Research

Dream Catcher

This is a movie about four friends that find a boy getting bullied because of his disabilities, so they help him and become his friend. He then gives them each a different telepathic power, which they use will need later on in life. When there older the four friends decide to go on a camping trip, but they end up finding the place infected with parasitic aliens from space.



The Wizard of Oz

The movie is about a girl named Dorothy, who hits her head and is taken away by a tornado and lands in a magical land, and she tries to get back home. On her way she meets a Scarecrow, a Tin-man, and a Lion. They all have some thing missing or something they would like, the Scarecrow wants a brain, the Tin-man wants a heart, and the Lion wants courage. So all three of them join Dorothy on her journey to find the person who can grant them there wish. But in the end she finds her way home and it turns out she passed out and was dreaming the whole thing, but she believes it wasn't a dream.

Nightmare on Elm Street

Nightmare on Elm Street is a horror movie, about people being hunted by a serial killer. But he kills them in their dreams. Once they fall a sleep they see him, and once he kills them in there dreams they die in real life. I thought I should add this to my research, because I haven't mentioned a horror film. They try and stay awake but they cant help but to fall asleep eventually and then he kills them.

 

Courage the Cowardly Dog 
Courage the cowardly dog is a cartoon about a dog who is courageous and cowardly at the same time. He saves his owners all the time from danger, but is always frightened as he is trying to save them. But says as he is saving them or after "The things I do for love", he doesn't say it all the time but he says it every few episodes. The reason I am writing about this cartoon is because of the style used. I didn't realize before until now that the background is sometimes real, or parts of it are. I used to watch this show as a kid and I really liked it. But I never realized until I watched it recently that there are parts of the animation that include real life photos or images in the background.

 

I found it difficult to find these images, because there aren't any good images of the show on Google, I can't find any that are good quality these are the best I could find. You can see in the images of the cartoon that, there are real photos used in the animation, like the sky or the texture of the ground.

You can see it more clearly in this image, the sky is real and so is the ground. But everything else is animated. I added this to my research because I found this quite interesting, I might even use this style in my animation.

Joseph The King of Dreams 

It was actually a coincidence that I came across this film. My brother just put the film on and I watched it with him not knowing what the film was called or what it was about. He just said its a Dream Works film. It was about a miracle child, who was given a gift from god. He had very vivid dreams and later was able to decipher the meaning of dreams. 

 


Tsubasa Chronicle 

I watched this anime about two months ago I think, and I really liked it. It was about a boy who has to save his childhood friend who is a princess. He is a archeologist and is carrying on his adopted fathers work, he is researching and exploring the ruins found in the kingdom of Clow. One day as he is trying to figure out what the symbols mean on the ruins, meanwhile the princess hears a sound and is put under a trance. She ends up appearing at the ruins, and activates something. The symbols start to light up and she grows wings but strange looking wings, with these tattoos on them. She fly's up and starts to go through this wall but the boy keeps shouting her name, so he jumps up and grabs her to snap her out of it. Once he did that her wings shattered and faded away. She stays uncontentious and starts to get cold, he finds out from the priest of the land that the wings that shattered are actually her memory's, and they have been scattered through out the dimensions. So he sends him and the princess to the dimensional witch who is the only one who can help. Once he gets there, there are two others seeking her help too, so she asks them for something in exchange that is equal price for there wish. The boy has to give up the memory's he has with the princess, so he will be the only one who remembers and she will remember nothing. The other two gave up there most precious belongings to her. So she gave them a creature called Mokona Modoki, the creature will give them the ability to travel to each dimension, but they will have to find the feathers on there own. I am writing about this because, I like the idea of how they traveled from dimension to dimension. I was going to use this as a reference for my other story idea about the boy who has to save the universe. But because I changed my idea I wasn't going to write about it. But I really like the music used in the Anime, so I was thinking I could use the music for my animation because it sounds kinda dreamy,magical, and kinda divine. I was thinking about using the song called Siren Song by the artist Yuki Kajiura. I found a short clip on youtube that shows you how Mokona takes them to another dimension. Its sorta eats them and disappears, then they all appear in the next dimension. But its in Japanese and when I watched it, it was in English but I can't seem to find one in English. I put the link below

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zw2gj2hzhg

The link below is a video of a person running, and the camera angle is front view. I am gonna need this as a reference for my animation, when my character is going to be running away from an orb of shadow, which is gonna be chasing him.

