New Short Poster

<-- Left: My first original poster that I was going to print but after talking with my tutor I decided to change it.
Right: New and now printed poster. Better composition and a sense of space I think. Also gives a bit of a sense of mystery. -->

My proud printed poster on the wall. Terrible quality phone photo though, eww! 

Week 4 Movie Review. 'Grave of the Fireflies'

Grave of the Fireflies 1988

Director: Isao Takahata

Plot:  Set in the city of Kobe, Japan, the film tells the story of two siblings, Seita and Setsuko, and their desperate struggle to survive during the final months of the Second World War.

My chosen scene: The scene I have chosen is where Seita imagines his father on his battle ship and Seita proudly imagines him fighting for them. Once his daydream fades he looks at the sleeping Setsuko and cuddles in beside her and clings to her tightly only to be shoved away by the cranky sleeping little one. The next morning we find a crying Setsuko making a grave for all the dead fireflies and asks why do the die so quickly. Seita fights back his tears as flashbacks of his dead mothers body is thrown into a mass grave. He fights his tears and reassures Setsuko that they will visit their mothers grave someday and pretends shes buried in a lovely graveyard somewhere.
I found this scene quite heart wrenching and it's clear to see that these two children are really beginning to struggle to survive with so little in a time where only death and destruction surrounds them yet they both try to make the most of what they have and try to stay smiling.


Characters
Seita: A young boy who is the main character of this movie. Now that his mother is deceased and they don't know where their father is, it's left to him to look after his very young sister. He has a very positive personality and stays strong for the sake of his sister. He really puts his sister first and gives her treats to cheer her up. Seita in the scene I have chosen obviously is beginning to have worries about their future welfare and wonders where their father is. It's obviously tough on poor Seita, being young himself who suddenly has to take on an adult role of looking after his family.He is forced to trades everything they have for food and necessities to keep them going. He mourns his mother and the thought of her body being thrown ito a mass grave haunts him but he hides his tears for the sake of his sister. In this scene Seita is wearing very shabby white vest and dirty torn brown trousers and wears traditional Japanese wooden sandles.
Setsuko: Seita's toddler sister. A bubbley, playful and sweet little girl who has a taste for fruit drops. Being as young as she is she counts on her older brother to look after her and trusts him completely. I believe she doesn't fully understand whats going on but she is obviously taught what to do in the case of an air raid. She whines and cries a lot which is understandable for a little girl her age who gets tired of walking or sulks. It is also clear that she was very close with her mother and her mother's death always weighs on her mind. She connects the burial of the fireflies with the burial of her mother. Setsuko never saw her mother during the time she was injured and then buried. I imagine because it would be too traumatic for her but she seems to struggle to come to terms with her mothers death. However Setsuko manages surprisingly well through her ordeal but in this scene you can see her strength is wearing thin. Setsuko is wearing a shabby white/ grey tshirt and blue patterned pants along with wooden sandles. Japanese casual female toddler clothes.

Settings
The scene I have chosen starts at 54:58 and ends at 57:45. It is set in the an old abandoned bomb shelter where Seita and Setsuko decide to move after basically being told to move out by there deceased mothers friend because she considers them a nuisance. Seita dreams of his father in the army and wonders where he is. This particular part of the scene is set at night before they go to sleep. In the morning outside their new home Setsuko is making a grave for the dead fireflies. Their new little home is situated o the bank of a small river/ lake.

Mise en Scene
There are not any significant imagery visible in my chosen scene that I can see. The handful of dead fireflies could signify losing one's light, meaning death. Fireflies come up several times in the film as Setsuko was particularly fascinated by them. Light of hope perhaps? 

