OUAN404 - Study Task 3 - Norman McLaren - A Phantasy in Colors (1949)

I want to start by saying that I absolutely love 'A Phantasy in Colours' by Norman McLaren. The use of shape and colour with the highly erratic and fast paced movement and shifting patterns compliments the sound incredibly well. There is huge variation of patterns and movement within the animation that it's hard to pinpoint and talk about specific sections, especially since each section flashes up and transition to the next before you know it.

In regards to the audio accompaniment, it's a fast paced jazz activity that contains huge amounts of energy which is represented well in the visuals. Throughout the piece, the audio changes pace and tempo, the volume also varies throughout allowing a more varied style of visual representation. I noticed at the slower parts there is less pattern and the overall visuals are less crowded, whereas at the fast erratic parts of the piece, the visuals are all over the place and crowded, but this works extremely well in terms of representing the audio and emulating the chaotic nature of the sound with visuals.

The colours used during the piece are hugely varied, and throughout the piece contain different colours, although at one time I think there is no more than three or four colours at a time which gives the animation and patterns some definition and as the audience the patterns and colour schemes although in parts chaotic can be appreciated more because of their definition and overall design. The patterns used are also, in my opinion, appropriate for the type of audio being played at the time. For example, the middle section of piece has a slow section where lines are used, and faint dots to emulate the delicate nature of the sound. Something I did notice about the colours used is that at the higher or sharper sections of the piece the colours used are much brighter and harsher. Whereas duller colour schemes such as black and white are used to visually represent the slower or quieter sections.

I think that the shape of certain patterns is also worth noting. The patterns seems to have smaller segments to them whenever the section of audio is fast paced. This may be trying to reinforce the idea of chaos and the tightly packed designs aid that. Apart from this I can only say that the timing of the animation and the way it's pieced together to compliment the music is perfect, and reflects it visually to an incredible standard.

OUAN404 - Study Task 3 - Len Lye - Free Radicals (1958)

Free Radicals' is a black and white short film by avant-garde film maker, Len Lye. The method of producing the film is something that I find really interesting in that he actually scratched the film stock in order to produce the effect given on the final film. The types of movement that was achieved using this method is an incredibly free form of expressive mark making it seems to me. I also love the simplicity of the shapes and colours used. The black and white works well with the timbre of the sounds, rhythm and general tempo of the sound features in Free Radicals.

Throughout the video varying shapes are used to represent the sounds visually that in my opinion work well. Abstract lines of different lengths and weights are used at different segments depending on the section of the sound being played. As well as this there is a sort of rough and very free feeling aspect to the quality of the lines that Len Lye produced for this animation, of course scratching film stock is a tedious and very basic technique in itself to produce texture and visuals within the animation but despite this rough approach I think it fits the audio being played.

Another thing worth noting about the animation quality in general is that I really like the transitions between shapes and lines as they kind of transition from one shape to the next. I think that the transitions work extremely well and are almost seamless, which I imagine was a difficult feat given the nature of the technique that was used. One effect I also like which comes as a bi-product of the way the visuals were created but the slight stuttering of lines almost looks as if they are vibrating, which is highly appropriate given the energy portrayed in the audio as well as the fact it is an accompaniment to sound in the first place, so this kind of jitter as a whole added to the animation.

OUAN404 - Study Task 3 - Take 5

Today, during the visual language class we were looking at sound and how sound is portrayedvisually in different ways. I found this type of work interesting and seeing how different artists and designers have portrayed sound using visual materials got me quite excited for the project because of the 'no right answer' approach it had. Tasks like this amongst the other visual language tasks such as the environmental storytelling assignment are parts of the course I enjoy especially because they're a nice variation in nature compared with other modules. Despite the idea of sound being represented visually being exciting for me, in theory. I actually found the task set quite tedious and wished that I could have used this task to make stand alone pieces rather than the several animations that we were set to do.

We were given a folder of fifty sounds that we could choose to animate visually. Out of the list I chose the sounds;

12 - I interpreted this sound as almost like a firework at first, but as the sound continued it had the idea of an almost wave like sound, as if the tide was coming in perhaps. This kind of wave like sound influenced my animation a lot in both colour and shape.

27 - The second sound I chose was different to the first in that the sound felt much more synthetic than the previous one which reminded me of sea or wind. I think because of this there was a very synthetic feel to the shapes and colours I used in the actual animation. As well as this, I think the unnatural feel to the sound influenced me to make a very organised or structured animation to coincide with this.

