Script to Screen - The Inventor Character Concept

Here is my improved concept for my inventor character, I decided my first design was far too stereotypical, so I have taken my design in another direction. More of a more modern take on an intelligent, over worked, pop culture, rocker, eccentric student, than the quiet Dr. Frankenstein type character I was initially planning. 

Character Design - Cyberpunk Gang Queens Lair

This is an idea I actually want to work into more later, because the more completed version im picturing looks awesome.

Script to Screen - The Birds, 1963, Film Review

Fig.1

This film is an iconic thriller horror from 1963, Directed by Alfred Hitchcock this film has not lasted the test of time too well for the average, modern audience. The Birds, a film that pitches our protagonists who are a small family like collective, and a small town against hordes of killer birds that have gone feral and start attacking all humans. Many of the scenes in this movie can be considered questionable, though there are some scenes that are clever and prime examples of subtle horror and using tension to build up a threat. "The crows alight, one by one, in the schoolyard above Bodega Bay. They are summoned by the nursery rhyme sung by the children, or drawn by the green glow of Tippi Hedren's matching skirt and jacket, or maybe lured by the pungent scent of her lit cigarette. By the time she turns her head, the climbing frame is thick with them." (Brooks, 2012)

The acting in this film is a highlight, it is almost as if this was a fly on the wall style picture, the actors are just, so real with there conversations and mannerisms. It keeps more with real life social interactions then typical cinematic ones, with characters talking over each other in hectic situations and some dialogue being innaduble. What also adds to this is the fact there is no score for this picture.  “The soundtrack of The Birds is literally that: voices, sounds, atmospheres. No violins. It rejects all musical coding traditionally employed to inform us of how we should care/think/feel/project at any point in the film. The absence of music is a specific 'sound of silence' which greatly enhances the The Birds' peculiarly perverse dramatic tone.” (Brophy, 1999)

Fig.2

The origin of the attacking birds is never really explained, they hint to origins of it and theres some foreshadowing at the beginning of the film, but besides that we are pretty much left in the dark as to the source of the random homicidal birds

Besides a warning concerning the birds, the film seems to convey a message of mass Unity and the danger it entails. The addition of more women than men in most scenes also seems to have a relation to the presence of birds, it some times seems like the more women there are on screen, the more mayhem takes place. Even the films title "The Birds" could be associated with the English Slang word "Bird" which implies lady, thus the title of the film could be reinterpreted as "The Women".“The entire bird world, chagrined to be the pawn in a devious woman's game, gets its revenge. Thereafter, it's women on the verge of a feathery freak-out, all the way” (Bidisha, 2010).

Bibliography

Brooks, A, 2012: http://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2012/jul/31/my-favourite-hitchcock-the-birds
Brophy, P, 1999: http://www.philipbrophy.com/projects/sncnm/Birds.html

Bidisha, 2010: http://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/oct/21/alfred-hitchcock-women-psycho-the-birds-bidisha

Illustration List

Fig.1: https://thelatestpictureshow.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/poster-birds-the_02.jpg

Fig.2: http://i.livescience.com/images/i/000/023/102/i02/hitchcocks-birds-child-edit.jpg?1325620177

Script to Screen - Psycho Review

Fig.1

Again we return to the work of the famed and spectacular Alfred Hitchcock, this time on one of his most famous and highest grossing pictures. Known for pushing the boundaries of what was deemed acceptable at the time, and essentially inventing the over the top murder scene we are used to today in one of the most celebrated deaths in cinema history.

Even though the film achieved its high financial success and cinematic praise, the actual budget of the film was very restricted, this led to the fact that the film is in black and white, even though colour was widely used and available at the time in cinema. This was also an intentional decision for the films atmosphere too though, making it more eerie.

 

The film opens with a women who wants to run away with her lover but is unable to due to financial reasons, so she steals money from her boss which she told was going to be banked for him, before escaping the city with the money. We are lead to believe that this woman is actually the main protagonist of the film, due to the plot thus far entirely focusing on her activities, which escalate in illegalness up until the point she is swiftly murdered on screen, yes, just like that she is murdered in front of us by a mysterious figure. After being the focus of the movie for an entire 30 odd minutes she is removed from the rest of the film.

 

Fig.2

 

This is the beginning of a series of miss directions the film points us towards, who we thought was our protagonist is taken away suddenly, and we are left confused, but suddenly the perspectives change, oddly we are shown the entire clean up scene of the murder, which starts to fill you with hope, hope that the man leaves no trace of the crime, you suddenly are on the other team because you think this man wasn't involved in her murder. “Hitchcock’s masterful filming of this scene cannot be overstated. Using two cameras, multiple close-ups, over 50 cuts and a good deal of chocolate syrup, he crafted in just three minutes one of the most terrifyingly realistic murder scenes ever shot on film” (Dwyer, 2007)

The music piece that features during the murder, was composed by Bernard Hermann. The score was also created on a budget, but this piece of music, the shrill notes we hear as we witness the stabbing, has become one of the most iconic music cues of all time. “Hermann, like Hitchcock, could be a bristly perfectionist, contentious, and pedant. Although Hermann was clearly not the sort who easily took direction” (Wiess, 2000).

