Sunday 21 December 2008


I cant believe that the first term is over so quickly. I have enjoyed the first projects, even though they drove me crazy sometimes! I think narratives was a good learning curve for me. I also think the title gave me the chance to apply even more meaning behind my projects because I could imagine the story of what made the project. Of why it exists.  

Already we have been given our second project- Identities. I have a brief look at company branding as a good strategy for marketing my project so to speak. Also it gives me a focus of how to reach a target audience. I want people to be able to link me to an image or piece of music to be able to make my piece memorable. A logo is one of the most important things to so this because it allows people to straight away link me to my image/ brand.

Friday 19 December 2008

http://browse.deviantart.com/flash/?order=9&q=we're%20looking%20for%20a%20lion

The next stage was the most difficult for me. In one word- autoscript! It was the vein of my life for two days. Endlessly trying to work out what code I needed, luckily I made a structure before I so I knew what image I needed to connect to each keyframe. After a few tries and some advice from Jools and Sonny I got the hang of how it worked.  The object that I wanted to connect to another keyframe (in this case the baby) I'd have to type the autoscript as baby1 and also type it into the instance name as baby1. In this step I had to make sure the names match because otherwise the program would get confused and play it in a random order. This happened more than a few times for me as I connected the wrong keyframes to the wrong name.

The next step was the audio. To make the characters more realistic I wanted to put some voices in to give the characters more individuality and connect with the audience. A few of my flat mates have got really distinct accents that I thought would suit the characters, for example the dog has got a Bury accent (the bury just off Manchester) so it would be quite a deep, quite grumpy voice. I also gave the princess a high pitched London voice to make her sound posh. 

When I put in the audio I watched a few of the tutorials connected to NOW but they seemed to drag on and not show me exactly the way I was looking for (as expected) so I messed around with how to put the audio on for quite awhile and found a good way on youtube. I added the audio into a folder on the right hand side, selected it and it came up in a box that I had to select at the bottom (near where you'd type n the instance name) and dragged it on to the keyframe I needed it. For me the audio was one of the easiest bits of the process because I was becoming for familiar with the program. 

Looking at the final product it is my most successful in terms of learning curves and creativeness because I used my own hand drawn images. Personally I think it made it more my own. Also the audio made it more individual. I think I could improve it by taking away the faint outline of off white on two of the characters and possibly instead of having the object they choose to find the lion in a box I would draw the object as a whole area and have the scan it for where they would like to go.  

Wednesday 17 December 2008

My illustrations




These are my own illustrations of which the top two are altered slightly in photoshop to make the colour brighter etc. This was one of my favourite parts of the project because I could be as creative with the project as I wanted without any technical set backs. I thought these illustrations are suitable for 4-8 year olds as it will give them something personal to interact with whilst going through the narrative. They are reminiscent of story books so the child will get involved in the story, wanting to know what is happening next. 

I think the images work well, especially the characters so that I can separate the characters on their journey and work with white space to make them stand out. Each picture I create will be a link (rather than text) so the child will be able to understand easily.



When I got assigned my interactive narrative project my first thought was that when I was a kid I wished that I could interact with the characters and make them do what I wanted. The images are already so personal that I wanted to interact with them, get to know them. For me a interactive website is a perfect way to grab children's attention. I can guide them to the story with illustrations and give leave them at a cliff-hanger to make their choices.

These illustration were a inspiration to me as they use simple colours to not over complicate the information for the children. It gets them more involved with the story. Also the children look like they are different ages so the target audience will be broader. 

 

Thursday 11 December 2008

Interactive narrative

Ideas-
  • Interactive children's book based on monster under the bed or we're going on a bear hunt by Micheal Rosen.
  • The target audience is children between 4-8. They have to choice where to go to find the lion.
  • They audience has to work their way out of a prison and get accomplices. They steal loads of stuff to get out. Maybe use pixilation?
  • Basket ball game. You have to choice which player you want to be and you get a choice of moves. If you choice the right moves you eventually win teh gaem and get a medal. cliffhanger= will he get the medal or get sent off.

Saturday 6 December 2008

I am really proud of the final outcome of my one shot film although we all had separate roles we all contributed to help each other. I learnt a lot whilst filming about lighting and how to create the right mood for the right setting however we didn't get to use it in the final due to our location. We also thought natural light would suit it better to create a spontaneous meeting between two people. 

The most tedious job was to cut and time the voice over audio but it was worth it as it pulled all of the elements together to explain the narrative therefore the awkwardness between the characters. We kept the script quite simple so that the thought would stand out more and tell the real story.