Camera Work

• Low angle shot as Seita pretends to fight off enemies. Camera follows him as he sits up and aims his imaginary gun.
• View of Seita's back.
• View of Seita's side profile as he wonders where his father is.
• High angle over the shoulder shot as he looks at Setsuko.
• View of Seita's side profile.
• View of Seita and Setsuko lying in bed at an angle above their head.
• Camera follows Seita as he cuddles Setsuko.
• View of Seita's side of the bed.
• View of Seita and Setsuko's feet and bum.
• View of dimming fireflly and fade to black.
• Established shot of the lake.
• Establishing shot of Seita and Setsuko outside their little home on the pathway.
• Front view of Seita as he asks Setsuko whats she doing on the ground.
• Zoom in focus on Seita's face.
• Focus zoom on Setsuko hands full of dead fireflies. Camera follows hands as she takes a handful and moves them to the hole.
• Flashback. Low angle as mothers body is thrown into a mass grave.
• High angle close up of Setsuko burying fireflies.
• Zoom in focus on Seita's crying face.
• Zoom focus side profile of Seita's face as he fights his tears.
• High angle from the top of the hill/ bank of the two.
• Zoom focus side profile of Seita's face.
• Back view/ slightly over the shoulder shot as Seita kneels down to Setsuko.
• Slow pan upwards as Seita looks t the lake.
• Zoom on Setsuko "Why do fireflies have to die so soon?"
• End of scene: View from back inside the little house looking out the doorway at Seita and Setsuko.

Sounds and Music
The scene mainly contains dialogue and sound effects. It begins with Seita singing a military type national anthem as he pretends to be in the army and makes gun shot sounds. He hums the song as he lies down to settle down to sleep. There is complete silence except for the croaking of frogs in the background and the rustling of the two moving around in bed/ futon. There is a very short song of a flute as the two settle down to sleep for the night. In the morning they're are the sounds of birds around the lake. There is then the clanging sound of the metal bucket as Seita moves it around with the ongoing bird songs and the sound of his footsteps. As Seita converses with Setsuko you can hear the rustling sounds of dead fireflies in her hands as she buries them. Sniffling sounds as Seita holds back his tears. A calming piano melody plays in the background as Seita composes himself and knees down to reassure the upset Setsuko. The last bit of dialogue is where Setsuko asks why fireflies die so soon and the two then pause in silence while the piano melody continues to play to the end of the scene.

Comic Review. 'Nemesis'

Nemesis 2009

Written: Mark Millar.

Art Work: Steve McNiven.

Published:  Icon Comics imprint of Marvel Comics.

The Page I have chosen that I believe is a good synopsis of the story:

In the scene I have chosen it gives a synopsis for most of the story and the reasons as to why Nemesis does what he does. We find out in this scene of Nemesis supposed past. His parents ran a hunting club for 15years where they hunt down runaway children like animals with their rich friends. Blake Morrow was the one to figure this out and arrest everyone. His father hung himself before Morrow got to his room. The scandal tore young Anderson's family apart and he was adopted by his saintly Uncle. Bored by the constant choir practices and manners. Matthew ran away and traveled around learning from criminals. At 12 he was a gang lord, 15 he was Asia's greatest drug exporter and at 23 he headed a Zoroastrian death cult and he finally able to fulfill his mother's wishes who said to him while seated in the electric chair to destroy the clever policeman, the one who stopped the champagne. This is where Nemesis was born.

Characters

Nemesis: Called a Super Villain. He targets a particular policeman in a particular city and makes it his mission to kill that policeman by a certain time and date along with causing as much of death tole and destruction as possible. He has done this in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and North Korea and now he's focused on America. According to a policeman's description he likes to target those who he considers to be vain. Which is odd as he is extremely vain himself. But he targets Morrow for a personal reason and out of revenge for a "stolen childhood". The black sheep of the Anderson family he calls himself, Matthew Anderson. 

He targets the Pentagon and kills everyone inside except for Morrow and his partner. He has kidnapped the President, allows himself to arrested and releases the prison inmates. He kidnaps hus children and holds the for ransom in exchange for humiliating Morrow with his dark family secrets and he artificially inseminates Morrow's daughter with his homosexual son. We later discover all this was just a ruse. Nemesis just played the part of a vengeful son and he isn't Matthew Anderson. In fact he is just "rich and bored" and enjoys harming people. He is extremely well calculated and prepared which is what makes him such a dangerous villian/ foe. Preparation is the key to success in this case to the point where he can terrorise several countries.

He's dressed entirely in white. He's wearing a tight body suite, cape and a mask that covers his whole head except for his nostrals to his chin. He basically looks like a white Batman. You can tell he is extremely wealthy by looking at the expensive technology and gadgets he has around his home. His suite's mask is booby trapped with tiny explosives around his head if anyone decides to remove it. His suite is removed and put on by robotic arms which remind me on Ironman.

