Developmental - Ella Preston UAL Foundation diploma in Design and Media | Ravensbourne University

Since I'm looking at the negative impacts of urbanisation, I collected some photos that represent them: the first image is of air pollution, which is the result of industrial processes and traffic congestion (shown in the second image) Air pollution as well as being damaging to the environment and atmosphere, also directly impacts people living in the city, causing breathing problems (for example) The third picture is of slums in various cities in African or South American countries. I find these visuals particularly interesting because they at first appear to be almost cute, bustling villages but in actuality are areas of extreme poverty.

I want to use the imagery from these photos to make my outcome more bleak and dystopian, in order to help inform the viewer of my intention - to highlight the negative aspects of urbanisation.

I made this mindmap to help me decide what I was trying to represent through urbanisation. I think being ignored is a good theme to investigate because often the negative impacts of urbanisation (such as slums or congestion) are caused by a lack of investment for prevention from the government, i.e. the situation is being ignored. This theme also ties into the idea of the oppression of the poor. I want to look into this theme because I was already planning on presenting the negative aspects of urbanisation, and this idea reinforces the bleak effect I want my outcome to have.

Experimenting

For this experiment, I attempted to establish a more personal connection to my ideas. I sketched a map of my neighbourhood in charcoal, then shaded the negative space so that the roads would stand out. I then spoke to my family about the routes they most often, while also thinking about the routes I take myself, and scratched these pathways into the map. I did this to represent the effects of people on an urban environment, and suggest urbanisation as a metaphor for change over time. Although I think my outcome was interesting, the scratched paper was quite subtle, and if I were to use this technique again it would have to be in a more extreme way. I also think the idea was too unrelated to my previous research; it doesn't link to many negative impacts of urbanisation.

Here I experimented with stop-motion animation. I was inspired by the photos of slums in developing cities (from my visual research) - the houses reminded me of cardboard, so I used scraps of cardboard to make small structures. I wanted the shapes to be quite rough, not exact, so that the overall image of the city would be more abstract. I used stop motion to suggest growth or expansion as a metaphor for urbanisation. I'm happy with this experiment; the stop-motion technique worked well. Although the metaphor would be more effective if my "city" was on a larger scale and I think the visuals I chose were too similar to the photos I'd taken inspiration from - for my outcome, I want my aesthetic to be more original.

I chose to research the London Underground maps because it's interesting to see how they've changed - or not changed. There have only been slight variations in Beck's map since it was released in 1933, meaning its been around for the majority of the London Underground's life. This interests me because it shows consistency among the constantly changing transport system. However, I also included a geographically accurate map of the London Underground. Not only is it much more complicated than the map used by TFL, it's also much easier to compare to the original map in 1908; by comparing the two, you can see the extent to which the infrastructure has developed over time. Looking at graphic art like this could provide inspiration for the visuals in our film.

We wanted to show the metamorphosis of the Underground through the metamorphosis of filmmaking techniques too. I researched how film practises have changed over time so we can use these techniques. Modern films have much shorter shots, to try and hold the viewer's attention. For example, "the average length of a shot in 1930 was 12 seconds. Today, the average length is only 2.5 seconds" (Cutting, 2014) As well as this, there's also more motion in modern films. Developments in lighting have meant modern films can make dark colours much darker, while keeping bright colours bright. (Miller, 2014)

Although they're not animated, I thought these illustrations would provide good inspiration for the animation in our film because of their simplistic style and bold, primary colours. The artist uses shapes to create movement and give the viewer a sense of being on the tube station.

I looked at photography of the London Underground by David Gutierrez. He focuses on the shapes used in the architecture to create very regular, symmetrical images. I found this technique interesting because it in some ways is similar to Mistry's work, where she also used bold shapes; this could suggest that using shapes are effective ways of evoking the underground's atmosphere, and would be useful in our own work.

I looked at photographer Luke Agbaimoni. Similar to Gutierrez, his work also uses the symmetrical shapes of the underground, however, Agbaimoni's "Waiting for Trains" collection focuses of movement, using a slow shutter speed to capture the motion and speed of the trains. I think movement is an important thing to think about when filming/photographing the tube, and should be taken into consideration for our project. Agbaimoni also looks at the lights created by trains in dark tunnels; this creates eerie, almost abstract photos. This focus on coloured lights and shapes may be useful inspiration for the animation.

Although this animation is more statistical, I thought it was interesting in the way it used colour-coded dots to represent people. This kind of abstract imagery may be useful in our animation.

