collaborationandresearchproposal

[collaborationandresearchproposal]

Collaboration: Final Update

Ok so I know I said the last post was the final update but I had to add the new transition from Amy’s to mine.

[collaborationandresearchproposal]

Collaboration: Timetables and Checklists

For the final push our amazing Producer Autumn made a Gannt chart to track our progress. 

Autumn also tracked our progress through a timetable and checklist. 

[collaborationandresearchproposal]

Research Proposal Final Draft

Title

Evil Kweens: A Queer Look at the History of Villains and Monsters in Animation and Film.

Report Type

Extended essay.

Proposed Table of Contents

Historical context and background

the Hays Code and its influence on the content of almost every American film made between 1930 and 1966

How were things back then?

Queer-coding and Queer-baiting with Focus on Modern Media

both are issues for the LGBTQIA+ community as they seek to capitalize on these marginalized groups.

Queer-baiting: portraying an obviously queer relationships with the use of cues and subtext without acknowledging it or perhaps even gas lighting it.

Queer-coding: writing a character with queer stereotypes as a form of representation without explicitly acknowledging that the character is queer.

Intent matters but a piece of queer media made with bad intentions could actullay end up having a good effect or be good for the community whilst the reverse could also happen.

Disney villains

Lycanthropy and Other Monstrous Subtext/ Parallels. Allegory or Myth?

talk about werewolves (Teen Wolf, Harry Potter, Buffy)

Frankenstein (Mary Shelly, Rocky Horror Picture Show)

Question

Is representation of LGBT individuals in animation and other forms of entertaining media good for the community or just a way for corporate big wigs to swindle money from hopeful queer people who would pay to see at least one shred of a character who is like them?

Limitations

it may be hard for me to stay objective given that I’m in the LGBT community myself.

Risk of outdated sources and temporal context problems. A project of its time will certainly play a part but more importantly the LGBT community is quite fickle it changes a lot as new identities and constructs get introduced so it may be hard to find a viable source.

I could possibly run the risk of getting distracted or going off on tangents which lack focus but I think this is partly because there is a lot about this subject so there is a lot to go on.

Background

The Hays code was published in 1930 and was based on three general principles:

No picture shall be produced that will lower the moral standards of those who see it. Hence the sympathy of the audience should never be thrown to the side of crime, wrongdoing, evil or sin.

Correct standards of life, subject only to the requirements of drama entertainment, shall be presented.

Law, natural or human, shall not be included, nor shall sympathy be created for its violation.

These were developed in a series of rules grouped under the self-explanatory headings Crimes Against The Law, Sex, Vulgarity, Obscenity, Profanity, Costume Dances (I.e. suggestive movements), Religion, Locations (I.e. the bedroom) National Feelings, Titles and Repellent Subjects''  (extremely graphic violence).

Typical Features of Queer- Coded Characters

high cheekbones

thin bodies

feminine beauty

dramatic of voice and actions

male characters may talk or sing in falsetto or have a camp voice and a female character will most likely have a deeper voice (Maleficent, Evil Queen, Ursula- who is actually based on the drag queen Divine)

these characters may also drag out their words and walk about as though slinking (Scar, the Lion King)

Examples or queer-baiting

Myka Bering and H.G. Wells (Warehouse13, SYFY)

Sherlock and John Watson ( Sherlock, BBC)

Captain America and Bucky Barnes (MCU)

Spock and Kirk ( Star Trek, NBC)

Stiles and Derek ‘Sterek’ (Teen Wolf, MTV)

Merlin and Arthur ‘Merthur’ (Merlin, BBC)

Dean and Castiel (Supernatural, ABC)

Lycanthropy

seems to be synonymous with the homosexuality- parallels between teen Wolf and Buffy the vampire slayer’s respective coming out scenes

The Queer-ness of Professor Lupin from the Harry Potter Franchise- J.K Rowling has admitted that Lupins Lycanthropy is a metaphor for AIDS/ HIV but has further dismissed fans’ theories that Lupin is Queer.

Homophobia and HIV- homophobia acts as a major barrier to ending the AIDS crisis and at the beginning of the AIDS epidemic, gay men were so my led out to receive abuse as many believed they were responsible for transmitting the disease.

