Updated Learning Agreement

Name: Melissa Khan (N0348646)

Pathway: MA Design for Film, Television and Events

Title:

Aim: The aim of the project is to create a visual experience using tangible space and set design as the storyteller.

Objective: To employ critical research and analysis of the revolutionary scene to create a stop frame animation on the same, while using set design to carry the narrative forward.

Brief description of your project
My project would be a short film about the experiences and culture of a revolution. I will try and explore the journey of the subject/protagonist’s mind using a series of studies as research for my project and create a visual paradigm of the acquired results. The film will incorporate the cultural and social condition of revolutions and compare it to the present day scenario through a series of indirect/symbolic imagery. In a way, it would explore the possibility and result of an inner revolution


Rationale
Since I have a background in Visual Communications and am now pursuing my Masters degree in Film and Television Design, I am of the opinion that this exercise would be a good way of exceeding my own creative boundaries while producing something that may have not been fully and visually explored yet.

The questions my project will aim to answer are:
• Is it possible to create a film without the traditional narrative methods i.e, dialogue?
• Can the use of objects and props be sufficient in story-telling?
• Can I create my own style through this project and convey it successfully?
• Can physically created space be used to replace characters in motion?
• Can I evoke an emotion of sorts through a short film without dialogue?
• Can set design alone stand as narrative for film?


Content
Stop-motion: noun
Also called stop-action photography, stop motion cinematography is a special effect carried out while shooting, in which the performers stop their motion and the camera is stopped while an object or performer is added to or removed from the scene. The camera movement and action is then resumed for the remainder of the scene. It is used to create an illusion of sudden appearance or disappearance of persons or objects.

My project at completion will be a short film using Stop motion as its basic style incorporated with my personal style of filming and editing. It will be a combination of real life and still life photography with an element of surrealism involved.

Through a series of puppetry workshops, photography and lighting workshops, I aim to create a self directed film and thereby generating a niche production that is solely my style and the kind of films and spaces I would like to create in the future.

I am currently enrolled in sessions for Puppetry, Adobe Premiere etc and would like to be involved in theatre/set design and other AV modules like editing and post-production in general. Also, some workshops on lighting, filming styles and talk sessions with other students doing film practice/professional film makers would be helpful. I would also like a field visit to a production house nearby or Broadway in the future.



Submission
My final project would be a short film/a series of moving images which will explore the Revolutionary Culture. I am currently maintaining a reflective journal throughout my course to pen down my inspirations and progress. My audience will comprise of just anyone interested in the cultural and social state of the world today as it is relevant to almost anyone with a keen eye. Academically, I would like to bring up the topic of Set Design and its functions, and try to use it as a narrative that takes you through the film.
Areas like the Art, Music, Movement and Scientific and Economic progress of the contemporary are still of great value in today’s world and I would like to use these parameters to assess the current socio-cultural scenario.



Learning outcomes
o Learning Goal 1: To be able to create a stop motion short film independently.
Learning Objective: Work on developing a unique style and execute it independently

o Learning Goal 2: Learn to use props and lighting as the main elements of a project.
Learning Objective: Create a film that uses objects and lighting as one of the main vehicles of story-telling.

o Learning Goal 3: Learn various set design techniques and implement them.
Learning Objective: Study and research various set design and prop construction techniques and use them to build my project.

o Learning Goal 4: To understand the use of sets as narratives in a film
Learning Objective: Create a film without dialogue and let the set carry the story forward.


The methodological framework
Currently carrying out online research – websites, e-journals and essays on contemporary culture and art.
Movies and video clips –
• Across the Universe (Julie Taymor, 2007)
• 1969 (Ernest Thompson, 1988)
• Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson (Alex Gibney, 2008)
• Yellow Submarine (George Dunning, 1968)
• Easy Rider (Dennis Hopper, 1969)
• Terry Gilliam’s Monty Python
• Apocalypse Now (Francis Ford Coppola – 1979)

Research on specific areas such as the Beat Generation, Counter-Culture and Bohemian art.

