Below is my final cut for the video. To see my evaluation of it see the previous post.

My concept for this final outcome and project was to create dark tale about a man who turns into a beetle, gets kicked out of his house and then becomes one of the the Beetles. I wanted to create a surprising storyline to contrast with the sincere stop animation. Although, I don’t intend to be laugh out loud funny I think it is absurdly funny, which is how I feel about Franz Kafka’s Metamorphosis.

The animation starts in a monochrome world, Gregor potters around the room after being undazed about how he is a beetle (similar to the short story). The parents hear him in his room and decide to investigate why he is not up for work. He struggles to try and get ready for work, but before he knows it his dad has battled through the door. When his dad catches sights of him he orders him to get out and batters him in apples. Gregor runs away and when he gets outside he sees this technicolour world of the 60s, he is in awe when Paul McCartney runs up to him. He is in deep admiration for him and whisks him away to play a show together. Next, you see Gregor on stage with the Beetles blissfully singing along. The camera pans towards him and the dialogue says “that all seemed to work out ok”. I like this blunt ending because it leaves you with a similar feeling to how the short story does. After reading the story I felt like there had to be more to it than the beetle dying. Obviously I was wrong. Also, mine has a happy ending.

This project has been a up hill battle as sometimes when it comes to animation its difficult to actualise what I see in my head, due to my amateur Premiere Pro skills (which have improved). I started the project by collating visual research which helped my vision for the aesthetic of the video. I also made multiple monoprints for some textures in the video and made some lithographs which I had intentions of making a poster or accompanying material. It’s upsetting that I didn’t have time to make one as I have a lot of unused visual material which would’ve been perfect for it. However, I’m glad that I have my lithography prints which do suit the aesthetic of the video.

I deeply enjoyed making this animation but it was indeed a labour of love. I learnt a lot about Premiere Pro along the way and how to use it correctly and creatively. Given more time I would have liked to have made better use of the background I feel like often there was a lot of white space on screen. This however did create an even better contrast to the technicolour world of outside which was my intention.

Also, if I was to do it again I think I would definitely rethink the character design, although I liked the little guy it was difficult to show responsive emotion on his face as he was so simplistic (which did make him easier to animate).

Overall, I am pleased with my efforts and the story comes through strong for me.

As part of our fundraiser I collaborated with Lily Weinbrand on a Golden Time poster. The theme was around school children and nostalgia, bringing the attendees back to a school disco type vibe but with a modern twist. Lily drew inspiration for the graphics from an old bull fighting poster, I thought this concept was interesting and enjoyed that it meant a large space in the middle for an illustration.

I was asked to complete one main illustration a series of faces and some graphic symbols like arrows and lines. For the main illustration I focused on children running out of school, eager to leave and in theory go to Golden Time. I used pen and ink to give it a appropriate feel. While I broke up the foreground and background with a split of white and grey.

Lily composed the poster and I’m happy with the outcome I think the concept comes through and I like the contrast between fairly traditional illustration and the modern graphics.

For the text and image workshop I used a random word generator to create film titles. Surprisingly, the random words conjure many images and thoughts. For many I very quickly imagined what genre the films could be for instance; ‘Space Graduate’ is one of those 90s/2000s films like ‘Dude Where’s my Car?’ centered around college stoners, ‘Midnight Mother’ a ghost documentary, ‘Sin Clique’ chick flick like ‘Mean Girls’ while ‘Ego Doll’, ‘Future Report’ and ‘Heavy Steam’ are definitely cult and hipster.

1. Space Graduate
2. Whole Bathtub
3. Favourable Observation
4. Bare Orthodox
5. Dance Pack
6. Unlawful Cellar
7. Heavy Steam
8. Bus Result
9. Future Report
10. Midnight Mother
11. Sin Clique
12. Rational Core
13. Ego Doll
14. Federation Carve
15. Reactor Belly
16. Undress Residence
17. Daughter Compact
18. Strip Hour
19. Fault Researcher
20. Candidate Stereotype

I was contacted by the indie/rock band Pin Ups to create an EP cover and promotional material for their upcoming release. This was a great experience and taught me a lot about working with real life clients and their needs. It helped my ability to communicate with clients.

I am please with the outcome as are they, here are some colour ways and layout designs of it.

The opportunity of having BIF held at Brighton uni was one not to be missed. For the event I decided to make puppets and Halloween-esque cat lino prints. I really enjoyed making these items for fun and feel like it expanded my knowledge of what sells at art fairs.

PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE ON ALICE STEVENSON

I based this poster around Alice Stevenson’s love of travelling and discovering which she details in her blog.

JAZZ MEN DRAWINGS (A2)

DRAWING IN RESPONSE TO THE FILM ‘PRISCILLA: QUEEN OF THE DESERT’

DRAWING AT HOVE MUSEUM

HANDS DRAWING WORKSHOP

This workshop was really useful. As I’ve been developing as an illustrator its often meant that I have left practical skills behind. However, this refresher reminded me how much I enjoy hands as an area of study.

DRAWING AT THE TATE

DRAWING IN RESPONSE TO THE BBC PODCAST ON THE HISTORY OF PERFUME

STILL LIFE’S CREATED IN THE SUMMER