Applied 2: Rough Audio & Animatic With Sound

After Hayley had made the animatic from my script, when we got together on Monday, we decided to both roughly read the script out loud, as if our voice actors were reading it, and record it on our phones. We did this twice, so that we could get a rough estimation of how long the narration is going to take, as well as to give us a chance if we made any mistakes. Though I don't like hearing my own voice on camera, I found this test extremely useful, and it made me realise that there were a few things we needed to change, some that I didn't even consider prior to proof reading this script.

To start with, both of the recordings were over way over the two minute mark, which was alarming. Even though in both of the recordings there were times when Hayley or I made a mistake or misread some words, it still shouldn't have made that much of a time difference in length. Not only that, there seemed to be too many characters at times to keep up with, and at times we forgot who was saying who. This has taught me that perhaps we were being a bit too ambitious and trying to go a bit over board with our documentary animation. We already had a lot going on with our models, so to try and perfect a personality and a emphasise a persona for each one, was a bit too much for our time scale.

          

Nevertheless, despite my concerns, I still went ahead and applied a mixture of our audios to the animatic that Hayley created, just to see if what we had was in fact achievable, and would be within our capability. 

I found myself envisioning the animation more and more, as I was adding the audio to the animatic, however though this was exciting and motivating me to get started with more modelling, I noticed that at times I was extending some of the animatic frames, or having to cut some audio out to make it fit. Even though I did this, it was again, over the two minute mark by 15 seconds, leaving no room for extra animation or establishing shots. This actually worried me, because I would have rather of been too short in time scale, that too much, because there is always time to add more, but sometimes it is awkward to delete important scenes. 

I spoke with Hayley about this, and she agreed that we need to delete some scenes in order to make everything flow and be more cohesive. This is something that we are going to have to really focus on, because when we get our narrators to actually voice our characters, there will probably be even more pauses and breaths, because to make it natural there will need to be thinking time and a rest in between sentences. 

This stage in the preproduction however, has been really vital to us, and I am glad that we practiced it because it has made us really rethink our animation, and value what is in important within it, and what can be cut out. I usually like to plan and then get straight onto animating, but I am learning that you need to do a lot of tests, especially with stop motion, to get the right timings, and audio to sync up.

Applied 2: Plasticine Model Making Research

After meeting with Hayley, she showed me some inspirations that she has found through her research, that I now also want to apply to my modelling. 'Rich Webber', from Instagram is a popular character designer at Aardman Animations that Hayley found, and I really like his work. He has kept both his designs and models, very minimalistic so that they are easy to manipulate, something that I will have to keep in mind. Though I liked adding a lot of detail to the birds, it may be a bit difficult to animate them, so I might try and see if I can continue making my models stylised, but less complicated so that both Hayley and I can manipulate them with ease.

She then showed me some pins on Pinterest, and I also found some useful 'tutorial' like inspirations that we can take influence from. These sets of images gave me an insight on where to start building models, starting with the heftier body parts, and then adding the other limbs such as arms and legs. This gives you a sense of proportioning as well as being careful with where the weight lies on the models. These have also made me think outside of the box a little more, in terms of exaggerating the character or making them more human like qualities/traits, for instance longer arms to make the character more expressive. These are things that I will be thinking about for our next modelling session.

             

I also watched this video which gave me some tips and tricks for our future models. Using skewers/tooth picks to hold other body parts together looked extremely useful, especially if the model is going to be extremely light weight or even rather hefty. However we probably won't be using them if we are going to animate that body part, as it would be difficult to move that limb around without having to break the skewer, as they are not easily bent. Also, the person who is modelling these characters in the video, starts off with one large piece of plasticine, and then makes the body parts within that blob, instead of making separate arms for instance, and then trying to mould them to the torso. I think this is a clever way to make the models, and I will definitely be trying that next time.

Applied 2: More Model Making

After showing Hayley my bird models, she suggested we do swirls for the sheep skin, just like my male bird's hair, to make all the models look similar and stylised. I thought this was a great idea, so whilst she made all the sheep heads, I got onto making the sheep skin. To make one whole body covered in swirls, this took me one hour! I thought this was quite a long time considering that I had four more to do, but looking back it was worth it because I loved how it turned out. We had tested the skin with just rolled up balls, then with some texture from our jumpers and now swirls. Luckily we agreed that this one looked the best, and therefore it was my job to continue this for the rest of the herd.

This is what the sheep looks like with the neck and head stuck on. I left about a 10p coin size left for the neck to fit on so that it would look like it was connected to the body and not too raised forward. We also decided to keep the fluff for the hair on the sheep's head the same because it just looked more natural and 'family friendly' which is what we were reaching for.

