I could of put this in any other of my posts but I felt as if I need to give this one it's own.
I have choosen this specific song for this project due to a moving movement I had whilst listening to the song during my period of depression. Now I must admit that my depression was not severe as it could have been, but depression is depression and should all be seen the same way not matter severe. Anyway, after class I was leaving campus and walked down a small pathway that was covered with a thin layer of trees shading me from the sunlight, it felt almost disney like, a gentle breeze sweeped through as I listened to the song.
Now it doesn't seem all that important, put for the small amount of time I was in this moment moved me to point of tears as I felt as if I was back home. This was a major thing to me back then as I had been missing the endless fields and peaceful nature, on top of that due to my mother moving to another place I wouldn't be able to experience it again and this moment brought to a normal state of mind, everything was back to normal for a second.
This is the reason I picked the song, and the idea quickly flowed from the song. Looking at the lyrics they don't seem to fit the situation of mental health but in some ways it can which is why the idea came to me. And I want to share that cheerished moment with, even if its not in the same way I experienced it, everyone and give people who are suffering a little piece of hope.
To this day I am still suffering from anxiety which can be an issue at times but I mostly bite the bullet and continue on with my life.
Apologise for the soopy post but I felt I needed to explain the true explanation for this project.
Sunday 27 September 2015
Synopsis
Adfectus is an 6 minute animation to music destined as an installation exploring themes of anxiety and depression. The animation expresses a journey or experience through the cyclical transitions of the curve from happiness to sadness and the return back to happiness. It applies simple format and animal characteristics symbolisms and childlike approach to present what are dark themes such as despair, hopelessness, dread, physical anxieties that then lift to a more stable state of mind.
The video itself will have a silhouette of a person stood still in the centre of the frame, and the animals will be moving naturally in the air above the silhouettes head and interacting with the silhouette, disappearing into the silhouette and reappearing. The shadow remains static however, near the end of the piece 2 silhouettes enters from each side to hold the main silhouettes hands as they represent the help from others that help fight mental issues. The animals, the bear, stag, bull, dog, swan, rabbit, panda, and the beast ( a combination of bear and stag) arrive in a sequence cued to a symbolic arc of happiness to sadness with each animal representing its own emotion, happy, sad, angry, love, fear, depression, and anxiety. The movement of the animals is not a fluid motion but is jittery like that of an old movie or zoopraxiscope. This animation will be created using Adobe Flash.
The main motif of the film is a human shadow/silhouette in the centre of the frame. Coloured shapes representing animals will be moving around and interacting with the silhouette as if they were the animals they represent and the emotions. They will be moving along to composed piece of music instrumentally based on the song Small things by Ben Howard, which was the inspiration for this project. The reason for the silhouette is for when it is shown in it's final state people can stand, one by one, on a certain point, putting them into that silhouette intentionally becoming one with the piece by putting themselves in it. The video willl then be projected from behind and the person only covers the silhouette already placed.
I want to create awareness for these problems as they do not get the recognition they deserve (they are more severe then people think) also through this piece I can reach out to others who might be suffering and can give them comfort, as the purpose of the song is a happy ending or up lifting conclusion.
Using the video game Entwined to inspire the art direction of the animated animals and using the projection style of Swedens, Eurovision 2015 perfomance.
Animal Designs
Once I decide how many animals I wish to draw (max 10, min 5) I shall take inspiration from this beautiful game called Entwined. Using a similar idea of having blocky shapes make up the form of an animal. And of course like Entwined Each animal will have its own colour relating to a specific emotion.
At some point in the video I want the to main emotions (Depression and Anxiety) to combine and make a new colour and animal altogether similar to Entwined. I shan't be copying their exact animal and colours as I wish to use others, I simply love these concepts and wish to use them in my own way. Also the way they are designed feels like glass, with shape edges and vibrant colours making them seem fragile.
New image to use for references, also use I might use the same animal as pictured but use different colours.
