of the novella, with some more faithful than others.

One of the adaptations that i remember most vividly is ‘The Nutty Professor’ by Eddie Murphy. This film when i first watched it as a child, i had no idea it was based of the book. However, looking back at it now with that knowledge i can see how expertly crafted the film is. Adapting the story into the comedy genre but still keeping the subject matter of self love of oneself and body serious and linking to the human condition which the original novella explored and questioned throughout. 

This approach that Eddie Murphy used to adapt the novella to a more modern problem of body image and self-confidence was something that i though i could use to make my story feel more relevant to the audience.if i could pinpoint the plot points on my story to a weakness that is relevant in today's society i thought i could make my story more engaging and perhaps relate-able to the audience.

[tommhallett]

BA2a: Narrative Strategies - Week 2

Throughout the weekly sessions with Lindsey we would recap on key chapter summaries and try and explore what possible hidden meanings there could be in the text as well as how it all progressed the story.

In this week we looked into the symbolic nature of the door to Jekyll’s house. With his house having 2 doors, symbolising the two sides to the characters as well as how the two doors reflected them sides. Hyde’s being labelled as a sinister block of building compared to Jekyll’s which provoked an air of wealth was also covered in darkness except for a small light, alluding to his inner darkness.

In this week we also learned about a writing technique called an outline. An outline is written similar to a short story. using full sentences and paragraphs. However, it is always in third person and present tense. We would use this writing technique to help us structure our screenplay ideas as well as experiment with possible variations.

[tommhallett]

BA2a: Narrative Strategies - Week 1

The narrative side to the Jekyll and Hyde project is based around adaptation of a classic text. In Animation history adaptation has always been a big part of its growth and success, with most recognisable examples being the early Disney feature films adapting classical fairy tale texts.

We were to do the same for this project and adapt the text of Jekyll and Hyde into a screenplay of 1,000 words that would translate successfully through animation. The whole text would consist of the 1,000 word screenplay as well as another 1,000 critical analysis of the screenplay.

The screenplay we are tasked to write needs to be a complete story with a start, middle and end with clear conflict and resolution. It will be written as if we were to produce a short film animation of a screenplay and because of that the screenplay must come full circle and be a closed story.

To understand how to adapt the classic novel we would have to understand the text itself. So for this we would have to read or listen to the text and understand the story before we could start to break it down and mess with it. Jekyll and Hyde is a type of story called an allegory. Meaning, it has a deeper, hidden meaning, it asks big questions about the human condition which are still relevant today. All of this we would analyse in today's session as well as the following seminars to further understand the novella and how to adapt it.

[tommhallett]

Adaptation: Jekyll & Hyde Character Design & Screenplay Project.

The first project brief of unit BA2a was a two part project consisting of both script design in the form of a short screenplay as well as character design and animation around the adaptation of the well known tale, ‘Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde’ by Robert Louis Stevenson.

Character Design;

The design and animation content of this project required us to produce the following;

- Character Research and Development Bible

- Character Reel

- Experimentation Reel

- Reflective Journal

The character research and development bible was to be approached in two ways. The first being a recorded research document or blog with the evidence of research, collected and gathered that developed and pushed forward the project. The second (development/Character bible) would be a document expressing and displaying the stages you took to find the characters. This would include, initial research and development stages such as a mood board as well as the following character design processes. These include, shape, silhouette, colour theory and posing. This character bible was to act as the behind the scenes of our finalised characters to express how we came to our final designs.

The character reel was a collection of animation produced with our finalised characters to bring through the personalities we will have developed around them through the screenplay and script aspect of the project.

The character reel required us to produce;

-  An animated turnaround, showing the full 360 view of our character design

- A character walk cycle which would display character performance within, having its own personalised weight, effort and related performance for our character 

- An lastly a animated sequence of our choosing which would relate to the characters personality and story, showing a glimpse into how this character would act if it were to be fully realised into a film.

For this project we have free reign as to what medium we intend to go down and for this project i have chosen to continue with my development within stop-motion fabrication and animation by deciding to create my character within the medium.

Narrative and Screenplay;

For this aspect of the project we would be focusing more on the source material, the book; Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde and using this to develop our own adaptation of the novel which we could visualise in the medium of animation. 

For this we are tasked to read the book and analyse the aspects that it addresses within its story, how these aspects were received or perceived during the time the book was published and how we could use the information to adapt the moral dilemmas and taboo topics it addresses in a more modern era. To help us understand this to further our own interpretation we were shown other interpretations of the source material in order to see how others had adapted the novel.

Using the information we would gather we would then use our understanding of the novel to write a thousand word screenplay of our adaptation, relating to our character design and world building we would create alongside this narrative element of the project. In addition a thousand word essay evaluating our screenplay would complete the full two thousand word text for submission for this project. This additional thousand word essay would be a critical analysis of the screenplay and whether it could be adapted for the medium of animation.

The submission requirements for this side of the project only consist of the 2,000 word text as previously discussed as well as a link to a research portfolio either in the format of a blog or PDF document.

Overall, i am very excited to learn the fundamentals of narrative story writing and screenplay as it is both integral for this project as well as for future projects within year 3 and career development as an animator. I am also looking forward to work with Barry Leith again within puppet fabrication hoping to improve and develop my understanding and skill with creating characters through stop motion to a professional standard.

[tommhallett]

Character Introductions - Video essay

This video essay convers all of the various ways directors introduce characters to create effect. Ways in which it defines their character and how this creates a dynamic between the audience. 

[tommhallett]

Film Language - Character Introductions

With my essay I narrowed down where I wanted to compare and contrast in film language. I decided to chose character introductions as a way of analysing film language and how effective it is through different films or moments in films. 

Characters are one of the films most recognisable tropes as well as the aspect of the film that you would form most attachment to. So because of this I thought it would be an interesting element to explore within my film language essay.

