Test Animation - Whales, Sharks, Water and Clouds!

Continuing to look at animal life, in order to get a better feel for the illustrations for my animation. This time I looked within the ocean.

In my story, as the birds fly to sea, they take refuge on the back of a humpback whale. The bulk of the whale need not be animated, but in order to give it life I wanted to have its spout animated, plus I'd like to see its tail splash up to set the scene of it's existence within the waves.

From the prior research I did into studying the movement and motion of each of these creatures, these are the rough animations I have come up with so far. Right now, they are very basic, but they will at the very least help me piece together some sort of moving storyboard that I can then plan more off.

WHALE TAIL EMERGING ON SURFACE

WHALE SPOUT

WATER SPLASH

SHARK SWIMMING

SHARK ATTACKING

No need to animate these, as they can be used as simple two frame drawings I think.

OTHER SKETCHES

Just a few more drawings to help bring that little extra bit of life to the animation.

Now the sketches and segments are done, it's time to piece this together into a moving animatic.

Test Animation - Birds in Flight

Just trying to visualise my idea and animate my storyboard in more detail, so I know exactly what I'm going to draw on the train to form the story of my idea.

Watched a lot of footage of animal life, in this instance, a bird in flight, in order to study their movements and form so I might best capture them on screen.

The following are rough, basic animation of my quick sketches in relation to these videos, and have been made to help put together a working animatic of the animation section of my intended video. It may seem like a lot of effort for just a simple animatic, and yes, truth is I've probably done more drawing for this test than I have in any previous animation project, but I really need to see how the idea looks in motion so I can make any changes or additions to the core of the story before I start recreating the tale on the train itself.

So here's what I have so far, each clip being looped so that I might use it throughout and almost "cheat" within the animation itself. Again, sorry about the quality of drawing, haha, it's pretty crappy, but my main focus was on movement and angles.

BIRD IN FLIGHT - FROM FRONT

BIRD IN FLIGHT - FROM SIDE

BIRD COMING TO LAND

Very rough, but don't need them to be anything spectacular at this point! They are but a means to an end.

Animation & Illustration Research - Studying the Marine Life

In order to be able to draw these creatures better, and have them move more accuratley, I've spent some quality time looking at video footage of them in motion.

The reason for this is that it will get me used to their form, their function, the fluidity of each creature, as if i'm redrawing from scratch each time, it is in my best interest to become as familiar as possible with them.

The following videos show some of the footage I've been looking at.

BIRD IN FLIGHT

SHARKS SWIMMING

WHALE TAIL

Studying these videos will aid me immensely when it comes to understanding how they move and as a result, how best to draw each step of them doing just that. I'll keep watching others too, from different angles, as the more I can do with each creature, then the wider scope I'll have when it comes to assembling an animation with them.

Primary Test - Ribbon to Bird Transition

I had an idea to start the animation off with a ribbon, which when pulled open forms into a bird, then leading into the opening shot of a bird in flight.

To me, the ribbon symbolizes being bound, restricted, confined, trapped, like many of the immigrants feel before taking the perilous journey north. The act of untying the ribbon symbolizes their act of breaking free and starting their journey to greener pastures.

I wanted to see how it might look in motion, so set about drawing the animated transition and setting it in motion. Here's a quick test and how it came out...

As an animation it needs work, but I've got to bare in mind my limitations in re-drawing this, in chalk, on a rusty surface, with a limited number of frames to work with.

Location Scouting - Photo Album

Location Research - Healey's History

Researched further information about the history of the site.

The following is taken from the ever reliable Wikipedia.

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Healey is a small village and industrial district on the east bank of the River Calder in the southwestern outskirts of Ossett, near Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England. It developed during the industrial revolution when three cloth and fulling mills were built.
The railway sidings at Healey Mills are located to the east of the village, south of Ossett and west of Horbury between Wakefield Kirkgate railway station and Mirfield railway station on the former Manchester and Leeds Railway. The sidings were redeveloped as part of the British Rail Modernisation Plan as a hump marshalling yard.