Mental health
For the project I need colours to represent emotions to save me having to introduce everyone with a name and such. I specifically need two main emotion, Depression and Anxiety, and then have them combine. So I started to look for emotions in general and got a lot of vague or not very useful images or information, and images that contradicted each other.
After a little more digging I found exactly what I wanted/needed and images grabbed some other images that I felt were helpful and combined them to get the jist of which colour goes to which emotion.
This website below is the same as the image above however it is interactive and is more accurate with the colours. I left it here for my references so I knew where it was when I needed it.
http://www.do2learn.com/organizationtools/EmotionsColorWheel/index.htm
I even looked at other art pieces for mental health and found a frequent theme through-out them all:
1. the colourful theme
2. the clustered theme
3. the silhouette theme
Each of these themes, with out even knowing until now, are all in my idea at some point. Seeing that these are very recognized themes in this area of art, I feel as if I've ticked the boxes with even thinking about it, also since I've experienced mental health problems that these aspects of the specific art bares truth to how may feel.
After a little more digging I found exactly what I wanted/needed and images grabbed some other images that I felt were helpful and combined them to get the jist of which colour goes to which emotion.
This website below is the same as the image above however it is interactive and is more accurate with the colours. I left it here for my references so I knew where it was when I needed it.
http://www.do2learn.com/organizationtools/EmotionsColorWheel/index.htm
I even looked at other art pieces for mental health and found a frequent theme through-out them all:
1. the colourful theme
2. the clustered theme
3. the silhouette theme
Each of these themes, with out even knowing until now, are all in my idea at some point. Seeing that these are very recognized themes in this area of art, I feel as if I've ticked the boxes with even thinking about it, also since I've experienced mental health problems that these aspects of the specific art bares truth to how may feel.
- RAD - Rock against depression : http://www.kerrangradio.co.uk/life/rock-against-depression/
- "You are not alone!"
Audience
I feel that with this piece I don't have a specific audience as I want it to reach out to people who have experienced the same thing, so they can project their emotions and feelings onto it and relate. I want people who are suffering to realise they aren't alone, and I want people who have never experienced mental health issues that this is an interputation and may help them understand how it feels and maybe bring more awareness to it.
Since I've experienced mental health problems I can hopefully create something that will bring more of a positive awareness to a gray area. Specially to people who are unsure about how it may feel and are unsure about it they can gather some knowledge or understanding of what it's like and maybe react better to someone with mental health problems.
In my other post about Mental health I talk about mental health art in general and how it relates to my work in certain or specific ways. These aspects of the specific art bares truth to how one may feel in that state of mind, and can bring connection closer to understanding or may help slightly diagnose.
Since I've experienced mental health problems I can hopefully create something that will bring more of a positive awareness to a gray area. Specially to people who are unsure about how it may feel and are unsure about it they can gather some knowledge or understanding of what it's like and maybe react better to someone with mental health problems.
In my other post about Mental health I talk about mental health art in general and how it relates to my work in certain or specific ways. These aspects of the specific art bares truth to how one may feel in that state of mind, and can bring connection closer to understanding or may help slightly diagnose.
Animation
As said in my Development post I was going to originally draw the animals in maya and then animate using some sort of software (I hadn't thought about it that much). All I knew is that it would be difficult and I would either need help or some how learn how to animate 3D models very quickly.
Then, after a good nights sleep, I decided that I'm not very good at 3D animating so I'd simplfy down a little bit for myself. If I struggle to get people to help me this makes animating a little bit less scary and more people would be able to help me.
I have decided to draw the animals by hand, as said in the my Animal Design post, and possibly use photoshop for animating or another software if there is a simplier one, such as Adobe Flash. And instead of making the animation smooth and sleek like most 2D animation, I want it to have a zoopraxiscope look, stuttering as if it's skipping frames, like a flip book or old movie as it's meant to represent someone imagining these animals so the picture or animation isn't so clear.
Doing a 6 minute animated video would mean having around 7,000 frames altogether however, I hope that making the animation look jittery by reducing the number of frames per second will be less of a task. Of course around 20-30 second of the 6 minutes will be stand still for audiences to leave the installation.
