Creative Writing with Duncan Sarkies 28/2

Creative Writing

1st character  - The explorer, curiosity, creating ideas from the world around
2nd character - The Architect, defines the concept, structure.
3rd character - The Carpenter, putting the story together. Solidifying everything, following the plan
4th character - The Judge, critiques everything to find room for improvement. Quality control.


I am discovering that writing for me is not going to come easy. When i am writing about something that I know/have experienced then it is actually not so bad. When it comes to creating something brand new out of my head, it definitely takes a bit longer. Basically the same kind of problem i have when it comes to starting a new piece of art, but once im going, its not so bad. It is very nice to get perspective from an accomplished writer however and im looking forward to the next few weeks with him.

Colour Theory


Hue - refers to pure colour with no white or black added
Value - the amount of black or white added
Chroma - the brightness of the colour

Complimentary colours are the colours on opposite sides of the colour wheel.
Analogous colours are 3 colours that are beside each other on the colour wheel.
Triadic colours are 3 colours that are equally spaced apart on the colour wheel.
Split complimentary colours are a mix of analogous and complimentary.
Tetradic colours are 4 colours spaced out on the colour wheel.

Warm colours suggest energy, fire and sunshine. Cool colours suggest stillness, winter, nighttime or darkness.

Colours can often change depending on what other colours are alongside it.

The key to building a colour palette is to keep it simple. Start with less, see what happens and adjust if needed.

What is the time of day?
What is the focus of your project?
What kind of lighting would you like for your project?

Using a Gamut mask is a good way to create a harmonious palette.

Digital media 28/2

Exploration of photoshop tools using my linework from last week. Mostly using clipping masks and layers to create the different effects. The sunset photo is one of my favourite photos that I took last year, although I wish it had been with a DSLR and not my phone so it was better quality. I really think using flowers for my theme will give me the best creativity as there is a huge range that I can choose from but the rose is a classic.

Storyboard 27/2

Attempt 2 at a story treatment. My first story was a bit all over the place, so this time its simplified down, and the focus is directly on the ghost and the kitty interactions causing chaos in the room. I think after reading the feedback on my first story, that I was trying to cram too many storylines into one, and it didnt actually make a concise story. I also had a crossover between a realistic situation and cartoon which makes it harder to bond with the main character. This new story hopefully makes the reader/viewer feel sorry for the kitty and what its been through.

Step outline, I think I did it correctly?

concept art for Kitty and Ghostie

Principles 25/7

We had to present our proposals today in class. I was ok with mine, but I really do need to spend more time on humanoid expressions now. I am actually torn between the two animation ideas now, as I think i can have a lot of fun with both. My stories are all leaning towards comedy so far this year.

Principles 21/2

Practicing using the contour tools, adjusting line widths, and a basic introduction to using toon boom harmony. I still prefer the brush tool so far, as discussed in digital media class, I just am not comfortable with the vector tools just yet. We made a cute little bird animation.

Studio Digital 21/2

Working from a photo reference is a great way to start the artistic process but you need to be wary of copyright issues. This doesn't really help improve actual drawing skills either. Next week will be filling in the colour and shading which I am looking forward to. One of my coloured pencil drawings that Im proud of was a rose, so it will be great if I can get the same result digitally.

Using the pen and vector drawing is going to take a bit to get used to, as it can be very finicky compared to a normal brush tool. Practice makes perfect right?

The pen tool really doesn't like doing anything over a 1/4 circle, so thats where the ellipse tool comes in, and after rasterising you can edit with the eraser and brush tool. I can see the potential for creating crisp linework using the pen tool after becoming accustomed to it.

Storyboard 20/2

Pixar in a Box: Structure

Structure is essential for giving a story emotion and timing for the best impact. Structure is vital as a foundation for a good story. Story Beats are the important moments in your story - decisions that your character makes with the resulting consequences of that decision.

Story Spine is the simple pattern that stories follow.

1. Once upon a time...
2. Every day...
3. Until one day...  (inciting incident that sets the story in motion)
4. Because of that...
5. Because of that...
6. Because of that...
7. Until finally...
8. And ever since then...

And the moral of the story is...