Friday 5 December 2008

Thursday 27 November 2008




Lately I have been researching a lot about different design methodologies. I have come across storyboards, design conversations and Broadbents analogical methods. Even through I hadn't studied design conversation and in particular Broadbents theory I found I have been using them in most instances with out realising it. 

Broadbents theory is to create a narrative which can be used to link together the elements of your design. It relates to most of my work even when I have created fine art as evidently when I paint I try to create a story through the paint that people can relate to. This has also applied to my pixilation animation and one shot film but I have been telling the story in different medias to express the narrative, e.g. I used about 400 plus shots with their own unique composition to tell a story (composition, colour, facial expressions etc.) 

In comparison I found that we used the structure of a design conversation without thinking about it. Certain members of the group took different roles as the critic, the learner, the lawyer etc to contribute. Even though it was crucial that we worked in group I find this happens a lot in the design world when designers discuss ideas, for example if they were advertising a shop every person in the group would have a different image of it. Whereas if they drew it then everyone would be limited to the ideas linked to that one image.

Below is a diagram of how a design conversation works. Incidentally this is a basic structure of how we planned our one shot film.



Tuesday 25 November 2008

Script

The Meeting

B= boy
G= girl

There is a meeting between B and G a few weeks after they have had a one night stand. G's first impression has changed of the B's and she realises that she was too drunk and embarrassed. She regrets seeing him upon meeting him and wants leaves a.s.a.p. B wants to ask her out again but the Gs scared her flat mates will see. The girl is attractive and confident. The boy is goofy.

SD: CU of girls eye and pans out to MS of the boy just as he approaches.

Why the hell is he waving at me.... oh crap I remember.

B: You alright there, Hayleigh right?
G: Hi, yeah... how are you doing?
Fuck I cant remember his name did we???

B: I'm great did you have a good weekend? Cheesy/ sleazy grin
G: Yeah it was alright, I was a bit of a mess.

B: I think we both were. Small chuckle, grins to reveal ugly teeth.
G: Yeah. Flinches.
Oh god we did, I thought he was better looking.

B: Are you OK?
G: Yeah I just thought I was going to sneeze.
The teeth how did I miss them?!

B: Sneeze away don't stop on my account.
G: Don't worry I wont.
I hope no one looking

G: So urrr.... what are you doing around here?
B: I'm just going to work, I live just up here. points in the direction the girl was walking.
Shit he lives around here!

B: Where are you going?
Lie Lie!
G: Oh err just going to see a friend.
B: Really it's just I remember walking back form around here.
Lie again. 
G: Really it cant be I live quite far away from here.

B: OK I was a state in the morning. Cheesy grin 
That was close.

B: Sorry I left so early. 
G: Its no problem.
Its really not a problem at all

B: Yeah I had to go back early for my Mums birthday. We went to church.
G: Aww that's sweet.
Praise the Lord.

B: Thanks. I don't usually go but she likes me to go sometimes.
G. Ummm
Shit here it comes. Please don't ask... just don't.

B: Look do you want to go out for a drink sometime? 
G: Maybe, but I'm quite busy at the moment. How about I call you when I'm free?
Like in the VERY distant future.

B: Yeah that would be cool.
G: Cool, but I've got to go and I'm sure you've got to go to work.
Please go to work.

B: True, I'll see you around. 
G: Sure you will. See You
B: See you
Good job he didn't stay for breakfast

G exits and B stands there watching her go. End Shot 





Story Board

Thursday 20 November 2008


I really enjoyed making these photos. I choose to use complimentary pairs of colours on the face to show how the face can be highlighted with colour.  I used the theme of contrast. I focused the eyes on both picture as it is a natural focus point in every day life. 

In the top photograph I was inspired by J R Randell who often focuses on distinctive, cheeky and provocative portraiture, which is one of my passions in the art world. He works for dazed and confused magazine dabbling in cinema as well. What drew me to his work was his vivid colours highlighting different ares of the face to emphasis different emotions e.g. he uses dark tones of purple against yellow to make the eye look confused or the cheek bones are highlighted to emphasis femininity. 

I chose blue, green and orange to reflect a sense of fun in beauty and to highlight one of the main features that we all take for granted everyday. In my second photo I wanted to focus on the facial features we use to express our everyday emotions that cause so much controversy. 

