Paper man

New direction

Komaneko Film

My friend Yuka showed me this film after I told her about my project. There are a series of these videos on YouTube, which are about this Cat, and I think Komaneko means "animation cat". In this one the cat makes a stopmotion film, and it is extremely adorable. Quite opposite of how my film is going to come out. Komaneko is a stopmotion film about making a stopmotion film.. WATCH IT!!!

Character Exploration 2 [updated 1.24.12]

This is mostly how I want the little boy to look. I went for the industrial revolution era instead of the 1300s. I might want to exaggerate the proportions a bit more and work on the face in clay. 

FACE STUDIES: the first one looks a bit too freaky.. so I adjusted it a bit in the second, but still looking for something more cartoonish. I will definitely resolve most of these problems in modeling it in clay. The silent vs. voice acting decision is a huge one.. but i believe the mouth should still move none the less. 

A good suggestion given to me by Jeff was to differentiate good and evil:

As far as color goes, I like the idea that the man has bold deep hues of purples, reds and greens. Since he is an outsider, I imagine he has traveled all over the place and it reflects in the textiles of his clothes.

Where the villagers will tend to be muted, monochromatic, and desaturated in color.. and very dirty lookin.

Character Exploration 1

Stop-motion

Stop motion (also known as stop action) is an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on its own. The object is moved in small increments between individually photographed frames, creating the illusion of movement when the series of frames is played as a continuous sequence. Dolls with movable joints or clay figures are often used in stop motion for their ease of repositioning. Here are a List of Stop-motion films. 

This is an example of a puppet's armature structure. Wires bend for the joints and removable hands and feet interchange. My plan is to design a different structure with ball and socket joints so that they move with as little disturbance to the pose as possible. The hands may be interchangeable, although I could do a wire armature inside silicone... can't decide yet, and I don't necessarily have to.

YouTUBE findings

PES

The best of the best, PES is a genius. I learned about him in 4D during freshman year at Pratt and have never forgot about him. Watch this film and then go to his website, he has so many films and is so creative with his props. 

His site is here: onward to the HOME OF THE TWISTED FILMS OF PES

The Quay Brothers: Phantom Museums (2007)

Scary, scary, scary, creepy stuff... another Netflix gem.. I couldn't sit through more than 4 minutes of it, but I turned the volume off and got some screen shots.. I love the face of the man.

Peter and the Wolf (2006)

The best kind of research: Watch movies. Looking for stopmotion films and shorts to get ideas for the physical aspects of this project. First movie I found is Suzie Templeton's "Peter and the Wolf". It is amazing to say the least, I can only dream to achieve this much.. 

see it on Netflix!

 

These sets are GIGANTIC.. and I don't have 4 years... but I do have all nighters and a lot of coffee to consume. This is going to be a fun semester...

Excerpt of the Pied Piper of Hameln by Robert Browning

When, lo! as they reached the mountain-side,
A wondrous portal opened wide,
As if a cavern was suddenly hollowed;
And the Piper advanced and the children followed,
And when all were in to the very last,
The door in the mountain-side shut fast.
Did I say, all? No! One was lame,
And could not dance the whole of the way;
And in after years, if you would blame
His sadness, he was used to say, --
"It's dull in our town since my playmates left!
I can't forget that I'm bereft
Of all the pleasant sights they see,
Which the Piper also promised me;
For he led us, he said, to a joyous land,
Joining the town and just at hand,
Where waters gushed and fruit-trees grew,
And flowers put forth a fairer hue,
And everything was strange and new;
The sparrows were brighter than the peacocks here,
And their dogs outran our fallow deer,
And honey-bees had lost their stings,
And horses were born with eagles' wings;
And just as I became assured
My lame foot would be speedily cured,
The music stopped and I stood still,
And found myself outside the hill,
Left alone against my will,
To go now limping as before,

And never hear of that country more!"

It Is Decided!!!

The Pied Piper with the captured children

Safe to say that I want to use the Town by the River story. The Pillowman was the best play I have ever seen, and the best story I have ever heard. The main character is an author of dark and twisted stories, who shares his work while being interrogated by the police throughout the play.  

