Canar y Yellow Thesis 1 . Fall 2012 . Instructor: Sassa Courtney Wells
My thesis is an animated short narrative surrounding the role of creativity and imagination in a child’s development. The animation looks at this through the perspective of a child because this is where most of us learn what ’s acceptable in terms of how to express creativity, as well as, the issue of how authority hinders creativity.
T h es is Statem ent
The narrative follows a little girl named Ava who draws a bird on her living room wall. This bird comes to life on several occasions, bringing Ava to an alternate world. Before she ever gets the chance to catch the bird, her mother pulls her back into reality and is scolded for drawing on the wall. I want the piece to show how society has a way of inhibiting the possibilities of creativity from the earliest points in our life.
On a personal scale, this piece serves as a thank you to my parents for always encouraging the creative process throughout my life and providing me the means to pursue my dreams in art and design. This piece is ultimately for them.
I m p erat i ve
On a grander scale, this piece serves as a commentary on how society reacts to moments of creativity. This piece also goes beyond the developmental stages to touch upon the impact of imagination on a global level; how it progresses society and how imagination inspires agency across the world.
V is ual Treatm ent & P ro ces s The format of my thesis piece is a digitally illustrated 2D animation. I wanted to enhance the whimsical quality of the piece through the incorporation of an almost impressionist aesthetic. This impressionist and post-impressionist use of brushwork by artists such as Georges Seurat and Van Gogh have been very influential in my design process. Another primary source of inspiration comes from the art of woodblocking, researching various contemporary woodblock artists such as Daniel Danger. Both influences will be used in my thesis to add a childlike energy to the piece. My process for creating the narrative included looking at other child-based narratives such as Alice in Wonderland while also reflecting on aspects of my own childhood to facilitate the imagery and story line of the piece. The character was inspired by a little seven-year-old girl named Ava (as photographed by Emma Pratte).
photographed by Emma Pratte
Res earc h The research put into this project has come to focus on the role of creativity and imagination in childhood development and the progress of modernity as a whole. The issue of cutting funding for the arts across schools in the U.S. is nothing new, but it shouldn’t be taken with any less concern. Being a student in a creative field, I find the issue threatening to the future of art and design, but it goes far beyond this concern. Art expands a child’s ability to interact with the world and accumulate a new set of skills for self expression and communication. It not only helps develop the right side of the brain, but also cultivates vital skills that benefit a child’s development including communication skills, fine motor skills, problem solving skills, social and emotional skills and fine motor skills. Art is the area where expression and creativity can run wild. Art and imagination matter the same way that language matters; its what makes us fundamentally human. Society
forgets to acknowledge the skills gained from art and imagination, but it is imagination which drives progress and fuels modernity. “The imagination is now central to all forms of agency, is itself a social fact, and is the key component of the new global order.” (Appadurai, Modernity at Large p.31) With a growing sense of accessibility to the world through the rise in mass media and migration in shorter amounts of time, the realm of imagination has expanded from specific disciplines and groups of people to a process of the everyday, becoming a means of modernizing the world and driving progress in the most remote of locations. It differs greatly from fantasy in that it brings with it a sense of agency; a source for inspiration.
Res earc h “If you’re not prepared to be wrong, you’ll never come up with anything original.” h t t p : //www.te d .co m /t a l k s / l a n g /e n / ke n _ ro b inson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html A range of non-profit organizations have come to focus on early childhood development and role of the imagination and play. h t t p : //w w w. u n i c e f . o r g /e a r l y c h i l d h o o d / i n dex_3870.html http://kaboom.org/
photographed by Emma Pratte
Le Cerf Pierre
Animated inspiration includes works such as Le Cerf Pierre, Una Pieza Mas, The Renter. These pieces have been my primary source of influence in their use of color, texture and treatment of backgrounds
P rece d ents
Una Pieza Mas
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The Renter
Woodblock visual precedents include works from Daniel Danger, Sharecropper Catlett, MC Escher and Justin Catania. I have been drawn to a woodblock aesthetic with the use of blocks of color (lighter in the background and darker in the foreground), a limited color palette and texture. I also want to experiment with using borders or frames around each scene.
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The Impressionist/Post-Impressionist artists which influenced the brushwork and use of color in my piece include Claude Monet, Paul Signac, Georges Seurat and Van Gogh.
