Please refer to Menu on top right corner to find everything.
Research, experimentation and development stages are all documented and can be found in the drop down menu.
Here is my final outcome so happy with the final result!! I uploaded onto the blog and Youtube.
The Art of the Title sequence
In the beginning title sequences looked like the above: The title of the movies plus a presentation of the legal and copyright information. It gradually evolved into static slates presenting cast and crew. Popular trends of the 1950s were using three dimensional lettering and embedding type onto embroidery and signage. One of the pioneers in the art of title sequence was Saul Bass. A graphic designer creating symbols for movie add campaigns such as The Man with the Golden Arm and Carmen Jones. He was a brilliant visual storyteller who was able to summarise the film as a metaphor in this title sequence. He had breakthrough ideas in titling, timing the typography to interact with metaphorical imagery. The aim was to let the movie take shape from the very first frame of the film. He succeeded through the use of creative animation to establish a mood, tone and texture for the opening sequence. The title sequence became its very own world and created the climate for the story.
Saul Bass: The Seven Year Itch (1955) Title sequence
Saul Bass: Anatomy of a Murder (1959) title sequence
Saul Bass: Carmen Jones (1954) title sequence
Saul Bass: It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963) title sequence
Stills I was sent from the poetry film the artist Amani Saeed wanted me to work for her poem Split. She wanted me to come up with a title sequence to summarise the mood of the film. The poem deals with finding love after abuse and is part of a poetry anthology dealing with growing up in America with South Asian ancestry. The film was never completed due to the pandemic. But I was able to complete the title sequence and hopefully it will be used when the film is completed after lockdown.
 
  
 
The overall mood for the film was quite dark and seductive. A lot of shots of Henna’d hands in Bollywood dance moves. Highly textured shots of flowers and shiny surfaces. I began collecting visual material that I felt resonated with the images I’d been sent.
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Highly decorative style for the title sequence. Referencing old Bollywood movies. Looking at jewellery again.
Initial ideas
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Experimenting with charcoal and ink to see what kind of textures I could use to make imagery with. Thinking about how I could convey movement. I need to think of ways of making this highly textured and rich but simple.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Experimenting with different motifs to develop the mood for the title sequence. I only had the shots to go on as she had sent me a very rough edit.
 
 
Hands tell a story. Hands are featured a lot in the short. Thinking of ways to incorporate this into the title sequence?
Cut outs of hands using the graphic mark making. I like this block shape and the nails.
 
Shots of development sequence – my first attempt at animating a full sequence in after effects. Steep learning curve but I am slowly getting better. I sent these to Amani – she loved the concept but felt it needed to be simplified with less decorative features.
D.O.P – director of photography – I really wanted to make jewellery as part of the title sequence – to incorporate the pearl brushes I had created in photoshop.
Simplified version of the first edit.
Idea for promotion? Experimenting with footage she sent me in after effects. That hijab fuck you attitude apparent in her work. I wanted to create a strong image for her. Fire is symbolical of personal power and burning down old ways of seeing. There are so many misconceptions when it comes to muslim women and wearing veils.
Promotional Video Idea
Final Outcome: Title Sequence. The motion could be smoother but I have learnt a lot of key skills in after effects which I will be able to use for the rest of the project.
Initial Test shots for the Tilda Allie’s Album cover for her Blue & Red EP. This eventually turned into three covers for each single: Boi, Clear and Taste of your lips. The EP touches on themes of love, loss and finding yourself. We discussed different colour palettes for different moods of the songs. She shared some very personal stories with me about her past relationships. She was a victim of emotional abuse by one of her lovers and this EP was about was about confronting that pain, forgiveness and finding peace with. She wanted to highlight the fact that the man who abused her was a victim of abuse himself and wanted a way to show this concept.
“The only pure way to discover oneself, is through the door opened by others. When we look at ourselves through different glasses we can let go of the ego. We do in order to wake up. In the darkest places you find the brightest light. It’s through the cracks we can see and become free.”
Shots for development of the idea for Bath Boi. These were sent to me to work from. She had a clear vision of how she wanted the cover to look like. The face of the actor. Other than that I had creative freedom to come up with my own concept inspired by the photographs she’d taken.