Pre-production

Initially, we wanted to film in abandoned tubes or stations, to create a stronger contrast to the modern stations. However, we were unable to find a suitable location; most abandoned stations were too far away, difficult to access, clashed with our schedules, etc. Because of this, we were forced to adapt and chose to film in very old tube stations instead. Our final decision was to use Baker Street, opened in 1863, (pictured above) as our old setting and stations on the Jubilee line such as Bermondsey and Southwark, opened in 1999, (pictured above) as our modern setting.

Before storyboarding our film, we realised we needed a main character to centre our narrative around. To prevent our film from becoming a montage of images, we chose to follow a person's journey on the London Underground. Although we didn't want the character to have any dialogue - we wanted the focus to be on the setting - we realised they'd be important in establishing a solid story arc, even with our abstract theme.

I used this basic story arc graph as a base to construct the sequence of events that would happen in our film. We decided to follow the main character's journey from one station to another. We wanted to suggest the theme of displacement through this idea - the character is between two places in time, perhaps out of place in both. The character also dislikes travelling on the tube; this creates part of the main conflict in our story. We also drew on the idea of escapism - the character doesn't want to be in the space that they're in, which in this context could be the tube or the time period. This idea works well with displacement too.

Initially we were going to use animation rotoscope over the main character. This was to make sure the character wouldn't take attention away from the background, as well as adding more animated elements. However, this idea was scrapped because rotoscoping would take too long. Instead we decided to stick with using animated elements.

Since our film was based around its setting, thinking about what kind of objects/environments surrounded our character was not applicable. Instead we focussed more on what our character would be wearing; we wanted neutral tones, to keep the focus on the Underground and not the character, but with a hint of colour to help them be easily identified against other people that may be using the tube. The old stations were also planned to have a vintage/sepia filter, which would affect how the colour was seen. I did some colour tests by using a range of these filters on a colour wheel, and blue stood out most in all of these. Therefore we wanted the main colour of the character's outfit to be blue (this also plays into the Underground's colour scheme) We also thought their style should be neither modern or old fashioned, to stay neutral within the changing time period.

First we set out the events we knew were going to happen. Then I cut out the frames and organised them into the order in which they would occur. This was then used as a base for more detailed, finalised storyboards. Daniel and I then used the storyboard to compile a shot list.

Even though there was no dialogue in our film, we still wrote a script to ensure our story was clear to the actor and filmmakers. I used the storyboards as a base for this.

Here I chose a shot from the storyboard: the close up of the character looking unsettled on the tube. Our intention here was to make the audience relate and feel tense. I did two variations of this idea, each focussing on the character's body language, rather than their face. I then had to decide how I would set up the same shot if it had the opposite intention - to make the viewer feel happy or relaxed. I tried to shoot the character standing and from a low angle to make them look stronger and more in control. Finally I designed how the shot would look if I had no set and just the classroom to work with. I would set up a row of chairs against a wall and shoot from a high angle, to try and replicate the cramped, enclosed feeling of being on the tube.

The room I was shooting in had very harsh lighting so I tried to use filters to achieve the warm, darker lighting I wanted.

Animating environment based elements over the storyboard by Alice

Animating character emotions over the storyboard by Rhys

The animators, Alice and Rhys, decided to animate over the storyboards in order to see what kind of animation would best fit each type of shot. They also focused on different areas of animation to ensure that we'd have a larger variety of experiments.

Self Evaluation

I think my alternative shots were successful and I would replace a storyboard shot with them. I like the idea of using body language to convey the character's feelings because it can be easily interpreted, but shot in a variety of ways. (Also having a shot of the character's facial expression relies a lot on the actor's skill)

Our test shots were successful because they explored ways in which the character would exist in our setting, which we hadn't yet tested. I think their compositions would definitely work well in our film. They were also important for the animators because they needed to know how the shots would look before they could plan animation over them.

The storyboarding and idea iteration exercises helped me explore different ideas for how we could present the same intention. I learned how having a clear storyboard and story structure makes planning a lot easier and allowed me to be more thorough.

