Creating my narrative

For this unit I have decided to create my own narrative, similar to the last unit. However the narrative for this unit is for a different purpose as it will be screen based and my final outcome may end up only being a scene from the whole things. I have decided to make my narrative wordless and just focus on the screen based images as I am out of my comfort zone here. 

I want to keep this narrative as simple as possible, for example by only having two characters, since the biggest challenge for me within this unit is the creative process. I feel it would make it easier for me if I constructed my narrative like a play as it is meant to be viewed by an audience rather than like a book which is meant to be read. Constructing my narrative in scenes like this will make it easier to break down and plan visually.

scene 1-
It’s night time. There is a full moon in the sky.
A little boy is in his room sitting on his bed reading a magazine. 
His pet dog is sitting on the floor beside his bed.

close up of the boy reading his magazine.

Image of the page the boy is looking at (with hands holding the magazine) The image is of a wolf howling at a full moon.

Boy looks up from magazine and at his dog.

Scene 2 -

Boy walking down the stairs and out the door with dog following him.

Scene 3 -

Boy walking through the woods with dog following him.

Scene 4 -

They come out of trees and come to a stop.

Boy looks at dog and points at moon.

Dog looks confused and doesn’t howl at moon.

Scene 5 -

This time boy looking sad he returns through the woods.

The dog is farther behind him.
Scene 6 -

Boy returns home sad.

walks back up the stairs. But with no dog following this time.

Scene 7 -

Back in his room looks at magazine page and sighs.

Suddenly he hears a howl and crosses to window

Scene 8 -

View out the window boy looks down and sees his dog howling like a wolf at the moon.

Scene 9 -

close up of boys face smiling.

This is a very simple narrative but I think it is important I keep it simple within this unit as I am going to find it really difficult to create a screen based outcome with no previous experience. 

Looking at other screen based media

To kick start some ideas of what I think I would like to do for this project I decided to look at examples of what already exists in the way of screen based visual communication. Some examples I found really inspired me and I managed to look at a wide range of what is out there. Looking at a range like this is helping me in my own thought process about what techniques I think would work well for my work and where I think I could fit comfortably. 

http://vimeo.com/26877221
This first example shows a large scale stop motion animation. It is excited well featuring real people. I don't think this would work for me however as I know I want a hand drawn element to my work and having something at this large a scale might loose the detail I am looking for.

http://vimeo.com/35840167
This animation incorporates 3D. It is all made out of paper and on the bottom right hand side of the page link there are photos which show various stages of the process to how it was made. I like this one a lot and it has given me some inspiration for my own work. I like how well the stages are documented.

http://vimeo.com/3256948
This video is another example of 3D animation. I like how things are moving both in the background and foreground. I like the use of layers and this is something I would consider using within my own work to create depth and a realistic element.

http://vimeo.com/19909066
This animation is a hand drawn piece, I like the way it looks and I like the use of what looks to me like water colour. I think this is something I could consider for my characters and background. However I'm thinking of something stronger for the foreground such as silhouettes and dark paper cut outs.

http://vimeo.com/32025586
This video uses silhouettes within the animation. This is something that I really like. I have been looking for a chance to go back and work with cut outs and silhouettes like I did in the interpretation of text unit at the beginning of this year and I think incorporating this technique in my on screen work would give me a perfect opportunity to do this.

http://vimeo.com/62356246
I saw this short animation a while ago and have come back to look at it for inspiration in this project. I like how there are no words throughout the whole thing and the narrative tells itself.

http://vimeo.com/8332956
http://vimeo.com/56433514
These last two videos I really liked. All the movement is created through drawing and using hands. none of it is actually animated but I feel that they are both just as strong as any of the other videos I have watched, if not more so as they are different. This type of screen based media appeals to me as I have no animation experience and it is something I feel would be more within my comfort zone. however it would involve a lot of planning and I think in this project I would like to use the opportunity to push myself. I do like the way the second one works as a strip though and this is something I will keep in mind when beginning to create my own work.

Convergence/Divergence Brief

After reading the Convergence/Divergence brief I decided that the best place to start generating ideas of my own was to look at current examples of screen based visual communication. 

From my work in the last unit I already know that I would like my screen based work to take the form of a short narrative or a scene from a narrative. I enjoyed making my own narrative and creating characters, this is something I would like to be able to explore more within the convergence/divergence unit. I also enjoyed creating my work for a child audience, however I don't want to decide my audience for this unit too early on without exploring current screen based work and seeing where I think my work would fit in and work best. 

I haven't ever experimented with screen based media before so this unit does make me nervous. However I feel like this will be a good unit to experiment and further my practice. I'm also hoping my lack of experience with screen based media will enable me to look at this unit differently and create something a little different to what is already in circulation.