Initial ideas focusing on the idea of water and the colour palette. Experimenting with 3D fonts for the first time in photoshop. Water as a symbol is about cleansing, renewal, sadness, you can have calm sea and violent sea. Water conjure up a lot of polarising emotions. I showed these initial ideas to Tilda and she wanted something that was less graphic and had more of a surreal quality to it.
Looking for a symbol. The Boy in the bath. I like this concept of a boy floating out to sea, lost and alone. Is he going on a journey back to himself? Is Tilda the water that can rise up at any time and swallow him up?
Memories of being by the sea.
A happy accident
Water colours of the sea – I want to build up different textures to see
Artists work from “La Movida” – avant grade scene that was happening in the 80s in Spain. I liked the collaged effect of the sea.
Set design for an opera that took place in Paris, 1976.
Experimenting with different font ideas. The 3D font with the wave pattern looks great. Tilda really like this one.
Tilda wears a lot of glitter during her performances. I wanted to incorporate this into the artwork in a subtle way. I downloaded a glitter brush and played around with using it as highlight for the waves.
We both agreed this one had too much going on with the background and the yellow font doesn’t capture the right mood.
This is the one she ended up choosing for her first single on the EP. The colour palette and the textures capturing the mood of the song.
She stressed that the second song in the EP was about anger and requested I did a red palette. I felt this was strong but was oversaturated with red. I suggested pink as a background to soften the image and draw more attention to the drawing. Below is the one she ended up choosing.
For the final song, I wanted her to take centre stage – stilll going with the idea of her rising up from the sea as some sort of sea goddess/monster. She has overcome the bullying and the abuse, she rises up to confront him. Play with scale to show how small he is now. She has found strength and resolve to leave him. This led me to think about greek mythology that I had been researching. I wanted it to have a fantastical quality to it. An allegory for love and loss.
Initial sketch made in photoshop using sating overlays to build up the face.
I thought the whole face made of glitter would tie the rest of the single covers together. The glitter we see in the waves is her. She rises up and tells the boy where to go, capsizes his bath boat. She loved this concept and we discussed making a music video with this concept in mind. I wanted to push myself to make something really beautiful and emotional. I want the visuals to capture something eternal. Visuals that are going to be iconic.
Now the fun part. How will I synthesise everything I have touched on in my visual research and experimentation to deliver this music video for the song BOI. I want to explore the story of Bath Boi. The themes in the song are about love, loss and finding strength. It is about memory and longing. It is for her Red & Blue EP. She chose to collaborate with you because she likes your aesthetic – remember this. Blood red and sea blue are colours I always seem to go back to in my work so it seems fitting that I use this colour palette.
I spent a few days collecting visual research. I collected photographs and magazine cuttings of anything related to water and being by the sea – to build up a mood board I could refer to whilst I was sketching ideas. So I could have a moodboard to refer to.
Looking back over my sketches I really want to explore this idea for the music video. Carrying the sea around your neck. My mum used to wear a heart shaped silver pendant that was given to her in the 60s by her boyfriend. She carried a photograph of him wherever she went. This idea of carrying something that is precious to you around your neck. Water is also symbolic of tears and bodily fluids – link to sex, falling out of love with someone.
Inspired by the work I had seen during Future Selves (Winkowski) I thought it would be nice to experiment with his method. Mixing still images with collaged footage. My obsession with the sea, carrying the sea around your neck, the sound of the ocean. I started by using a simple block shape of a woman’s torso to experiment with. The aim is to see what effects I can layer in Adobe After Effects so I can create moving collages. I like the idea of having textures in my drawings being able to move. Like a painting in motion.
Went down to Brighton pier to record some footage of the sea. I love the glossy texture – the way it glints. I think collecting footage of the world around you is key. My ongoing fascination with the sea. I can use this for animated sequences.
Experimenting with the masking tool in premier. Masking allows you to target specific effects onto a certain area of footage. This will allow for a lot more experimentation as I will have much more control on where and how I place the footage. Using footage as collage – will be able to edit directly into premier with this tool. It helps having spent hours getting better at using the pen tool in photoshop as I’m able to use it like scissors to get a really precise cut.
Sea footage with Tint and Alpha layered over the top. I loved this texture.
Bodies made of the sea.
