It begins!

Welcome, 

(This project will be ongoing until may 13th 2013)


NOTE: (update from january 2013 (THE FUTURE!) - this project changes a great deal from beginning to current phase. Thought I'd come back to this post and just mention that).


*Breathes in*

Over the next academic year I'm going to create an honours project surrounding the areas of artwork and creative studies that I am extremely passionate about. 

In the past I've loved creating and developing different characters for different (animated) stories, and also video games. I would like to explore character personality development in detail in order to greater understand the field and better my artistic and creative skill. 

I tend to work with my pencil mostly, however I do enjoy using a range of mediums such as: digital painting, clay, charcoal, pastels and watercolour.

'Frédéric' - Rory Jobson

The project must revolve around a research question, which as of right now, is still up in the air.  

But as it stands, I've been looking further and further into character archetypes and how they are represented in stories, and how this allows the viewer to gain preconceptions of how things might turn out for these characters. Also how the characters' design affects how you are attracted/repelled by the character. 

I would also like to look into the way certain people develop their stories. Do some people create with Archetypes in mind? or the opposite? Does the story drive itself? Or do the characters become so real in the creators mind that the story almost 'writes itself'?

And lastly I like the idea of hierarchy in animated films. Specifically the layout of shots and how this can lead an audience to perceive how an on-going conflict/scene may turnout. 

So yeah, it's all a bit over the shop, but at least I have a direction to go on, and goals to achieve!

• Finish current book (Acting for animators)
• Once Lynn (tutor) E-mails me some similar dissertations, study them
• Keep developing my own stories. 
• Keep studying short animations through story arcs, and also noting how the different archetypes drive the story along in existing animations. 

Also currently reading/beginning several books, which include:

"The Skillful Huntsman" - Various Authors
"Setting The Scene" -  Fraser Maclean
"Pixar. The Art Of: "Brave"/"Up"/"Toy Story 3" - Various Authors. 
"Acting for Animators" - Ed Hooks
" The Illusion of Life" - Ollie Johnston, Frank Thomas

'The Art of Toy Story 3'.  Solomon. C

also (recommended by tutors):

"The Seven Basic Plots: Why We Tell Stories" - Christopher Booker



But to get the ball moving I thought I would throw up some of the work I did so far in anticipation of this project. Most of the characters are linked to short stories I wrote over the summer. 

*BREATHES OUT*

thanks,