        

And this is an almost 360 turnaround of the sheep, just to see another perspective of the body. I am so pleased with how it looks and I think it was a real learning curve for us both as we had to test what coat looked best on camera instead of just real life. It also gave me confidence in myself that I can do some modelling and make 3D versions of 2D designs which I am proud of, as I was really doubting this whole concept in the beginning.

After completing the first sheep, Hayley and I split roles so that I would do two more sheep and she would also do two more. I decided to go ahead and make Mildred next, who is a key character in our story. Hayley liked the idea of having a black/brown sheep that would stand out in our story and give it more variety, and I didn't mind so she picked brown and made some rollers for Mildred's hair. I think these look so stylised and sophisticated, and really add some personality to the model! I then began to make her body, which also took a really long time to get all of the swirls looking smooth and perfect as the camera picks up lots of finger prints, so I wanted each one to look professional. I then made her feet and fave her some earring which add even more to her persona.

For the third sheep that I had to make, I kept them white as well because I wanted all the other sheep, other than Mildred to actually stand together and look like they are in a herd. Though it was time consuming to put the model together, I found it very therapeutic and I really enjoyed the whole process. I feel like I have learnt so much with modelling characters now, and know tips and tricks that I did not know before. For instance, it is always best to model your characters bigger or else the process is really finicky, and it is also really important to consider weight and proportions so that the models can stand up on their own!! Also a lot of testing is necessary and can also help ease the pressure a little bit, especially if you a new to stop motion, like me! 

Applied 2: Testing the Mouths!!

Now that I had one model moulded and hopefully ready to animate, I decided to do some tests with mouths that would match my birds. I started with the first bird I modelled, the red one, and used her colour scheme for the matching mouth sets. 

Before I even started with making them however, I looked at all the possible ways Hayley and I could make our mouths. We have discussed this quite a bit, and we agreed that we were to make replaceable mouths, just because it would be much more easier for us to manipulate with our plasticine models, instead of having to shape and reshape the model each time for each frame. Also Hayley has experience of making replaceable mouths, and I really loved them, so we thought it would be best to do them this way. 

I really loved Aardman's simple mouths, and noticed that other than those that are 3D printed, the replaceable mouths out there are very much the same, especially those made form plasticine. This meant that I had a lot of references and resources to look from, as well as of course using myself as a reference in terms of what my mouth looks like when I say certain letters. 

For this test, I decided to try and animate a simple 'hello', purely because I was hoping this would give me a feel of this whole process, and how well I would be able to handle it. Also I didn't want to aim too high in the beginning, as usually when this happens if something goes wrong I am more inclined to panic and give up. Therefore I thought a simple hello would suffice for now.

In Photoshop, I made a quick gif of what I want each mouth position to look like for each sound. This was hard for me at first, but I felt that when I said the sounds aloud, I was able to use myself as a reference in order to help visualise each position better. This is how I got the mouth positions in the end, because trying to copy the existing ones actually really confused me as they didn't really look natural to me.

Once I had my own source to take influence from, I decided to get on with making those exact mouth shapes. This was an extremely finicky process because the mouths were so small. I used my model as a good reference for size, so maybe for the next models that I make, I will have to make them larger, as at times it was really tricky to do the little details, such as the teeth! However once I got going I ended up really enjoying this whole process. Though it did take me a long time to make them, I am pleased with how they turned out, and I think for my first time making them, they are not bad! 

I then copied my gif from Photoshop, but used my mouths to make a mini stop motion test of 'hello'. I am so pleased with how this turned out! I think that with an actual voice narrating it, you would really be able to tell that it is saying 'hello'. The mouths on the left are just the mouths only, where as with the mouths on the right, I incorporated the beak. I think they both look good, so the only really way to see how they would actually turn out is on the model, so that is what I did next.

And here they are. I also like how these have turned out, and I am so pleased with myself, especially because I was dreading this whole process as I didn't think I would have the ability to make something like this. I did think however, that once I placed the mouths on the model, it seemed much more realistic, but much too fast. Perhaps this is because there isn't any sound to these gifs, but either way, I was worried that everything looked much too sped up. Also, these are just tests where I used my phone to capture the animation which is not what we will be doing for the actual animation, so hopefully they will look even more realistic slowed down, and without much jumping around! I will also have to be careful of moving the beak around too much also, as I noticed that it moves around a bit more than I would like. 

Because the pace was really frustrating me, I quickly had a go at doubling some frames such as the 'L' mouth pose and the resting mouth pose. I think this definitely looks much slower and natural, but it will all depend on how the voices are recorded and how quickly the narrators are speaking.

