Here are some character poses. I have some that are still uncoloured so these will appear up here soon once they are complete.
Thursday, 16 October 2014
The Colours of The Arctic
I started off trying to make Aluki have quite natural Inuit colours, but then decided the film should have a blue colour scheme, with maybe a few different spot colours. Blue is a cold colour which obviously goes with the cold of the Arctic, but also the sad atmosphere that Aluki creates through her misery at Anik's absence.
There was something off about her colourings, I realised it was because her shoes were too dark. I'm not really sure why this made her look off, but as soon as I swapped some colours around she looked much better.
Stop Staring At Me!!
The Creatures were a little tricky to design. I had to make them creepy, but not too creepy so that they were scary. They needed to look annoying rather than evil, but menacing enough that you question their intentions. I liked the design with the teeth but decided this bordered on scary too much. The skinny version also had too much of a horror look about it. So I settled for more of an impish, squatting, hunched over look about it.
It's face is based on an Inuit mask design and this gave me the idea that it's face should be like a mask in the fact it doesn't move, it can only twist its head from side to side, in that creepy slightly dislocated way that horror films use. The fixed facial expressions makes it seem like the Creatures are constantly staring at Aluki and Anik, making their presence more annoying and intense. Even if the Creatures are just standing there motionless (they do a lot of loitering) they are still forcing themselves upon the Inuits.
The Creature that represents Aluki has the same body shape (although it is slightly shorter) as the one representing Anik, but its face is different. So the faces on Anik's necklace and Aluki's bangle will be different. The faces are different as they represent the two different characters. The Creatures are the same height as the Inuit they represent.
Designing Anik
You will see a sprinkling of more abstract designs on the first development sheet, as at this point I had not found my final Aluki design, so was still toying with abstract, inhuman characters.
Although Anik is quite similar to Aluki, he is taller, rounder, has more stripes on his legs, no hair and a round, rather than oval, face. His colourings will also be different in order to distinguish between him and Aluki more. I wanted the two Inuits to look quite neutral, with regards to the fact their age is ambiguous, as is their relationship, they could be boyfriend and girlfriend, brother and sister, father and daughter, mother and son, husband and wife, or friends, so the audience can place whatever relationship that is relevant to themselves upon them.
Aluki's Adventures (Some Rough Concepts In A Terrifying World)
These were some quick concepts I made when I was just starting out developing my story, so these don't appear in the script in their current forms, but all influenced scenes in it. I like using pencils, it may look quite rough but you get more freedom when working in this media.
Aluki, The Most Adorable Inuit In Existance
Here are some character development drawings for Aluki, my main character. I toyed with the idea of having her and Anik less human in appearance, which I thought could add to the abstract feel of the film. Asking around, people felt the human designs were better suited to my idea and after some thought I agreed with them. If the Inuits are plausible as being from the real world it makes the Creatures' presence more weird and confusing, as they are obviously not from the real world. If the Inuits looked inhuman themselves, you wouldn't question the Creatures being there as much, as you would just think they were standard issue in the world I am creating.
I tried to keep Aluki's design very simple, drawing upon the Inuit carvings for style reference. I felt a simple design would work better, as the story is quite metaphorical and symbolic, so simple characters would carry this better, and would help create this non literal tale. I needed her to be able to look forlorn as well as be able to carry long awkward stares between herself and the Creature. She is bulky since she has to wear so much to keep her warm. Her hair will separate her from Anik, as both will have similar body shapes and circular type faces. A few details like her stripy legs and trim on her coat add an extra bit of interest. I also needed her to be plausible as a puppet. The issue will be balancing design aesthetics with practicality of walking/ running with the length of the legs. As they stand, the legs may be too short for the puppet to walk.
Distance
So this is where I'm going to explain my film idea, so take a seat, grab a coffee and enjoy.
The film is called Distance, it will be stop motion, set in the Arctic and use Inuit art as inspiration for the art style.
Distance is a story about missing someone you love, whether it be a partner, brother or sister, friend or parent. It shows how missing someone can really, really mess with your head.
The tale follows two Inuits, a girl, Aluki and a boy, Anik. Aluki is forced to say a tearful goodbye to Anik as he is leaving on a long hunting trip. Anik gives her his necklace before he leaves and we see the pendant is a carving of a strange face. Once Aluki has waved Anik off into the distance, she sadly returns to her igloo. But when she opens the door she is confronted with a strange creature staring at her. The creature has the same face as the one on Anik's necklace. Aluki rolls her eyes in an 'urghhhhh not again' type way and pushes past the Creature.
