Major Project: Props and Cake Assets Research

Being my animation revolving around the world of cakes and sweets, I have decided to research props that i will be using the most in my world. As I chose the patissier to decorate the most fabulous wedding cake, I focused this research on understanding what is used to decorate wedding cakes.

Indeed wedding cakes are available in many shapes and forms, and have numerous assets that can be put on to add flavour or merely decorate the cake. However to be more specific, I had to decide how my cook would look like, and what additions it would have. 

By having the base of the cake already cooked, which would consist in a simple vanilla or chocolate batter, I will add the following components: 

- Icing or butter cream to coat the cake base, plain and chocolate, this will allow the cake to lavished in white and brown cream as the preparation for the decoration.

- Fruits such as cherries or strawberries.

-Adding flavour with nuts and chocolate sprinkles.

- Icing sugar decorations such as petals or doves.

- The most iconic figures on the cake, the wedding toppers, the bride and the groom.

Alongside researching the components that are in the decoration of a wedding, i have also looked at the way of decorating it, I found a few videos, which showed a step-by- step how to decorate a wedding cake. this will help me to stage the animation, as well as understanding how each step is done. Although, I wont be showing an exact replica of each step on my animation, it will help me decide on which movements my character will want to convey. 

As you may see to decorate a cake, everybody follows the same steps in the same order:

- Apply icing or butter cream onto the cake.
- Add ribbons.
- Decorate with frosting around the cake.
- Apply fruits, nuts and chocolate sprinkles.
- Add icing sugar details (doves and petals).
- End by adding the wedding toppers.

Alongside these videos, I found slightly different one, which works as a gallery to showcase different wedding cakes.

Wedding Cake Gallery

After such a delicious research, I just feel like stuff myself with a lot of sweets, ohh.... the sacrifices of research!

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Major Project: Time Period and Environment Research

With the character initially researched, I decided to move onto understanding the world in which this character is living. As I want to set my animation in France in the beginning of the 20th century, I began researching how live was being lived back then and how a patisserie would look like, from the interior to the exterior. Although, the environment is not the most important thing on this animation, it still plays an important role in making the short film believable.

Here is a influence map I have created for the patisserie environment in France around 1900's:

To complete my research in understanding how people lived in this era, I have also found a couple of vey informative videos, they show the social live of  France in this period, and mainly the designs of the buildins, monuments and stores. 

As part of the animation is set in a fictional cake world, where our patissier is imaging the cake decoration.I have decided to research how this world would look like. For that purpose I found a few pictures. 

Research for the "Cake" World 

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs

Al Dente

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Wizard of OZ

As I mentioned on a previous post, iwant the "cake" World to have a specific look, I want the objects of this world to be oversized and to have very vivid colours, very bold, to evoke the idea of sweetness.

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Major Project- Research: Art Direction and Character Stylisation

As I want to create a feel good animation, I have chosen to use a particular look for my world. The world of the Patissier will be a soft, rounded delightful world, with vivid colours delicious assets, this hopefully will also help to evoke happiness and joy as we follow he Patissier make the cake.

Therefore I looked at a few examples:

I have looked at:

Animation:

-Bill Plympton
- Heavenly Appeals by David Lisbe.
- Love Recipe by Supinfocom School
- Al Dente by Supinfocom School
- Parigot by School George Mellies
- Cosmos by Supinfocom School
- Fantasia by Walt Disney
- One Man Band by Pixar Studios


Films:
- Wizard of Oz
- Willy Wonka Chocolate Factory
- Charlie Chocolate Factory


As you may perceive, what these films and animations share in common is the visuals, strongly vivid pastel colours. Colour will be one of the vehicles to evoke happiness and joy.


Meanwhile, I have began looking at the character and how I want to go on stylising it. Belonging to a very specific style of animation (rubber hose), this will allow me to have the freedom to stylise my character as much as I want, then I will be able to apply squash and stretch features on the rig.

For Character Stylisation, I looked at:

Animation Characters: 

- Brett Bean Characters

- The Incredibles by Pixar Studios.

- Ratatouille by Pixar Studios.

- Tangled by Disney.

- Snow White and the Seven Dwarves by Disney.

- Fantasia by Disney.

- Elmer Fudd from Looney Toons.

-Bill Plympton Characters.