Wednesday 19 November 2008


Lighting





For our one shot film we have decided to go with natural daylight as we want our film to be as realistic as possible. Also we are filming it in the street so it is impractical (and slightly impossible) to set up the lighting. The daylight worked against us to start with because the light was too bright so it flattened Sophie's face (the actress.) This was due to the low height of the sun. 

We are also going to include a pan at the start of the film from the first shot when they first bump into each other.

Today we did a second take for the film so the actors could remember their lines therefore we can get the timing right for the subtitles/ voice other. For a comedy factor we are going to make the girl have an elegant air about her but spoken thought will have an annoying London accent. In contrast be are planning to make the guy quite goofy and cringe worthy so the male audience can relate to him. The natural light worked well today as there was an even amount of light and shadow we could work with.


Monday 17 November 2008

Redness

Redness By Richard Kenton Webb

At first when I saw redness it alarmed me to a note of confusion. It got me thinking emotionally what does each individual tone of red mean? Why is it making me feel alarmed by it's structured form? 

I found this painting to be unique in it's presence as the four tones of red separately have completely different meanings, for example the mid range background red gives me a sense of warmth and love, the deep maroon/ brown colour gives me a sense of earth with its rich underlying red tones. Also the light brown seams quite bland on the big scale of things but once you put it next to the richness of the over tones it becomes a highlight.

By looking at this painting of just four red tones it has got me looking at the colour in its purist form as to me the placing of the colour seems quite natural. However the placing of the colour does make parts of the object stand out more than others. I found that the dark brown shades of what I image to be an open case stands out to me because it contrasts with the other lighter tones therefore drawing it to the eye. I noticed the two darkest maroon tones falls on the vertical thirds which makes the composition stand out. 

In my opinion Webb has focused on the colour red to get a greater understanding of its characteristics. I found once I started looking at each tone that closely it picks up a greater meaning. It breaks down each tones meaning of red. 

To me the object looks like it has some type of pedal attached to the main frame which gives me the sense of movement. Also the pedal seems to be moving because of the mid tone, dark red and light brown makes it look like it is being catching the light. Apart from the pedal the object gives me a sense of confusion as it isn't clear as to what it is. Although it makes me confused about its purpose it is clear to me that it is a traditional machine because of the red tones make it look rusty, as if its something old that man has made.

Overall this piece of art work isn't one of my favourites because of the mechanical structure and a few dull tones. I do like the way it focuses on one colour in so much depth it gives the painting a new meaning.

Planning Our One shot FIlm

The Meeting

Meeting between male and female. thoughts of the female on sound file.

  1. They meet unexpectedly on the street. 
  2. They walk into shot.
  3. They both are nervous walking towards eachother. Thinking about avoiding the meeting.
  4. They start normal chit-chat. "Hi. How are you... err wasn't expecting to see you here....umm..."
  5. Her thought will be voiced on screen while the normal chat in red (above) will be in subtitles. 
  6. She's thinking vain thought like. "OMG is he really that hairy," "What was I thinking," "I'm glad he didn't stay for breakfast."
  7. Meanwhile he is thinking the opposite. He doesn't regret a thing. He feels flatter he got a drunken chance with her. 
  8. Close-up when the thoughts get personal and zoom out on both of them. Finishes with close-up on her face.
Duties

So far we are all going to help direct the film so the all types of audience can relate and it isn't one minded. At the moment we have allocated a few other duties-
Guvy- camera
Gayr/ Matt- script
Sophie/ Alan- lighting



One Shot Film Ideas

The Meeting
  1. WAR- Every one is fighting over a possession. The fighting gets worse as the people objects gets bigger and better. The people move around and they fall out of the shot as the next person wins with their better object. Shot with a green screen and the background moving around for added interest. Possible develop into a gangster theme with people wearing suits to symbolise status. 
  2. BATTLE OF THE SEXES CONFLICT- One night stand meet unexpectedly on the street. The film is about how people judge each other on first impressions and how they change e.g. the girls thoughts are aired of how she really feels about the situation but at the same time they are having a mundane conversation. He is thinking how attractive she is and how he regrets not calling her whilst she is thinking she made a quick exit and the thinks he is repulsive in a sober state. 
  3. LANGUAGE BARRIER- a film shot between two people trying to communicate. Bring in props to show what they mean. Miscommunication.

Tuesday 11 November 2008

Rule of Thirds

What is the rule of thirds?


The best way to describe the rule of thirds is to picture a rectangle (your photo) split into thirds vertically and horizontally.

rule-of-thirds
This rule give you for points on fours lines that will give you four focus that will emphasis the photograph. Not only does it create points of interest in create a structure for proportion.
rule-of-thirds
The theory of the rule of thirds is that if you place objects on the line or between the section then the photo will become more balanced therefore will look more natural to the viewer. The eye is usually drawn to one of the sectioned outlined rather than the centre.

