Brainstorming for Project Soundtrack 24 - Inconsistent Rambling

Brainstorming and co.

Soundtrack 24.

-Inconsistent rambling-

My soundtrack is rightly named 24. What it invokes at first is a feeling of Disney's glorious 1940's era, with energetic music that guides the characters and forms of the animation onward. It's a very multi-faceted piece of music. I see it as an ocean, calm in some moments and tempestuous in some others.

Yet what it represents more fundamentally for me is a crescendo of intensity. This can fit with a large number of subjects, though my preference goes right now to some sort of dance.

The different levels of intensity will give some working space for different types of emotions, different types of intensity and reactions. How would someone react to such a tune is probably what is most important as of now.

The quick tempo and nervous playing style implies a lot of agitation, though that is not completely necessary as the actual BPM is not that high. There are also some moments where the music loses all it's intensity to regain it in violent and unexpected surges of music.

The next step with this piece is a logical and efficient demarcation of the different parts of the song, as it contains multiple types of music. This allows a nice differentiation of the multitude of emotions and reactions the characters might have.

-Possible Setting-

The setting is important. As of now I am tending to direct my thoughts towards a 1950's America. Maybe being in the US pushes me towards this, but I would like to work around the theme of over-consumerisms which is so prevalent today.

This is Post-War era, where America is this eldorado of hope and capitalism. What really interests me is the difference between the cover that it shows the world, and the highly racist and consumerist society that lies under the cover of complete freedom.

What if someone from today found himself in that world. First we would need to define that somebody.

I picture someone who is ecologically aware, tolerant, in favor of recycling and reusable energies. How would he react in a world where global warming, oil shortage, economic crisis and modern pop music are only found in the most far fetched science fiction?

This is also a world of Cold War, where the two sides are pushing their own style boundaries to establish themselves as the model for the world. This is a time of conflict in Korea, a time of fear.

-Three Act Structure-

Though it is still early for a defined three act structure, I already have some idea on how things could go.

-Act 1-

A simplified and abstract version of what could happen.

Character finds himself in a frantic orgy of consumerism, in colorful world of cars, drive ins, supermarkets and elegant people. There is a sort of ballet feel to it, a choreographed act that every one has ingrained in their mind. The character follows and enters some place, probably a giant supermarket.

-Act 2-

The whole thing reaches a climax of, well, everything, and the character loses it. He enters this completely abstract world of shapes and forms, as he is pulled apart by the forces around him. This is the open area, where anything can happen, without too much explication needed.

-Act 3-

He comes back to his senses and finds himself doing the same thing as the others.

-End-

This is obviously but an idea, though I believe that in today's world it could be relevant. The character starts, or thinks he is, independent. Yet after some complicated and unknown process he finds himself like everyone else.

Today it seems that we are smartly pushed by everything around us to believe we are unique and that world revolves around us. With all our technology, we are always in contact with each other, yet we are so apart. Everyone believes in his own uniqueness, calling himself a world changer, an ecologist who uses the internet to propagate his ideas, who drives a hybrid car and buys his food from an organic store.

The idea behind the 1950's, at least how I see it, is independence through communitarism. Though we have our own rights, if you are white and a male, you still react as whole, proud as you are about wining WWII and your obvious superiority to the scary Communists far across the world.

Today we try and act as if everyone is completely independent and adapting the environment, be it ecological or socio-political, to his own needs. Yet it seems today that we are even more pushed into cases, completely overwhelmed by the 60 years or so of capitalist evolution. We do not control anything, and while in the 50's this was acceptable, today it is not. When I say we I mean us as collective entity. The American society of the 1950's reacted to the horrors of WWII, to the heroism of it's soldier's and mainly to the new found world order they now co-dominate. The European powers are all but spent, and without the Marshall plan, they would have been lost.

This switch of power creates a sense of birth right, and the still present belief that the world requires the guidance of the United States of America to thrive.

What could be interesting would be to include some elements that show that today's game of economics is also played by China, and East Asia in general, and that the US is more and more dependance of this part of the world, despite their arrogant attitude of dominance.

- Art Influence -

What artist could influence my work? This is a question that is always being answered as the influence of old as new artist is omnipresent, especially in today's connected society.

What I have decided quit early on is two different parts. The first, real part and the second abstract one. I have yet to decide the amount of difference between the two, but in style and color I would like them to stay similar, not to have two distinct parts, only put together in a continuous time frame.