Post-Production

Animating on photos - test by Rhys

Animating on photos - test by Rhys

Animating on photos - test by Rhys

Animating on a photo - test by Alice

Animating on a video - test by Alice

Animating on a photo - test by me

Animating on a video - test by me

Rhys and Alice were initially the main animators, however due to technical issues, Rhys was unable to animate over videos and I had to step in and help (the video above was practice) I didn't have any programs that allowed me to rotoscope, and instead made transparent GIFs which I then overlayed on the video. However, this was quite time consuming so in the end I only animated one scene (video below)

For this scene I used comic-like action lines to emphasise the bouncing of the characters knee and draw attention to her discomfort. I used a muted yellow to make the animation quite subtle and blend in with the scene.

I wrote down connotations of each colour in order to better understand how the use of each one would influence the viewer.

Using the previous activity, I wrote out the intention for our film and we discussed as a group what kind of colours would best represent these intentions.

Filming by Colm, acting by Rowan

We had issues during filming - the camera broke after shooting all day, so we lost our footage. Fortunately it was resolved because Colm managed to reshoot everything the next day. The location also changed from Southwark to London Bridge due to accessibility issues.

Editing by Colm

This edit served as a baseline for how we'd structure our movie, and helped us decide how and where we'd add the photography and animation. The metamorphosis occurs when the character walks through, which appears to be almost otherworldly to the outdoors. We tried to emphasise this with long shots at the beginning, and more quick cuts at the end. After watching the first edit of our film, we reevaluated our intentions. Although we wanted our focus to be on the environment and not the character, we realised that they were still the main focus of our film and we'd have to adapt our film accordingly.

We wanted the animated elements to reflect the character's emotions, so we did some research into shape meanings. For instance, squares connote familiarity, trust and order so could be used at the end of our film when the character has overcome their struggle, whereas triangles suggest conflict or instability, so pointed shapes may be used when the character is feeling stressed. (Bradley, 2010)

I wanted to take inspiration from TFL's safety posters, which can be seen around the Underground, so our title would tie into our setting. However, where the posters have used capitals to stand out and catch attention, they're quite loud and I thought lowercase may better represent the slow, calm beginning of our film.

I chose to design the credits for our film. My initial idea was to have the credits move across the screen, over the top of a train going in the same direction (above). While this idea worked in theory, I wasn't so happy with that outcome; I felt it looked to cheesy or almost comical, which wasn't the intention of the film.

My next idea was a slideshow of photos around the underground, where the credits had been edited into posters and signs. I chose to use this idea for our end credits because it's more tasteful and will work well with the calm, serious ending of the flim.

I used FinalSix Bold for the typeface because it's reminiscent of the type used by TFL posters but has distinctive curves instead of sharp edges. This meant it would look much more out of place when positioned in the Underground, and therefore draw the viewer's attention. I also hoped this look of displacement would reinforce themes of it in the film.

Overall, I found making the credits difficult because of the roles everyone played in creating our film. There were a lot of minor, specific contributions from individuals in the group (such as location scouting, colouring, etc) that I couldn't include because the format I'd chosen meant I couldn't display a lot of information at a time. I'm pleased with my finished outcome but that is something I'd have to consider in future.

The Journey - Final film

"The Journey" is an effective title for our film because it's literal - the main character goes on a journey from London Bridge to Baker Street - but also suggests her figurative journey of overcoming her discomfort of being in the Underground. The long shots at the beginning are interspersed with quick cuts of trains, which keep the opening interesting to the viewer. The music also serves to suggest the character's mood as the film progresses.

Overall, I'm pleased with this outcome. I think the character's story arc was very clear, making it easy to understand what was happening. The animation was very subtle, which meant it complimented the scenery better. I particularly liked the quick cuts to the other trains that were at the beginning of the film because of the contrast in colours (and the change from warm to cool lighting) they provided. What I would improve about this film is the music; while I can see its intention and think it successfully conveys this, I think it does it in quite an obvious way that doesn't work so well with the setting. I also would've placed the animated photos earlier in the film, to break up some of the longer shots. Some of the shots differed to the storyboards, which I think made the film less dynamic and more repetitive; I would've followed the storyboard more closely if I was the camera-person.

I both enjoyed and struggled with working in a group; I found it useful discussing ideas with my group. There was also a range of film-making skills within the group which made creating the film much more successful. However, what I found difficult about working in a group was also the creation process - I wanted the final film to be in line with all our research but since I wasn't the one filming or editing it, I had no control and ultimately had to leave it to the other group members. Because of this, our final outcome was not what I'd envisioned.

