I was unsure as to what to expect when I went to my group tutorial on Text and Context because I still felt that I was in the beginning idea stages of my project and was feeling slightly uninspired. I had formulated my idea for the project while deliberately having a stupid conversation with my boyfriend – I remember saying you’re good at coming up with silly ideas lets talk about The Metamorphosis until we come across one. We did come across one, and I think the joint revelation of the idea is what makes it very like and unlike me at the same time.

I decided to make Gregor Samsa a beetle (as in the story he is just an insect, its not a huge leap to consider him as a beetle), I am going to carry out the story in a fairly similar way to the original particularly focusing on the apple hitting Gregor’s back, however the main change will be that Gregor won’t die he will run away just in time. This is where the story takes a turn for the absurd and utilises word play. Upon leaving the house Gregor in his desperate panic bumps into someone, this someone happens to be Ringo Starr of the Beatles, he believes that Gregor is exactly what they’re looking for in their new direction. He later becomes the manager of the Beatles and they create Apple Records (a nod to the apple in his back).

This story was all chance and humor, which I really enjoyed but I had no idea how it would go down in a tutorial because it isn’t the type of stuff I am usually interested in.

The tutorial really helped me get out of my inspiration rut and was suggested the following videos:

I had seen Diary of Edward the Hamster before, however had never thought of it in the context of my own work. I really love this video and I think what makes it is the voice over. When making voice overs in the past they’ve been more of an after thought however, with this in mind I think they need to be in the forefront of my thinking. As a voice over can help present a mood or a characterisation which it does so well in this video.

Jeremy suggested The Paper Cinema as a method to retain a hand drawn element in animation. It also plays with perspective, therefore one drawing can become many frames. I took it as example of how to work smart not just work hard. As animation is notoriously laborious, so saving time while creating an interesting and original technique is something to consider.

This last one is a funny one The Rutles, a spoof of The Beatles, their use of found film to create the ambiance of The Beatles is something I might replicate.