Illustration and Visual Narrative / Task 2

24/09/2021 - 29/10/2021 / Week 5 - Week 9
Nurul Adlina Rizal / 0345429 / Bachelor of Design in Creative Media
Illustration and Visual Narrative
Task 2: Decisive Moment

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LECTURES

Week 5:

Visual Techniques: Chiaroscuro

- refers to the use of light and dark to create the illusion of three-dimensional volume on a flat surface

Chiaro - Bright

Scuro - Dark

Fig 1.0: Chiaroscuro (24/9/2021)

Why?

- increase dramatic tension

- create sensational effect

- pull your attention to a subject in an intense way

- create a tasteful composition of negative vs positive spaces

A great study of:

- form

- value practice

Visual Techniques: Composition (3)

Rhythm and Movement

- a good composition pays attention to the value tones, shapes, positive vs negative spaces and perspective

- movement can be created using shapes and lines

Fig 1.1: Maximizing Overlaps (24/9/2021)

Fig 1.2: Establish Patterns and Rhythms (24/9/2021)

Week 6:

Lecture Recap

(Of old Lectures)

Lecture 1

Character Design

- iconic

- created easily

- profitable

1. Use simpler shapes

- it makes the character more memorable

2. Color

- pick out colors from an image or make it yourself! (Adobe Color)

3. Emphasis & Contrast

4. Visual Hierarchy 

5. Expression/Poses

Lecture 2

Why do certain images look good?

- Composition

- Perspective

- Framing

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INSTRUCTIONS

Task 2: Decisive Moment

We are tasked to create a minimalistic poster based on a decisive moment in any published media of our liking.

Poster

Visual Research

I was thinking about what movie I wanted to do for this project and immediately thought of my favorite movie of all time - Kimi No Nawa or Your Name. It was one of the movies that sparked my passion to pursue art and animation so I thought it would be nice to give a tribute to it when I have the opportunity. 

While thinking about how much the movie made me cry, I also remembered a movie I cried about as a kid which was - Wall-E so I ended up sketching a design for both of them.

Before that however, I had to look back at the scenes I was thinking of which were the decisive moment of these two movies. 

Kimi No Nawa / Your Name

Fig 1.3: Kimi No Nawa Manga Page (30/9/2021)

This scene was very emotional for me, specifically what happens before this page which was the Taki's indirect confession to Mitsuha. She realised that she could not remember her name but she knows that the person she is trying to remember loves her. It is a sad and emotional moment in the movie and manga because it is uncertain whether they are going to meet again in the future and that the last hint for Mitsuha to remember Taki was just his confession of his love for her despite her losing memories of him. 

Wall - E

Fig 1.4: Wall-E and Eva flying in space (30/9/2021)

This scene was lovely. It was wholesome, lovely and beautifully animated. It is a scene where Eva chases after Wall-E's escape pod to only see self destruct. Eva worries if Wall-E had survived the explosion then we see Wall-E appear, flying to Eva using a fire extinguish to boost him around in space. This movie shows the amazing relationship between two robots, it also shows two human beings in the movie connecting and spending time to look around them - not just their screens. 

Reference of Minimalistic Movie Posters

Fig 1.5: Minimalistic Movie Posters (30/9/2021)

Idea Exploration

Sketch

> Kimi No Nawa

Fig 1.6: Kimi No Nawa Sketch (30/9/2021)

Fig 1.7: Kimi No Nawa Draft (30/9/2021)

I added the red string of fate since it is a common theme in the movie where the two main characters are tried together by a certain string of fate that is related to Musubi (a local guardian god). I tweaked the falling comet to be the signature ones in most Kimi No Nawa movies, showing that it had split to two and the impending doom that is about to come to Mitsuha's hometown. I tried to use Chiaroscuro for Mitsuha's figure but it am struggling with it a bit more and will try to improve it later on. 

> Wall - E

Fig 1.8: Wall - E Sketch (30/9/2021)

Fig 1.9: Wall - E Draft (30/9/2021)

I added the human ship in the background without adding any details to keep it minimalistic. I am still considering if I should keep the stars or not for the sake of minimalism. 

Draft

So I decided to choose the Kimi No Nawa poster since for me, it was easier for me to animate.

Fig 2.0: Kimi No Nawa Color Reference (7/10/2021)

Fig 2.1: Color Palette (7/10/2021)

These color palette is perfect for the feeling of the movie. It is calming, sad, melancholic blue with hints of purple so I decided to use that for the poster to portray the feeling of the decisive moment I chose. 

Fig 2.2: Draft #1 (7/10/2021)

Fig 2.3: Draft #2 (7/10/2021)

Fig 2.4: Draft #3 (7/10/2021)

Fig 2.5: Draft #4 (7/10/2021)

Draft #4 has the added log line which I find to be the most important line during this decisive moment. It is actually line not said by Mitsuha but Taki after the seperated. I put it here as if to show that he wanted his words to reach her despite not being able to see her anymore. 

