Film Noir and Skullduggery Pleasant Comparison | Adaption B | Year 2

During my research I started to notice a lot of similarities between film noir and the plot of Skullduggery Pleasant. I've done a simple comparison using some of the information from the BFI's infographic. 

American Pulp Fiction

Term originated from the magazines of the first half of the 20th century which were printed on cheap "pulp" paper and published fantastic, escapist fiction for the general entertainment of the mass audiences. The pulp fiction era provided a breeding ground for creative talent which would influence all forms of entertainment for decades to come. The hardboiled detective and science fiction genres were created by the freedom that the pulp fiction magazines provided.

Pulp Fiction is a term used to describe a huge amount of creative writing available to the American public in the early nineteen-hundreds. Termed "pulp magazines" because of the low quality paper used between the covers, these publications proliferated in the nineteen-thirties and nineteen-forties to the point where they blanketed newsstands in just about every popular fiction genre of the time.

http://www.vintagelibrary.com/pulpfiction/introduction/What-Is-Pulp-Fiction.php

Research and Influence Maps | Adaption B | Year 2

I've been looking to strengthen the idea behind my Adaption B project by researching into all things 'noir'. From film noir, to neo-noir and tech noir; its been interesting piecing all of this information together and seeing the many different sides of the genre and its respective sub-genres. 

I watched Frank Miller's Sin City. Its a neo-noir piece with its background and themes based purely around the comic books. This adaption made for an interesting piece. It pays homage to film noir with its story lines, camera angles and black and white look but switches things up a bit with added splashes of colour. This added colour in some of the scenes really makes it 'pop' and drags the viewers eye to important pieces of information.

http://www.bfi.org.uk/news-opinion/news-bfi/features/infographic-what-makes-film-noir

While researching into film noir, I stumbled across this beautiful infographic posted by the British Film Industry. It depicts the main points of noir and how it differs from other black and white films. This infographic has started to make me compare Skullduggery Pleasant and its plot line to film noir and so far I've made a lot of similarities. 

Skullduggery, first and foremost is a detective. Although he is a walking talking skeleton technically held together with magic, the bare bones of this series (pardon the pun) is a detective series with a bit of magical flair and fantasy thrown in. These shots are taken from classic film noir pieces and demonstrate how I'm beginning to imagine Skullduggery posed. Not only do I want to model the skeleton detective, I want him to be a homage to film noir as well. Even in the books, his clothing and attitude gives a nod towards the world of film noir and I would like to further that in my final piece.

During a google search of 'neo-noir' I stumbled across Marius Vieth, an amazing Dutch-German photographer and artist who is better known by the name 'VICE'. He did a collection of stills based around neo-noir and visually they look amazing. Of the 4 photos above, 3 of them capture a sense of how I want Skullduggery to be posed. I want him staged as if he was part of a noir film but to add a dash of neo-noir by adding a pop of colour as the flame in his hand ignites.

Painting a Robot | Mudbox | Year 2

I really enjoyed this painting experience and adding indentation to the body work of the robot. I wanted to go for a weathered effect and tried to use some weathering techniques that I had learnt by watching Adam Savage's 'Tested' Youtube videos. I think this worked really well but I do have to remember to constantly turn the model to ensure that the paint work is even and that it is not adding paint on to other parts where I do not desire it to be, as this proved problematic at times!

Apple | Mudbox | Year 2

This is the apple that I modelled and painted in Mudbox. It was hard to get to grips with modelling at first as some of the tools didn't behave exactly how I expected them to. I'm used to modelling in clay so this was certainly a different experience for me!

Star Chamber | Dissertation Proposal | OGR | Year 2

Dissertation Proposal | OGR by Beckie Ryan on Scribd

Making Of / Art Of | Adaption A | Year 2

Making of - Adaption A by Beckie Ryan on Scribd

Submission Post | Teacher & Parents | Adaption A | Year 2

Start to End of Fact #4 | Test | Teacher | Adaption A | Year 2

Completed 'Parents' Video | Test | Parents | Adaption A | Year 2

This is the full test for the 'Things Your Parents Don't Tell You'. I'm aware that at the start I've put 'doesn't tell you' so this will be changed asap. This was to get a feel of timings and to make sure that transitions and animations work well and that there are no 'glitches'.

