OUGD503 - Responsive - Collaborative Practice - Third Meeting

Ballet Terminology and Annotation Concept

We had previously discussed the concept of introducing ballet terminology to the campaign in order to allow the audience to appropriate and gain a better understanding of the art form. This would add a USP to our campaign which will be desirable for the culturally engaged target audience.

Annie introduced the group to Nicolas Burrows' new children's book 'How It Is...' which plays with concepts of sound and colour. 'It is a visual sequence that uses bold, block images and playful language to reinterpret the world around us':

The simple addition of typography creates a fluid rhythm between the pages. This example has proved really useful because it shows how typography can be combined with an illustrative style and texture. 

Illustration Style

Annie showed us some initial sketches influence by her research into the Bauhaus ballet productions:

I identified that the shapely illustrations would lend themselves well to collage which Tom confirmed would be a suitable animation method. Annie's style is original and wouldn't be immediately associated with ballet, however it is still very much appropriate as it brings a unique style. The brief requires ballet to be presented in a contemporary fashion and this style abstracts the human form in order to stand out against the other submissions. Annie's knowledge on colour theory is evident in her initial sketches which is a really beneficial skill to have on the team. 

Feedback

After feeding our story boards back, we agreed that the Production concept would be a good scene to focus on. We began to create a narrative that would showcase all of the small details that help to create a ballet.

PRODUCTION

• Ripping the ticket 
• Orchestra Warming up - Potential for some sound
• Getting a drink
• Conductor taps and the orchestra goes silent - screen could go black?
• Lighting man turns on lights
• Figure on the stage

TRAINING/DEDICATION

As we identified that Annie's illustrations are very shapely, we thought that we could separate parts of the body into individual shapes. The hand the feet and the legs, etc will all be moving around on the screen with no particular order. The animation will then zoom in on each feature and explain the definition for that particular movement.

I thought this could be used as an interactive feature as an extra touchpoint. The interactive web page would show the shapes and colours moving and the user can click on one and the animation will zoom in and explain what the movement is in relation to the context of ballet. This would look attractive for the judges because it engages in the world of ballet on screen. 

Reflecting on the progress so far, as well as considering each others visual styles, we confirmed that working with paint, collage and type would allow us all to contribute to the design process and it would also lend itself to the stop motion animation. This will ultimately share the work load between us all. Tom said that using stop motion animation isn't very time consuming however it is the preparation before filming the scene that takes time.