13.08.2013 Karl
Foster MAVA – Unit 2 Reflective Essay
How I got here
I am a storyteller. I’ve found meaning through reviewing; making and
exploring storytelling formats through science, religion and personal
relationships. I want to know what happens next. A good story will manipulate
this need to know and draw you in. Masterful storytelling will change your
life. That has been my experience and that is why I want to join this elite
group of conjurors. The seven basic plots have been told and re-told over the
centuries, mutating to meet the concerns and desires of the assembled audience.
I have absorbed the contents of novels, poems, comics, movies, plays and
biography and filtered this output to help me find my own voice through a
personal visual language. When I am creating art I feel that I have a purpose
and that my life has meaning. The rest of my life is pretty mundane when compared
to the creative process and intellectual explorations.
Influences - in what way do they affect me?
At the heart of my interest is the search for that feeling of
satisfaction where I can experience a sense of success and development. The
cultivation of my mind in my search for meaning is as necessary to me as breathing.
I have matured a great deal over two decades due to my responsibility to pass
on knowledge and lead out keen and not so keen minds. My Grandfather drummed the
ideal of education as a means of personal liberation into me; my life achievements
are proof of his credo. My education was aided and abetted by sitting riveted
in front of the film language pioneered by Campion, Ford, Hitchcock, Lean,
Lynch, Kubrick, Kurosawa, Roeg, Powell, Welles and Wyler. This ongoing investigation
has been focussed on the film noir genre over the last year.
Influences - why are they important to me,
what do they really mean?
When I started the course I wanted to develop my skills through a medium
I thought could best express my thinking. I wanted to produce a Graphic Novel
called 100 DATES. I believed that making a novel whose narrative is related
through a combination of text and art using a comic strip form was my best
course of action. I reviewed the production time of the best book length comics
and discovered that some stories took several years to write and draw. I was
aware that my drafting skills might not be proficient enough for me to complete
the 10 stories as I’d planned. I went to seminars featuring graphic artists
like Craig Thompson (Blankets & Habibi) and Shaun Tan (The Lost Thing &
The Arrival) looking carefully at their work. I also absorbed the output of
Dave McKean (Cages & Mirror Mask) and Joe Sacco (Palestine & Footnotes
In Gaza) and it became clear to me that my working methods would not help me to
create an effective outcome. 100 DATES plot was originally conceived as a love
story set in a dystopian society. Now my plot also has a distinctly noir
quality. I knew I had to find visual cues to help the audience to engage with
my original content. Nobody would know the context so I had to find ways to make
my project accessible. I knew I had to try to make the viewer care about the
content as much as I do. No easy task and much frustration and anxiety have
visited me since January 2013. Despite these worries I know I will never give
up on this objective.
What I did
‘100 DATES’ is a story of love in unusual times. I designed characters
(dramatis personae), developed their back-stories and the ‘plausible world’
they inhabit. I looked closely at science fiction writing and dystopian
fantasies to add believable drama and narrative drive to my story. Orwell,
Philip K. Dick and Alan Moore heavily influenced me. The story is in plot form
to help me produce the drawings for a graphic novel. 100 DATES was originally
inspired by my own romance with my wife. I felt that no one would want to read
about two strangers wonderful relationship so I decided to retell the story
filtered through a dramatic adventure set in an alternate world that I could
fully control. After a crit with Christopher Brown in March 2012 I concluded
that 100 DATES text could be used for a screenplay and my illustrations will contain
the information for a Storyboard. This ‘blueprint’ helped me to depict the
sequence of the key scenes (setting, dialogue and action). It has since evolved
into a moving image sequence. More accurately put my project is an animated
storyboard trailer.
Analysis -why have I written an original story?
As this project has progressed I have had some doubts about my decision
to present an original piece when I could have adapted someone else’s source
material. This is the type of work I completed during my 13 years as a freelance
illustrator so I am an expert at this. However I wanted my time on my MA to
serve me and me alone. This was a risk but I knew I could use my new knowledge
in the long run in my teaching and creative practice. I decided that originality
was the whole point of pursuing my studies at this level. My passion for my
personal vision could not be quelled. Recently I quickly created a title
sequence storyboard for the 1947 film Black Narcissus. This was a very useful
exercise and it helped me fully realise that I have not been making a title
sequence piece. Once you can name what you are doing then you know exactly what
to do next.
Analysis - why did I choose to create a work
that was so different from my professional practice?
I know that if I had employed my previous approaches and ‘style’ to help
me make the artwork for this project I would have probably been more
successful. However I wanted to do something that would really stretch me. This
is something that I have encouraged my own students to pursue over the last 14
years. My obligation was to renew myself and to work in a manner that was
relevant to my teaching. I could have played it safer but I think I would have
despised myself for doing that.
What I’ve learnt
It is my assertion that graphic narratives will become the dominant form
of storytelling. If the human race wants to stay literate it will have no
choice. It is part of our evolution. All our major ideas will be conveyed using
visual communication. This trend has been on the increase for several years.
