©Robin Mackenzie 2012

CONVERGENCE/DIVERGENCEThe Arts University College at Bournemouth

C O N T E N T S

BRIEFLEARNING AGREEMENTINITIAL IDEA GENERATION AND RESEARCHFIRST LINO PRINTSCHARACTER DESIGNSTORYBOARDANIMATION TECHNIQUEBACKGROUND LINO PRINTSCHARACTER DRAWINGSTITLESMUSICPUTTING IT ALL TOGETHERTHE FINAL ANIMATION- STILLS

B R I E FC O N V E R G E N C E / D I V E R G E N C E

In our fast-moving society, the need to provide accessible screen based communication is an impor-tant requirement within the profile of an illustrator. Increasingly, growth in this area of the illustration sphere can be evidenced in the range of new products brought out by manufacturers each year, which consequently, provides new platforms for illustration. This in turn, creates an exciting dialogue that emerges from the more traditional ideas of Illustration through to the newer emergence of challenging and exciting hybrid forms.

Screen based outcomes for example, can educate, inform, comment upon or provide light entertain-ment by combining sound, text, visual imagery, still and moving pictures.

As with all of our visual outcomes, whatever the approach/media, we need to be aware of the many dif-ferent contexts and audiences, and so therefore, the intention of the work must be given due considera-tion prior to the commencement of the project.

Converge. v.i. - to tend towards or meet in one point or value: the opposite of diverge.Conver’gence – the act or point of converging.

Diverge. v.i. – to tend from a common point in different directions: to turn apart.Diverg’ence – proceeding from different directions from each other or from a common point.

Focusing on the title of this unit, ‘Convergence / Divergence’, and using one of these words as the con-ceptual framework for your screen based communication, you are required to produce a short film or sequence of images with an associated sound track.

Contemplate the potential meaning of these two words, and how they could be further interpreted and applied to visual outcomes, as your resulting ideas may be a broad interpretation of the theme, ‘Convergence OR Divergence’.

The work can be created by any process and can take the form of abstract, representational, collage, hand-drawn, photographic, printmaking, 3-dimensional, film-based combinations.

L E A R N I N G O U T C O M E S

On completion of the unit you will be able to:

LO1 Demonstrate your knowledge of new and evolving technologies for the illustrator and the pos-sible effectiveness for clients and other audience contexts.

LO2 Demonstrate your practical application of traditional and technology skills in the creation of a screen-based presentation to peer group.

LO3 Apply visual expression, intellectual enquiry and communication within a digital context.

LO4 Critically reflect on your approach to the project and the final design solution.

L E A R N I N G A G R E E M E N T

Music is a constant factor in our everyday lives, it saturates every corner of our society, influences the way we think and the fashions that we choose to wear. Every culture in the world is steeped in musical history, songs that speak of the experiences and heritage of a nation. Musicologists term these songs ‘Folk Songs’. They are passed down and preserved through family groups and as well as document-ing the history of a certain culture, they are often incredibly beautiful utterances of emotion and the human condition. In particular, it is the folk songs of the Appalachian Mountains in America that really inspire and influence me. These songs originate from the British Isles but it is the journey that they took over to America that has really shaped the soul of the music, they have captured the troubles, woes and joys of the people and it is this that strongly feeds my practice as an illustrator.

These songs were extremely important to the early immigrants who took them over to America. They acted as a means of escapism, the people could converge together, sing the old songs they learnt from their ancestors and forget for a while about the perilous journey to the new world they were undertak-ing. This convergent aspect of the songs really fascinates me. On the one hand they are ballads which tell incredibly emotional stories, which can be used to teach the younger generations the ways of the world. On the other hand their, equally important, function is to bring people together, to maintain the people’s sense of community and shared culture.

During my previous project I began to explore lino-cuts and printmaking and it is the possibilities of these mediums that I wish to further during the Convergence/Divergence unit. The theory of Nos-talgia is also key within my ideas, the fact that although we live in a world of technology and constant development, there are those who choose to live as if the world stopped, for example, in the 1920’s. Burns (2011, p.110) states that Nostalgia can be defined as ‘a longing for home and a refusal of moder-nity’s pursuit of progress.’ This idea can be evidenced in the singing of the old ballads, people singing old songs to remember where they came from and to keep unique traditions alive. I am enthralled by this and I wish to explore elements of this theory through the use of creative visual mediums.