We then see Aluki picking berries and putting them in a sack. Something hits her in the back, making her stumble forward. She turns round to see the Creature standing some way off behind her. It slowly bends down and forms a snowball, readying to throw one at her again. The Creature's facial features never move, it can only tilt its head, making it more creepy and strange as well as making it seem like it is constantly staring at Aluki. The Creature does everything very impassively and there will be lots of awkward type stares between Aluki and the Creature. The Creature is always about, standing there, staring at Aluki.
There will then be a montage type scene where Aluki is shown doing her daily tasks and constantly being prevented from doing them by the Creature:
Aluki rubs flint together to start a fire, as soon as she gets a spark and the fire alights the Creature walks over and pours a bucket of water over the fire, quenching it.
Aluki fishes in an icehole, as soon as she gets a bite the Creature comes over and cuts her line with a knife, sending the fish falling back into the sea.
Aluki tries to sleep, but the Creature is there poking her every few seconds, keeping her awake.
Aluki is chopping wood up with an axe. As she raises the axe, the Creature quickly unties the axehead, so Aluki is only holding the shaft. She swings and due to the changed weight, falls in a heap in the snow as she overbalances. She is at this point incredibly angry. She is sick of the Creature's incessant presence and just wants it to leave her alone. She gets up and tries to make the Creature leave, brandishing the axe shaft and gesticulating angrily. The Creature, however, just continues to stare at her. It takes a step towards her. Aluki gives a cry of despair and runs off. If the Creature won't leave her, she will leave it.
Aluki has run very far in her state of anger. She comes to a stop, panting. She hears a noise and turns to see a polar bear emerging from the water. But instead of a polar bear head, it has the head of the Creature. Aluki runs away from it.
Aluki reaches a rocky area. There are lots of birds sitting on the rocks, watching her. She blinks and opens her eyes to find the birds all have the face of the Creature. She runs off into a nearby cave.
Inside the cave, the Creature's face begins to appear all over the rock wall, staring at her. Some of the faces extend out of the wall towards her on stalks, thrusting their faces at her, she falls to the ground, surrounded. She scrambles up and runs away. No matter where Aluki goes, she cannot escape the Creature.
Aluki runs out into the open snow. Everything is white. Snow is falling. She is in a state and she is angry and sad and scared and confused, all these emotions swirl around inside her, consuming her. As she stumbles around the snow falls faster and heavier, it is a blizzard, engulfing her, just like her emotions. Aluki is lost, physically and mentally. She collapses. Our view is obliterated by snow. And the Creature is, finally, nowhere in sight.
We now go to Anik, who is in the forest, shooting caribou with his bow and arrow. But it turns out that he has a Creature following him too. The Creature looks the same as the one following Aluki, but with a different face, the same face as the one carved into the wooden bangle that Aluki wears on her arm. Just as Anik looses his arrow, the Creature nudges him, making him miss. Anik tries again, but as he is about to shoot, the Creature disappears into thin air, with an explosive sound. This startles the caribou, causing it to run off. Anik, cursing, gives chase and follows the caribou through the trees and out of the forest, into the snow. He loses sight of the caribou, but spots something lying in the snow. He realises it's Aluki and runs over to her. She shows weak signs of life and Anik bundles her up in his arms, carrying her off into the Distance.
The last shot we see is of the two Creatures sitting side by side, watching Anik carry Aluki off.
The End.
Ok so now I'm going to explain where I was going with this. I wanted the film to be ambiguous enough so that the audience could take their own slant on the story, so that it is relevant to them. So I wanted to keep the Inuits' relationship with one another open for interpretation.
For me this is what the film represents:
Aluki is missing Anik so much and this causes her a lot of sadness. The Creature represents Anik's presence in Aluki's mind, she just can't stop thinking about him and how much she misses him. No matter where she goes he is there in her head, just like the Creature. She is unable to get on with her day to day life as thinking about Anik distracts her and causes her to not be able to carry out simple tasks. So the Creature gets in the way of Aluki's tasks, just as thinking about Anik does.
Aluki grows annoyed and then angry at the Creature, representing how her sadness has turned to anger and resentment towards Anik for leaving her and putting her through the pain of missing him.