Chief Blake Marrow: Nemesis' new target who he has always admired as a "worthy opponent". Marrow received a death threat from Nemesis on a neat business card like piece of card reading "Blake Morrow, March 12th at Midnight, Flatline still counts." Marrow is considered to be one of the greatest policemen and has lowered Washingtons crime rate by 60%.  Apparently he is Nemesis' ideal target who he would love to humiliate as he is a family man and a Catholic. However we later discover he has what he considers to be dark  family secrets that he was forced to admit to. His wife had an affair, his son is a homosexual and his daughter had an abortion. Being a strong Catholic and a famous man of the law his family didn't tell him with the fear of being rejected by him. He put his work before his family which was the main reason his wife had an affair. So his family wasn't as perfect as it seemed. Blake is determined to get his revenge on Nemesis for hurting his family. He seems to learn to appreciate his family much more when Nemesis forces him to face those dark secrets and by placing them in danger. Nemesis at one point almost seems to act as a family counselor to Blake. After defeating Nemesis Blake refuses his promotion and takes a much needed family vacation with his wife, son, daughter and her triplet daughters, which suggests he is finally putting his family first and seems much happier. Blake is always dressed in a suite and looks professional for his career. He has a very calm personality when faced with criminals and just blasts their heads off. He loses that calm exterior when the tables are turned and he can no longer control the situation though. He is also very calculated and a good leader when it comes to planning out strategies.

Settings

In the scene I have chosen it has four panels set in different locations. Firstly it is set at the Anderson home at the front door as the residents are led away down the stairs by the police. Young Matthew and his Uncle helplessly watching.The sky is dark which suggests its night time.

It is then set some where in Asia when Matthew is about 12years old or older, wandering the dark derelict back streets of a city. The sky is dark suggesting its at night again.

It is then set in prison where we see his mother sitting in the electric chair about to be executed for her crimes while she says her final and not very heart warming words to her son. The clock behind her says that it is half 10.

The scene then returns to Nemesis back at home, only his grinning mouth visible stating this is where the idea of Nemesis originated.

Mise en Scene

In the third panel there are particularly strong imagery. There are obvious hints all through this small rectangle telling the viewer what is about to happen. The danger high voltage sign in the back on the left. Big metal chair where the mother sits. Metal helmet on her head with lots of wires attached. The large switch in the back on the right where the chair will be switched on and the clock beside it counting down the time minutes she has left. Overall this panel has quite dark and sinister imagery.

Camera Work/ Perspective

• View of people being led away by police. Going from left to right. Police cars visible in lower right corner. Sad Matthew and his Uncle visible on the left, close to the camera.
• One Point Perspective looking down the dark street. Matthew in the centre. Most dominant feature in the image.
• Point of View shot looking at the mother in the chair from the front. She is right in the centre suggesting importance.
• Zoom in on Nemesis' evil grin. Emphasising the evil sinister tone.

Animation Short, Treatment File

Poster

Concept / Narrative
It starts off with a view of a dark urban city. At ground level of the busy streets people are going about their usual business. However these aren't normal looking human beings, these are round headed and big eyed creatures of all shapes and sizes. Through all the hustle and bustle of the street the camera focus' on a certain part of the street and notice a dark figure sitting in a dark alleyway, unnoticed by passers by. Next we move to his point of view watching the people walk by. We then look at this character sad and alone in this dark place. This sad character is called Shadey. We watch Shadey sitting by himself as if all hope is lost for him. He tries reaching out to others but his creepy dark gloomy appearance scares them away. Giving up Shadey sits there, then suddenly the area around him begins to glow a soft blue colour. Shadey notices and looks up. Slightly above we see a small floating blue orb character glowing and filling the area with light. Shadey goes to poke/ touch it because he's never seen anything like it. The orb pulls back and flies off. Shadey fascinated and happy that he was acknowledged gets up quickly to chase after it. A small child like character notices the light orb and pulls on it's parents arm, but the parent takes no notice and pulls the child away. So others have seen this orb character.
 We then follow Shadey as he dodges people and traffic after the orb. He sees the orb hovering around near ground level. We see the orb floating around happily.and then it's suddenly scooped up in someones hands. However it's not Shadey but two mean looking thug like characters bullying the orb. Shadey catches up to them and confronts them trying to free the orb. Out of anger and annoyance one of the thugs throws the orb to the ground and smashes it. Devastated Shadey kneels by the broken orb who has lost all its light. Angry Shadey attacks the thugs. The fight fades into the background and we focus back on the broken orb.  
Suddenly a faint glow comes from the glass. A blue smoke like figure rises out of the glass. A sudden burst of blinding light fills the screen. Shadey covers his eyes and the thugs are obliterated. A panning shot from Shadey's feet to his head reveals he has transformed into a new, lighter, happier self. We then see Shadey's face surprised and then happy staring forward. We then look back at his hand which are now holding someone else's hand. A female figure fully formed from the blue smoke is now before him.

