Viewing Log: The Sandman

Director: Paul Berry

Animation: Colin Barry (puppets and sets)

Process: Stop-motion; puppet-animation

• Based on folklore novella, The Sandman by E.T.A Hoffman
• Inspired by German Expressionism

Why I'm inspired:

• I'm mainly inspired by the use of editing. For instance the use of fast paced match on action to create suspense. 
• No dialogue, instead instrumental sounds are used. For example the sound of chimes are used when the boy tip toes.

• Creative use of camera angles
• Lighting and shadows (inspired by Nosferatu) 

Tim Burton on Diversity - Thoughts

This post is inspired by an article I read about Tim Burton's lack of diversity in his films.

https://www.bustle.com/articles/186641-tim-burton-explains-why-miss-peregrines-home-for-peculiar-children-features-a-predominantly-white-cast


Twitter user, Sam White made an interesting commentary on why Tim Burton's lack of diversity is problematic:

Tim Burton thinks white is the default, the norm. He thinks diversity is a novelty for rare, specific cases. No Tim.https://t.co/zYv6rAUxOB

— Sam White (@samwhiteout) September 29, 2016

I thought that White's analysis of the exclusion of people of colour in film was more or less spot on. This reinforces the ideology that being white is "the default, the norm" which in reality isn't true.

I'm not going to go as far as to say I'm going to boycott Burton's films, but I think from now on I will look at them with a speculative eye. Undoubtedly, Tim Burton is an amazing artist and like many others I've looked towards his work as a source of inspiration. Which is why it's so disheartening to read his seemingly unethical thoughts towards diversity.

Burton's use of a predominately white cast isn't as much of an issue as his conscious decision to do so.  He states that "things either call for things, or they don’t" further alluding to his confusion at the introduction of token characters in The Brady Bunch. This suggests that in his world, white characters tend to be most fitting. As a director and story teller who can conjure up narratives involving children who can fly, how is it so absurd to him to imagine characters who are not white? Interestingly enough, the only black character in Burton's latest film Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, is the lead villain (portrayed by Samuel L. Jackson). It is this stereotyped view of race that must be challenged.

When I was younger and would be constantly sketching characters that I'd imagine and my mum would ask me "why do you always draw white people?". At the time I couldn't really understand why it was an issue, but now I realise that this was probably because all I ever saw in the media growing up was white people. In retrospect this is problematic because as a young child, it was rare to ever see myself reflected in the media. This is why I think it's so important to include minorities, and as a budding artist I have the opportunity to aim towards changing the tropes that already exist in the media.

Practical 2

In class today we followed up on methodological research. In pairs we interviewed each other and used the answers to come up with a visual concept.

I asked Melissa what her favourite TV show was. She said that she has Netflix and is considering watching Stranger Things. She enjoys Orange is the New Black.

From here I developed a quick animation of her sitting at her computer deciding what to watch on Netflix:

I thought this activity was a good way to get me thinking creatively, and gave me the chance to further practice animation techniques. For my final project I'm not sure how much influence I will get from using sociological methods such as interviews.

Experiments

I followed an experiment from the Animation in Context book 'Applying semiotics to layout design'.

I firstly sketched out my bedroom, using a photograph as a reference.

I then used Illustrator and Photoshop, to roughly draw and colour the setting. This exercise made me realise how little colour there is in my bedroom.

I then redrew the room, changing the setting to a teenage girl's room in the 80s.

I think the digital image looks a bit more exciting than my sketch. I used a lot more vivid colour as this is a trope I associate with the 80s. 

In general I found this exercise useful as it made me think more about set design and what little elements I can include to make the scene more dynamic. Previously, it never occurred to me how much setting can enhance the context of the story.

"Semiotics in many ways states the obvious. But semiotics can be a helpful process to understand and break down the surprising complexity and detail of the context and components of a scenario in the mind"

Workshop 2

In our workshop today, Mary gave a detailed explanation on how to go about our research methods for this module. Since this term is almost solely based on research, it can be difficult to consider how to go about this and how to present it in our coursework so that it makes sense to others. Mary clearly outlines the various modes of methodology and specific methods we can use.

• Testing materials and experimentation
• Attend lectures and talk to mentors
• Gather materials to inform project
• Include theoretical issues

Methodology

• Ethnographic research
• Values/ethics
• Observation (social)
• What ways of thinking overall

Methods

1. Historical - attempting to recreate a historical style
2. Philosophical - aesthetics; how artists used certain colours e.g. William Blake
3. Theoretical/critical - from film studies, etc.
4. Sociological - quantitate/qualitative responses
5. Anthropological - looking at specific groups and their experiences
6. Experimental - thinking of something in an alternative way

We were also giving an exercise from the book Animation in Context (2016) which aimed to help us think about semiotics in order to analyse existing work.

Snow White (1937)

• The apple itself is an iconic signifier of a real apple
• The red colour of the apple is notable, signifying that is it dangerous and poisonous

Nosferatu (1922)

• As with footprints, the shadow of the vampire Count Orlok can be described as an indexical signifier
• This is because the shadow signifies the presence of someone who is out of shot. Thus he is represented as being creepy and villainous
• The shadow can also be described as an iconic signifier, as it simplifies the form of the vampire
• This makes us think of the word 'vampire' in our mind, which is known as the referent signifier. I think this can also be considered iconography.

Lecture 2

Today's guest lecturer was curator John Marchant. He has worked with various artists such as Jamie Reed, Harry Adams, and focused the lecture on photographer Nan Goldin.

