Illustration & Visual Narrative - Project 2: Decisive Moment

1.5.2022 - 29.5.2022 (Week 5 - Week 9)
Tan Yi-Tyng (0353327)
Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media
Illustration and Visual Narrative
Project 2: Decisive Moment

QUICK LINKS

Task 1 – Vormator Challenge

Task 2 – Decisive Moment

Task 3 & Final Project – Webtoon and Motion Comic

Final Compilation

LECTURE NOTE

Week 6 – Perspective

One-Point Perspective

surfaces facing the viewer are undistorted and show their true shape (horizon line 180° & vertical line 90°)
surfaces that travel away from the viewer converge towards a single vanishing point
the vanishing point located on a horizon line (eye level line)
as images get closer to the vanishing point the smaller they become

Fig1.1 - One point perspective with guides line

Fig 1.2 - surfaces with true shape (horizon line 180° & vertical line 90°)

Two-point perspective

Two vanishing points are placed on the horizon line.
These two points should be spaced out from each other to prevent distortion.
For forms placed below the horizon line the steps remain the same. However, the top of the form will be visible.
For forms placed above the horizon line, the same steps are followed. In this case, the bottom portion of the form is now visible to the viewer.

Fig1.3 - forms placed below the horizon line

Fig1.4 forms placed above the horizon line

Three-point perspective

Uses three vanishing points.
The third vanishing point in three-point perspective is not placed on the horizon line as seen with two point and one point perspective. Instead the third vanishing point is placed under or above the horizon line.
Three Point Perspective is most commonly used to communicate extreme height or depth such as objects and structures are far above or below eye level. It can result in highly-dynamic images.
The low eye level in our illustration creates the illusion that the box shape is towering above us and that we are looking up. It naturally suggests the scale of a tall building.
Three point perspective is also used when drawing an object from a high eye level. It creates the illusion of looking down from a high viewpoint.

Fig1.5 - Worm's Eye View

Fig1.6 - Bird's Eye View

LECTURE REPORT

Lecture Report 5 - Visual Study

Fig 2.2 Lecture Report 5

One Point Perspective

Fig2.3 - One-Point Perspective

Two Point Perspective

Fig2.4 - Two Point Perspective

Three Point Perspective

Fig2.5 - Three Point Perspective

INSTRUCTION

PROJECT 2: Decisive Moment

In this project 2, we were tasked to translate a moment or movie scene into a minimalist type of vector illustration poster. We are allowed to use any known narrative from published media like movies, animation, books, comics, manga etc. We need to capture the unique, fleeting, and meaningful moments of that time and the decisive moments that impacted a story and you as an audience. Next, we also need to create a looping animated gif with a logline to describe the moments, but not enough to reveal the whole story behind the picture. The size of the final poster and animated GIF must be 900x720pix.

Visual Research

Firstly, I started by researching minimalist movie poster design and studying how they translate a movie into visual art. I observed that a simple and clean poster design usually used the key elements of lines, shapes, silhouettes, simple text, and the chiaroscuro principle. From all these unique artworks, I have gained more insight into how I can creatively create my own poster. (Source: Minimalist Movie Posters)

Fig4.1 - References of minimalist poster (14.4.2022)

Fig4.2 - References of minimalist poster (14.4.2022)

Fig4.3 - References of minimalist poster (14.4.2022)

Fig4.4 - References of minimalist poster (14.4.2022)

To start, I listed down a few movie choices and did some research on the movie to determine which have the potential for me to express my idea in it.

1. UP

When I think of a decisive moment, the first movie that comes to my mind is the movie "UP". This movie is one of my favourite childhood animation films, and I repeat it watched a lot of times, it never gets old. This lovely film tells the story of Carl Fredrickson, a little friendly widower who lives alone in a house restored along with his late wife, Ellie, whose memory he cherishes constantly. He was forced to leave his home, threatened by real-estate interests, to live in a nursing home where he didn't want to go. Carl decides to go on a long journey that he always wanted to do with his wife, but that life never allows, and he departs by tying thousands of balloons to his house and flies away to the South American wilderness. But the journey is bound to change radically when he meets the scout Russell, eight-year-old, grabbed on his porch, an unwitting passenger on that trip.

Fig4.5 - The iconic scene in UP

To choose one of the memorable scenes in up will be the moment that the house lands. After a rough time getting caught in a storm, Carl and Russell manage to land the house. At first, neither of them knows where they are, and both struggle to hold onto the string attached to the house, knowing that if they let go, they will never see that house again. Once the clouds clear, Carl squints his eyes and sees in the distance that they are very close to Paradise Falls. "Ellie", Carl whispers. He takes the picture from Ellie's adventure book out of his pocket and then says, "we made it."

