ILLUSTRATION & VISUAL NARRATIVE Task2 / Decisive Moment

1 November 2023 - 24 November 2023 / Week6-Week9

Kaho Yamaya / 0364278
Illustration & Visual Narrative / Creative media / Taylor's University

Task 2:Decisive Moment

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JUMP LINK

・Instructions

・The brief

・Submissions
　・Week6-8/Editorial Illustration
　・Week9/Minor Animation

・Reflections

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INSTRUCTIONS

Fig 1.1 Task2 Instructions PDF (page7-8)

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THE BRIEF

Editorial illustration is typically a type of work has a deep history in political satire, especially though extends beyond the world of politics. Every day, newspapers and magazines print illustrations alongside their articles to illuminate some element of the concepts for the reader. For this assignment, you will be assigned a story and break it apart into its narrative structure. You will choose one of the turning points in the narrative and illustrate that “Decisive Moment”

Your task is to develop an editorial illustration  to represent the chosen text. Examples as shown in class. You are to interpret the narrative's decisive moment or the climax of the narrative.

First Outcome

• Interpret a passage of text (story); illustrate the decisive moment (any of the turning points).

• You Must use Adobe Illustrator to create the assets.

• The outcome must be portrait.

Second Outcome

• The end product must be animated (limited animation).

• You Must use Adobe Illustrator to create the assets and you may animate it in Adobe Photoshop.

• The outcome must be portrait.

Research keywords:

Limited animation, animated editorial illustration, urban legends, narrative structure.

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SUBMISSIONS/

EDITORIAL ILLUSTRATION/Week6-8

Fig 2.1 Example images for “Kisaragi Station”

The Urban Legends is “a humorous or horrific story or piece of information circulated as though true, especially one purporting to involve someone vaguely related or known to the teller.” (By google definition). I was really stuck in choosing themes because Japanese famous urban legends are mostly known as “妖怪(Youkai)”, they are similar to fairy or ghost but almost all of them like to make fool of people and give bad influences. They were too catchy and easily to visualize because of the characters appearance were already visualized, so I wanted to try another approach without using Youkai tales.

Fig 2.2 Simple Visualization of Turing points

I choose “Kisaragi Station” for this assignment. It is famous urban legend from old Internet and have no clear image or characters. One day, a lady get on a train as usual but the train didn’t stop at her near station. She suspected the direction of this train and immediately got off at unknown station. There are no people, no staff, no signs for next/previous station. She want to connect with her parents to pick her up but her current location is not on the map. She reluctantly walked by herself and try to escape from this station. She walked on the rail road and heard that some sounds of Japanese drum and bells gradually reach to her. She keeping her speed of walk but she cannot escape from Kisaragi station. This tale has some endings but she never came back in all ending. I choose the most simple ending that she lost in the station and never came back.

Fig 2.3 Plan for illustration

In this assignment, Mr.Hafiz suggested “Framed Ink”  for reference. I made my layout by using this layout as a reference.I want to make vanishing point in screen because it makes depth in flat screen. The colors are getting darker and darker from front side to back side. I mainly used green color for surroundings because my urban legend theme is abandoned station. I put two street light for make next animation movement and these two work as suggesting perspective.

Fig 2.4 More References

I was searching for pictures of Japanese station in rural area. My theme for urban legends, “Kisaragi Station” is non-existed and unpopular place in Japan. I’m so familiar with rural station and choosing this four picture. The rest of two in right side is reference for Art Deco Style. I was misunderstood of this style until the end and I couldn’t change my layout completely. I thought Art Deco Style is using same patterns in the layout but Mr.Hafiz said they needed to symmetry in patterns and not only put same patterns.

Fig 2.5 Background

You can see the patterns in forest part, but it is my misunderstanding and fix it in the final layout. These patterns purpose is express Wi-fi antenna because this urban legend came from old internet. I also focus on this point in later-described part. Incidentally, this background is using vanishing point. As I suggested in the aforementioned sentence, it makes a depth and perspective in the layout. Mr.Hafiz gave me an advice that I need to express the station more. before this layout, I didn’t put station and only put rail road to minimize the expression. However, this is too much minimize and it can't be fully express the theme.

Fig 2.6 Compare the human expression

In the aforementioned sentence, I want to express internet because this urban legend came from old internet. The right side is no glitched and we can see simple human face. In left side, I want to express not only internet, but also the human’s emotion by using this glitch. People who lost in this station is cannot came back and their depression, impatience, anxiety, and more negative feelings are growing enormously. This urban legend ending is bad, so I want to make more depressed screen related to the lost people.

FINAL LAYOUT

Fig 2.7 Final layout JPEG (17/11/2023)

Fig 2.8 Final layout PDF (17/11/2023)

I am not satisfied this layout because I couldn’t connect this layout with Art Deco Style. My research for this style is not enough and my misunderstanding causes this problem. I was succeed with express human emotion and using texture. Minimize and visualize the tale that has no images is really hard work but I learned a lot from this. In next animation, I want to make this illustration more attractive.

MINOR ANIMATIONS/Week9

Fig 3.1 Work progress

After we made an Editorial illustration, we move on to limited animation. Mr.Hafiz said this is a minor animation so we should avoid to use too much art frames. The maximum amounts of frame is 60. I paid attention to make simple but not boring animation in this assignment.

Fig 3.2 Compare glitch layers 

According to the Editorial illustration, I added a texture which looks like chromatic aberration. I made a few patterns to make the glitch expression in the screen. The patterns are separated to mainly use blue/yellow layer, shift segments, turn on/off light. 

Fig 3.3 Blackout

To achieve my purpose in next scene, I need to remove this person from screen. I use the way of blackout to change scene smoothly. Also I try two variation in blackout that drop down or rise the black part. I aimed to attract viewers attention to the top section but rise black part was not work well. So I choose drop one.

Fig 3.4 Compare Final scene

This urban legend is mainly focus on the train and mysterious station. The people who lost in this station were never came back because of this mysterious power so I remove that person from screen to express the result of lost people. I made three pattern which is the light turn on/off and more bright one. The red lights in middle part is the headlights of train and it can be seen by remove the people. It means that viewers cannot notice the train reaches to you until someone already disappeared. At the end, viewers are also involved into my work.

Fig 3.5 Time management

 I want make similarities in first glitch scene and final scene so I paid attention to make natural light blinking.

FINAL MINOR ANIMATION

Fig 3.6 Final minor animation GIF (22/11/2023)

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REFLECTIONS

In this assignment, I was really stuck in choose theme for “Urban Legends”. However it is good experience for me that Kisaragi Station has no decided shapes and I need thinking deeply to visualize the last scene. The most difficult part is animation. We can’t use many frames, so we need to simplify the movement. I asked Mr.Hafiz that my glitch move is too much in screen and need to reduce the movement. He answered this is fine, so I’m satisfied in my work. 

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