In addition, I did all of these tests with the beak (left) and without the beak (right), just to see if the beak was really necessary. I think without the beak you can definitely see the teeth on the model a lot more, but other than that there isn't much difference. This is something that I think I will highlight in the crit, as well as asking Hayley for her opinion.

Then because I was really happy with how the mouths were coming along in conjunction with my model, I opted to go ahead and make all the other mouth poses to the sounds that I could think of. Some of them over lapped because I didn't know which pose suited which one, for example 'N' could be said with your mouth open or closed. But at least I am prepared if Hayley agrees to use them for our animation, and we will be one model towards animating! 

I have surprisingly really enjoyed this process, especially because I was convinced I would be terrible at it. I think because I like to get things done efficiently, this took a really long time, so I was worried I would never get it done, but I took my time and I am so pleased with how the tests came out! 

I then made some more mouths for my other model, using the same references and influences. I felt like the green is less appealing than the red, so perhaps I can consider this for the other models. It almost looks 'dirtier' than the other set of mouths, but thankfully this can be cleaned up with Levels and contrast in Photoshop.

I started with testing out the 'hello' on this character, and again liked the results. The one on the left includes an extra pose which I am not sure I like as much as the test on the right. I feel like it makes the model look like it has a lot of large, goofy teeth. This however might be nice for exaggeration and emphasis purposes. But I would be happy to stick to the test on the right. That one also would be great if our narrator was more Northern sounding, because of the 'o' sound looks much more broader matching the dialect. Again I made sure the mouths were in proportion to the models.

I also tried a new word with this mouths, which was 'goodbye'. I quite like this result, though I am slightly worried about those narrators who speak quickly. I think I will have to ask Hayley if she can get her narrators to talk a bit slower, as well as mine, because I think if they speak really quickly it is going to be hard to distinguish the words with the mouth poses, but it is something to bring up in the crit as well.

Applied 2: Modelling the Birds

After taking into consideration the last model making session Hayley and I had, I bought some cheap plasticine to have another go at making the bird characters, just to see if I actually could do it, considering all the steps and tricks Hayley taught me. I was treating this as a test model, but if it turned out well, then I would have been happy to incorporate it into the animation, if Hayley liked it also. 

To begin with, I took some red plasticine (using the colour palette from my designs), and I began to mould the front of the lady bird. I also took into consideration the fact that Hayley had drawn the birds in the storyboard front on, sitting on a branch of a tree, therefore instead of worrying about the whole body and how to get that to be the correct weight for a branch, I decided to just mould the body as if it was face on. This would be a lot easier for me, not only to mould, but also to animate as well! I then used a ten pence coin, as a 5p/1p was far too small, and used this as a guideline in making the chest for the bird. I actually made this chest piece too thick, so I later went back and took the texture off the top of it, and then flattened it some more, because there was actually too much depth and shadow once the model was photographed. This was something I had to think about, because even if the model looked good in real life, it is what is being captured on camera that is most important.

Since my initial designs had patterns/textured on them, I chose to roll up small cylinders over top of the chest, just to give it some more detail and complexity. For the most part I was experimenting, because I really did not know if I was capable at modelling at all.

Once I had the basic, overall shape, I then began to add some details. Like the lines on the chest, (which looking back at these pictures I will need to line up more perfectly as they seem to have moved slightly off centre), I did this same technique for the hair! I loved how the hair came out and I think if it wasn't there then my character wouldn't look half as interesting! I also chose to add hair because if I am making two characters, one male and female, I didn't really know how to distinguish between them, as they are visually very similar, so I chose this variable to be the hair. 

For the eyes, the basic goggly eyes did not look at all appealing for this character. Therefore I still used them, but added some eye lids. To do this I rolled up a small piece of plasticine and then flattened it and rolled it around the top half of the eye, like you would do when you add a roll of icing to a cake! This was very satisfying to come together and for someone who is new to this whole process, I am actually proud with how it looks! 

The next day, I decided to make the lady bird's companion. In my designs I had him orange and yellow, but after photographing the female bird next to my green tin, I thought using green plasticine would look much more engaging and exciting, especially for our younger viewers! If I had not been photographing each stage to see how the model looked on camera, I would have probably still made him orange which makes me thankful for taking Mike's advice to see how different the models look in real life and then in a picture.

I used my first model as a reference, especially in terms of size. I really wanted them to look like a couple, instead of just two different species of birds, and I found this really helpful. I followed the same steps, except this time I tried something different with the hair. Last time, I found this really intensified the models appearance, so I knew I had to do something extravagant again or else the model wouldn't look half as good. Therefore I tried to make the male bird have 'curly' hair. This was extremely finicky, but I think it looks much more interesting than if I had just rolled up the plasticine into lines.

