When watching Oz the Great and Powerful, I noticed the aspect of layered up images that was used in the title credits, I'm not sure who produced the piece itself, but I really like the style that is used and it reminds me of the aspect of Laser cut layers that Rick mentioned we could experiment with in future projects.
I really like the collage sort of element to it, using old images and illustrations together, something alike to my Narrative Story using the collage elements.
Crimeboard Preparation
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| One of the Original Shots |
I decided to make my own murder story up to ensure that the props actually look like they belong together rather than having all different forms of movements of crime.
Due to one of my models deciding to wear Scrubs from a veterinary centre, we came up with the idea that Beth (pictured right) would be the main murderer, with Hazel (below) as a side criminal, like a sidekick, the idea was that they are both criminals but Beth ended up killing Hazel, thus having the mugshots of them both as well as a set up murder photograph of Hazel herself which I intend to edit, and fake witness statements etc. After studying what is usually on the boards I have produced the following...
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| Beth's Mugshots |
Photography I Produced Myself
In order to be authentic and to make my own crime story up, I have decided to use people I know as models for some photographs that will be put on the featured board when I set it up. I decided I'd like to keep most of the features of the board (photographs etc) in Black and White to enhance the red strands to ensure they're not lost against all the different things going on in the background.
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| Hazel's Mugshots |
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| Original Copy of Hazel 'Dead' |
As soon as this came up I knew that it was something I'd like to include as I think it'd look effective to have pretend body photography, as it adds to the whole aspect of editing things.
I decided to edit in the aspect of a crime scene tape as well as a gun wound and other bruising to look like they are actually linked and her looking like she had actually been murdered rather than her just looking distant.
Using photoshop and an array of other effects (The Burn tool to add bruising and shadowing on top of the Black and White filter, as well as adding bullet wound layers and the crime scene strip) I produced the image below that I intend to include on the board in addition to the mugshots too.
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| Edited Version |
In order to produce some shots I won't actually have the props to be able to pursue what I would like to show, therefore I have used some internet sourced images for the crime board to add a bit more evidence to the crime involved.The aspect of such includes the getaway car, or vehicle found at the scene and various pieces of evidence such as the weapons used etc.
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| Pictures from Daily Mail Article. |
"Unpacking Samsung"- Samsung TV Advert
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| Still from the Samsung 'Unpacking' Ad. |
Design Books
"It's Not How Good You are, it's How Good You Want to Be"
By Paul Arden
I have just finished reading this book after seeing it as being a bestseller. The handbook contains important advice from Advertising Designer Paul Arden who is described as "a creative genius, albeit a wayward one" (Roger Kennedy, Saatchi & Saatchi)
I think that there are certain ideas in here that are pretty influential, such as the thought process behind design work, and how it's always important to share ideas, with it being that if you're in the same studio environment, and having the same atmosphere around you, all the ideas in that room are to be shared. Arden explains how it's an important factor to know how good you actually want to be and how to achieve this, he gives a scale of 'Quite Good' to 'The best in the World" allowing the reader to make their own choices all the way through and adapting rhetorical questions about the design work to the chapter involved.Something that I really admire is the humorous yet informative nature of the book, as it allows an inviting atmosphere for the reader with humour, yet withholds some clever advice for generally having a better attitude and therefore better work ethic for the design industry.
He speaks of how competitive the advertising Industry actually is and it has allowed me some further insight into the nature of the industry such as the studio space, the colleagues he has had and the statistics behind financing such adverts.
I like the fact that reading this book helped reassure my fears of not thinking I am good enough with technical skills for the industry, as all it needs is a change of attitude towards such a thing, I may not be good at it now, but it's how good I want to be and how I'll learn to achieve such goals which is the most important part of the process.