Overall aims

explore the impact of queer-baiting on queer communities

investigate true intentions behind the Hays Code

Make people aware of what good representation is and what bad representation is.

  -          Stereotypes, coding, characters that are gay and it’s not  their whole character

Research methods

Relevant books and articles. I will also be looking at films from the Disney renaissance era and looking into monster stories such as the Wolf man and Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein's Monster, paying close attention to subtext and possible parallels as well as comparing them with more modern sources such as Harry Potter and The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

I’ll be looking at a couple of other peoples extended essays who have talked about and around this subject as well.

These are appropriate methods of research because they will allow me to get others’ perspectives on the topic and allow me to analyze the villains and monsters in detail and give me visual material to talk about deeply. It wil also give me the opportunity to find sources that I may have missed in my primary research.

Potential Outcomes

The research will be helpful for me because it will allow me to increase my awareness on a subject that I am already passionate about and interested in.

In a wider context this may help more people to understand the meaning and history behind the characteristics of their favourite villain and any possible subtext that may be lurking beneath them.

Educate those that are unaware or the issues queer-baiting and queer-coding pose.

Timetable

Bibliography

Brooke, M. The Hays Code the moral code that governed mid-20th  century American filmmaking. Available at http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/592022/ (Accessed: 16 March 2021)

Cheng, Z. (2020) Queer-Baiting: What Is It and Why Is It Harmful to The LGBT Community?

Available at:https://hypebae.com/2020/6/queer-baiting-what-is-it-why-harmful-lgbtq-community-tv-shows (Accessed: 16 March 2021)

Elliott, J. (2016) Becoming the Monster: Queer Monstrosity and the Reclemation of the Warewolf in Slash Fandom. Dissertation. University of Florida. Available at: file:///C:/Users/me202/Downloads/Becoming_The_Monster_Queer_Monstrosity_a.pdf (Accessed 16 March 2021)

Ennis, T. (2020) The Strange, Difficult History of Queer Coding.Available at: https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/the-strange-difficult-history-of-queer-coding (Accessed: 16 March 2021)

Hays, H, W. (1931) Online. United States: Production Code Administration, Appendix 1

Hutton, Z. (2018) Queering The Clown Prince of Crime: A Look at Queer Stereyotypes as Signifiers In DC Comics’ “The Joker” FIU Electonic Theses and Dissertations. 3702. Availale at https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/3702/ (Accessed: 16 March 2021)

McLeod, Dion, S. (2016) Unmaksing the Quillan: Queerness and Villiany in Animated Disney Films. Doctor of Philosophy thesis, School of the Arts, English and Media, University of Wollongong. Available at: https://ro.uow.edu.au/theses/4802/ (Accessed 16 March 2021)

Smith, M. (2015) Making Things Perfectly Queer: Art’s Use Of Craft To Signify LGBT Identities.The University of Brighton. Available at: https://cris.brighton.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/4754843/Complete+E+Dissertation+Jan+2016.pdf (Accessed: 16 March 2021)

Birgitta Hosea researcher uca

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Friday 14th May, Collaboration: Final Iterations and Extra Bits

As the deadline looms it’s time for the final pushes. Following feedback I received on my previous iterations, I tried to make the head hover frames more interesting by adding some flashy bananas.  

I then got some more feedback from Helen saying that the as the ship exits  to slowly and the drop that happens is too sharp/ sudden so it was suggested to add and in-between or  few.

I think this is the final one. I’m quite happy with how it has turned out. It’s come a long way since its conception and I think it’s much more interesting and dynamic than the original and I’ve used the colour limitations better I think. It’s more clever and less bold but it still makes a statement.

post Easter work:

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Wednesday 5th, Research proposal: First Draft

Title

Evil Kweens: A Queer Look At The History Of Villains And Monsters In Animation And Film

 Report type

Extended essay

 Proposed table of contents

 The Hays Code

 -       Guidelines are technically voluntary, in practice the major Hollywood audios used the Hays Code guidelines as convince the means of staving off pressure groups

 -       Directly influenced the content of almost every American film made between 1930 and 1966

 Queer-coding and Queer-baiting with focus on Disney and modern media

 -       both are issues for the LGBTQIA+ community as they seek to capitalize on these marginalized groups

 -       Queer-baiting: portraying an obviously queer relationships with the use of cues and subtext without acknowledging it or perhaps even gas lighting it.

