Thursday, 9 January 2020

Dissertation: Week 10

Written Work/Research-

Due to this being my last week before my deadline, I have been finishing my essay and editing any parts that needs it. The parts that have been completed were the conclusion and just a general spell check.

Practical-

I have finished my practical work from the questionnaire that I created about which emotion relates to which weather. I have had troubles with the practical due to a technical  issue with my computer, but I managed to fix it.


Dissertation: Week 9

Written Work/Research-

This week I have been focusing on pulling my essay apart to make sure everything is correct and in the right order. The problems that I have been having is trying to find the correct words to explain what I mean, but with help from study support I have been getting better.

I have also found another paper called 'Empathy, film and Brain" for my essay. I believe that this will help to backup my essay. 

Practical-

This week I have been focusing on my writing so haven't done any of my practical 

Dissertation: Week 8

Written Work/Research-

This week I have been making sure I have enough research into my final case study 'Anger' from inside out.


This series of clips on Youtube are about the making of inside out.

(Part 1)

(Part 2)

(Part 3)

(Part 4)

"Insides Out"

io_anger7.jpg

"Growing up can be a bumpy road, and it’s no exception for Riley, who is uprooted from her Midwest life when her father starts a new job in San Francisco. Like all of us, Riley is guided by her emotions – Joy, Fear, Anger, Disgust and Sadness. The emotions live in Headquarters, the control center inside Riley’s mind, where they help advise her through everyday life. As Riley and her emotions struggle to adjust to a new life in San Francisco, turmoil ensues in Headquarters. Although Joy, Riley’s main and most important emotion, tries to keep things positive, the emotions conflict on how best to navigate a new city, house and school."

"Anger
Anger feels very passionately about making sure things are fair for Riley. He has a fiery spirit and tends to explode (literally) when things don’t go as planned. He is quick to overreact and has little patience for life’s imperfections."

"Sadness
None of the other Emotions really understand what Sadness’s role is. Sadness would love to be more optimistic and helpful in keeping Riley happy, but she finds it so hard to be positive. Sometimes it seems like the best thing to do is just lie on the floor and have a good cry."

"Joy
Joy’s goal has always been to make sure Riley stays happy. She is lighthearted, optimistic and determined to find the fun in every situation. Joy sees challenges in Riley’s life as opportunities, and the less happy moments as hiccups on the way back to something great. As long as Riley is happy, so is Joy."

"Disgust
Disgust is highly opinionated, extremely honest and prevents Riley from getting poisoned – both physically and socially. She keeps a careful eye on the people, places and things that Riley comes into contact with – whether that’s broccoli or last year’s fashion trend. Disgust always has the best of intentions and refuses to lower her standards."

https://www.pixar.com/feature-films/inside-out

Disgust & Anger - Disney's INSIDE OUT Movie Clip


This clip is going to be the one that is used in the essay because it is a good example of when 'Anger' gets angry and uses his flame visual effects.

Practical-

For this week I have been looking at fog and how to make it realistic. I found this one a bit harder than the rain and lightning, due to trying to find the correct consistency for realistic fog.

"How to Create Realistic Fog in After Effects"

"Step 1: Create the Fog Layer
How to Create Realistic Fog in After Effects: Step 1

Create a simple white layer (Command+Y) and label it ‘Fog.’ Next, using the mask tool (Q), create a quick circle mask in the center of your composition. I prefer using this method to creating a shape layer because you can easily change the shape of the mask layer if you desire. Feather out the mask significantly (see example above).

Step 2: Add Turbulence
How to Create Realistic Fog in After Effects: Step 2

Apply the turbulent displace effect to your shape layer. You probably won’t see a big difference with the default settings. Try bumping up the values until you begin to see some interesting effects. For my example, I have ‘Amount’ set to 205 and the ‘Complexity’ set to 2. All the other settings are default at the moment.

Step 3: Animate the Fog
How to Create Realistic Fog in After Effects: Animating Turbulence

If you scene calls for fog to remain still, then you can skip this step, but if you want to give your fog an extra level of realism, you probably want to add a little movement to it. How much movement all depends on your frame. To do this, simply set keyframes to both the ‘Offset (Turbulence)’ parameter and the ‘Evolution Parameter’. In my example, I have the fog moving to the right at 30 pixels a second and the evolution progressing at an amount of 20 per second.

Step 4: Duplicate the Turbulence
How to Create Realistic Fog in After Effects: Step 4

If you want simply fluffy fog, then you can skip to the compositing process. But if you want your fog to look more wispy or have wind effects applied to it, you should follow the next two steps.