'Typography Sketchbooks'
by Steven Heller & Lita Talarico
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| Matt Luckhurst Final Work |
Inspired by the Bruno Maag lecture that we had and wanting to learn more about typography in terms of using it in my own work and developing animations with the creative use of text, I decided to read and look through this book which is a collection of typographic sketchbooks from a range of typographers. I found it an interesting read as it meant that I was able to view a range of sketchbooks with all different styles and pick out some of my favourite typographers to look into further. The book contains more than one hundred of 'the world's leading typographers and graphic designers' and I was intrigued as to what ones would spring out to me. |
| Matt Luckhurst Sketchbook |
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| Katie Lombardo's work after sketchbooks prep |
I think due to the fact that I have always relied on my own sketchbook work, it's interesting to see professional designers' sketchbook work and how they evolved from sketches and random drawings that they produced. I think it was nice for me to delve into a new sort of medium that I'd only learnt the basics about and I loved that I could see the original work instead of the polished, finished versions, it was good to see the detail and intricacies of simple sketches that lead to these more polished ideas, and helped me believe more in my own idea generation through sketchbooks as I believe they're a powerful tool in terms of idea generation.
"The Way Forward" Carwow Advertisement 2016
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| Finishing off Lasercut Layers. |
Felix Wetzel, marketing director, decided to collaborate with a design team to make up a series of paper formats that would reflect the overall values that they wanted to show within the company. Creative Director Kevin Keenan found that with car wow they almost changed the wheel, and that the company itself depends on the car wheels, and therefore he decided to explore whether they could base the whole advertisement upon a simple aspect of a wheel.
Using a team of designers as well as a laser cutter, Keenan analysed the speed and movement of the wheel in order to produce a spinning mechanism that would make the advert seem like it was revolving around the wheel, inspired by the classic animation technique of Zoetropes.
Although it seemed at the time like a simple enough idea to layer up the paper upon paper in order to produce such an effect, I think there needs to be some recognition to the hard work and intricacy that went into the production of the advertisement, and I feel it's definitely one that stands out against other adverts, especially with it's physical characteristics.
The Making Of Video for the advertisement and the finished product are shown below.
Abbott Mead Vickers
A famous advertising agency AMV produce an array of advertising campaigns for alternate clients including: BT, Guinness, Sainsbury's, Lotto, and Snickers.
I like the fun side that this agency seem to explore, such as using pre-existing characters in their pieces such as Mr Bean in the Snickers advertisements that they have worked on.
The agency use a variety of medias to produce their work but generally it includes the use of live filming and footage, as well as some combinations of animation and CGI, such as the work they did on 'Mog' the cat in the Sainsbury's advertisement that they produced.
Personally, although I think the company have produced some of the most memorable adverts, especially seasonal, my favourite of their adverts has to be the more 2 dimensional elements. An example of which is this Financial Service Compensation Scheme (FSCS) Film that they produced with the media supposedly made to reflect the security that the company wants the customer to know that they provide.
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| Screenshot for Snickers Advertisement |
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| Mog the Cat for Sainsbury's 2015 |
The agency use a variety of medias to produce their work but generally it includes the use of live filming and footage, as well as some combinations of animation and CGI, such as the work they did on 'Mog' the cat in the Sainsbury's advertisement that they produced.Personally, although I think the company have produced some of the most memorable adverts, especially seasonal, my favourite of their adverts has to be the more 2 dimensional elements. An example of which is this Financial Service Compensation Scheme (FSCS) Film that they produced with the media supposedly made to reflect the security that the company wants the customer to know that they provide.
Crime Board Research
Boards
In order for the crime board I produce to be authentic set for the piece, I want to look into existing crime boards used in film and in real life investigations to ensure that the Film4 set I produce doesn't look fake and to make sure it will be taken seriously by the audience.
It's important for the piece to have relevant things on the walls without getting too distracting for the audience as this could ruin the effect overall. The idea is that the camera zooms into the set and the red wool lines inside it, and will soon reveal the Film4 logo within the strings lined up. I think this allows the ident to have an air of mystery as well as being linked to the previous idents of Channel4.
Crimeboards were used historically in the Police internationally to solve crimes and connect locations and witnesses to suspects etc. The technique has been dramatised and adapted into crime series and films where it is very much a visual symbol of Detective genres, something that was appealing to me when thinking of what was the best thing to include.
The Crime Boards in addition to having the strings to interlock certain points and make connections, also has an array of photographs, notes, statements, documents, receipts, dates and other artefacts that link to the investigation. I think in my crime board I'd like to include similar medias in order to look authentic and perhaps should look into the crime file designs such as mug shots being used on the boards.