30 - The third I sound I chose reminded me of perhaps, a fan on the back of a fridge or other appliance that kind of whirs in the background. The sound itself hardly changed throughout the duration I listened and because of this the animation I produce will be quite simple to emulate the unvarying sound. I will also try to choose appropriate shapes to representing the buzzing or whirring that takes place.

32 - This sound reminded me, and I believe was quite evidently a dripping tap, or at least a droplet of water repeatedly hitting a surface, with a slight echo. The types of textures it makes me think of is rust and generally the rough surface of metallic objects that make up piping for example. So I will perhaps generate a background of this nature. On top of this I think that the shapes I use will be quite circular because of the nature of water droplets and when they hit a surface.

33 - The final sound was probably the most difficult to interpret visually because of the variation it had throughout the clip, and at first it was difficult to interpret what it was or how to approach the complicated sounds. I believe the sound is something entering a pan before it starts sizzling, or at least I think it could be interpreted that way. For this animation I think there will be a lot of evolving shapes of different sizes.

OUAN404 - Study Task 2 - Paprika

Paprika is a 2006, Japanese made animated film that was co-written and directed by Satoshi Kon. The premise of the narrative is based around the idea that there is a device developed by a research psychologist that allows therapists to help patients by entering their dreams. This type of therapy is appropriately named 'dream therapy'. This kind of plot in itself allows for imaginative and innovative visuals and isn't confined to a certain style due to the elaborate plot line.

I want to start off by saying the visuals for Paprika are stunning, the colour scheme is borderline over the top when it comes to realism within the context of a pretty realistic anime, but pulls off the vibrant style really well. There is a hybrid of realistic tertiary tones and vibrant colours. Appropriately, Paprika herself is often seen in bright red clothing, to coincide with the colouring of her hair and of course the spice. The lighting used throughout Paprika is quite realistic in terms of how light would behave in reality. There is a mixture of natural and synthetic light sources that produce realistic lighting, yet ambient at the same time. During the film we also see a mixture of warm and cold lighting within certain scenes, which gives a good range of varied colour schemes throughout the film. The environments are heavily detailed in the film and are used almost as detailed matte paintings to set the scene before we are taken to the action. The level of detail in these big scale shots is really impressive, and at first glance they look almost real due to the level of texture and use of realistic lighting. Space is another factor that gives the piece its serious and authentic feel, whilst large scale cityscapes are used effectively to make the environment feel vast and open like the real world. The forms like previously mentioned are very accurate and emulate real life in this sense, they do however have some slight exaggerations when it comes to features that define aspects of a character whether that be wide eyes or a strong jawline. In terms of the environment the forms are very real, and I believe that references were used of real locations to make the environments and their forms feel as authentic as possible whilst remaining in the animated style so they sit well with the characters and the on screen action. The overall tone of the film is a serious one due to the realism that has been incorporated in so well, however due to the science fiction elements it possesses there is some room for exaggeration and some hints of the implausible or the eccentric such as the colour schemes in various scenes and the expressions of characters. The composition varies throughout different scenes, and there is a great range of different shots of the landscapes and environments, I noticed a lot of shots were composed form high up so you are constantly looking down at some of the locations, giving you a greater sense of scale due to the amount of detail and distance featured in the shot.

To be more specific, the use of environments in Paprika sets the tone for the film. The way this is done is by giving them as much realism as possible through the use of composition, lighting and detail when making the shots so that the initial style the audience gets introduced to when a scene starts is the realistic and authentic one that these environments hold. This is done via the technique of setting the scene with an environmental shot. The colours of the environment are the washed out and faded tertiary colours that you would expect to see in the real world, especially in a built up location. Furthermore, the tone and feel for the narrative is guided by the idea that this is not meant to be a light hearted story, shown through the implementation of this down beat and sincere imagery.

OUAN404 - Study Task 2 - The Monk & The Monkey

The story for the epic short animation, The Monk & The Monkey is quite simple in that a young boy named Ragu is sent on one final quest by his master to become a monk. The task seems simple at first but becomes an unexpected challenge. The short animation was made in 2000 and directed by Brendan Carroll, Shant Ergenian and Francesco Giroldini.

