This exhibition was a blast from the past! Amy Winehouse was always iconic for me as a teenager – not only did she come from my ends (Southgate) but she was an amazing talent. She spoke and wrote songs from the heart.
Visiting the Design Museum, to see this small exhibition was such a treat. It was a wonderful display of her fashion, brand and music and ultimately a celebration of her life. We tend to see celebrities as the ‘main character’ of the story – Amy definitely ended up as the main character but she started from humble beginnings.
I began to think about the facets to a character and their needs/wants. This display was curated as the journey of Amy Winehouse, she had her ups and downs but gradually rose to fame. The timeline included musical events that grounded what she liked, vocalists she admired – which alluded to her sense of fashion. All these things contribute to her character, yet she was grounded – she knew her roots. As the ‘main character’, she was adored for her talent, her style and her humbleness.
Everything from the ground up was reflective of Amy’s style – this aesthetic leans into the atmosphere of the show. Also it’s easily identifiable and connected to Amy’s branding – checkerboard tiles and hot pink wallpaper. It was interesting to see her fashion style and her music became a part who she is – not just what she wears or does.
The exhibition really did showcase a story arc of her life, including a big virtual animated performance right at the end.
I was assigned to a second year, Sophya Kebets. She immediately contacted me via instagram. Her work is very humorous, simple and straight to the point. I was very much excited and nervous to work with her, as I’ve never really collaborated or worked with someone on their final major project.
Initially, we got off to a strong start as we had a meeting straight away. However, Sophya may have had a little bit of a creative block – so I didn’t hear from her until a week after our meeting. Thankfully, in terms of time, the tasks that I was given wasn’t so intensive. So I was able to complete them quite quickly in the last week of simulated work experience.
I think we could have had more conversations about the story, the theme and the overall aesthetic of her final film – but that is obviously pretty dependant on the creator.
Initial background designs provided by Sophya
At the start of the 2 week simulated work experience, we set up a meeting on Teams to discuss what needed to be done. Initially, Sophya wanted a one point perspective line drawing. She hadn’t yet decided what colour palette she needed or wanted. The only specific things that she wanted from the background, was clean sharp lines and the size of the background to be 3000 x 1800.
Below is the one point line drawing perspective I sent to Sophya. I was thinking that she would come back with more details to add or something to change – but thankfully she said that it is fitting and I didn’t need to redo or add anything else to it.
I would have like to learn a few techniques, however I feel I would have been more of a hindrance than a helper. I honestly haven’t learnt any new techniques or skills.
The one tip that helped me out was understanding dimensions. Sophya wanted the background to be in a larger scale because she wanted the animation to pan or zoom in. That is something that I have recently learned, not necessarily on the course – but understanding aspect ratios gave me a little bit of guidance.
Line Drawing Background
At this point, we had less than a week left of simulated work experience. She had asked me to collect a few colour palettes, mostly blues and maximum 6 colours per palette. She provided a descriptive reference for the colour palettes:
‘It would be the vibe of a lawyers office, but with creepy ish vibes (maybe more on the blues?)’
The colour palettes below are compiled from what I thought would fit the theme provided. The feedback I’ve been given so far is surprisingly good and Sophya seems to like what I’ve given her so far.
Initial Colour Palette
In terms of visual development and background work, I don’t think it completely aligns with the industry standards. Working in background and looking at the overall aesthetic theme of animation, is definitely a role that I’d like to pursue in the future. However, I don’t believe this experience has given me a real taster of what that could be like.
However, the experience was thoroughly enjoyable. I feel I was well matched with a very considerate 2nd year. Understandably, they have just started their project, so I was willing to offer any help in any way that I could.
The success of this collaboration was definitely our communication. There was always a to and fro with e-mails and at times we’d catch up at university.
I wouldn’t say there was many challenges in this experience, as I was very comfortable with the tasks provided. I guess, it was mostly nervousness on my part as I am more confident is certain areas of animation as opposed to others. At the beginning, I wasn’t sure as to what kind of person my 2nd year was and what tasks they would give me.
Taking from this experience, I’d bring hopefully provide a laid out plan of a rough story, some key beats and an initial colour palette. I would like to have a process or a project plan, so I can manage what I would need at specific stages of the timeline.
Exhibition: ‘Black’ was held at the Cartoon Museum which had recently been moved. It was a very small exhibition but it definitely made an impact. Written by Tobias Taitt and illustrated by Anthony Smith, the autobiographical graphic novel allowed for a different style.
I really enjoyed this exhibition. The Cartoon Museum is quite small, so it was an intimate exhibition within a small room.
‘Celebrating Black History Month, this powerful new exhibition explores the story and world of BLACK – the unflinching but uplifting new graphic memoir by writer Tobias Taitt and cartoonist Anthony Smith.