I'd say that the crime boards have been a direct influence, and will successfully represent the Crime genre within Film4 however I like the cubic, 3D aspect that will be applied with it being a set. Another influence I'd say was inspired by the red string which I found was used in the Crime drama 'Dexter', where he uses the material to map out how and where blood splatters came from in order to help solve the mystery. The mapping he does is almost like a web of strings, leading up to finding the person in question. I really like the web-type design and think it works effectively together as a whole composition, I really find that there is potential with
in the idea and could help my theme of Film4's colour scheme of red that has always been important to me to keep within the design process.
I think that having a map of red lines of wool or string will look effective in the set, and with different camera angles, I'll hopefully be able to achieve a mysterious look. I think this would if it became an actual channel ident, be one of a series of idents that truly reflects the characteristics of Film4's channel, such as the different genres, be that romance (Which I think would be a rose suspended in the webs surrounded by alternate love themed backdrops), and other things such as action/adventure, horror etc.
I think it's important gathering research of alternate elements of the crime boards, in different countries like the contrast between the American and the British for example, and what would be recognised by the audience. I think I'd like a slightly British feel but still with some reference to the crime drama films that the audience may already be used to.
Fictional Research
After being a fan of a lot of crime shows myself, and after having looked further into them, I've found that a lot of the fictional crime shows have a lot of the either stereotypical cork board style with strings, or alternatively they have a whiteboard with written information on the criminals and suspects involved.
I think that the layout is similar to the real crime boards, however the photographs are obviously more staged. In examples such as this one taken from CSI, there are little notes pinned up on a cork board sort of effect with pins, alike to what I think will be an effective tool myself. I think I will use pushpins as these allow the strings or wool to hang on them a little bit better so that they are secure straight lines rather than wobbly pieces of wool.
I also think that the material of cork board or some sort of board would be preferred over whiteboard, as the whiteboard would reflect the lighting and movement of the camera, which is an element I'd like to avoid.
I'd like to mimic elements of the design of these crime boards such as the mugshots, which I think I'll compose myself by taking photographs of people I know, and also newspaper clippings, receipts and documents which are things that I think I could produce and make look scrumpled up and old enough to be found pieces of paper.
Non-Fiction Research
To find out the real sorts of crime boards and mugshots I have looked into shows such as our British non-fiction show 'Crimewatch' which produces reconstructions of certain criminal events to try to appeal for witnesses to come forward. In the programme, there are some mugshots shown, which I generally have noticed have been a frontal straight faced shot, as well as a shot of the person on the side, so two alternate photographs next to each other. I think in order to mimic the ideas shown in such programmes, I need a blank background, alike to when you take a passport photograph, serious faced, and perhaps with blank clothing and not much make-up for a girl as I don't want it to look like it's too glamourous.
I've also looked into Netflix's 'Making a Murder' who use the idea of the red strings to connect things and the old photographs and newspaper clippings as a digital aspect for the title sequence, I really like the layout of the title sequence and despite the black and white element, think it's a successful way of making the red strings stand out, maybe this is something to consider, with making my images black and white perhaps?
There is also sometimes string used within the crime boards, and that was something that definitely appealed to me as the red line forms of Film4 were definitely something that I initially looked into and wanted to keep within the theme of the channel. The aspect of red string between the images was interesting and I thought that the idea of them coming out of the wall was also interesting, especially when I was influenced by crime programmes such as Dexter, where he uses red string to map blood splatters.
Interestingly though, the aspect of red string does still relate to the crime boards I looked at as it is used in another Crime Documentary 'Making A Murderer' in the title credits to begin with, it's an effective composition that I definitely wanted to look more into in the future creations.
Mug Shots
I've looked into an array of mugshots that are both timely and modern, in order to seek out the best style for what I'd like to achieve. I think it's probably best to have the style that is to have one frontal mugshot with a straight face, as well as having a side on photograph as well. Some of the photographs include a board with different details on dependant on the police station or jail, I think I'm probably going to produce a mugshot without these details as I feel it won't really provide much detail, and they may be distracted by the amount of text on the various documents shown so it really isn't necessary to include such detail.
In order for the crime board I produce to be authentic set for the piece, I want to look into existing crime boards used in film and in real life investigations to ensure that the Film4 set I produce doesn't look fake and to make sure it will be taken seriously by the audience.