 -       Queer-coding: writing a character with queer stereotypes as a form of representation without explicitly acknowledging that the character is queer.

Queer-coding isn’t always bad. It’s all about the creators’ intentions.

Queer-baiting however is pretty much always harmful.

-       Disney villains

 Lycanthropy and other monstrous subtext/ parallels. Allegory or myth?

-       talk about werewolf’s (Teen Wolf, Harry Potter, Buffy)

-       Frankenstein (Mary Shelly, Rocky Horror Picture Show,

 Question

 Is representation of LGBT individuals in animation and other forms of entertaining media good for the community or just a way for corporate big wigs to swindle money from hopeful queer people who would pay to see at least one shred of a character who is like them?

 Limitations

-       it may be hard for me to stay objective given that I’m in the LGBT community myself

 -       risk of outdated sources and temporal context problems. A project of its time will certainly play a part but more importantly the LGBT community is quite fickle it changes a lot as new identities and constructs get introduced so it may be hard to find a viable source.

 Background

The Hays code was published in 1930 and was based on three general principles:

 -       no picture shall be produced that will lower the moral standards of those who see it. Hence the sympathy of the audience should never be thrown to the side of crime, wrongdoing, evil or sin.

 -       correct standards of life, subject only to the requirements of drama entertainment, shall be presented.

 -       Law, natural or human, shall not be included, nor shall sympathy be created for its violation.

 These were developed in a series of rules grouped under the self-explanatory headings Crimes Against The Law, Sex, Vulgarity, Obscenity, Profanity, Costume Dances (I.e. suggestive movements), Religion, Locations (I.e. the bedroom) National Feelings, Titles and Repellent Subjects''  (extremely graphic violence)

 Typical features of queer- coded characters

 -       high cheekbones

 -       thin bodies

 -       feminine beauty

 -       dramatic of voice and actions

 -       male characters may talk or sing in falsetto or have camp ness to their voice and a female character will most likely have a deeper voice (Maleficent, Evil Queen, Ursula- who is actually based on a drag queen)

 -       these characters may also drag out their words and walk about at though slinking (Scar, the Lion King)

 Examples or queer-baiting

-       Myka Bearing and H.G. Wells (Warehouse13, SYFY)

Warehouse13 took a hit in ratings after its fourth season, meaning its fifth only had 6 episodes. It seemed to queer fans in particular that Myka and HG had a blossoming romance. It was even confirmed in the last episode that HG is indeed Bisexual but also in the last episode, Myka ends up with series long partner who at many points has been akin to the brother she never had. Their relationship was definitely flirtatious and I'm not saying that closing out the electric romantic arc between them would have saved the show, it was cancelled anyway, but It would have been nice since the interactions that HG and Myka had were actually what pushed fans to secure the final season. However you can’t be too mad as the show does have probably one of the best portrayals of a gay character on tv.

 -       Sherlock and John Watson ( Sherlock, BBC)

 -       Captain America and Bucky Barnes (MCU)

 -       Spock and Kirk ( Star Trek, NBC)

 -       Emma and Regina (Ounce Upon A Time, ABC)

 -       Stiles and Derek ‘Sterek’ (Teen Wolf, MTV)

 -       Merlin and Arthur ‘Merthur’ (Merlin, BBC)

 -       Dean and Castiel (Supernatural, ABC)

 Lycanthropy

-       seems to be synonymous with the homosexuality- parallels between teen Wolf and Buffy the vampire slayer’s respective coming out scenes

 -       the Queer-ness of Professor Lupin from the Harry Potter Franchise- J.K Rowling has admitted that Lupin’s Lycanthropy is a metaphor for AIDS/ HIV but has further dismissed fans’ theories that Lupin is Queer.

 -       Homophobia and HIV- homophobia acts as a major barrier to ending the AIDS crisis and at the beginning of the AIDS epidemic, gay men were so my led out to receive abuse as many believed they were responsible for transmitting the disease.