My favourite film story spine: The Lion King

1 Once upon a time there was a family of lions that ruled Pride Rock
2 Every day the young son went out adventuring with no regard for his parents rules
3 Until one day his father Mufasa got killed by his uncle Scar, using him as the bait for a trap
4 Because of that, Simba had to leave Pride Rock letting Scar take over the kingdom
5 Because of that he met Timon and Pumbaa and survived into adulthood to be found by Nala
6 Because of that he found out about the horrors that had happened and returned home
7 Until finally the truth comes out and Simba beats Scar in a fight
8 And ever since then Pride rock has returned to its peaceful, balanced environment.

And the moral of the story is believe in yourself.


My story spine:

1 Once upon a time there was a kitty
2 Every day he got the zoomies and raced around the house
3 Until one day he sees a ghost appear
4 Because of that he stops suddenly and attracts the attention of his owner
5 Because of that, the owner decides the cat is crazy
6 Until finally the cat loses interest and walks off
7 And ever since then the ghost reappears now and then to prank the kitty.

And the moral of the story is that cats are crazy... lol


Theme

What are you trying to say? The theme is connected to the moral. What your protagonist needs will drive the structure of the story. You dont need to start with a solid theme, but to have a memorable story you need to have one by the end.

Theme/Moral of my favourite film: Overcome your self doubt and let your friends help.
Moral of a story from my own life: Sometimes a big change is good for you.

Brainstorming moral ideas for my story: Just because you cant see something, doesn't mean its not there..


Act 1: Step 1, 2 and 3 of the story spine
Act 2: Step 4, 5 and 6
Act 3: Step 7 and 8


Antagonist: something that gets in the road of what the protagonist needs.

Act One

Act one introduces the character, in their world. The inciting incident comes near the end of act one to launch the story into act two. Act one should make the audience care about your character, and sets up the story.

1min animation breakdown, Act 1 - 10secs, Act 2 - 40secs, Act 3 - 10secs

Act one of the lion king

Simba, Mufasa, Nala and Scar are the main characters in the lion pride. We care about them because they remind us of our own families, with an animal twist. They do normal family things, with the exception of Scar missing simbas coronation which hints at the rivalry. Scar kills Mufasa to take over the Pridelands which makes Simba run away to survive.

Act one of my animation will be introducing the kitty in his usual state of sleeping, then bursting into zoomies.

Act Two

Act two is where your character gets knocked down over and over to help them grow. This is where your character changes into the final character that you want them to be. Act 2 also contains the low point where everything has gone wrong, or the character has a achieved all they want but its not what they thought it would be. Quite often in the middle of the act is where your character makes a decision with final consequences and no turning back.

Act two of the lion king

Simba is forced to run for his life due to his fathers death. Scar makes him think it was his fault, and so he doesn't want to stay because he is afraid everyone will blame him. When Simba decides to finally return to Pride rock and confront his uncle is the life changing decision. He is leaving his current life to return to his old life.

Act two of my story is the cat suddenly stopping while the human is looking at it. The human tries to get the cats attention while he is staring off at nothing. The human insinuates that the cat is crazy and goes back to ignoring it.

Act Three

Act three contains the inevitable climax where the character has to face their ultimate test and make the choices they need to, to achieve what they actually need at the risk of losing it all. After making that decision the world returns to what it should be again, with the new character mentality and the correct lessons learnt. The story is resolved.

Act three of the lion king

Simba defeats Scar, takes control of the pride, kicks the hyenas out and pride rock returns to the well balanced area that it was when Mufasa ruled. The balance has been restored, and the cycle of life begins again with Simba and Nalas child mirroring the opening.

Act three of my story is the cat returning to its sleeping spot, from where the story started and falling back asleep. Then the ghost pops into view making a funny face, where the cat had been staring previously.

Advice for storytellers

Work backwards, start with the end so you know what you have to work towards. Expose yourself to as many ideas as possible, use books and find new stories. Find a story that you are invested in, finish a story even if u are not sure. Then you can decide whether its worth more time, or tear it to pieces and start again.