Blend Mode > Saturation. I love this blending option. I masked around the silhouette and used the saturation blending mode. This is image is a very simple block shape. Will look very exciting with more complex drawings where I will be able to mask out different areas in order to build up a very textured image.
Blend Mode: Color/Vivid Light
I wanted to explore the idea further so I did a mini shoot at home – I wanted to have bodies made completely of water.
Then I experimented with blocking out the shapes in photoshop.
Experimenting with the grain brush as a way of shading.
Patterns with the body. I just love vintage erotica and this is like a pop version of that.
That sweet matte key in Premier. Really great results – imagine if this was in 3D. This would great if the bodies were dancing – as part of the chorus maybe?
Combining work I did at the start of the project with the new water bodies. This led me making this drawing. Using all the elements that I loved the most out of my experimentation and visual research.
Have the footage of the sea playing underneath.
I just love the shading for this piece – the grain brush makes it look like the body is made of spelled glass. It reminds me of Orangina bottles from the early 00s – I always used to get them as a child when we went to the beach. Memories by the sea.
Now I need to think of the overall flow of the story – bring all the elements that I loved the most during my experimentation. Simplifying and synthesising to come up with a new visual language. I love the way this is going.
Initial ideas for storyboard
Studying the cuts and edits of my favourite music videos was really helpful as I was able to map out what edits looked and felt good. How the visuals carry the music. A journey.
The landscape – opening something to reveal something else? A box?
I really wanted to use alpha keys that I had experimented with during my research stage. What cuts I can do to incorporate this.
Opening Sequence Development
The sea inclosed in the heart. Have it moving. Blending video and animation!
Development for opening sequence – tried to block all the animated parts within 0:24 seconds of the intro. Thinking about the quality of sound and how different transitions and effects will change the way we perceive sound. To build tension before she starts singing.
Thinking about having the Leaves part as the hand reaches down to pick up the jewellery. Experiment with doing a background loop so it gives the illusion of the hand moving down. This look better than moving the hand down and looping it as it will look clunky.
Leaves part and hand reaches down. Slow zoom out. Try and stop it from looking clunky. Realised where I had been going wrong. When you zoom too quickly or place the key frames too close together it makes the movement look clunky and unprofessional. By pulling out the key frames it allows for smooth, graceful movement. Subtle movement gives the illusion that you are stepping into the space. Cinematic film is very slow which makes it powerful.
So to achieve subtle zoom I use the scale key frames and for the cinematic slide I just toggle with the position. Smooth and graceful is key.
Hand reaches down to pick up the heart – slow fade out. Snap to next sequence – hand is now holding the beating heart pendant.
Staring into the heart – what is about to be revealed? Builds tension before the chorus kicks in.
0:24 – On the beat when she says PASSION switches to red colour palette. A slow fade in of the sea footage.
Promotional ideas for Boi. Hands clasped together. Would be cool to have a 3D font with Bath Boi floating inside the letters so its looks like a swimming pool.
Just thinking a mobile phone would be interesting with this concept. A Nokia 3310 from early 00s made up of moving footage of the sea. I can really push this way of working – I’ve not seen it done before. At the start of this project I knew I wanted to combine different ways of working together and I feel like I am achieving that. It has really helped breaking down all the sections of the song and mapping out what imagery and effects would work well with the sound.
Initial sketch idea for the phone – would be great to have the gingham hands meet in the middle of the screen.
Will need to import this into premier – obviously this is a very rough sketch and I will need to think carefully about collaging the different sections of footage onto the phone so I have different directions of the grain to add to this 3D effect. I might not have time to animate this for this project but I have the idea mapped out so will great to experiment over the summer with this technique.
Got the Ocean on speed dial!
Inspired by Inji Seo and her use of animated effects. I made my own with a blend brush. I want to make the jewellery shine. Use a mask so it’s placed within the heart. Omg imagine if I masked the nails so they had water running through them in slow motion. The waves at your fingertips.
Thinking also there should be a fade in and fade out of the plants before the beginning of the bath boi sequence.
Staring into the pendant – we see the sea! The song BOI is about a memory of a relationship. It is about love and loosing someone and coming to terms with loss you regain strength and your own sense of self.