Technique & Approach

I plan on making this animation using various softwares: photoshop for the background images, Flash for the character movements and possibly After Effects for added effects such as smokey effects and light glows and polishing up the animation and finally Audition for putting the sound together at the end. I will draw my backgrounds to the size required of each scene/ setting on Photoshop, I want to hand draw every element digitally. I want to put emphasis on light glows and reflections and character expression in this dull city, through contrasting tones of light and dark but balancing both so it's aesthetically pleasing.

Aesthetic / Mood Board

Simply drawn backgrounds, sketchy, limited dark/ dull colour palette.

Dull tones/ colours. Gloomy sense.

My own drawing. Emphasis on light in a dark space. Character style.

Possible added effects, glows/ shines.

My example of a hand drawn gif. Drawing frame by frame for the characters movement.

My quick drawing. Similar quality of sketchy lines for backgrounds. Simple lines and colours or tones. Enough detail but not too much. Water colour type colours?

I would like to capture similar light glows and expression.

I like the sketchy line quality and would like to do something similar.

Similar background quality I'd like to achieve. Good sense of depth, lights and hand drawn qualities.

Really nice light glows and dark tones.

Nice hand drawn line quality.

Audio

For my animation I plan on making it a silent movie type animation, so no dialogue! The expressions of the characters and the moods they portray will hopefully be enough to tell the story. However, there will be a mixture of sound effects and music to set the scene. I'm not sure not the music just yet. I want perhaps quiet gloomy type music at the beginning and louder quickened pace music towards the middle where Shadey chases the orb with hope, gloomy sad song again when the orb breaks for a sense of tragedy and upbeat happy music again at the end. The music gets happy and sad though out the animation at appropriate moments. It'll hopefully give the tone I want.

Sequence of Events / Shot List

• Opening scene - High angle establishing shot of the dark city.
• Slow zoom into the city.
• Fade to new scene of a section of the busy street at ground level.
• Fade to a particular part of the street, viewing a alleyway on the main street, people walking past going about their business.
• Point of view shot + low angle shot from the inside of the alleyway watching people walk by.
• Point of view + low angle shot, panning upwards to reveal main character, (Shadey), sad looking sitting on the ground from his side profile.
• View from behind Shadey as he crawls over reaching out to one of the passers by.
• High angle point of view shot of Shadey looking all depressed reaching upwards to someone.
• Low angle point of view shot of the passer by all freaked out and walks away.
• Point of view low angle looking at Shadey back sitting on the ground all depressed. Notices blue glow and looks up.
• Over the shoulder shot - view of the light orb.
• high angle view from the left hand side Shadey trying to poke the orb.
• High angle point of view shot of Shadey's hand and the light orb pulling away.
• Zoom outwards slightly revealing more of the scene and light orb flies off.
• Focus on Shadey from the front for a moment, then he gets up and runs to the left, camera follows him when he stands up.
• Low angle shot of Shadey from behind as he pauses for a second before turning the corner and ready to leave the alleyway.
• Zoom in on child character staring at the camera.
• Point of view low angle shot looking across the street to see the light orb float away and Shadey in pursuit.
• Back to zoom in on child pointing forwards and tugging on his parents arm before being tugged away himself.
• One point perspective shot of Shadey running through the street, camera follow the moves he makes.
• zoom on Shadeys face as he notices something ahead.
• Establishing shot of orb in the distance.
• Zoom in on orb, front view floating along and then suddenly captured.
• Zoom out establishing shot of thugs bullying the orb.
• Zoom out left hand side, over the shoulder shot, Shadey catches up and notices the thugs.
• Front view of thugs, Shadey appears from the right of the screen confronting them.
• Zoom in on annoyed thug who throws the orb to the ground.
• Zoom in high angle on broken orb.
• Focus zoom in on devastated Shadey.
• Low angle Shadey kneels by broken orb.
• Zoom in on angry Shadey, jumps to the right off screen.
• Zoom out low angle establishing shot. focus on Shadey and thugs fighting.
• Fight goes out of focus and zoom back into the broken orb which starts to glow.
• Pan upwards from the orb as the smokey figure rises from it.
• Low angle shot focus on figure for a second and then a burst of light.
• Shot of Shadey covering his eyes.
• Shot of thugs obliterated by the light.
• Panning shot from Shadey's feet to head, transformed into a better self.
• Focus on Shadeys head and shoulders as he looks forward surprised.
• Focus on Shadey's hand lightly holding another hand.
• Low angle shot focus on female figure going from smokey to fully formed.
• Closing scene: Zoom in on Shadey's hand again lightly holding the now fully formed girls hand and they both gently tighten their grip.