In this brief, I wanted to show metamorphosis through the contrast between new and old tube stations. Unfortunately, I don't think this idea will be perceived by the viewer because it's too subtle - we planned on editing the film's colour or providing contrasting shots that would make this idea more obvious but it didn't happen. I think our idea was original because the topic we investigated was about London's history, but our outcome was more narrative based than like a documentary. The end goal was to make a full film, since I hadn't done this before but I ended up having a larger role in the planning and pre-production of the film than the filming and post-production.

Because I wanted my project to have a positive outlook on London, I looked at London's Official Visitor Guide to see what tourism organisations think will draw people to the city. The website highlighted historical buildings, West end shows and other interactive activities as London's best features for tourists. I also discovered some attractions that I didn't know were there, having lived in London my whole life! This shows how it may be useful to see how the tourist's perspective of the city differs to a resident's. However, the website also listed specific areas of London as tourist attractions, such as Covent Garden, the West End, the South Bank, Chinatown, Camden Town, etc. I think it might be interesting to investigate what makes certain areas of London more desirable, from a tourist's perspective, than others.

I looked at a musical number from The Simpsons called "Why Springfield, why not?". This relates to my previous research of London tourist attractions, since the song mentions many positive aspects of Springfield (the city in the cartoon) that make people like the area. However, unlike the London Visitor Guide, the song uses a much more sarcastic tone to suggest that the town is terrible but its residents are proud of it anyway. Although it's quite negative and extreme, in a way I think this song is relatable because many people can find flaws with where they live and still like it there. I thought this song would be a useful example as a use of comedy to present a city in a more realistic way. It also uses an alternative medium: animation and song.

I researched the Shrinking World Effect (also called time space compression), a geographical term that describes the way technological factors, such as transport or social media, make it easier and quicker to travel, see or send information to/from countries around the world, therefore making the earth feel much smaller. It has also allowed us to become much more aware: "We have become more knowledgeable about events in the US, Japan or Brazil than our parents were about a neighboring major city just 50 years ago due to advances in technology and digital networking." (Freudenberg, 2020) This concept relates to my experience of London because it was through the shrinking world effect that I began to appreciate London more - social medias like Instagram connected me with people from around the world, and made it much easier to evaluate other places and what living there would be like.

I created a mindmap so I could better visualise my ideas and experiences of London. I decided, for my project, to use my positive experiences of London to advertise the city as a good place to live. To contrast the usual attractions that bring people to London, I wanted to focus more on mundane details of London life, that (in my experience) can only be appreciated when you learn that they don't exist in other cities. This is an interesting topic because it appears negative at first, by suggesting London is only good by default, and because it's not as bad as other cities. However, this is not my intention, so I will have to ensure that my ideas are interpreted accordingly.

Writing the list above helped me realise that a good way to gather information for my project would be by interviewing people who had either moved to London or moved away from London, so I could hear their thoughts on comparing the two places. It would be most convenient for me to interview my friends, who recently moved from London to a new city to start University.

Brand Research

I never appreciated living in London as a child and only came to understand its importance when I was older. Because of this, I thought it would be effective to target my project as children, so they could be informed in the way I was. In addition, the facts I discovered myself are quite unexciting to adults who are well traveled, so younger audiences who have lived in London the majority of their life may be more interested. I chose to collaborate with the publication brand Aquila because it's aimed at children, but it covers a range of topics and is quite educational.

Target Market

According to their website, "the magazine has a readership of 40,000 children between 8 and 13 years. The majority being in the 9-12 range. The content is designed to appeal to bright children who are confident and independent readers." It's also aimed at any gender.

Brand Design

The magazines are very brightly coloured, and although some pages correspond with their colours, there is no consistent scheme throughout the magazine and each page uses its own colour palette. The pages use no photography, and instead are filled with detailed, cartoony illustrations. This ensures that the target market is children, but the colour palette is tasteful and not overbearing, suggesting the magazine can also be serious. There isn't much negative space on the page. The writing is dispersed around the page, making it more interactive to read and keeping the reader engaged. It also offers activities, like puzzles to fill and QR codes to scan. The composition of the pages vary, but in general writing is on the edge of the pages and illustrations in the middle. This draws the reader's attention to the centre of the page. The text is sans serif, but subheadings or titles have a hand-written look, and vary to match the aesthetic of the page.

The magazine covers feature a full illustration, which fills the page. The Aquila logo is large at the top, usually coloured to match the illustration, with the name of the issue smaller at the bottom. The colours are vibrant, but not very bright, making them eye-catching to children but easy to look at.