[tommhallett]

Film language - Terminology

Written codes concern everything connected with any written     text or print in film such as titles, credits, captions, extracts etc.     These construct meaning in a number of ways. Why print the material rather     than speak it; what about font choice, size, colour, style, background,     static or moving, up, down, across, flash on/off etc.

Audio Codes concern all that is heard, such as background     noise, voice-over, music, dialogue, sounds,  sound effects etc.     Divided into diegetic and non-diegetic sound.

Technical Codes involve filming techniques and methods such     as shot types, angle, movement, and editing, most of which are specified     in the film language section above. The choice of what technical codes to     use when filming are critical in the production of meaning. The decision     what shot, angle, movement, lighting etc may be very important in the     construction of the film / documentary’s meaning.

Symbolic Codes involve all symbolic elements in the film,     even those a part of the above codes; lighting is or can be used     symbolically, as can text in titles, colour of settings, costume, props     etc; symbolic codes play a very significant part in our reading of film     meaning.

Film Language

Visual Codes

 Pan: Camera moves from side to side from a stationary position

 Tilt: Movement up or down from a stationary position

 Tracking: The camera moves to follow a moving object or person.

 Dolly : camera dollies in or out, movie generally slowly towards      or away from character;may draw attention to emotion on ch's face, may      open space for something / someone to fill; is suggestive;

Camera Angles

 Low Angle Camera: shoots up at subject. Used to increase size,      power, status of subject;

 High Angle Camera: shoots down at subject. Used to increase      vulnerability, powerlessness, decrease size;

 Dutch tilt : on an angle showing something wrong; comic effect;      creative; original;

Audio Codes

Dialogue; what is said during the film;

Music; diegetic music is part of the action; non-diegetic is not     part of the action but added over the top (as post production); music is     used symbolically to add associated meaning to the visual images (atmosphere,     tension);

Score: the title of the musical soundtrack;

 Sound effects: all sounds that are neither dialogue nor     music.

Voice-over: spoken words laid over the other tracks in sound mix to     comment upon the narrative or to narrate.

Editing (re-arranging the order of filming; adding and removing elements.)

Editing is a post-production activity taking place mainly after the production of the physical filming activity. The meaning of any film is largely produced in the editing process. A film can be edited in- camera by shooting the film in the exact order in which the shots will be seen by the viewer. Most editing is done post-production. In documentary filming, the post production process is critical in the construction of meaning in the final product.

All editing is effectively MONTAGE. This is the meaning that is constructed as a result of the linking of separate images. In other words, when separate shots / images are juxtaposed then the audience interpets the significance or reason for these images being placed next to each other. The editing process alters the meaning of what has been filmed.

Transitions are how film makers choose to change from one shot to another. • The clean cut or cut or straight cut is where the change from one shpot to another is instant and direct; • The fade actually fades to something, such as fade to black. This form of transition carries meaning with it; for example fading to black can represent the passing of time, or someone losing consciousness if the action is filmed from a person’s point of view; • The dissolve literally dissolves from one shot to another, which is a gentle method of passing from elements that have something in common; this sometimes indicates a sequence of events, or brief passage of time though it can be interpreted in a number of ways depending on how it is used; • Superimpose is similar in appearance to dissolve, however, superimposition lays one image on top of another and dissolves one into the next; this may have the effect of showing that one thing is similar to or has something in common with the other; superimpose can have a range of emotional effects depending how it is used; • Cut away, cut from, cut to are used when filming two or more sequences of action, cutting from one part of a scene to another part of that same scene or cutting away to another scene; example car and train next to each other at speed, inside car, man’s face, man’s hands, faulty wheel on car, train driver’s face, fast train wheels, flashing lights at intersection etc; various cutting between these elements are cutting away, from and to:

Selection means what the director chooses from all his or her footage to include in the final product; to include or select certain footage implies that it is important; • Sequence   (documentary etc) is the order in which events are displayed. This order of events, even in the most factual documentary, is not necessarily what happens in the real world. The film maker can only show one thing at a time. In the real world many things happen at once or simultaneously. If the film maker wants to record these things, they can only be shown in a sequence, because it is not possible to show everything happening at exactly the same time. This sequence constructs meaning. In addition, a film maker can choose to change the order of events, actively deciding to misrepresent what happens. This misrepresentation will obviously change the viewer’s perception of what actually took place. • Foregrounding - something is foregrounded if we see a lot of it, ie it is shown to the viewer more than other things or seen / noticed by the viewer more than other elements as though it is literally in the foreground.. To foreground something is to emphasise this element. This can be both a positive thing and a negative thing. • Naturalisation is when something occurs frequently, so we assume that things are always like this. By foregrounding something, we may tend to think that this is normal or natural and thus accept without thinking or criticising

• Juxtaposition is the placement of one shot next to another shot so that meaning is made by the connection of some idea between the two elements; • Montage is the use of frequent shots one after the other which create a meaning of their own; the viewer makes soe connection between the shots and creates meaning; theabove scene of the car and the train is an example where the viewer is led to believe that the car wheel is somehow going to fail and cause the car to be hit by the train at the intersection; • Pace (editing pace) is the speed of editing; there can be rapid editing for excitement, rhythmical editing to create a wide range of responses, slow-paced editing for particular effect;Music, voice- over and sound effects are additional post-production elements which cannot be understated. The use of music for example is an enormously powerful creator of meaning. Include below definitions for diegetic and non-diegetic elements.

Other terminology : SFX , split-screen, narrator, voice-over, piece-to-camera, dramatisation / re-enactment / reconstructions, external footage, line-of -action, archival footage, graphics, flashback, slow motion, sound mixing, genre, conventions, propaganda, live footage, graphics