•  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_or01tU3v8&hd=1

I used this as a reference, to help me draw feet in my animation, because I found it quite difficult to draw the feet correctly for my animation.

Proposal

I don’t have a title yet but the theme is going to be, Dreamscape because I quite like the idea and it lets me work openly and I am not restricted by what I should do. In the end I want to make an animation using lots of different media, to show off the skills I have developed while on this course. 

My ideas for this story come from my own dreams that I have, I am recording the dreams I have by keeping a dream diary and writing down every day what dreams I have. I have thought of four different ideas I came up with, but I couldn’t choose what story I wanted to go forward with. When I presented my ideas to the class, nearly everyone liked the same story. I ended up choosing the idea that was liked the most. I was also influenced by surrealism art because the painting style reminds me of bizarre dreams I would have sometimes.  

The story I went with is about a hero from earth who has to save the universe, but he isn’t able to travel from planet to planet very easily, so he Astrotravels where he leaves his physical body to travel around in his Dreambody. This makes it easier for him to travel to other galaxies. But for this story, I want the villain to have a good back story that shows how he turned evil, because he was once good. 

For this story I am going to use a lot of different media, I am going to add this when my character travels to different planets or even galaxies. When my character is in another galaxy, the media I am going to use will be different. For example the animation could start off digitally, then when my character travels to another galaxy the media could change, and the animation could be Claymation, in another galaxy the media could be sock puppets, stop motion, silhouettes or other media. I am going to research into the different media I am going to use or wanted to use. I am going to start to make my animation hopefully by the end of April, because I know this animation is going to take a while to make. But I am hoping to create a finished animation, where I have used different media and it has sound.

Dreamscape Story Ideas

Ideas 

- Different Media 
I am thinking of using different media for my animation. I want my character to be wondering around, but then they end up crossing in to a picture or something and the media I am using changes. So if my animation starts digitally, my character could cross into a claymation world, and then the media could keep changing, next could be a silhouette world, sock puppets, a paper character entering the real world, comes out of the screen.

• The story could be about my character who faints, but sees a strange figure before he/she faints. But it turns out they summoned them to save the dream world from disaster, because the sacred "Item" was stolen and if it isn't returned the dream world will end. So the he/she goes on hunt to find the villain. But it becomes a chase so my character ends up chasing the villain into different worlds.
• Or it could just be a dream where your wondering around

- Nightmare
This story is about a person who doesn't want to sleep because, when they fall asleep they always end up having a nightmare, so there trying to escape from their dreams. But the story could start with everything being normal, but then everything starts to go wrong, and turn scary/psychotic. I am probably gonna use digital animation for this one.
  
- Dreams
When my character goes to sleep his/her dreams come true and they do what they wish they could, For example they start to fly, then they become a super hero, travel to space,turn into a dragon, they live there dreams....

- Adventure 
The universe is in danger from the evil villain (Nito??? maybe Chester) who seeks to destroy the universe, he was once part of the council who kept the universe in balance, but he is now planning to destroy the universe he once, used to protect.

• He plans to save the universe because he has idly stood by watching the council corrupt the universe, and start wars for there own gain. He has also witnessed the evil in all the races in the universe, and wants to destroy them all to keep the universe safe from all the beings in the universe.
• Or he caught some of the council members, messing with the balance of the universe. So they put the blame on him and he was locked up for crimes he didn't commit. When he escapes he goes after the council, and the council accuse him of trying to destroy the universe, and summon a hero who must defeat him.

