OUIL505 : initial ideas

I found the briefing really interesting and enjoyed listening to the discussion about all these different contexts - it really helped me understand what each category is all about and opened my mind up to some new possible avenues for my work.

During the briefing the idea of adult publishing really interested me, and I liked what Ben discussed about the industry growing to understand books not just as throwaways but collectable objects, that can be made to be really beautiful. Choosing this context, however, seemed like it could potentially feel like a repeat of OUIL504 and I wanted to try something new and fresh to give myself a little bit of variety. 

So I have chosen :

Packaging and Retail

Placing my work within this context is something I have wanted to try for so long - admiring the work of practitioners such as BfGf, Atelier Bingo, Lorien Stern and many more. Within the brief, at the moment, I think I am going to focus on homewares - but am also really interested in illustration for clothing and textiles. 

Group work for presentation : 

Being quite a big group, we divided everyone into different categories : packaging, textiles & fashion, homewares, paper products, murals, advertising, music & band merch. Each person is going away and collecting images, 1 industry fact, 1 online resource, 1 trend and 1 case study to then bring all together on Friday for the final presentation slides :)

Statements and thoughts from OUIL505 briefing

One thing you'll take forward from OUIL504

• Handmade materials - gouache painting, cut paper, print making, need to remain central to the final crafting of my work, otherwise I will often feel unsatisfied with the outcome. 
• To be more considerate and forward-thinking in the planning of my time. 

One way that you will push yourself outside of your comfort zone 

• I would like to produce more figurative and narrative images - to add a greater sense of authorship to my work. 
• I would also like to attempt to produce more naive and playful final pieces - that let the beauty of raw materials speak for themselves. 

One thing you want to achieve by May

• Have a better idea of where I would like my work to sit within the creative industries
• A better understanding of the creative industries as a whole. 
• To be more satisfied with the direction of my practice.

"The revolution will not be televised" : Development

Using one of my collaged designs, I scanned this in and started messing around with the composition and colour palette on photoshop. I settled on this final design - at the end of the issuu document. I think this works really well to portray the content/message of the song - being active in bringing about social change. The young children in the photograph I think underline the importance of the role of the younger generation in bringing about change in the world. Something I have also achieved in this, which I really like, is a very bold colour palette that still works cohesively together. I would like to improve my use of multiple colour in my illustrations, as I often limit myself to only 2 or 3.

In evaluation of this final design, however, I am not really happy with leaving it as a digital print. Editing it through photoshop also means I have lost a sense of the handmade collaged elements - which I really like...Now I know exactly the composition I would like I think I am going to make a to scale final design using cut paper. Maybe this could become a new process for me - to arrange things digitally to get a hold of my composition and then remaking my designs using handmade materials.

"the revolution will not be televised" : development

I really like this concept of making Gill Scott Heron's song contemporary. Racism is an ongoing issue in todays society - with headlines of police brutality in America and black lives matter being all over social media. I think drawing comparisons from the 1970s, when "the revolution will not be televised" was released, with current events, incites a feeling of urgency that I think really effectively communicates the theme of activism in the song. 

Inspired from this concept I've created some collages using images of 'black power' from the 1970s, against the iconic image of the girl standing in front armed police at the Baton rouge protest in USA. These collaged found photographs, I've also combined with some soft blue shapes to symbolise the light jazz played in the background of the poem. 

I've also continued to use the slogan of "LIVE" - using it to also play on the design of the black lives matter logo. 

I really like this final design - I think the upward composition, following the line of the iconic 'black power' raised fist, gives this sense of positivity that reflects the essence of the song. 

In Cold Blood : thumbnailing and media development

Out of my initial thumbnails I selected a final design, which I then developed through media experimentation. I like how the design plays around with combining text and image, making the title the central point of the cover. I think it gives a clear suggestion of some of the main themes of the book - criminality and murder - without giving too much away. 