There is evidence of human activity around Healey from prehistoric and historic times including Bronze Age burials, agriculture during the Roman period, quarrying but no agriculture during the medieval period, and ridge and furrow agriculture from the post medieval period. The River Calder was forded west of Healey by the Romans, and a ferry operated near to Healey New Mill.[1]
The Calder and Hebble Navigation was built during latter half of the 18th century, and connected to the River Calder nearby by a lock. Healey Mill was established by 1791,[2] Healey Low Mill by 1817.[2][3] and Healey New Mill by 1827.[3][4]

The 1850s railway bridge over the River Calder, the chimney of Healey New Mill in the background
The Manchester and Leeds Railway was built and passed through by 1840. As part of the construction a new cut was made in the Calder bypassing a sharp bend in the river, which in the course of the work severed the road to the mill . This resulted in a legal complaint from the owners of Healey New Mill which lay on the part of the Calder that would be bypassed. The courts found in the railway company's favour.[5] A five arch bridge was built to carry the line over the new cut.[1] Due to the delay in construction because of the court case, when the railway was opened, the Calder was crossed by a temporary wooden bridge.[6] In 1851 the railway's owners announced that they planned to divert the river down the new cut, but the plan was never realised and a three span bridge was built replacing the wooden bridge.[1]

By 1854 there were three separate mills and "The Millers Arms Inn" in the close area.[7] The new cut was unconnected to the Calder River,[7] the part north of the five span bridge was partially filled andused for the construction of a dyework (later becoming Calder Vale Mill), the southern part was used as a mill pond.[1][8]

On Healey Road Osset Gas works was built in 1855,[1] and a Sewage Works constructed to the south of it in the 1870s after the passing of the Local Government Board Act 1871.[9] The original houses in Healey and on Healey Road were built in the late Victorian era.[8]

In the 1960s the conversion of the sidings east of Healey into a modernised railway shunting yard brought several major changes. The route of the river Calder east of Healey was altered, being moved south to create more space for the new marshalling yard, the 1800s mill pond formed by the attempted re-routing of the Calder for the original Manchester and Leeds rail link was filled in, Healey Low Mill was demolished, the Healey Road sewage works removed,[1] and three additional rail bridges built to carry the tracks across the Calder.

Healey Mill Yard and diesel depot, (April 1982)

By 1920 extensive railway sidings had been developed on the railway line eastsoutheast of Healey,[10] named Healey Mill Sidings. In the 1960s, as part of a modernisation plan, the sidings were re-designed for more efficient wagon load handling.[11]

Construction included cutting a new channel over 1,000 yards long for the River Calder south of the original, levelling of the site with over 1 million cubic yards of infill, the re-construction and extension of a road bridge at the east end of the site near Horbury Bridge, the construction of three railway bridges over the River Calder, and diversion of gas and electricity mains.[11]

The new yard was built as a hump shunting (gravity) yard capable of handling 4,000 wagons a day. The reception sidings were built west of the River Calder, the main yard was built on the extended site of the former sidings. The main control tower was located south of the main line and the Calder Vale Dye Works near to the river.[11][12][13] The yard opened in 1963 at a cost of £3.5 million.[14][15] The diesel motive power depot at Healey Mills (Healey Mills Diesel Depot or Healey Mills TMD) opened in 1967.[16]

After the marshalling yard closed in 1987, the site was used for storage of trains and locomotives.[17] After the privatisation of British Rail the site was operated by EWS; an assessment was made of a future requirement of six long doubled ended sidings and further short single ended sidings.[18]
After 2010 the site's use was limited to crew changes; the driver depot at Healey Mills closed in 2012, being relocated to portacabins at Wakefield Kirkgate station after 4 February 2012.[17]
[edit]Today

Healey New Mill is extant and used as industrial units. The mill and chimney are grade II listed buildings.[19] The 1872 inn, The Millers Arms, exists as The Brewer's Pride.[20]
In 2011. Healey's only public transport service is the 102 bus operated by Arriva on behalf of the West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive which links to Wakefield via Ossett.[1]

Location Scouting - Healey Mills

Location Research - Healey Mills

With my idea in mind now, I needed to find out it is realistically achieveable. No point going any further if I simply cannot make my idea a reality. And with no luck on the National Rail side of things, I'm running out of options in how I might pull this off.