The colours used through out this animation are bold and vibrant, there is a lot of background glow giving it a mysterious and almost mystical feel. There is a mixture of warm and cold tones, with the majority of the scenes being given a very warm feeling reflecting the uplifting score in the background. The lighting used is very comforting in a way, the constant glow from lanterns, candles and various other objects makes the feature quite interesting to look at in terms of lighting, as very little natural light is used. There is little use of detailed texture throughout the animation despite it being set in mostly natural environments. The characters and environments have been designed to be very smooth which works fine due to the consistency of the design choice, giving the animation a very unique and attractive feel. There is however some simple textures on things like fur and rocks, but generally there isn't much in the way of details, I do however like the overall aesthetic of the animation. Furthermore, the forms in the animation are soft, and nothing feels stiff or rigid. The characters faces look smooth when shown up close and even natural objects such as trees or rocks have almost a smooth curvature to their individual components, as well as this despite the inconsistency and irregularities of nature, the natural objects in this animation feel quite uniform. Space is used well when exploring the environments, and because of some well coordinated camera work the setting feels very open and real when the characters are shown moving around in it. There's a lot of heavy action in the animation, such as climbing and running, all fast paced actions and the space is used well to present these quite intense movements on screen. In terms of composition the choice of shots is varied and nothing feels 'overdone'. The animation features a good balance of close up and wide shots to give the audience a good range of details and on screen action. Overall, this animation has an interesting style in terms of colour, lighting and form, with everything feeling soft and rounded but it's generally pleasant to look at, and suits the serious yet youthful tone of the story.

OUAN404 - Study Task 2 - Father and Daughter

The short Dutch animation, Father and Daughter was made in 2000 by director Michael Dudok de Wit. It's represents almost a fact or life type story, featuring a girl and her father. As the father says goodbye to his daughter and leaves, Dutch landscapes are shown going through their seasons as time goes on. As this happens, the daughter character is shown getting older, becoming a young woman and eventually becoming old before having a family of her own. Throughout the animation she is shown to have a longing for her father.

The tone of the piece is very washed out and rather serious in this respect. Based on the narrative that runs throughout showing the natural progression of life and relationships it is clear that the the director didn't want to take away from the ongoing story and kept the animation style to a very minimalist one. Bright colours are nearly none existent as dull shades of brown, orange and black are used to depict shadows and light, with hints of blue occasionally on clothing for example. The use of these colours in particular give the piece a very unique, almost sepia tone, which almost makes it seem like we're looking into the past or through time due to the washed out look. Space is used very well through out this feature, long panning shots take us across vast open landscapes and the sense of scale is present always through the use of the environment and nature. Hills, trees and mountains are used repeatedly to show scale, and depict the Dutch landscape; but may also hold a deeper meaning, as we often see characters struggling up hill in different scenes, perhaps being a metaphor for the hardships of life. Skies and backgrounds feel very vague as if they are hardly existent, because of the lack of definition and colour. It works very well however and gives the animation an elegant feel because of the lack of detail and clear imagery. The incorporation of traditional techniques into this animation gives it a nice texture, the rustic hand drawn quality that this permits adds to the visual depth of the animation and adds a certain detail that wouldn't be there if it was made with block colours. The composition is heavily character driven almost every shot features a character in the centre of the frame to move the story forward with their actions, which means you are focused on action at all times. Overall the visual style and combination of character and environmental driven story telling is very well done in Father and Daughter with the minimalistic style and colours combined with an exceptional use of space to use the landscape as well as possible it's a fine example of appropriate decision making when crafting an animation to coincide with an honest story.

OUAN404 - Environmental Storytelling - Home

The familiar place I chose to draw for the brief was my home. As the brief was set over the christmas period, I took the opportunity to use various locations around my house to draw and paint from. I thought it would be a good contrast to the forest to paint somewhere inside and try to incorporate the use of unnatural lighting such as lamps, and fairy lights as oppose to the natural lighting that was present in Chevin forest. The idea of using locations both inside and outside meant that I could get an idea for how to portray completely different environments visually.