Duplicate the turbulent displace effect. In the new effect, simply increase the amount by around 50 and reduce the size by about the same. Drop the complexity to something around 1.5. All of this depends on the look you are going for, but, for our example, these are the settings we are going to use. You can also cut down on the wispiness by applying a gaussian blur as needed.

Step 5: Simulate Wind
How to Create Realistic Fog in After Effects: Step 5 - Simulate Wind

Now comes the fun part. If you manipulate both ‘Offset (Turbulence)’ and ‘Evolution’ with new values, you can simulate wind! It’s a really simple and cool effect that can produce some interesting results if you mess around with it. For further control, you could even parent the ‘Offset (Turbulence)’ layer to a null object or even apply a wiggle effect to simulate swirling winds.

Compositing Fog in After Effects

Step 1: Adjust the Position and Scale
Compositing Fog in After Effects: Step 1
Simply put, move your fog layer to the correct position in your composition and use the scale feature to scale your layer. Don’t worry — your effect shouldn’t pixelate.

Step 2: Set an Adjustment Layer
Compositing Fog in After Effects: Step 2 - Adjustment Layer

Create a new adjustment layer (Option+Command+Y). Next, position your adjustment layer under your ‘Fog’ layer and set the track matte to ‘Luma Matte.’ Your ‘Fog’ layer will disappear. Don’t worry… this is supposed to happen.

Step 3: Apply Effects to Adjustment Layer
Compositing Fog in After Effects: Step 3

In order to create realistic fog, we will want to make sure that the fog is not only colored, but also that it affects the layers underneath it. In order to do this we will probably want to desaturate, blur, and slightly color the background layers where the fog overlaps.

In our example, let’s apply a quick Hue/Saturation effect to the adjustment layer. Let’s turn the saturation down to -50 and the lightness up to 20. You should now begin to see your fog layer showing up. Now let’s add color.

My favorite effect to use when compositing is the curve effect, so let’s go ahead and add it. Now, it all depends on your color grade, but in most circumstances you will only want to affect the blue channel. Switch to the blue channel and grab the bottom left point and bring it up to [.9,1.2] (see image below.) Your fog should now have a little bit of a blue tint in the shadow areas and less in the highlights. This is exactly what we want.

The way you color will all depend on your scene, but in general you will want to always bring up the shadows and potentially bring down the whites if the scene is darker.

Lastly, add a gaussian blur to your adjustment layer. A value around 5 should do.

Step 4: Mask the Adjustment Layer
Compositing Fog in After Effects: Step 4 - Masking the Adjustment Layer

Mask out areas for the fog to sit behind. In our example I’ll go ahead and simply mask out the hill in the foreground.

Step 5: Duplicate as Needed
Compositing Fog in After Effects: Step 5 - Duplicate as Needed

For the best results, you can duplicate your ‘Fog’ and adjustment layer multiple times to create more realistic effects. A great way to sell your composite is to create a parallaxing effect where the foreground fog moves faster than the background fog, but it just depends on your individual scene and time constraints.

Step 6: Track If Needed
If your footage has some movement in it, you can track it and apply the information to your ‘Fog’ Layers. You don’t need to apply the data to your adjustment layers, just the ‘Fog’ layers."


https://www.rocketstock.com/blog/how-to-create-realistic-fog-in-after-effects/

I have finished my practical work from the questionnaire that I created about which emotion relates to which weather. I have had troubles with the practical due to a technical  issue with my computer, but I managed to fix it.


This is my fog scene. I found this one relatively easy and enjoyed creating it using the tutorial above. 

Dissertation: Week 7

Written Work/Research-

For this week I have been looking at Te ka from Moana and how pathetic fallacy is used within the character. I have been looking at articles and interviews to find the information.

"The Effects Tech Behind ‘Moana’"

"An often unheralded part of feature animation is the effects animation, and Walt Disney Animation Studios has continually ramped up its effects technology with each new release. A series of new interviews look into the latest developments made with water and fire simulations for Moana, which opens in U.S. theaters today."

" In terms of water effects, Disney had to tackle both ‘at sea’ simulations and shots where the ocean acts as a playful character. Additional simulation techniques were required to bring, Te Ká, the living volcano, to life."

https://www.cartoonbrew.com/feature-film/effects-tech-behind-moana-145202.html

By looking into both the water and fire simulations used in Moana, a I have now got a greater understanding of how they both interlink to make both visual effects interact with each other. This information can be used in my essay and potentially my practical.