-How to Train your Dragon by Dreamworks.

- Despicable Me.

- Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.

For my animation, I want to the character to assume a really stylised form, just so I can apply squash and stretch and exaggeration without looking repulsive. Stylisation will also allow me to explore the designs and create a more appealing one. 

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Major Project- So Research begins

Having pretty much the main idea decided I began to research many aspects of the animation, just so the world I am creating becomes believable as well as understanding what gags can be applied to the world of the animation.
Firstly I decided to sketch up a quick diagram containing a lot of the research I have been looking into, this will allow me to quickly look at my body of research for further reference. This is a organised way of displaying the influences for my animation.

Being a diagram it will allow me also to add any more titles in each respective aspect. From this onward, research i-depth can be done and the creation of influence maps to visualise these works is imperative.

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Transcription: Young Man Prop Research

The previous post was related to Erich Zann's props, in contrast this one will be my research into the young man props. The character is a friendly, yet disturbed chap, which not much information is said about apart from being a student at University. Being the story set in 1920's, I have researched the fashion of young people back then, My vision for his design is to wear a waistcoat, trousers and maybe glasses.

So here is an influence map with the pictures I found interesting:

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Transcription: Erich Zann Prop Research

Before I finish my character design for Erich Zann, I wanted to get a clear idea of the props he will have, being a viol- player, he will need the instrument, the viol, but also the clothing, for instance, his personality is of a lonely, old and sad character. I thought instead of using clothes of the right period,1920's, to try earlier fashions, for instance, he will be wearing 1900's fashion, not only they belong to a completely different style, they look more elaborate, and delicate. This choice also accentuates the age between the old Erich Zann and the young man. 

As the artist Iain Mccaig said in one of his Gnomon Workshop lectures, the best way to do research his by drawing the pictures you looked at. So following is a quick study of some hats and of bony or skinny hands, one of the main points of interest in my character.

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Transcription: Use Of Music In An Expressive Way In Film

Although my first draft of animatic is not yet done, I wanted to take some time to research how music is often used in an expressive way in film. The matter of this research is that I want to add some abstract shots to my animatic , for instance when Erich Zann is playing, I want to emphasise the emotions of the music played, not only with the animation shot themselves but also inter-cutting with abstract expressionist shots.

So I began researching some examples:

Firstly,  in Pixar's Film Ratatouille, this technique is used when Remy visualises the tastes he is experiencing when eating food.

It shows how taste is added to music and then representation in an abstract way. 

In Disney's Fantasia, once again music notes are visualised into abstract shapes. In this case, the music assumes a visual shape, a character, therefore it interacts better with the audience. 

Finally, while researching this technique I found a quite interesting short animation Danse Macabre by Brian Allen Carol done as a tribute to German animator Oskar Fischinger. In this case, the music is once again shown in a representative way,  emphasising the notes played by the music as well as the feelings evoked by it.

Now it is time to get back to the animatic, finish it and then find a way to visually interpret the music heard.  

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Transcription: Research on Location

Within getting my storyboards cleaned up and ready to put together in a first draft animatic, I took some time to go to London, because it was a really interesting exhibition I wanted to go to. The exhibition at the British Museum was called 'Picasso to Julie Mehretu: Modern Drawings from the British Museum Collection', and as the name shows, it was a wide range of drawings, prints and paintings from artists ranging those two periods.

Many known artist featured the list, such as Picasso, Matisse, Magritte, Kirschner, Kentridge, etc. 

This exhibition allowed me not only to relax for a bit, but also to do some transcription research on location.

Indeed, the first part of the exhibition had numerous prints and drawings from German Expressionism, from artists such as, Otto Dix, Ludwig Meidner, Max Beckmann or Abraham Walkowitz. They were really strong examples of such a strongly graphical art movement. Many were the notes I wrote on my paper , of those examples. 

Following is a few of the paintings/drawings/ prints, I have seen yesterday, and let be inspired:

Ludwig Meidner

Street Scene, 1914

Max Beckmann 

Die Strasse 

Abraham Walkowitz

Untitled ( City Abstraction)

I found that to do on location research is amazing and despite the exhibition being really small ( approx.only 2 rooms), I was able to spend a lot of time in each painting,absorbing a lot of information as well as techniques. Which I possibly be using to create my textures.