When it came to finding certain aspects around my house, I almost tried paintings things as if it were a still life in the sense that I would arrange certain household objects in a particular way or approach it from a certain angle to make sure the composition I chose to draw from was interesting. Similarly as to when I went to Chevin forest to draw, I tried to use a mixture of different medias to find out which worked best. When it came to painting a place inside, I felt that there were quite a few suitable types of media, I did however enjoy using pencil to sketch out certain areas and because of the definition of the household objects in the areas that I was drawing, it meant that I could incorporate a lot of detail into a line drawing alone. I also tried to portray lighting as accurately as I could in parts using watercolour to blend the light more seamlessly in with the objects and try to incorporate it as accurately as I could based on what I saw. When it comes to painting and drawing, I feel like perspective is one of my strengths, whereas portraying light through paint is something that I really have to look at more closely and study in order to improve, because at the moment it's something that I find quite difficult to represent. The work I produced for the brief in my house took different amounts of time based on the size, media and what the subject was. For example, the canvas paintings took a lot longer than the pencil sketches, but this is also due to the fact that I'm much more comfortable working with pencil despite the enjoyment I get from painting. One of the reasons I enjoy this brief and the visual language module as a whole as it does give me the opportunity to experiment with media and produce finished illustrations or images to an extent, which is something I enjoy.

OUAN404 - Environmental Storytelling - Mrs Atha's

The final location I chose to use or the environmental storytelling brief, is a cafe located in Leeds called; Mrs Atha's. Again, I tried to use a range of different places and this kind of bustling public environment was something that I hadn't looked at yet and contrasted well with the lack of people and presence in Chevin forest and the inside of a home. Another reason I chose to go to Mrs Atha's was the atmosphere that it possesses, and I wanted to try my best to portray this within the visual work I produced. The inside is actually very dark and there is a lack of natural lighting there because the windows are small and usually steamed up due to the condensation, and steam from the inside. As well as this, it was winter so the windows were almost frosted up and covered in water, making the interior even darker than usual. Aside from this, there is some lamps and fairy lights located around the cafe with some dim, hanging lightbulbs laced across the centre of the upper floor which gives the place a really earthy and settling atmosphere.

In total for the purpose of the brief I visited twice and positioned myself in several locations around the cafe so that I was able to look at the location from different perspectives, this gave me a range of visuals and subjects despite them all being in one place. I'm quite glad I chose this location as a whole however because it gave me the opportunity to try and practice representing light through the use of paint, my efforts were most evident in some of the darker paintings that were centered around the lights, some of the hanging light bulbs, a lamp and finally the miniature christmas tree with the christmas lights. This was a good test for me because someone who isn't used to painting in this way, or doesn't do it enough, it was interesting to try and portray three different light sources and seeing how they behaved before seeing how to emulate that using paint on canvas. I tried to do a mixture of wide views of the whole cafe and just what I could see from where I was positioned to focusing on smaller details, such as the previously mentioned light sources for example. Whilst I was there I again tried to use a range of media in order to see for myself how different approaches to various conditions altered the way the drawings appeared. So, sketching a bustling cafe versus painting it loosely and seeing how the two compared at representing the scene. I had to be careful here my choice of colours as everything looked dark under the low lighting, and this was a difficult task I found.

I tried to choose different locations where I could look at different environments with different subjects, and in a way where I could learn different things from each. Whether that be emulating natural or unnatural light, the incorporation of multiple figures doing different things like in the cafe, or finding an appropriate amount of detail to include given the time I had. Finally, I think one of the most valuable things I learnt from this brief was the exploration and inclusion of various media within the work I produce. More specifically, finding appropriate media work with depending on the subject matter. I found this came more naturally towards the end of the brief and I really enjoyed the opportunity of working with different media, especially painting which I will be trying to refine further in the future and hopefully improve at over time.

OUAN404 - Environmental Storytelling - Chevin Forest

For the first location, I chose a place that I was unfamiliar with and had never been before, despite wanting to go. After some thought I decided that Chevin forest located in Otley would be the first place I would draw for the environmental storytelling brief. After arriving in the morning via bus, I walked through the entrance and up a hill until I was on a path that I could use to find various spots that I could draw or paint. The weather that day was good for the occasion, it was very cold as this was in December but it was fairly dry and the sky was clear.

After a small walk, I came across a bench that I decided to sit at and produce a couple of the pieces for the brief based on the surroundings there, this location seemed appropriate because it meant I could produce a more detailed painting rather than a sketch, and thus produce work of a more varied quality as it took different amounts of time to produce different pieces. Something I made sure to do whilst I was there was to take photographs that I can look back on, I could also use them as reference photographs if I ever needed photographs of trees or a heavily built up natural environment. Something I really liked about drawing in Chevin forest was the diversity in the different locations around the forest, there was huge amounts of variation in trees, leaves, whilst some areas had rivers running through them and others were quite open; so there were a lot of different places available to draw within Chevin forest itself.