Crimeboards were used historically in the Police internationally to solve crimes and connect locations and witnesses to suspects etc. The technique has been dramatised and adapted into crime series and films where it is very much a visual symbol of Detective genres, something that was appealing to me when thinking of what was the best thing to include.
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| Example film crime board. |
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| 'Dexter' with his red Strings |
in the idea and could help my theme of Film4's colour scheme of red that has always been important to me to keep within the design process.
I think that having a map of red lines of wool or string will look effective in the set, and with different camera angles, I'll hopefully be able to achieve a mysterious look. I think this would if it became an actual channel ident, be one of a series of idents that truly reflects the characteristics of Film4's channel, such as the different genres, be that romance (Which I think would be a rose suspended in the webs surrounded by alternate love themed backdrops), and other things such as action/adventure, horror etc.
I think it's important gathering research of alternate elements of the crime boards, in different countries like the contrast between the American and the British for example, and what would be recognised by the audience. I think I'd like a slightly British feel but still with some reference to the crime drama films that the audience may already be used to.
Fictional Research
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| Crimeboard from American Crime Drama 'CSI' |
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| Crimeboard from 'Castle' |
I think that the layout is similar to the real crime boards, however the photographs are obviously more staged. In examples such as this one taken from CSI, there are little notes pinned up on a cork board sort of effect with pins, alike to what I think will be an effective tool myself. I think I will use pushpins as these allow the strings or wool to hang on them a little bit better so that they are secure straight lines rather than wobbly pieces of wool.
I also think that the material of cork board or some sort of board would be preferred over whiteboard, as the whiteboard would reflect the lighting and movement of the camera, which is an element I'd like to avoid.
I'd like to mimic elements of the design of these crime boards such as the mugshots, which I think I'll compose myself by taking photographs of people I know, and also newspaper clippings, receipts and documents which are things that I think I could produce and make look scrumpled up and old enough to be found pieces of paper.
Non-Fiction Research
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| Shot from 'Crimewatch' |
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| Popular Netflix Documentary 'Making A Murderer' |
I've also looked into Netflix's 'Making a Murder' who use the idea of the red strings to connect things and the old photographs and newspaper clippings as a digital aspect for the title sequence, I really like the layout of the title sequence and despite the black and white element, think it's a successful way of making the red strings stand out, maybe this is something to consider, with making my images black and white perhaps?There is also sometimes string used within the crime boards, and that was something that definitely appealed to me as the red line forms of Film4 were definitely something that I initially looked into and wanted to keep within the theme of the channel. The aspect of red string between the images was interesting and I thought that the idea of them coming out of the wall was also interesting, especially when I was influenced by crime programmes such as Dexter, where he uses red string to map blood splatters.
Interestingly though, the aspect of red string does still relate to the crime boards I looked at as it is used in another Crime Documentary 'Making A Murderer' in the title credits to begin with, it's an effective composition that I definitely wanted to look more into in the future creations.
Mug Shots
I've looked into an array of mugshots that are both timely and modern, in order to seek out the best style for what I'd like to achieve. I think it's probably best to have the style that is to have one frontal mugshot with a straight face, as well as having a side on photograph as well. Some of the photographs include a board with different details on dependant on the police station or jail, I think I'm probably going to produce a mugshot without these details as I feel it won't really provide much detail, and they may be distracted by the amount of text on the various documents shown so it really isn't necessary to include such detail.
Red Material Exploration
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| Reference for web style in Nature. |
- Wool
- Duct Tape
- Paper Strips
- Ribbon
- Pipe Cleaners
- Crepe Paper
Using such materials, I'm hoping it'll help to solidify some ideas that I already have. The ribbon and the red wool are my favourites of the materials, and the aspects of having a series of idents really appeals to me.
An aspect of the whole idea of Film4 is the aspect of the different genres there are on the channel, including Crime/Thrillers which I believe would be a good mix for an ident. The aspect of red wool/string being used to line up alternate elements of design is something that would appeal to me as I feel that there is a lot to work with.
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| Screenshot for programme 'Dexter' |
An aspect that really links the red wool/string webs, is the media of Dexter, being a way in which he works out where the blood splatters etc. using a map of webbed red wool.
I think a web of wool holding an array of props would be a good idea for this piece, especially with it being a red web of lines, alike the red logo. I can envision different genres of film being represented in props suspended in the webs, alike to something stuck in a spider web, and then it panning above the web to reveal the Film4 logo within the lines, changing the perspective in order to reveal the finished logo.