Artists Researched: 

Abraham Walkowitz

Jacob Steinhardt

Ludwig Meidner

Otto Dix

Max Beckmann

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Transcription: Researching Environments

After understanding the period in which the story is set, I decided to do some initial research for the environment. I began by identifying German Expressionism in film, and how it was used back in time to create delightful yet dark and creepy environments.
Distortion is an important feature of German expressionism cinema, but also high contrast shadows, something I will need to pay a lot of attention, to design really atmospheric environments.
The films I looked at were Das Cabinet des Dr. Caligari by Robert Wiene, Genuine by Robert Wiene, Von Morgens Bis Mitternachts by Karl Heinz Martin, among many others.



Das cabinet des D. Caligari, 1919, Robert Wiene

Genuine, 1920, Robert Wiene

Von Morgens Bis Mitternachts, 1920, Karl Heinz Martin

In particular, Der Golem directed by Paul Wegener in 1920, caught my attention because the use of different colour lighting in different parts of the film. for instance, it would start by having blue then changing to green or any other colour, a technique, I have never seen used in cinema. Interesting nonetheless.


Der Golem, 1920, Paul Wegener

After looking at the trailers, I have found some film stills and started by building some influence maps, which will aid me when creating my environments.

Alongside of my research to find German Expressionism in the environments of film, I thought it would be also a good idea to understand Expressionist architecture. So I did some more research to identify buildings which belong to that art movement and understand their characteristics.

Finally, earlier this year I was presented by my girlfriend Ivana to this animation by Czech animator and filmmaker Jiri Barta, a adaptation from a  well-known tale into an stop-motion animation, which dark, distortion and creepiness are very present.

I will put only the 1st part of the animation, where he shows the city of Hamelin. To better describe what I am talking about.

Artists Researched: 


Painters & Printmakers
Erich Heckel 
Ludwig Kirchner


Filmmakers:
Robert Wein
Karl Heinz Martin
Paul Wegener
Jiri Barta


Architects:
Jean Renaudie
Daniel Libeskind
Frank Owen Gehry

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Transcription: Researching the Period

Before, I get on with my creative juices flowing around, I have to hold only to complete my research. Thus far, I have researched the Art Direction, Music and Character, however it is still some more things to research such as Period and Environment.
In order to understand my world, I have to embark in the time machine and go back in time to when the story is set or written. Although not explicit in the story, the period might be the 1920's and according to the use of the name Rue D'Auseil, in French, it may be set in France, more specifically in Paris.

Paris in the 1920's:

In this video is shown how busy Paris looked back then, something similar to nowadays. In the 1920's, Paris was the centre of art in Europe, and where most of the artist would go to spend their time. Chronologically 1920's it is just the period between the 2 World Wars, and despite the beautiful look of Paris, later in history darker times would arrive and destroy most of this peaceful city. 

Meanwhile I created some influence maps, demonstrating diverse sides of that period, from the populated boulevards to the not so famous corners of the city, such as Montmartre, the bohemian location where many artist would stay. Alongside this research I have also included some fashion of the time or any other elements. 

Now the research that follows is the environments. A lot to come still :) 

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Transcription: First Session Tutorial With Alan Postings

Collage technique shown in Little Big Planet Character Sackboy

Today, I had my first tutorial session with Alan , discussing my new project. And it was really helpful. After presenting my idea and its main focus, character design & animation, which was accepted, I then explained the style I wanted to go for.
Alan gave me important feedback and helped me to understand how to possibly achieve the aesthetic style, firstly I admit that I have a Disney based character design style, which will not work in this animation. Therefore, he suggested me to be spontaneous, be random, be a craftsman. He also directed me to use some techniques that often character designers use to achieve a good design, such as collage of different papers, drawing from shadows of objects or ink blowing from a straw. I have also thought I could do some abstract printmaking in lino to be able to get some shapes going. Digitally, I thought of using the freeware Alchemy to get some random shapes and silhouettes
I have to admit when designing a character, I put a lot of thought in every aspect of it, though in this animation I have to approach it differently. First get a good choice of shapes, then build the silhouette and after the apply the character design rules to create a good design. This animation needs characters that will flow around the background to have the distinction of the 3D and the 2.5D less visible.
I have also thought to use the same techniques throughout the whole world of my animation, so the environments and props will share the same qualities.
At a later stage of applying this technique, I will also do some technical processes in Maya, in the attempt to achieve what I'm looking for.