Whilst I was there I tried to work in a variety of mediums in order to see what kind of visuals worked well using different media. Throughout the process I used acrylic on canvas, pencil, pastel, coloured pencil and watercolour with some combinations of a couple of different types of media on some pieces. I liked using some types of media more than others due to the location, I found that the use of pastels and acrylic worked well because its ability to build form, colour and tone quickly, the earthiness of the colours chosen also contributed to the success of this type of media.

OUAN404 - Study Task 1 - Set, Series, Sequence - Using Different Media

The set, series, sequence brief was the first brief we were given during the beginning of the visual language module. When we were given the brief I was really excited to begin drawing and creating images as up until this point we hadn't had a brief that was purely related to developing visual skills. As well as this I liked the format of producing set numbers of images or a guided number of images under a certain theme because it gave the idea generation for images a purpose and a direction. Out of the words we were given I chose science and compiled a list of areas of science that I could look at in detail before beginning my approach to the brief and creating the illustrations

During the brief something that was really emphasised aside from interpreting the word we have chosen is how we choose media and that we should try and explore and experiment with different mediums whilst creating the images. I brainstormed some choices of media that I could use when creating the illustrations, and wanted to experiment with as much as possible to see what could be achieved. Throughout the sketchbook, I used; pencil, pencil crayon, brush pen, fine liner, marker, water colour, acrylic and digital to produce the images. What I've learnt from this exploration of media is the overall versatility of media when creating images, any media can be used to create virtually any idea if it's done in the right way and it has the potential to look better or more appropriate based on how the media is executed in combination with the idea being put onto paper.

Some examples of how media was used to create various images;

Deep Space

This image was quite straight forward, I looked at some images of space and found its almost unnatural blackness eerie. I thought the best way to achieve this solid black colouring was to use a thick layer of acrylic. I had to take into consideration here that the paper of the sketchbook was quite thin, so I took a sheet of thicker paper and cut it to size before painting that and placing it into the sketchbook. After the layer of acrylic had completely tried, I took some white acrylic and tainted it slightly with a drop of black to make a very light grey, I then used a toothbrush to flick the white acrylic onto the black background, implementing the idea of distant stars and galaxies.

Tree

The tree was made using a mixture of pencil crayon and watercolour, I started out by looking at references for trees and sketching out the outline of it very loosely. After this, I started to build up the texture and shape of the tree using pencil crayon. I found pencil crayon worked well at first because it has a very grainy texture, similar to that of a tree. After this, I added some touches of water colour so add more depth and tone to the image with some darker and lighter spots, I finished the image by adding some final details and adding some background to the image. It's also worth noting, because I used watercolour I again chose to do it on thicker paper before putting it into the sketchbook so that the thin sketchbook paper didn't crease of curve due to the water.

Skull

I did two versions of this skull just to experiment a little with the image. I started out by trying to sketch a detailed copy of a reference I found online. I added shadow to the deeper crevices of the skill and attempted to make it sit in a 3D space as well as I could. I used pencil here so I could almost retail a level of sketchiness whilst adding the finer details, I also though the grey, monochromatic property of the pencil would work well when portraying the skull. Once I was happy with the level of detail, trying to not spend too long on it, I added some touches of fine liner to highlight small sections of cracks and a darker shadow. I then scanned in the image and used photoshop to paint over some very washy ink like tones to make it feel more dynamic as a whole.

Lecture Theatre

This in my opinion is one of my more successful images. It's quite a different idea to produce a drawing of a physics lecture as oppose to an object or environment directly linked to the theme of science but I thought it could produce an interesting result. I sketched it out using several references online and then chose to use a brush pen in combination with a fine liner to create a black and white image with no real tones. The result reminded me of a graphic novel or manga style of colouring, where images are made up of black and white tones. I added some finer detail by brushing in a black board behind the lecturer and penning in white some equations on the board.