Getting to grips with using the masking tool in after effects. When I tried using this 6 months ago I couldn’t make it work and gave up. Fast forward after many hours of cutting out shapes with the pen tool in photoshop – the pen just glides around the footage without me even thinking about it. This why I love adobe so much – when you learn one skill in one programme you can transfer it to another one seamlessly. This is truly marrying technical skill with vision. Being able to make what is in my head come alive. Careful planning, technique and vision. These would work so well as short sequence animations as part of my instagram portfolio. I love the way it makes me feel when I look at these – the lines between film and drawing are blurred. Moving paintings that feel alive.
Next time I do this – import individual layer of the pearl outline so I can mask underneath that layer for a better fit.
The combination of live footage of Tilda singing the chorus and the animated beating heart works great as a visual. It’s funny because the heart was a complete accident. I was playing around with the keyframes as I wanted to pendant to move from side to side and then when I looped it it was beating in unison with the song. And then I remembered something my rapper friend told me “beats in music is just a heartbeat” – Blink Marlo.
I sent the animations to my friends to gage their reaction. They loved them. They felt the emotion in the song coupled with the visuals. The themes in the song are about strength love and loss.
Development for Bath Boi sequence
Development ideas for the Bath Boi sequence. I like the idea of having bath boi floating in the jewellery. Birds eye view floating across the sea inclosed within the heart pendant. Have different shots of Bath boi from different angles – to build up the feel of the movement.
Taking note of what Greg told me at the Big Active review – reveal your image slowly, don’t give it all away at once. Taking this into account – Snappy shots of about 0.5/1 second. The women are watching bath Boi as he crosses the sea – approaching their island.
Then chorus begins.. I want to make the link of the girls standing watching the sea as me and Tilda – I am dancing around her as she sings the chorus. I have been trying to find a way to blend green screen footage with animated drawings.
Ideas for the Chorus
That sweet alpha channel. Home made greensceen = great results. Bought a couple of meters of green fabric and taped it up in the kitchen. I tried to keep the lighting as even as possible but the key still had some issues with shadow. When it came to adding the sea footage As we couldn’t meet I directed the shoot over FaceTime – telling Tilda how I wanted her to pose and she shot herself on her phone. Making the most of our limitations as we were not able to film with crew.
Using alpha channel to superimpose the profile of bath boi onto the chorus – I love this effect – the shapes look like a face. Faces within a face. Also alludes to the idea that she is in his head. He can’t get her out of his head. The sirens song. But she won’t take him back because he treated her so badly.
After my hand in I wanted to look back and see what areas I could improve on in preparation for the self directed project.
The best way to learn how to tell a story is by reading. “People do not read enough, and that’s how you create critical thinking.” The way a book will make you feel will bleed into your work. Build your reading stamina like a muscle. I do not do this near enough… The phone has replaced the book, as a faster injection of information. Reading opens your heart and mind. I want this to be my morning ritual – I grab a book before I grab a phone. The reading and the writing is the research. I’ve been reading books on book reading to remind myself its vital to read more. I can travel from the comfort of my bed to new worlds.
Writing is a process of discovery and has a calming effect on the mind. It helps to guide and solidify your ideas. I bought a vintage Parker pen so I would write more. Implement the ritual – as soon as I pick up the pen – I can’t let it go until I’ve written for at least an hour. “Even when you think you have nothing, you just have to start writing rather than wait for inspiration” – Nick Cave.
Writing helps to solve problems when you are stuck on an idea. I must read ‘The Painter of Modern Life” by Baudelarie and “Les fleurs du Mal”.
As part of the initial stage of my research I went down to the beach every day for two weeks. Inspired with the summer project I did with free writing, I set myself the goal of recording whatever came into my head, unedited. Recording what I felt, what I saw, what I remembered and what narratives I could invent between the characters I met by the sea.
It started with a longing, a longing for lost memories. Whenever I came across a piece of writing, a ramble, it felt like a gift. We write to taste life twice. In the moment and in retrospect.
What I realised in the first term is that it’s really important to document moments/memories as these will feed into your work in the form of imagery. Everything is usable.
Rekindling my love for writing. I vowed at the end of first year I was going to write a lot more. It is an important part of the process as it helps me to understand where I am going with my work. Free writing has helped me during Lockdown. It has given me a space to escape too.