The End.

Week 3 Movie Review 'Iron Giant 1999'

The Iron Giant 1999

Director: Brad Bird

Basic Plot: 
This is the story of a nine-year-old boy named Hogarth Hughes who makes friends with an innocent alien giant robot that came from outer space. Meanwhile, a paranoid U.S. Government agent named Kent Mansley arrives in town, determined to destroy the giant at all costs. It's up to Hogarth to protect him by keeping him at Dean McCoppin's place in the junkyard. 

I remember seeing this movie a loooooong time ago and I have always enjoyed it. I even cried at the end! I can't see anything I'd change. It was in general a enjoyable light hearted story of a young boy trying to protect his new and misunderstood friend. I like the animation style. I believe it's done in a traditional method. It is drawn with clean lines and blocks of pastel/ slightly faded colours. The scene i have chosen begins at 42:36 and ends at 44:03.
This scene appealed to me the most because you can get a sense of Hogarth ad Dean's frustration trying to hide the Giant. Hogarth trying his best to avoid the annoying detective and Dean babysitting basically a giant metal child who keeps touching things they shouldn't. Mostly chose this scene because I found it funny how Dean was trying to explain that the junk was his art. As a student studying art myself I can relate to this and often see strange objects made of any material and is called art, whereas to others it might not seem so.

Link to where I watched the movie: http://freedisneycartoon.blogspot.ie/2013/07/watch-iron-giant-1999-online-for-free.html

Characters

In the scene I have chosen it contains nearly all the main characters. 

 Hogarth Hughes is the main character in this movie. A 9 year old boy who's obsessed/ determined to have a pet. He brings home wild animals that wouldn't usually be considered as a normal household pet, like raccoon and squirrels. He happens across the iron giant when his tv stopped working and his curiosity lead him to the power plant where he saved the Iron Giant who was tangled up and electrocuted by the wires. Their friendship blossoms from there. Hogarth has brown hair, blue eyes and crooked eye, which I like because in most animation you'll find flawless characters, I think his boys teeth give him character. He wears a yellow shirts, jeans and converse shoes in this scene.

 The Iron Giant appears at the beginning of my chosen scene peering in Dean's front door. The Giant came from space and landed on earth. We first meet the Giant tangled in electric wires and then saved by Hogarth. The Giant has a childlike personality and learns the way of the world from Hogarth. A child learning from a child explains the childlike behaviour. The Giant has a bump on his head making him forget his purpose / past.  We find out that the Giant eats only metal. If he is in an accident and falls apart, he has a way of fixing himself. An antenna pops out of his head releasing a signal which calls all his body parts and they take on a life of their own and crawl back to the head and rebuild the body till he is whole again. We later discover that the Giant is just one big weapon (or a combination of weapons, I counted about 7), but only acts defensively when fired upon. We don't discover the Giants original purpose for coming to earth or his past. We just accept him right away into the story and enjoy his awkward stumbling through the forests and towns trying to hide and be discrete.