Astronaut

I produced the drawing of the astronaut digitally using photoshop using mostly my imagination for the suit, but references for the profile of the character. Here I enjoyed experimenting with colour schemes, and working digitally allowed me to experiment freely without sacrificing the image if something didn't look right. In the end I chose a kind of cyan or turquoise colour scheme for the astronaut and enjoyed how different it looked. I also enjoyed working in a digital way rather than a traditional one for the purpose of this image and yielded an interesting aesthetic.

Sun

The image of the sun is one of the more realised images in the sketchbook. The background was made the same way as the deep space image using a black acrylic background and flicking specs of white acrylic over the surface. At first I knew I wanted to produce an image of a sun or a star but I wasn't sure how to approach it so I opted for acrylics to see how it worked. This being a sketchbook brief I was less worried if it went wrong after the idea of using sketchbooks to experiment was introduced to me. I created a thick circle of orange and red paint in the centre of the page before using a dry brush technique to push the paint outwards and create solar flares. The way the dry brush paint moved the half mixed colours worked well at producing a fading effect to emulate very loosely the properties of the sun and the behaviour of solar flares.

Jellyfish

The jellyfish image is one of my preferred images in the sketchbook in a way because of how vaguely it portrays a jellyfish. I used a very obscure range of colours to produce the image, using; orange, purpose, a green / blue and white. Again, this was produced using acrylic and using the dry brush technique and some meticulous painting in the smaller sections I was able to create something that looks quite interesting. The reason for using a dry brush technique here was to try and capture the flow of the tentacles and represent the high number of tentacles the jellyfish in my reference had. I think the reason I like how it turned out was the looseness of it, and it feels very abstract it is due to the choice of media, colours and techniques.

Fish

Finally, I produced a simple pencil drawing of a fish. I tried to use thick, confident lines in order to draw the curvature of the fishes body rather than using loose sketchy lines. In terms of composition I chose a long fish with a curved body to fill the length of the page. Something I also tried to do was use slightly angular lines to capture the shape of the fishes body, so that it had a slight geometric or anatomic feel to the sketch. Using pencil was quite nice at this point because it produced a simple and elegant finished illustration where as the heavy uses of media in previous pieces were quite full and busy.

OUAN404 - Study Task 1 - The Importance of Sketchbooks

Sketchbooks are an invaluable tool when it comes to developing artistic practices. They are extremely versatile when it comes to their uses and can help you develop ideas through sketching and note making. One of the most important thing to remember about sketchbooks is that they are a place for reflection and the work you put in them can be anything because they are personal to the owner. When it comes to sketchbooks, everyone works in different ways and there is no wrong answer when it comes to working in them. They are also a place of experimentation, whether that be with idea generation or using different media. 'I have kept a sketchbook for over 25 years. They started conventionally but have evolved into scrapbooks. They are now filled with drawings, paintings, designs, photos, text, storyboards, telephone numbers, to-do lists and a long standing collection of thumbprint self portraits produced by hundreds of people I have met or worked with'. This was said by Luis Cook from Aardman and is an example of the versatility of the uses and importance of a sketchbook by a working professional.

I've read articles written by artists and other professionals that put huge emphasis on the importance of sketchbooks, and how essential they are to artistic practices, whatever they're used for. Some artists work predominantly in sketchbooks and produce most of their work here, for example: Kim Jung Ji who occasionally does detailed sketches in his sketchbook when he is in public and records his surroundings in what I can only describe as a detailed panoramic. Félix Dufour-Laperriere said, 'My creative process is a constant reflection: observing the surrounding, thinking about contemporary political, social or artistic issues. I write a lot, draw a little, but most often I start making images with a certain technique. After that I try to combine the various possibilities of this technique and give a direction, an orientation within the resulting images and short animated sequences'.

A sketchbook provides the user with a safe space for exploration, having to start from scratch on an idea can be daunting and jumping right into a final piece is risky because the idea or approach you take could have been improved along the development process. So if you want to make mistakes along a process or during the development of an idea, the best place to do it is in a sketchbook where details can be worked on, and if you don't want to, no one will ever see. Getting to see your work and progress as an artist in a chronological order can be an interesting and motivating tool, sometimes creative block or a piece of work not turning out as you'd planned can be a factor in losing motivation and drive. Having the ability to flick back through a sketchbook and see the progress you've made over however long you've had the book can be a good way to see visually your development and how you've improved.