Aluki decides she has had enough and decides to leave Anik/ the Creature, to distance herself from Anik emotionally and the Creature physically. But this is hard to do and so no matter where she goes she sees the Creature's face, representing her inability to just cut Anik out of her life.
The blizzard represents how her emotions have escalated, leaving her in a state, as all the contradicting emotions she feels towards Anik writhe around in her head.
Anik has a Creature following him that represents Aluki's presence in his mind, as he is missing her intensely too. This Creature purposefully scares the caribou, which causes Anik to find Aluki and help her, as it represents the bond between two people, where in your time of need the people closest to you can often just sense something's wrong, kind of like a sixth sense and no matter where they are, no matter the distance between you, they will be there for you.
The film is slightly abstract in style. I wanted the viewer to be unsure of what the Creature was until the end, so there is a weird, mysterious atmosphere through the film. The film is slowly paced to start with, but picks up as Aluki's emotions become more intense. There is a quiet awkwardness to the film (I hope that makes sense!) enhanced by long stares between characters and stillness of characters juxtaposed by fast movements.
If you read all that then fair play to you, it was incredibly long and rambling, but it hopefully gives an insight into my film.
The film is called Distance, it will be stop motion, set in the Arctic and use Inuit art as inspiration for the art style.
Distance is a story about missing someone you love, whether it be a partner, brother or sister, friend or parent. It shows how missing someone can really, really mess with your head.
The tale follows two Inuits, a girl, Aluki and a boy, Anik. Aluki is forced to say a tearful goodbye to Anik as he is leaving on a long hunting trip. Anik gives her his necklace before he leaves and we see the pendant is a carving of a strange face. Once Aluki has waved Anik off into the distance, she sadly returns to her igloo. But when she opens the door she is confronted with a strange creature staring at her. The creature has the same face as the one on Anik's necklace. Aluki rolls her eyes in an 'urghhhhh not again' type way and pushes past the Creature.
We then see Aluki picking berries and putting them in a sack. Something hits her in the back, making her stumble forward. She turns round to see the Creature standing some way off behind her. It slowly bends down and forms a snowball, readying to throw one at her again. The Creature's facial features never move, it can only tilt its head, making it more creepy and strange as well as making it seem like it is constantly staring at Aluki. The Creature does everything very impassively and there will be lots of awkward type stares between Aluki and the Creature. The Creature is always about, standing there, staring at Aluki.
There will then be a montage type scene where Aluki is shown doing her daily tasks and constantly being prevented from doing them by the Creature:
Aluki rubs flint together to start a fire, as soon as she gets a spark and the fire alights the Creature walks over and pours a bucket of water over the fire, quenching it.
Aluki fishes in an icehole, as soon as she gets a bite the Creature comes over and cuts her line with a knife, sending the fish falling back into the sea.
Aluki tries to sleep, but the Creature is there poking her every few seconds, keeping her awake.
Aluki is chopping wood up with an axe. As she raises the axe, the Creature quickly unties the axehead, so Aluki is only holding the shaft. She swings and due to the changed weight, falls in a heap in the snow as she overbalances. She is at this point incredibly angry. She is sick of the Creature's incessant presence and just wants it to leave her alone. She gets up and tries to make the Creature leave, brandishing the axe shaft and gesticulating angrily. The Creature, however, just continues to stare at her. It takes a step towards her. Aluki gives a cry of despair and runs off. If the Creature won't leave her, she will leave it.
Aluki has run very far in her state of anger. She comes to a stop, panting. She hears a noise and turns to see a polar bear emerging from the water. But instead of a polar bear head, it has the head of the Creature. Aluki runs away from it.
Aluki reaches a rocky area. There are lots of birds sitting on the rocks, watching her. She blinks and opens her eyes to find the birds all have the face of the Creature. She runs off into a nearby cave.
Inside the cave, the Creature's face begins to appear all over the rock wall, staring at her. Some of the faces extend out of the wall towards her on stalks, thrusting their faces at her, she falls to the ground, surrounded. She scrambles up and runs away. No matter where Aluki goes, she cannot escape the Creature.