Tips for a good short story

Treatment

Story checklist

Act 1 - opening image, first inciting moment, debate(can i do this), point of no return
Act 2 - First challenges, escalation in action, midpoint where everything is going great or awful, bad guys close in, all is lost, rock bottom\
Act 3 - fresh idea, finale/fight to the finish, final image(opposite of opening image, shows change)

Logline - a one sentence summary of the story. use action and descriptive words to create an image in the readers mind.

A treatments purpose is to work out story problems. Must have a clear beginning middle and end. Writing in prose like a story, with no dialog. Elaborate on synopsis details. Put each major scene into its own paragraph.


Treatment example


My current treatment status: finished the first draft

Drawing 19/2

Today was about using a photo reference and drawing what we observe. Yet again my finicky drawing style was making me slower than I would have liked to be. I like the 2nd picture better because I began shading earlier on, instead of trying to finish all the linework first. This is something that I know I need to work on and I really hope i can get to a point where I am happy with my drawings but not spend half the day on them lol.

Screen Arts 19/2

Film and Animation history pre-1900

Persistence of vision "The persistence of vision with regard to moving objects"

Theory stated the retina retains an image briefly after it disappears.

Layering in cave drawings are theorised to be attempting to show movement. A spinning bowl from Iran 5200 years ago shows a run cycle of a deer type creature.

• Thaumatrope in 1825, John Ayrton Paris created a disc with one image on each side, when you spin the disc you get a full image due to the image retention. 
• Phenakisticope and Zoetrope both have slits with a series of images behind that show movement when spun. 
• Praxiniscope(1877) uses mirrors mounted in a spinning cylinder to improve clarity, this later got developed into a projector called Theatre Optique.
• Eadward Muybridge in 1872 created a photographic sequence of a horse galloping to prove the theory of unsupported transit - where the horse was completely off the ground at some point in its run cycle.
• Etienne-Jules Marley in 1882 used his invention, a chronophotographic gun that took 12 photos per second onto a photographic plate.
• Kineoscope conceived in 1888 by Thomas Edison, was a box instead of a projector that produced 46fps.

• Lumiere brothers invented the cinematographe in 1895, credited as the first commercial breakthrough. They combined projection and photographic into a single unit using 35mm film and 16fps.

Thomas Edison deliberately staged the body as the centre of attention - Gave the audience what they sex and violence for entertainment on the kineoscope. He also created the first film advertisment  in 1897 for scotch whiskey.

Louis Aime Augustin Le Prince successfully created a single lens camera in 1887. 1889 he perfected his device using a gear system to create a smooth film movement. In 1890 he boarded a train and disappeared under mysterious circumstances.

Arthur Melbourne-Cooper, 1899 created what is considered to be the first true animation advertising matches and trying to raise funds for the British war fund, using frame by frame, although it is rather stop motion like.

Film first came to NZ due to visiting entertainers who saw the potential in Thomas Edisons medium. The first person to exhibit film in NZ was Henry Whitehouse in 1895. In 1898 he imported a camera and began creating films of NZ but found that NZers were to critical, comparing his films to the imported film standards. Henry filmed the training of the 2nd contingent of NZ troops during the Boer war which helped change public perception of the film industry in NZ.

Film and Animation History 1900-1905

• Segundo De Chomon - director, cameraman, special effects director and an early pioneer of film techniques. 
• Alice Guy was one of the inventors of narrative film. Directed The Cabbage Patch Fairy in 1896 - one of the fist films to have a plot using humour and magic.
• Edwin S Porter directed the life of an american fireman in 1903 - used closeups and interjected staged footage with clips of real footage. The great train robbery made use of various different camera angles, and had actors to the side of frame instead of centre. 
• Winsor Mccay 1911 broke into animated films with Little Nemo.
• Cecil M Hepworth was the forerunner of Rin Tin Tin and Lassie films that star dogs.

Top Ten list from last week genres

1. The Lion King - animated musical/drama
2. Shawshank Redemption - drama
3. Howls Moving Castle - animated drama/romance/action
4. Thor - action/comedy
5. 300 - action
6. The Blacklist - action/drama
7. Pirates of the Caribbean - action/comedy
8. Silence of the Lambs - thriller/mystery
9. Saw - horror
10. Tangled - animated comedy/adventure

Definitely love my drama and comedy movies/tv series. I dont watch random shows/movies as such anymore, I tend to binge watch particular series that I enjoy over and over. Mostly Supernatural, Lucifer and Bones, yet again more drama lol.

