#week 2.1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcRr-Fb5xQo

- The pace is fast, but not frantic – a comfortable pace. Even when the man’s world begins to crumble and he falls, the tone is nonchalant. Watching his descent is almost soothing – we don’t really worry about the fate of the man; we know he will be fine because the music is smooth and the pace doesn’t pick up, which would indicate tension or danger. 

Works by Saul Bass

- There are visual and stylistic references to American graphic designer Saul Bass in this animation - flat, simple geometric shapes – mainly black and white colour, with pops of red. A reminder that an animatic doesn’t have to be overly complicated or busy to portray a message.

Koha Week 2.1

Today in class we watched many examples of motion graphics - paying particular attention to the strategic direction, tone, narrative, pace and emotion. 

I particularly liked the Dexter and Six Feet Under opening credits - simple shots of somebody opening a packet of bacon, or squeezing a blood orange can be made to look so gruesome and violent through use of colour grading, soundtrack and tone. 

There was an illustrated motion graphic of ‘The Raven’ by Edgar Allen Poe - I’ll be dissecting and analyzing this further on our group blog, as it was short and impactful - the kind of length and style I imagine my pairs motion graphic might be. 

In pairs we created posters using emotive words and stills from the ‘A song for Europa’ animatic - our favourite was our patriotism one. To me, the red sky and the tower remind me of Russia, nuclear power and Chernobyl. 

Within our chosen three songs, we recognised the unifying theme of the violent and volatile nature of man. However, we recognise that men are not inherently violent – men are socialised to be violent. Warren’s songs contain many references to nature – water, land, sky and animals – we may potentially further explore nature as a metaphor for the actions and emotions of men. We were particularly interested in Warren’s use of the phrase ‘feather dream’ – feathers can be soft and gentle to the touch, however they can also be bold, bright and harsh – used by male birds to attract mates, or communicate a warning to other animals. Feathers are tools, adornments – they are quills, they line the cloaks of Maori chiefs, and embellish weapons. White feathers were universally regarded as a symbol of peace and purity – however, during WW1 they became a symbol of cowardice.

Potential names for the season:

- Hokioi / Pouakai (Haasts eagle) - a giant, extinct bird predator native to New Zealand - said to have been able to fly and reach the heavens in Maori mythology. 

- Meremere - feathers from the shoulder of a bird

- Kura - red, scarlet, red feathers, treasured item

- Huru - undergrowth, hair, feather, white dogskin cloak 

- Pākākā - scorched, burnt orange, 

- Pāhunu - to burn, fire

-  Kā - to burn, to glow

-  Pūkākā - to be hot, burning fiercely, fiery, volatile

changing course

okay so we’ve had a dramatic shift in where we’re going for this piece (sorry grandma) and the twilight renaissance is now my focus? yes we are in fact referring to the Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer adapted to film in 2008.

If you want a blow-by-blow explanation of how I got here, I was reading twilight memes from the trending page on tumblr over the weekend and found out one of my friends had never seen the films or read the books. Obviously i could not let this blasphemy continue and we knuckled down for all 5 films on Monday.

Approximately 10 hours later

(1) Audience Profile: Abigail is a senior student at The University of North Carolina Asheville.

(2) Situation/Context: Every day Abi spends about an hour in buses a day.

(3) Insight: While Abi resents waiting for buses, but enjoys the speed of buses once actually on them. In her school system, bus cards are factored into the school system. She thinks that buses are an effective way to get around.

(4) Need: Abi wishes judgement upon poor people who take the bus was lessened (this is a cultural thing where much of the population and infrastructure is spread out).

(5) Provocation: How might we make the bus commute the best part of Abigail’s day?

(6) Response: More regular buses!