I have thought of a way to help with the animation process, as I am not very strong in the sense of drawing animals quickly and also having to draw them in multiple angles to make the animation, I want to use the help of someone who knows animation a little be better then I do.
Using there skills on drawing the motion of the animals in sketch form (so not perfect, very rough) I will then take that animation and define the drawings, smoothing out the lines and colouring them in. I also think this will help with me keeping the animals looks similar as I've have drawn the concept art as well as the defined animation.
Also if I am able to get hold of a composer I can reduce the animation down to 4 minutes, again reducing the amount of frames and the work load.
Then, after a good nights sleep, I decided that I'm not very good at 3D animating so I'd simplfy down a little bit for myself. If I struggle to get people to help me this makes animating a little bit less scary and more people would be able to help me.
I have decided to draw the animals by hand, as said in the my Animal Design post, and possibly use photoshop for animating or another software if there is a simplier one, such as Adobe Flash. And instead of making the animation smooth and sleek like most 2D animation, I want it to have a zoopraxiscope look, stuttering as if it's skipping frames, like a flip book or old movie as it's meant to represent someone imagining these animals so the picture or animation isn't so clear.
After talking to a couple of friends who have done animation say that this idea is the best time wise, the 2D aspect of animating and the flip book style will make it easier then 3D modeling and animating. Using photoshop to create the animals I'll then use Adobe Flash.
Doing a 6 minute animated video would mean having around 7,000 frames altogether however, I hope that making the animation look jittery by reducing the number of frames per second will be less of a task. Of course around 20-30 second of the 6 minutes will be stand still for audiences to leave the installation.
I have thought of a way to help with the animation process, as I am not very strong in the sense of drawing animals quickly and also having to draw them in multiple angles to make the animation, I want to use the help of someone who knows animation a little be better then I do.
Using there skills on drawing the motion of the animals in sketch form (so not perfect, very rough) I will then take that animation and define the drawings, smoothing out the lines and colouring them in. I also think this will help with me keeping the animals looks similar as I've have drawn the concept art as well as the defined animation.
Also if I am able to get hold of a composer I can reduce the animation down to 4 minutes, again reducing the amount of frames and the work load.
Development
Developing my Idea
My original idea for the this project was going to be a performance piece where the video was projected over either myself or a performer and then interact with the video that is projected on to them.
However I realised that I, myself, do not want to perform in front of people even if I wish to express myself in that way, I also would find myself struggling to choreograph someone else so I decided to change to film and have a silhouette act the performance instead. But having this project just be a film for people to watch, I felt that it wouldn't be that affective and would rather have it interactive.
I then came up with the idea to put the audience into the performance themselves, as it makes them experience it in a deeper way. Having a marker for the person to stand and have the projection shine from behind and they see their silhouette in front of them, they then become one with the art and have a deeper connection to it. That's how I want people to see it.
I also wasn't sure how to create the animals for the project, of course they can't be real so I'd have to create them from scratch. However my knowledge of creating something in 3D in a programme like Maya is modiocor but getting then making the models animated, thats where I'd begin to really stuggle.
So I thought if I drew the animals in 2D and animate them in that format, to me sounded a lot easier in my head. And to help on the animating I would add a zooprixscope effect so I could draw less frames... but wait, I'd have to animate, in 2D. I needed to re-think this.
I then went back to my original idea, instead I am going to draw concepts for the animals, still not sure how many I'll be doing, and then give those too rob so he can model them in Maya as he wishes to advance his skills, the same with animating them.
I have flipped flopped around again, bringing back the idea to 2D animate all the animals as in photoshop or flash. Again in this zoopraxiscope style.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Issues:
The issues that will eccur throughout this project are ones that I can't really avoid unless I stop doing the project altogether.
The first issue is getting a hold of how to show the video, as I want the audience to interact with it, see Final Layout, and the way I have it may mean that the audience will stand in the way of most of the video.