Screen Arts 18/2

This week we had to watch one film off the American Film Institute top 100 Films in the last 100 years list. I chose Sixth Sense because despite everything I had seen or read, Ive never actually watched the film itself. The story itself is quite intriguing in that for most of the film, it seems quite normal(other than the kid seeing ghosts part) until you get to the massive plot twist at the end. I honestly didnt know whether I would enjoy the film before I watched it, but I didnt mind it in the end. There was a lot of plot holes involving Bruce Willis' character and his wifes interactions, and no real sense of time. To me, if my significant other was not talking to me I would be doing everything to fix the situation whereas his character almost seemed like it had an "oh well" attitude for a lot of the movie. If I had written it, I would have had them have a huge fight and her leave at the start to offer an alternative as to why she wasnt talking to him. There was definitely a lot of jumping around in time, and nothing really to tie it together other than the characters appearing in each scene. The ending was a bit lackluster as well, or maybe it was just a lil too cheesy for my liking.

Research 18/2

My journey to SIT:

About a year and a half ago, I made a joke about running away to Invercargill to escape my partners mum. The next morning he told me about some jobs that he could apply for, so after my initial surprise I looked at study options. Luckily for us, we were accepted into the first house we applied to rent, and my partner was hired by the first job he applied for. We moved here from Dunedin one week before the start of semester. Last year I completed the lvl 3 NZCDMD and the lvl 4 NZCC, which made me realise I enjoy animation so here I am now working on a BSA in animation and game design.
 I love working on pencil drawings of animals and nature, although I am rather picky with my pieces and can end up spending far too much time working on them. I also enjoy oil paintings for the same reason, I have lots of time to fiddle and change things lol.
I dont really have any direct artist influences at this stage, I sort of just create things the way I see them although I am trying to find some that will match the art style i want to have. Simon Tofield from Simon's cat has a definite cartoon style that I think would be fairly easy to create animations with, but I do struggle with simplifying my characters!

I hate eating anything with a slimy texture so pineapple, tomatoes, tinned fruit etc. I am a fussy eater but Ive managed to survive this long so i cant be THAT bad really...

Simons Cat images, Sourced from: https://is4-ssl.mzstatic.com/image/thumb/Purple118/v4/40/dd/95/40dd95d2-9915-95f4-706d-c0a1fb77ca4c/pr_source.png/300x0w.png

Principles 14/2

Character Design

How would my favourite character react to being trapped in an elevator?

Dean Winchester would begin by exclaiming Sonofabitch! when he realises he is trapped. This would progress into pushing random buttons in the hopes that one of them would fix the problem/call the helpline. After some time, he would start bashing the door in frustration, and yelling insults/curses at the top of his lungs. When this fails, he would pull out a gun and proceed to shoot the doors. Eventually, despair would set in and he will slump to the ground in defeat maybe commenting about how hungry he is. When the elevator is finally fixed, he will run out and immediately go to a bar to drink a shot of whiskey.

How would my own character react to the same situation?
She would sigh, and sit down to wait. Work on some muscle training.


Character development, how a character is internally is almost more important than the external features. Use real life examples for emotions, behaviors and reactions. The more you know about your character, the more real it will feel.

3 favourite films main characters
1- Simba
2- Dean Winchester
3- Rapunzel

external features
1- spiky fur, almost a mohawk. confident expression, lion cub
2- Adult male, jackets and jeans, boots. rugged styling, "male model"
3- Young female, ridiculously long blonde hair, pink dress with no shoes, big innocent blue eyes

internal features
1-showoff, overly confident, curious. Would panic in an elevator
2-cocky, ladies man, afraid of losing his only family, loyal to death, would react as posted above
3- naive, innocent, optimistic view of the world. Would try and find a solution to being trapped after a brief moment of panic.

3 internal and external features of someone i know
external
-broad, tattoos, big beard
internal
-big softie, loving, easy going

3 internal and external features of my character
external
- big black wings, blue to black ombre hair, silver irises
internal
-stubborn, dedicated, serious.