Although I have experimented a small amount within the field of stop motion animation, I have a lot to learn and I am looking forward to the challenges this unit will present. I wish to maintain the nostalgic and hand-crafted feel that I have cultivated within my practice, but be able to generate these qualities within the realm of screen based visual communication. I believe that the flickering quality of stop motion will apply well to the field of printmaking; however a considerable amount of experi-mentation will be required to achieve a perfect amalgamation of the two.

To begin with I will start to experiment with various lino-cuts and animation techniques, looking at texts such as “Basics Animation: drawing for Animation” and “Secrets of Digital Animation”. The animator Sylvain Chomet (Belleville Rendez-Vous and The Illusionist) creates films that capture the nostalgic essence of hand drawn techniques and themes. I feel that his work is a fantastic inspira-tion in the use of atmosphere and emotion, traits that are very important to my own art. “Old Time Film”, by Triangular Press and Zornado Productions is created exclusively using letter press, printer’s ornaments and antique engravings. As I intend to work with lino-cuts and traditional print making techniques, I will study this film very carefully, as I can relate the way that I work to the techniques that have been employed here.

The field of Illustration is constantly expanding, so contemporary Illustrators need to have the ability to present their work in whatever format is required, whether it be 3D modelling or through screen based visuals. I hope that the Convergence/Divergence project will enable me to widen my knowl-edge of the tools available to me and enhance my skills when it comes to using them. I plan, through this unit to investigate the traditional Appalachian music and printmaking techniques that I am so passionate about and to effectively translate these into a screen based outcome, which also captures the nostalgic aspects of my previous work. The piece will be aimed, in the majority, at young adults with an interest in the resurgence of folk music and folk culture and essentially, those who yearn for a simpler and more homely world.

In terms of the viewing context, ideally I would like to be able to project within an old wagon or Ap-palachian cabin. However the other possibility of a museum space, such as The American Museum in Bath or Poole Museum could be an interesting avenue to explore.

I have realised through my research into the traditional Appalachian songs and other folk ballads that they are often incredibly romantic utterances and displays of emotion. This romanticism really is the heart of the music and I don’t want this to be lost within my animation, this has prompted the use of beautiful landscapes and backdrops and further research into romantic symbology.

From reading into Romanticism and the romantic movement within painting I have found:

- The Romantics ‘believed the modern world to be spiritually incompatible with that of classical an-tiquity’. Could this apply to the Nostalgic outlook? That we believe the world to be incompatible with the way we would like things to be, so increasingly we are looking back to the past, to the good old days…

- ‘Romantic’ is defined as the opposite of ‘Classical’. This emphasises the associative side of picture making, it is not formal. This is just as folk music is the opposite of classical, the music of the people, based on associated thoughts and feelings.

- Classical beauty, within painting and sculpture, at it’s height involves a rather stoic concealment of deeper emotions..whereas folk art and music doesn’t have to be beautiful, so the emotions shine through. Imperfections are the key to humanity. I’m not sure about classical music though…? can be very emotional…

-Romantic= emotive extremes ( love, death,hate.rejection etc. )

-Castles are seen as very romantic imagery. As are astounding natural places and objects, oak trees, waterfalls, mountains.. A Turner painting for example is full of Romantic imagery.

- Romantic Poetry springs from agony and despair, as do many folk songs.(Notes made from Romanticism and Art by William Vaugn)

R O M A N T I C I S M W I T H I N F O L K S O N G S

“Der St. Gotthard-Pass” / 1804 William Turner

F I R S T L I N O P R I N T S

At the moment I am thinking about how I am going to animate prints within my animation, I want to utilise the printing techniques that I am passionate about but as the process of printing every single frame would take a very long time indeed, I need to decide on a balance between printmaking and other quicker techniques. Here are some of my initial reduction prints, I am currently working out the best way to express movement and emotion within the characters.

C H A R A C T E R D E S I G N

The song that I have chosen to work with is an old romantic song called ‘East Virginia’. There are only two characters within the song so their relationship and story needs to be clear as they are the main focus for the viewer. They need to blend with the style of the background but be able to stand alone and carry the weight of the narrative. I have begun to work out the costumes and poses here, taking inspiration from the people who lived in the Appalachian mounatins around the beginning of the 20th century. These people would have sung the old songs on a regular basis and would be able to relate strongly to the emotions and stories of the characters.