I think I will do a folded style set made of perhaps cardboard or something more substantial such as wood and cork board, and set it up with various props such as photographs, newspaper clippings and such.
Stephen McMennamy
When researching my aspects on Film4 it's made me realise that a lot of the work that I will produce will depend on perspective, I like the idea of luring the audience into thinking something is something else and it adds a quirky edge, just like McMennamy's work.McMennamy is an artist and photographer that combines photographs together in order to line up to quirkier pieces, adding an alternate viewpoint to objects we may see everyday and not make reference to, such as lightbulbs and eggs, tomatoes and boxing gloves and a cigarette chimney.
Ashraful Hasan- Artist Research
Personally I feel that his pieces withhold a manner of restriction to the viewer, with the persons limbs tied up, an aspect I've been considering for my ident, with the red ribbon being the most important aspect of the piece. I like the textural elements of the piece, how the newspaper seems smooth and muscle like as well as contrasting to the elements of red against black and white.
'Home' Gallery Visit
During our Manchester Trip, we visited 'Home' Gallery, a more of a modern gallery with digital sorts of media.
There was certain piece that really stood out to me and that was a futuristic piece developed in 3D aspects.
There was certain piece that really stood out to me and that was a futuristic piece developed in 3D aspects.
Manchester Art Gallery Visit
Visiting the Manchester Art Gallery, was an influential trip as it not only allowed me to gather information and example pieces relating to my keyword of 'Silence' it also allowed interpretation of the Channel Ident Brief and being able to select pieces of interest to me in general.
Due to having visited the gallery before I went to the recently altered exhibitions to see what would appeal to me.
Pat Flynn's Exhibition-
Half-life of a Miracle.
Pat Flynn was one of the contemporary artists that really stood out to me as his pieces retained the isolated composition that I was looking for in order to link the art to my keyword. In particular there was one piece there that really appealed to me of Flynn's and one which I felt directly linked to the theme I was looking for and that was 'Microphone' 2015 a piece that seemed photographic but either way resembled a microphone. The plaque that was next to the piece says:
I think it's an interesting concept to consider that objects represented using art materials will never be or function as the object does, making even loud representations of objects quiet, as essentially, when constricted to visual forms, all art is silent.
Film4 Inspiration
When looking around the gallery, the Channel Ident project was also on my mind, and that of the red stripe type patterns that I have been looking out for. Generally, after having not known for definite which idea best suits me, I have learnt to absorb whatever seems inspirational to me. Generally speaking, there seemed to just be the aspects of red that caught my eye, especially in line form, which goes to show how much an audience would actually connect the red line idea with the aspect of Film4 as I found that with both me and my peers, we were reminded of Film4's design aesthetic by looking at such pieces.
There was tower of red plastic trays which really stood out to me the 'Revolving Cabinet' By Shira Karumata, was one which was fascinating as I've liked to look into the idea that some objects of the same colour can look in place when placed on top of each other etc. I think this is an aspect to be considered in the making of and the animation/film itself that I produce for the Channel Ident for Film4 and ensuring that the recognisable and memorable aspects of red, which for me represent the glamourous side of film as well as otherwise with it reminding me of: Red ribbon to be cut in opening ceremonies, red carpet, red stripes on popcorn wrappers, red seats in cinemas etc. as well as more genre based things such as red representing love or blood in some cases.
Due to having visited the gallery before I went to the recently altered exhibitions to see what would appeal to me.
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| 'Microphone' 2015 |
Half-life of a Miracle.
Pat Flynn was one of the contemporary artists that really stood out to me as his pieces retained the isolated composition that I was looking for in order to link the art to my keyword. In particular there was one piece there that really appealed to me of Flynn's and one which I felt directly linked to the theme I was looking for and that was 'Microphone' 2015 a piece that seemed photographic but either way resembled a microphone. The plaque that was next to the piece says:
'Flynn's microphone is permanently suspended, waiting to be heard and yet has nothing to say'I like the metaphorical and symbolic aspect that this piece explores as it delves into the fact that even though an object is drawn, painted etc. that doesn't mean that it becomes the object. Flynn's microphone may be a drawn picture of a microphone, but it will never truly serve it's purpose, and despite being an obvious representation of a microphone, it will always remain silent, linking my keyword directly to this piece. In addition to this, the negative space around the piece adds to the isolation of the silence, with having the microphone suspended in such a space adds more of a silent, isolated tone.