 Overall aims

 -       explore the impact of queer-baiting on queer communities

 -       investigate true intentions behind the Hays Code

 -       Make people aware of what’s good representation and what’s bad representation.

 Research methods

 I plan to use relevant books and articles. I will also be looking to Disney films from the Disney renaissance era and looking into monster stories such as the Wolfman and Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein's Monster, paying close attention to subtext and possible parallels as well as comparing them with more modern sources such as Harry Potter and The Rocky Horror Picture Show.

 These are appropriate methods of research because they will allow me to get others’ perspectives on the topic and allow me to analyze the villains and monsters in detail and give me visual material to talk about deeply.

 Potential outcomes

 -       The research will be helpful for me because it will allow me to increase my awareness on a subject that I am already passionate about and interested in.

 -       in a wider context this may help more people to understand the meaning and history behind the characteristics of their favorite villain and any possible subtext that may be lurking beneath them.

 -       educate those that are unaware or the issues queer-baiting and queer-coding pose.

 Timeline

Bibliography

Brooke, M. The Hays Code the moral code that governed mid-20th  century American filmmaking. Available at http://www.screenonline.org.uk/film/id/592022/ (Accessed: 16 March 2021)

 Cheng, Z. (2020) Queer-Baiting: What Is It and Why Is It Harmful to The LGBT Community?

Available at:https://hypebae.com/2020/6/queer-baiting-what-is-it-why-harmful-lgbtq-community-tv-shows (Accessed: 16 March 2021)

 Elliott, J. (2016) Becoming the Monster: Queer Monstrosity and the Reclemation of the Warewolf in Slash Fandom. Dissertation. University of Florida. Available at: file:///C:/Users/me202/Downloads/Becoming_The_Monster_Queer_Monstrosity_a.pdf (Accessed 16 March 2021)

 Ennis, T. (2020) The Strange, Difficult History of Queer Coding.Available at: https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/the-strange-difficult-history-of-queer-coding (Accessed: 16 March 2021)

  Hays, H, W. (1931) Online. United States: Production Code Administration, Appendix 1

  Hutton, Z. (2018) Queering The Clown Prince of Crime: A Look at Queer Stereyotypes as Signifiers In DC Comics’ “The Joker” FIU Electonic Theses and Dissertations. 3702. Availale at https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/3702/ (Accessed: 16 March 2021)

 McLeod, Dion, S. (2016) Unmaksing the Quillan: Queerness and Villiany in Animated Disney Films. Doctor of Philosophy thesis, School of the Arts, English and Media, University of Wollongong. Available at: https://ro.uow.edu.au/theses/4802/ (Accessed 16 March 2021)

 Smith, M. (2015) Making Things Perfectly Queer: Art’s Use Of Craft To Signify LGBT Identities.The University of Brighton. Available at: https://cris.brighton.ac.uk/ws/portalfiles/portal/4754843/Complete+E+Dissertation+Jan+2016.pdf  (Accessed: 16 March 2021)

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Thursday 29th April, Research Report: Lycanthropy and the hays code

Notable points * lycanthropy seems  to be synonymous with homosexuality- parallels between Teen Wolf and Buffy The Vampire Slayer's respective coming out scenes. * The Queer-ness of the character Remus Lupin from the Harry Potter books and film series. Many fans head cannon and write slash fics about Remus and Sirius' romance and relationship, reading the characters as queer. The ship, named 'Wolf Star' is quite popular and well known within the fandom. Many fans feel there is enough evidence to build this relationship on; Remus and Sirius' ghosts stood next to each other in the resurrection stone, mirroring Harry's parents,  a canonically married couple. They also bought Harry a joint present for his birthday and know the intricacies of each others personalities. Dumbledore also infamously told Sirius to 'lie low at Lupins.' But the problem here, as the article points out, is that Rowling doesn't acknowledge Lupin as queer, despite the homoerotic cues in the writings,  and instead gives him a female love interest and admits that Lupins Lycantrhopy is a metaphor for AIDS/HIV. She has further dismissed any alternative readings of the character, disappointing fans' hopes of there being a shred of representation in a queer monster who is actually queer. This sort of behaviour from authors and creators is what turns Queer-coding into the more harmful and frustrating Queer-baiting. A large majority of queer representation comes from connotations and interpretations. the clues are there and queer audiences do pick them up. However this grey area allows allows straight culture to use queerness for pleasure and profit in mass culture without admitting to it. Modern examples of this are CW's Supernatural and BBC's Sherlock. I can't personally speak for Supernatural but having watched Sherlock with the advantage of a queer eye, I can say with confidence that it is a prime example of queer-baiting. there is clear homoerotic subtext between Sherlock and John and even Sherlock and Moriarty. I Personally think it's entirely romantic as I head cannon Sherlock to be Asexual or at least on that spectrum but the point is, it is not just wishful thinking or pushing of a narrative. It's manipulation. Queer-baiting takes advantage of an already vulnerable group of people by preying on their desire for representation in the media.