Koert Van Mensvoort

The main goal is to show most people's hypocrisy towards the world's problems. How can we keep going in that direction? The main character is a representation of the aware masses, those that convince themselves that they are ecological, that they are compassionate about the world's issues, those that give a pound, a dollar, a euro to some random guy in the street with a t-shirt saying “Save Children in Haiti”, those that will go buy organic food because they are against the pollution of the world, those that will then buy food grown with chemicals because organic food is now contaminated by E.Coli, those that will buy expensive second hand cloth just to say that they wear second hand vintage, those that will buy a hybrid car, yet fly multiple times a year to go from New York to Tokyo to London on planes that burn four liters of fuel every... second.

Fashion

I will have to find a balance between the informative and the decorative, as this is still an abstract piece, and I don't want, as of now, to have any writing, relying more on the visuals to convince the viewer.

Norman Rockwell

For this I am going to need two types of artistic reference.

The visual.

The informative.

Again, because of art direction, I will concentrate more on the visuals at first, adapting from their. In the visual category, two types will also be found, for the first two parts of the piece.

The first part being outside, in the real world, the second in abstraction.

1. Part One.

Fashion

In part one, I will go towards a strong, crisp, highly contrasted look for the environment. I am thinking mainly in the lines of Edward Hopper, Norman Rockwell, the commercials of the 1950's, fashion drawings of the time, the comics, pop art and probably more as my research increases.

Edward Hopper

In part two, where abstraction dominates, the likes of Malevich, Kandinsky, El Lissitzky, László Moholy-Nagy, the Bauhaus Movement, as well as some elements of Miro. For the animation, an obvious one would be Lauren McLaren.

Malevich

Malevich 

What I only noticed later on was the differentiation between the two parts. Now I am more convinced about it, I will keep the same colors, and probably the same techniques of production, involving things like textures, type of lines, typography, yet the main difference will be in the influence. I therefore hope that it will be understandable, with the post-war consumerist society in the first part being the main influence, while a pre-war Russian and German art movement, with links to Dada would guide the second part. Yet in both parts I find that there is a link, both in style, colors, textures and more.

Andy Warhol

Kandinsky

Two different worlds opposed. The link would then be how the art's evolved from the 30's to the 50's, as I might even have a look, actually I will, at Abstract Expressionism. The man is taken through the mixer of the 1930's and comes out as a product of society in the 1950's.

All of this is still very confused and I will need to clean up and arrange everything together. There is a reason why I called this inconsistent rambling.

Ideas for Pitch:

• Man is overwhelmed by consumerism.
• Man is submerged by consumerism and is lost in shape and music.
• Evolution of society.
• We are all consumers.
• A man is changed by the changes wrought to the world before and after WWII.

I decided I would do the HIV process. Not too much for the virus itself. Simply based on taste and interest in the biological process I could have done any of them. What I am really interested in is the social aspect of HIV and AIDS. Right from the beginning and from my own point of view as well, I noticed that HIV in the Western world is being toned down in scale and effect. 0.6% of the human population is infected by HIV.

This is from Wikipedia, I know, but as initial research it is fine. Whether the numbers are exact is not important, they are close enough.

“UNAIDS and the WHO estimated that AIDS killed more than 25 million people between 1981, when it was first recognized, and 2005, making it one of the most destructive pandemics in recorded history. Despite improved access to antiretroviral treatment and care in many regions of the world, the AIDS pandemic claimed an estimated 2.8 million (between 2.4 and 3.3 million) lives in 2005 of which more than half a million (570,000) were children.
UNAIDS estimated that 33.3 million people were living with HIV at the end of 2009, up from 26.2 million people in 1999. They also estimated AIDS-related deaths in 2009 at 1.8 million people, down from a peak of 2.1 million in 2004, new infections at 2.6 million, down from a peak of 3.2 million in 1997, and the number of people in low- or middle-income countries receiving antiretroviral therapy in 2009 at 5.2 million, up from 4.0 million in 2008.
Sub-Saharan Africa remains by far the worst-affected region, with an estimated 22.5 million people currently living with HIV (67% of the global total), 1.3 million deaths (72% of the global total) and 1.8 million new infections (69% of the global total). However, the number of new infections declined by 19% across the region between 2001 and 2009, and by more than 25% in 22 sub-Saharan African countries during this period. Asia is the second-worst affected region, with 4.9 million people living with HIV (15% of the global total).”

The largest amounts of people infected are located in sub-Saharan Africa. 70% is an unbelievable amount. Nowhere in Europe are we exposed to such misery and terrible human condition. This is what I want to show with something quit dramatic.

This is my first look at colours and stuff, done this morning before the tutorial. Nothing fancy, not meant to be biologically accurate either.



