Hello animators,
I've been thinking about the style of the project.
David, I have read your ideas with interest, and offer the following response...
Yesterday, we were shown the two top films from last years collaborative project. Both films were very contemporary and abstract in style both visually and musically.
Considering that there were the chosen 'ideal' films from last year, I believe that the best way forward would be to challenge our own comfort zones, and to step into this world of abstraction. The reality for me is that we have placed ourselves in an environment where we are asking others (our tutors and our peers) to expand and inform our creativity, and to give us the necessary tools to work at a professional level in our chosen industries. To that end; if the quietly given undertone of the project is one of a certain level of abstraction, then I think we should embrace this, and step into the unknown! (Aargh; I feel my skin rising in goosebumps, I am horripilating!!)
If you can see some logic in my idea here, perhaps we can explore further the idea of making the film in an introductory nature, somehow visually introducing tension and unease without any reference to a specific story line.
The use of images not quite discernible, shadows, and other masking visual techniques could be employed? (I don't know the terminology or technology that you have at your disposal for this kind of thing). Also thinking aloud, I believe there is sometimes a technique used in horror movies that flashes single frames of disturbing images, too quick to be registered, but nonetheless there and subtly discomforting?
I will start working on some sound clips to give you a reference point for the music.
...x
So this blogging.
ReplyDeleteIs it addictive?
Where's the spell check.
I think before you can animate anything you have to have a basic narrative, a storyline.
You need to be going from somewhere to somewhere else. But I agree it does not have to be a physical journey.
The animation does not have to be figurative or litural, but the images do need a rationale. A reason for being the shape there are.
For example the cow stomach sequence, used regconisable forms, plants, flowers vegation, intestine.
The theme was clearly one thing consuming another and regurgiting the digestion in a new form of energy/life.
In one sense you could say the cow thing was not abstract, because each elemenmt had a clearly identifiable form. To my mind a certain level of abstraction was achieved by the weighless void/space the objects inhabitated.
Also, it seems to me, that to be scarry you have to identify the object as something that scares. If spiders are the scare, a shape has to be sufficiently spiderlike in shape and movement to invoke the fear.
If you wantd to, you could read my narrative in a much looser way. The gothic door is the barrier/membrane you pass through to get to the other side. So now its not a door but a viscid barrrier that separates spooky from normal. Even on the other side there is still good and bad, because these values are always subjective, which is separated by a boundary, railway lines, but it could be a spacial void or time separation. Hovering between these two forces/environments/spaces is an entity (the cloak, but it could ba spooky spirit form/shape)that can be blown either way by the chance fortunes of life. In this case to the spooky scary side. Where all the nasty visual things/events occurr. Eventually the space/frame/landscape becomes 100% scary and the normal rational safe ordinary world is lost,the lights go out.
d2s
cool. let's see of the others come up with any thoughts. I like your adaptation of ideas there.
ReplyDeleteHello Horripilaters!!
ReplyDeleteI've read your scenario David and there are some interesting parts in it. This is what i think about so let me know your comments everyone. We could use the Gothic church, the door opening and traveling through to a new sinister environment, we can use rain as an add-on effect, and gigantic insect (shadows maybe) or any other type of shadows (someone holding a knife, a monster etc). In my opinion it would be best though to use all these ideas without trying to convey a story behind these incidents. I think that keeping the viewer in a stage of experiencing an unknown and mysterious happening, will creep them more out. We can achieve that by keeping an abstract pacing and timing on when the imagery or videos are appearing instead of having them in a specific order conveying a story behind them. I believe keeping the viewers guessing will be more effective. I would like to have the audience freaking out and still wanting to see more so they can freak more out. Making a sequence that can be comprehend as a story has the risk of coming out as boring to some people if we fail to capture their attention or if the way we'll tell the "story" wont get their interest. Having no story behind the imagery i think will keep the audience being curious about what is going on.
In other words we could work with your ideas and also think of more like these, but keep an abstract pacing and timing throughout the whole sequence. Nothing to link, nothing to fit AND NO ONE being able to tell what is happening or is about to happen so they can freak out. This way we it will also be easier to have shots with just sound or just imagery or both, or just silence. In my opinion it will be a lot easier to animate and easier to make the sound as well (Nikki correct me if I am wrong regarding the sound).
I also have a few ideas to add:
The word horripilation could be spelled out at the end of our sequence by zooming out with the camera and having the city lights turn off, leaving some of them on to spell the word.They can then change in to our names as credits.
we can use: Scary sunsets, Full moon, burning fire and smoke, disintegration to smoke or dust, creepy faces rapidly appearing and/or a batch of images appearing really fast one after the other.
The floor cracking and shining flames coming out of the cracks (they can spell the word Horripilation)
Blood spilling and drooping on the camera. The camera lens breaking like something has hit it, or have transitions from one cut-scene to another cut-scene by having the image/video ripped in two pieces.
sound of steps walking and running. screams. Sounds of unknown objects falling on the ground (we can have no visual imagery there and let the sound do its part, as we said: close your eyes or your ears). thunders maybe could fit.
I look forward to your comments.
Hmm,
ReplyDeleteJust thought...maybe you could start with a video shot, something running up from behind the camera, then the unseen thing breaking the camera lens. Subsequent images could be distorted as if through a cracked lens?