The Hero of this story is a person from earth, the council call onto a human because they think they can manipulate them into doing what they want, because they see them as lower class beings. But this person is a little different from the rest, but they don't know this because this person figures out how to Astro travel. (Astral Projection) 
Astral Projection, also called Astral Travel is when the consciousness/soul rises, and is described as an out of body experience, where the spiritual traveler leaves the physical body and travels in there astralbody/dreambody into higher realms. This occurs in dreams, and in forms of meditation.

Binitesh Baruri The Visitor

In class we were told that we had a visitor, called Binitesh Baruri who was was going to talk to us. He's a director and is from India, he came to take to us about hero's journey or also called monomyth. Hero's journey is what all directors and story writers use to create a story. It's like a skeleton to most story's. Binitesh gave us examples of movies, that used monomyth, he used Harry Potter, Batman, Spiderman, Star trek and a few other movies.

He told us how each story used hero's journey, and that there are 12 main stages to create a successful story. 

1. The Ordinary World  The story usually begins with the character, having a difficult life or they want there life to mean something. For example in Harry Potter and The Philosopher Stone, Harry is living a lonely sad life, he makes a wish because he wants a better life. Or in some movies the the main character wants to help people, and become the hero for example Kick Ass.
 
2. The Call to Adventure
The hero gets a call to action, for harry potter it was the letter that invited him to Hogwarts or Hagrid because he brought the letter. In Spiderman it was when they got a tour around the lab, and then peter got bit by the spider.

3. Refusal 
This is the stage where the main character hears the call to adventure but hesitates, or refuses the role of hero because they are scared to leave the comfort of their every day lives. For example in The Hobbit Bilbo refuses to join the dwarves and become there burglar, because he is a hobbit and is afraid of leaving his stable life, to go on an adventure.

4. Mentor, Helper
The hero needs a some type of help, and it is usually given advice or they get help from a person who becomes there mentor, they get training, equipment, or advice. In some story's they are helped by there sidekicks or by someone else who later becomes there ally. For example in The Lord of The Rings Frodo is helped by Sam, on his adventure to destroy the ring. Also he was helped by Gandalf who is his friend and mentor.  
 
5. Crossing the Threshold 
Crossing the threshold is the end of act one, when the main character is ready, or isn't ready but finally agrees to leave his ordinary life, to start his adventure or enter a new world. For example in kick ass when he decides to become a hero, he crosses the threshold when he starts to stop crime on his own by facing the criminals.

6. Tests, Allies, and Enemies
This is when the hero, goes through tests and figures out who his enemies are and who his allies are. For example in Full Metal Alchemist Brother Hood, Edward is working for the government but realizes, there is a conspiracy deep within the government so as he goes through his journey he realizes who he can trust and who his real enemy's are.  

7. Approach
The hero and his allies prepare for the major challenge. For example in The Hobbit when Bilbo and the Dwarfs get ready to fight the Orcs.

8. Ordeal  
About half way through the story the hero, confronts death or faces there greatest fears. After they have completed this task they become stronger, "Reborn", like a transformation of some kind.

9. Reward
The hero takes some kind of treasure, but was achieved by facing and surviving death. There could be a celebration, but sometimes is also caution because the treasure could be taken again. The treasure achieved could be many different things. It could be experience, weapon or an object, or it could even be love.

10. Road Back  
This is when the hero is driven to complete the adventure, but has to chose to either stay in the unique world, or to go back to there ordinary world. 

11. Atonement 
This is when the goal of the quest has been achieved, and all the previous tasks have prepared and purifed the hero. For example in The Hobbit, Thorin tells Bilbo that he actually considered him a good friend. He apologizes for being stubborn, and treating his friends wrongly just before he dies.


12. Return
The return is when the Hero returns home, or carries on with his journey but has some type of treasure, that has the power to change the world like the way the hero was transformed.

I found it pretty interesting when we were told about this. Because this is like guideline, that helps you create a successful story. After we were told about this we watched a movie called City of God.

- City of God

In class we watched a film called City of God, we watched this with Binitesh because he was showing us how directors make the audience like or dislike a character. If a character is strong he is feared and not really liked, but if a character is kind they are bullied and you pity them but there not your favorite character. If a character has both these quality's and is kind and strong they then end up becoming the audiences favorite character. I thought the film was ok, I didn't really like it that much it just wasn't my type of movie.
 