Aluki runs out into the open snow. Everything is white. Snow is falling. She is in a state and she is angry and sad and scared and confused, all these emotions swirl around inside her, consuming her. As she stumbles around the snow falls faster and heavier, it is a blizzard, engulfing her, just like her emotions. Aluki is lost, physically and mentally. She collapses. Our view is obliterated by snow. And the Creature is, finally, nowhere in sight.
We now go to Anik, who is in the forest, shooting caribou with his bow and arrow. But it turns out that he has a Creature following him too. The Creature looks the same as the one following Aluki, but with a different face, the same face as the one carved into the wooden bangle that Aluki wears on her arm. Just as Anik looses his arrow, the Creature nudges him, making him miss. Anik tries again, but as he is about to shoot, the Creature disappears into thin air, with an explosive sound. This startles the caribou, causing it to run off. Anik, cursing, gives chase and follows the caribou through the trees and out of the forest, into the snow. He loses sight of the caribou, but spots something lying in the snow. He realises it's Aluki and runs over to her. She shows weak signs of life and Anik bundles her up in his arms, carrying her off into the Distance.
The last shot we see is of the two Creatures sitting side by side, watching Anik carry Aluki off.
The End.
Ok so now I'm going to explain where I was going with this. I wanted the film to be ambiguous enough so that the audience could take their own slant on the story, so that it is relevant to them. So I wanted to keep the Inuits' relationship with one another open for interpretation.
For me this is what the film represents:
Aluki is missing Anik so much and this causes her a lot of sadness. The Creature represents Anik's presence in Aluki's mind, she just can't stop thinking about him and how much she misses him. No matter where she goes he is there in her head, just like the Creature. She is unable to get on with her day to day life as thinking about Anik distracts her and causes her to not be able to carry out simple tasks. So the Creature gets in the way of Aluki's tasks, just as thinking about Anik does.
Aluki grows annoyed and then angry at the Creature, representing how her sadness has turned to anger and resentment towards Anik for leaving her and putting her through the pain of missing him.
Aluki decides she has had enough and decides to leave Anik/ the Creature, to distance herself from Anik emotionally and the Creature physically. But this is hard to do and so no matter where she goes she sees the Creature's face, representing her inability to just cut Anik out of her life.
The blizzard represents how her emotions have escalated, leaving her in a state, as all the contradicting emotions she feels towards Anik writhe around in her head.
Anik has a Creature following him that represents Aluki's presence in his mind, as he is missing her intensely too. This Creature purposefully scares the caribou, which causes Anik to find Aluki and help her, as it represents the bond between two people, where in your time of need the people closest to you can often just sense something's wrong, kind of like a sixth sense and no matter where they are, no matter the distance between you, they will be there for you.
The film is slightly abstract in style. I wanted the viewer to be unsure of what the Creature was until the end, so there is a weird, mysterious atmosphere through the film. The film is slowly paced to start with, but picks up as Aluki's emotions become more intense. There is a quiet awkwardness to the film (I hope that makes sense!) enhanced by long stares between characters and stillness of characters juxtaposed by fast movements.
If you read all that then fair play to you, it was incredibly long and rambling, but it hopefully gives an insight into my film.
Inuit Art
This is the point at which I realised I did not want to create the Sun story for my third year film. Time was running out though before the beginning of term, and obviously I had no film to pitch. So I did the only thing conceivable at this point and took the dog for a walk and contemplated life.
On this walk I began to think about a previous film idea I had had. It was about Inuits. I then thought about Inuit Art and connections and thoughts began happening in my mind. So I went home and started researching Inuit Art and Inuit history and myths and legends.
I find Inuits fascinating and adore their art, their carvings are quirky and full of personality. The shapes are curvy and smooth, often very simple form-wise. They created art that spoke of the nature around them. I drew out some of their carvings which you can see below. I find their art very inspiring and rich in ideas.
Style Influences
I was planning on using Celtic art as inspiration for my film, as when Una went down to Earth I wanted her to experience nature, with forests and mountains and the like, rather than civilisation and cities. I felt this would contrast the most with the Sun, which I thought could be inspired by the Cold War. Below are some examples of Celtic type art which I copied out (including from 'The Secret of Kells'). Celtic art has a very flowing, swirly form, with shapes twisting in and out of each other.
Here are some examples of Cold War architecture and design, which would influence my design of the Sun. They are in some ways the opposite of the Celtic art as they are heavy, cold and unwelcoming, with bold solid forms, unlike the intricacy of Celtic.
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