Through my media experimentation I have identified that using cut paper proves the most effective way of executing my design. I will be scanning these cut paper elements into photoshop to then assemble and refine my final submission using digital processes. 

"The revolution will not be televised" : initial ideas

I have been brainstorming some initial ideas for my "the revolution will not be televised" cover. I've started focusing on this motif of 'plugging in', derived from the song quote 'you will not be able to plug in, turn on and cop out'. I also started using 'live' as a slogan in some of my thumbnails, again playing on a song quote : 'the revolution will be live'.  I think this is relevant to today because we use technology, such as television as a method of escapism and Gill Scott Heron's song is about being an activist - getting up and doing something about what you see wrong with the world. 

YCN, Uk Greetings : crayola flower drawings

After working digitally, I have decided that I would like to return to handmade materials. I feel that I was focusing too much on finishing the brief and producing the work, rather than effectively evaluating the potential final outcomes. Recently in my practice I have begun to understand that a digital aesthetic within my work is simply not for me, and I would really like my images to retain a sense of a handmade process or materials.

Being at home this past week I found a pencil case full of crayola crayons and starting drawing! As a material they are very nostalgic and I think provide a really playful, naive finish to my designs. In terms of using these as my final outcome, however, I do not think they look professional enough. Moving forward I think I will continue to be investigating use handmade materials to develop my drawings, and achieve this raw sense of the handmade to my final outcomes.

Gill Scott Heron "The revolution will not be televised"

In order to gain a little context for my designs I did some research into Gill Scott Heron and the purpose of his song "The revolution will not be televised'.

The title of the song was originally a slogan among the 1960s black power movement in the USA. The core of this movement was to combat racial oppression, as well as to nurture and emphasise racial pride.  

Although this movement was positive for African Americans in many ways, it can also be seen in history as to have negatively impacted upon racial integration in America.

Martin Luther King believed that the term 'black power' was 'unfortunate because it tends to give the impression of black nationalism...black supremacy would be as evil as white supremacy'.

In reading this article (seen below) , however, I gained the impression that although the songs title does refer to this movement it does not promote the violent action and more extremist views of some groups of that time.

It explains Gill Scott Heron's active role in protesting for social change during his time as a student. As a political activist he avoided violent action, but instead used writing, poetry and music to instal motivation in others.

"The revolution will not be televised" is a song of an impassioned activist encouraging others to do something and make social change happen.

Illustration 12" song selection

It's such a shame that secret7 is 'taking a break', because out of all of my selected briefs this was the one that I was most excited about - so I am pretty disappointed. However, I am still going to produce a couple designs for 'illustration12' and use this as practice for hopefully being able to tackle a secret7 brief in the future. 

I had a listen to all the songs on the list, and have selected these two as being to my own personal taste - but also confronting global issues that I feel would be really interesting and fulfilling to investigate visually. 

ANOHNI "4 degrees"

GILL SCOTT HERON "The revolution will not be televised"

Penguin random house, In cold blood : Initial ideas and research

In response to researching the plot of the book and gathering relevant images, I began to identify several key themes and concepts. These led me to brainstorm a number of different visual ideas that could be used as the starting point for my cover design. 

• The American Dream 
• Rumour and Suspicion
• Morality
• Money
• Justice 

Pitch Pitcha slides for Collaborative Brief

Here are my slides to be played in the lecture theatre, and find collaborative partnerships.

Studio brief 2 : Collaborative practice - Slides

I found putting these slides together a little difficult to do, because I felt conscious of trying to represent myself in a good light. At the moment I feel unsure about the kind of work I would like to do within my own personal practice, so I tried to give a range of work that will best represent my skill set. In terms of briefs I feel I am most interested in ones looking at producing some kind of packaging or product branding, but also ones that confront important issues that resonate with me as a person. Overall I think Im just going to enter into this process with an open mind and see what happens.