Alchemy Program Example, use of random shapes 

A lot of trial and error to come. Hopefully with a lot of "happy accidents" also...

Keep tuned

Links:

Alchemy Freeware Program

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Transcription: Character Influence Maps and Profile Sheets

After researching the music, I decided to begin researching the most important thing in my animation, the characters. Although, the music is important, the story wouldn't be the same without the character Eric Zahn or even the narrator.

From the previous unit, Character Design, I found the importance of creating really early a profile sheet, which gives detailed information about the character's appearance and psyche. This task is really important, because makes you think as the character and his appearance. Alongside, the profile sheet an initial influence maps will inform clearly my intentions in design.
Finally, this serves as crucial piece of information when designing the characters.

Eric Zahn- The Viol-Player

Name: Eric Zahn

Biography: Zahn is an old viol-player living in the mysterious Rue D'Auseil, he is a solitary, afraid and temperamental being with an unimaginable burden. He lives in the boarding house owned by the paralytic Blandot, the 3rd house from the end of the ascended street. his room is on the top floor, a small place with little furniture looking almost inhabited. 

As a job, he plays evenings in a cheap theatre orchestra, though at night he has to worry to something far creepier, coming from his window. With his weird and crazy music, he attempts to keep the inexplicable mystery away.  

Age: Unknown, maybe around his 80's or 90's

Race: Human pale white

Height: 1.55 m

Body Type: old, small, lean, bent, with bony hands.

Face Type: Wrinkled grotesque satyr-like face, nearly bald head. 

Complexion: Pale colour and due to ageing he has liver spots.

Eyes: Blue eyes with a tired and sad look.

Hair: Nearly bald head.

Clothing Style: Black trousers and long coat in a moth-eaten state. A white old shirt under a poorly looking waistcoat. old shoes and maybe hat. His instrument is a old and used viol. 

Speaking Style: Mute, however he writes notes to express himself. 

General Demeanour: An old, lonely, nervous, afraid, temperamental and mysterious. 

Career: A viol-player, who would play evenings in a cheap theatre orchestra. Although, the simple job, he is a genius musician with enormous talent. 

Prejudices: He is defensive, tries to defend what is menacing to escape from his window.

Best Qualities: Regretful and rarely thankful.

Worst Qualities: Nervous, afraid, temperamental. 

Weaknesses: Old, weak and lonely. 

Additional Information: 

Final Appearance

Body type: Still, ice-cold, stiffened body. 

Face type: Non breathing face whose glassy eyes bulged uselessly into the void. 

General Demeanour: Insane, mechanic, possessed.  

Young Man / Narrator

Name: Unknown 

Biography: The young man moved to the Rue D'Auseil, because it was closer to his university. It was there that he lived one of the most horrific episodes of his life.
When he moved to his new room in the old boarding house owned by the paralytic Blandot, he began to overhear the music played by Eric Zahn. Being so drawn into it, he discovered the mystery of the old man and the weird music.

Age: Unknown, but maybe around 20. 

Race: Human-white  

Height; 1.80 m

Body Type: Skinny physique 

Face Type: Rounded

Complexion: White colour skin 

Eyes: Dark brown eyes, with a tired yet friendly look. 

Hair: Medium cut brown hair. 

Clothing Style: Fashion of 1920's, white shirt with a waistcoat on the top, old looking trousers and shoes because of his economic state. 

General Demeanour: Despite his disturbed psyche since he moved to the Rue D'Auseil, he is a friendly and caring person, but also curious and disobedient. 

Career:  A student of Metaphysics at university. 

Prejudices: He doesn't like riddles, so he persists to find out what is the mystery with the old man and the music. 

Best Qualities: Friendly and caring.

Worst Qualities: Curious and disobedient. 

Weaknesses: Often afraid, when part of the mystery is revealed, because it is not as he expected he becomes afraid and runs away from the Rue D'Auseil to never return. 

  

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Transcription: Researching Music

Music plays an important role in my story, so I wanted to find some songs that could fit to the overall style and to the period of my story, the 1920's. Throughout the story, as seen on the previous post, the music changes of rhythm and melody. So what follows is a previous analyse of the 4 crucial music types in the story and my own choices for each one of them. Although not definitive, He could help me set the mood in the animation.


