Film Studies & Cinematography - Exercises
26/8/2020 - 07/10/2020(Week 1-Week 7)
Alfie Koh Chen Fong (0340310)
Film Studies & Cinematography
Exercises
LECTURES
Week 2(02/09/2020)
Week 1(26/08/2020)
Due to MCO, we are able to attend the class online. In the first class which is on Wednesday, Mr Martin briefing all the projects that we will face afterwards. He also mentioned that the final project class will be combined with the Animation Fundamentals module to let us have a better experience regarding the animation.
In Friday's section, we watched an emotional film which is called “Song of the rain". The story is about a boy who met a little fox collecting rain. They started collecting the rain everywhere. Finally, the fox collected enough water and go back to its' place. (Fig 1.01)
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| Fig 1.01 Song of the rain |
We were told to look for the theme of the story, this film clearly shows the theme of friendship between the boy and the fox. Mr Martin also said different theme need to cover with different art styles. I think the art style of this film is really fit with its theme because it looks really emotional. With a dark tone of the town, the place of the fox shows a really warm colour tone which has a comparison and the feeling of hope in a dark place.
Week 2(02/09/2020)
This week, Mr Martin talking about the theme and character in storytelling. The theme reflects the characters' condition, it also gives a direction for the story. Mr Martin mentioned that it might be hard to find the theme of the story because the theme is not only can be found from visual, it is also an idea formed in our mind. We watched a video about "what if", which is a way that animators develop their story. It needs to drive our imagination, lock down the logic part of our brains. We also watched the animation "Up" to look at the character "Russell", trying to understand him by his reaction.
(Fig 1.02)
In Friday's section, we learned about character and world. Character is the subject or individual we follow on the journey of the story. The character performs the actions and speaks dialogue, moving the story along a plotline. An animation can be developed starting by a character, then build up the world. Also, it can be starting with a world, then build up a character. The story always came from a memory/idea/thought, but this initial idea is not the final artefact.
We also think about the "wants" and "needs" of the character. "Wants" is the character's desires, the character will do everything to get it. "Needs" is the character's realization, the characters will realize what they really need through the obstacle of the journey. The obstacle is something that stands in the way of a character obtaining what they want. The choices a character makes in order to overcome their obstacles and how they change as a result is called a character arc.
The character will also face at risk if they fail to achieve their goals, this is called stakes. Stakes can be classified to 3 different stakes such as:
External stakes: Physical (Life or death)
Internal stakes: Emotional (Broken heart)
Philosophical stakes: Values (Good vs Evil)
(Fig 1.02)
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| Fig 1.02 Russel from the animation "Up" |
In Friday's section, we learned about character and world. Character is the subject or individual we follow on the journey of the story. The character performs the actions and speaks dialogue, moving the story along a plotline. An animation can be developed starting by a character, then build up the world. Also, it can be starting with a world, then build up a character. The story always came from a memory/idea/thought, but this initial idea is not the final artefact.
We also think about the "wants" and "needs" of the character. "Wants" is the character's desires, the character will do everything to get it. "Needs" is the character's realization, the characters will realize what they really need through the obstacle of the journey. The obstacle is something that stands in the way of a character obtaining what they want. The choices a character makes in order to overcome their obstacles and how they change as a result is called a character arc.
The character will also face at risk if they fail to achieve their goals, this is called stakes. Stakes can be classified to 3 different stakes such as:
External stakes: Physical (Life or death)
Internal stakes: Emotional (Broken heart)
Philosophical stakes: Values (Good vs Evil)
INSTRUCTION
EXERCISES
Week 1(26/08/2020)
Exercise 1
Exercise 1
For the first week, we were assigned to do some exercises.
1. Think of a memory that we remember vividly and it is a memory that comes easily.
2. Think about why we remember the memory very well, try connecting it with one or more emotions.
3. Express the memory and emotion in some way. The goal is to get the memory out of our head. We can tell the memory to someone that we know. Can we make them feel the emotion?
Following the instruction above, we need to record a memory verbally and send it to Mr Martin. Also, write it out with less than a page and draw an abstract that can express the emotion.
Other than that, we need to choose a favourite animation, analyse the story's theme and how the protagonist's journey is told in relation to the theme. Below is the slide of the theme analysis for my most favourite animation "Princess Mononoke".
We were also assigned to watch any animation from Netflix that was suggested by Mr Martin, understand them and explain the character that impresses us the most from art direction point of view. Below is the slide I made for this assignment.
Week 2(02/09/2020)
Exercise 2
In this week's exercise, we need to answer some questions regarding the character of the animation
we chose.
1. Imagine a "what if" scenario from the animation we chose.
2. Identify 3 internal and external features of yourself.
3. Identify 3 internal and external features of the main character from the animation we chose.
4. How would these character responds if trapped in an elevator.
5. Draw or write a single page about what happens.
Below is my exercise 2.
Week 2(02/09/2020)
Exercise 2
In this week's exercise, we need to answer some questions regarding the character of the animation
we chose.
1. Imagine a "what if" scenario from the animation we chose.
2. Identify 3 internal and external features of yourself.
3. Identify 3 internal and external features of the main character from the animation we chose.
4. How would these character responds if trapped in an elevator.
5. Draw or write a single page about what happens.
Below is my exercise 2.
We were also assigned to think about the stakes that will be faced by the character. Three questions were provided to let us answer.
1. What was one important choice they had to make where the stakes were high?
2. What were the stakes?
3. Identify them as internal, external or philosophical.
Below is my exercise 3.
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