My animation will include the cycle of the virus but it will also include something to contextualize the infection.

Vague Wandering - II

How can a step ladder be satisfied? It has one purpose, which is too raise people up the ground. They probably have other uses, more esoteric ones, yet it’s primary function will always be to raise people off the ground. So if a step ladder is sad, and has given up on life, someone using her would probably give her joy and happiness. The cause is as important as the effect. It is all about balance.

The cause has to be equal to the effect, if the cause is not worth it, than the effect will suffer in intensity. Jubilation is an extreme emotion. The character exults, is overwhelmed with highly vigorous happiness. It is not satisfaction at a mild level, it is an explosion of joy.

Therefore, the cause must be important. Let’s just remember that we are talking about a step ladder. Earlier, I was wondering the level of intellectual capacity a step ladder could have. Let’s make it quite simple. It has one focus, which is to be used.

So we could easily say that being not used would make her sad, and being used would make her happy. Let’s increase the intensity. She has been abandoned, cobwebs accumulating between her steps and feet, other object obstruct her. There is a strong melancholy in the scene you can see the sadness in its attitude. It is really sad.

Then it get’s used. We don’t know why, or really I don’t know yet. It could be shown that time passes quickly and it is not used.

So it is a great day for it, the man uses it, and its joy is great it jumps around and around. 

Unit 5 - Vague Wandering

Jubilant is defined as being the state of satisfaction, triumph, joy, exultation, of showing great joy.

The way I interpret it is also as the result of something, which might sound obvious. Someone might be happy simply because they are happy people. Their might be some reason why they are happy, but it is a happiness that is slowly built up. For example, one wakes up in the morning to find his breakfast ready and served in bed by a loving wife. (no this is no my dream) This man will start the day happy. He then arrives to his car and finds that someone has left a heart on his dirty car (that’s more like it), his happiness is therefore increase. This could go on all day, his happiness slowly building up, until he is happy.

We could argue the same thing about different types, lets call them slow emotions, such as resentment, hate, etc.

Coming back to my interpretation of a jubilant state, I would say it is a moment emotion. Similar ones would be anger, shock, etc.

What I have already defined is that emotions do need a catalyst. The difference, on a very simplistic level, is the amount of time involved and how long it takes for the subject to start feeling it. There are multiple definitions of emotions, and even more psychological studies of it. While it is important to understand the important aspects of the main theories, its is important as well not to get lost in pointless explanations of people's opinion's. The main idea here is to clearly define jubilation and how it can fit to a certain character.

Emotions are idiosyncratic and I must therefore define the character traits of my step ladder first before I jump into avid conclusions of unnecessary value.

What is a step ladder. A step ladder is not a ladder. It's as step ladder. It has two sides. Which means it can stand on it's own. It also means that it can use four legs to travel around.

It can be tall, it can be small, yet tall seems more interesting. What could characterize a step ladder. It makes people taller, so should it be seen as a pedestal, forced to bow down to higher power? Or does it find itself arch-important, as it is required to elevate people. A step ladder is stepped on, again bringing it down. What would make a step ladder jubilant. Being used for it's purpose? Or being used for something else. Do we consider the step ladder to be an intelligent and sophisticated character, or do we assume it is idiot. Being smart would imply it should become jubilant after something of something of major interest happened to it. If it is an idiot, the simplest thing could excite him. He could simply be used by it's owner and that might be reason for exultation.

What is it's gender? Humans are the first emotional creatures. All animals have emotions, but none show it as dramatically and strongly as humans. As this is the first major animation project I have ever done, I shall make him a male. Let me justify. As I am a male, it is easier for me to understand the emotional language that comes from jubilation. The slight movement of the body, the speed of action, everything will be easier to portray on an inanimate object.

My main idea right now involves cause and effect. I do not wish to simply start the story with a jubilant ladder, that ends with a jubilant ladder. The cause should not dominate the story but it must be understood by the audience. A cycle is necessary, or at least a reason why the step ladder acts in such a manner. Whether that will be too long and arduous to include I shall see.

My work plan for now will rely on different stages. This is obviously not final as I have yet to have any tutorials which might give me a better way of working.

Here is the order of how I want to work.

• First, start off with the character animation. A simple dual interaction, with a simple horizon line should be sufficient for the story to be clear.
• Second, I would work on improving the characters.
• Thirdly, add a explanatory background. The background must not overwhelm the character's interaction. The Illusion of Life by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston has some very interesting explanations on how to do that.
• Fourthly, add more detail to the whole ensemble.
• Finally, add colour.