Writing memories of images I had by the sea or when I went back to Spain to see my family and friends.
Drawing from memory. I remember cutting my foot on rocks the colour of toasted almonds. I remember a trip I took with a poet to Malta and I fell in love with her and then she threw my heart in the swimming pool. I remember getting stung by a Medusa on my leg and it itched all day.
We were chewing roasted almonds. Salted, without the skin on. You threw one in the air and caught it between your teeth. You grinned at me and did it again. I was never able to do it until you taught me. We lay there, kissing on the bench, the ground scattered with sunflower seeds like rose petals at a wedding scene. The earth embroidered with cigarette butts – a shrine to youth and rebellion. I missed my train, again and again and again. Lips that tasted of cigarettes and toasted almonds.
We met New Years eve. You asked me if I could teach you how to dance. Cocaine in the morning at 8am – we were just getting started. At the train station. You said you needed to go smoke again. We kissed the glass. Three nights of bliss etched across our lips. I felt free around you. You wondered if you’d ever see me again. Listening to arabic love songs in the rain. Fizzy apple spilt on the table as we kissed like melting flames. And I remembered what it felt like to live in Spain. Wild wind, pine trees and sea men. Cigarette sunsets, bbq flames, kissing the sky with our heaven scent. You ask me if there is anything I ever need… maybe it would be nice. Maybe it would be nicer if we had a place of our own. Green eyes lets make love outside. Fuck it cos we still young.
Considering changing course because there’s a hottie doing sculpture. It’s a draught out here. No hotties. Zilch, nada, rien. Nada de nada tia. So fucking rare. In an environment with a ratio of 10 females to 1 male. Killer instinct kicks in.
Oh and let me tell you – this bitch was thirsty – thinking she was the white missy elliot. This gyal was all about the oatly milkshakes, track pants and fur bucket hats. I chew my hot pink nails and consider buying a bucket hat. Maybe I got it all wrong, maybe not showing off your beautiful derriere in 50s style high waisted Armani jeans, is the way to go. I stick my ass out when I walk past the hottie hoping he’s staring at me.
But he can’t stop laughing at the bucket hat’s shit jokes.
If only I could get his number.
Track pants, bucket hats and flannel is the only way to get some dick in this town.
Where girls claw at each others throats to fuck greasy boys from bands, and hug random strangers cos its all peace out bro one love.
I look outside and its fucking raining again. I Google: “how to tell if someone is flirting with you”. One of the signs is that they ignore you. If the ignoring gets really intense then you know they’re in to you… or maybe they’re really not… hard to tell really. The article says its all about instinct. My instinct is telling me I need to set light to the bucket hat.
The article finishes with: remember, eye contact is key!
Well, I’ve been searing holes into the back of this guys skull for weeks… sashaying my fine backside for his eyes to see, as I prowl around the photocopier seductively, swishing my hair to the right, paper and ink have never looked so interesting.
Ah Photocopiers, the backdrop of many a sexscapades. It got to the point where I was just printing random pieces of text I found on google just so I had a reason to walk towards the photocopier.
Spent precious time and Moneys doing this routine, but hey, sometimes needs must. I find English boys hard. But then I’ve been spoilt – Spanish boys are too easy to read. You can smell the lust everywhere cos its just too hot to be outside so you might as well do something productive whilst your home bound in summer cos its too hot to go out in the day. Clutching ice packs and sipping Tinto de Verano, whilst whispering things like “I’m gonna eat you” into your lovers ear.
Perfectly timed with the hip roll to the left… honestly I choreograph my seduction techniques for YOU and Im just getting ignored. But the article says it’s a sign that he’s shy. So there you go.
Might as well throw myself from the third floor, maybe that’ll catch his attention. Like, I accidentally just happened to fall from the window ledge whilst gazing ecstatically at the amazing pigeons, gathering on the rooftop and shitting in unison. He lunges from the window to save me, grabs my arm all Hollywood sunsets, ripped biceps, sweat and tears.
But, this is England. Fucking great Britain they call it. The land that invented Ribena and slavery. I dated a 29 year old who couldn’t drink water unless he’d added squash.