First step then is to find a suitable location and resources in order to even stand a chance.

I hit the Google high waves, and after trying many combinations of search terms, I typed in "Train Graveyard" to see what came up. And much to my delight, I got lucky.

I came to learn about a place called "Healey Mills", which is in West Yorkshire. I got excited, as it was an abandoned train yard, with abandoned trains, that more importantly, was relatively close.

Suddenly, my idea was becoming realistic.

The site I checked out was called Urban Ghosts, and the images taken from the site started to interest me very much...

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Exploring the Train Graveyard at Healey Mills, West Yorkshire

September 18th, 2011, In Featured, Urban Exploration, by Tom

Even though Healey Mills Traction Depot near Wakefield in northern England officially closed in 1987, an impressive assortment of abandoned trains and railway buildings continue to haunt the forgotten site. Extensive sidings were present by the 1920s, and today’s eerie scene is a far cry from 1963 when Healey Mills was modified to handle 4,000 wagons each day. Despite the infrastructure, Healey’s only public transport service by 2011 was the number 102 bus from Wakefield to Ossett.

The Healey Mills Sidings are a sad reflection of Britain’s great railway past. But the overgrown tracks and forlorn diesel engines have captured the attention of urban explorers intent on documenting their decay in atmospheric images. Abandoned railway stations and tracks are fascinating in their own right, but like this post-Soviet aircraft graveyard discovered on a Far East Russian air base, the presence of defunct machines fuels the imagination and helps bring abandoned places to life.

Despite the yard’s closure 25 years ago, these rusting Class 56 locomotives are a more recent addition. Operated latterly by English, Welsh and Scottish Railway (EWS), they were likely stored here from 2004 after the company withdrew most of the fleet. Quietly awaiting their fate – most likely the breaker – they’ve become the subject of urban exploration, captured by the likes of Urban Outlaw and Phill.d, and featured on sites such as Derelict Places.

----------------------------------

A little further digging brought me to an article on this website here...

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End of the Line for Healey Mills Depot and Marshalling Yard Built 50 Years Ago
Published 16th March 2012

(Source - http://www.rail.co.uk/rail-news/2012/end-of-the-line-for-healey-mills-depot/)

Final Operations Cease at Once Important Yorkshire Railway Yards
One of the UK’s most well-known freight railway locations has finally closed after a protracted run-down, as DB Schenker closed its staff depot at Healey Mills, West Yorkshire. The 140-acre site was once one of Europe’s largest marshalling yards, but over the past two decades the yards have become obsolete, the depot closed and now freight trains no longer call there to change crews.

Healey Mills opened in 1963 in attempt to modernise wagon-load traffic. It replaced a dozen smaller yards in the area and its purpose was to improve the efficiency of sorting and marshalling wagons into trains before sending them off to their destination. The yards featured hump-shunting, in which wagons were pushed over a ‘hump’, freewheeled into the required siding, and braked using special retarders next to the rails - all controlled from a centralised operations tower.

A purpose-built diesel depot opened alongside the yards at the end of 1966 and the two facilities saw round the clock activity with a claimed capacity of 4,000 wagons per day. Situated to the west of Wakefield, Healey Mills was ideally located for sending and receiving trains to all parts of the country, as well as handling the large number of local coal trains at the time.

But wagon-load railfreight came under increasing threat in the 1970s and 1980s due to competition from road transport. Then a double blow came with the decline of the Yorkshire coal industry and resultant reduction in coal trains, which had once formed up to 50 percent of traffic at Healey Mills.

As a result, the depot lost its own allocation of locomotives in 1984 and the marshalling yards closed in 1987 - although both were still used for stabling locomotives and trains until the early 2000s.