All of this is based on a time frame. The first has to be completed for the second one to be done. If I am able to work in layers than I might do the background first, setting up a few shots of it, and have the characters interact as if on a stage.

This will be marvellously interesting.

Essay research

Essay

Critical analysis of the relationship between the story and structure in the Triplettes de Belleville animation by Sylvain Chomet.

Brief: You should consider camera movement, editing and order of scenes.

1. The logistics of animation.
   • Frame by frame creation implies more control on the subject matter, as well as on the choice of camera shot.
   • Editing is made in a similar fashion to that of film, yet it can be done earlier and allows easier modification of the story line.
2. Editing in animation.
   • Shots can be changed if the camera angle does not work in the first place.
3. Time frame in the movie.
   • Time is linear, the characters actions stay on the same level and follow through. The time though does change, as is exemplified in the marine chase, where the Grand-Mother follows the big ship across the ocean. The time of the day changes, yet her course of action stays the same.
4. One character structure analysis.
   • The film follows one character which therefore tends to give us a mono-pov. Though it is not as extreme as to forbid the viewer from sometimes joining in on other characters mostly the villains later on in the film.
5. The circular structure of the story explains the character.
   • The story begins with a back shot of the Grand-Mother and her grand-son watching t.v. The child is young, and this scene is mirrored at the end when he is an old man, his Grand-Mother gone. He still talks to her, which is also the first time he talks in the whole film.
6. Use of stylised flashback to set and explain characters which only appear later on in the story.
   • The introductory scene of the film shows a stylised sepia shot of a past show. There we are introduced to the main secondary characters, the Triplettes themselves. The use of a different style gives a direct connotation to the story, one of past events.
7. Camera movements in animation.
   • Camera movements in animation are more exaggerated and can be taken to locations a real camera would not be able to attend.
8. Importance of shot design to explain and exaggerate the size exaggeration present throughout the film.
   • The Triplettes de Belleville relies strongly on the caricaturisation of characters. In that sense it used camera shots that always emphasize this. Whether it is used to show extreme size difference, or posture differences, the camera always goes with the exaggeration rather than with it.
9. I will use some “unofficial” rules laid down by some of the animation Masters, as recorded by Richard Williams in his survival kit for animators. Their he explains some of the benefits of animation over live action, and some of the camera rules that differentiate it from live films.
10. Set in stones animation. How was the animation limited by the fact that it is an animation? How much of it was done then regretted if any? This is where some research will have to be done.

Step Outline

Step Outline.

 - 15^th of June 1953, 3 o’clock -

School ends with children running out. Bruno and Lola run across the street.

See mural painters on the façade of a joke shop and decide to do a prank.

Enter the shop and buy some itching powder.

They see a forbidden open door and run through it. Lorenzo the joke shop keeper runs after them.

The wall painters, André and Maurice are unaware of the ongoing situation.

Chase scene through a stair case.

Kids reach the top, shop keeper, confused, enters an open apartment.

Kids reach edge of building, looking down at unsuspecting painters.

They throw their projectiles, causing havoc below, as Maurice gets hit and scratches himself. His dropped cigarette sets a paint pot on fire.

Lorenzo sees this through the window and finding a fire extinguisher, he throws it at André, who avoided trouble.

The platform is dangerously unstable, and with the fire spreading it breaks as André sprays Maurice.

This sends him backwards, the back of his legs attaching themselves to the side bars. Maurice catches its opposite.

The motion sends André hurtling through the air. Maurice reacts to the movement as he is pulled as well.

The choreograph ends when the platform breaks and they fall on an awning.

They fly through the street and are about to land in a pile of bags containing itching powder.

Treatement - An Itchy Adventure - Title not definitive.

Treatment.

 Its 1953 and a clear sky accompanied by a beautiful sunlight baths Paris. The precise time is 3 o’clock, on the 15^th of June 1953. In the 5^th arrondissement, a school bell starts ringing and a horde of children storm out unto an unsuspecting summer. Excitement is ripe and we notice two youngsters take the lead, running past the completely overrun circulation police man. Bruno and Lola are eleven and are possessed of the malicious intelligence that can turn sweet children into ravening jokers.

A mail truck breaks suddenly and stops right at the front of the zebra crossing, as a sudden flood of toddlers sweep the asphalt. The leading ones have now reached the other sidewalk, running past a joke shop, two wall painters, André and Maurice, repairing the façade. The shop is typical of Paris. Unable to withstand the urge to start the summer on a fly, they stop as one pulls the others collar in a spectacular fashion and they both consider the two men.

Being full of mischievous wit, they head inside. We get a look at the two painters, as the camera gives us two close ups of their faces.