Music Type 1

"To describe their exact nature is impossible for one unversed in music. They were a kind of fugue, with recurrent passages of the most captivating quality, but to me were notable for the absence of any of the weird notes I had overheard from my room below on other occasions."

• Calmer
• Fugue
• Captivating

For the first type of music, I found 2 possible contenders for this type of music. Not being a music expert I wont comment on the music itself, though I will give my opinion in which I found that the following songs could fit the animation.

The first contender would be Bela Bartok and his String Quartet N.6

I found that Bartok's song would work really well. Although it is quite irregular,  it is also slow, calm and captivating, something presented in Zahn's music the first time he plays publicly for the Young Man, in order to satisfy him. It would serve also to contrast with the later music, as he becomes to reveal his mystery.

Alongside that song, I found Niccolo Paganini's Caprice N.21, quite similar. Although irregular at some points, it is captivating and pleasant.

This version is played by violinist Itzhak Perlman.


Music Type 2

"Then one night as I listened at the door, I heard the shrieking viol swell into a chaotic babel of sound; a pandemonium which would have led me to doubt my own shaking sanity had there not come from behind that barred portal a piteous proof that the horror was real—the awful, inarticulate cry which only a mute can utter, and which rises only in moments of the most terrible fear or anguish."

• Chaotic Babel of Sound
• Pandemonium
• Awful
• Inarticulate cry
• Rose moments of the most terrible fear and anguish

The second type of music in the animation, appears when the mystery begins to be revealed. The young man is outside the room secretly listening to Eric Zahn's playing, when suddenly inside the room goes crazy. In an attempt to save the old man, he bangs the door, but only after a while Zahn's answers the door, inviting the young man in he writes a note explaining what is happening.

Caprice N.2 By Nicollo Paganini.

I found this song almost perfect, as the sound that comes out of the violin resembles of a crying, which becomes irregular and inarticulate. 

Music Type 3

"It was more horrible than anything I had ever overheard, because I could now see the expression of his face, and could realize that this time the motive was stark fear. He was trying to make a noise; to ward something off or drown something out—what, I could not imagine, awesome though I felt it must be. The playing grew fantastic, dehnous, and hysterical, yet kept to the last the qualities of supreme genius which I knew this strange old man possessed. I recognized the air—it was a wild Hungarian dance popular in the theaters, and I reflected for a moment that this was the first time I had ever heard Zann play the work of another composer."

• More horrible than ever before
• Fearful 
• the playing grew fantastic, dehnous, and hysterical.
• A wild Hungarian Dance popular in the theatres
• Song from another composer

For this song, I had an idea from the beginning, to stick with the text and find a Hungarian Dance, and use it. Eventually, I did find one by the composer Johannes Brahms, I was so determined to use this song in my animation by the end.  

The song is Hungarian Dance N.5 by Johannes Brahms 

This version is played by violinist Yehudi Menuhin.

Although the choice it was almost certain, later I felt that I would need a crazier and more irregular song. So I used my artistic license, and changed slightly the choices made by the original author to better fit my animation. The quick choice for the 3rd music type was constraining me to find another song, but luckily  after some research I was able to get a song, which better fits the situation where the 3rd type of music appears in the animation.

The song his String Quartet N. 4 by Bela Bartok

And maybe not the intention by the composer, this song strongly evokes a lot of movement, creepiness and it sounds almost insane.

I think this choice better fits the animation, as it allows fast editing, minimalism and distortion.

Music Type 4

"I looked at Zann, and saw that he was past conscious observation. His blue eyes were bulging, glassy and sightless, and the frantic playing had become a blind, mechanical, unrecognizable orgy that no pen could even suggest."

• Supernatural
• Horrific
• Insane
• unimaginable to compose
• blind

For this last song, I though I could use the previous song and edit it with Paganini's Caprice 2 track, creating a crazy composition which lead the poor Eric Zahn to insanity.