In modern media werewolf's are often portrayed as having chiselled bodies and looming over each other. The 1985 Teen Wolf received a television reboot and it's fair to say it got reasonably more progressive.  It seemed interested in queering the werewolf narrative and in a sly moment of gender-bending the traditional Little Red Riding Hood narrative, protagonist Scott receives the Bite from a male werewolf while wearing a Little Red Hoodie (‘Wolf Moon’). Additionally, the show features LGBTQ characters while Scott’s human best friend Stiles visits a gay bar and makes friends with a group of drag queens in startling contrast to the gay panic of the 1985 film’s version of Stiles. By midway through the show’s second season, the slash pairing that had proved dominant in the fandom was Stiles and wannabe-Alpha Derek Hale. The two characters, who operate in the narrative as belligerent and begrudging allies, rapidly became a slash phenomenon, due, in part, to the chemistry and comic timing between actors Tyler Hoechlin and Dylan O’Brien. The narrative is further subverted when Derek is raped by an adult  human woman.

The pair 'Sterek' gained so much traction that it caught the attention of MTV and the cast and crew behind the show. So much so that they released a video of Hoechlin and O'Brien cuddling on a boat, asking fans to vote for Teen Wolf for this  years Choice Summer TV Show at the Teen Choice Awards. This  was big as it acknowledged fans and slash flics and the pairing itself as a possibility and many queer voices who watched the show felt heard and validated. However this didn't last long. MTV released a video on the official Teen Wolf Facebook, this time featuring O’Brien asking fans to vote for Teen Wolf in a TV Guide Poll. O’Brien joked that if fans did not vote, then the show would kill off its sole remaining gay character and one of the few remaining non-white characters on the show, Danny. The Teen Wolf Facebook released the video with the following caption: ‘Keep #TeenWolf in first place! Heed Dylan and Linden’s advice or we might have to. #KillDanny’ (Teen Wolf). The show’s social media team then attempted to make the #KillDanny tag go viral on Facebook and twitter, but fans, understandably, were not amused, primarily using the tag for outraged tweets to MTV (Baker-Whitelaw).Such blatant disregard for fans’ concerns about queer representation on the show alienated a large number of fans, especially when coupled with Jeff Davis’ more frequently dismissive and condescending comments about the Sterek pairing where he had been enthusiastic and even encouraging of the ship. As seasons wore on without any indication that Sterek would indeed become canon, it became clear that MTV and Jeff Davis had been queer-baiting Sterek fans as a marketing technique and that the unique interplay that fans had enjoyed with Davis, which offered a new kind of truly interactive fandom had, in fact, been something of an illusion. ' serial killer Hannibal Lecter and his love interest Will Graham in Hannibal, and reanimated gay corpses Kieren, Simon, and Rick in In the Flesh. Notably, both series have received an overwhelmingly positive response from fans and critics who have applauded the series for taking their queer monsters beyond mere coding and into explicit text. The warm reception of Hannibal and In the Flesh’s handling of queer representation by fans, and the continuing frustration with Teen Wolf’s queer-baiting and the appropriative nature of Remus Lupin’s narrative in Harry Potter, belie a desire not only for better queer representation, but also for more complex re-articulations of queer monstrosity' the symbolic and narrative trappings of monsters are often used as metaphors for queerness without actually acknowledging the positive behind that queer identity or even confirming the queer identity at all. Another positive example is the miniseries Good Omens. Based on the book of the same name, written by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. Pretty much the whole fandom believe That the two leads, Crowley and Aziraphale are in a romantic relationship. They've known each other for centuries and perhaps what was the main fuel to this ships fire was the episode 3 cold open. Even fans who have only read the book seem to support these two as a couple and what's perhaps even more amazing is Gaiman’s response on twitter. "I wrote it as a love story. They acted it as a love story. You saw it as a love story. How much more proof do you need?" and "I wouldn't exclude the ideas that they are ace, or aromantic, or trans. They are an angel and a demon, not as make humans, per the book. Occult/Ethereal beings don't have sexes, something we tried to reflect in the casting. Whatever Crowley and Aziraphale are, it's a love story." It's beautiful because not only does it confirm that they are in love but it also leaves room for interpretations of what kind of relationship they have together.