The redundant sidings were then used to store long lines of withdrawn Class 37, 47, 56 and 58 locomotives until 2010, after which the only operations at Healey Mills were for crew changes of passing freight trains.

From February 4, these crew changes now take place a few miles away at Wakefield Kirkgate station, where portable cabins have been installed as temporary offices. All that remains at Healey Mills are the overgrown sidings, a few redundant wagons, and the buildings awaiting demolition.

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Right now, I'm excited as hell! Looks like I might have just come across my perfect site!

Now to actually find it...

Looking for a Canvas

So I need to find a train then!

I just called National Rail...

...who then forwarded me to customer enquiries...

...who then passed me on to help and assistance...

...who then fobbed me off to maintenance management or something (I'd started to phase out by now)...

...who then said what everyone else pretty much told me, that it would be highly unlikely that a) I would be allowed to draw on the side of a working train, even with disposable materials, and b) any UNworking train that was available, ie: in museums funded by National Rail for example, I wouldn't be able to draw on for conservation reasons or something.

I thanked them for their time and ended the conversation dejected. Although to be honest, I expected nothing less.

It sounds stupid I know, drawing on the side of a train. When I've told people about my idea they don't seem to get it. A woman I just spoke too even laughed at how crazy it sounded.

It's ok, all part of the territory I suppose. If I can't take criticism or work through amused and confused responses to my ideas, then I'll no doubt lose a lot of them along the way that might have proved exceptional if I'd just seen them through.

I'm gonna try and see this through.

Although dejected, I'll keep looking for an answer to my dilemma. I believe in my idea I know it could work, and if it did, it will all makes sense to those who didn't quite "get it".

Further Method Development

Continuing my method testing experiments in order to find the best way to visualise my idea.

This time I'm looking at photo montages, using individual photographs of single animation frames, which are then pieced together and assembled in sequence to create motion.

I drew a few very simple images of a stick man running, took a photo of each one, then assembled them in sequence.

It's a simple method in it's process, but effect in its result, giving that raw, creative looking edge that digital animation just lacks. 

The downside is that each frame must be drawn from scratch. If I wanted a cloud for example to move from one side of the screen to the other, in After Effects it's a VERY simple process of simple putting it in start position, hitting a stop watch, moving it to finishing position, and done. In this method, it would involved redrawing the cloud each and every single frame, as many times as the pace and timing of the sequence would demand.

So, although this process is nice, and would give the handcrafted, strictly UNDIGITAL method I was aiming for, it might be unpractical to actually use.

Still, it's an option.

More Method Development

Continuing my tests with method development, using a similiar technique, but this time having animated illustrations substitute for real life footage, in this case, a live action hand disappears behind a chalkboard, only for a chalk hand to appear in its place.

As an idea, to break the barrier between real and illustration can look quite nice, and stand out for being a little more creative. How I might work something like this into my project I'm not sure yet, but it certainly presents exciting possibilities!

Method Development

Been messing around and experimenting with different methods in order to fuel my thinking and have a better idea about which one to employ in regards to my project.

Plus, can't do too much development work now can I?

This is a test for a method that was inspired by the white board animation, with each frame being drawn afresh, combined with the wall painting animation, with the drawing done actually on a backdrop as a live image.

I drew chalk drawings on a wall, just a simple bouncing ball, then simulated action within it, using each frame to piece together some motion.

It was a bad hair day.

Idea Development

Ok, after looking at many different art forms and unique ways to animate, and in wanting the very basis of the animation to mean something in regards to the subject matter, I've got an idea.

I want to draw out my animation, by hand, frame by frame, on the side of a train.

Sounds crazy I know, but I feel it's something absolutely relevant and suitable to the issue, and a very unique and creative way of expressing my idea.

When set in motion, the train would start to animate the images all by itself, as I filmed one part of the train and captured all the frames as they whizzed past.

It's a lot of work that would potentially take a lot of time, but it provides me exactly what I originally wanted, that being an innovative way to animate a story and address an issue.

With that in mind, it presents a lot of problems.