P rece d ents
P rotot y p e Shot Sequence List Scene 1: Living Room - close up shot of crayons – hand grabs one - pan across a living room to show Ava drawing on the wall – the illustration is a bird - Ava looks at her drawing – as the camera pans in on the illustration, the bird blinks - completely surprised, Ava jumps to her feet – drops her crayon as the bird fills with color and come to life, it starts to fly around the room (glowing) - Ava curiously follows the bird – running under the coffee table and climbing on the couch - close up shot of Ava as she runs into a giant leg – shocked, she looks up to see her mother with her arms crossed (as she notices the drawing of the bird on the wall) - the bird flies behind her mom – the drift blowing her hair, but as she looks back there
is nothing there - she looks at Ava – with the drawing of the bird on the wall in site behind her - cut shot to close up of Ava bitterly scrubbing the drawing of the bird off the wall – her mother pats her on the head and walks off Scene 2: Kitchen - low perspective shot of Ava walking into the kitchen where her mother is making dinner – she grabs a stool and brings it over to the counter - close up shot of Ava’s face looking over the kitchen counter – watching her mother ’s hands prepare food - a feather falls down next to her hand – she looks up to see the bird - Ava looks back at her mother – she watches her walk out of the frame - looking back at the bird, Ava proceeds to climb onto the kitchen counter
P rotot y p e - as she climbs the counter following the bird – camera pans out to show her now climbing a tree surrounded by antique hanging bird cages/houses - she follows the bird into one of the bird cages - inside there is a long table set with tea and cakes – the bird is perched at the opposite end - she walks over to the table and sits down – she looks over at the bird - close up shot of the bird tilting its head and looking back - before Ava reaches out to grab a piece of cake, two hands pull her back - shot cuts to Ava’s mother pulling her out from underneath the kitchen table and places her in - a chair to eat her dinner - Ava, with a very frustrated face, picks up her fork - her mother looks over to see a feather on the counter
Scene 3: Ava’s Bedroom - shot of the bedroom door as Ava (in her mother ’s arms) enters the room – putting her in bed - close up shot of Ava’s face as the blanket is pulled up and her mother kisses her on her forehead - shot looking up at the ceiling – her mother ’s face leaves the frame – she continues to stare at the ceiling fan - the bird suddenly flies over – Ava sits up - as Ava sits up, she finds herself in a boat in the clouds – with the bird perched in front of her - she exchanges gazes with the bird - Ava looks out into the clouds around her – other birds begin to fly by (all of which are glowing as well) – more and more continue to fly by as she becomes completely engulfed - Ava’s boat continues to fly through the clouds – using the wind of the birds to carry
- Ava reaches out to touch her bird (perched at the front of the boat) and falls overboard - Ava falls into a pile of pillows on the floor her mother walks over holding something in her hand (glowing) - she opens her hand – she’s holding Ava’s bird Ava and her mother exchange smiles - they both walk over to the bedroom window and let the bird fly out the window into the night - final shot is a close of up Ava’s face smiling as she peers over the windowsill and her mother kisses her on her head
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P rotot y p e Story Boards
Characters
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Assets
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Assets
P rotot y p e Styleframes
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I made the decision to revise my original story line to tighten the narrative and give the piece more structure. The new story incorporated more interaction with the mother and Ava in order to really solidify the original themes and motivations behind the piece which I felt were not accomplished in the first version. After revising the story, I was given very helpful feedback from the class regarding the direction of the piece and which elements from the previous story should be incorporated into the new version. There were concerns for particular scenes within the piece regarding Ava’s safety – it was important to make the fantastical scenes exciting, but not shift the focus of the piece away from the positive aspects of creativity and imagination. I believe this was successfully accomplished in the final version of the story. In the fall semester final review, I received valuable feedback from three guest critics: Paul Imperio from Suspect, Tibo Charroppin from Flickrlab and Magnus Atom from Omega Darling. They agreed that the color palette should be more vibrant to enhance the play-
ful, child-like quality of the piece, especially within the fantasy scenes. Paul emphasized the significance of exaggerating the perspective within each shot composition and suggested editing down the scenes which pull Ava back into reality. As I continue on with the assets I will keep these points in mind. Production Schedule 12.10.12 12.17.12 12.24.12 12.31.12 1.7.13 1.14.13 1.21.13 1.28.13 2.4.13 2.11.13 2.18.13
tree backgrounds tree backgrounds bedroom backgrounds bedroom backgrounds cloud backgrounds backgroundcoloring/finalizing character revisions character revisions remaining asset revisions animate animate
Fee dba c k
Thesis 1 . Fall 2012 . Instructor: Sassa Courtney Wells