Lorenzo is an old Italian who came to Paris years back, and he can recognize mischief when he sees it. Yet one is not a joke shop keeper for the sake of it, and he fully approves of the youths attitude, until it goes to far even for him. Bruno points at a pile of little brown bags, and asks for two. The brave Lorenzo gives them to him pointing at a 2 Francs sign, as the two give each other meaningful looks. They suddenly break out in a run towards a door left ajar. We notice a – Staff Only – sign.

Lorenzo is old, yet he starts to chase them, shouting vulgarities in a way only an Italian living in France could do.

At the same time, our two muralists are taking a break, their painting left on standby. One of them pulls out a cigarette, lighting it in spite of the flammable paint next to him. The other is having a sandwich.

An unbalanced race up the stairs of the old building starts, becoming abstract as they climb up the stairs. Lorenzo is unable to keep up, annoyance etched on his face. A bluish tinge swallows the stair case as the stairs become black geometrical shapes. A sideways view show the children reaching the top, as we sometimes see the old shop keep struggling in colour to reach them. As the shenanigans reach the top, Lorenzo reaches an open door, and thinking them to be inside enters determination and a will to punish those two trouble makers.

The two artists are unconcerned and greatly unaware of the danger heading their way! Bruno and Lola have now reached the edge of the wall, looking down at the two men, and the supporting structure of their platform to their right. 

We then start a sequence of quick alternating camera views of the two conflicting groups. The children are raising their arms, their projectiles proudly held high, ready to be thrown. The men are unaware of the danger. They throw the bags, whose content is still unknown to us. They land in an explosive manner, itching powder spreading everywhere as Maurice starts moving around, drops his cigarette inside the paint pot, setting it and himself on fire.

Lorenzo sees the flames through the window. He grabs a fire extinguisher on the side, runs and throws it at André. The painter catches it and sprays Maurice, as the burning platform burns and breaks under their weight. Turning on the fire extinguisher propels André backwards as his legs catch the edge of the platform and he is pushed back wards, the bar under his knees, in a similar fashion to a trapeze artist. The motion shouts him upwards, the counter effect being shown as Maurice who has grabbed the opposite bar is swinging behind him. They spin once. We see André fly past the two bewildered jokers. Maurice follows, as the platform as trouble holding their weight.

It breaks! The two unlucky painters fall downward unto the awning. They bounce in a spectacular and comical manner. This makes them fly across the street, under the incredulous eyes of a really outreached police man.

We see the back of a truck with Mail written on it driving by, leaving a pile of bags behind. The two men fly towards it and as we get a look at what is written on the bags, we can read – Itching Powder – all over it. After a last look at the terrified faces of our two sties, the story ends.

Re-take on Chase scene

Cast:

-         Maurice (Painter)

-         André (Painter)

-         Bruno (Little Boy)

-         Lola (Little Girl)

-         Lorenzo (Shop Keeper)

Action Sequence: 

Inside joke shop,

            Bruno and Lola enter the shop, a mischievous smile taped to their face. We see a door in the background, it is ajar and on it is written – Staff Only -. They reach the counter, and point at a pile of small paper bags behind the counter. Bruno shows the number two on his fingers. Lorenzo turns around with a gentle fatherly smile. He gives them the bags, showing a sign saying 2 Francs for 2 bags. While he is pointing at the sign the two child share a knowing look.

            Suddenly, instead of paying, they start to spring towards the door. They sprint through the door as the Lorenzo starts to chase after them. As he is quit aged he cannot keep up.

We see a quick shot of the kids running up the stairs as Lorenzo goes through the door himself.

Outside joke shop,

            We get a close up of the faces of our two painters, who are completely unconcerned and unknowing of what is about to happen. Their faces imply their discussions, which will include laughs, weird faces, etc.

Inside joke shop,

            We go back to Bruno and Lola, who are sprinting up the stairs. Lorenzo is struggling behind them. He loses sight of them.

Outside joke shop,

            We go back to a close up of our two partners, as one pulls out a cigarette.

Inside joke shop,

            We alternate quickly back to the kids, as Lorenzo reaches the second floor, and sees that the door of his own apartment is also ajar. We know it is his apartment as we see him go through the door and the door bell appears with his name on it.

Outside joke shop,

We keep looking at them as Maurice pulls out a match box.

Inside joke shop,

The two kids run up the last set of stairs, reaching outside. Lorenzo sees through his window the two painters. We notice a fire extinguisher next to the window. He walks towards the window, determination present on his face.