I still felt like the hair looked a little flat, therefore I piled up some more of the swirls just to give the character extra height and volume in the hair. I think this really makes a difference, and fits his personality! So when the camera is not as up close, he will still look like her has hair! I also noticed from these pictures that I need to fix the pupils of his eyes as they are definitely not symmetrical.

And this is the final result! I think he looks alright and looks like a companion of the other model I made. I think once Hayley and I start making the changeable mouths, they will really come to life which I am really excited about!

Responsive Collaboration: 25th Jan Meeting

On Monday, our group met up for the first time after deciding to work together! We had agreed beforehand to do some research to bring to the meeting so that we could discuss ideas and try and refine some concepts. I brought my mood boards and idea generation with me, but looking back I wish I had brought my laptop as well because I was unable to do research when we were sat together. However I will be able to remember this for next time, and know what to expect now.

We all exchanged our research and we had actually brought up some similar ideas, and interest in past window displays. Some of the members in my group had made boards on Pinterest, which I rarely use, but after sitting with them and seeing how their inspiration starts off, I am motivated to start using it! We talked about how we want our display to really stand out, so maybe diverting from the obvious themes and ideas would be a good way to start branching our designs.

Together we looked at trends that are thought to be popular during the Autumn of 2016, which is when our display will be put up. We found this website, 'Premiere Vision New York' that made regular forecasts on the upcoming seasonal trends. The three they had forecasted were, 'The Protective Shield of Minimalism', 'Unique Roots' and 'Digital Surrealism'. Of course we were all instantly attracted to the digital surrealism, especially as the brief calls for looking at the digital age and consumerism habits. We also thought that it was interesting how the colour palette for this particular trend is a bit more obscure and doesn't fit the obvious autumnal colours, making our potential concept more unique and stand out.

We had trouble finding one specific concept that we could narrow our display down to, because the brief is so broad and it doesn't really give you any particular criteria to meet, it is all open to us. Therefore together we brainstormed three main things. Firstly we began to look at John Lewis, and what sort of emotion that brings out or what it's ethos is. We agreed that it is a very friendly brand that creates campaigns with deeper meaning to really connect with their customers. Therefore connection is something we are also going to incorporate into our display. 

We then looked at autumn, because that is the time of the year the brief states the display will be put up in, so of course we wanted to consider the atmosphere of autumn and what could potentially be surrounding our display. Atmosphere was something we researched a lot in our meeting. Autumn is a time when the weather starts to get colder, the air is crisper and you can see you breath in the air. We though about trying to replicate this, so that the mannequins could have cold air coming out of their mouths. I really loved this idea and I think it would really make people stop and look into the window if they saw it. 

The last idea/concept we brainstormed was dreams/having a dream like display. Dreams can be so extravagant and we could really play around with different techniques and processes so this really appealed to us. Holograms/light projection came up a lot in our discussions. We talked about perhaps projecting lights/having something constantly moving would be a great way to invite people into the store. Lights in general were a key idea for us because they would look even greater at night. Perhaps laser cutting 3D layers of paper and then having different coloured lights rotating behind would also be another exciting concept.

              

We also watched a few video examples of interactive window displays. I was shown this video that illustrates Nike window displays which have sensors and interact when you come near them. I especially loved the first one because of how colourful it is, but also because it is so unique. It looks as if the balls are floating in the air, and I would definitely stop and think twice if I saw this in real life. I thought this was such a clever idea, though I am not sure how we could make a mock up of this, I am keeping it on my inspiration list, as this technique could be something that we could incorporate into the digital surrealism theme.

Since there is not a John Lewis in Leeds or in the main city centre of where I live (Manchester), I went to the next best place where there is a John Lewis store, and this was the Trafford Centre. I was actually really disappointed with the window displays there because there really wasn't any, apart from on the side which you really could miss. I am not sure if this is because the display is inside, but even then it wasn't very thrilling.

I sent the picture to the group chat so they could see what I meant, and they agreed that we could do better than that. This gave us a bit of a confidence boost, knowing that the existing displays aren't too complicated to begin with. After the first meeting we were still unsure of a final concept, so all four of us agreed to go away and pick one concept, develop it a little bit with some designs and then come back and pick bits from each one and really start making way on the actual designs. So by our next meeting our goal is to really have a concept developed, and start working on it, as our deadline is very close (March). So far I am being pushed out of my comfort zone a lot, but I am enjoying working with new people and discussing concepts that are really exciting, so it is worth it!

