Animation Research and Practice

Mid-way point Animatic

| garygowran
With this new update I have; 
  • Changed the narration scratch audio to try and suit the tone of the present visuals more accurately. This audio though feels slower and will need to be updated again. It might be time to approach a professional at this point to begin to lock down the timings.
  • Taken away the textured background in the first sequence to make space for another layer of rising floorboards that hopefully then creates a sense of the Melancholic Wife being swallowed by the darkness as the two layers of floorboards open up and she falls between them.
  • Scratch sound effects have been added.
  • Minor changes and additions to scenes for clarity of storytelling and timing, for example a truck in has been added to the final scene to highlight the notebook and pen on the table.

The Melancholic Wife Storyboards – Fourth Sequence

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The Melancholic Wife has escaped the sound waves of remembered shame into a new space in her memory. Ghosts of her teenage self appear above her, expressing freedom and joy. She spreads her arms in an attempt to embrace them, to embrace herself. But the shadow of her shame is still with her. It rises, pulling her back down into the depths of her despair. The Melancholic Wife reaches out and grasps one of the ghosts, taking it with her as she is consumed. The shadow grows, submerging not only her but the entire screen.

Extended Essay Initial Research

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As part of the Animation Research and Practice module I have to write an extended essay on a specific topic. This topic must bear relation to the main film project, it’s theme, subject matter or method employed. My initial ideas have included; investigating the use of dance to communicate emotions in film; examining the representation of female characters by male creators; the complexity of representing psychological challenge in a nuanced and respectful way; the hero’s journey told through non-traditional narratives.

Using the Wolverhampton College online library I began researching possible books and papers in relation to these areas. Some of the titles included; Understanding Animation by Paul Wells (2013), specifically chapter 5, issues in representation and Animating Film Theory, edited by Karen Beckman (2014). It was in this second title that I was introduced to the concept of the essay film form and for me it’s description aligned with my own main film project. 

Updated Animatic

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For this updated version of my animatic I have addressed some of the issues that I didn’t feel were working from the first draft.

  • I added a textured background wall to the first sequence to explore what it might add to the piece, I think it helps to give some context to the action.
  • For the sanding and painting sequence I had, before producing the first storyboards, imagined it as an overhead shot but I struggled to visualise this at first, wrestling with the idea of making it as readable as possible. With feedback from Ed, I returned to my original idea for this animatic and am pleased with the results.
  • From the first animatic it became apparent that for the film adaptation I would need to signify the learning that the Melancholic Wife takes on that enables her to overcome and access her power in the last sequence. In consultation with Sadhbh, we decided that we would explore the concept of her taking one of the ghosts with her, accepting this avatar of her teenage self into her arms as she’s swallowed by the blackness.
  • The final scene has also been changed for this version. Now the Melancholic Wife emerges from the dream space through a door created from the light of her self expression. She re-enters the ‘unromantic walls of her real life’, a space signified by objects and ephemera from the comic stories, ‘striving to hold on to the nuances of her transmutations’ by taking up a pen and journal.

The Melancholic Wife Storyboards – First Sequence

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The Melancholic Wife enters onto a white screen and begins to dance. As she turns back on herself floorboards rise from the white space below her becoming a floor beneath which creaks and overwhelms her with their noise and darkness. 
The Melancholic Wife uses dance to cope with her dark and troubled thoughts. But within her is a memory of dancing that feels embarassing and challenges her coping skills and the film will chart the journey through this memory. The rising floorboards of this first sequence represent the difficult memory rising from her subconscious. She is unable to fight off the hard feelings and she falls, descending into the void of shame.

First Animatic

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This is my first animatic representing what the story could look like adapted for film. The first challenge that arises isthe timing for each scene within the film, how to tell the story in an effective but also efficient manner in order to make it realistically achievable in the timeframe I have to make it. I am happy with some of the transitions, the black to carpet to wooden floorboard from the first sequence to the next feels right, but the transition from the Wife being swallowed by the dark claws to the final sequence needs more work. I think that I was attempting to retain too much of the original comic’s aesthetic in this transition and neglecting the requirements and benefits of film.

Visual Research

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As the bulk of the action in my film occurs in an imagined dreamscape that represents the protagonists inner world I am interested in exploring experimental and unusual transitions. I would like to utilise the backgrounds to create a sense of organic flow from one scene to the next in the hope of evoking an amorphous space. A space that is responding to the narrative. 

As part of my research I have been looking at the Catch Me If You Can opening credits and its use of strong graphic shapes that can represent a door one moment then a chair leg the next through the creative use of scale. The characters move in, through and across these shapes. The shapes themselves become wipes, like the airplane flyover transitioning to a freeway.
Another aspect of the work that requires research is the balance between abstract and figurative, the level of accessibility in the film as it must represent the protagonists individual world while remaining relatable to the viewer. One of the films I’ve watched in relation to this aspect is A is for Autism by Tim Webb. This film does a powerful job of visually representing the participants world while also maintaining a narrative thread for the viewer to follow. As a person on the autistic spectrum myself it also serves me personally as a confidence boost to trust my own visual language and how I see the world as represented through my film.
Another film I’ve used for research is A Different Perspective by Chris O’Hara for its inventive use of scale and movement of the characters through the foreground, middle ground and back ground planes. It plays with the conceit that though the layout may conventionally represent a three dimensional world, it is still also a flat drawing and the characters can interact with it on both levels. I’d like to try investigate using these techniques for my film especially in the wooden floor sequence with the transition from the foot stomp echoing down to the Melancholic Wife.