https://dialogues.rutgers.edu/images/Journals_PDF/2017-18-dialogues-web_e6db3.pdf#page=164

In the year 1922, when cinema was gaining traction and popularity, The Motion Picture Producers and Distributors Association (MPPDA) hired a devout Presbyterian, Will H. Hays as its head. Eight years later, in 1930, the MPPDA ratified the Motion Picture Production Code. Also known as the Hays Code, these guidelines were set up as “a list of rules that studios could follow to avoid the censors’ wrath” one specific line read “sexual perversion or any inference to it is forbidden” This era in censorship set the stage for a culture in which the stereotypical behaviour of homosexuals, or any behaviour deviating from the traditional gender roles, is seen as dangerous, evil, and even fatal. By representing coded homosexual characters as depressed, perverse, and succumbing to punishing ends, it shifted social subconscious beliefs of LGBT individuals in real life to those represented on screen. Media often teaches us how to feel about others and ourselves – e.g., it promotes specific body types and clothing styles. In the same way, by promoting gendered behaviour and banning homosexuality, it spread a message that homosexuality was not fit to be viewed openly. Although themes of homosexuality were banned they were definitely alluded to and that continues today.

[collaborationandresearchproposal]

Wednesday 28th April, Collaboration: Animatic With Sound

After I made the changes I did to my previous animatic. I had a think on it and decided to take a slightly different approach. 

I looked into some more artists and got inspired.

This is what I came up with. I think this is the closest to what I’m gonna have for the final result. I think the sound effects work well and I like how it goes from digital to rostrum style as it was my intention to make it jarring and I think I succeeded. However there’s still room for improvement. I would perhaps change the colour of the background in the rostrum half of the animation to a darker purple.

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Monday 26th April, Life Drawing: Taking A Seat

This week all the poses the model did were on a chair.

I tried to fit the whole figure on each drawing and I think it was easier to do because the model was sitting but this page isn’t without mistakes. In the drawing in the foreground I drew the leg too thick.

For this pose I chose to use the double pen technique for the figure and a ormal coloured sketch for the chair to provide a contrast.

This was  a 20 minute pose. It looks off. I think overall the figure is too thin.

I think I improved on the proportions in this one. I like how the different colours provide a contrast to each other and I think I drew the body better but the shoulders were perhaps too broad and the chair too short. 

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Wednesday 21st April, Collaboration, Week 7

This week we received feedback on our individual work so this iteration of my animatic is based on that feedback.

It was said that the arms pivot in the wrong place so I tried to fix this by adding another bend to each arm. I’m not sure whether it works but I tried to make it less confusing.

In general terms I was also told to push the idea more and to add more elements and make the flowers more photographic. I sourced a royalty free photo for the flowers and I also added bits of paper every time the head hits the fist. I think adding sound effects here could be good. I also added a zoom in to the winking face and I think adding a wink sound effect could be nice.

the transition from Amy’s to mine is very placeholder and it may not be used in the final product but I thought maybe it could work. 

I still think it could be pushed more so we’ll see what happens when I get to the rostrum

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Monday 19th April, Life Drawing: Lighting

This week we played around with lighting, the model also interacted with a box and a dodecahedron.