OUIL504 Process and Production summitive evaluation

Key points of process and production module

issuu presentation of key points within module with images and comments

Final Response to studio brief 3 : Moving pictures

Diving fish from Emily Chaffer on Vimeo.
final final moon from Emily Chaffer on Vimeo.
time final from Emily Chaffer on Vimeo.
Wind - up cat from Emily Chaffer on Vimeo.

Final response to studio brief 2: Printed pictures

Project Proposals for studio brief 2 and 3

Project proposal for studio brief 2

Project proposal for studio brief 3

Final response to Studio brief 1 : Idea Pictures

FINAL PRESENTATION

For the final presentation of my finals I decided to create a small portfolio using slate blue mounting board and slate blue card to make a little pocket to hold them in place. The choice of the blue is to echo the constancy of blue throughout the prints, so as to help them work as a cohesive set. For my experiments, I organised them into separate categories using bulldog clips to hold them in place and then slips to identify each category. I hand-wrote each of these titles, because I felt digitally printing them would look a bit stale and lack personality. I am glad I kept in simple, and I think it is really effective to add a sense of professionalism to my work. 

Final crit for OUIL504 Process & Production

POSITIVE FEEDBACK 

• I got more positive feedback in response to the composition, quality of process and texture of my final prints. 
• In the recommendations for the future of my practice, someone commented - "monoprint really compliments your style and has a lovely textural element to it. they are my favourite personally". 
• I completely agree, and I think monoprint is a process I will definitely be taking forward for the rest of the year. 

THOUGHTS ON PRESENTATION

• It was great to see so many well presented finals - in handmade portfolios or book slips. It gave me a lot of inspiration for creating my own, I think I am going to keep it quite simple though to let my work speak for itself. 

sting 4.

Wind - up cat from Emily Chaffer on Vimeo.

I created this fourth sting because I really wanted to see how my storyboard would translate onto screen. I like the quirkiness and almost ghostly nature of this final outcome. I think how the eyes, head and whiskers move/rotate independently from each other really suits this sense of otherworldliness I have am trying to achieve within my work in reference to Murakami's novels. I struggled with coming up with an idea for the soundtrack that was conceptually cohesive with my other stings - really the music box sound effect symbolises nothing, it was the only real sound that I could picture working really well with the animation. It could however, I suppose relate to Murakami's novel 'the wind-up bird chronicle'?

Final sting 3.

Diving fish from Emily Chaffer on Vimeo.

This sting was probably the most labour intensive out of all three of my animations, however I really am happy with the final outcome. I think how the fish heads are abstract but still recognisable communicates this interaction between reality and otherworldliness that I wanted to continue to explore as a theme in my stings. In reflection,  I feel that I could have added moving texture to the fish in order make this sting relate more to the other two; on the other hand, adding this may have been too overwhelming in combination with the texture and movement of the waves. Also I feel  that with the title sequence at the end, and the similarity in structure it will still blend well with the others to make a cohesive set. What I am most proud about this animation, that I am so glad I managed to translate onto screen from my storyboards is the movement from the main animated sequence into the end title page - I think this is one of my more effortless transitions. 

Final sting 2.

time final from Emily Chaffer on Vimeo.

I am slightly unhappy with the colour scheme in this animation - although the colours are taken from my final 'time' motif print to tie these two briefs together, for some reason the colour palette now feels slightly distasteful. Conceptually, however, I am really happy with how the soundtrack interacts with the animated content and thereby reflects Murakami's personal relationship with running and writing, as well as his introverted nature. The animated sequences I managed to achieve within the sting I feel are visually interesting - the canon ticking of the clocks and the bouncing bananas interacting with the frame of the animation. I also think the banana sequence slightly overlapping with the end title is really effective in how it nicely ties the finish and the narrative of the sting together. 

Final Sting 1.

final final moon from Emily Chaffer on Vimeo.

