#mi4012

In this unit I was tasked in creating a storyboard that was inspired by the DADA theme of which I was to make from a poem that was created by me from newspaper clippings. The idea of DADA is to be expressive & it doesn’t always have to make sense. From this poem I have based my research, ideas & development that I have created into a storyboard & concept art of the story.

In my research I feel i looked into some interesting subjects that I wanted to reflect in my work. I feel that the historical context of DADA is also beneficial as it displays some background information on what my project is based on. Another bit of research I thought was helpful & essential for my work is the research into camera angles & shot sizes. This is because I can teach myself the various types of shots & how I can use them to my advantage to enhance a piece. I liked the focus on certain aspects of my design such as the involvement of the mirror & the analysis of the use of mirrors in an existing piece as through this I determined that using the involvement of the phone was more effective. By looking at colour palettes it helped me develop my ideas so that I ended with the colour choices i made for my concept art & storyboard. What i would do if I redid this part of the project would be to research more on specific aspects like more artist styles. The development part of this project I felt I could’ve experimented with more as I thought I could have made my own workshops on things like art style & brushes on Photoshop. However the development I did make on my ideas I feel I made enough choices to create my full realisation.

When my final idea of what I wanted to make was realised I started on the making of the storyboards. I did this by setting the canvas on Photoshop to a 16:9 ratio so that it is the right format for my boards. I then scanned in my sketched storyboards, lowered the opacity & set them to a multiply blend mode so that I could see the lines through the digital colours I was about to apply. I created my own brush which was based on the existing pressure sensitivity brush with added jitter count, etc & used it to create a rough effect. Not only does this add character to the design but it gives it a pencil-style effect. I made groups for each of the storyboard frames to keep organised as there was many layers for each page of the storyboard. I had a colour palette in mind to distinguish between scenes as I wanted to show contrast of the dull apartment (purples), the joy of the imaginative world (reds, oranges, yellows), & the emptiness of the wasteland that reflects no mood (grey). The photos below shows some of my process which was created in photoshop:

The use of a colour scheme is essential in creating a mood for your project as it can reflect many things such as mood & foreshadowing the plot. In my storyboards I want to explore the use of colour to reflect on the plot of the story that was created from a DADA poem. To do this I must have examples to look at & analyse to determine the successful use of colour.

The Use Of Colour in Steven Universe

This children’s program has a unique way of presenting it’s scenes & characters with colour. The linework blends well with the colours & the schemes appear softer than the bright tones such as neon colours. This could be due to the fact the style of the animation has a “soft” look to it & by adding a soft colour palette it completes the piece. Another thing about the shows colours is they have a general colour theme. For example a character called Garnet has a general colour theme of burgundy & rich reds to reflect on what the gemstone garnet looks like. It complements the linework well & is not too neon-like. Another thing I like about Steven Universe’s style is the lineless block colour style they use for background detail which intrigues me. I would like to experiment with this in my work. 

Steven Universe sources: 

Design Culture (n.d.), tumblr_o0tmgizNFv1ue1abwo2_1280 , (accessed date: 20th Nov 2018)

Design Culture (n.d.),  tumblr_nt73zv0JfA1ue1abwo4_1280 ,(accessed date: 20th Nov 2018)

From my DADA poem I could go many directions in terms of themes. I could go a literal way or a conceptual way in which a meaning is found from the subject. I decided to create a mind map to help me determine which idea is the best course to take & go on to develop. 

After receiving feedback on my initial storyboards I decided to act on the feedback given & develop my ideas more to create a more coherent concept. The feedback I was given discussed the fact that there was a lack of involvement with the phone which I wanted to include & I should think about switching out the mirror idea for the involvement with the phone. I talked about how I wanted to add a contrast with colour in my storyboards to differentiate between the locations in the story. One location is a dull apartment while the other is a bright dream world that has been created due to the phone & its significance.

These are the initial storyboards of the DADA poem. From the poem I interpreted it as a person’s obsession over another person’s perfect life which is displayed though social media. They walk into the bathroom & look at themselves in the mirror to which they close their eyes & wake up in this “ideal” life. They soon realise it’s not everything it is cracked up to be & they are overwhelmed by this. The brace themselves for the crowd that is gaining on them & then wake up in a wasteland. They find the person from the social media post & life they wanted to have. The character realises it’s not a real life but only something that they present to the world that it’s “perfect”. She takes her hand & they run towards the mirror to brake out of this backwards dimension. The person lands back in her bathroom & smiles to herself as she is content with the life she has as it’s perfect to her.

The use of mirrors is significant in this story as it hold significance in many aspects such as folklore & superstition (e.g. breaking a mirror means 7 years bad luck, etc). I will continue to research into this to develop my ideas.