Midterm Project -Storyboard Update

Screenshot from assets put together:

Mid-Term Project Preperation

A. Theme and Story:

- Theme: Instincts.
1. The inherent toward a particular behavior. The fixed action patterns are u

nlearned and inherit

ed.
2. Natural: unthinking; prompted by (or as if by) instinct.

- Motif: Animalism
1.The doctrine that human beings are purely animal in nature and lacking a spiritual nature.
2. The activity, appetites, nature, etc. of animals.

-Story:

A young boy with a hankering for a treat turns to a box of animal crackers to quench his hunger. The boy enjoys his first few animal crackers and submitting to his natural animalistic instincts, tearing them limb from limb in enjoyment, but quickly finds the crackers are out for revenge tra

nsforming into their true animal forms.

B. Character(s) Break Down:

-Young Boy:

-Boy is between 7-9 years old.

-He is hungry and wants a snack.

-Boy character is still young in mind, but old enough to have animalistic instincts.

-Partakes in habitual eating. Eating of the animal crackers.

-Typically still thinks in terms of "i" and "give me."

-Selfish tendencies.

-Only sees biting the limbs of an animal cracker as 'fun.'

-Through his thoughtless actions; he learns his place and the animals

place in life.

-Animal Crackers: Cracker Form:

-Innocent. Happy and content in nature.

-Unsure of what to expect.

-Animal Crackers: Animal Forms:

-Vengeful/angry.

-Barbaric/Animalistic in nature.

C. Visual Diagram of Project:

D. Storyboard:

Mid-Term Concept

Continuing with my concept for the semester, my mid-term animation will center around the idea of turning food products that we would ordinarily find comfort in, into objects that would in turn make us uncomfortable.

Exhibit A:

A box of animal crackers.

Animal crackers are the fun foods we all loved as kids.

Idea:

The project would start with animal crackers marching across the scene. A horizontal pan allows you to see the animal crackers marching into an animal cracker box laying on its side. A hand reaches into the scene and picks up the box of animal crackers. (Scene cuts to upper half of human body with animal crackers box in hand.) The person eats the first couple animal crackers with enjoyment and content. As he eats the animal crackers the animal crackers turn into the real animals and when consumed (a.k.a. eaten limb for limb as we usually do with animal crackers) they bleed. A content face then quickly turns to a sour and disgusted/uncomfortable face. He looks down at his stomach where there is a close up of the dismembered limbs and it appears as a bloody/stomach acid soup floating around.

[There may even be a scene where the other animal crackers left in the box see what happens and attack the person. Still thinking about this idea conceptually. ]

The animal crackers act as the comfortable fun food we ordinarily think nothing of, but to further define the possibilities of how food can represent ideas of comfort and uncomfortable, the act of enjoying the crackers turns into a negative experience.

The overall aesthetics will possibly be a 50s documentary style alluding back to a consumerists society or a flattened vector approach that is very colorful and becomesdim (alluding again to the enjoyment turned sour.)

Aesthetics:

This is kinda the idea/aesthetic im going for with the animal crackers marching. Completely oblivious of their own fates.

These contoured figures are an idea for the person/body so it will be see through to see the stomach/insides of the person eating the crackers.

Here's a more flat aesthetic option:

Project 5 - Masking Project Write Up

In project 5, exploring masking has been rather challenging in the beginning. The concept of masking itself is easy to understand, but when it comes to the technical aspects of it, it can be frustrating just starting out. Overall, after working with this project I definitely have a better understanding of the range of possibilities masking can accomplish.

Conceptually, this project started out based off of the saying, "the elephant in the room" regarding space and comfort in a direct relationship. What could be better, right? Well, the aesthetics just weren't matching up and the actual possibilites for masking in that scenario were very limited for what I had planned, so I compromised concept to show a more technical skill over masking.

Masking is found in the curtains in the windows with smart interpolation. The fly is a mask over a white solid and follows a masking path. The dashed line features a mask over it to allow it to appear as the fly is flying around. And finally, the fridge has a mask over its inside to show a sort of opacity to add a small glow.