The final page of Aquila uses letters and jokes from readers of the magazine. It's quite busy, with a variety of information. The background is textured, making it more interesting than a solid colour.

All three of these use bright illustrations to catch the viewer's attention and quickly establish the genre. However as well as advertising the product, their social medias also feature promotions, upcoming events and showcase people who worked on the magazine. The website provides more information to potential buyers.

Ethos and Aims

Developing my Ideas

My initial plan was to do a photography based zine, but since Aquila uses only illustrations, I will have to incorporate illustrations into my zine too. I will try to use illustrations to create the background for my zine pages

I experimented with potential layouts for pages of my zine. The squiggly lines indicate illustrations. The Aquila magazines contain quite a lot of text; I don't want to include a lot of writing in my zine, since it's a more visual project, but I may include quotes or anecdotes from my interviews. I want the photos to be the main focus of the page and the illustrations to provide a backdrop. I also might collage the photos, making them blend into the illustrations more. Like Aquila, I put the text on the edge of the page, and the pictures across the centre.

I interviewed two of my friends who had lived in places other than London. One of them had moved within the country and was currently living there, while the other had previously lived abroad and was currently in London. This variety was to ensure their opinions and answers would differ and make my project more interesting. I then used their answers to compile a rough shot list for my photography.

Using my shot list, I took and edited these photos. I also got my interviewees to provide a photo of where they had spoken about in their interview. When editing the photos, I tried to make the colours more bright and vibrant, to show how London is a more colourful, exciting place to be.

Before designing the individual pages of my zine, I first set up how many pages there would be and what would be on this page. This helped me evaluate how many photos of each focus I would need. I gave each interview two double page spread and tried to organise the subjects for each page so that they corresponded and made sense to the reader.

Aquila uses a simple, sans serif font for all there main text, coloured black or white (depending on the background) and with keywords in bold. I tried to replicate this in my zine. For my "London vs. Birmingham" title, I wanted a serif font that was more serious. For the "London vs. Rome" title, I wanted a cursive font that looked more hand written, since Rome is seen as a much more idealic, tourist destination.

I formatted my zine as two double page spreads for each interview. I experimented with the layout of the photos on each page first. The line in the centre represents where the page will be folded; like Aquila magazine, I put some of the photos in the across this centre line, in order to make each page more visually interesting and unexpected. I also made sure there was variety in the number of photos on each page, so the zine wouldn't be predictable, but kept it between 3-5, so there was also consistency. After laying out the photos, I used them to create a colour palette, so that the colour scheme of the page would match the photos. I then drew frames around the photos so that they would look more like a part of the page.

I chose to start the zine with photos of buses, as they're a symbol of London and set the theme of the zine. I placed the photo of Birmingham here as well to create contrast. I put a darker outline against the yellow title so that it would instantly stand out but still be easy to look at. I initially wanted the pictures to be behind or in front of the title, but the photo behind the title disorganised so I replaced it with a photo that fit the page better.

I particularly struggled with the colour palette for this page - the green of the grass meant I had to use green, which I felt differed too much to the first page. I ended up choosing a blue shade of green, so that it matched the photos without looking too out of place in the zine as a whole. I decided to do each page a different colour, rather than just the text boxes, to ensure there was a variety of page designs.

I chose to include the photo of the sunset in Rome because it's vibrant and colourful, which contrasts to the greyer scenes of cafes in London. I initially put the title in a box (like on page 1) but this didn't work so well so I removed it.

I put my photos of the trains with photos of Londoners rushing around because I felt that these subjects complimented each other (since people use trains to travel quickly) I used a dark colour for the background of this page so that the photos would stand out and the page would differ from the rest on the zine. I think this colour palette works well for the last page of the zine because it uses similar colours to the first page, therefore nicely rounding off the end of the zine with a reference to the beginning. However, the only thing I'd improve about this page is the text - being squashed between the photo and the edge of the page makes it a bit hard to read.

I used one of my photographs to create a mock up of my front cover. My initial plan was to draw an illustration of this photo, but after seeing my mock up, I thought the photograph worked well as a front cover, and instead decided to simply adjust the colours. I chose this photo because it contains a bus, an iconic part of London which is mentioned in the zine, but also shows a residential street, which suggests the sense of home London represents for my interviewees.

The back cover was quite difficult because in Aquila's magazine, the use letters or jokes from fans. I don't have these, and I thought they would distract from the overall theme of my zine, so I chose a more simple design, only writing the credits on the back. I did a textured background like the one in the Aquila sample back page I saw, and took the banner from there to use.