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Transcription: Influential Artists

In order to aid my style, I felt the need to find some artists I could easily relate to it. Knowing the story was written in 1921, therefore maybe also lived around that time. I thought I could find the Art Movement predominant in that time and find some artists that I could easily relate to the movement and to my art direction of choice.
The German Expressionism, among others, was the movement that had its peak around that time, and therefore one of the better connected to the dark, horror, distorted world of the supernatural. It refers to a number of creative movements beginning in Germany before First Great War, and reached its in in Berlin 1920. These developments were part of a larger Expressionist movement in north and central European culture.
Being Eric Zahn of German descendant and the story maybe supposedly happening in France. I thought that this movement could perfectly fit the animation.
So I began to research in-depth some of the artists of this movement, not by their importance, but by the way their art could easily influence the style chosen for this animation.


Max Pechstein (1881-1955)

Max Pechstein was a German Painter and Printmaker, who joined the German Expressionist Group Die Brucke. Although he had really vivid and colourful paintings, what caught my attention is his work was his prints, where the dark, minimalist and distorted style was more visible. He had prints ranging from portraits to environments in which all of them shared the same quality. 

Here are some examples:

Sick Girl, 1919. From "H M Pechstein Holzschnitte 1919" portfolio

Village Street,1919. From the series Das Dorf (The Village)

I really like the graphical quality of them, something which printmaking can achieve perfectly.

Another artist having a similar style was Eric Heckel, a friend of Max Pechstein, and one of the founders of the German Artistic Group Die Brucke.

Eric Heckel (1883-1970)

Eric Heckel was a German Painter and Printmaker, and founder of the German artistic group Die Brucke. Although being a painter, all his life he dedicated more to printmaking, producing numerous works which later were classified as "degenerate" by the Nazi parties. To aggravate the situation during the World War II his studio was bombed and many of his early prints were destroyed, however he never stopped doing prints, moving away from where he lived he carried his career as a printmaker, though many the works produced of that time could not be compared to the early ones.

Here are some examples of his prints:

Sick Young Girl, 1913. woodcut print.

Zwei Manner am Tisch,1913. Woodcut print.

Beim Vorlesen,1914. Woodcut print.

After searching the artist movements, i took once again Phil suggestion and looked at the works of  Lee Brown Coye, an artist who did some illustrations for H.P. Lovecraft books. Phil directed me to look at his works because of the graphical and simplicity some have. Working in black and white, he creates astonishing pieces of work where the mark-making is clearly visible.

Lee Brown Coye (1907-1981)

An apparition, 1963. Brush and ink on scratchboard 

Railroad Trestle, 1941. Woodcut Print

I know I could be here forever naming artists that could easily influence me, however I found these ones maybe the msot influential, if I find any other artist I will update this list.

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Transcription: Art Direction Decision

Today, I took the day to start officially on the research of this project. Firstly, I wanted to identify what Art style will guide me through my pre-production stage, and therefore be predominant in the final outcome.
So this and the following post will explain what style I want to achieve and what direction I want to go with the character design.

My research began with looking at 1982's short animation Vincent, by director Tim Burton, where he uses a really strong style influenced by the early German Expressionists, shots with high contrast lighting and vast shadows merging the objects in the room with them, also the minimalist sets with silhouetted objects, intensify the eeriness of the environments. A style that defines Tim Burton and his world.


Vincent, 1982, Tim Burton

After watching Burton's Short Animation, I took Phil's advice and watched the short animation The Tell-Tale Heart, 1953, directed by Ted Parmelee. This animation is a transcription from a short story of one of the most influential horror and suspense writers of all time, Edgar Allan Poe. The part of the credit of the animation has to be given to Paul Julian, who was responsible for the Art Department. As this animation uses one of the most graphical styles I have seen applied to an animation. Although a style of simple nature and aided by animation techniques such as morphing, help to drive the narrative. Minimalism is the keyof the animation, which makes our heart jump in certain situations, truly carrying the suspense of the short-story to the screen. Editing also plays an important role in it, with rapid transitions, keeping the audience drawn to the animation, with their heart almost coming out. 

A simple, effective, dark, minimalist approach to the original body of work. 

The Tell-Tale Heart, 1953, Ted Parmelee

After watching the previous animation, I did some more research and luckily found 2 Croatian short animations, which seemed to bear the same style, a dark, minimalist, and expressionist. Although lucky to find some stills of the animation, I could not find the actual animation. But by the looks of the stills it looked really promising. 