Final Poster

Fig 2.6: Final Poster (23/10/2021)

I added the Glow Effect on the falling meteor and on certain stars in the sky. I changed the gradient of the sky to be a bit more brighter and show that this scene happens during the sunset. 

Animation

Before I started, I had to first understand the movement of elements shown in the poster. The ribbon and constellation. Then, I had to adjust it to the how much I'm capable to do. 

Visual Research

Fig 2.7: Meteor (23/10/2021)

Based on these screenshots of the frame by frame of the falling meteor, the glow of the meteor gets brighter when in closer view. I plan to have an animation of the meteor glowing brighter in the sky.

Fig 2.8: Ribbon (23/10/2021)

For the ribbon however, I attempted a few times to show the ribbon flowing in the wind. It was very hard to do so I tried my best to simplify it. Instead of flowing in the wind, it appears as if to show that Mitsuha will always be connected with Taki though the red string of fate.

Idea Exploration

Attempt #1

Fig 2.9: Attempt #1 (24/10/2021)

For this attempt, I tried to animate the glowing of the meteor. At first, I wanted to make it blink like heartbeat but later found out it was quite distracting when put together with other animated elements.

Attempt #2

Fig 3.0: Attempt #2 (24/10/2021)

For Attempt #2, I tried out the ribbon animation. It looked wonky and kind of more like a seesaw rather than a smooth ribbon movement that I researched about. I knew that I need more frames to create a much more smoother outcome but it would take me too long. I was also not confident I could accomplish it. It may take me more research on it. Running on deadlines, I try to think of a better solution for the ribbon animation later on my final. 

In this attempt as well, I had a puddle animation for the title, but I felt that it could be too distracting when animated together with other elements so I removed it as well for the final. However, I kept the glowing animation of the meteor in the end. 

Final

Fig 3.1: Final GIF (23/10/2021)

In the final, the many stars are twinkling as the meteor grows bright. The red string of fate appears and travels across the poster to show Mitsuha's connection with Taki despite being in two different timelines and slowly losing the memory of each other's existence. The string travels from Taki to Mitsuha and also from Mitsuha to Taki.

This poster shows the Decisive Moment of Mitsuha that before she had fallen on the ground realised that Taki confessed her feelings to her but she does not remember his name. Her decisive moment is whether her heartbreak of not remembering her lover would keep her from saving her hometown from a falling meteor. Spoiler alert - it doesn't. She saves her hometown thanks to Taki's help despite Mitsuha not remembering him. The logline is a Taki's words as he thinks about meeting Mitsuha again.  

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FEEDBACKS

Week 6

Specific Feedback: Use a good color combination. So far the chiaroscuro works !

General Feedback: It helps to think about the animation that you want to do for the poster while designing it to aid you. 

Week 7

Specific Feedback: Add starry details and more sunset feeling to the background gradient. Title is tastefully placed. 

General Feedback: Decide how many frames you want and how you want the object to move.

Week 8 (Independent Learning Week)

Specific Feedback: -

General Feedback: -

Week 9

Specific Feedback: Ms Anis said my GIF was awesome !

General Feedback: -

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REFLECTIONS

Experience

I had both a hard and fun time throughout the creation of this project. The hardest part was the animation part because I truly did struggle with deciding what elements to animate and how to animate them. It was also happy to create it because it is for my most favorite movie of all time so it was nice to have my own little tribute to the movie that inspired me the most. 

In class, Ms Anis and Ms Jennifer were really supportive of my two designs - Wall-E and Kimi No Nawa ones which motivated me to really do well in this project. There were many great feedbacks that helped me create the best outcome of my design. 

Observation

The observations that I made during these four weeks is that animation is no easy task. There are so many things to take note of and research when creating animation. There are millions more to do when you put them onto your digital canvas. I struggled a lot from not being able to research more about the movement of ribbons and how I can use that for my poster. Nonetheless, I did the best that I could. 

I also observed that with the support of others, it can really bring your project to life. I knew that my friends were really excited to see the outcome of this project so I worked really hard to make work that not only me but also people who see it could be enjoyable to experience. Art not only can be self but can also be for people. 

Findings

I found that if you are having a hard time with a certain part of your work, you should take a break before coming back to it later. While taking your break, ideas may come to you and better solutions can be made to fix the problems that you encounter while creating your design. I had to learn this the hard way because I was stuck on a particular problem for hours. 

Other than that, I learned that it is normal to feel a little insecure about your work especially if you get to experience your classmates amazing works. I feel that I should take them as inspirations rather than shut down my idea or think that my idea is not any better. As long as you value the work put into your work, it is just as amazing as others. :> AND ! There always much to learn from looking at others' work !