Overall, I'm happy with my zine. I think it's an appropriate mix of my and Aquila's style - I managed to incorporate my own style and ideas into the zine but it's still recogniseable as Aquila's brand. I'm quite proud of my photography - the photos depict common aspects of London in a clear but unique way - considering photography is not one of my strengths. I also think my interviews were very successful because they provided interesting insights into life in London that helped add depth to my project.

The main thing I would improve about the zine is the back page: I didn't have the information to make one like like Aquila's and hadn't planned an alternative design, which meant it was quite minimalist compared to the rest of the zine.

I printed off a physical copy of my zine. This is my first time zine-making, and I didn't have any book-binding equipment so I just glued the pages together, back-to-back. Making this physical copy of my zine was useful in evaluating my design, particularly the colours - some colours came out differently on paper, and this is something I'd have to consider when zine-making in future.

I wanted to create a funny, informative zine with random facts and anecdotes about London. This project was unique to me because the information I used was researched primarily, through interviews with my friends. I would hope that readers would like the photography and even learn something new about the city they live in. I think my idea is unique - I made it because I hadn't heard these kind of facts before and assumed that that's because there's nowhere to read it.

Analogue

Project Brief: "this week pushes you to work with materials you might have never used before, to create something you never expected. There is no contextual drive to this project, it is pure and unfiltered making."

Cameraless Animation

I used, pen, pencil and pins to make marks on a reel of film, then experimented with photographing it.

Here I photographed my reel over a lightbox - strangely, green and yellow stripes only appeared on the camera screen.

I tried scanning my reel to get a clearer image of it, although this was not entirely successful. (From left to right) First I tried scanning my reel normally. Because the light was in front of the reel, not behind it, the film didn't show up. To combat this, I placed my phone - while it displayed a white screen - behind the reel in the scanner to act as a mini lightbox. However the phone screen (despite being on) appeared black on the scan. Finally I tried scanning the reel with the scanner lid open, to try and let more light in, but the whole image came up black.

Here I used a light to create shadows from the reel and photograph them, which I think looked the most interested.

For this reel, I stuck images from another film reel over the top.

This video is of my first reel being run through a projector. I'm somewhat happy with the results, although I think I could have been bolder with my mark-making on the reel, so that it would be clearer to watch. For example, the shots I'd coloured with Sharpie were much more noticeable than the parts where I'd scratched into the reel. Sadly, parts where I'd taped more reel over the top of my film wouldn't run through the projector and had to be removed.

Shadow Puppetry

I started by thinking of character features that would work well in a silhouette: horns, wings, multiple arms, etc. I then made a few experimental designs based around these ideas and realised I wanted my character to be a dragon. Although dragons are conventionally scary, I wanted to give it more comedic features to offset this, like a round body and short, stubby legs. Once I had a design I liked, I started figuring out how it should move and how many joints it needed. I gave it 19 joints to ensure it would have a lot of maneuverability. Once I started making the dragon, I realised paper doilies would be much more effective at creating the translucent effect I wanted for the wings; my initial plan had been to simply cut shapes out of the wings (pictured above)

First I drew my key frames (each with 3 frames in between). I then drew the in between frames, using a lightbox to help.

Overall, I'm happy with my animation. As a first attempt, I think it was successful, although adding more in between frames would improve it by making it smoother. Halfway through drawing it I noticed there were a few frames where the character had both legs in the air, which doesn't happen when you're walking. This was fine because it just made the character look like they were running, not walking. This exercise taught me that in future, I should use more references when animating.

Throughout analogue week, I wanted to try out new mediums and even start to develop a style in them. My strengths were in the dragon shadow puppet because I enjoy both character design and working out the mechanics of the puppet.

Industry Project

Project brief: "Create a (max-length two minutes) film or animation with sound, or photography, six images on rotation with a sound piece that can be projected, which should be performance related and will be used for an installation."

I took some photos from my cat's point of view (I chose to keep his ears on the shot so that it was obviously his viewpoint) then edited them in a similar way to the photo I'd researched earlier. I think these photos worked well, I particularly like the colour palette and may choose to use it in my final film.

As practice for my animation, I used the video above as a reference to create rough, stick-figure animations of cats walking. Watching this was interesting because I'd never closely looked at the way cats walk, and it was not what I expected.

