akourdoulloufiction2018

[akourdoulloufiction2018]

For the fiction project, I wanted to be more experiment with the type of film I created. Jan Svankmajer’s Alice (1988) was my starting point, which immediately encouraged me to create a stop motion animation. Although I particularly like stop motion and animated films in general, it is something that I had never tried before and was unsure how to approach it. The idea to use a wooden artist’s mannequin as a subject came to me early in the project. I was drawn to the idea of using something human like and malleable that also lacked distinctive human features, such as a face. This would make it especially challenging to express emotion and to communicate. Another source of inspiration for this idea was the opening scene of Being John Malkovich, which features a precise puppet dance on a miniature set.I wanted the story to have a dark, uncomfortable plot, like the dark origins of most modern fairy tales. While compiling research for this project, I learnt that lots of fictional work has roots within legends and fairy tales, and that often these legends and fairy tales have a much more sinister origin.   My storyline is simple, a wooden mannequin suddenly gains consciousness and desperately tries to escape the stand he is built to. After trying for several minutes, a poorly thought through plan to cut itself in half at the waist to freedom ends up killing the mannequin. Fortunately for the mannequin, the owner superglues it’s torso back together, saving the mannequin from death. The mannequin is relieved and is happy to be alive, until it remembers that it is still stuck on the pole, incapable of escape. The story does not follow any particular moral but could be interpreted in many different ways. The seven deadly sins also played a part in inspiring the story and the punishment of the mannequin, experiencing anger and greed to the point where it can no longer contain itself, and causing itself harm trying to reach its goal.  The shooting process of the film was incredibly tedious and difficult. Sticking to the original story board became increasingly difficult as it became clear that the mannequin could not perform all of the required maneuvers due to it not being quite as flexible as a real human. Despite this, I worked around each issue successfully and efficiently, capturing over 2000 frames. The set was arranged on a desk using various objects I had from around the house that I felt reflected the unusual atmosphere of the scene. Overall, I was pleased with how the mise-en-scene shaped up, with the camera framing also giving the anchored subject more movement and fluidity between cuts. One area that could have been improved would have been the steadiness of the camera between shots, although some parts are smooth and flow well, the parts that were jumpy distract from the intricacies of each movement. I am satisfied with how the film turned out and would say that my experimentation with stop motion was successful, despite its flaws.

[akourdoulloufiction2018]

Macro photography

As the mannequin is only several inches tall and each shot is very close to the camera, I have taken the opportunity to borrow a macro lens from the university in order to keep the focus even when the shot is extremely close. Here are some stills from the film that display the shots that have been constructed since I started using it.

[akourdoulloufiction2018]

Stills from the stop motion animation. Each of these images had areas of bluetac showing and needed to be edited on photoshop to make it look more dynamic. 37 pictures in total needed editing in photoshop for various reasons.

[akourdoulloufiction2018]

Sound Design and Eraserhead I’ve been thinking a lot about sound design for my film. Eraserhead has a particularly unique sound design where everything in the world around the protagonist is grotesque and uncomfortable to reflect his own discomfort of the world around him. I want to record some sound clips of the mannequin moving around to layer over the top of the video. It squeaks and clinks a lot if moved vigorously enough. This noise may be annoying but my film is meant to be shocking and uncomfortable.

[akourdoulloufiction2018]

Some very rough sketches from the original story board. I still like these compositions and may try to incorporate them into the final film.

[akourdoulloufiction2018]

Blu’s wall painted animation. This stop motion was put together by painting each frame on top of the last and moving the scene in tiny increments. Not only is this incredibly difficult and hugely time consuming, it is still extremely well made. Each frame jumps around which ordinarily wouldn’t help in a stop motion piece, but with this it manages to mimic the weird movement and energy the painting has.  

