Just a Quick Post

Just a quick post, most of the action has been happening over at my Hons blog, link at the top of this page :D

But I did find some progress shots of work that has been done for my Honours project so I thought I would post them here.

A lot has been happening over this past semester and I will update again soon once the stress of the last few weeks of semester 1 has eased a little.

Rocking Research Old School Style

Over the past few weeks I've had to spend a lot more time completing assignments than I have working on my actual Honours film, which is confusing given that the assignments are all about the film and how I am researching different methods and practices to create it.

To get into the swing of research I like to read, a lot. We're not supposed to call this research, it's meant to be called guided reading- but to me it feels like research lol. The main aim of the reading is to supplement ideas or theories I might have in relation to the techniques I might use in my film.I spent an entire day in the library the other day and was shocked to see that I was the only one that was using an actual pen and exercise book (old habits die hard I guess). Everyone else was on laptops or ipads, well at least I didn't have to worry about running low of batteries (only the metaphorical kind, but caffeine usually kick starts them).

Everything in terms of the academic side of Honours seems to be due in the next couple of weeks and I am finding more and more that my nights are sponsored by V Energy drink. We have a methodology presentation on Wed night then a project update presentation the following week, oh and I also have that pesky fine arts elective hanging about too. 

In a weird way I am feeling less stressed than I was at the start of the semester, perhaps because I feel like I kind of have a handle on things in both areas- research and project. This is not to say that either of them is perfect, just that it feels less like I'm pushing jelly up hill, so that's a positive. 

Honors Study Update

Still life studies of objects of significance, getting a sense of the colours and shapes associated with a by-gone era.

Learning a New Program

New Year, new program! Looking at doing something quite different for my Hons project, aesthetically different in terms of the animation styles that I have tried in the past. I think that the story I want to tell needs a more artistic authentic visual that looks as though it has been scratched into paper. Well that is where it is headed at the moment. I have started compiling a reference folder and have tried TVPaint for the very first time tonight. I quite like the idea of using it to obtain a painterly aesthetic whilst still using good ol Toon Boom Animate Pro for the bulk of the animation, this was a tip from film maker Simon Cottee who used it in his final year film.

I think that the style of render in TVPaint will suit my colouring style and at the moment I am toying with using it predominantly for the backgrounds with an almost pen and ink style for the animation and figures- just an idea, influenced by the Monk and the Fish aesthetic:

Possible Further Study

Well Draco is finished. So, now what's next? Well I am considering further study to allow me time to explore some different animation styles, so potentially I could be back at uni next year completing an Hons year. Here's what I am thinking of studying:

As an animator I have an interest not only in the artistic and technical processes involved in animation, but also in the construction of narrative in order to tell a ‘good story.’ In my previous degree I studied the classic canonical literature of western societies and it was through my extensive study of such literature that I recognised a central aspect of the narrative common to all stories regardless of cultural origin.

This pivotal narrative device is the construction of a sense of community in a largely homogenised society and the identification of the outsider. This form of conflict provides the basis of most, if not all, literary texts and I believe is also the case within western animated feature films. The difference between the protagonist and the community can be visual and literal or ideological and psychological, but it is the presence of such difference that creates the all- important conflict paramount to the telling of a ‘good story.’

In my honours year I propose to study the presence of this narrative device as an integral part of story-telling in the visual medium of animation. In particular I will focus upon animated feature films of the Walt Disney Animation Studios and how the outsider is constructed within the narrative and as a visual presence on screen through colour, design and layout. This study will compliment my deliverable which will be a short animated film.

The film will be based upon a script that I wrote for our scriptwriting class (received a distinction grade) and although it will need rigorous revision to be condensed as an animated short, it is a story that encapsulates the concept of community and the evolution of the outsider. The story uniquely traces the change that occurs within both the individual and their environment, in this case the Australian suburbs. A full synopsis of the film proposal will be available at a later date. In contrast to my recent film, Draco, this individual project will be a different style visually and will incorporate different programs (such as Photoshop and TV Paint) in addition to Toon Boom to give the film the personal, authentic aesthetic that will contribute to the successful telling of the story.