I think it's an interesting concept to consider that objects represented using art materials will never be or function as the object does, making even loud representations of objects quiet, as essentially, when constricted to visual forms, all art is silent.
Film4 Inspiration
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| Shira Karumata - Revolving Cabinet |
There was tower of red plastic trays which really stood out to me the 'Revolving Cabinet' By Shira Karumata, was one which was fascinating as I've liked to look into the idea that some objects of the same colour can look in place when placed on top of each other etc. I think this is an aspect to be considered in the making of and the animation/film itself that I produce for the Channel Ident for Film4 and ensuring that the recognisable and memorable aspects of red, which for me represent the glamourous side of film as well as otherwise with it reminding me of: Red ribbon to be cut in opening ceremonies, red carpet, red stripes on popcorn wrappers, red seats in cinemas etc. as well as more genre based things such as red representing love or blood in some cases.
Garry Cook Lecture
Garry Cook is an alternative photographer, who has developed an element he calls 'Performance Photography' where he interprets photography through performances. Using an array of photographs, he uses his performances to use more interaction within the pieces. An interesting piece of his was where he had produced a slideshow of images through Northern History 1910-present day. Within such famous images such as Hiroshima Photography, 9/11, Margaret Thatcher's reign, Nelson Mandala freed etc. were more benign images of friends and family's own photographs showing their place in history, such as their children's birthdays etc.He spoke of how he feels more supported by the theatre industry in contrast to the photography, as he spoke of financial impacts this decision of taking up performance photography has in fact made to him. Interestingly he spoke of how being a photography requires you to be non biased and open to both sides of the story, however he says it's increasingly hard to not have an opinion within society these days.
Film Genres & Props
In order to capture the genre of the films that they show on Film4, I had to ensure that there could be representations through props used, and certain things reflecting alternate genres. Here are a few things I came up with that I think represent each genre, and some I could use if concentrating on a particular genre and idents.
Romance
Horror & Sci-Fi
Thriller/Crime
Romance
- Rose
- Engagement Ring
- Red
- Pink
- Wedding Rings
- Flowers
- Kisses (lip marks)
- Hand holding
- Family & children
- Shared home
Horror & Sci-Fi
- Masks
- Ghosts
- Knives
- Weapons
- Blood
- Dolls
- Creaky Doors
- Spiders
- Spider Webs
- Creatures
- Monsters
- Aliens
- UFO's
Thriller/Crime- Crimeboard
- Magnifying Glass
- Hat
- Cloak
- Pipe
- Detective
- Crimescene tape
- Forensics
- Blood
- Gun
- Knife
- Rope
- Body
These things could be used as props in the ident and hopefully people will know what they are supposed to represent.
Red Stripe Research
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| Unknown Artist- Deviant Art |
In order to produce an ident that links to the logo involved, I like the idea of using a red stripe as the main component of the design for the ident. In such a way, I looked into alternate ideas and in each the aspect of a red stripe was in each idea. The components also included the aspect of making red stripes out of pre-existing formations of red e.g. Red t-shirts of people next to each other making a stripe, match ends of the red making a stripe etc. there is also an aspect of the '4' which could be represented by 4 lines that then formate the Film4 Logo, but I think I will produce a few more style frames and experimentations in order to see what works out best aesthetically.I have been experimenting in my sketchbook and taking photographs and experimenting with magazines and existing media in order to see how the stripe of red works in alternate scenarios to find more of a concrete idea.
One of my ideas includes alternate props being wrapped up in a ribbon like stripe of red, almost acting like a snake wrapping around it's pray, something I could maybe look further into, so I know how the actual red stripe could behave. Also, another idea is to have a rose made up of the stripe that then unravels into different medias and film props, such as skulls, guns etc. Props that would represent the different genres.
Another reference I have found is the Galaxy Chocolate advert, a mixture of 3d and live film put together for more of a quirky advert.
(Client Mars, AMV BBDO Agency, TV Producer- Polly Lowles- Animation Studio Woodblock.)
Galaxy - RED from Woodblock on Vimeo.
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