Project 5 Masking Version 2

Dynamic Imaging Project 5 Version 2 from Christi Lemke on Vimeo.

Research Package and Proposal

--EDIT--

New Proposal:

Over the course of the semester, I will closely examine how food/food (products) can define the possibilities of comfort and uncomfortable. For example, using the words listed from the 40 similiar words excercise and metaphors will help further define this concept. A synonym for 'comfort' is 'snug.' The metaphor chosen for 'snug' was a food item 'pigs in a blanket.' Another example is 'warmth.' A hen keeps her eggs warm, which we consume to be "full" a comfortable feeling.

This topic have interested me from the beginning. It began as a discovery of what defines comfort and the uncomfortable and has evolved into how food defines comfort. I personally find most of my comfort in food and it brings me much pleasure. Exploring all the different possibilites gives me a chance to understand an addiction to food and how that can be interpretated. Maybe it will also give me new foods to sample as part of research

Proposal:

Internet Sources:

-Here is a source about 'Thermal Comfort' and its effects on humans.

-Here is an internet source from Kate Nasser a peoples skills coach on people and comfort.

-Here is a PDF source exploring physical space and its social reactions.

-Here is a diagram of personal space interpreted through measurements.

-Here is an article about 'kerning' aka the space between text.

Books:

1.

Design Secrets: Packaging - 50 Real Life Projects Uncovered

2.

Psychology 7th Edition - Plotnik

3.

Bodies, Sensations, Space and Time: The Contribution from Henri Lefebvre

Kirsten Simonsen

Geografiska Annaler. Series B, Human Geography
Vol. 87, No. 1 (2005), pp. 1-14

Published by: Blackwell Publishing on behalf of the Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography

-Also found online here.

4.

Design Issues -The Idea of Comfort by Thomas Maldonado

Vol. 8, No. 1 (Autumn, 1991), pp. 35-43

Published by: The MIT Press

-Also found online here.

5.

Economic Geography -"GM Suicide: Flexibility, Space, and the Injured Body" by Deborah Leslie and David Butz

vol. 74, No. 4 (Oct., 1998), pp. 360-378

Published by: Clark University

6.

Journal of Architectural Education (1984-) "Architecture is Space: The Space-Positive Tradition"
Vol. 39, No. 3 (Spring, 1986), pp. 17-23

Published by: Blackwell Publishing on behalf of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture, Inc.

Start of Research Package

B. Steps 1-4.

1. Make a list of 40 similiar words or ideas.

1. comfort

2. cheer

3. contentment

4. enjoyment

5. pleasure

6. relaxation

7. warmth

8. relief

9. calm

10. satisfaction

11. peacefulness

12. snug

13. bountiful (bounty)

14. accomodate

15. cozy

16. complacency

17. soothe

18. freedom

19. stuffing

20. console

21. solace

22. fitting

23. smiles

24. laughter

25. heartbeat

26. ease

27. puffy

28. soft

29. fuzzy

30. relief

31. glow

32. light

33. fulfillment

34. affection

35. tender (tenderness)

36. intimate (intimacy)

37. surprise

38. tranquil (tranquility)

39. cuddle

40. security

2. Make a list of 40 opposite ideas or words.

1. uncomfortable

2. restrained

3. desolate

4. quiet

5. empty

6. cold

7. frigid

8. flat

9. hard

10. dead

11. annoyance

12. distress

13. torture

14. hurt

15. humiliation

16. rotten

17. crush

18. eerie

19. sunburn

20. itchy

21. press

22. nag

23. murder

24. sex?