"Te Fiti" and "Te Kā"

(Te Fiti)

(Te Kā)

"Te Fiti is a major character in Disney's 2016 animated feature film Moana. She is a goddess with the power to create life—an ability used to create the islands of Polynesia. After her heart had been stolen by the demigod Maui, she became Te Kā, a demon of earth and fire who serves as the main antagonist. With Te Kā in her place, the islands that Te Fiti created are slowly consumed by a life-killing darkness. Only by restoring Te Fiti's heart can the darkness be vanquished."

By having this information, I will be able to understand the character and its alter ego more and why the character becomes so angry. This information will therefore be useful for the essay. 

https://disney.fandom.com/wiki/Te_Fiti

Practical-

With this week I have been looking at rain and lightning in after effects and how to make it look realistic. I found this pretty easy to do and had no troubles.


This was the YouTube video that I used to know how to create it.








Dissertation: Week 6

Written Work/Research-

For my research work i have been watching interviews that have happened with staff who worked on frozen. By watching these, I'll have a better incite to how the film first started, what software was used and the main character 'Elsa' as she is going to be one of my case studies within the essay.




"Disney’s ‘Frozen’ to Warm Hearts This Week"


"The haunting tale of Hans Christian Andersen’s Snow Queen has been kicking around Disney since the 1940s, when Walt Disney himself was considering a full-fledged animated feature based on the story. The problematic fairy tale, which was first published in 1845, has lots of great imagery and is really about the healing power of love against a cold-hearted villainess who separates the story’s hero and heroine. But the story’s characters are not really fully developed and the plot doesn’t exactly lend itself easily to the demands of modern moviegoing audiences."

"As visually astounding as the movie looks, the directors tell us that finding a way to tell the story correctly and getting to the real heart of the tale were two of the movie’s biggest challenges."

"A key scene in the movie involves Elsa building a dazzling ice palace using her special magic. Members of the production team visited Quebec City to see an Ice Hotel to take notes on how light reflects and plays off snow and ice. “We had at least 50 effects artists and lighting artists working together to create that long shot,” says Lee. “It took about 30 hours to render just one frame; that’s 4,000 computers rendering one frame at a time. That’s why that scene is one of my favorites. It really represents the journey all of us took on that movie.”"


https://www.animationmagazine.net/features/disney-ice/

"“Frozen” Story Head Paul Briggs Talks About Truth in Storytelling"


"Paul Briggs, story department supervisor at Walt Disney Animation Studios and the Head of Story on Frozen, sat down with Cartoon Brew to talk about the importance of finding a place of truth when developing an animated film and the different paths that must be explored in order to discover the characters. In his role, Briggs is part of the studio’s story trust, and “keeper” of the “safe room,” which is the nickname for the Disney’s writer’s room where artists and writers feel safe to share personal things from their own lives to help inform the stories they are telling."

"One of the biggest changes that Chris Buck brought to the production was turning Andersen’s distant, abstract character of the Snow Queen, and Gerda, the protagonist trying to rescue a loved one from the curse of a frozen heart, into the sisters Elsa and Anna. This fundamentally changed the dynamic of the story to something more grounded and relatable."

"“Chris started with the simple idea of love,” says Briggs who has four sisters of his own. “The strength of familial love vs. romantic love.” The concept was then expanded to “love vs. fear,” which provided clearer guidance for the motivations of the principal characters. “Elsa lives in fear because she’s afraid she’s going to hurt the ones she loves, while Anna has so much love in her, but is never able to give it to anyone.”"

https://www.cartoonbrew.com/disney/frozen-story-head-paul-briggs-talks-about-truth-in-storytelling-92787.html

These articles will be quite important in the essay because it will help to have reliable information about why and how the animation was made. This will then be used in the essay.

Practical-

This week I will be looking at how to remove backgrounds in a video by looking at a number of different YouTube videos such as:







The reason for wanting to learn this skill is due to wanting the remove the background in a something that I have filmed. However, I have been finding it quite hard to remove.




Dissertation: Week 5

Written Work/Research-

For this week I have been looking at semiotics.
The definition is “The study of signs and symbols and their use or interpretation.”. Also,  I have found papers on this topic: A Companion to Film Theory, PARITOSH SINGH – ANIMATING INDIANNESS: A STUDY OF ASSIMILATING INDIAN IMAGES IN A WESTERN NARRATIVE (https://journal.animationstudies.org/paritosh-singh-animating-indianness-a-study-of-assimilating-indian-images-in-a-western-narrative/,



Practical-

I have been talking to Matt and I have decided to switch to after effects instead of Maya due to struggling to get to grips with the software. I know after effects quite well, and can pick up how to animate in it quite quickly. Therefore, I believe that this will be a more effective way for me to animate. 

I have also been filming again for the visual effects. This time I have used a different camera and the outcome has been better compared to the previous camera. I have also had to use a different actor, however I don't believe this has massively impacted the clips. 

When filming, I did have some issues with lighting due to it getting dark early, but I am hoping that I will be able to edit this to fit the weather animations.

I found these YouTube videos to help me:




Dissertation: Week 4

Written Work/Research-

This week, I have been focusing on psychology theories based on empathy and whether they could help support my idea of using visual effects to mirror a characters emotion can help the audience to empathise with the character more. The research that I have found is:

"Cognitive Empathy

By definition: Simply knowing how the other person feels and what they might be thinking. Sometimes called perspective-taking” - Daniel Goleman, renowned psychologist and author of the 1995 book Emotional Intelligence.

What it’s concerned with: Thought, understanding, intellect.

Benefits: Helps in negotiations, motivating other people, understanding diverse viewpoints.

Pitfalls: Can be disconnected from or ignore deep emotions; doesn’t put you in another’s shoes in a felt sense.

Cognitive Empathy is about thought as much as emotion.
It is defined by knowing, understanding, or comprehending on an intellectual level. As most of us know, to understand sadness is not the same thing as feeling sad.

I suspect that if I came home upset about losing a job, my own partner would respond this way. In the same way that a doctor can look at a sick patient and try to understand the parts of the illness rather than dive into the patient’s emotions—cognitive empathy responds to a problem with brainpower. My fiance, an engineer and pilot, turns his brain into high gear in situations like this. You could say it’s the way some people are wired, to understand emotions in terms of why they make sense for humans in certain situations.

This type of empathy can be a huge asset in circumstances where you need to “get inside another person’s head” or interact with tact and understanding. We talk about this is our blog “Emotional Intelligence and Empathy in Leadership.” On the other hand, cognitive empathy is in some ways like mixing apples and oranges. To truly understand another person’s feelings, don’t you in some sense have to be able to feel them yourself? Those who react with Cognitive Empathy risk seeming cold or detached."

"Emotional Empathy

By definition: “when you feel physically along with the other person, as though their emotions were contagious.” - Daniel Goldman

What it’s concerned with: feelings, physical sensation, mirror neurons in the brain.

Benefits: Helps in close interpersonal relationships and careers like coaching, marketing, management and HR.

Pitfalls: Can be overwhelming, or inappropriate in certain circumstances.

Emotional Empathy, just like is sounds, involves directly feeling the emotions that another person is feeling. You’ve probably heard of the term “empath,” meaning a person with the ability to fully take on the emotional and mental state of another. The quote that comes to mind is: “I have a lot of feelings.”

This type of response might seem disconnected from the brain and thinking, but as Goldman points out, emotional empathy is actually deeply rooted in a human’s mirror neurons. All animals have neurons that fire in a certain way when they see another animal acting, making them relate to that action in their own body and brain. Emotional empathy does exactly that with the feelings someone experiences in reaction to a situation.

When your partner—or anyone you deeply love—comes to you in tears, it’s a natural response to feel that pull on your heartstrings. Like crying at a wedding or cringing when someone stubs their toe, it’s a deep-seated, gut reaction that often feels like a visceral human response. Connecting with another human in this way is intimate and can form a strong bond.

Like Cognitive Empathy, Emotional Empathy has its flip-side. “One downside of emotional empathy occurs when people lack the ability to manage their own distressing emotions,” writes Goldman. “[This] can be seen in the psychological exhaustion that leads to burnout.” Feeling too much can make even small interactions overwhelming."

"Compassionate Empathy

By definition: “With this kind of empathy we not only understand a person’s predicament and feel with them, but are spontaneously moved to help, if needed.” - Daniel Goldman

What it’s concerned with: Intellect, emotion, and action.

Benefits: Considers the whole person.

Pitfalls: Few—this is the type of empathy that we’re usually striving for!

The majority of the time, Compassionate Empathy is the ideal. Cognitive Empathy may be fitting for political or monetary negotiations or surgeon’s offices; Emotional Empathy may be the first response in children and for our loved ones; Compassionate Empathy strikes a powerful balance of the two.

Feelings of the heart and thoughts of the brain are not opposites. In fact, they’re intricately connected. Compassionate Empathy honors that natural connection by considering both the felt senses and intellectual situation of another person.

When your loved one comes to you in tears, you want to understand why she is upset and you also want to provide comfort by sharing in her emotional experience and hopefully helping her heal. It’s a lot to handle!

Most of us will skew to one side or the other: more thinking or more feeling; more fixing or more wallowing.

Compassionate Empathy is taking the middle ground and using your emotional intelligence to correctly respond to the situation. Does your partner just need to be held? Does the situation call for quick action? Without either becoming overwhelmed by sadness or trying to fix things with logistics, compassion brings a mindful touch to tough situations.

When I think of empathy I often think of a teeter-totter. Go too far into another person’s psyche and do you risk losing yourself? Avoid diving into their world and are you missing out on an integral part of the human experience? Is too much feeling inappropriate? Too little, hurtful?

The truth is, not all situations are the same just like not all types of empathy are the same."

https://blog.heartmanity.com/the-three-kinds-of-empathy-emotional-cognitive-compassionate

https://www.academia.edu/2156675/The_Paradox_of_Fiction_and_the_Ethics_of_Empathy_Reconceiving_Dickenss_Realism

https://www.quora.com/What-is-somatic-empathy-How-does-it-work

https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog/hot-thought/201705/empathy-in-literature-and-film

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/269827577_Empathy_Film_and_the_Brain

https://www.academia.edu/23063629/Stadler_J._Empathy_and_Film._Routledge_Handbook_of_Philosophy_of_Empathy._Ed._Heidi_L._Maibom._New_York_Routledge_forthcoming_2016

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simulation_theory_of_empathy

The papers and information listed will be very useful for quote for my essay.


Practical-

For my practical this week I have been filming in the park for my work. However, when I had finished the filming and was about to edit, I found that the quality of the camera wasn't very good and wouldn't work for the animations that I wanted to put on it. Therefore, I will be having to reshoot the film's. The filming that I am wanting to capture is of someone I know doing "everyday things" and displaying different emotions while doing it to make it look as natural as possible. I am wanting to use a tripod to make sure the audience doesn't get directed with movement when watching this clips. This is because I am wanting to create visual effects that reflect a characters emotional state and I would like the audience to decide on whether by doing this it enables them to understand clearer what they are feeling and therefore feel more empathetic towards the character. 


Dissertation: Week 3

Written Work/Research-

For this week, I have been talking to Matt and study support about how to settle on what I should do for my dissertation. I have come to conclusion that I should look into the importance of visual effects and how it can complement/reflect a characters personality by using personification and/or pathetic fallacy.

How I came about this was due to me watching lots of interviews from the animation team of "Frozen" and "Moana". The interviews are useful as you are able to get a better insight into how their developmental process is done to create their visual effects. Not only that, the interviews from the team of "Moana" were particularly interesting due to the character animation team and vfx team had to work together to create personified visual effects.


Practical-

I have been working on trying to learn Maya still. I have managed to be able to get a hold of where everything is and and the vfx roughly work, but I still need to understand how to animate and control the vfx.

I have also been comparing the difference between realistic and "cartoon" rain to see if there will be a difference in how the audience perceives the character.

The clip below shows how Disney animates rain. I have found that for the most part of their films they tend to keep the environment fairly realistic.



For this clip that Pixar created, they made the overall look of the film realistic, but I believe that they have made the droplets look too over exaggerated.


These are examples of real rain scenarios to compare from in different intensities and environments.








Dissertation: Week 2

Written Work/Research-

For this week, I have been talking to Matt and study support about how to settle on what I should do for my dissertation. I have come to conclusion that I should look into the importance of visual effects and how it can complement/reflect a characters personality by using personification and/or pathetic fallacy.

How I came about this was due to me watching lots of interviews from the animation team of "Frozen" and "Moana". The interviews are useful as you are able to get a better insight into how their developmental process is done to create their visual effects. Not only that, the interviews from the team of "Moana" were particularly interesting due to the character animation team and vfx team had to work together to create personified visual effects.


Practical-

I have been working on trying to learn Maya still. I have managed to be able to get a hold of where everything is and and the vfx roughly work, but I still need to understand how to animate and control the vfx.


Dissertation: Week 1

Written Work/ Research-

For this week, I have been researching different software's/plugins that have been developed to enhance the overall look and physics simulator used to create a better viewing experience. The software's/plugins that I found was "Matterhorn" used to created the realistic snow in "Frozen" and "Splash", which was used to create the physics simulation of the water. The reason for researching this was because I originally wanted to explore proprietary physical based simulations for my Dissertation, as I am incredibly interested in the behind the scenes of how animations are made to look realistic. However, I have changed my mind on focusing on this topic as I believe it'll be too complicated.

Practical-

For my practical  have been experimenting with how to use Maya so I have started with animating rain. 


Wednesday, 8 January 2020

Week 20/11/19

For this week I am comparing the difference between realistic and "cartoon" rain to see if there will be a difference in how the audience perceives the character.

The clip below shows how Disney animates rain. I have found that for the most part of their films they tend to keep the environment fairly realistic.

For this clip that Pixar created, they made the overall look of the film realistic, but I believe that they have made the droplets look too over exaggerated.


These are examples of real rain scenarios to compare from in different intensities and environments.







Friday, 8 November 2019

Moana- Making of the water and fire vfx


https://www.iamag.co/making-of-moana-water-and-fire-effects/


Making of Moana


Disney Animation’s Matterhorn Advances Particle Graphics


In 2016 Disney released a paper about a software called Matterhorn. Matterhorn is a physics-based graphics, which was behind creating the 2013 Disney film Frozen. By using Material Point Method (MPM), it allows the animators to create highly efficient large quantities of snow to interact with characters when simulated. In 2016 Disney upgraded the software to be able to stimulate more materials such as: mud, foam and sand. 


Disney’s Matterhorn rendering technology makes quick work of illustrating realistic snow. (Source: Walt Disney Animation Studios)
"Disney’s Matterhorn rendering technology makes quick work of illustrating realistic snow. (Source: Walt Disney Animation Studios)"


How Matterhorn works




To create snow, software engineers must first isolate physical characteristics. (Source: Walt Disney Animation Studios)
"To create snow, software engineers must first isolate physical characteristics. (Source: Walt Disney Animation Studios)"

"Snow is a complex substance; on one hand it consists of individual grains and snowflakes, but on the other hand because each flake is so tiny as a mass they behave like a fluid. The Material Point Method uses both Cartesian grids and particles to represent the substance, and controls the strengths of each representation."
"Particles are the key illustration of the material. Every particle has a position, velocity, mass, deformation and further properties that control the appearance of the snow, such as stiffness, wetness, and breaking threshold. Each phase of the simulation upon the previous level. Since particles are not a decent base for computing material forces, they are primarily rasterized to a Cartesian grid, where the force computation is less complicated. These material forces act back on the particles, altering their velocities. Lastly, the particles are advected with their new velocities, generating the next frame of the simulation."
"Disney’s Matterhorn takes away the tedious work and helps the artist focus on the creative side of the project by solving animation production challenges like repetitive illustration of complex materials (snow, sand, water, fire, etc.). The video below provides greater detail."





https://gfxspeak.com/2016/08/19/animations-matterhorn-graphics/
https://www.disneyanimation.com/technology/innovations/matterhorn


Proposal

The importance of how pathetic fallacy in visual effects can complement a character’s temperament when used to reflect their emotions.

I propose for this dissertation, that I will explore how visual effects can be used to convey a character’s emotional state (pathetic fallacy), and how this use of pathetic fallacy may change the amount of empathy the audience has towards a character. By doing this, it will enable me to expand my 3D visual effects skills in “Maya”, and further my knowledge of how psychology can be used to increase the connection between an audience and an animation.

The first type of research I will be conducting will consist of analysing a range of films (hybrid, 2D and 3D animated) to form a case study. To decide on what films to watch I will be talking to peers, tutors, and using my own knowledge. With this starting information, I will then watch and listen to interviews of the animators and directors who have worked on the films chosen. By doing this, I will gain a better insight as to how they are made and what the thought processes were behind them. Also, I will be reading articles, books, and journals to understand empathy in relation to an audience.

To further my knowledge of ‘Maya’, I will be reading books and watching tutorials online to ensure I have a greater understanding of how elemental visual effects move within a 3D environment.

For my primary research, I will be talking to professionals within the psychology and VFX field via email. By doing this, I am hoping for original information on both the subject areas of what they have experienced, and what they know within their area of expertise.

The main case study I will be investigating will be the relationship ‘Elsa’ (from Frozen) has with snow, and how it’s used to reflect her emotions. I will also be exploring animated characters such as ‘Te Ka’ (from Moana) and ‘Anger’ (from Inside Out). Additionally, I will be looking into how pathetic fallacy is used in the theatre using smoke, light and sound. By doing this I will have additional examples of the use of pathetic fallacy, and the different degrees in which it relied upon to enhance the emotional narrative.