My Version of  The Rule of Thirds




In my rule of thirds I have kept the Sannah (the girl in the film) in the first to thirds. Her head is on the top horizon line and the base of her arm so that the movement catches the audiences eyes as it moves across to the right hand third. I think this works as the focus point becomes her smoking.


My favourite part of it is the contrasting colours of neon green and bright pink. I choose these colours to reflect his fragmented state of mind. Also I have changed the hue and saturation so the pixilation reflects a impure, fragmented state of mind through the unnatural colours. I wanted this look to show the musicians pathway is distorted by drugs and critisms of society.

My ideas have gradually changed whilst taking the photos as the narrative changed when I used props such as shoes, the guitar, and body movement. For the me his lose of his guitar shows he is loosing his way and is doomed. On the other hand I chose pink and green because they are both fun, vivid colours but I darkened the background to create light and dark shadows. Looking back I would have made a stronger source point of slight to draw your attention to his movements through more of a contrast.

Musician's Game

Thursday 6 November 2008




Ideas for the pixilation






  1. People changing into props e.g. shoes. Shoes unravelling. Trainer meets high heel (boy meets girl.


  2. Guitar turning into broom.


  3. Moving in the air.


  4. continuous snake so it changes perpective.


After shifting through these ideas I took over 400 shots to make the pixiation. I added diferent movements with the people and shoes as puppets to change the perpective.

Now that I finished this and altered the pictures on photoshop I worked with them on premier pro. At first I found this quite difficult as it is the first time I have used this but I got to grasps with it to make a title and edit the pixilation. I speeded some shots up to match the (body snatchers by radiohead.) i chose this song as it revealed teh confusion the creativity created for the musician. The jumpy beat also added to teh mood

"A Day In The Life Of A Musician"



Moving onto the next stage of developing my piece I have decided to go with the idea of "A Day In The Life Of A Musician." I think this leaves me versatile in the number of probs I can use and in what way.
I want to start off with a close up of a guitar so the audience are left wondering what it might be but have a clue. This will get the audience interested. Also I want to experiement with colour, contrast in light and dark and movement within the piece.

Firstly, I started off with a close up of the guitar and gradually expanded the shot to include the finger tips moving to create the beat of the song. The only thing about trying to match it to a beat of a song is finding a song that matches the creative/ active mood of the song I want to create.
I thought a lot about how the colour will express the mood when we came across The matrix in one of our lectures. It got me thinking about how colour and how much light is in the shot can express the mood and narrative in the film. The matrix uses blue when it's in the matrix and green for when it is inside the matrix. I thought I can experiment in photoshop with different colour that people don't associate real life with to show he is in a creative, imaginative fun state of mind. Maybe...
Blue- cold drowsy thought
Green- natural thought process
Red- raw emotion
Pink-dreamy, happy/enjoyment (note I won't use all of these colours.)
In the end I went with contrasting light and dark tones of pink to express an upbeat, 'trippy' side to creating music. It reflects the creative part of the mind.



Monday 3 November 2008

Design objects taking over the world


Ever since I've known it in the world of technology there has always been the debate about whether a PC or MAC is better? To me this question has one answer- A MAC. It is easy to use, it's beautiful, it's every designers friend. To me a PC is a design that just functions well, it is what everyone is used to but a MAC functions well and looks stylish in the publics eye. A MAC is one of the the products that doesn't just produce beautiful graphics, it is beautiful in its own right. In my opinion the public want this to make themselves look better, to boost their egos. To show off to the guy next to them. The most important reason why I think people buy MACs is because they are unique. No other computer is white, no other computer has apple designers and engineers working on its progressing mechanisms. This grabs peoples attention and leaves them wanting to find out more. All apple products are linked so once people buy one apple product they want to find out about the rest.

Every one is willing to pay extra for a MAC (for example) because they are always striving to improve their designs. The type of technology you buy is also growing into a symbol of how much money you have, who you are in the world and your position in society. Technology is continually a way to show who you are in more ways than one. We build societies on the internet, creating new identities in the process so we want what we do that on to look good. In a way it becomes who you are so why not pay extra for its appealing forms?