Where can I find a suitable train that would suit the theme I had in mind? for instance, I can't really draw on the side of a national express vehicle now can I?

Also, even if I could find a train, would I even be allowed to draw on it? Even though it need only be drawn in impermanent materials, ie: chalk or charcoal, I might not be allowed to deface a train, if only for a temporary fix.

Also, how would it look in motion? If the train moves, would the speed of the train act like a frame-rate, and if so, would it even look effective enough to work?

What kind of equipment would I need to capture the imagery? Would I need a high speed camera with a frame rate I could manipulate accordingly?

And if thsi method doesn't work, are there other ways to animate the images? Maybe instead I could take a photo of each image and splice them all together as a photographic animation as seen in my researched ideas before?

These questions and more will undoubtedly need answering as I continue my work in this project, which although I'm excited about, it does still feel a tad unrealistic at this point.

Primary Research - It's Survey Time

I swore I'd never do one of these, as every time a new project is set, everyone just jumps on the survey band wagon and requests to complete them come flying out left, right and center.

However in this case, I'll make an exception, as I really do want to find out what people feel towards charitable causes and issue awareness.

Here are my proposed questions so far, which I shall refine and edit before making the survey official...

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1 - Have you ever donated to charity?

2 - If so, what made you donate? Tick any that apply
a) I knew the person doing the event
b) I already felt passionately about the cause (go to question 4)
c) Being exposed to the issue made me care about it (go to question 6)
d) Other, please state

3 - If a) Would you have still donated if said person wasn't doing an event?

4 - Have you ever considered doing anything yourself to help a cause, or raise awareness for an issue you feel strongly about? Yes/No

5 - If no, why not? If yes, please describe below. Please go to question 8 after.

6 - What form did the exposure of the cause take? ie: sponsored day, well made video, an interesting event, etc.

7 - Was it about the exposure that grabbed your attention and appealed to you most?

8 - On a scale of 1-5, 1 being Never and 5 being Quite Regulary, how often would you say you donate to charitable causes?

9 - Have you ever donated to a cause, or cared about an issue you never knew about before, based on the campaign or ideas behind bringing it to you? ie: saw an event and decided to participate, or watched a video and wanted to help?

10 - What are your general thoughts and feelings on charity, causes, and raising awareness for the global issues that are evident in today's world?

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That's all I can think of for now. I'll edit the list before I finalize it and send it out to gather my research.

Live Art Research - Epic Scale Stop Motion

To round off my time spent looking at different live art pieces, I checked out some stop motion animation of a classically traditional sense, but on a HUGE sweeping scale.

In both these examples here, the conventional methods of stop motion are employed  but the sheer size of them is what impresses most.

Interestingly enough, both are done on a beach, with the sand proving an ideal canvas with which to work. The first video is relatively simple in it's conception, and even in it's execution, requiring a handful of people and just a few hours, showing the growth of a simple pattern on a wet, sandy shoreline. 

The scale is certainly what makes it special. Seeing this pattern develop on screen as a digital piece would be boring. but on this scale, against this backdrop, it becomes something much more, showing that while an idea might be simple, the way you present it can make it something truly exciting. 

The second is something really special. Shot on location at Pendine Beach in South Wales, it has actually broken a world record for the 'largest stop-motion animation set', with the largest scene stretching over 11,000 square feet. Impressively, it utilizes the sandy canvas, washed up objects, the habits of the beach itself, and even the time of day in order to tell a simple story of a fisherman going about his daily catch.

Simple in its concept, it is quite detailed in it's execution, and the fact that it does what it does so well, on the scale it achieves, is what makes it stand out more than anything. I love how it really uses all the elements available to it to create one big, sweeping piece. ie: how they actually used night to simulate night rather than just flipping a light switch in a studio. The way it uses the resources available is very impressive, and as a result, the story told is perfect for the actual setting, something I wanted to think about myself in terms of where exactly I want to plan my own piece.

Live Art Research - Photographic Animation

The next step on from looking at animated paintings captured by photography, is to look at photography itself.

