Friday, 30 November 2018

Toolkit 2 - Character Design: Conway Turnarounds + Character Bible WIP

Finished Turnaround

Original Sketch

Rough Cover Page

 Rough Character Pages

Rough Coral Design Page

Perspectives - Postmodern Definitions #8

Hyperrealism - more real than real.

Simulation - an imitation of the operation of a real-world process or system.

Simulacra - an image or representation of someone or something.

‘Fake news’ - a type of yellow journalism or propaganda that consists of deliberate disinformation or hoaxes spread via traditional print and broadcast news media or online social media.

Perspectives - Postmodern Definitions #7

Metafiction - fiction in which the author self-consciously alludes to the artificiality or literariness of a work by parodying or departing from novelistic conventions and traditional narrative techniques.

Intertextuality - the relationship between texts, especially literary ones.

Mise-en-abyme - a formal technique of placing a copy of an image within itself, often in a way that suggests an infinitely recurring sequence. In film theory and literary theory, it refers to the technique of inserting a story within a story.

The 4th Wall - a performance convention in which an invisible, imagined wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this "wall", the convention assumes, the actors act as if they cannot.

Thursday, 22 November 2018

Perspectives - Postmodern Definitions #6

Normativity - the phenomenon in human societies of designating some actions or outcomes as good or desirable or permissible and others as bad or undesirable or impermissible.

Binary opposition - a pair of related terms or concepts that are opposite in meaning.

Deconstruction - a critique of the relationship between text and meaning originated by the philosopher Jacques Derrida.

Différance - a French term coined by Jacques Derrida. The term différance means "difference and deferral of meaning."

Reinscribe - to reestablish or rename in a new and especially stronger form or context

Cognitive dissonance -  the mental discomfort experienced by a person who simultaneously holds two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values.

Judith Butler - An American philosopher and gender theorist whose work has influenced political philosophy, ethics and the fields of third-wave feminist, queer and literary theory. She challenges conventional notions of gender.

Wednesday, 21 November 2018

Perspectives - Postmodern Definitions #5

The Canon - a term applied to something that is generally accepted as superior to other things in the same field.

DWEMs - Dead white European Males. A person viewed as unjustly dominant in culture, and archetypcally despised by feminists, multiculturalists and postmodernists.

Phallocentrism - the ideology that the phallus, or male sexual organ, is the central element in the organization of the social world

Eurocentrism - a worldview centered on and biased towards Western civilization.

Postcolonialism - the political or cultural condition of a former colony.

Multiculturalism - the presence of, or support for the presence of, several distinct cultural or ethnic groups within a society.

Feminism - the advocacy of women's rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes.

Perspectives - Postmodern Definitions #4

Avant-garde - new and experimental ideas and methods in art, music, literature or film.

Nostalgia - a sentimental longing for the past. something presented in order to evoke feelings of nostalgia.

Appropriation - the action of taking something for your own use, typically without permission.

Pastiche - imitation of a certain style or genre.

Parody - imitation of a writer, artist or genre with exaggeration for comic effect.

Irony - an event that is contrary to what someone would expect, and is often amusing as a result

Ideology - collection of beliefs and values that a group holds

Genre - a style of art, music, literature and film.

Sherrie Levine - american photographer known for her exact photographic reproductions of the work of other photographer such as Walker Evans. Her work is considered a form of appropriation by some.

Tuesday, 20 November 2018

Toolkit 2 - Character Design: Sidekicks

Initial Exploration of a sidekick

Development of Seahorse showgirl who wants to dance with the shark. I decided on this because of a seahorses flexibility and feminine shapes. I started planning what would happen between these characters. The shark is dancing in the background and the Seahorse call him over, but because he's so much bigger than her, he washes her away and she spins around getting dizzy and messed up. Then she chases after him.

Monday, 19 November 2018

Collaboration - Character & Storytelling - RWBY

The two characters I'll be looking at are Ozpin/Ozma and Salem from an internet show by Roosterteeth called RWBY.

Personal History

(Salem and Ozma, RWBY 6 Episode 3: The Lost Fable, 2018)

The personal history of Salem and Ozpin/Ozma is tied together closely. Ozma was a knight, striving for justice and all things good in the world. He heard tales of a girl locked away in a tower by her abusive father and sets out to rescue her. This girl is of course Salem. Ozma manages to save Salem and without meaning to they both fall in love. However, Ozma grows ill and dies. Distraught, Salem seeks the help of the gods, but when they refuse to bring Ozma back from the dead, Salem attacks them. The gods curse Salem with immortality for this, and no matter how much she tries to end her life to be with Ozma, she always comes back. At one point Salem jumps into a pool of black sludge, hoping it would finally kill her, but she emerges, bent on destruction.

