Looking through my blogs I have forgotten a lot, disaster me strikes again, however I do have some of the info including my original proposal I can now put up, now that the stress of the presentation is over, in slight hopes that this may suffice.
Screen Arts: Mashing Dimensions
Research purpose, aims and objectives
Screen Arts Question:
In what way, can I make sure my audience can tell the difference between the main 3D story and the 2D pocket story by creating a distinctive style using both 2D and 3D techniques?
Purpose:
The purpose of this is to make sure my audience can tell the difference between the 3D main story, or the real world and the pocket story or tale being told by Matha to her daughter Ezaru.
While the 2D is already creating a difference in comparison to the 3D, I want to see how I can push this to add more depth and characterization to my short film.
Aim -
I am aiming to create a distinctive style by combining my 2D pocket story into my 3D main story, in a way that will be clear that the 2D story is a past event in comparison to the 3D world in which my characters are sharing this story. I want the culture that the dragons are based on to have an effect on what the animation looks like, as this will have an effect on what the animation looks like and fit into the aesthetic of the dragons' lifestyles.
Objective -
I will create experiments to explore the possible styles to use for my 2D pocket story. Each final experiment will be shown through drawing and small animated gifs showing each style I looked and researched into for this project.
Key Terms:
Pocket Story
A pocket story is a story within a story, a narrative that takes place within a main story (MasterClass, 2020), this may take the form of a flashback, a character telling a tale, a character reciting an event or dreams
Preliminary Research
Discuss key works by other filmmakers / animators/video game developers whose works are relevant to proposed project
In the Film Ice Age (Wedge, 2002)
The flashback is done in 2D and in the style of caveman paintings and has a hazy and old animation style with a very limited colour palette.
The colour complements and keeps our attention to what happens as well as keeping true to the inspiration for the animation, that being caveman paintings.
This created a clear difference between the main story and the flashback and creating the flashback in caveman paintings brought an interesting method of showing Manny's past as it smoothly fits into the time era that the film is supposed to take place in, the Ice age, or back in the caveman days.
The flashback itself doesn’t take place in the 3D environment, however, it transitions smoothly with a still from the flashback painted onto the cave wall, showing us that the animation is a thought passing by.
In the movie Kung fu Panda 2 (Nelson, 2011) we learn about where Po came from through a paper like 2D animation, showing us what happened in the past, while switching between the flashback and the real world showing us how Po is feeling towards these strong emotions. The paper like animation has drawn inspiration from the culture the movie is based off of, that being Chinese culture.
While the 3D animation has plenty of depth, the 2D animation uses limited colours to evoke the
emotions the scene is trying to portray
(eg, greens and yellows for happy,
red and black for danger)
The movie Watership Down (Rosen, 1978)
introduces us to the lore of the world with a simplistic yet bold animation style, different from the main style the movie is animated in, it is narrated over in a similar fashion to someone telling a story to another person. The lack of a complex background draws attention to the characters and what is happening and the information we are being fed.
The film Harry Potter and the Deathly hallows: Part 1 (Yates, 2010) Tell us the tale of how the deathly hallows came into being, through a narrated story, told by the character Hermionie. The visuals we are shown accompanying the narration of the story, is a 3D animation with limited colours, the simple and hazy style of this
The nariration alone would have made for a more boring experience in learning about the deathly hallows but adding a unique animation style not seen in the rest of the films, it helps bring out the story and make it unique in comparison to the live action in the rest of the movie.
Methods: (How are you going to achieve aims and objectives)
I am going to use a couple of methods to experiment and research techniques that I can incorporate into my own work and figure out what style will suit my story best.
The methods I will be exploring for my animation style will include, paper-like animation, 2D onto a 3D background, simple shapes, flipbook-like, 2D in maya and limited colour pallet, with each technique I have listed I will play around with them by themselves and by merging them with other to figure out what style suits my project.
I want each experiment to show the same story yet be able to be distinct from the main animation style of my project and not clash with it.
The programs I will be using for my experiments will include, Photoshop, After Effects, Maya and Toon Boom Harmony
By the end of my experimentations I expect to have an animation style that best suits and compliments my story
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APA Referencing:
MasterClass. (2020, January 22). What Is a Story Within a Story? 7 Examples of Nested Stories. Cloudflare.
https://www.masterclass.com/articles/what-is-a-story-within-a-story#what-is-a-story-within-a-story
Aibel, J., & Berger, G. (Writers), & Nelson, J. Y. (Director). (2011). Kung Fu Panda 2. DreamWorks.
Rosen, M., & Hubley, J. (Directors). (1978). Watership Down. Nepenthe Productions.
Wedge, C., & Sakdanha, C. (Directors). (2002). Ice Age. Blue Sky Studios, 20th Century Fox.
Kloves, S., & Rowling, J. K. (Writers), & Yates, D. (Director). (2010). Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1. Warner Bros. Pictures.