Tifusari, 1963, by Zagreb Films

Director & Scriptwriter- Vatroslav Mimica

Design and Backgrounds- Aleksandar Marks

Animation- Vladimir Jutrisa

I found this animations stills great because they clearly showed a strong dark style reminiscent from the German expressionists prints, such as of Max Pechstein. hopefully, I will be able to find this animation somehow, as I feel important to aid my art direction.

The second animation I found by the same studio is called Happy End, 1959, and once again unfortunately i wasn't ale to find of it. Although, the stills of this animation look less dark, the still bear the minimalism approach of the first, where the set is nothing more than it is really needed. however, i found this animation belonging less to the German expressionism style, but more connected to a dark symbolism or even surrealism.

Happy End, 1959, by Zagreb Films

Director & Scriptwriter- Vatroslav Mimica

Design- Aleksandar Marks

Backgrounds- Zlatko Bourek 

Animation- Vladimir Jutrisa

After looking at this 2 unfamiliar animations, I once again took Phil's advice and checked the trailer for Peur[s] Du Noir, or in English Fear[s] of the Dark. For what I found, it is a film consisting in 5 short animations by 5 of the most influential contemporary graphic artists. Although i wasn't able to get a full watching on the animation that Phil have mentioned me (the 5th one), I did find a short clip of it, and by only watching that small clip I have exactly understood why Phil, wanted me to watch it, the almost non existence set which blends with the character and vice-versa, is just brilliant and by no means affects the storytelling, on contrary it actually helps for a really easy reading of it.

The small clip showed me only what I needed for me to crave to watch it, suspense felt just by watching was great, though short as the clip finished. 

Peurs Du Noir, 2007, Richard McGuire

With no luck in finding a concrete animation with my last 2 searches. My luck changed as I remembered some of the animations showed to us last year. In the animation unit, we were shown some really dark animations, by Jiri Barta, Jan Svankmajer or Ladislaw Starewicz, however the dark meaning here is other and more related to the silhouetted animations by Lotte Reiniger.
Lotte Reiniger in her animations told most of the famous tales known nowadays in a rather peculiar way,  by using a cut-outs of the characters and a 2D detailed background, she mixed them to in order to tell the story.

Cinderella, 1954, Lotte Reiniger

Being my animation concentrated on the characters and less on the environments, i thought it could be a good technique to invert what Lotte Reiniger did, so in my case I would have 3D characters and silhouetted or dark looking props, both of them sharing the same Art direction.

in order to achieve something similar, I found a music video called The Pied Piper by Yoriyos, in this music video it is shown how CG can also have a 2D quality, and if built in layers can pretty much mimic a really good environment, I do think it could be quite effective to create my world revolving this idea, as it easily fits the style I want to go for.

And my research continues... :)

Links:
Tim Burton- Vincent
Ted Parmelee- The Tell-Tale Heart
Zagreb Films- Tifusari & Happy End Stills
Richard Mcguire- Peur[s] Du Noir
Lotte Reiniger- Cinderella

Yoriyos - The Pied Piper

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Transcription: The Music of Eric Zahn Findings

After analysing the body of work, and finding the excerpts describing the different elements of the text. I decided to create a list to better guide me through my research.

Characters

Young Man/ Narrator: 

• Student of Metaphysics at the University 
• Friendly

I have found not much was said about the appearance of the narrator, however to better fit the story I will related his appearance to the time the story is set in the 1920's. 

Eric Zahn: 

'An old German viol- player, a strange old man [...] who played evenings in a cheap theater orchestra' 

First Appearance:

• Small, lean, bent person, with shabby clothes, blue eyes,wrinkled grotesque satyr-like face, nearly bald head and mute with long bony hands

Final Appearance: 

• Still , Ice-Cold, Stiffened, Unbreathing Face whose glassy bulged uselessly into the void.

Psyche: 

• Old, Lonely, Nervous, Afraid, Temperamental, a Genius, Mysterious.

Alongside this accurate description of the character I will create 2 profile sheets, where I may add some other character details.

Environments

For the environments, though I will use a minimalist yet theatrical approach to them, I felt the need to understand the world where the story is set, because it is one of its main influences. For the descriptions of the environments, I used the original description, with extra details and an accurate vision of the place. One of the reasons I love to read HP Lovecraft.