Dreamscape

Dreams  

Dreamscape means dreamlike, so for example a landscape or a scene that has the strangeness or mysterious quality of a dream. Dreams are images, ideas, emotion, and sensations that appear involuntarily in the mind when your asleep. The purpose of dreams are not completely understood, but they have been speculated by scientists. The scientific study of dreams is called Oneirology. 

In more recent times, dreams are seen as a connection to the unconscious mind. They vary to regular and ordinary, to surreal and unusual. Dreams can range from being scary, exciting, magical, gloomy, adventurous, or even sexual. The dream is usually not controlled by the dreamer, but there are times when there are, and that is called lucid dreaming. Dreams can sometimes give people inspiration. The hypothesis of the meaning of dreams has varied through out time and culture. The oldest recorded dreams were from approximately 5000 years ago, in the Mesopotamian time, where they documented there dreams on clay tablets. In the Greek and Roman times, the people believed that dreams were a direct message from deities, or from deceased people, and that they predicted the future. 

Other cultures practiced dream incubation, to create dreams that are prophecy's. Dream incubation, is when you "plant a seed" in your mind, so a specific dream or topic will occur. You would do this by holding a thought, in your head or repeatedly saying a certain thing, that would make you dream about what you said. For example if I wanted to dream about flying, then I would keep that in my head before I go to bed, or keep repeating it to my self whilst I'm trying to sleep. This method is similar to lucid dreaming, but dream incubation is more focused on a specific thing when going to sleep.

- Surrealism Art
Surrealism art started in the early 1920s, and is known for its visual work and writings. Artists painted dream and fantasy scenes, with photo graphic precision to create strange creatures from everyday objects. This allowed them to express themselves into an idea or the concept of a painting. I found this very interesting, because these images make me think out side of the box. I thought they were really inspiring, because there is no boundary to reality and fantasy in these images, and it shows me that I could let my imagination run wild in this project. Because dreams are unique to each person and they can turn out really bizarre, and not make any sense at all but it gives you the freedom to express your creativity and imagination. I think the image above is an example of thinking out side of the box, because this artist has switched the clouds with the leaves. I also thought the image below had a deep meaning because, I see a couple walking together and taking a chance, and it shows that life and the future is fragile. I think the bridge symbolizes life and how you don't know where life will lead you in the future. I kinda like the fact that you don't know where the bridge will lead you.

These are painting's done by Mark Ryden, he was born in 1963, on January 20th. He is an American painter, and his work revolves around Surrealism art. He was called the god-father of pop surrealism by Interview Magazine. His work was known to be a blend of many sources, he would mix the styles of french classicists artists with Little Golden Books. He also gets his inspiration from anything that is mysterious. For example old toys.

I found his work strange but interesting, because some of the images have old TV shows, I used to like when I was a kid, like the Teletubbies and the movie Alice in Wonderland. His work caught my eye because, his work is bizarre and strange but I think its very creative. I think the image with the white furry creature is cute, it may look strange but I like it because the artist is thinking outside of the box, and the image below is an example of that.

I found this image on Google, whilst I was looking at surrealism art. I think this image is really beautiful, I love the amount of detail put into the image. I was staring at this image for a while, and I didn't realize at first but the wave has figures of monsters which I thought was pretty cool. It looks like a war between the sky and the ocean, but it also looks like the ocean represents hell, and the sky and clouds represent heaven because of the light shining down on the right side of the image, because of that it makes it look sort of divine.
 

Task 4

Final Animation

I haven't finished my animation, it stops right were Jonah meets the Alien, but as I was making my animation I stopped adding detail like my character walking, because it took a while to do. So instead I just had him there standing and not moving, but you can still tell whats going on. I would have really liked to add, the UFO I made in  photoshop but I didnt have enough time. I was also going to add music but I didn't have enough time.