 

There's a constant battle of sympathy though, this was intentional as Hitchcock didn't want you to know who you were rooting for until the final crescendo Fitting in with Hitchcock’s want for shifting sympathy, to achieve this he uses a wide variety of shots. Through this he allows us to experience the film from many different angles, putting us in the shoes of different people in the film and experience what they would be feeling

 

Fig.3

 

And finally, the misleading reaches its climax during the last arc of the film, where we find out the true identity of the killer in another early example of a iconic movie plot twist. And the final scene of this film reaches deep into you, leaving more questions that answers with a truly clever climax, with a dumbed down but intelligent explanation for the mental state of our killer.

 

Bibliography

 

Dwyer S (2007): http://classicfilm.about.com/od/mysteryandsuspense/fr/Alfred-Hitchcock-S-Pyscho.html

Wiess, E, (2000): http://filmsound.org/articles/hitchcock/makingpsycho.html

 

Illustration List

 

Fig.1 https://standupstrategy.files.wordpress.com/2013/02/psycho.jpg

Fig.2 https://leftisminfilm.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/psycho1.png

Fig.3 http://www.newnownext.com/wp-content/uploads/backlot/2013/10/psycho-anthony-perkins-as-norman-bates.jpg

 

 

 

Animation - Character Sketches for Animation - Clumbsy Telescope

I was given the character of a Clumbsy Telescope.

Script to Screen - The Rope Review

  

Fig,1

Rope (1948) is a film by the iconic Alfred Hitchcock, it is a story of murder, focused around two business men who kill a man named David whom they believe is below them for there own gain, the chrime is committed with a piece of rope, which is promptly hidden by the men. But as time goes on, the less assertive man Phillip, starts to become guilty and realize the magnitude of what hes done, and eventually comes to regret the crime that he has taken part of, thus leading to the story of the rest of the film. While the man who has taken charge of the scenario, Brandon, is more calm and at piece with his actions"...the dead calm (and near glee) shown by Brandon is more chilling than the murder itself. Phillip, on the other hand, is as uncomfortable as the audience." (J.C. Macek, S.D).

Brandon actually begins to achieve some kind of, thrill seeking pleasure of his acts, he finds the danger of his scenario appealing to a sense. This is mainly shown in the way he willingly uses the chest that has the body hidden in it, to make a dining table for the guests who have come, decorating it for the occasion as if it were on show, to the displeasure and stress of Phillip.

 

Fig.2

What the film is most famous for though, is actually the cinematography and editing. The film tries to make the allusion that is infact one giant take, almost like a live stage play. There are at no points in the film any hard cuts, the only time it actually cuts is when the camera is obscured by something like a wall or persons back that fills the frame in black, before everything else carries on like normal. "In an ordinary movie, closer shots indicate more intensity, longer shots are more objective. Camera movement helps establish mood. Closeups punch home dramatic moments." (Ebert, 1984). 

A thought that I had afterwards was that maybe the rope is a visual metaphor for the film is the use of the aforementioned editing style, in the same way the rope is one long flowing item, it is similar to the long, non cut editing of the picture, and how it isn't obviously cut at any points, like a rope. Another point is its rather dulled down a business-esque colour pallets, the entirety of the films colours are dumbed down colours, grey and beige tones, which match the dreary scenario and business men themes.

 Fig.3

While not recognized in the main stream as one of Hitchcock's more Iconic pictures, this film holds itself in history for its relatively simple plot like, minimalist filming style, and strong undertones of growing sexual freedom that was emerging at the time, including some subtle homosexual undertones which are rather bold for there time. "The narrative is gripping enough without consideration of the sexual politics of the film, yet there are some obvious clues as to the sexuality...live together and holiday together; they finish each other's lines and thoughts; they know all about each other's favourite drinks, taste in music and constantly review each other's feelings...They have a maid that seems to treat them as a pair of divas...although Brandon has had a relation with a female friend before - it seems to have ended badly." (England, 2013).

Bibliography:

Ebert, R: http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/rope-1948 

England, O: http://www.biggaypictureshow.com/bgps/2013/03/rope-1948/ 

Macek, J.Chttp://worldsgreatestcritic.com/rope.html 

List of Illustrations:

Fig.1 http://www.theimaginativeconservative.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/rope.jpg

Fig.2http://criticsloft.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/Rope-pic-1.jpg

Fig.3: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/content/dam/film/birdman/rope-long-take-xlarge.jpg

Character Design - Prop Design

We were tasked with designing a prop for a character we were given at random, I ended up getting the Incredible Hulk. After talking with Justin we concluded we should focus on his Planet Hulk incarnation, were her battles bizarre creatures on an alien planet in a form of gladiator tournament.