Fig4.6 - memorable scene in Up (source)

Besides that, in the scene where after Carl looks at Ellie's dairy, he decides to save Kevin Russell, he throws away all his favourite things from his house. As soon as the heavy things are taken out of the house, the house becomes light, and it starts flying in the sky again. This scene is one of my favourite scenes, and it's also the climax part of the movie. I very like the idea of a house flying through the sky powered by balloons is so creative and intriguing

Fig4.7 - memorable scene in Up (source)

Next, I tried to think about how I could combine these two scenes and translate them into a minimalist poster. I have an idea to create an animation for the house with balloons flying up in the sky, So I roughly sketch out my idea.

Fig4.8 – sketch of Up movie

After looking at my sketching, I thought that the poster didn't have too much potential for me to express my creativity, and it was probably too static for an animated poster. So I tried to look for more alternatives.

2. THE MAZE RUNNER

This movie is also one of my favourite movie, it's a great action, mystery and sci-fi film. I like how this movie possesses a unique type of narration and holds the attention of the audient who watches it till the very end. The movie is about a teen called Thomas who wakes up in a clearing in the center of a gigantic maze with no memory of his past, finding himself a resident in a community of boys who have built a village in the glade and who sends two of its strongest and fittest runners into the maze every morning to find a way out. Every night the doors to the maze close and creatures known as 'grievers' kill those stuck inside. Nobody ever survives a night in the maze, but there must be a way out.

Fig4.9 - Movie poster

When I think of this movie, the main image that comes to my mind is the maze, they are surrounded by extremely high stone walls covered in thick ivy, the Glade is a large square piece of land with a few wood and concrete buildings. In each of the surrounding four walls, there is a narrow opening. So, I rewatch the movie again to capture which of the scenes have decisive moments near the wall.

First is the scene where Thomas is a newbie's curiosity about the wall, and he goes near to the wall and can't resist stepping in, but then he is shoved out of the way by Gally. Second is the moment when the wall is nearly closed, Thomas has broken the rule and impulsively slips inside to save Minho and injure Alby. Third, the moment when Thomas chases by the Griever, he jumps onto another wall and grabs the vines. Then, I get inspiration from those scenes to create some sketches.

Fig4.10 - memorable scene in the movie

Fig4.11 - sketches of The Maze Runner movie

Although I'm satisfied with the sketch and wanted to proceed to digitalize the poster, however when I'm thinking of the animated gif for this poster, I feel like it's quite challenging for me, and I need to change another movie that may be easier for me to execute in both designing poster and an animated gif.

3. JOKER (chosen)

Arthur Fleck only has a small job working dressed as a clown holding a sign for advertising and aspires to be a stand-up comedian. He has suffered from many mental health issues, including one which causes him to laugh uncontrollably when he is nervous and often gets him into bad situations. Arthur's mental health causes almost all people in society to reject and look down upon him, even though all he wants is to be accepted by others. Isolated, bullied and disregarded by society, Fleck begins a slow descent into madness as he transforms into the criminal mastermind known as the Joker.

Fig4.11 - Movie poster

Joker is one of the psychological thriller film that has made me laugh, cry and made me feel scared at the same time. And as I thought, I enjoyed the movie a second time more than the first. “Joker” is full of wonderful symbolism. This film is a work of art, it has a lot of deep meaningful details and messages hidden in the movie. This movie is probably the most realistic comic book film I have seen to this day, which was an instant plus point in my eyes. I got an insightful, almost painfully honest look into the issues society faces with addressing mental illness in an adequate fashion.

The reason that I have chosen this movie is the character has a strong characteristic, and it's visually impactful to the audience. From the camera angles to the lighting and colours, even the technology used, all added to the tensions of the scene. The iconic of the character which Arthur Fleck covers his face in makeup, and white paint in his face, he encircles his eye with a verdant, venomous green which gives a strong impression of this character.

Fig4.12 - Iconic scene in Joker

Idea Exploration & Process

The movie scene that I choose is the moment when Arthur Fleck dressed up in his full clown makeup and danced on the rain-covered steps. He is doing the tap dance and shuffles as he kicks the rain away and dances down a flight of stairs. It's one of the defining moment Arthur Fleck transforms into Joker. This is probably my favourite scene of all time in the movie.