My practical outcome for this dissertation will be a series of short animations of a neutral character physically displaying a range of emotions in different scenarios, with 3D visual effects mirroring this. To ensure there is another animation to compare this by, there will be the same neutral character performing the same actions, but without the visual effects. By doing this, the audience will be able to indicate if the visual effects are more useful in certain situations and whether they will in turn have more empathy for the character.

After the completion of the animations, I will create a questionnaire on ‘Survey Monkey’ with the video, to judge if the use of pathetic fallacy through visual effects has altered the audience’s empathy for the character. Whilst the survey will be open to all over the age of 18, I will insure I have research whether gender, age and neurodiversity will have an effect, so I reflect in the analysis.

Tuesday, 28 May 2019

Study Task 8 - Reflective Writing

The question of my practical based is, "Does the use of using the ‘Gestalt Theory’ of visual perception, help to create a more effective ‘Alice in Wonderland’ background?". Therefore, in the practical part of my project, it is about how to create a more visually pleasing background. The reasoning behind this is because I would like to enhance my skills at drawing my interesting backgrounds for future projects. I believe that it is best to focus my on the outlines than colours if I don’t have enough time, as sketching the perspective and getting Gestalts principles are more important.
The main principles that I have been looking at are proximity, similarity, enclosure, symmetry, closure, continuity, connection and figure and ground. I have been focusing more on the use of symmetry and figure and ground because it creates a more interesting image. Whilst researching these principles, I have watched the 1949,1951 and 2010 ‘Alice in Wonderland'; read the book (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland) and played the game 'Alice: Madness Returns'. The reason behind this, is so I can get more of a sense of how the characters interact within their scenes and whether Alice has changed as a character through the years. Also, it gives me the ability to compare different forms of media.
My end goal for this project is to become a much better artist who can break more barriers whilst drawing. I believe that this is important as it will hopefully make my work stand out from the rest. For the rest of the project, I hope to create more backgrounds and possibly colour at least one in.


This is my first drawing that I did from the 'Alice:Madness Returns' game. I believe that this picture as a sketch, doesn't have much interesting to it.

Using a couple of images as inspiration, I drew this on Photoshop using the symmetry tool. I used different 'Gestalts' principles such as symmetry and figure and ground to create this. I believe by drawing in this manor for an 'Alice in Wonderland' style drawing is perfect.

That was created in the same manor as above. By drawing this piece in this way, it creates a hierarchy of chairs. This is good as Alice's seat is at the top of the table and she is a great importance of 'Wonderland'.

This piece was created the same as the previous two. As well as the principle symmetry, another principle called continuity was added. this can be seen with the use of the arrows. The reason for the arrows is to show the urgency of 'Alice' needing to go down the rabbit hole.
  

Study Task 6 - Planning a Practical


I intend to visually and practically investigate ➜ How different techniques in films is used to reflect the era of the character of ‘Alice’ in different interpretations of the book, “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland”

In order to do this I will:,.
(complete the following sections with specific examples, and a brief explanation of how you have made these decisions)

Primary Research

Identify, collect, record and evaluate visual material from the following sources:
- Watch ‘Alice in Wonderland’ 2010 and 1949
- read the book
-  play ‘Alice: Madness Returns’
-collect data from surveys I’ve made
Secondary research

Draw, photograph, record and develop my own visual material through the following activities:
-I will draw my own backgrounds using ‘Gestalts Theory’
-Take pictures of relevant places
-  research into ‘Gestalts theory’
- research how woman were perceived around the times of when each of the films, books or games was released and whether it influenced the main character Alice.

Media & Processes

Visually and practically explore my subject using the following media and processes:
I will use:
-Photoshop
-Illustrator
Context

Contextualise, reference, analyse my work in relation to the following practitioners/disciplines:
-Salvador Dali
-Mary Blair
-Tim Burton
- Aymeric Kevin








Study Task 5 - Practical Approaches



This website is really interesting as it give you details about Lewis Carroll and how he created the story.
"The story of how ‘Lewis Carroll’, the pen-name of Oxford don Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (1832-1898), created what he called his ‘fairy-tale of Alice’s adventures underground’ is immortalised in ‘All in the Golden Afternoon’, the poem that forms a preface to the book. The poem relates how Carroll’s young friend, Alice Liddell, and her two sisters demanded a story to pass the time when they were boating on the river Thames one summer’s afternoon.
Thus grew the tale of Wonderland:
Thus slowly, one by one,
Its quaint events were hammered out –
And now the tale is done.