Applied 2: First Character Modelling Session

For our first modelling session/attempt at making the characters our of plasticine for our animation, Hayley and I decided to try and make the sheep. I tried to keep an open mind for this session, knowing that it would take me a few tries before I got the hang of being able to mould properly. However, from this session I was able to watch Hayley, and mimic her techniques so that I could learn new skills in sculpting, as well as experiment and learn on my own. 

To begin with, Hayley and I agreed that we would both try and make an individual 'test' sheep from the designs that I had created, and then either pick one, or combine the two to form a sheep that is based off both of our visions. I was quite nervous because I didn't want to let Hayley down, especially as this is a new process to me, so it ended up taking me a while to mould my character. 

I started with the head, and tried to follow the oval-like shape of the 2D design, and then attempted to get creative with the 'fluff' for the hair. I thought about perhaps using actual cotton wool for more texture, but since for this current moment we didn't have any, I just rolled up several small balls of plasticine to gain a rounded aesthetic, for hair. I quite liked the look of this, so I then extended on this idea, except on a larger scale, and did the same for the body. I think it looks okay, but not as effective, and I preferred the look of the sheep's head alone, than with the body. I added some eyes which Hayley liked and I was finished with my first test.

This is the scale of the sheep to my hand (which is larger than your average hand), and I think it looks fine for a first attempt. I was able to get a feel for moulding, and what to expect when making the characters. I found the process quite finicky and hard, but once you start to see the character come together, it makes it worth while. Mike and Annabeth brought up the concern of how big/small the characters will be in proportion to each other, however Hayley constructed the storyboard in such a way that the different animals are in different scenes, and therefore we agreed to make the size of the characters in relation to how much they move. For example, with the sheep, mostly their mouths will be moving, therefore they are not required to be as big as, for example the Farmer who we have planned to have arms and hands move also. They also suggested that we add a neck to the models, so that if we want some slight head movements, this will make the process easier and less work for us. Also perhaps buying some eye beads, and use vaseline to manipulate them, will perhaps be much less of a hassle than moving each ball of plasticine individually.

After comparing models with Hayley, I really loved how hers turned out (top left image), a lot more than mine. She used similar processes to me, moulding small plasticine balls, however she blended them into each other to create a more rough textured look, which looked much more realistic and appealing compared to mine. She also made her sheep a fraction bigger than mine, which allowed it to look more hefty and practical. Because of this, I decided to use her sheep as the main example of the other four, and create the other three based on that one, but doing it myself. I am still glad that I tried out my own version, because it allowed me to make a few mistakes, but not feel too bad about it.

Because I had experienced moulding one sheep, it allowed me to feel slightly more confident to mould another. I did a few things differently, for instance I used a bit more plasticine, and I added a neck. I also used my jumper to make an even further wooly texture, especially since my designs were very textured to begin with.

And this meant we had completed two successful sheep. As you can see, the further developed two are slightly larger than my first one to begin with, but I think that was a case of trial and error. I think the two look very similar and after a few more alterations to the eyes, I would be happy to animate with them. 

Hayley also made the newt that I designed and I love it! Other than moulding the other animals, we just have to do some tests on mouths and timings and then think about the set and our pre-production stage will progress onto the actual production stage. I am looking forward to this because Hayley is so talented at stop motion, and I think I can learn a lot from her. I was worried that I would be letting Hayley down but she is extremely patient and is still looking forward to teaching me the processes so I am also excited for this module now as well.

Applied 2: Storyboard & Animatic

These are Hayley's storyboards that she put together after my script and some visuals that we discussed together. I am so happy with how it turned out and it looks like it could be a great animation in itself. She has used the beginnings of my descriptions for each scene which will help me when I come to animating particular sequences. I noticed that she used skills like panning, montaging and rule of three which I did not think about! She has also added timings, for example, how long each scene will take and what time we should be at by certain points which is really handy, and will allow me to keep on track of things, especially as I am new to stop motion.

                                      

And this is the animatic that Hayley made from the storyboard emphasising those timings. I am proud of them, and I am happy to show them in the crit.

Applied 2: Dealing With Workload

Even though it has only been a month since we were briefed on Applied 2, it is only two weeks until our first interim crit. Because Hayley and I are going down the stop motion route, we have to do more pre-production tasks, than we have ever done previously. For instance, we have to make our character models, sets, and get our voices narrated, amongst the other pre-production processes of designing, storyboards, scripts, etc...