So I decided to design some weapons for him, all based on parts of defeated creatures, that he's fashioned into crude weapons. So I made a large Hammer out of a ludicrously big Molar Tooth, and a large Blade carved into shape from a tusk. If I was to redesign the sword I would make it more crude and less curved.

Justin said I should focus on designing items more three dimensionally next time, and to practice drawing like that in general to convey designs easier.

Soundscape - Audition Sound Editing Test

Script to Screen Review - La Jetée (1962)

Fig.1

La Jetée (1962 is a film that I actually hold very dearly in my heart, because without it atlas two of my favourite films of all time wouldn't have been made most likely. One being the film Twelve Monkeys (1995) which is more of a direct re-imagining of said film, and the other being the Terminator franchise, specifically Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991). And what both of these films have in common, is the concept of post apocalyptic time travel to prevent a future event, this idea being first Introduced with La Jetée.

This film is actually more like an extended slide show story, being a 28 minute long french short filmed by Chris Marker. What I mean by that is the film is almost entirely lacking any actual video except for a short segment of film, while the rest of the movie is conveyed through narration and still shots.

The overall plot of the film at first appears to be the idea of saving the future, but it actually becomes a more personal story, of the man who travels back, and a woman he remembers meeting from his youth, developing into a bizarre love story “These intimate recollections, essentially tied to the return of the figure of a childhood love, can only be organized in a science-fictional scenario” (Schefer, 1990)

The use of the photo's gives a feel that this is a intimate, private photo collection, like from a personal photo album being reminisced by old lovers. This makes the whole film feel more taboo, like we aren't meant to be seeing it. It also gives the impression of the halting of technological advances in the post apocalyptic world, where they have lost video and we are only left with these images, as if they were actually taken during the experiment for documentations.

Fig.2

This excludes the moments where are protagonist, the time traveler, goes back in time, and we what he see's, these feel more like the private album of a pair of lovers “ By whom is this adventure told? A witness, the depersonalised essence of the hero? An experimenter? Or someone who has absolute knowledge of time, death, and the paradoxes of memory? The narrator or commentator (whoever is describing the whole experiment and its length, and who possesses knowledge of the hero’s soul–of the subject of the experiment)” (Schefer, 1990)

Fig.3

The soundtrack for this film also resonates a feeling of looming hopelessness, a presence of everything eventually coming full circle again and the whole process looping around on itself no matter what you may do in the past “Eerie, romantic, and obsessive in its repetitions, it always sounds in La Jetée as if heard from afar, from a distant past” (Romney, 2007) This really gets across the impending doom that is not only present the entire film through the inevitable apocalypse setting, but the overall fate of our protagonist, resulting in a tragic, star-crossed romance plot.

Bibliography

Schefer J, (1990): http://www.chrismarker.org/jean-louis-schefer-on-la-jete/
Romney J, (2007): http://www.criterion.com/current/posts/485-la-jetee-unchained-melody

Illustration List
Fig.1 https://readbykevin.files.wordpress.com/2014/06/la-jetee.jpg
Fig.2 https://s3.amazonaws.com/criterion-production/stills/3638-17f9fe315ecf2a7fea2c96036271f6ba/P_original.jpg
Fig.3 http://www.zomblogalypse.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/la-jetee1.jpeg

Script to Screen - OGR 1.0

Ogr 1 Script

Life drawing - term 2, week 3

Life Art

5 Minute Poses








30 Second Poses










Collage De Bowie


NEW SEGMENT ! Train home life drawing ! aka, try not to get caught drawing random people and end up looking like a weird pervert!

10 Minute Study - Laptop Business Man

Surreal Smell Animation - Orange

Fun back story time, I have anosmia, also known as not having a sense of smell, so when I was asked to base a animation on a scent, I kinda had to improvise with what I think of oranges, which resulted in a kind of amusingly warped perspective.

I wish I could have gone for longer tonwards he end and made the animations smoother, but alas I ran out of time. Watch this spot for more freelance flash animation though.

Script to Screen - Character Design Week 1

We were told to redraw a character, but change there appearance to make them look the opposite of their desired archetype. For example turning a hero to a villain.

I changed Toon Link from The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap, from a heroic character to a more sinister one.

Script to Screen - Warm up Sketch

I had a lot of ideas from the briefing today for my project premise, the strongest being an idea of what I wanted my inventor to look like, to fit the story I'm writing now. I wanted to get this sketch done while I was motivated though.

The vague idea behind this character type is over working student, who's over enthusiastic about his practices.

I'm not sure why but the main influence's I had for this design was a Victor from the Corpse Bride, and John Connor from Terminator 2... Yeah I'm not sure why. Keep in mind this is just me venting ideas and in no way going to reflect the style of design.

From Script to Screen - Blue Box Outcome

The premise that I have chosen at random from the all powerful blue box is the following:

Who ?: Inventor
Where ?: Attic
What ?: Padlock

I think this is a very strong idea foundation to begin working on.

Life Drawing - Term 2, Week 1