I am really happy with the final outcome of this sting. Since the draft I have managed to smooth out the swing of the moon and add in moving texture to the background elements. I think the combination of these two different forms of animation is really effective in keeping visual interest, with the movement still being quite simplistic. The choice to change the end title I think also better suits the overall aesthetic of the animation. The only thing is that the animation itself is simplistic, with little/no backgrounds and limited movement - however in the small amount of time that is 10 secs I think anything more would be too overwhelming. 

Playing around with sound editing

I am struggling with making a decision about how to edit the final soundtrack for my 'time' motif sting. The sound effect I am using is running footsteps, in order to represent the competitive relationship Murakami has with his running times which he also relates to his philosophy towards the writing of his novels.

time building sound from Emily Chaffer on Vimeo.

Putting in canon's of the sound effect of these footsteps creates a sense of build to the sting and is appropriate to the multiple clocks appearing in this sequence. It also breaks up this beginning and end sequences, making the animation perhaps more engaging. However I really don't like the 'crackly' effect made by all of these footsteps overlapping together, as I feel it makes the animation seem poorly crafted. 

Time test sound from Emily Chaffer on Vimeo.

The solitary footsteps, however, I think are more fitting to Murakami conceptually as in it's simplicity and lack of dynamism, thereof, it creates this sense of isolation, which is one of the core things he discusses when talking about his running and writing.

I think in the final sting I would like to retain this sense of isolation by keeping the solitary footsteps as the soundtrack - however, maybe the idea is to decrease and increase the sound of them according to the appearance of the clocks in order to make it more dynamic?

Adding moving texture

pink texture jolty from Emily Chaffer on Vimeo.
pink texture from Emily Chaffer on Vimeo.

After creating the moving textures in my type I decided to apply this same process to my two moons sting as a way of adding further visual interest to this simple animation. Initially I thought using 'toggle' keyframes would be best but this seemed too static, so have decided that it is most effective leaving it with the fade in/out effect of the opacity transformation (the contrast of which can be seen above in the two animations). I similarly did this to the lady, and end text for this sting in separate compositions to then put all together.

Developing title page

So far I have been using quite a formal 'title page' with a bbc logo. I think this looks professional and suits a context in which these stings could be an advertisement for a documentary about Murakami broadcasted on TV. However I wanted to experiment with using some type thats more in keeping with the animation itself.

Out of the two I think the moving textures text is far more effective. The 'wiggly' type is too distracting making it hard to read (especially for the short amount of time it will be on screen). The textures are also much more in keeping with my animation and is reminiscent of hand-drawn stop motion animations - giving a handmade feel to the sting that I really value.

Sting 1 draft

Two Moons test from Emily Chaffer on Vimeo.

• This was my second, more simple idea based around this particular print and personally I think it is a lot more effective. 
• The simplicity of movement means it does feel rushed but well rounded and finished. 
• I like how I have carried through the sense of structure and composition from my print into the sting. 
• The sound effects I feel are also really effective in achieving this interaction between reality and the otherworldly by contrasting with the animation content, but still seeming suitable. 

THINGS TO THINK ABOUT/MAKE BETTER

• The swing of the moon and smash I feel needs a little more flow or sense of gravity. 
• Do I put in the 'BBC' bit at the end? I feel it makes it look professional but also is this allowed/do I want it there? (maybe try it with a simple text title instead and then decide)
• If I have time I would like to add some movement into the textures to achieve a more handmade effect to the sting. I also think because the movement is so simple, this would add more interest without being overwhelming. 

First sting gone wrong

Tester from Emily Chaffer on Vimeo.
After storyboarding I was really excited to get moving on after effects, but my first attempt I am afraid to say was not an enjoyable experience. I felt like what I put down on paper was not translating well enough onto screen and so I began to get frustrated with the software. I think the core of the problem is that I overcomplicated what I was doing - I am going to try some more simplistic ideas now and see how those turn out. If things go well I may return to this idea and develop it further.