Outside joke shop,

            We get a look at the kids barging through the door, and running towards the edge of the wall where the platform is attached. As they reach the edge we have one last look at Maurice who cracks a match. We look back at the two kids who through their projectiles at the two seated men. André is observing a paint bucket he is about to use.

            We alternate between the falling bags and the match reaching the cigarette. This alternates twice when suddenly we zoom out to get a full shot of the two characters and the exploding bags next to them.

            We get a close of their face, complete surprise and incredulity etched on their faces, when they suddenly start to scratch themselves. The match falls and sets fire to Maurice. André drops his paint bucket, breaking the platform. The two men start falling, Maurice still on fire, when they grab the edge of their platform, in a manner similar to trapeze artists. We see Lorenzo from outside coming in through the window, and grabbing the fire extinguisher and spraying the poor Maurice.

            This sets in motion the platform structure which sends Maurice and André spinning around.

Notes:

            The physics of the platform is essential to the credibility of the whole spinning scene. When the Bruno and Lola run towards the edge of the wall, we get a look at its construction. It sticks out from the edge, and the parts holding the platform show that it can move in a lot of different ways. This explains the type of movement the two painters will go through, until they smash into each other.

            Lorenzo is convinced that the two naughty kids have entered his own home. He goes towards the window determined to ask the two men if they know anything. This will be shown by the determination on his face.

             

Sribd Screenplay

I did this quit quickly, Ill spend more time on the layout when the story will be at a higher level of completion.

Unwilling Artists

The Characters

        The main actors, as aforementioned, will number five. The children still need some fleshing out to do, but they will come later. Here is a picture that represents my view of the children stroming out of school. 

Children running on the Champ de Mars, Robert Doisneau

          I will start work on the painters first. One of them will be based on Bourvil, a genial actor who played from the 40’s to the 70’s in a comedy cinema. His acting is most of the time represented by a somewhat naïve and nice character. I want to use him as I want my story to be similar to the film he played in, funny and genuine gags. He actually plays a wall painter in La Grande Vadrouille, which makes him perfect for my role. His face is characteristic of someone who can do a lot of face contortions. My goal though is not to copy the character of Bourvil, but to create my own. So while there are physical similarities, their characters will be different.  The second, and I am not a 100% sure of the influence, will be inspired by Coluche, probably the greates french humorist. His slightly chubby look fits my vision for the second painter. As well as looking slighlty older, his face is also fit to a large amount of poses. Again I would like to precise that my drawings will not be exact copies, as I am not even sure if my skills are good enough to represent the emotions I am imagining. This is a great occasion to practice character design, something I do not do often. I might change the influences later on, but for now this will suffice. The next step with these will be the design of their worker character.

Character Sheet - I

-         André Dupont

-         Age: 29

-         Height: 1m72

-         Weight: 70 Kilos

-         Hair Colour: Light Brown

André Dupont was born on the 7^th of May 1919, to Jean Dupont and Julie Magret in Aquitaine. Jean Dupont took part in WWI, where he lost an eye. This sent to a field hospital where he met Julie Magret, then a nurse. They married right at the end of the war, the smoke not even cleared from the battlefields. André was soon born after, and was surely conceived during the poor man’s recovery. They all moved to Paris when he was 10, coming to live next to Bastille, in the 11^th Arrondissement. In his youth he enjoyed painting, covering the walls of his room in what would become a vocation. Painting walls when from random childish designs to efficient coverings of paint. He left school at 16, becoming an aide to Mathieu Delembert, who owned a small wall painting company called Peinture Bastille. In this first test of life, André would follow his boss, repainting walls and cleaning up old buildings. He worked with Mathieu for 10 years, rising through the ranks. After WWII, where he avoided conscription, he left the enterprise intent on starting his own. He met Maurice Pichot, another employee would had been in the company for a year, and convinced him to associate.

Character Sheet - II

-         Maurice Pichot

-         Age: 38

-         Height: 1m64

-         Weight: 76 Kilos

-         Hair Colour: Dark Brown

Maurice Pichot was born on the 12^th of December 1908, to Pierre Pichot and Emilie von Steinbeck in Auvergne. His mom was originally from Germany, and stayed in Paris after she had followed her then husband, Albrecht von Steinbeck, into France in the 1870 war between Prussia and France. Pierre Pichot was a simple farmer who add been conscripted into the French army and sent to Paris. There he escaped and fled to Strasbourg, where Emilie was staying. They met and ran off together, coming back to Paris, where there first son, Jules, was born. Maurice soon followed. Maurice was young when he left school, heading to work back in Auvergne on his father’s farm now held by his brother-in-law, George. There, Maurice helped fix the farm repainting the whole complex on his own, which consisted of two large barns and multiple small ones, plus the main Master house. After a few years working around the village painting and repairing old houses, he moved back to Paris in 1944, after the liberation of Paris, joining a small wall painting company called Peinture Bastille, owned and directed by Mathieu Delembert. He stayed there only one year, and after meeting a young co-worker called Andrée Dupont, decided to associate with young man in creating there own company.