When Tobias was three, his mother killed his uncle. She was sent to prison, condemning him to spend his early life in a series of bleak institutions across rural England. As a black youth growing up in 1970s Britain, Tobias learned first-hand that the world could be a cold and uncaring place for a child of the state. But he also learned to navigate the system – and eventually to fight back against it.
When Tobias discovered life outside the institutions that held him, so began his involvement with the world of crime. Yet at the same time, a love of literature, with all its possibilities, grew within him.
With words by Tobias and illustrations by Anthony Smith, BLACK tells the uncompromising true story of Tobias’s life. Displaying 24 original pen and ink illustrations and video narration from Tobias, this intimate new exhibition invites visitors to experience a powerful and personal encounter with the art, story and people behind this remarkable graphic novel.‘
Youtube.com. 2021. Anthony Smith at London Cartoon Museum launch of BLACK: The Story of Tobias Taitt graphic novel. [online] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ljaoz07jJY
This exhibition was quite astounding, it showed various worlds that derived from one story: ‘Alice and Wonderland.’ The photos below show just a glimpse of the artwork developed for the multiple media outlets for the story. It was interesting to see how designers, artists and animators depict the main characters of the story. The exhibition was laid out in a theatrical way, the high ceilings and vast space led to a very interactive exhibition, which also included projections and VR. It began with the traditional elements of ‘Alice and Wonderland’, introducing the printing plates for the book. I found this quite intriguing as the words described were also being used in a visual way. The rooms led to a ‘modern’ Alice, the character designs were quite clean and bold using singular bright colours.
Images taken from the ‘Alice: Curiouser and Curiouser’ Exhibition
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bi-V9tuc2FA
Compilation of videos taken at the ‘Alice: Curiouser and Curiouser’ Exhibition
I really enjoyed the animations in this exhibition. They not only showcased the well known Disney animated feature on a large projection but displayed the artwork behind the film. Installations were included as a path to another room, it was almost like rippled canvas hanging from the ceiling with projected images of illustrations from the original book. Although, this installation was static and not animated – it allowed me to think the way we view information can come into play when planning an animation. The installations in this exhibition enlightened my perspective on how my animated film or animations could possibly be viewed or interactive.
My favourite installation was the animations that were projected onto the table and table cloth. There was a voice over narrative and sound that allowed me to be fully immersed in the installation. It just made me wonder if I could project an interactive animation.
From photography to films posters, the world of the character is so internationally well known that it is open to so much interpretation both artistically and imaginatively. I feel this exhibition really covered the world of ‘Alice and Wonderland’.
It was interesting to find a series of talks from various animators that Nexus Studios have to offer.
Vimeo. 2021. Craft Talks: UpRising with Nexus Studios’ next gen – Haein & Paul, Neeraja Raj + Siqi Song. [online] Available at: https://vimeo.com/635154674
Developing a character. ‘The character essentially lives with me… I am constantly thinking of what the character is doing or how they feel’ – Raj. ‘We do a lot of people watching… sometimes making a character is like building a collage from different people’ – H&P – ‘Collecting scenes from our life… sometimes you will remember it better than it actually was.’
Vimeo. 2021. Craft Talks: Brilliance and bravery behind iconic work – Smith & Foulkes + Shona Collins. [online] Available at: https://vimeo.com/635152701
Using VR, designing animation for the space. ‘It’s inevitable, your characters normally have a bit of your identity.’
Vimeo. 2021. Craft Talks: Epic adventures in alternate worlds – Factory Fifteen + Mischa Rozema. [online] Available at: https://vimeo.com/635170598
Vimeo. 2021. Craft Talks: Future gazing: real-time stories – Chris O’Reilly + Deborah Casswell. [online] Available at: https://vimeo.com/635166595
Vimeo. 2021. Craft Talks: The endless possibilities of animation Robertino Zambrano + Patrick Osborne. [online] Available at: https://vimeo.com/635168544
Clare Weeks is said to be the ‘Pioneer of Indian Animation’. An American man who had 16 years of work with Disney was invited by the Information of Films India to set up and head the animation division in Bombay, India.
Animation in India started with Leather puppetry, but then began to look at the political side of things within India. The government recognised that animation was a tool to educate the Indian public and to also use it for their political means. For instance, animation as an educational tool was utilised for the common person to truly understand certain aspects about life through visual imagery. During the 1950’s, the majority of the Indian public were unable to read or write, therefore animation allowed people to be educated in a visual way. This form of communication showcased adverts and infographics for political propaganda, shopping, hygiene related issues and so on.
(Abid, 2012)
Following on from the ‘political propaganda’ era of Indian animation, during the mid 70’s, artist ‘Abid’ utilised animation in his fine art practice as displayed in the video above. This is a far stretch from the beginnings of Indian animation, however the commonality between leather puppetry and Abid’s live action / stop motion performance lies within the storytelling. However, the differences are very stark – colour comes into play and therefore the stylistic approach with composition and form is more prevalent.