Carroll turned the story into a handmade book for Alice Liddell, complete with illustrations he drew himself. Carroll’s drawings feature a dark-haired girl much more like Alice Liddell than Tenniel’s vision of Alice, and the book is full of references to the shared social and imaginative world Carroll and his young friend inhabited in and around Oxford. For instance, during the Mad Tea-Party the Dormouse tells a story about three little sisters, Elsie, Lacie, and Tillie, who live at the bottom of a treacle-well. As Martin Gardner points out in The Annotated Alice, the sisters’ names are coded references to the three Liddle (little) sisters: L.C. refers to Lorina Charlotte, Tillie is a corruption of Matilda, the family name for Edith, while Lacie is an anagram of Alice.[1]The Treacle Well refers to holy well associated with St. Frideswide, the patron saint of Oxford (‘treacle’ is an ancient term for a healing compound). Alice’s father, the Dean of Christ Church College where Charles Dodgson lived and taught mathematics, had recently commissioned a window in the saint’s honour for the college chapel. No doubt the Liddell sisters shared the fictional Alice’s perplexity at the idea of a well filled with treacle."

Salvador Dali has created many wonderful pieces of surrealistic artwork, which could be perfect inspiration for backgrounds."Dalí created twelve heliogravures for the occasion—one illustration for each chapter—as well as a four-color etching as the frontispiece. Only 2,700 of the edition were printed, and the artist signed each original etching." 

https://mymodernmet.com/salvador-dali-alice-in-wonderland/


This is one of the films that I would like to watch and use.


This give more indication as to what type of character Alice is and how to portray her brackgrounds.

"Alice is reasonable, well-trained, and polite. From the start, she is a miniature, middle-class Victorian "lady." Considered in this way, she is the perfect foil, or counterpoint, or contrast, for all the unsocial, bad-mannered eccentrics whom she meets in Wonderland. Alice's constant resource and strength is her courage. Time and again, her dignity, her directness, her conscientiousness, and her art of conversation all fail her. But when the chips are down, Alice reveals something to the Queen of Hearts — that is: spunk! Indeed, Alice has all the Victorian virtues, including a quaint capacity for rationalization; yet it is Alice's common sense that makes the quarrelsome Wonderland creatures seem perverse in spite of what they consider to be their "adult" identities."
https://www.cliffsnotes.com/literature/a/alices-adventures-in-wonderland/critical-essays/alice-as-a-character


I would also like to look at the 2010 Alice in Wonderland and compare it to the book and the 1949 film made in France.

"Alice in Wonderland is a 2010 American dark fantasy adventure film directed by Tim Burton from a screenplay written by Linda Woolverton. The film stars Johnny DeppAnne HathawayHelena Bonham CarterCrispin GloverMatt Lucas, and Mia Wasikowska, and features the voices of Alan RickmanStephen FryMichael Sheen, and Timothy Spall. Loosely inspired by Lewis Carroll's fantasy novels, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass, and Walt Disney's animated film of the same name from 1951, the film tells the story of a nineteen-year-old Alice Kingsleigh, who is told that she can restore the White Queen to her throne, with the help of the Mad Hatter. She is the only one who can slay the Jabberwocky, a dragon-like creature that is controlled by the Red Queen and terrorizes Underland's inhabitants. In this situation, Alice fights against the Red Queen to protect the world.
The film was produced by Walt Disney Pictures and shot in the United Kingdom and the United States. The film premiered in London at the Odeon Leicester Square on February 25, 2010, and was released in Australia on March 4, 2010, and the following day in the United Kingdom and the United States through the Disney Digital 3DRealD 3D, and IMAX 3D formats as well as in conventional theaters. It is also the second-highest-grossing film of 2010.
Alice in Wonderland received mixed reviews upon release; although praised for its visual style and special effects, the film was criticized for its lack of narrative coherence and overuse of computer-generated imagery (CGI). The film received three nominations at the 68th Golden Globe Awards, including Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. At the 83rd Academy AwardsAlice in Wonderland won Best Art Direction and Best Costume Design, and was also nominated for Best Visual Effects. The film generated over $1 billion in ticket sales and became the fifth highest-grossing film of all time during its theatrical run.[6]"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_in_Wonderland_(2010_film)



I need to know exactly what Visual Perception is so I have a better idea of how to use it.

"What is visual perception?

Visual perception refers to the brain’s ability to make sense of what the eyes see. This is not the same as visual acuity which refers to how clearly a person sees (for example “20/20 vision”). A person can have 20/20 vision and still have problems with visual perceptual processing."
https://childdevelopment.com.au/areas-of-concern/fine-motor-skills/visual-perception/



This video a short clip of me playing the 'Alice:Madness Returns' game. I have done this so I can use the scenes as inspiration for my work.