Thursday, October 20, 2011

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Back back back back back

I'm going back to some original ideas. I had changed the story and it was getting convoluted and maybe over worked for me to work on.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Rethinking a few things

I have a meeting tomorrow with Phil Smith, who taught the Dreams on Film class I took this summer. This class was a big inspiration to me in the content I want to address, which affects both the manner of story and the visual aesthetic it is treated with. Now that I am preparing my pitch for him tomorrow it has really come to my attention that I think part of what I wanted to show originally has gotten lost in all of the elements I have been dealing with, so I'm going to try to write it out.

Something that has been important for me to show and that I have wanted to show for a while is the idea of the dreamscape, and the space of the mind made physical. I thought that this idea would assert itself in the narrative I had created because of the non-linear and segmented manner it has been cut into. Now, however, I feel that a more appropriate way to describe it would be to find the dreamspace and allow the narrative to come from that. I think that I feel too rooted in 'making sense' right now, but the core idea, and the atmosphere, and the ambiguity I want to describe does not necessarily make sense - I probably feel stuck because I am contradicting my own vision.

While I enjoyed working with the set I think I really need to let go of some of that technique in order to achieve the aesthetic that I want. At Ottawa one of the panels that really impressed me was Thurop Van Orlen's presentation on the piece he has started pre-production on, Black Forest. He is creating this piece in stop motion, with a flattened sort of look to it.



I really liked the use of lighting and textures in the concept work he showed and it allowed me to consider stop motion again without using a full stand up set. I have seen this in Pjotr Sapegin's work as well - I think I just need to update it for my own personal technique and practical goals.

Monday, October 3, 2011

Project Proposal

Kristen Campbell
Senior Project Proposal
Oct. 4th 2011

Project Summary

The project i would like to complete over the course of my final year is a 5 minute stop motion animated film. The working title of the film is Swift and it is about a young girl who has grown distant from her older sister.

Synopsis


Finding her home situation dull and her older sister distant, Fia looks for creative solutions to remedy this.

Description

Swift is a character piece that describes the inner dialogue and frustration of an eight year old girl, Fia, who is facing an emotional distance from her older sister. In reaction to this, Fia looks for ways to distract herself and be independent. She ultimately finds that while doing things on her own can be fun, she misses the company of her sister. The atmosphere of the film is light hearted. The film is intended for a general audience and will also be appropriate for children.

Swift is presented in a series of short vignettes that each highlight a personal thought of Fia. It is set in a transient space where props move in and out, and constantly is shifting, similar to theatrical stage design. This method is to describe an introspective look into Fia’s mindspace, and is reminiscent of memory or incomplete thoughts. Swift offers an understanding of a difficult event through the perspective of a child, and a resolution through growth and expressions of caring through gesture and positive actions.

Visual Treatment

The aesthetic of Swift relies on 3D objects in a stop motion set. To emphasize the dreamlike quality of the film, the props are designed in a non-literal fashion, and only imply representation, ie. a tree prop is created by a collage of leaves at the top of a vertical paper frame, but it does not carry the shape of a representational tree. The props will be created with fabric, various textured papers and cardstock, and will be backlit. Fia’s character will be represented with a puppet doll, which will be created with structural foam and fabric.

Sound Treatment

Swift will be narrated minimally by Fia. Each vignette will begin with a personal thought of hers. The film otherwise will be comprised of diegetic sound that will be warped and altered, to enhance the idea of non-literal space.

Production Schedule




















Concept Artwork