Evaluation 

When we first got this project I didn't quite understand, what we were so pose to make in the end. I also didn't understand what image manipulation was and how were were so pose to incorporate that into our animation. I understood that our animation, had to be about Jonah Felker a young blogger and detective. I was able to come up with a few story's but, I still didn't know how image manipulation was so pose to be added to our animation. But after doing the research, and figuring out what image manipulation was I was still a little confused. After one of my tutors Carolyn, guided and showed us how to manipulate an image, and how to make an animation out of that still image. I understood more about image manipulation and that gave me an idea of how I wanted my animation to turn out. I was actually thinking, about using the method that my other tutor Charlie showed us. It was to do with drawing an image of some thing, for example a person walking and each drawing would be the different movements of a person walking. Then you would take a photo of each of the drawings and then put them together in photo shop and it would become an animation and it would be a person walking. I was going to go with that type of animation, but it would take time, and I knew I wouldn't have enough time to complete it by the deadline date. So I decided to make the animation the other way, the way Carolyn showed us. I chose this because I knew I would have a better chance of completing my animation that way. I found this project a little difficult because, I didn't know how to add image manipulation to our animation. But once I figured that out the rest wasn't as bad. If I did this project again I would probably research more into image manipulation, and I would have worked more on the animation. I found it difficult to make a still image walk, I split the image into 3 different layers, so I had one leg on a layer, and the rest on another layer. I tried to make a leg turn but, if I did that then on each frame that leg would have turned, and it just messed every thing up. So I found that part a little difficult to deal with, but one of my tutors told me I could do that but I would have to duplicate the layer and turn the leg on that new layer. After I new that my animation looked a lot better, and my character looked like he was walking and not shuffling like before. I found this project interesting, because the style of animation was different and I learned a couple of new things in photoshop, and I thought the brief was different because it was a detective story. I think my animation turned out ok, but when I was taking photos for my background, people were watching me and I found it really embarrassing because they all looked at me like I'm weird, but it was and kind of a fun experience I guess.

Task 3

Story Ideas

- Stolen Hat 
Jonah Felka wakes up one morning to find out, his detectives hat is missing he usually leaves it at his bed side table, he tries to look for it when he gets out of bed but finds his house a mess, he thinks some one broke in and stole his hat, but in the end he discovers he was the one who took his hat, because he sleep walked for the first time and took his hat with him.

- Alien
Jonah Felker hears a strange sound so he goes and investigates, but he finds strange footprints and follows them to find an Alien, but it gets away in the end.

- Lost Toy
A little girl starts crying and a man walks up to her asking if she was ok, she doesn't reply, and he tells her his name is Jonah Felker and he is a detective. She then says to him she is crying because she lost her toy, he says to her he will help her find her toy.   

Final Story Idea 

- Alien 
Jonah Felka, is wondering the street late at night when he suddenly hears the sound of smashing glass, he runs to find a tool shop broken into, and he also finds the culprits strange foot prints leading away from the shop so he starts to follow them and finds, a green glowing substance on the wall leading to the forest, he ends up finding a strange figure in the shadows. As he moves closer to the shadow he sees a green glow, that reflects off the figure as he shines his flash light. He gets surprised, because its an Alien, the Alien runs deeper into the forest and, Jonah loses track of it he looks around but doesn't find any footprints, he gets angry and throughs his hat on the floor, and looks up at the sky and spots a green substance on the trees, he grabs his hat and follows the trails to find an alien spaceship, he freezes in shock and spots the alien, fixing its ship with the tools it stole, the alien spotted him after it finished fixing the ship, it ran into the ship and closed the entrance and flew off into space....  

I have taken a photo of an pear and a minstrels chocolate and I have edited them to look, like a spaceship for the alien in my story. I really like the out come of the UFO. When I first edited the pear, I left the colour grey but then I changed the colour after editing the minstrel. The colour of the minstrel turned out purple and then I changed the pear UFO purple too.

 












 These are the images I used, and was gonna use in my animation, for my background.

These are the images I used and was gonna use for Jonah Felka, and the villain/culprit in my story who is an alien. I was going to edit one of my classmate to give them big eyes, and a long thin green body for the alien.