25. knotted

26. suffocate

27. ache

28. sickly

29. dry

30. nausea

31. frowning

32. crying

33. sticky

34. disappointment

35. nervous

36. dark

37. nervous

38. alone

39. isolated (isolation)

40. chaotic (chaos)

3. Thumbnail sketch or photograph 20 similar words or ideas:

4. Thumbnail sketch or photograph 20 opposing words or ideas:

Assignment Write Up:

This assignment has really intrigued me and my brain has been working as hard as it can to pump out different and individualistic metaphors. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be to create metaphors based off of words that can be very abstract or already have trite connotations to them. I still find myself (with the majority of the words/ideas i picked) to relate somehow back to food (which stems from comfort.) Overall, the ideas are very fun and almost comedic in effect. Id like to run with this idea for a while and see where it takes me. Some great work can really stem out of great foods.

Assignment Write Up Project 4 V.2

Dynamic Imaging Project 4 Version 3 from Christi Lemke on Vimeo.

Assignment Write Up Project 4 Version 2

This is the revision from the first idea for animating our characters. I struggled a lot still with minor things such as color choices and the right use of textures without making it overkill. As you can see, the grandma is entirely in a new space. After rethinking the conceptual aspect of the project, it just didnt make any sense. So i've redesigned a new space that is entirely different and relates much better to my projects concept. Visually, i think its much more cohesive and appealing as well. There still needs to be way more animating done, but i just ran out of time. Which seems to be the worst problem of all, just time management. I'm still having null problems and hopefully can get that straightened out soon.

Project 4

Dynamic Imaging Project 4 from Christi Lemke on Vimeo.

Assignment Write Up Project 3

This project was quite a challenge. Starting with the original character, I scrapped it and began a completely new character. That took a lot of time and thought to relate to my topic. I've had difficulty just focusing and narrowing ideas down. As far as After Effects is concerned, i've also had some trouble with nulls. I'm almost positive the problem is in the settings somewhere, but its made things quite a challenge seeing as how I have no red box to make an editing. Overall, ive really enjoyed the process of animating in after effects because it makes it really easy compared to other types of animating.

First Assignment Video

Dynamic Imaging Project 1 from Christi Lemke on Vimeo.

Assignment Write Up [Project 2]

Conceptually, I started to explore the idea of 'space and comfort' and how those ideas connect to each other from different points of view. Our first project is from a childs point of view (given our assignments to play.) The concept changed drastically from the beginning sketches, but ended up much more solid and creative than originally planned. Ideas to start with seemed more aesthetically based instead of conceptually. Seeking feedback from classmates was a major help. Throughout the short, comfort is found tied to the space it confines as well as the foods and items that create comfort as well. There was much more to the actual project; however, my time management didnt allow it.

Most of my frustrations came from the technical aspect of using the program for the first time. I learned some valuable lessons that would've made my life so much easier had I payed close attention to what I was doing. Aka, comps shouldn't go inside other comps! I couldnt render out correctly. I also had trouble with files going missing, but that was easily correctable. It was difficult to try and keep things simple because you see a certain vision in your mind and instinctly try to find ways around the project restraints. Overall, After Effects is a program I have enjoyed getting to know over the last couple days. It has made animating much faster than I had anticipated.

-C.

Project 1 - Development of Concept

A.

Overall concept for project 1: How the inner workings of a childs mind cooperates with comfortability.

Project Outline:

-Throughout the animation, we will be panning and zooming down (vertically) across a series of events taking place within the body.

-Starts: at the top of the digestive tract. we are following a crayon.

-As it passes through the tract it passes the lungs (resemblant of watermelon slices) you can see the lungs breathing and the seeds inside the lungs begin to grow and move into the tract with the crayon.

-Next is the stomach. The stomach acid are waves that knock around a paper boat. Fireflies and clouds are floating around in the background of the stomach.

-We pass into the intestines where everything is cramped and sickly natured. Lotts of objects are popping up and passing through. Drawings on intestine walls.

-Meanwhile the rest of the time, there are gearsin the background turning.

-When the intestines end, some of the objects pop out onto a pillow and sleep.

B.

Materials/Assests.

Here is a sketch-up of how it will look.

The finished product will look much different. There will be a ton more layers of items all over the place and in the background. And colors will be very different, but its just to give you a quick idea of placement of the items.

These are some images to give you an idea of materials: