Illustration and Visual Narrative: Task 2
23/09/2021 - 29/10/2021 (Week 05 - Week 09)
Alicia Teng Yi Ling / 0345159 / BDCM
Illustration and Visual Narrative
Task 2 / Exercises
Alicia Teng Yi Ling / 0345159 / BDCM
Illustration and Visual Narrative
Task 2 / Exercises
Lecture
Week 03: Composition
This week, I learnt about composition, different types of shots, and how to analyze visual hierarchy. Additionally, I learnt about negative space identifying skills which would be very useful for my task 2 poster.
My personal favourite movies for compositions and montages are 'Parasite' (2019), by Bong Joon-Ho, 'Song of the Sea' (2014), by Tomm Moore, and 'Fantastic Mr. Fox' (2009), by Wes Anderson.
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Fig 1.1.1 Am example of composition in an image |
Placed above is an example of composition in an image. When I analyze it, the first thing that captures my attention is the red bag at the bottom with a person's hand, because red is a very bright colour and my eyes tend to be drawn towards humans first in any photo. The second is the pencil case above as it is centered in the middle of the image. The visual hierarchy in this image is clear for the viewers.
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Fig 1.1.2 Different Types of Shots/Compositions |
In the lecture, we were introduced to the names and different types of shots used in movies and photography. We were then told to practice the habit of analyzing the types of shots in any kind of films or photography which is essentially called 'active watching'.
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Fig 1.1.3 The Number 1 Composition Rule |
The number 1 composition rule is to have an equally distributed amount of positive and negative spaces in a composition so the audience are able to differentiate the main subject from the background.
Instructions
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Fig 1.2.1 Task 2: Decisive Moment Instructions |
Idea Development
Once we were briefed of the assignment, I immediately knew which movie I
wanted to focus on which is: Song of the Sea (2014), by Tomm Moore. It is
one of my absolute favourites because of it's beautiful, unique art style,
stunning animations and wonderful, heart touching storyline.
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Fig 2.1.1 Official 'Song of the Sea' Poster |
For my decisive moment, I wanted to focus on the moment where Ben and Saoirse finally fully get along, are friendly and understand each other. This was a major point, as they have always fought throughout the movie due to Ben's stubbornness and refusal to take care of and understand his sister. The turning point in which they accept and love each other was a major and important part of the movie plot that allowed Saoirse to sing and let the spirits move on which is why I chose this decisive moment.
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Fig 2.1.2 The Improving Dynamic between the siblings, Ben and Saoirse (+ Cu, their dog) |
For my background, I was inspired by the Irish Star patterns in this scene. It symbolises peace, harmony and life which is why I wanted to put it in the background of my poster.
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Fig 2.1.3 My Background Inspiration I |
Rocks and stones are a common background detail with beautiful patterns on them, they symbolise the long time myths and legends in Ireland and basically show the terrain in the oceans and land there in Ireland. To fill the negative space in the poster, I decided to go with these on the bottom of my poster.
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Fig 2.1.4 My Background Inspiration II |
I decided to make the poster underwater as it is the moment when Ben manages to return Saorise's selkie coat to her and she turns into a seal, and they swim together. It is a very wholesome moment where their family and sibling dynamic become stronger.
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Fig 2.1.5 Saorise in her Selkie Form |
Sketches
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Fig 2.2.1 First Idea Sketch |
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Fig 2.2.2 Second Idea Sketch |
Initially, my second idea was to actually show Saoirse singing to let the spirits return home but Ms. Anis and Ms. Jennifer agreed and advised me to follow through with sketch #1 as it has a mroe balanced and interesting composition.
Poster Progression
I started off with doing an centre gradient background to show the underwater lighting (light to dark) and to emphasize on Ben and Saoirse more. I also added the rock shapes to the bottom.
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Fig 2.3.1 Gradient Background and Rock Shapes Done |
Then, I added the shapes of the characters as well as Saoirse's singing shell that Ben holds for her.
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Fig 2.3.2 Character bodies and details added |
I next focused on details such as the Irish star pattern and the rock patterns.
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Fig 2.3.3 Star Pattern, rock details & Selkie facial features put in |
Next, I added texture to the background so that it is similar to the brush stroke style of the movie and put in the title. I followed a similar font to the official movie poster for the 'of the' words but changed the rest to a different font to suit my style in the poster.
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Fig 2.3.4 Movie Title and background texture done |
Finally, after peer feedback, I added seaweed which was also in the underwater scene as my friend said that there was too much negative space between the characters and rocks so it could look awkward.
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Fig 2.3.5 Seaweed details added |
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Fig 2.3.6 Colour Table |
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Fig 2.3.7 Adobe Illustrator File Layers |
Animation Progress
I did the animating in Adobe Photoshop using timeline frame animation, I used a frame by frame method. I knew I wanted to move Saoirse and Ben up and down like they are bobbing underwater, as well as the seaweed and star pattern. I moved the seaweed side to side to mimic the wavy motion underwater and spun the stars clockwise to make one round and looped it forever.
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Fig 2.4.1 Adobe Photoshop File Timeline |
There were 50 frames in total as I manually did everything and it was the stars that took up 50 frames in order to make one full smooth round.
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Fig 2.4.2 Layers |
Additionally, we were advised to add a quote from the movie so I decided to go with a very repeated line in the songs in 'Song of the Sea' which is "Between the North, Between the South".
This is the outcome of my work in Photoshop timeline.
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Fig 2.4.3 Outcome from the Frame Animation |
Final Poster Design Outcome
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| Fig 2.5.2 Final Submission: Final Decisive Moment Poster: Song of the Sea - PDF (31/10/2021) |
Final Animation Outcome
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Fig 2.5.3 Final Submission: Final Decisive Moment Poster: Song of the Sea - GIF (31/10/2021) |
Feedback
30/09/2021
- Ms. Anis and Ms. Jennifer agreed that I should go with sketch #1 as it had a more interesting dynamic and it was a better decisive moment. Design wise, it also looked more balanced.
28/10/2021
- Ms. Anis and Ms. Jennifer said they liked the colour palette of my poster. For the title, they told me to make the "of the" smaller and to bring the words "song" and "sea" closer together.
- Ms. Anis also told me to make the line details on the rocks all the same line width for uniformity and balance
30/10/2021
- My peer, Diane, told me it would be nice if I could put something additional between the characters and the rocks as it looked a little empty and awkward. So, I added seaweed which is also shown in the underwater scenes.
Reflection
This was a very fun project. I learnt how to analyze critical moments as
I had to choose my decisive moment for the poster. I was also able to
practice animation more in depth and I am happy with the outcome of my GIF
work. Additionally, it was interesting for me to try and make a minimalist poster as my personal art style has a lot of detail and there are many elements in it so while it was a little difficult, I enjoyed exploring out of my comfort zone. Looking back, the hardest part was the frame by frame animation
(there were 50 frames in total) however it was 100% worth it and I look
forward to learning more about animating in the future.
References
Fig 2.1.1: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1865505/
Fig 2.1.2: https://www.thecurb.com.au/song-of-the-sea/
Fig 2.1.3: https://mubi.com/films/song-of-the-sea-2014
Fig 2.1.4: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/411586853421834775/
Fig 2.1.5: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/411586853422082020/
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