Rue D'Auseil:

"The Rue d’Auseil lay across a dark river bordered by precipitous brick blear-windowed warehouses and spanned by a ponderous bridge of dark stone. It was always shadowy along that river, as if the smoke of neighbouring factories shut out the sun perpetually. The river was also odorous with evil stenches which I have never smelled elsewhere, and which may some day help me to find it, since I should recognize them at once. Beyond the bridge were narrow cobbled streets with rails; and then came the ascent, at first gradual, but incredibly steep as the Rue d’Auseil was reached.

I have never seen another street as narrow and steep as the Rue d’Auseil. It was almost a cliff, closed to all vehicles, consisting in several places of flights of steps, and ending at the top in a lofty ivied wall. Its paving was irregular, sometimes stone slabs, sometimes cobblestones, and sometimes bare earth with struggling greenish-grey vegetation. The houses were tall, peaked-roofed, incredibly old, and crazily leaning backward, forward, and sidewise. Occasionally an opposite pair, both leaning forward, almost met across the street like an arch; and certainly they kept most of the light from the ground below. There were a few overhead bridges from house to house across the street."

Boarding House: Exterior:

"[It was the]third house from the top of the street, and by far the tallest of them all. [And the] room was on the fifth story; the only inhabited room there, since the house was almost empty."

Eric Zahn's Room:

"His room, one of only two in the steeply pitched garret, was on the west side, toward the high wall that formed the upper end of the street. Its size was very great, and seemed the greater because of its extraordinary barrenness and neglect. Of furniture there was only a narrow iron bedstead, a dingy wash-stand, a small table, a large bookcase, an iron music-rack, and three old-fashioned chairs. Sheets of music were piled in disorder about the floor. The walls were of bare boards, and had probably never known plaster; whilst the abundance of dust and cobwebs made the place seem more deserted than inhabited." 

Landscape seen from Eric Zahn's Room Window:

"It was very dark, but the city’s lights always burned, and I expected to see them there amidst the rain and wind. Yet when I looked from that highest of all gable windows, looked while the candles sputtered and the insane viol howled with the night-wind, I saw no city spread below, and no friendly lights gleamed from remembered streets, but only the blackness of space illimitable; unimagined space alive with motion and music, and having no semblance of anything on earth."

Music

The music in this story plays a important part so I found crucial to understand the type played, and the variations felt throughout the story. Overall I could identify 4 variations of music, at least the ones which play a important part in the narrative. Meanwhile, I have been looking for artists, such as

Niccolo Paganini, that could be featured in this animation. But I will leave that for another post.

Music Type 1: 

"To describe their exact nature is impossible for one unversed in music. They were a kind of fugue, with recurrent passages of the most captivating quality, but to me were notable for the absence of any of the weird notes I had overheard from my room below on other occasions."

• Calmer
• Fugue
• Captivating

Music Type 2:

"Then one night as I listened at the door, I heard the shrieking viol swell into a chaotic babel of sound; a pandemonium which would have led me to doubt my own shaking sanity had there not come from behind that barred portal a piteous proof that the horror was real—the awful, inarticulate cry which only a mute can utter, and which rises only in moments of the most terrible fear or anguish."

• Chaotic Babel of Sound
• Pandemonium
• Awful
• Inarticulate cry
• Rose moments of the most terrible fear and anguish

Music Type 3: 

"It was more horrible than anything I had ever overheard, because I could now see the expression of his face, and could realize that this time the motive was stark fear. He was trying to make a noise; to ward something off or drown something out—what, I could not imagine, awesome though I felt it must be. The playing grew fantastic, dehnous, and hysterical, yet kept to the last the qualities of supreme genius which I knew this strange old man possessed. I recognized the air—it was a wild Hungarian dance popular in the theaters, and I reflected for a moment that this was the first time I had ever heard Zann play the work of another composer."

• More horrible than ever before
• Fearful 
• the playing grew fantastic, dehnous, and hysterical.
• A wild Hungarian Dance popular in the theatres
• Song from another composer

Music Type 4:

"I looked at Zann, and saw that he was past conscious observation. His blue eyes were bulging, glassy and sightless, and the frantic playing had become a blind, mechanical, unrecognizable orgy that no pen could even suggest."

• Supernatural
• Horrific
• Insane
• unimaginable to compose
• blind

On the next post I will go through the narrative order, so it will help me when doing the storyboards and the script.

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