Yoriyos: The Pied Piper

The Tale of the Town on the River: The Pillow Man, Mcdonagh

Once upon a time in a tiny cobble-streeted town on the banks of a

fast-flowing river, there lived a little boy who did not get along with the

other children of the town; they picked on a bullied him because he was

poor and his parents were drunkards and his clothes were rags and he walked

around barefoot. The little boy, however, was of a happy and dreamy

disposition, and he did not mind the taunts and the beatings and the

unending solitude. He knew that he was kind-hearted and full of love and

that someday someone somewhere would see this love inside him and repay him

in kind. Then, one night, as he sat nursing his newest bruises at the foot

of the wooden bridge that crossed the river and led out of town, he heard

the approach of a horse cart along the dark, cobbled street, and as it

neared he saw that its driver was dressed in the darkest of robes, the

black hood of which bathed his craggy face in shadow and sent a shiver of

fear through the little boy’s body. Putting his fear aside, the boy took

out the small sandwich that was to be his supper that night and, just as

the cart was about to pass onto and over the bridge, he offered it up to

the hooded driver to see if he would like some. The cart stopped, the

driver nodded, got down and sat beside the little boy for a while, sharing

the sandwich and discussing this and that. The driver asked the boy why he

was barefoot and ragged and all alone, and as the boy told the driver of

his poor, hard life, he eyed the back of the driver’s cart; it was piled

high with small, empty animal cages, all foul-smelling and dirt lined, and

just as the boy was about to ask what kind of animals it was had been

inside them, the driver stood up and announced that he had to be on his

way. “But before I go,�? the driver whispered, “because you have been so

kindly to an old weary traveler in offering half of your already meagre

portions, I would like to give you something now, the worth of which today

you may not realise, but one day, when you are a little older, perhaps, I

think you will truly value and thank me for. Now close your eyes.�? And so

the little boy did what he was told and closed his eyes, and from a secret

inner pocket of his robes the driver pulled out a long, sharp and shiny

meat cleaver, raised it high in the air and brought it scything down onto

the boy’s right foot, severing all five of his muddy little toes. And as

the little boy say there in gaping silent shock, staring blankly off into

the distance at nothing in particular, the driver gathered up his bloody

toes, tossed them away to the gaggle of rats that had begun to gather in

the gutters, got back onto his cart, and quietly rode on over the bridge,

leaving the boy, the rats, the river and the darkening town of Hamelin far

behind him.

The Four Clever Brothers: Grimm

'Dear children,' said a poor man to his four sons, 'I have nothing to give you; you must go out into the wide world and try your luck. Begin by learning some craft or another, and see how you can get on.' So the four brothers took their walking-sticks in their hands, and their little bundles on their shoulders, and after bidding their father goodbye, went all out at the gate together. When they had got on some way they came to four crossways, each leading to a different country. Then the eldest said, 'Here we must part; but this day four years we will come back to this spot, and in the meantime each must try what he can do for himself.'

So each brother went his way; and as the eldest was hastening on a man met him, and asked him where he was going, and what he wanted. 'I am going to try my luck in the world, and should like to begin by learning some art or trade,' answered he. 'Then,' said the man, 'go with me, and I will teach you to become the cunningest thief that ever was.' 'No,' said the other, 'that is not an honest calling, and what can one look to earn by it in the end but the gallows?' 'Oh!' said the man, 'you need not fear the gallows; for I will only teach you to steal what will be fair game: I meddle with nothing but what no one else can get or care anything about, and where no one can find you out.' So the young man agreed to follow his trade, and he soon showed himself so clever, that nothing could escape him that he had once set his mind upon.

The second brother also met a man, who, when he found out what he was setting out upon, asked him what craft he meant to follow. 'I do not know yet,' said he. 'Then come with me, and be a star-gazer. It is a noble art, for nothing can be hidden from you, when once you understand the stars.' The plan pleased him much, and he soon became such a skilful star-gazer, that when he had served out his time, and wanted to leave his master, he gave him a glass, and said, 'With this you can see all that is passing in the sky and on earth, and nothing can be hidden from you.'

The third brother met a huntsman, who took him with him, and taught him so well all that belonged to hunting, that he became very clever in the craft of the woods; and when he left his master he gave him a bow, and said, 'Whatever you shoot at with this bow you will be sure to hit.'

The youngest brother likewise met a man who asked him what he wished to do. 'Would not you like,' said he, 'to be a tailor?' 'Oh, no!' said the young man; 'sitting cross-legged from morning to night, working backwards and forwards with a needle and goose, will never suit me.' 'Oh!' answered the man, 'that is not my sort of tailoring; come with me, and you will learn quite another kind of craft from that.' Not knowing what better to do, he came into the plan, and learnt tailoring from the beginning; and when he left his master, he gave him a needle, and said, 'You can sew anything with this, be it as soft as an egg or as hard as steel; and the joint will be so fine that no seam will be seen.'

After the space of four years, at the time agreed upon, the four brothers met at the four cross-roads; and having welcomed each other, set off towards their father's home, where they told him all that had happened to them, and how each had learned some craft.