Here I did a looping animation of a cat walking (its legs are colour coded to indicate the foreground and background) I found it very difficult because the cat's front and back legs move at different times, and none of its paws touch the ground in the same frame. Because of this, I don't think I'll use animation of a cat walking in my final film.

Here I animated the cat trotting. This was easier because the cat's front right and back left legs move in synchronisation, and so do its front left and back right paws. However, there should be frames where none of the cat's paws are touching the ground, and this gives it more bounce, which my animation didn't capture.

Like Ozzie, I want the cat in my film to be black. This is so that I can focus of its shape, rather than its appearance - this is what I tried to capture in these quick sketches. While drawing in this realistic style was a useful exercise, I don't think I'll use it in my film because it will be too time consuming to animate.

I thought it would be an interesting idea to use colour to represent news outlets, similar to the use of the colour red in Red (Mikhailov, 1968-75). I took inspiration from Maclean's work, since she uses bright colours in her work despite its often pessimistic message. I also think the use of bright colours works well because they are colours that my cat can't actually see, so it reinforces the idea of his unawareness.

Making my Film

I wrote a list of places my cat had spent time in during the day, then photographed them to be backgrounds for my film. I did this because it makes the viewer feel more immersed in Ozzie's world, therefore enhancing the theme of escapism. Ideally, I would have wanted to draw all my backgrounds but due to time constraints, I was unable to.

I wanted my film to open with a few shots of the cat "watching" TV. The film moves away from the TV, to show the cat doing a few activities, like eating food and then jumping out of a bag - these were based on actual things my cat did during the day. The film ends on a shot of the cat lying down slowly closing his eyes; I think this will give the ending a sense of finality. I chose to have two scenes with more complicated animation (scenes 1 and 4) so that there would be variety and also so the film wasn't too time consuming to animate.

During a group crit, I was given the idea to have the background of only one scene transition into a drawing, so that I could still make use of my idea without having to spend lots more time drawing backgrounds. This one was relatively quick because I traced it from the photo - this is so that the transition would be smooth.

The rough sketch I used for the animated clip of a cat walking. I made the mistake of not colour-coding the cat's legs (i.e. colouring the legs in the front of the shot differently to the legs in the back) This meant that I got its legs mixed up while drawing the frames; in future I'll try to colour code my sketches when animating to avoid making mistakes.

My initial plan was to colour the cat legs in the back darker (as shown in the video) However, I made a mistake when drawing the front of the cat that meant doing this would be much more difficult and time consuming, so I instead left the cat as one solid colour. This means you can't differentiate its left and right legs when they pass each other, although I think the animation is still effective, it just gives a more silhouette like effect.

The clip of the cat walking also took me so long to animate that I had to shorten my film, cutting scenes 3 and 4, otherwise I wouldn't have had it completed by the deadline. Fortunately I think I managed to convey most of my ideas within a shorter space of time.

My Final Film

For the sound design, I recorded clips from BBC Breakfast and overlayed them on top of each other. To make it even more difficult to understand what was being said, I played one of them backwards. I wanted the sound to fade out at the end and the sound of a cat purring to fade in but had problems with Premiere Pro and couldn't get the purring audio to work. The film ends in silence but I think this is actually a more effective ending.

I chose the title "Ignorance is Bliss" because it's a saying that I've always quite liked. Although it has quite negative connotations, I've used it in a more positive way here, since the film is about protecting yourself and your mental health from over stressing news stories. It also adds an element of irony to the film, since, when talking about a cat, it can be taken quite literally.

I'm happy with my final film - I'm very proud of the animation, as I have never attempted something so complicated before. I think I effectively conveyed my ideas about escapism in a unique and interesting way. The audio works well with the video and I think the background transition at the end is unexpected. However, I would have wanted the film to be a bit longer; although I think it works well in its conciseness, I also think making it longer would make it more impactful.

I would hope that viewer's get the sense that my film is about how depressing the news and media can be, but I purposely made this message subtle. My strengths are in animation and I think this aided the project outcome. Although many people's mental health is affected by sad news stories, I think my film is unique because I drew from my own experiences. My end goal was to create a full animated film and although my outcome was quite short, I think I achieved this.

When watching my film in class, the feedback I received was that it was simple but effective. One person said it was "very sweet" and the title helped you infer what the message of the film was, while another thought "Very nice animation which fits perfectly into the photos, the sound design highlights the narrative well alongside the title"

Developmental Midpoint - Peer Feedback