I think this page was a bit of a fail. I like what I did with the top three drawings although it’s a shame that the highlighter drawing overlapped with the pen sketch. The other three drawings just don’t work I feel as though I was a bit limited by the highlighters as I found it a bit hard to shade with them. Being limited is why I chose to use them but I feel like is was hard to create a range of shade and I could have presented them better.

With this page I think the opposite happened. The bottom two drawings are the better ones. I think going over the highlighter with a fine-liner to define the detail  adds a nice touch and it’s a more successful use of the highlighter than the previous page. The other two I just ran out of time to complete.

For the last two drawings I decided to render the figure in pen as I liked how the first two drawings turned out. I think using the highlighters in this way is effective and I like how I drew the face however I think the proportions are off and if I were to do this again I would put the mask in orange to provide a greater contrast.

I was a bit disappointed by this one. I like the placement of the highlighter/ shading but I didn’t leave enough room from the hip to the arm, forcing me to draw the thigh shorter than it actually is, making the leg appear shorter and the body hunched over. I also still can’t draw 3D shapes so it’s nice to know I’ve still got that going for me. 

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Thursday 15th April, Collaboration: Animatics

As we were updating the colours of our animations I took the chance to redo my animatic using the improved headshots I took. 

The Transition From Amy’s to mine is temporary and it’s just an idea I had. I didn’t include the transition from mine to autumns but you can see it below in our group animatic that Our editor Rachael made. It also has a pass of the sound picked out by Ella and Clara.

I like it. I think it all works quite well together. Obviously there are some timing and transition issues but the one’s used are temporary or there’s room to improve/change them. I think the music chosen works well as it changes tone a couple of times and so does our individual animations. 

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Tuesday 13th April, Collaboration: New assets And Style Frame.

Following  a meeting with Helen, we decided on a universal colour palette: blues, purples and pinks. I quickly got to work on my new assets.

For the background I made some flowers out of card and sugar paper and used a piece of ribbon for the volley ball net. 

I played around with the texture of it and put an overlay over it to make it more bold and to fit more with the decided colour scheme.

this is the idea’s I had for my assets. I needed to make the head and arms fit the colour scheme so I made them sort of alien like.

I think adding this colour makes it more interesting and also ties everything together.

This is the current style frame. I may play around with the contrast and brightness levels because the arms kind of blend in a bit but I like how it looks so far.

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Monday 12th April, Life Drawing: Getting Back Into It

I was quite excited to get back to life drawing as it’s been quite a while and it’s good practice. This week the session was rather relaxed so I took the opportunity to use the more expressive mediums I had at hand.

I seemed to be unable to fit the whole body on the page and I made  a couple of mistakes but i really like the effect the oil pastels have for the folds in the clothes. 

I decided to try something different with this one. for the first two drawings I drew them without looking at the paper. then for the third I did a detail drawing in pen with oil pastel shading.

I think the curvature of the spine needs work and the head could do with being tilted slightly more but overall I like the effect that I’ve created and I think it looks cool.

I had time between poses so I did this little drawing of the models foot.

These three are probably my least favourite of the drawings I did today. They just didn’t turn out good or at least how I wanted to and the hands are way too big and weird. The position of the mask on the pencil sketch is also not right. It’s too long.

Unfortunately the charcoal from the previous drawings rubbed off onto this one, effecting the quality but I don’t think the damage was too great.  felt bad for not being able to fit the whole body on the page so I did some quick feet drawings as well. I like how the colours contrast with each other. 

For this final, longer pose I decided to bring all of the mediums I used for the session together. I like using this mixed media technique as I think its a good way to show the different textures 

I really like how this turned out. I think the only criticism  would be that the right knee could maybe be a bit bigger.

[collaborationandresearchproposal]

Week Five, Collaboration, Monday 12th April: Easter Task Pack

Over Easter we were given a pack to complete.

This is of course the idea I eventually went with in the end. It just seemed like the most do-able and it’s a more fun idea that allows for a bit of comedy to be implemented when the world is all very depressing at the moment. The idea behind this principle is that the way to imitate life and make your characters seem alive is to show they have the ability to think and a way to show that is a change of expression- a clear sign that a thought has occurred because when we express an emotion we have to think about it.