These videos take the concept of photographing each frame in an animation, then assembling them together to set it in motion. Each is presented differently, but each utilize the same idea of piecing together single frames as part of a bigger picture, which leads to a wealth of creative opportunities, as what each photo contains is open to adaption.

This first one shows the method clearly, piecing together individual imagery to form an ongoing motion piece. Each shot was set up separately  recorded in sequence, then run as one. It looks like the method of recording the images is actually by a video camera as opposed to a still one, but i'm sure a lot of time and money was saved in this way, being essentially the same thing anyway.

This second one doesn't so much have a narrative, nor do I think each individual frame is a single photo as it looks more like selected stills from video footage, and while that makes it a cop out somewhat for the method, the idea is still the same, and it allows the sequence here to drift seamlessly into multiple paths which then all come to a head at the end.

This last video looks like is also takes video footage as a starting point for recording the source material, but goes one step further in that it actually prints off each desired frame, and presents them in a way that makes the video what it is. The placement and assortment of each frame is what gives the video it's charm, and leads to some original and creative thinking indeed!

An interesting method that could prove quite useful, as even though the process seems basic and straight forward enough, harking back to the very roots of traditional animation as we know it, I think a lot of creativity can be put into what each actual shot contains, and also, as the last video showed, how they are represented and assembled. It might be worth looking into this method more, as it certainly is in line with my initial desire to not rely on After Effects to do the work for me.

Live Art Research - Wall Paintings

I'd love to do something live, something on location, in a place or on an object that has some meaning to the issue at hand, ie: on the wall of an abandoned migrant refuge, or against the fence that stretches across the US border, that kind of thing. Obviously, those are out of the question, but hopefully you get my point.

These two videos below are an incredible method of live art, ie: animations drawn against real world canvas, shot in stop motion photographic form. They are epic and impressive in their scale, and inspiring in their design, as a tale is put together with these objects and characters moving across all kinds of backdrops, at times you wonder how it's even done!

Essentially just a series of wall paintings, photographed and reassembled in the editing suite, the simple nature of the method by no means underlines the sheer creativity of the idea, which is amazing to me, and speaks volumes about where you can take an idea.

The scale of the two pieces is perhaps a little too big for what I could pull off, as it looks like they need a whole team of people over the series of entire months, plus permissions from land and building owners to paint on their walls. but the method is what really excites me, and while the scale is huge, I still don't want to count anything out quite yet. Better to aim for the stars and fail than not aim at all right?

Live Art Research - Static Imagery Animation

Now I've got the start of a loose story with which to build on, I wanted to start thinking about possible ways I might create it.

My main intent for this project was not to rely on digital means, ie: making and moving everything in After Effects. I wanted to try something new, something different, something challenging. 

I've learnt more and more about After Effects since I started to specialise in Motion 2 years ago, and given my intended career path I expect I'll be using it for the rest of my life. so while the opportunity is available to me, I thought I'd push myself and try something a little different.

With that in mind, I've looked at other ways with which to animate imagery.

Probably one of the oldest, most basic methods, is a flip book. Each pic is drawn on a different sheet in a tightly bound note pad. cycling through them rapidly shows one pic after another and brings the animation to life. 

As simple and effective as a flip book is, it is perhaps too simple and basic, nothing new at all, and may undersell what I'm trying to achieve.

Illustrated white board. The RSA videos all have a common theme that binds them, giving them all a distinct look. They exist to back up audio pieces, and are comprised of a single marker pen being used to draw images and write text in real time, sped up or slowed down to fit the audio. I believe the imagery is digitally enhanced and maneuvered to scroll along as a constant shot, and the whole thing is crisp and clean.

I do like this style, but it's limited in its motion, being essentially static imagery drawn from fresh. It might be tricky if I wanted to put more movement into my piece, and the method may require a little tweaking. Still, for what it does, it does it well, and it would be nice to design a series of illustrated still images, drawn afresh, based on the problems and dilemmas faced in my subject matter. It could work quite well.