There are a few 'dead' seconds in the piece, which I think I'll fill with some extra images. As a whole I think it looks good and works well. 

Fact #4 & Fact #3 | Test Video | Parents | Adaption A | Year 2

Fact #5 | Test Video | Parents | Adaption A | Year 2

This is the test for fact #5 from 'Things Your Parents Doesn't Tell You'. I'm a lot happier with the look and feel of the animation in this clip. As I'm working on this video I feel that I'm learning more and more about After Effects and becoming more confident as I go along. Once I have finished the tests for the whole video, I may tweak the animation to ensure that the standard is the same throughout. 

Fact #6 | Test Video | Parents | Adaption A | Year 2

This is fact #6 from 'Things Your Parents Doesn't Tell You'. This is the basic animation test and obviously things will need fine tuning for the final piece but right now its sole purpose is to help me with font and image placement. The timings included may change once backing music is added.

End Sequence Test | After Effects | Adaption A | Year 2

To keep up the theme of a mini 'web series', I've created this short ending for the 2 videos. Most web series on the internet have something similar or along these lines. This is just a test piece so I might change some of the transitions as I'm not happy with some of the effects I've added to the font. I also plan to add something else to this sequence as it feels quite plain. This may be a logo, a moving background or extra imagery. 

REPOST | Start Sequence Test | After Effects | Adaption A | Year 2

Due to issues with blogger, I'm aware that the videos may not have posted correctly last time. Here are the 3 tests hopefully viewable by all.

Start Sequence Test | After Effects | Adaption A | Year 2

As I've had issues in the past with After Effects, I thought the best way to start out was with some simple tests. Although this doesn't seem like much, it has given me some confidence that I can do at least the basics and that I can control basic transitions.

Colour Palette and Imagery Tests | Photoshop | Adaption A | Year 2

I found an 'Antiques' colour palette in Illustrator which I think fits the best. To try this out, I have made my starting screen and recoloured the start to the 'What Your Teacher Doesn't Tell You' Video. Both of these look really effective and this will be the colour palette that I use from now on.

Proof of Concept | Dissertation | Year 2

Proof of Concept by Beckie Ryan on Scribd

Basic Script Outline | Adaption A | Year 2

What They Don't Tell You - Web Series 

I've outlined both scripts as simply as possible. At the moment this is mainly the points that I want to state in the videos. From this I can now write a list of images that will need drawing to go alongside the text in the infographics. 

Things Your Parents Doesn't Tell You

1. Your missing toys? They're in the bin. They got that bit too mucky and you got a bit too old. 
2. Adulthood brings sweets, crisps and all things unhealthy. No one can stop you having cake for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
3. Did you know you have a great aunt Helen on your mothers side? Parents often ‘forget’ to tell you about members of the family for one reason or another…
4. Snuck out after dark? In big trouble? How do they know? They did it when they were your age too.
5. They had a ‘phase’ when they were younger too. Ask your grandparents for the photo evidence. 
6. They wish they had the opportunities that you have.

And thats our list for this week. Join us next week for another episode!

Things your Teacher Doesn't Tell You

1. Detention doesn't inspire attention. Just smile and nod and you get to keep your time free for something more important
2. How to pay taxes or bills…or any important life lesson really…
3. They see students as bags of cash or numbers. You are not people. Not really…
4. University isn't for everyone. Don't want to go? Have a gap year, get a job, mess up!
5. Pythagoras Theory isn't needed. Ever. Unless you play snooker….
6. You don't always learn the same way as the person next to you.
• There are four main types of learning styles:
1. Visual (learning through seeing)
2. Auditory (learning through hearing)
3. Tactile (learn through touch)
4. Kinesthetic (learn through doing and moving)

And thats our list for this week. Join us next week for another episode!

Font Tests | Adaption A | Year 2

These are my font tests for the infographic. I tried a collection of fonts ranging from calligraphy style to a more professional look and a mid range. 

Font: Luna

Before the infographic starts, I'm thinking about having a general opening to the video that will happen at the start to every video. This is just a font test but I'm thinking about animating the text and maybe creating a small logo to go alongside this. As an example I have embedded a video from What Culture below. 

Font: DK Spiced Pumpkin

Font: AppleSpice

These are the two font and background tests for the opening of their respective videos. This is obviously in its very early early stages but I think these fonts work the best.