I decided to try this idea out for our individual test week (refer to appropriate earlier blog for more info there.) I liked how it turned out but it wasn’t very stop-motion and it was too digital. I wouldn’t be able to get the backgrounds how I want them in the paper cut-out style so I binned off this idea and decided the above one was probably the better option.

I was trying to figure out how this idea could work. I thought maybe I could make panels or some sort of sliding contraption that I could slide in and out of the eyes every time I wanted to change to animation scene. I think this idea was a little too ambitious but it came to me because what would animation be without the audience that consumes it?

I was a bit stumped when it came to research. I just struggled to find something for my phrase or something to relate to it at least. Jib Jab seemed to be the style that I wanted for my animation, which was under the paper cut out umbrella so It’s a good reference point I feel.

Here I just decided to play around with sketching some of the faces and other assets. There’s not much here but what I have got provides a nice foundation for moving forward with my animation.

[collaborationandresearchproposal]

Week Four, Collaboration, Friday 2nd April: Style frame and animation test.

This week we were given the task to present our style frames and assets.

Since I had these I took the opportunity to make an animation with them based on the ‘change of expression’ idea I had. 

My brother was kind enough to help me by providing his face for me. and taking a picture of my arms for me as well. I sourced the background image from a royalty-free stock website to ensure there would be no issues with copyright.

There was an issue with the lighting so I Brightened up my brothers face for the animation and the result is as follows.

Overall I’m pretty happy with the result. I really like how the head gets bashed about and how it speeds up slightly as the game progresses. I think the movement is simple but it works and I’m overall happy with the result.

The only thing I’m concerned about really is the words. When I made the animatic I struggled a bit with the phrase being thrown up. I fixed this issue by having the head fall upside down so the words could come out to the top of the screen but it still worries me because I’m not sure how I’m going to make the words spill out like that with the rostrum.

We were also asked to think about transitions this week. Here’s the idea that I had. 

My animation comes before Autumns and hers starts with rain drops so I was thinking, as my words will be at the top of the screen, they could start to fall and then fade into raindrops, transitioning into Autumn’s animation.

[collaborationandresearchproposal]

Week Three Collaboration, Tuesday 26rd Friday: Animatic Work

At the start of the week, our producer gave us the task to make individual animatics so our editor could animate them together for an animatic of our animations together. The aim of this is to get an idea of how we could transition from animation to animation but also to see how the end product could turn out.

The group style we decided upon was paper cut out and making the animatic was very helpful for me to see how I could move forward. I like how simple the movement is as I think it will make future productions easy to film.

Our group animatic put together by our editor. 

I think it turned out quite well and it was really cool to see how each individual animation is going to fit together. 

[collaborationandresearchproposal]

Week Two, Collaboration, Tuesday 16th March: Group Work Starts

For this week, following our tasks from the previous weeks, we were to research the 13th principle of animation and find inspiration as to what it could be. 

actually struggled a bit with this as I found it hard to find anything around the subject but here’s what I did find.

https://www.stevebristow.com/blog/should-this-be-the-13th-principle-of-animation

An animator’s goal is to make a connection with their audience. A great way to do this is to have the audience emphasise with the character by having the character experience relatable thoughts and feelings. The article above equates being alive to thinking. When we see a character in thought we connect better to them because only living things are capable of conscious thought. Therefore, if a character shows signs of thought, we can interpret them as alive.

CHANGE OF EXPRESSION

First get to know and understand the character The face must move and change with strong expressions.

facial expressions keep changing and it's exaggerated maybe? But also it could be done with mismatched paper or objects so it could look weird. like maybe it could be like those books where you put face stickers on a brick wall or an orange or something.

After a group meeting we decided on the motif of the human body.so I decided to re-work my idea and also put the thumbnail in a style closer to what the end project will be. I’ve decided to go down the comedy route with this. Since my principle is change of expression I made the body parts an arm and a head. the head acts as the volleyball and every time the arm hits/serves it the expression will change, until the head lands and throws up the phrase ‘change of expression’

The inspiration for the intended style comes from JibJab

I plan to take pictures of someone’s arm and face pulling multiple expressions and then cut them out and use that for an animation on the rostrum.