 In Beetween Story

             This is where the story of our two partners starts. Their first meeting was pleasant, as both had fathers in the military and therefore had topics on which to discuss. The meeting took place at a bistrot called Chez Gaston, a place famous for its copious salads. Soon enough the pleasant nature of both men facilitated their association. Their company which they named Dupont-Pichot Peinture found it easy to find clients, the devastated country in severe need of repairs. For the next years, they where highly busy working for all types of clients in Paris and sometimes in the province.

            We are today in 1953, and Dupont-Pichot Peinture have just received a commission to repair and repaint the façade of joke shop, located at the Rue des Ecoles, in the 5^th arrondissement, a normal job, similar to so many before. The day is the 15^th of June 1953. It is the last day of school for the children of the public primary school located in front of the shop. They headed there in the morning, around 9 o’clock, starting from the bottom up. By lunch the bottom floor was done, and they had raised their platform to the second level, which they finished by 2:30, pausing for a break. They raised the platform at 2:53 and had their break with a man who lived on the third floor. They shared some wine, and Maurice would have his usual cigarette.

           The animation starts here, with the bell ring of the school across the road, which spells the start of 2 month of vacation for the young children studying there.

The Setting

The Setting.

      I want my scene to be set in a 1950’s to 60’s Paris, with a retro look to the whole thing. It is summer so that I am able to add warm colours, and justify a strong light. While not going into a complete cliché of French life, I still really enjoy the looks, as found in films from those periods, such as Passe-Muraille and La Grande Vadrouille with Bourvil, or some of the Films made by Louis de Funes, like Le Petit Baigneur. I will look into these films for inspiration in their style, as some do not represent the era they where filmed in. The setting could be defined by pictures by photographers like Henri Cartier Bresson and Jacques-Henri Lartigue. Their pictures from the 50’s and 60’s define a style I am looking for. Bresson for the scenes, Lartigue for the movement. Robert Doisneau has also produced some highly interesting pictures of children which I will use as reference.

His pictures of children represent EXACTLY what I my two kids are like. I am not going to show all the pictures I am using, as I will do an influence map for that later, yet I will show the few of resume my idea the best.



Doisneau



Doisneau



Bresson





Bresson



Bresson



Doisneau



I want the design of all the buildings to be similar to this, with the design of the joke shop similar to that of the Shakespeare library which I showed on my first influence map. I like the almost barren, stony look of these pictures, with the people really giving life to the whole.

First Story Construction.

            My story as reached another level of completion in my head, so I will expose here the main and still rough structure of the story.

            The Rough Story.

- The main cast will consist of five different characters, organized in two groups of two and a single other. The first group to be seen is made up of two children just coming out of school. The time is around 3 o’clock, on the 15^th of June 1953. This will represented by a nice and still strong light, as this takes place at the end of the school year, therefore close to summer. The children are all running out of the school yet these two are faster as they have a plan to fulfil. The design for the two kids will be researched soon, as I am now working on the other set of characters, the 2:1. The next two consist of a pair of wall painters, seated on a suspended platform. This platform is very important to the story, and I will expand on it later on. The last character is the joke shop owner.

The sequence will start out with a map view of Paris. The camera will zoom in until it reaches the front of the school. As its zooms in, it shows the street that separates the school from the shop. We see a van coming in. As we reach the main gate we see children running around, with two at the forefront, our two protagonists. We pan outwards as we follow their run with an arc from the camera. During that time a police man is blowing his whistle towards them as the truck seen earlier brakes suddenly. We see the word mail on the side. We see the back of the children as the joke shop appears into view. It is a typical Parisian shop, and we see for the first time in a setting shot, the two painters in the back ground. The kids run past it towards the end of the street, when one of them catches the collar of the other, stopping him and bringing him close to whisper in his ear while pointing at the two painters. We see the two kids running into the joke shop as the camera rises to look give a close up of the faces of the two painters. A secondary character is present at a window and is talking with them. One wall paper pulls out a cigarette. We go back to the shop, where the two kids are at the counter, pointing at a pile of bags, pointing and raising the other hand showing the number two with their fingers. We then look at the shop keeper who reaches to give it to them. We quickly zoom back to the kids on of them tapping the shoulder of the other and pointing at a slightly open door at the back that says, “No entry – Staff Only”. We zoom back to the shop keeper who looks suspiciously as he gives them the bags. Suddenly, as they grab the bags, whose content stays unknown, sprint towards the door.