Architectural research to support the development and realisation of set for the film. Looking into town squares and town planning of revolutionary eras (1910-1960).

Working on storyboarding the basic working script and developing visual styles to deliver through the film.

Methodology:

Quantitative: Experiments with set design, puppetry and Lighting. Model Making

Model Making is an integral part of my project. Since the film is going to be shot in an around this model, I am currently experimenting with different drafting styles and materials.

Puppetry and object theatre is a good way of working with props and expressing symbolism and objectivity. Through these experiments I aim to allow a variety of ideas to flow and hopefully create my own style of storytelling.


Qualitative: Research on stop motion. Books on revolutionary history of the world. Films, Field trips to production studios/sets

For the purpose of producing a critically and thoroughly analysed project, I carried out a basic internet search on Stop Motion animations made by students from different universities. The result was a look at the level of advancement and technology being employed by different students from across various educational backgrounds and how it affects the general trend of new media. I started by looking at a production from Nottingham Trent in 2009 called Bonington Drift – made by students studying Final year Motion Graphics. I also looked at student projects by students of University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (USA) and a project by students of University of California, Los Angeles and the Savannah College of Art and Design.

Movies such as Across the Universe, Apocalypse Now and The Science of Sleep - The visual resource these films provide through its imagery will be clearly reflected in my project.
Terry Gilliam’s Monty Python has inspired me mainly in areas of it’s philosophy- of magic realism. Scenes from Brazil and The Time Bandits are great inspiration. I have also looked into his films such as 12 Monkeys, Brazil (the film) and The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus.

For the period of realisation of my project, I will work closely with the AV team and photography modules to develop my style of editing and post production to improve stop motion and attempt to create a new clique altogether. I hope to start sessions on After Effects and some editing software (either Adobe Premiere or Final Cut Pro) to further aid my project. Softwares like Photoshop and Illustrator are also beneficial but I have had sound practice with these softwares.


Resource implications
• Supervisors: David Allen & Jayne Harvey
• Programme Leader: Dr. David Downes
• Resources required: Editing studio, camera/camera person and technical support, studio space to build the environment, lights, cameras and workshop on editing. (I have basic knowledge with Adobe Premiere and Adobe After Effects).



Bibliography

Klanten, R. & Ehmann, S. (ed.), 2005. Hidden Track. Berlin: Die Gestalten Verlag

Greenberd, A. C., 1979. Artists and Revolution: Dada and the Bauhaus, 1917-1925. Michigan

Kuenzli, R., 2006. DADA. London: Phaidon Press Ltd.

Kopp, A., 1970. Town and Revolution. London: Thames and Hudson

Bachelard, G., 1994. The Poetics of Space. Boston: Beacon Press

Verkauf, W., 1961. Dada: Monograph of a Movement . Switzerland: Arthur Niggli Ltd.

Dachy, M., 1990. The Dada Movement: 1915-1923 . USA: Rizzolli International Publications Ltd.

Whybrow, N., 2005. Street Scenes: Brecht, Benjamin and Berlin. Bristol: Intellect Books Ltd.

Brecht, B., 1964. Brecht on Theatre: The Development of an Aesthetic. Ed. and trans. John Willett. British edition. London: Methuen

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Sinclair, A., 1995. “The Puppetry Handbook” [Book], Wikimedia Foundation

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Knudson, R. M., & Minier, S. (1999). The on-going significance of significant dreams: The case of the bodiless head. Dreaming, 9, 235-245.

Kuiken, D., & Sikora, S. (1993). The impact of dreams on waking thoughts and feelings.

A. Moffitt & M. Kramer & R. Hoffmann (Eds.), The functions of dreaming. (pp. 419-476). Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.

Hall, C., & Castle, R. 1966. “Content Analysis of Dreams”, Appleton-Century-Crofts Ed. [Book]


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