Fig4.13 - Joker staircase dancing scene

Fig4.14 - Left is Before, Right is After
Arthur transforms into Joker

This scene is iconic, memorable, and actually has a deep theme. There is a giant flight of at least 100 stairs, when Arthur goes back to his home, he must climb these stairs. Every time Arthur Fleck walks upstairs, he has this defeated, tired, winded posture. He has a hunched back and seems depressed. This can symbolize Arthur Fleck trying to keep his sanity together, that his battle with his depression is an uphill battle.

But when he fully embraces his costume, he goes down the stairs. He is full of confidence, life, and happiness. It's like he's descending into insanity, and he loves it. He dances his way down the stairs feeling truly free, it's like a celebration of his new character. Arthur Fleck is gone. He is reborn and becomes the Joker in full out flamboyance and bravado.

The scene is the most beautiful cinematography of the film, I loved how the camera films this from so many different angles in slow motion. The radiating sunlight symbolizes Arthur's twisted form of redemption via killing those who wronged him. He slowly embraces who he becomes and wallows in his insanity after being free of his meds. It looks graceful even though the Joker's movements are random and chaotic. It just shows how disorganized his mind is.

I used the video (Fig4.13) as my reference, below are the screenshot of the scene. One is the moment that Joker enters the elevator and it’s the first reveal of his full makeup and costume. The second moment is Joker's dance on the staircase. I wanted to incorporate these two scenes into the poster.

Fig4.15 - Joker enters the elevator

Fig4.16 - Joker dances on the staircase

Then I made two sketches of it. I decided to choose the 2nd sketch as I got the idea of creating an animation gif about the Joker dancing.

Fig4.17 - Sketches for Joker movie

Fig4.18 - tracing the shape of Joker

Fig4.19 - coloured Joker

I decided to apply the Chiaroscuro principle by adding some highlights and shadows to let the Joker look more appealing.

Fig4.20 - added shadow and highlight

Fig4.21 - added background

Fig4.22 - added border for the poster

Fig4.23 - applying gradient for the background and the costume

Fig4.24 - tracing the dancing Joker

Fig4.25 - added the scene of dancing joker in the poster

For the font of the movie name and logline, I decided to download the original font called “Gothic Joker” used in the original movie poster as I wanted to make the whole poster look more united and dramatic look.

Fig4.26 - "Gothic Joker" font from online

For the layout design of the poster, I have created two different layouts to compare which of them look impactful to the viewer. I decided to choose the layout on the right as I think the arrangement of the title and the logline look more attractive. At the same time, it has a good composition with balancing the spaces.

Fig4.27 - 2 different layout design of poster

For the logline, I used one of the lines said by Joker when Joker Makes his debut. "When you bring me out, can you introduce me as Joker?" As Arthur is getting ready for his big debut on Murray Franklin's show, he asks to be introduced as Joker, finally adopting the title. The moment could have been really clumsy, however, the movie takes it as a moment to further reinvent the character. Instead of the name Joker referencing the character's trickster nature, it is recontextualized as someone who is looked down upon and dismissed adopting the insult bestowed upon him. And given what comes next, it is a hint at Arthur's dark revenge against Murray for the way he ridiculed Arthur.

Fig4.28 - The Scene of Joker makes his debut

Fig4.29 - Arranged the title and logline

Fig4.30 - Polished some of the detailed

Fig4.31-add some texture for the dancing Joker

Fig4.32 - tracing the movement of Joker dance

Fig4.33 - create multiple frames

Fig4.44 - import to Photoshop to create the gif

Fig4.44 - Used a total of 34 frames for the gif

Unfortunately, the GIF that I exported in photoshop turned out to be low quality, especially the area the used gradient somehow looks wavy and blurry. It took me some time to find any other solution online and Mr Hafiz has also explained to me that is because the Gif only has a limited colour palette. I ended up finding this website (click here) that can animate my Gif, and it turned out slightly better.

Fig4.45 - issue of exporting Gif

Fig4.46 - animated gif in the website

Final Submission

Fig4.30 - Final Submission of Project 2 Poster (JPEG)

Fig4.30 - Final Submission of Project 2 Poster (PDF)

Fig4.30 - Final Submission of Project 2 Animated GIF

REFLECTION

This task is really interesting as I can choose my favourite important plot of the movie, and also make it into a poster and Gif. I learnt how to analyze critical moments as I had to choose my decisive moment for the poster. For me, the hardest part is to animate the Gif, I spent a lot of time planning and creating each of the frames however it was 100% worth it as I was also able to practice animation more in depth through this task and I look forward to learning more about animating in the future.

TAN YI-TYNG (0353327)