Wants vs Needs

Conflict between the two creates a more well rounded character.

Simba
want-independence
need-a father figure

Dean
want-his family back together
need-his brother alive and well hunting with him

Rapunzel
want-freedom to explore the world
need-to stand up for herself

my own wants and needs
want-to get a good paying job that i enjoy
need-to spend more time studying/drawing

my character
What does she want most-success as a warrior
who does she want to become-the ultimate lieutenant
What might she need to do to succeed-sacrifice social life, and normal rhythms


Character Obstacles

One obstacle the main character faces
1- returning home to pride rock
2- fear of losing his brother
3- finding her way to see the lights up close

obstacle I have faced
-not being able to pay bills stopping me from getting a better education

my characters obstacles
-fitting into an elevator of a building with no roof access
-being noticed in a large group of warriors
-falling in love
-physical limitations due to gender and age


Character arc is the reaction and changes a character makes to overcome obstacles

Main characters arcs

1-freedom to do what he wants, freedom isnt everything its cracked up to be
2-him and his brother to save to world, and defeat the supernatural bad guys, he needs a family environment with everyone together
3-she wants to go and see the lights up close and explore the world. she needs to be loved instead of used.

how have i changed as a result of overcoming an obstacle
due to my old job forcing me to interact with people, I now feel a lot more comfortable engaging in conversations with people i dont know.

how might my character change due to overcoming the previous obstacles
-become more open, more emotional, more human. become more proud of herself for getting closer to her goals, increasing confidence.

Stakes - internal, external, philosophical/

external - whats going on in the world
internal - mental/emotional consequences of a choice
philosophical - "what if" stakes, good vs evil, value of a choice.

What was an important choice they had to make
1- to stay with timon and pumbaa, or return to pride rock
2- to say yes to archangel michael, or to find another way to defeat lucifer
3-to leave with Flynn, or to stay in her old life

First time drawing a head out of my own imagination, I am definitely getting a wooden mannequin to help with human body proportions. I have very little experience with drawing humans so i will need to practice.

Storyboard 13/2

Storytelling, steps from Pixar to help create a good story concept.

After talking with Ruby, I think I will use my angel character for Principles of Animation, and Game design next semester. For storyboard and comic book/drawing I will use the new kitty character that i am creating. That way I can keep working with the story that popped into my head today, and still work on a humanoid character to fufill the principles requirements.

Screen Arts 12/2

Top Ten Movie List

• The Lion King, 1994, Roger Allers, Rob Minkoff.

https://quotesaga-img.s3.amazonaws.com/movie/QS_the-lion-king.jpg

• Shawshank Redemption, 1994, Frank Darabont.

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSEXx9vhiQ48FdHP_t4bmi__mP8hD864_-DC_LuFjct5TnXh29sMA

• Howl's Moving Castle, 2004, Hayao Miyazaki.

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSeNhaFSyLv9O22XX9pWdVeh_pJk914lRqsX8PPr6nQRGEGdDeqKg

• Thor, 2011, Kenneth Branagh.

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRW6Pj96ZRGu0wqerjVsLMEqUlcuZFYeO9GCG0vu69GhmpFe3OI

• 300, 2006, Zack Snyder.

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcStQKnl1LtHcaqpaoA1WFdEIY4zdqtdjIyY8LUpavrh2mrDUddO

• The Blacklist, 2013-, Joe Carnahan.

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQCYnyF8VyxmF24uSkHpJ9_fkTiHW5xqMXlgVt2Egda5-NHGQTKSQ

• Pirates of the Caribbean, 2003, Gore Verbinski.

https://cdn1.thr.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/scale_crop_768_433/2017/04/screen_shot_2017-04-05_at_1.18.07_pm.png

• Silence of the Lambs, 1991, Jonathan Demme.

http://www.brattlefilm.org/brattle/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/silence-of-the-lambs-61-e1464019627341-1024x531.jpg

• Saw, 2004, James Wan.

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/nCqAXtploOg/maxresdefault.jpg

• Tangled, 2010, Nathan Greno, Byron Howard.

https://lumiere-a.akamaihd.net/v1/images/image_0de8a6a8.jpeg?width=1200&region=0%2C0%2C2000%2C2000&quality=8