25th of April 2013

We Planned out exactly what is need to happen over the next week.

Its our goal to start filming on Monday and Tuesday and leave Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday for video editing it is our aim to be finished by Friday.

I planned out all the equipment and The various different apparatus we are going to have to acquire in order to film the Title Sequence.
We Encountered a few problems.

• Those being that we need to make or get something to move the Torch light in a fluid arch motion and hold it stationary at each point along the way.
• We still need to get the dance choreography together.
• The mannequin that we have is not as flexible as we would like it to be so we have to take off its legs and re-attach them with blu tack or some other means.
•  Filming it some of the angles may prove tricky

 

Micheal came up with an idea for the Basin we are going to Need and Elaine and i Went down to the materials store to get it made. We will see how that turns out tomorrow.

 

I put my story board to the soundtrack with the rough timing we had planned out for it

 

 

For Monday and Tuesday we have a list of things we need to get.

•  Black fake fingernails /E
• White face paint /I
• Black Board /M
• White board /M
• Dancer /E
• Torch /I/E/M/
• Dance choreograph /I/E/M/
• Feathers /M
• Nail Varnish /E
• Rubbish Bin Bags /I
• Red water Ink or food dye /M
• Paper = Origami swans /I/E
• Basin I/E/M
• Mirror I/E
• Styrofoam cups /I
• Thread and hairdryer /M
• Hairspray/E
• Light rig I/E/M
• Tripods I/M/E
• Small mirror /?/I
• Hammer /I

 

The ones i have to get.

• White face paint
• Torch
• Dance choreography
• rubbish bin bags
• paper/origami swan
• basin
• mirror
• Styrofoam cup
• light rig
• tripod
• hammer
 
 

22nd and 23rd of April 2013

I made a rough story board and as a group we planned out the timing of animation.
In total we estimated that it would take 1 minute and 11 seconds although it will probably be a bit longer when we concider title sequences in greater detail.

I  found it difficult to explain how the shadow is filled with the next scene.

 

Unincluded is the the end when the hands fade out to black and the screen smashs reveiling the title.

 

 Elaine found the audio for the piece we all agreed that it would work well http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUpaJqyfVjk

Treatment File

Treatment File

Concept:

The title sequence we have chosen is for the psychological thriller“Black Swan”. We plan to foreshadow the movie through a mixture of both still imagery and digital media, in the hope of creating a dark, unsettling atmosphere. Our inspiration came from the film maker/graphic designer Saul Bass, in particular his title sequence for “Cape Fear”, along with our studies of "Swan Lake", ballet, "LaBoca" and origami. By using these as references we hope to create a tempo which will mimic the above movie, through a simplistic and modern style.

Technique and Approach:

This will be produced using both motion and still imagery, incorporating many different materials such as feathers, paper, water, milk, fire, smoke, nail varnish, mirrors, wire, wood and ink, which we will create and shoot together.

Aesthetics/Mood Board:

The Following are examples of images which we found particularly influential in our research on this topic and are the basis of our mood board.

The colour scheme stands out along with the echoed movement of the arms, making the swans wings.
The inspiration for the poster comes from Polish and Czech posters from the 60s.

The transparent feathers showing a ballet dancer is a clever technique.
All so the feathers themselves seem to be dancing.
The colour scheme was also worth noting as it conveys a similar feeling to the movie.

The simplicity of both the image, type and colours used is powerful.

Mirrored inverted image using the opposing colours of black and white.

This Image not only ties in with our colour scheme but has a blood like quality, from which the jumping figures add a dramatic effect.

The origami and the contrast between black and white in the above image has a delicate and very relevant theme to "Black Swan", simply executed with the style which we plan to use in our production.



The wing effect and how its attached to the figure.

We like how the ballerinas reflection is mirrored in floor, playing with the recurrent theme of self-analyisation within "Black Swan", which we also hope to convey in the title sequence.

We found it worth keeping as a technique to have something going on in a silhouette.
The colour scheme once again being black white and red. This piece all so deals with reflections.

The above picture caught our eye as it plays with the distorion of shadows which could be very effective. As you can see, below we experimented with such an idea which produced a very striking image.

Audio:

Due to the classical nature of this film, we plan to use classical music within our sequence. The chimes of a music box are also very relevant to our clip and add an eerie atmosphere to the sequence which prevails throughout “Black Swan”.
The following are a few audios which we are using as reference;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D3h-lLj3xv4 (The begining of this clip has the music box
effect mentioned above)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCtgTpxgwjc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACbISZmS_ro
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBFXJw7n-fU

Sequence of Events/Shot List:

• The opening shot of our title sequence begins with a blackout.
• From this blackout a strong spotlight appears on a still ballerina, centre stage. This ballerina will be a stylised, wooden mannequin which will then proceed to dance across the scene, revealing a title in the light as it does so.
• The spotlight will then alter to create a sharp shadow of the dancer on the black background, which will continue to dance across the shot. However, as the shadow silhouette moves across screne, a background of falling white feathers can been seen through it as if it were transparent.The camera then starts to zoom into the figure of the silhouette as the density of the feathers gradually increase, until it is a close up of just the feathers.
• Using a black nail varnish technique, these feathers will have fallen onto the layer of varnished water, at which point we will tear the surface layer to create the effect of ripping skin.
• After the surface layer is removed from the frame we will introduce a white orgami swan who floats to a mirror wall which is placed in the water. This will give the swan a refection which we then hope to manipulate, by burning it.
• Next the camera will focus on the smoke rising from the burning orgami swan in the reflection, which forms the ballerinas shape as it rises. At that point the spot light from the begining will come back on and male hands will enter it in an attempt to grasp the ballerina, but she will disperse as the hands try to grab her.
• At this, the entire screen will smash, as this was all hapening in the mirror, leaving only the title of the film in the frame.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCtgTpxgwjc

17th of april 2013

What does "Black Swan Deal" with? (Spoiler alert!)
Personally i see themes such as
" The expectation of woman in soceity  "
The protaganist is driven by the aim to become perfect. The pressure of  trying to live up to the perfect image was far to difficult. This results in her demise. The protaganists fatail wound was inflicted upon herself by herself using a shard of mirror. I read this as symbolic of how her body image and trying to live up to it has ended up killing her.
The protaganist also is dealing with self harm by scratching herself and anorexia.
In the beginning of the movie Natalie Portmans charachter starts seeing dopelgangers of herself everywhere she goes. There is a myth asociated with

"Doppelgängers often are perceived as a sinister form of bilocation and are regarded by some to be harbingers of bad luck. In some traditions, a doppelgänger seen by a person's friends or relatives portends illness or danger, while seeing one's own doppelgänger is said to be an omen of death."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doppelg%C3%A4nger 25/04/2013 16:43

The movie focuses in heavily on the idea of image and warping and distorting self images using reflections and paintings.

Another theme of the movie is her sexual awakening.

15th of april 2013

Paul got us to have a group discussion.Elaine and I brainstormed a bit. Talked about making a origami swan in flash/ playing with shadows/mirrors/ Jewelry box/ said we should look at a  "Series of unfortunate events"  opening title sequence.
We both agreed that the predominate colours of the movie were Black white and a touch of red.
I suggested maybe taking the audio to swan lake and slowing it down and echoing it.

To do list

Today i have to get the music to swan lake and play around with it in audacity and make a communal blog between the 3 of us. Elaine's task is to look at typography and get the credits. For tomorrow both Elaine and I have to plan out a rough concept idea. In the forum of a time line and continue experimenting. We all have to watch "Black Swan" as a group.

Ideas

Milk and ink together then add washing up liquid. This results in the ink spreading out as it gets pushed by the washing up liquid across the surface of the milk. This might create an interesting effect. If i add to a basin of milk with a drop of black ink in it an origami swan with washing up liquid on the bottom of it. the swan will look as if the ink is coming form it.

Another idea involves filming the folding and the creasing of an origami swan and as the movements are being conducted have the credits appearing. then when the swan is completed situate it in front of a mirror and set it on fire. This swan shall crumble and turn to ash however have the mirror version edited so that a black swan grows int he mirror as the white swan is destroyed.

In regards to the title  "Black Swan" i think we should have The "Black" in black and the "Swan" in white.

Elaine suggested that maybe ballerina made out of wax.
Idea of putting a black swan within the was ballerina that would be revealed as it melted.

Mike Fox - Materials talk

We were given a talk from Mike Fox in regards to the materials we use. We were told to check out the book "The sculptors bible"

Key words from the talk
Structures/Forms/textures
Wire/wood/plaster/bronze
"Belgian Waffle" jimmy Bundenars - Burning Man
 Bamboo+ Hammer/metal/aluminium/metal mesh's/paper/cardboard-pva with water-clamp+weight+sanded-cut.
Form/formed/moulded/carved/modelled
forming/hammering-heat forming=shibori/Laminating/stretching
Mould making+ casting polystyrene/resin/vacuum former/Latex wax/ Plaster/ jasminite = acrylic material /metal fillings/fibre glass casting for multiples = plasticine
carving/ foam/plaster/polystyrene /expanding foam for around piped put into a box and then carve./hot wire/carvers
Modelling/wax/modelling/clay modelling/plasticine/Newplast
texture/tooled/folded/creased/pressed/weathered/patinated

friday 12th of april 2013

Life drawing class.

holding the charcoal as if it was a dagger.

thursday the 11th of april 2013

I made two different types of origami swans. The one on the left is simply made and the one on the right  takes a  bit of time.

http://www.origami-instructions.com/origami-swan.html

http://www.origamiway.com/origami-swan.shtml

I put them on fire and recorded it. I sped up/ inverted and reversed the footage  

The thought came to use the ash to spell out the title.

the burning looked more interesting from this angle

Ideas

Make out of swan lake music sheet.

Invert in a mirror

Mirrors either side reflecting the swan 

Make out of black paper and then invert 

Ice/salt/sugar 

set on fire in water 

use ash to make a black square that then grows using stopmotion into a black swan.

Film Title Sequence 8th 9th 10th of April 2013

Our new project is to create a title sequence.
We were put into groups. I am with Micheal and Elaine.
We had a list of movies to choose from.
We narrowed it down to "Pulp fiction" and "Black Swan".
I watched "Black Swan" It was disturbing but i think it is the best choice of the two.
We are going to experiment with origami swans and burning and reversing the clip.
The idea came up to do a ballet with origami swans.
I'm thinking that maybe we should tell the story of swan lake as the title sequence.

Here where the things that stood out at me while watching black swan. (Spoilers)
Spotlight
seeing herself everywhere
white swan = virgin --> black swan = seductress
Sexual awakening
Steals
Bones of a swan in the background
eyes of a painting follow her
Anorexia
Enve
Polarities of black and white good and evil
scratches herself
Swan lake
mirror self moves independently
Sun setting
killed by a piece of mirror
"I was perfect"

Movie seemed to be a social commentary on how women are only valued for there looks.
All she ever wanted was to be perfect.
The shard of the mirror she stabs herself with might have been a figurative way of telling us that it was trying to live up to her own standards killed her.

Darra brought us to the hunt museum today. We watched the film burn and the film the sitting room.
He gave us our animation essay titles.

In ccs we looked that the world of 19th century "Pre Raphael brotherhood" and "The arts and crafts Movement"

Looked up a synopsis to swan lake 

http://classicalmusic.about.com/od/balletsynopses/a/swanlakestory.htm