Using storyboard templates helped me breakdown the visual structure of
my trailer. It helped me to look at the contrast, affinity, space, line and
shape, colour and movement essential for engaging content. The book The Visual
Story by Bruce Block has helped me to adapt my illustrations in line with the established
conventions of Film and TV visuals.
Process - why is sound so important?
One of my observations at the start of the course was “if only I could
get sound into these 2D illustrations.” I had the sound for this project in my
head. I thought about making a CD that could be played while the reader enjoyed
my graphic novel. Film 4 interviewed Director Danny Boyle and he spoke of how
the sound was the most important innovation in cinema. He claimed that 60% of the
film story was conveyed through the sound alone. If you’ve ever seen the
opening title sequence for Sergio Leone’s 1969 film Once Upon A Time in America
you will understand what Boyle means. It excites me to think that my sound
design will be used to manipulate the emotions of the viewer of my project. I
have composed my own ‘House’ music theme that is used within the project.
Process - timing and length of trailer how was
this decided?
My research paper focussed on Film Title sequences where I reviewed and
critiqued the title sequence work of designers E. McKnight Kauffer, Saul Bass,
Kyle Cooper, Daniel Kleinman and Tom Kan. My project is timed-based therefore
the duration of the piece is of paramount importance. My first instinct was
that the viewer wouldn’t engage with a piece that was over 5 minutes long and
also could I produce the content for that amount of time. The length of title
sequences varies but the average duration is 129.6 seconds. These examples bear
this out, The Lodger – A Story of the London Fog 1927 – 31 seconds, The Man
with the Golden Arm 1955 – 80 seconds, Touch of Evil 1958 - 214 seconds, Casino
Royale 2006 – 186 seconds and Enter The Void 2009 – 137 seconds. I have settled
on a 180 seconds piece.
Process - how do you balance use of software with
the need for experimentation and research?
Rather annoyingly I’ve found that my use of digital software as a part
of the making of my project has been questioned and I get a sense of hostility
towards the use of these established professional tools. All I can say is that
the work could not have been created without me extending my exposure to these
tools. I haven’t blindly relied on software I’ve merely used it to help me
communicate my thinking. At the heart of this project is the idea. I have
approached this aspect of my studies as a researcher and experimental
imagemaker. No matter what medium I create with if my ideas are weak then the
work will be weak. I hope that my work will speak for itself and exonerate me
here. We will see.
Process - what’s the appeal of using CCTV as a
camera?
The trailer plays out seen through the ‘gaze’ of surveillance equipment.
These ‘eyes’ watch us all of the time but also my characters are observing each
other. The ‘gaze’ is intended to exaggerate the paranoia and claustrophobia felt
by the chosen few in my story. This parallels our own experiences and our fear of
the erosion of civil liberties. Note the British Governments recently
introduced CCTV Code of Practice as part of The Protection of Freedoms Act 2012
for England and Wales.
Process - why does Type divide opinions?
All the way through this project my use of type has divided opinion. I
feel totally at ease with the incorporation of type into illustration when it
is used appropriately. Some ideas cannot be conveyed by images alone. As the
viewer is unaware of the context when they approach this project the exposition
and text based references to the main characters opens up the opportunity for
the viewer to grasp my intentions. I have discovered that there are conventions
in film and TV production for the placing of text restricted to specific width
across the screen. I have adapted my project to ensure that the text follows
these rules because this guides the viewer in their understanding of the story.
Conclusion
My initial question might have been superseded by a more urgent desire
to create a moving image piece of design that contains audio elements. Looking
at the writing of Christopher Booker and Joseph Campbell and drawing heavily on
the 15 hour documentary by Mark Cousins’ ‘The Story of Film’ I want to
establishing whether the format of moving image output is more relevant to the
future direction of storytelling than more traditional forms.
I have completed my animated storyboard to promote a new story. The desire
to engage or entertain the gathering audience in the auditorium when coupled
with the designer or artist’s eye for sensitive and meaningful image sequences
raises not only the quality of the story but also gives us pause to reflect on
the significance of what I call the ‘introduction etiquette’ of cinema. The
communication of complex ideas to a diverse but visually sophisticated audience
is still essential. We still need our emotions catered for and to that end the
incorporation of sound with vision is now the main focus of my personal working
agenda.
I think it is vital for my development that I test my output with a
range of audiences, using feedback to assist me in the production of the next
formats/stories. This is the type of work I wish to continue to create. Post
course I intend to adapt a novel as a screenplay and to complete one for my own
story 100 DATES. I will build a portfolio show reel of my work and use this to
help undergraduates discover the power of this medium. My academic career has
been enriched by the challenge of proving myself at this level of study. I
conclude my course with many problems solved but also I have discovered a brave
new world to explore beyond the post-graduate level.
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