Then, one day, as they were sitting before the house under a very high tree, the father said, 'I should like to try what each of you can do in this way.' So he looked up, and said to the second son, 'At the top of this tree there is a chaffinch's nest; tell me how many eggs there are in it.' The star-gazer took his glass, looked up, and said, 'Five.' 'Now,' said the father to the eldest son, 'take away the eggs without letting the bird that is sitting upon them and hatching them know anything of what you are doing.' So the cunning thief climbed up the tree, and brought away to his father the five eggs from under the bird; and it never saw or felt what he was doing, but kept sitting on at its ease. Then the father took the eggs, and put one on each corner of the table, and the fifth in the middle, and said to the huntsman, 'Cut all the eggs in two pieces at one shot.' The huntsman took up his bow, and at one shot struck all the five eggs as his father wished.

'Now comes your turn,' said he to the young tailor; 'sew the eggs and the young birds in them together again, so neatly that the shot shall have done them no harm.' Then the tailor took his needle, and sewed the eggs as he was told; and when he had done, the thief was sent to take them back to the nest, and put them under the bird without its knowing it. Then she went on sitting, and hatched them: and in a few days they crawled out, and had only a little red streak across their necks, where the tailor had sewn them together.

'Well done, sons!' said the old man; 'you have made good use of your time, and learnt something worth the knowing; but I am sure I do not know which ought to have the prize. Oh, that a time might soon come for you to turn your skill to some account!'

Not long after this there was a great bustle in the country; for the king's daughter had been carried off by a mighty dragon, and the king mourned over his loss day and night, and made it known that whoever brought her back to him should have her for a wife. Then the four brothers said to each other, 'Here is a chance for us; let us try what we can do.' And they agreed to see whether they could not set the princess free. 'I will soon find out where she is, however,' said the star-gazer, as he looked through his glass; and he soon cried out, 'I see her afar off, sitting upon a rock in the sea, and I can spy the dragon close by, guarding her.' Then he went to the king, and asked for a ship for himself and his brothers; and they sailed together over the sea, till they came to the right place. There they found the princess sitting, as the star-gazer had said, on the rock; and the dragon was lying asleep, with his head upon her lap. 'I dare not shoot at him,' said the huntsman, 'for I should kill the beautiful young lady also.' 'Then I will try my skill,' said the thief, and went and stole her away from under the dragon, so quietly and gently that the beast did not know it, but went on snoring.

Then away they hastened with her full of joy in their boat towards the ship; but soon came the dragon roaring behind them through the air; for he awoke and missed the princess. But when he got over the boat, and wanted to pounce upon them and carry off the princess, the huntsman took up his bow and shot him straight through the heart so that he fell down dead. They were still not safe; for he was such a great beast that in his fall he overset the boat, and they had to swim in the open sea upon a few planks. So the tailor took his needle, and with a few large stitches put some of the planks together; and he sat down upon these, and sailed about and gathered up all pieces of the boat; and then tacked them together so quickly that the boat was soon ready, and they then reached the ship and got home safe.

When they had brought home the princess to her father, there was great rejoicing; and he said to the four brothers, 'One of you shall marry her, but you must settle amongst yourselves which it is to be.' Then there arose a quarrel between them; and the star-gazer said, 'If I had not found the princess out, all your skill would have been of no use; therefore she ought to be mine.' 'Your seeing her would have been of no use,' said the thief, 'if I had not taken her away from the dragon; therefore she ought to be mine.' 'No, she is mine,' said the huntsman; 'for if I had not killed the dragon, he would, after all, have torn you and the princess into pieces.' 'And if I had not sewn the boat together again,' said the tailor, 'you would all have been drowned, therefore she is mine.' Then the king put in a word, and said, 'Each of you is right; and as all cannot have the young lady, the best way is for neither of you to have her: for the truth is, there is somebody she likes a great deal better. But to make up for your loss, I will give each of you, as a reward for his skill, half a kingdom.' So the brothers agreed that this plan would be much better than either quarrelling or marrying a lady who had no mind to have them. And the king then gave to each half a kingdom, as he had said; and they lived very happily the rest of their days, and took good care of their father; and somebody took better care of the young lady, than to let either the dragon or one of the craftsmen have her again.

The Miser in the Bush: Grimm

Once upon a time...

A farmer had a faithful and diligent servant, who had worked hard for him three years, without having been paid any wages. At last it came into the man's head that he would not go on thus without pay any longer; so he went to his master, and said, 'I have worked hard for you a long time, I will trust to you to give me what I deserve to have for my trouble.' The farmer was a sad miser, and knew that his man was very simple-hearted; so he took out three-pence, and gave him for every year's service a penny. The poor fellow thought it was a great deal of money to have, and said to himself, 'Why should I work hard, and live here on bad fare any longer? I can now travel into the wide world, and make myself merry.' With that he put his money into his purse, and set out, roaming over hill and valley.