 Dean McCoppin is the owner of a junk yard where Hogarth takes the Iron Giant to hide and feast on the abundance of metal. Dean is an artist who makes sculptures out of scrap metals. He has a laid back and almost lazy character who always seems to be drinking coffee. He was terrified of the Iron Giant at first and eventually gave into exhaustion and Hogarth's persistant nagging and allowed the Giant to stay the night. He is the first character to appear in my chosen scene. Opening his front door in the morning to be greeted with a pair of giant metal glowing eyes. Dean has black hair, brown eyes and stubbley beard with a goatee, which adds to the laid back and arty impression. Like a 'typical' artist, in this scene he is wearing a black polo neck top and jeans. All he needs now is a beret and he'll fit the stereotypical french artist image. In fact if you look closely the shape of his hair on the top of his head looks somewhat like a beret!
 Kent Mansley is a U.S Government officer investigating what came from the sky and is taking bites out of towns people metal farm buildings or cars etc. It is obvious immediately that he is overly paranoid and questions constantly like a detective would. He speaks incredibly fast, barely ever pausing for a breath. He gives the impression of an overwhelming and often intimidating character. He has orange hair, blue eyes and a long face and a very large/ tall build with broad shoulders. He's dressed in a long grey coat and grey suit and trousers under neath and has a grey hat to match. I immediately think of someone like Sherlock Holmes when I see this character. He has a typical detective look about him. This immediately tells the audience what his profession is before he even introduced himself.
Hogarth's mother only has a brief part in my scene, where she asks Hogarth to show Kent the sights. She is a single mother and works as a waitress. She is a attractive woman and the male lead characters seem to fall for her right away. She is a very caring and protective mother who always worries when Hogarth runs off on his adventures. We don't really get much of an insight into her character as she only appears briefly in various scenes.

Setting:

My scene firstly takes place in Deans home where he opens the front door in the morning. It begins at 42:36 on the timeline. His home is quite messy which again gives an insight into his laid back character. The scene moves onto Hogarth's house where Dean calls Hogarth giving out that the Giant is still at his house. Hogarth answers the phone in the kitchen, where the phone is sitting on the counter beside the bed bin. Most households have a phone in the kitchen so this makes sense. It flashes between Dean's home and Hogarth's kitchen as they converse on the phone. What we see of the window area in Dean's home has dull lighting and has junk hanging off the walls and ceiling, pieces he's collected for his art I imagine, along with normal household materials like bookcase and picture frames. After Hogarth hangs up the phone, Kent follows him around the house asking questions, at the of the stairs, sitting room, kitchen by the fridge, upstairs hallway, kitchen table, bathroom after brushing teeth, hallway, front porch, and other places throughout the house. This puts emphasis on the annoying badgering of Kent following Hogarth everywhere he goes and asking questions, till eventually he is forced to show Kent the sites. We are then back at Dean's junk yard and Dean is outside scolding the Giant for eating his art. Being in a junk yard there is obviously mountains of junk everywhere, separated and organised is scrap and art. The scene pictures the Giant and Dean surrounded by odd looking metal tree like sculptures. The setting of the junk yard is obviously important because this is the only place safe for the Giant to hide and to eat when he's hungry. A scrap metal junk yard seems like a fitting place for this Giant.

Mise en Scene:

In Dean's home I noticed his walls are made of metal/ tin. His home is only some sort of shack, nothing fancy. He has normal household items lying around as well as junk. The pieces of junk look as if the were collected for perhaps some sort of art project but the collection is slowly taking over his home and isn't been used. Picture frames are crooked and barely hanging on the wall. This another insight into his laid back or lazy personality. I noticed a guitar by the window as he storming around o the phone. Dean looks like a character who might play the guitar to relax. I doubt it's junk because its a scrap metal junk yard not a dump! I also noticed some model boats and a picture of a beach scene so perhaps he wishes was abroad somewhere rather than a dump?