This sequence is essential to the story. It is a quick change of shots between the two groups. We see the kids running up stairs with intense and swift music, and then we go back to the two painters and their windowed friend, as the music suddenly changes to a slower tune, and one of them starts lighting his cigarette. We alternate quickly between the two, implying a parallel time frame. They run up and the guy is about to light his match. They reach the top and slam through the door, which bursts open. They run towards the edge and we get a first look at the weird structure that holds the painters. They reach the edge as the match cracks a match. They through their bags and we follow their trajectory as they smash onto the platform. We suddenly see the two painters scratching themselves as the match falls on his cloth setting him on fire. In the movement the platform cracks and both men grab the bars holding the platform.  The man on the window in all the confusion gets a fire extinguisher. He sprays the man on fire which results him being pushed back dramatically backwards, in the manner of a trapeze artist. We follow him as the platform shifts its position, the momentum throwing the other on into a spin. This goes on for a few seconds when both let go and fall on the shade cover of the shop, which sends them hurtling through the air. We give a last shot to the two kids who have a great smile on their face.

The two painters are hurled through the air. We go the other side of the street back to the school, where we see the back of the truck pulling away, a pile of bags pilled up on the side of the street. We get a last look at the face of the two flying painters who are now holding each other. They are in complete shock. The last shot takes a look at the bags, where itching powder is written all over the bags. –

            The ending sequence still needs some polishing. I am not completely satisfied with the last view of the kids. Yet I want them to be seen, so that the viewer can understand this is meant.

My main scene will be the trapeze scene, with the two unwilling artists propelled through the air as they reluctantly are forced through complex figures. This is going to be a challenge to draw, but I am looking forward to doing it. The platform design is essential here, as it will need to pivot at some point to explain the different spins the painters are going to take. I will to a complete design of it later today or tonight.

Jono just gave me and interesting input, in that the kids should first have a look at the two painters before going into the shop. So I think that instead of making them run towards the shop, they’ll run towards the shop and then turn to go down the street when one pulls the other and points to the two painters, whispering into his ear. Then they run into the shop and we rise to see the two painters. Will add that into the story.

Colour Research # II - Visual Emotions

Colour will again play an important role in the outward emotions of the characters. As my great love will always be “Bande Dessinée (BD)”, which I would assume would translate to something like a graphic novel, I am genuinely happy to find storyboarding quit similar to it. The intense use of visual language to represent movement and emotions is something present in BD which I would like to mirror in my storyboard. The strong emphasise on these visual cues will be portrayed through intense colour language.

Here I will try through some examples portray my view of some emotions and how they can be represented through visual symbolism.

First though I will have a look at some famous BD artists and try and find some recurring patterns which should invoke a certain school of thoughts. This can allow me to either try something different or accept conventions and work with them. There are many absolutely stunning authors/artists out there and the amount of work available is staggering. I will start looking through a few of them. These don’t portray emotions as vividly as I intend to do, focusing rather on facial expressions and minimal signs to represent to mind set of their characters. The first image come from a book called Souvenirs d’un Elficologue, drawn by Jean-Paul Bordier. It uses subtle lines to represent shock and quick movement. We might have though in the second image that the character was simply being angry. Yet with the addition of the lines we reach another level of intensity that is quit interesting. It would be interesting to identify which type of emotional signs can be used, while mixing them with strong symbolic colours, which should result in quit a potent extreme of exteriorly portrayed emotions.

The second set of images where drawn by one of my favourite artists. Juanjo Guarnido. The series is called Blacksad and represents a fictional 50’s America using anthropomorphism to symbolically represent the characters. Blacksad, the main character is depicted by a black cat with a white nose. All other characters are represented by animals that fit their main trait. The artists strong use of emotions through facial contortion is interesting as well as the movement implied through dynamic lines. These images explain my initial goal, which is to represent emotions through lines. I then will emphasize these lines through colour and some added depth to the shapes.

 My next step was to draw a few faces of my own and experiment with emotional sighs as I shall call them. They do not have any specific motif for now. I want to do this quit organically and let emotions come through the mark making. This is a beginning and I am running out of time. Ill spend more time on it tomorow.

I tried using soft colours but they don't work and just look like cheap 90's style signs. I will do more drawings using traditional methods as I belive it will look much better that way. And I will take my time.