To me this feels like it is almost double the workload, which is fine, however I keep finding myself being distracted with other modules, and the work that I need to do for them. Because these modules extend for long periods of time (for example this brief lasts for five months), and are so open in terms of what criteria needs to be met, I struggle to find the right mindset to keep me motivated constantly. Despite being advised to make a timetable, which I did do, this did not really help me at all, because I still felt like I was struggling to stay organised and I felt constantly distracted.

To help combat this, I thought of what has always helped me, and then intensified it. I know that making lists, even though they can be really long and in depth, help me keep on top of my work, so I decided to make a to-do list the night before, so that the following day I know what I am doing and what I have to achieve by the end of that day. I started off this year doing them weekly, which really helped me for the Character and Narrative module, but for Applied 2 and having several other briefs alongside it, I think having daily goals will help me a lot more. I didn't understand why a timetable did not work for me, but I think everyone just stays organised in different ways, so I am glad that I have found a happy medium.

Responsive Collaborative: LCF x H&M Research

A really successful window display that I found when researching imaginative and immersive concepts, was the University of the arts London (London College of Fashion) collaboration with H&M. UAL teamed up with H&M to make not just one, but a series of window displays throughout the country that illustrated the project to push sustainable fashion. UAL created seven different window displays that used and manipulated recycled clothes, to create a window that would stop customers in their tracks and make them want to take a closer look. I thought these concepts were genius and visually, they were gorgeous to look at.

My favourite of the seven, was the window display for London. Not only is the display vivid, a visual feast and such a satisfying colour palette, because it is using actual clothes but in a less conventional way, it stands out amongst the bland coloured architecture. The students who crafted this display, were asked to consider air pollution levels in London, especially the ones that are highest on Oxford Street, where this window is situated. Most people just throw their clothes straight into the bin, ready to be put in a landfill, however this display encourages people to do anything but that; pass them on, donate them to charity. Student Yewon Choe, one of the creators of this piece said "Oxford Street is one of the UK's most polluted streets so we wanted to change this by bringing new life into the street and make it breathe again". Blue is a perfect colour for this concept, because it is fresh, calming and clean.

Another display of the seven that I really liked was the one for Birmingham. This time, the concept involved the blossoming culture of the city, and the effect of the blossoming industrial revolution. This had a lot of planning, especially in terms of thinking of how to hold it together. There were no big machines used to put it together, it was all hand sewn and a combination of recycled clothes, keeping the theme of the display natural and encouraging to shoppers to reuse their clothing, altering their habits. This time, the clothes are multi-coloured to reflect the different cultures within Birmingham, and there is a lot of negative space which I really like, as usually town centres are crowded, so to have a space that is bare with some detail in the centre is very refreshing and something our group can think about.

The last one of the seven that I am going to talk about is the display for H&M's Dublin store. I chose this one because it looks like something you would see in a high fashion exhibition, but instead it is on the high street, available and free for everyone to see. I also really like the message of this one, as it is 'a vision created around the idea that once loved clothes could be loved again'. It looks high fashion, but is crafted from recyclable clothes that have been much loved beforehand. Genevieve Vasconcelos, from Genevieve Couture says that the exhibition "Illustrates the potential, and possibilities, of creating beautiful clothes from things we choose to throw away". It is exhibited to hopefully inspire others to get creative and make something unique out of their old clothes, instead of leaving them in a landfill.

This is my board of research that I have created to show the members of my group. I wanted to put together a board for this display, because I feel like it is such a unique concept, and one that you don't see very often therefore should be noted down. Although we will be making a display that uses animation, illustration and graphic design skills, I still think that the concept and the purpose behind this display is the most important factor and we could really benefit from thinking outside the box and thinking of ideas that will be ironic, rhetorical, and breaking habits of the consumer.

Responsive Collaborative Project: Moodboarding

After the first time meeting each other, our group agreed to get some research together for the following week, so that we can brainstorm together and talk about what we have found. I instantly decided to look at the existing John Lewis window displays to see what they have already come up with, and what concepts they have been drawn towards. It was clear in the brief that John Lewis want something powerful, bold and strong, something that touches upon consumerism, shopper habits and the customers desires. Taking this information from the brief, I noticed that they haven't really achieved this in their previous displays. They are extremely successful in their advert campaigns and promoting their brand through digital media, however I have found that their existing visual merchandise is not as memorable as their adverts. Although I do really like some of their concepts, and how they advert campaigns are reflected in their windows, I feel like if I did not know who John Lewis was, I would not want to stop and think about what their displays are trying to tell me, because they are a little bit indistinguishable to other on the market. To have a window display that catches the everyday person who is busy walking quickly by, then I feel like the display will have to break conventions, be loud look instantly different to the one that is displayed in the shop next to it.

Therefore I then looked at window displays that I found from other shops on the high street, that are more eye catching and attractive to me, personally. I think by making a collection of displays that I like, when showing them to my group I will be able to give insight into what angle I could potentially see the display, angles that they might not think of. It will also be interesting to see what the other members of my team will come up with, so that we can mix all of our styles and ideas together to make one final display. 

I really liked the displays that were bold, and light up at night. In our first meeting, we discussed perhaps having LED lights in our window display which was an idea that I loved! LED lights would be perfect because the brief asks for the display to be set up in Autumn, where the nights start to get darker sooner and it takes longer to get lighter in the mornings. This means that there would be less daylight and more darkness, where our display would be more vibrant and more likely to be eye catching. I also liked the engaging concepts, for example Selfridges' "60% of women are ashamed of their body... I am not one of them". I think for a generation who is constantly absorbed by social media and how their online identity is percieved, constantly comparing themselves to others, this is a display which will make both men and women stop, think, and entice them to walk inside. It is empowering and bold, therefore a great way to immerse the customer with the brand.

Another member of my team suggested we think about what is being released or what is happening during Autumn of 2016. I thought this was a really great and useful idea, therefore I quickly started searching all the types of things that could possibly be occurring during this time of the year, however I found it really difficult to find events. I am not sure if it is because it is so early in the year already, or if there is not much actually happening in Autumn of 2016 yet, but there were little dates I could find information for. I did remember that during this time it is Halloween, and a 'back to school' time of year, so perhaps this is something we can incorporate into our display. On the other hand, the brief asks for a focus on the consumer and consumerism behaviour, so if anything we can take influence colour wise from events like Halloween, but for the most part it will be rhetorical or an ironic concept. This is my research for our next meeting, which I am nervous but excited to see what the other member of my team have come up with, because I am extremely interested in this brief.

Follow Ciara's board Responsive on Pinterest.

Responsive pins research & inspiration based off our first meeting

Applied 2: More Character Designing

Before I got onto designing the Farmer for Hayley and I's animation, I did some research on clothing that Farmer's wear because I noticed that there are so many different styles and colours depending on what part of the world they are from. Plus this really interested me, and made me think of our animation on a more grander scale. I learned about the typical clothing of dungarees and a checkered shirt, which keeps all the clothing tight and together, especially when farmers are outside in all conditions. However I also found out about the colonial times, and how women farmers dressed also. They wore long dresses with an apron as they did more labour jobs like milking cows and collecting the eggs. It made me think of perhaps including a farmers wife into our animation, but then made me realise that we have enough characters to make and model already, so thinking up another personality would perhaps be too much weight on our shoulders. I also found some images of Farmers from 1950's (the black and white images). I love these photographs, and even though there is no colour, you can tell that the men are farmers, through their straw hats and boots. 

After considering all of these unique styles and elements, it made me think more deeply about what kind of farmer Hayley and I should produce. Our animation is set in England, but we will be covering topic of flooding and droughts, so I think dungarees would be a good suitable choice of clothing. We have both talked about wanting the animation to focus on the secondary effects of the flooding, so big boots or Wellington's will also be necessary. Overall I found out that the different outfits farmers wear, correlate to the destination of where they live, or the culture they are amongst. I am glad I learnt about this, as it has made me consider our Farmer more specifically, instead of just putting clothes and colours together. I would love to carry on doing this in the future also, as I love clothes in general! 

 

As I know that character designing is one of my weaknesses, I began with a few sketches keeping in mind all of my research, and then went over them with fine liner. I then scanned them into Photoshop and added some quick shades, using black and white because if the design looked appealing in black and white, and the audience could tell that the character is a farmer, then like those 1950's images, the designs would be successful! I really like my middle design the best, because I felt like that one looked most natural as a farmer appeal, to me. Therefore I decided to go ahead and develop this one further with colour and a few more angles.

Since the Farmer is the only character that the camera switches back to, as the other characters only have one scene each, this is the character that I chose to do in three angles. I am quite pleased with how he turned out, especially since I am not used to drawing characters, and I am happy with his resemblance to a farmer. I tried to really focus on the hips and upwards, since from Hayley's storyboard, she has only drawn him from these angles, so I wanted the emphasis to be there. But just in case Hayley had in mind to continue the camera panning further downwards, I drew his lower body, that way when we get to modelling his character, we won't be lost on how to shape him, and we will have a reference. I think these designs will be enough to follow and craft from, as I looked at Hayley's past work and the designs she uses to mould her characters, and tried to make them similar. I did this because although I have one image in my mind of how I want the character to look, Hayley is not in my mind therefore I tried to incorporate how she processes her ideas, so that we will both be able to work together efficiently, and easily instead of clashing like we did a little bit previously.

I actually forgot to design the 'newt' character for our animation, purely because I didn't actually know what a newt was, and had left it for the bottom of my list. Once I did some research on what they look like and where they live, I thought they would be interesting to replicate, but I was really off put by their appearance because they gave me goosebumps! Because of this, I had to make my character design based off descriptions and characteristics that I learnt. For example, I learnt that newts mainly live in ponds, and are essentially harmless but can hunt other tadpoles. They also go through stages of 'metamorphosis' which is where they sprout arms and legs, in three different stages (frightening in itself). Something amazing about newts is that they can regenerate limbs if they are hurt, which is astounding because they are so small to do something so powerful. So, although they give me the chills, I impressed that they have the strength to grow back an arm if they broke it! 

I did a quick character design of a newt, keeping in mind of their habitat and how camouflaged they must be to hunt others of their kind. I also tried to make my design look more bulky than in actuality, just to emphasise their strength because if you just looked at a newt like I did, you would never realise that they can regenerate limbs. I think my design looks cohesive with my other ones, and I would also like to think that crafting it out of plasticine would be fine after my planning. overall I am happy with my designs, especially as I found it to be such a challenge and finding it embarrassing asking Hayley if she thought they were okay.

Responsive Collaborative: John Lewis Product Proposal

JOHN LEWIS: A Window Into the Brand

What are the problems you are aiming to solve...

1) Creating a display which incorporates the way we shop now (online) and combining that with encouraging people to leave their home and visit the store!

2) Finding a unique selling point which will distinguish us from the rest of our competitions and stop fast commuters in their tracks.

3) Embodying the John Lewis brand in an inventive, friendly way.

We aim to do this by...

1) Making the display interactive/involve some sort of digital element which many displays do not have.

2) A few ideas we had were; light projection mapping, sound, illusions, interactive. All very digital, but doable! 

3) Research further in John Lewis and what their ethos is. We want the judges to believe what we are selling to them, and that it matches their brand.

We want to communicate three theme/aims/tones of...

1) Digital/Technology. We all agreed this is not common for window displays so we are excited to think of ways to portray this.

2) Homely, warm and friendly. John Lewis always aims to please their customers with a heartwarming story, because they target families and giving people great ways to decorate their home.

3) On trend. We plan to look up the forecasted trends for Autumn 2016 in order to make our display relevant and worth constructing.

To an audience of...

1) Fast commuters. We want to stop people in their tracks, especially those who fly by Oxford Street on a daily basis.

2) Families. This is the target audience of the brand, so naturally we want to target them as well.

3) The judges. They will be judging our work so we want to make sure that we follow all the guidelines they give us, so we have a higher chance of being taken seriously.

Responsive: Pitcha Pitcha

Pitcha Pitcha night was the chance for students across animation, illustration and graphic design to come together, see each others work and then hopefully afterwards come together and socialise so that we became familiar enough with each other to collaborate for the second half of the Responsive module. This was extremely nerve wracking for me, and I was convinced that by the end of the night, I still would be looking for a group to collaborate with. 

Watching each of the slides was extremely motivating and inspiring, as I got to see a range of different styles and work that were extremely good! After the presentation, we went out of the lecture hall and into the cafe to search for the table with our desired brief on it. I chose the D&AD 'John Lewis' Brief where there were already a few people around it. This was the nervous part, however after a while, a few people left and there were four of us who got on well and decided we would work together for this module! I was really excited to work with some new people in general, as it was one of my goals I made at the beginning of the module, so to find three others with the same interests as me was even more exciting. Two of my partners are studying graphic design and another is on the illustration course so we will have a great mix of skills and opportunity to make some really great work! They were completely open to working with an animator (which I was very worried about) so I think Pitcha Pitcha night was a great opportunity to meet new people for this collaboration, as without it I probably would not have had the confidence to find new partners, and the people in my group said this as well! 

We also had to fill out these questions after talking with our new group. I wrote my roles of looking into animation, doing a lot of preproduction and design work, but we all agreed that we were to all have a go at the main production stage. I also wrote that my skills to offer are that I am very organised and open minded. I write everything down and I keep up to date with everything which I think is a strong trait to have. I am open minded because I am willing to try a unique concept that would perhaps be way out of my comfort zone and nothing I have tried before, and I am excited about it. I also put that I am looking for others with the same interests and who are also open minded, but I think that I have found these elements in my group because we all talked about being really adventurous and aiming really high. We all love fashion and trends so that is a bonus. Overall I am excited to work with my creative partners because we have so many different skill sets and different backgrounds!