Camera Work:
Shot List:

• Point of View Shot: looking at Dean's back as he opens the door and finds the Giant. Can see out the door.
• Focus on phone, pan upwards when Hogarth picks up phone.
• Focus on window shot as Dean is on the phone.
• Focus on Hogarth in the kitchen pacing back and forth on the phone.
• Focus on window shot at Dean's house, pans to the right as Dean walks to the right.
• Slow panning upwards slightly to the left in kitchen - emphasis on Kent's build.
• Focus on Dean's window shot, quickly pan to the right at the same pace as Dean running.
• Pan downwards to the left as Hogarth goes down the stairs.
• Low angle shot - Kent in the chair. Superiority.
• Low angle shot - Hogarth at the fridge, Kent towering above him.
• Quickly pan left in the hallway as Kent questions further.
• Pan upwards from the cereal bowl  to Kent. Same pace as Hogarth's head.
• Focus on bathroom mirror. See Kent invading Hogarth's space.
• Focus Kent peering out of doorway.
• Focus Kent on the porch.
• Focus, low angle Kent smoking pipe.
• Focus, over the shoulder Kent smoking pipe in front of tv.
• Focus, low angle Kent leaning over asking more questions.
• Focus, zoom in on Kent.
• Focus on Hogarth "I'm going OUT!!!!".
• Pan to right at the same as Hogarth read to leave.
• Pan to the right revealing Kent again.
• High angle looking down on Dean giving out. Dean is small in comparison to Giant.
• Low angle establishing shot of junk yard and Giant. Pans left and right as Dean points out scrap and art piles.
• High angle looking down on Dean giving out.
• Focus, zoom in on Giant.
• High angle looking down on Dean grumpy face.
• Focus, zoom in on Giant fixing the art.
• Low angle, focus on Dean and Giant's feet. 
• Over the Toe Shot? Would usually be over the shoulder but in this case over Giant's toe focusing on Dean.

Sounds and Music:

In general the scene I chose contains mostly dialogue and sound effects. Starting with Dean opening the door with a typical click sound followed by a spaced out "Oh!!....yeah". Next scene is where the phone rings in the kitchen. Music on the radio is playing in the background but it is too muffled to make out the song, sounds something like a Jazz song. It gives a homey, busy household feel to the scene. Then song continues as Hogarth and Dean talk on the phone. Hogarth lowering his voice on the phone so no one overhears his conversation. At the same time you can hear the slightly muffled voice of Dean through the phone on Hogarth's end. Hogarth makes up excuses to Kent while Dean stutters for a bit out of annoyance because he's stuck with Giant. The Jazz song continues playing back on Dean's end as he's shouting at Giant out the window because he's eating something he shouldn't. As Giant takes a bite you can hear very faint sounds of crunching metal. As Dean falls over there is the distinct clinking sound of metal, meaning he fell over some metal scraps. Back at Hogarth's house where Kent is continuously bugging him with questions, the Jazz song is still playing in the background, this time a bit louder. The quickened pace of Kent's questions gives the impression of getting more and more on Hogarth's nerves till eventually Hogarth shouts "I'm going OUT!!". Back at Dean's junk yard where he is explaining the difference between scraps and art, meanwhile Giant is casually munching away of a piece of metal which makes a subtle crunching metal sound. The crunching continues through Dean's dialogue until the moment he realises its art he's chewing on. The Giant himself makes subtle metal sounds as he moves. Giant tries to fix the art and it makes the sound of bending and tearing metal. Dean gives up trying to explain and with a big thud mixed with the sound of rattling metal, Giant forces the newly fixed piece of art into the ground. The scene then ends with Dean quite impressed "That's not bad".

How to write a Film Review

Some handy notes on writing our Monday classes Film Reviews :)

Film Title/Director/Year

What did you appreciate? Text/subtext /Visuals/pacing/acting/script/tone etc.

What didn’t you like?

What would you keep?

What would you change?

Other comments?

How to Analyse a Scene in a Film

• Characters
• Setting
• Mise-en-Scene
• Camera Work
• Sounds and Music

Choose a scene that lasts 2 to 3 minutes to analyse. Play the scene over and over while studying different aspects of it, keeping in mind that everything you see and hear is a conscious choice by the filmmaker. Scene analysis is an attempt to understand those choices.

Method 1 of 5: Characters

    Study the major characters appearing in the scene. Also look for extras (supporting actors who don't speak) and bit players (supporting actors who have a few lines of dialog).

        Note which characters are in the scene at the start, who arrives later and who leaves before the scene ends.

        Ask yourself what each character wants and whether the character gets what he or she wants.