OUAN404 - Study Task 1 - Set, Series, Sequence

For our first 'visual language' brief we were given the task of producing a set of thirty-two illustrations followed by a series of eight illustrations of the same idea but produced in different ways, so experimenting with media etc. Finally, a sequence of twelve illustrations in the form of a storyboard that told a story. The theme of the illustration was based on a word we chose from a choice of nine which were; dance, tank, science, flight, envelope, fork, bug, skip and plant. The word I decided to work with was 'science' because it covered a huge range of subject matter when I brainstormed ideas from it, and from the idea generation methods such as brainstorming I instantly was flooded with ideas of different illustrations I could produce around the word and what materials I could use to make them. Especially with this brief, I really wanted to branch out a little from using pencil and pen simply, so I collected different materials and potential methods of working such as acrylic paint, pencil crayons, water-colour paint, brush tipped pens, and ways of working digitally.



In terms of noting down all of the ideas I had for the word 'science', I tried to be as open and broad as possible so as to keep the subject matter interesting and try to leave out the obvious ideas such as science equipment, lab coats and bio-suits to really get to the heart of the word and produce some interesting compositions using different mediums to portray the subject for what it was. An example of what I mean here is using acrylic to produce the illustration of the sun like star. In this case I feel like pen or pencil wouldn't have been able to portray the expression I wanted from this image. During the brain storming process it made me realise how much the word 'science' actually covered and how far I could take it, it got to the point where thirty-two images wasn't enough to satisfy everything I could have covered from my ideas. The themes and subjects from my brainstorm included;

Universe, milky-way, Earth, Solar System, Human, Cell, Atom, Particle, Biology, Chemistry, Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, Life Sciences, Physical Science, Geo-Science, Mathematics, Sociology, Astronomy, Psychology, Bones, Cosmology, Anatomy, Ecology, Oceanography, Geology, Zoology, Botany, Skull, Brain, Planets, Shuttle, Black hole, Science Lecture, Telescope, Human Outline, Tree Diagram, Astronaut, Flowers, Gravity.

This was a collection of types of science to work from, and to divide that even up further provided me with a huge amount of material to use and work with, not only as subject matter itself but the potential for using different materials here to produce and replicate the types of textures, colours and substances was really fun to be able to plan and do.

Set



Series



Sequence

OUAN05 - The Classical Elements - Evaluation

Throughout this project I have tried to branch out and adapt multiple new ways of working. This has been a huge learning experience but at the same time has given me a lot of obstacles to overcome whilst producing my animation and working on the project in general. An example of this would be the introduction of software into my workflow that I hadn't previously used a lot of, or specific features within software like Photoshop timeline. As well as trying to learn how to animate with the Photoshop timeline feature, I also had to learn how to use After Effects and Premiere Pro for certain parts of the process as well as drawing digitally, not something I'm experienced with.

The overall experience I had whilst creating the animation for the project was enjoyable and it was a big learning curve. However, there was a lot of complications that I think were quite unmotivating at times and I was happy when the animation part of the project was finally finished. That being said, I did like the brief we were given and it gave a lot of scope to try new things and adapt it to suit the kind of animation we wanted to create.

Aspects of my workflow that have been successful in particular were the pre-production and post production stages, which are also my favourite parts of any project. I feel like I produced a lot of ideas and adequate designs for backgrounds and character concepts during the pre-production process. I thought a lot about the choreography of the fight sequence in my animation and did large amounts of research into Japan, as a setting for my animation and samurai, as well as technical aspects such as the architecture and the way weather behaved. Furthermore, I feel like my ability to produce illustrations as backgrounds digitally and my drawing ability in general has improved greatly because of the kind of things I was pushing myself to do in the design process to find out what I could achieve.

In terms of aspects I didn't do so well, I think the production process and the animation in general is very underwhelming both in story and the final out come. Despite the aesthetic choice to have the characters consist of lines rather than solid colour I think it comes across as unfinished. The process itself from a technical standpoint was also difficult and took longer than it should have due to multiple factors, some as trivial as Photoshop crashing multiple times because of the RAM constraints on the laptop I was using, which made the production of animation harder than it should have been. If I had more time I would have definitely improved the quality of the movement and character animation. I would have also added colour, shadows and hints of detail elsewhere.

Overall, I have enjoyed the project and learnt a huge amount about production, and different software. The pressure I felt was motivating to get it finished as best I could given the time we had and I'm generally quite happy with how I've done this project.