Storyboarding with concern for soundtracks

I have done some more storyboarding based around my ideas for sounds that will suit the animated movement but contrast with the sting content to provide this interaction between the otherwordly/reality. I think this idea has real potential, small ideas like the ticking of a clock being replaced by the sound of someone running I feel will be really effective - but can only really be fully evaluated once I have made my stings in after effects.

Final ideas for stings

Out of my storyboards I managed to narrow down the ideas for my final stings to five main concepts each working with different motifs.

-- stairs, clock, fish, moon and ears

I am undecided as to which stings will become my final 3 10 second animations. I think the most effective way to narrow them down is to start animating, and soon I will see which ones are the most effective/easiest to make in after affects.

Moving pictures project proposal (revised)

Thinking about soundtracks

IDEA 1

I really like the idea of creating an animation along to music, after all music is one of Murakami's greatest passions - running a Jazz bar called Peter cat before he became an author, and making constant mentions of artists from the Beatles to Mozart in his novels. 

IDEA 2 

To use sound effects to describe the movement and content of my animation - waves, creaking ect. 

OR 

To use sound effects that are appropriate to the tone and movement of my animations but are mismatched with the content - e.g. a ticking clock is replaced with the sound of someone running.

I think playing around with real sounds, as I have spoken about before, really suits the theme I have been exploring in relation to Murakami's work  - otherworldliness and reality mixing and contrasting in his novels. Therefore I think my third idea would be the most relevant to progress further, as well as it being the more novel and interesting. 

Development through storyboarding

• In my project proposal I originally planned to create a 30 sec animated sting, however as I have been storyboarding I have found that ideas for a 10 sec sting came to me more naturally. 
• I think this is because my 5 prints were all so different in content - spanning across 5 different motifs - that selecting three of these to progress into animation is an easier/more natural transition. 
•  So I will be creating 3 x 10 sec animated stings, each inspired by one of my selected prints from the printed pictures brief. 
• In terms of a process I have found storyboarding very useful in refining as well as developing and generating ideas for my stings. 

GOING FORWARD

• I would like to take some of my storyboard ideas into aftereffects and start experimenting with animation - see how effectively my ideas on paper translate onto screen. 
• I need to think more consciously about the soundtrack for my stings, and do some storyboarding around chosen sound effects/music. 

Timetabling and lists : What I need to get done!

RESPONSIVE

YCN, UK Greetings - develop finals and refine, finish, print...

IN COLD BLOOD - thumbnail in response to research, produce final book cover

SECRET 7 - still not released 

ideally finished by 02/02/17 (when we start collaborating)

MOVING PICTURES

• Continue storyboarding to finalise ideas
• start playing around with after effects 
• keep blogging!

DEADLINE 17/01/17

COP 

• research 
• catch up on tasks 
• catch up on blogging 
• essay planning
• visual investigation 

Ongoing... 

Study task 6 : Anatomy of a murder, Saul bass

• Again what I find really effective within this animation is the clear interaction between the soundtrack and simple movements of saul bass' collaged elements. 
• The drama of the music combined with the short static movements of the animation, works really well to create this dynamic opening credits very appropriate for introducing the content of this film. 
• Even though the movements are simple and the music quite slow, the combination of the two work in harmony to create something really visually exciting. 
• If I were to choose using music as the soundtrack for my animation, perhaps to reflect Murakami's love for jazz, I would like to create something equally effective - using the music to reflect the tone and content of the animation, as well as dictate, to some extent, the movement within it to create interaction between the two. 

BBC short animations

• These animations use simple movement in a very effective way to create a sense of depth and 3-d within the frame, so that it becomes almost 'a window' into another world. 
• I like how the 2s interact with their surroundings or other objects around them, again creating a sense of 3d reality. 
• These short animations also show how really simple movements going vertically, horizontally, back and forth or bouncing around the frame can create, despite their simplicity, a very engaging animation. 

Going forward I am going to do some storyboarding with consideration of a 3d frame, and see how this changes how I approach the movement of my components within my sting.