Meanwhile, the Gods summon Ozma, granting him the ability to jump into another like minded males body when he dies. In each reincarnation, he has a different name. His most recent being Ozpin and Oscar. He's given the task to defeat Salem, and redeem mankind. However, over the years it becomes apparent that Salem is invincible, and his once precious love was a completely different woman. 

Salem now leads a secret group, aiming to destroy Ozpin. And Ozpin runs a school in beacon, training his students to protect mankind.

(Ozma Currently inside Oscar, RWBY Volume 5 Opening, 2017)

Personal World View

Salem is an insidious woman, she moves quietly with deliberation in order to destroy her enemies. She feels the minds of mankind are easily swayed, and wishes to become a living god, someone for mankind to worship. 

Ozpin however is the opposite. Believing in humanity and their ability for survival. Although Stoic, he cares deeply for his colleagues and students. He is however secretive, not wanting people to know about his past with Salem, and blaming himself immensely.

Inherited World

Ozpin and Salem came from a world where the Gods walked among men, and gifted them with magical powers. However when Salem attacked the gods, they destroyed the world, leaving mankind without magic. Mankind eventually rebuilt itself. Salem became a sort of witch among men, and still is. Whereas Ozpin was confused upon being bought back, Magic no longer being something just anyone could wield.

Wants (Goals)

Salem wants to destroy Ozpin, and become a god among humankind.

Ozpin wants to destroy Salem, and redeem mankind so that the Gods may fix Salems mistakes.

Needs

Salems one and only need includes her Goal. She needs to use and manipulate people in order to get what she wants, stating that 'The only way to get what you desire, is through me. This isn't a threat, it is simply the truth."

Ozpin needs help from allies in order to even have a chance at besting Salem, since she cannot die. He feels as if he's responsible for everything that has happened to mankind, and that he needs to fix it.

Internal vs External Traits

Salem
Internal: Insidious, Sadistic, Manipulative
External: Confident, Self-Assured, Tolerating

Ozpin:
Internal: Secretive, Caring, Respecting
External: Stoic, Humble, Blunt

(Salem Currently, RWBY Volume 6 Opening, 2018)

Flaws

Most of Salems traits are flaws, except one. Once in her life, after she became who she is today, she had children and was genuinely loving toward them.

Ozpins main flaw is his inability to trust. Having been through so many lives and in most of those lives having people (and Salem) lie to him and betray him, he keeps many secrets from people.

Story Arc and Conflicts

Since the story of RWBY, and by extension these two characters is still in progress, It's hard to say much about these two points as of now.

Bibliography:

Images: 

RWBY. (2013 - 2018). [Web Series] Directed by M. Oum. Texas: Roosterteeth.

Toolkit 2 - Fog (Legacy) & Atmosphere

aiFog

aiAtmosphere Volume

Friday, 16 November 2018

Collaboration - Non-Linear Storytelling - Mulholland Drive

Theatrical release poster showing the film's title against a dark blue image of the Hollywood Sign in Los Angeles atop another still shot of Laura Elena Harring in a blonde wig staring at something off camera toward the lower right corner
(Mulholland Drive, 2001)

Non-Linear Methods:

Chronicle - The main dream of Mulholland Drive is linear in a way. It does follow events forward, but switches between different characters perspectives. Then as soon as we're out of Diane's dream, things get muddled quickly.

Zig Zag - The narrative jumps between different perspectives, the "main story" of Rita and Betty, the dilemma of the director Adam and at the end Diane's perspective as she becomes more and more upset about what happened to her.

Analepsis, Prolepsis and Achrony - These 3 tie in with each other, as we're not sure which events in the end are flashbacks or flash forwards, or in which order the Analepsis and Prolepsis take place. Therefore as the events become more random, Achrony takes over.

Storytelling Devices:

Framing - The main story takes place inside of Diane's Dream.

Twist - The twist is that everything with Betty and Rita was a dream, something Diane was making up as an ideal scenario.

Bibliography:

Images:

Mulholland Drive Poster. (2001). [image] Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mulholland_Drive_(film)#/media/File:Mulholland.png [Accessed 16 Nov. 2018].

Toolkit 2 - Working from Realistic Reference: Dope Sheet



Tuesday, 13 November 2018

Toolkit 2 - Character Design: Expressions

 Expression Sketches
Figuring out a turnaround and how he would look in different views, since there would obviously be moments where we see him in a front view. I need to know how that would work.

Thursday, 8 November 2018

Toolkit 2 - Cleaned up Animation


Today Alan helped me refine and clean up my animation since I had missed the previous weeks lessons due to illness. I do still have a little catching up to do since he couldn't cover everything.

Thursday, 1 November 2018

Toolkit 2 - Blocking + Force & Trajectory

Its not the best and there's a lot of cleaning up to do still, but I thought i'd upload what I've done.

Collaboration - Animatic 1


Basic sounds and no voices. A new version is coming soon with updated scenes and narration!
Make sure you keep up to date with our project at Pixel Moon Studios!

Art by Adrianna