S T O R Y B O A R D

Now that I have settled on the designs for the characters, I need to plan out how they are going to play out the story of East Virginia. The song describes their feelings and emotions but is not so focused on their actions or locations of the narrative, so I need to adapt the story to suit an animation format. The storyboard here is my first thoughts in how it could play out, from this initial grounding of the story, I can then work from this and make changes throughout the project if I need to.

A N I M A T I O N T E C H N I Q U E

In terms of animation production, I believe there is no better example than Disney, their working methodology is detailed within the book, ‘The Illusion of Life, Disney Animation.’ I am currently following the advice detailed below, it covers every aspect of planning, designing and creating an animated film.

G U I D E L I N E S

Story Sketch- Do the rough planning of how the story will run.

Character Development- Plan out and really get to know your characters.

Recording- Sort out the sound track.

Story Reel- Put together the initial story sketches to work out the flow etc.

Layout- Determine how each scene will be built up, background, movement of cameras etc.

Imaginitive Staging- Play with the layout of the sequence, make it exciting.

Experimental Animation- Test out what you’ve got so far, is it working?

Animate!- Start building the animation, creating work reels along the way. ( Bits of animation alongside the story sketches)

S E V E N S T E P S I N A N I M A T I N G A S C E N E

Think- Why is the scene in the film? What is it’s purpose?

Thumbnails- Create ideas for A) The staging of the scene. B) The cutting and continuity.

Mechanics of Presentaion- A) Perspective- what will have the most impact. B) Scale- make sure that everything is in scale to the things around it. The characters need to fit.

Solve Special Drawing Problems- Work out difficult angles and layouts in thumbnails.

Double Check Your Ideas- Check your ideas with the layouts and story reels to see that they fit.

Blow Up Drawings Full Size- Full size may make the drawings work differently, experiment!!

Put the “Juice” in it- Make the scene special, add the emotion and unique value it needs.

B A C K G R O U N D L I N O P R I N T S

Every day that I go into the print room to work on my backgrounds, I learn something new. It is such a creative, inspiring environment and it is so beneficial for me to be in there working alongside other incredible practitioners. I am very happy with how the background reductive linos have turned out, the colours are evocative of the songs emotion and I think they will work very alongside the drawings of the characters.

C H A R A C T E R D R A W I N G S

Having now finished creating the backgrounds, I can focus on the drawings. I have decided, after trying out a varity of mediums, that coloured pencil compliments the linos very nicely and will have the capability to show very detailed aspects of the characters. This way I will be able to create all the drawings needed much faster than if everything was created through printmaking. I think also it is important to get some distance from constant printing to allow my drawing to develop and then, this in turn will advance the way that I create my prints.

T I T L E S

For the opening title and credits I want to keep with quite a traditional approach, utilising one colour lino prints cut in a decorative manner that ties in with the feel of the Appalachian music.A rustic but sophisticated design ethic which I think echoes the beautiful emotions of the songs.

M U S I C

I originally planned to use a version of ‘East Virginia’ including the vocals, however when I tested this out, I found that the lyrics ran far too quickly for the visuals to keep up. I did some further tests and thought about other options and I have now decided to use an Appalachian instrumental called ‘Shady Grove’. It fits the animation perfectly and still maintains the correct genre that I originally intended.

P U T T I N G I T A L L T O G E T H E R

To put all the elements of the animation together I was working with Adobe After Effects. Although I was reluctant at first to work using so much digital technology, I am glad that I took the initiative to learn this amazing program. It has added depth and a professional level of finish to the animation resulting in an outcome that I am very pleased with.

I have learnt so much about digital technology and working with computers throughout this project and I feel that my capabilties within the digital realm are now alot stronger. Consequently I can think about combining traditional techniques and digital processes to enhance my practice further.

T H E F I N A L A N I M A T I O N - S T I L L S

This was a tough but really exciting and interesting project which I feel has really helped me in my acceptance of digital technology and my competence when it comes to using it. I can now see new ways of moving my practice forward and I am very excited about where future projects will take me.

My thanks go to everybody that has helped me with this project and has given me opportunities to try new things and to develop my practice as an illustrator. Special thanks to Ed White for all his help in learning all the new programs and to Sharon Beeden for her enthusiasm and for letting me produce the screening poster. Most of all thank you to Lauren for her constant support and for inspiring me everyday.