This video is almost the next step on from the previous one, in that it uses the same tools of a white board and marker pen, but in a much more animated and creative way, as the imagery isn't static and each pic is redrawn as a new frame to stimulate the process of motion.

To recreate each individual frame afresh is a massive task, and very time consuming, even more so on a canvas different to an easily wiped clean white board. If I went this path, I'd have to plan well and set aside alot of time. But the results are very nice, right in line with my original plans to do something non-digital, and add a nice, hard crafted element to an animation, something that might suit my subject well.

Then again, it would be ALOT of work.

This video is an amazing way to animate, each picture is drawn with sand against a light board, with small elements within that animated frame by frame. It is a beautiful way to create something that moves, with every frame clearly having had lots of time and attention to detail spent on it. The effort that the artist has obviously put in makes you appreciate it even more, and just the resources used and the original way it has been made makes it stand out even more.

Something innovative and exciting like this would be ideal for what I want. The only trouble would be having to not only learn, but master a whole new craft in the time we have, something which takes years for many designers. Whether it could be done in time, realistically I doubt, but it certainly provides an option and a line of thought to build off. Like the first white board though, movement is restricted somewhat, not that you'd tell due to the way the video is shot, but it's essentially a series of establishing shots. 

And one sneeze, and it's all gone.

This is a fun video, with a good method of recreating pixels on a screen by using memo paper. Each square makes up what would have been a square pixels as seen on screen, and this video was made by putting many of the memo squares together and adjusting them to animate the images. To be honest, there's a dispute that it isn't real, and while I agree it doesn't look right, its still a good video, and the method itself is clearly a good one if done right.

Using materials to build up separate images, then manipulating them to give the impression of movement is a nice idea, like a living breathing mosiac almost, which is essentially what a massively zoomed in computer screen would look like, pixel by pixel. Definitely an interesting concept which again, would require a lot of work, but could really come into it's own depending on the materials used, which would certainly present a whole new set of opportunities by themselves.

Some interesting ideas here, which certainly warrant further study. At this point, any method is worth exploring before really committing  and it would be in my best interest to try a few of these methods out in order to get a feel for them!

LIFE OF PI

Just got back from watching the great film, "Life of Pi".

I read the book a few years ago now, and went into the film adaption with an open mind. I really enjoyed the visual interpretation, with great acting and superb direction, it really became something more.

The reason I bring it up is I saw some similarities in how the tale was told in relation to my project.

A narrative is weaved in the film by the main protagonist, who is lost at sea following a shipwreck that leaves him stranded in a small boat with only animals for companionship, and even conflict.

As the tale is told, it becomes more and more fantastical, and by the end it is largely hinted at that the animals in the story were merely representations of actual individuals, that the places visited are actual metaphorical states of emotion, and that the reason for the story teller to change things, is that the adapted fantasy of the actual events was much more interesting and appealing to hear, than the tragic, often horrific truths that actually transpired. The story with the animals and added elements of make believe connected more with the viewer as opposed to the "plain" and "boring" version of actual events as told with real people.

In adapting the Train of Death issue for my own project, and retelling the story in my own way, I feel I can reflect the actual events but in a much more creative, interesting and appealing way, that will hopefully resonate more with my intended audience.

EDIT - When I mentioned the idea to a few people in our crit session meet-up, they agreed that using animals to reflect such a serious issue, might seem a little insensitive. I agree, it very easilly could. But I do feel that with the proper treatment and right tone, it will be fine. So I shall go to great lengths if need be to ensure that the tone is indeed right.

Setting up a Feedback Group

As the tutors are only available at certain times on certain days, I thought it would be a good idea to set up a feedback group with members of my course, so that would could meet, share ideas, give each other ideas and critique.

A VITAL aspect of graphic design is to listen to feedback and use it constructively, an aspect I know well as I've had some good ideas develop due to the input of other people since being at Uni, and as we're not in as much this term, I took it upon myself to sort out something that I felt could prove useful to all.

We're meeting this Thursday to discuss ideas and what not, so fingers crossed it should be quite insightful!