[akourdoulloufiction2018]

Stop Motion first draft. A first draft of my film for the fiction project. Most of the footage had to be re-shot and composed with more precision and attention to detail, although some of the shots from the experimental version made previously were good enough to make it to this version. This version features more establishing shots and more close ups of the mannequin before it wakes up, helping to build more of an atmosphere and setting the scene.

[akourdoulloufiction2018]

Stop Motion Experiment/Visual storyboard ideas.  A short stop motion experiment featuring a wooden mannequin coming to life and realising he is trapped. The background is simple as too much movement would make the stop motion consistency difficult to flow. I chose objects that may typically be found on a desk but chose to add unusual versions of each to reflect the bizarre situation - for example instead of a desk lamp I am using a stained glass lantern. The Rubik’s cube is a metaphor of the puzzle the mannequin is in.

[akourdoulloufiction2018]

Daedalus and Icarus

An ancient Greek myth about  Daedalus and his son Icarus, who escaped from Crete, flying with wings made of wax and feathers. Daedalus warns Icarus not to fly too near the sun or the wax will melt. Ignoring his father’s warning, Icarus flies too high and falls into the Aegean and drowns. The story has themes of Pride and Punishment. The gods did not like it when humans tried to act like them by defying their mortal limits. In ancient Greek culture, acting like a god was called "hubris", and it was often severely punished.  It serves as an important lesson in humility, and the wisdom of living within your limits

[akourdoulloufiction2018]

Initial Ideas - Artist Mannequin

I have decided to make my film about an Artist Mannequin that becomes conscious. Using what I have looked at for stop motion ideas, I chose the mannequin as it had human like parts that would be malleable, yet their lack of a face makes them emotionless. This will be my first challenge, finding a way to express emotion through body language, similar to how the puppetmaster uses the puppet in the opening scene of Being John Malkovich.

[akourdoulloufiction2018]

Dark Fairy Tales

Many pieces of fiction are based on stories and character types that originate in fairy tales and myths. A lot of fairy tales have been adapted to be more child friendly but the original versions of many common fairy tales have dark, horror like narratives. Some examples of this include Rumpelstiltskin, The Little Mermaid, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves and Pinocchio. With this in mind, I will try to add a dark plot to my film.

[akourdoulloufiction2018]

Stop Motion Animation I am thinking about making a stop motion animation for the fiction project. I have never made a stop motion piece before so there will be a lot of planning. I am currently thinking of a story line and a subject matter that will compliment this style of animation. Here are three examples of successful films and tv programmes that use stop motion, Wallace and Gromit, Isle of Dogs and Mary and Max.

[akourdoulloufiction2018]

Opening Scene of Being John Malkovich, the puppet dance of Despair and Disillusionment. The puppetmaster displays emotion and human characteristics with a wooden puppet. It has one face that is unable to change but he manages to present confusion, anger, sadness, shock and other emotions through body language. 

[akourdoulloufiction2018]

Seven Deadly Sins

The short film Black Hole is centred around greed, one of the seven deadly sins within Christian teachings. The other sins are pride, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath and sloth. Many films focus on one or several of the deadly sins but I really admired how well Black Hole presented this idea so simply.

[akourdoulloufiction2018]

The Black Hole A short science fiction film about a man that discovers a mysterious portal that allows him to pass through things. This film is simple and follows a simple moral - greed - and the repercussions of being too greedy.

[akourdoulloufiction2018]

Danny Boy - Marek Skrobecki A plasticine stop motion short film in a fictional world where everyone is missing their head. The film is about people being blind to the problems around them, and how being different is often viewed negatively.

[akourdoulloufiction2018]

Dr Strangelove: Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964) - Stanley Kubrick Kubrick’s Dr Strangelove was made 20 years prior to Threads, but uses similar subject matter, the cold war and the threat of a nuclear apocalypse. Instead of showing the hardships and threats of a post nuclear world in a serious representation, Strangelove is written as a comedy, reflecting the insanity of the cold war. It is interesting that both of these films chose to approach this subject in a completely different way, and yet they both work excellently.