• Work emulated on social media
• Photographed controversial images of people in NY and Boston
• Originally photographed family and distributed to friends
• Early 70s
• Friend - David Armstrong
• Put images together in slideshow carousels - night clubs early 80s
• The Ballad of the Sexual Dependent
• Photographed the same people over many years
• Honey on a Razor Blade - on teenage years
• Confrontational, never passive
• Heroin chic
• Often implicitly sexual
• Used slide film instead of digital
• Slideshows shown at the Tate - usually with a great reception from audiences
• Always had a camera on her - always looked for something to shoot
• Highly influential - people asked to replicate her work
• Usually chose images that are slightly unbalanced
• We tend to remember images that are kind of imperfect
• Interest in image even if there's a mistake i.e. lighting or framing
• "Fucking postmodern and gender theory. I mean, who gives a shit? People made all that crap up to get jobs in universities. I once told my students to just take LSD if they wanted to see the world clearly," she says, grinning and lighting another cigarette. "You can see why I didn't really fit in as an academic, but they still ask me to come back and teach."

ToonBoom Research

I decided to look into the ToonBoom software ahead of our class on Thursday so that I would be slightly familiar with it . Unfortunately I couldn't have a go with it since it's not installed on our computer yet, however I watched their teaser video to see how it is.

I like that you have the ability to both draw and animate within one software. I was previously using Adobe Illustrator to draw out all images, which I was fairly confident with. I would then take the basic outlines into Photoshop to be coloured, as this gave me the freedom to add texture and make the images look more dynamic. The drawback of this was that the image would be flattened and therefore lost some its details, even when saving it in the highest setting. When using Photoshop there would often be gaps between the colour and the black outlines, which made it look quite unprofessional. However using Toon Boom's software seems like it would erase this issue. The next part in my process was to use After Effects to animate a sequence, using the coloured Photoshop file. This usually was quite fiddly to arrange all the different layers. But again, using Toon Boom should hopefully be easier since the images I'd want to animate would already be there.
I'm inspired by their advertising of paint brushes and how easy it seems to change styles. I am excited to test the software and explore different aesthetics to what I've previously used. Moreover they have a feature which allows you to add light effects, without having to draw out shadows, which I think would help to make my artwork look more realistic and dynamic.
In general Toon Boom seems to be a much more efficient product for animating, however it's complexity is slightly daunting. The good thing is, if I do find it too complicated I can always combine Toon Boom with files from Adobe Suite

Practical 1

In this week's practical workshop, we were given a reminder of the software that we've previously used and an insight to some new software. Since our class is made up of both Digital Media and Animation students, it gave me the opportunity to learn some new skills from the other strand.

The above screenshot shows my experimentation with Adobe InDesign which as a great refresher since I don't think I've used the software since first year. However I'm not sure if it's useful for me as it's more for print media rather than animation.

The screenshot above denotes using an image on Adobe Illustrator. Paul taught us a technique that I was not previously aware of. This is creating vectors from a photograph, which could be a really useful technique for animating, as it saves time of drawing unique images. The downside is that the shapes on their own are quite obscure thus still requiring a lot of tweaking. 

Paul's advice is to practice with the software and to recreate inspirational work. We shouldn't focus too much on conceptual research, but should also work towards experimenting on the practical side. Paul stated that Toon Boom could be good to use for my animation style.

Suggested websites:

premiumbeat.com/blog/

blog.toonboom.com - tutorials

Workshop 1

Sources to look at:

• Animation in context
• How To Be An Explorer of the world
• openculture.com

Developing project ideas

What will it look like?

• Why does it matter?
• What story will it tell?

Favourite stories?

• Bring It On - funny, memorable quotes, cheerleaders, inspiring
• Mulan - inspiring, great songs, heart warming
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - story always told well (across books, film, theatre)
• Beauty and the Beast - heart-warming, emotional songs
• Pretty Little Liars (SE2 Finale) - very tense, range of emotions, fab characters

Combination:

• Heart-warming
• Tense
• Lovable characters
• Inspiring

I suppose the story would centre on cheerleaders, who have joined the army to fight in the war, but are then bullied by an anonymous source. The film would include multiple musical numbers.

In general, my favourite stories are not necessarily the most profound pieces of media I've ever consumed but things that I always find myself going back to. As an artist, I would love to be able to inspire others in the similar way to how I've been inspired by my favourite stories.

cheerleaders forced into war with happy ending.

Final advice:

• Think of ways of doing things differently
• Think about my favourite media and think why I like it, why I dislike popular things
• Think further about what's good about the techniques

First Lecture - Notes

In our lecture, we were given a talk from industry professional, Lizzie Thynne, who is a Brighton-based filmmaker. Her work includes On The Border and Brighton: A Symphony of a City (2016). She explained how she decided to go into filmmaking after being fired from a previous job. What inspired Thynne follow this route was her interest in how media conveys meaning and its effect on viewers.
She achieved success from showcasing her films in festivals across Europe, Australia and the U.S. This was inspiring to myself as a potential filmmaker, as I realised that I should submit my work to festivals.

Portfolio - Lizziethynne.co.uk/other-films/

Brighton: A Symphony of a City

This documentary was intended to be played with a live orchestra in front of an audience. Thynne used the film's aesthetics to demonstrate a stark contrast between day and night.

Recommendation: A Clockwork Orange for its use of music (Beethoven)

City Symphony films:

• Manhattan
• Man With A Movie Camera (good reference to editing)
• Rain

Further inspiration:

• Georgia O'Keefe city paintings

• Berlin: Die Sinfonie der Großstadt

The music throughout the film sets the pace. The orchestral instruments are used to replace naturally accoring sounds, for instance to convey noise of train.
It uses the 'intellectual montage' technique in which juxtaposing shots are used metaphorically.

Thynne's advice for coming up with ideas is think about genre, and to seek inspiration from other media within genre, but then think about how can it be varied.