As he jogged along over the fields, singing and dancing, a little dwarf met him, and asked him what made him so merry. 'Why, what should make me down-hearted?' said he; 'I am sound in health and rich in purse, what should I care for? I have saved up my three years' earnings and have it all safe in my pocket.' 'How much may it come to?' said the little man. 'Full three-pence,' replied the countryman. 'I wish you would give them to me,' said the other; 'I am very poor.' Then the man pitied him, and gave him all he had; and the little dwarf said in return, 'As you have such a kind honest heart, I will grant you three wishes, one for every penny; so choose whatever you like.' Then the countryman rejoiced at his good luck, and said, 'I like many things better than money: first, I will have a bow that will bring down everything I shoot at; secondly, a fiddle that will set everyone dancing that hears me play upon it; and thirdly, I should like that everyone should grant what I ask.' The dwarf said he should have his three wishes; so he gave him the bow and fiddle, and went his way.

Our honest friend journeyed on his way too; and if he was merry before, he was now ten times more so. He had not gone far before he met an old miser: close by them stood a tree, and on the topmost twig sat a thrush singing away most joyfully. 'Oh, what a pretty bird!' said the miser; 'I would give a great deal of money to have such a one.' 'If that's all,' said the countryman, 'I will soon bring it down.' Then he took up his bow, and down fell the thrush into the bushes at the foot of the tree. The miser crept into the bush to find it; but directly he had got into the middle, his companion took up his fiddle and played away, and the miser began to dance and spring about, capering higher and higher in the air. The thorns soon began to tear his clothes till they all hung in rags about him, and he himself was all scratched and wounded, so that the blood ran down. 'Oh, for heaven's sake!' cried the miser, 'Master! master! pray let the fiddle alone. What have I done to deserve this?' 'Thou hast shaved many a poor soul close enough,' said the other; 'thou art only meeting thy reward': so he played up another tune. Then the miser began to beg and promise, and offered money for his liberty; but he did not come up to the musician's price for some time, and he danced him along brisker and brisker, and the miser bid higher and higher, till at last he offered a round hundred of florins that he had in his purse, and had just gained by cheating some poor fellow. When the countryman saw so much money, he said, 'I will agree to your proposal.' So he took the purse, put up his fiddle, and travelled on very pleased with his bargain.

Meanwhile the miser crept out of the bush half-naked and in a piteous plight, and began to ponder how he should take his revenge, and serve his late companion some trick. At last he went to the judge, and complained that a rascal had robbed him of his money, and beaten him into the bargain; and that the fellow who did it carried a bow at his back and a fiddle hung round his neck. Then the judge sent out his officers to bring up the accused wherever they should find him; and he was soon caught and brought up to be tried.

The miser began to tell his tale, and said he had been robbed of his money. 'No, you gave it me for playing a tune to you.' said the countryman; but the judge told him that was not likely, and cut the matter short by ordering him off to the gallows.

So away he was taken; but as he stood on the steps he said, 'My Lord Judge, grant me one last request.' 'Anything but thy life,' replied the other. 'No,' said he, 'I do not ask my life; only to let me play upon my fiddle for the last time.' The miser cried out, 'Oh, no! no! for heaven's sake don't listen to him! don't listen to him!' But the judge said, 'It is only this once, he will soon have done.' The fact was, he could not refuse the request, on account of the dwarf's third gift.

Then the miser said, 'Bind me fast, bind me fast, for pity's sake.' But the countryman seized his fiddle, and struck up a tune, and at the first note judge, clerks, and jailer were in motion; all began capering, and no one could hold the miser. At the second note the hangman let his prisoner go, and danced also, and by the time he had played the first bar of the tune, all were dancing together, judge, court, and miser, and all the people who had followed to look on. At first the thing was merry and pleasant enough; but when it had gone on a while, and there seemed to be no end of playing or dancing, they began to cry out, and beg him to leave off; but he stopped not a whit the more for their entreaties, till the judge not only gave him his life, but promised to return him the hundred florins.

Then he called to the miser, and said, 'Tell us now, you vagabond, where you got that gold, or I shall play on for your amusement only,' 'I stole it,' said the miser in the presence of all the people; 'I acknowledge that I stole it, and that you earned it fairly.' Then the countryman stopped his fiddle, and left the miser to take his place at the gallows.

Proposal

"Final senior project for Pratt Institute's Industrial Design program. Using what I have learned here for the past 4 years, I intend to design, create, and animate a short film based on a short story by [undetermined]. It is a long road ahead and hope to end my undergraduate degree creating something that is personal and genuinely me."
-Sarah Quinn