I also have the issue of getting the animals modelled and animated in the time needed and how well it we look, luckily I have some help so not all hope is lost. I thought this would be an issue however I'm not modeling them in Maya anymore, using 2D animation will simplify the work load as I'll be using tools I already know, however I will be doing full on animating which is a new world for me.
These things can be sorted out, eventually, however at the moment I am struggling to figure things out, after some tutorials with my tutor we should iron out all the creases.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Relating:
I have been told that having a link between this project and my disseration subject would be a great bonus. After thinking about it I thought I didn't have a connection however I do. In my dissertation I am writing about animals in film and more specifically how they are represented and treated in movies. In my movie I wish to portray animals in respectable way, portraying their true behaviour.
My original idea for the this project was going to be a performance piece where the video was projected over either myself or a performer and then interact with the video that is projected on to them.
However I realised that I, myself, do not want to perform in front of people even if I wish to express myself in that way, I also would find myself struggling to choreograph someone else so I decided to change to film and have a silhouette act the performance instead. But having this project just be a film for people to watch, I felt that it wouldn't be that affective and would rather have it interactive.
I then came up with the idea to put the audience into the performance themselves, as it makes them experience it in a deeper way. Having a marker for the person to stand and have the projection shine from behind and they see their silhouette in front of them, they then become one with the art and have a deeper connection to it. That's how I want people to see it.
I also wasn't sure how to create the animals for the project, of course they can't be real so I'd have to create them from scratch. However my knowledge of creating something in 3D in a programme like Maya is modiocor but getting then making the models animated, thats where I'd begin to really stuggle.
So I thought if I drew the animals in 2D and animate them in that format, to me sounded a lot easier in my head. And to help on the animating I would add a zooprixscope effect so I could draw less frames... but wait, I'd have to animate, in 2D. I needed to re-think this.
I then went back to my original idea, instead I am going to draw concepts for the animals, still not sure how many I'll be doing, and then give those too rob so he can model them in Maya as he wishes to advance his skills, the same with animating them.
I have flipped flopped around again, bringing back the idea to 2D animate all the animals as in photoshop or flash. Again in this zoopraxiscope style.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Issues:
The issues that will eccur throughout this project are ones that I can't really avoid unless I stop doing the project altogether.
The first issue is getting a hold of how to show the video, as I want the audience to interact with it, see Final Layout, and the way I have it may mean that the audience will stand in the way of most of the video.
I also have the issue of getting the animals modelled and animated in the time needed and how well it we look, luckily I have some help so not all hope is lost. I thought this would be an issue however I'm not modeling them in Maya anymore, using 2D animation will simplify the work load as I'll be using tools I already know, however I will be doing full on animating which is a new world for me.
These things can be sorted out, eventually, however at the moment I am struggling to figure things out, after some tutorials with my tutor we should iron out all the creases.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Relating:
I have been told that having a link between this project and my disseration subject would be a great bonus. After thinking about it I thought I didn't have a connection however I do. In my dissertation I am writing about animals in film and more specifically how they are represented and treated in movies. In my movie I wish to portray animals in respectable way, portraying their true behaviour.
Diary and Timetable
I have decided to keep up a diary or log of what I do and when, to keep track of what it is that's been done and what I have left to do. This also means I can see how long left I have till deadlines and give myself allocated times for certain/specific jobs.
I've created the diary in a Excel document on Google docs as I can update it when needed and anyone can view it through the link below so there is no need to send around documents and it means I can update it live.
I have planned out each day roughly based on what my uni timetable says, however most of those days I might not need to be at uni as it is not necessary for me too.
I have also added a weekly schedule just to sum everything up without having to decode the daily schedule.
Diary
I've created the diary in a Excel document on Google docs as I can update it when needed and anyone can view it through the link below so there is no need to send around documents and it means I can update it live.
I have planned out each day roughly based on what my uni timetable says, however most of those days I might not need to be at uni as it is not necessary for me too.
I have also added a weekly schedule just to sum everything up without having to decode the daily schedule.
Diary
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