        Watch for status changes. In most scenes, the statuses of some of the characters will change. For instance in a scene where "John" asks for a favor from "Larry" and is refused, "John" has low status and "Larry" has high status. If "John" then pulls out a gun and forces "Larry" to perform the favor, "John" becomes the character with high status.

        Identify how the casting of particular actors influence how you see the characters.

        Study the characters' costumes and ask yourself what the costumes tell you about the characters.

Method 2 of 5: Setting

    Take note of where the scene takes place, both in terms of the place and the time. In particular, note when the scene occurs within the timeline of the movie and whether the scene depicts events out of order.

        Many movies have scenes that occur out of order, such as when the character is remembering or relaying events that happened at another time (a flashback) or because the director has made the creative choice to show events out of order. Usually, even though the events are out of order, the story itself is told in a straightforward manner from the first scene to the last scene.

        As it relates to the story, ask yourself why the scene is taking place where it is and whether it helps to tell the story or distracts from it.

        The setting may have been chosen by the director for reasons other than telling the story. Try to determine if the setting is important to the story or just interesting to the director.

Method 3 of 5: Mise-en-Scene

    Pay careful attention to how what you see in the scene helps to tell the story. This is called the mise-en-scene, a French term that roughly translates to visual storytelling.

        Keeping in mind that what you see in the scene is not the entire location but only what the director has decided to show, ask yourself why the director chose to show this part of the location and not another. This works equally well for scenes shot on a soundstage rather than on location, because the set will only comprise a part of the location it represents.

        Note which characters and objects are in the centre of the scene and which are in the background or periphery.

        Study which parts of the scene are out of focus and whether this changes during the scene.

        Pay attention to how the scene is lit. Note whether it is brightly lit or in shadow and whether the light has a particular hue. Think about how the scene might play if the lighting is changed.

Method 4 of 5: Camera Work

    Make a list of every camera shot. A typical scene can include dozens of shots, from close-ups on a character's face to extreme long shots showing the entire scene from a great distance. There are also shots during which the camera moves, tracking the movements of a character or zooming in on an object. Each is meant to serve a purpose in telling the story.

        Note whether the camera is acting as the eyes of a character or is simply watching the scene being shot.

        Try to determine why the director chooses each shot, and what the effect of each shot is.

        Pay particular attention to unusual camera shots, such as slow motion, tilted shots or shots where the camera is allowed to shake. For example, a tilted camera shot is often used to suggest that the character represented by the camera is drugged.

        Think about how the camera shots affect the pace of the scene.

Method 5 of 5: Sounds and Music

    Close your eyes and concentrate on what you hear during the scene. Many scenes have several "layers" of sounds and music, from ambient sounds that might actually be heard at that location, such as traffic or birds, to sounds that are inserted to help create a mood. Many scenes also include music that helps to tell the story.

        Keep in mind that the director may have deliberately taken out any true ambient sounds and inserted others. Imagine what you might actually hear at the scene's location and whether the director made a good choice in the sounds he or she included.

        Take note if the director inserted sounds to evoke a particular emotion from the audience. For instance, a beat or ticking clock creates a sense of urgency or dread.

        Listen to the music and ask yourself what it represents and whether it tells you what to expect. For example, a composer might create a particular melody that you will hear whenever a character is thinking about his lost love.

        Determine whether the movie contains original music or music the director has licensed from another artist. Ask yourself why the director chose one or the other (or both).

        Close your eyes and listen to music. Try to guess what is happening by what you hear.

Animation Short Character Design

Some Sketchbook drawings

For my characters I want to use simple shapes and strong silhouettes. The characters have similar features but are different shapes.

the above guys dog thingy.

Digital Drawings

Animation Short Research

Background Reference/ Research

Images below are images that I found on various websites that I liked the look of. I chose these because of the tones, simple lines and shapes (because I don't have the time to be working on one detailed city scape for like a month), painterly way they were drawn and camera angles. Also references from a film that sort of links in with my animation.

Never mind the naked man, the simple shaped buildings are what I'm using for reference.

screenshot from the film 'The Red Balloon 1956'

The Red Balloon 1956

The Red Balloon 1956

Style/ Colour References

Below are images from various websites, narrowing down my style preferences. Simply drawn, sketchy lines, similar colour palette, tones etc