Thursday 30 October 2008

Pixilation thoughts

After developing our first sequence of photographs I felt that they were a good start but it didn't give me a lot of options to develop it further as we had rushed through the narrative. It definately left we wanting to use more props to replace people and more movement in different directions. After exploring a few stop motions I liked the ideas that Norman McClaren used in Neighbours. some of my favourite movements were adding the people in as if from no where as an element of surprise. I thought this is versatile as I thinking about replacing people for objects and changing characters easily.  

So far one of the animations that impresses me the most is Pas De Deux Pt1 as it's very simple in black and white overlapping images. My favourite part about it is the dramatic music behind it. In my opinion it sets it off as the music gets heavier and more layered as he blurs each photo into another.

When it comes to my pixilation I want to experiment with colour to suggest a different mind frame or emotion (as the makers of the Matrix did-green and blue symbolises different worlds.)


Monday 27 October 2008

In todays world the concept of multimedia has dramatically changed. It is the worlds new fuel for inspiration, for change and new opportunities. Gone are the days where video was causing waves by portraying the worlds best imaginations. In the current times video games, blue ray dvds and mobile phones are a few products taking us forward. What they all have in common is that they give us a broader way to interact with each other, to learn and communicate. 

The mobile phone is a product that has changed a great deal in versatility. It's purpose has gone from one of a basic communication object to one of which has multiple technological purposes, such as playing games, searching the web and acting as an MP3 player. For example we all know about the new apple iphone that is build to combine digital media player, phone, and touch screen to replace the keyboard. The phone increased GPRS rates (improved data transmission rates) means that is has changed the rate that our society can communicate therefore businesses can run smoother across oceans. 

Judging from current technologys I can see combined devices being built into the palm of your hand so it can be heat sensitive, motion sensitive (developed from the wii) and controlled by your brainwaves of though.  

The new apple phone has used the latest technology to be one of the first to join amplitude and phase. These two factors joined together mean that we can create more linear products that can transport multiple elements of data at any given time. In everyday terms we can create one multimedia object that can act as a mobile phone, keys (to home, car etc,) internet, games system. The reason why it is hasn't been developed yet is because designers are having trouble making it linear enough. At the moment they are experimenting with making chips that only use part of it at one given time (MPEG4-compressing audio and visual data.)

 In my opinion  I see this object as becoming a form of identification because once you have everything that is key to your life on one device there is no need for chip and pin on your passports or bank cards. Everyone could get a chip on their device that is unique to them and only them. There has already been evidence of this in the current world, for example car keys have began to be designed to include a chip with a unique digital code. The code not only open and closes your car but it enables you to make your car mobile. Consequently I see this technology letting people follow your every footstep (even more than camera systems do) as you will always have that digital code transmitting a signal.

However although there are many benefits of this one device being created such as a greener world (no paper needed etc,) more interactive learning devices to suit every personality/age (it allows shy etc people to socialise even further wherever they are) there are a few downfalls. Recent technology has also developed people analysing signals produced by your keystrokes by measuring the electromagnetic field you produce whilst typing. In the grand scheme of things this means that any information you type could be used against you. 

Thursday 16 October 2008

Messing Around With Pixilation

Today was my first go at pixilation techniques. I was excited to try it out after getting a taste for animation during our whiteboard exercise because I realised how much thought to each movement goes into the final picture no matter what the skill of drawing is. At this point we jumped straight into making the still frames which might be a problem later because we didn't consider the true narrative until we had made to many stills to turn back. 

We started off with running motions and on a green, leafy hill side to give the landscape an interesting edge. I felt a bit like a big kid rolling down the hill to make our first shot but who doesn't like doing that?! Our work slowly turned into more of a narrative as we used the trees as props to hide behind from "a monster." As i take more photos I'd like to add more props to replace people and more movement (jumps etc.)

Wednesday 8 October 2008

Ohh LALA

I'm like every other student who came to Nottinghham Trent. I was thinking of the crazy night life, meeting new people and of course what my new flat would be like. That was the easy bit.... I want to be able to challenge myself by blending my creative thinking with the digital world. Every one wants to pass but I want to be able to create new worlds full of stories, made out of colour and texture.

What did I do in Freshers week? Well apart from having the luckiest week of my life so far with booze (no hangovers) I've met some really nice people in my flat. They've introduced me to french animation. It was really cute. The characters reminded me of french versions of wallace and gromit. Even though there was no dialogue I was hooked by the dramatic music telling the story of this carton trying to train for the marathon. What attracted me to it was the exaggerated stereotypes, for example the runner had massively exaggerated calfs. Apart from that I've been out most nights at the SU and trying to find my way round Nottingham.