My plan is to create individual journeys through my pictures while also creating an overarching journey across all of the pictures. I will plan on using 4 pictures to show different stages in life and use not only different ideas, but different techniques and formats. My plan involves using GIF’s as well as regular formats such as JPG’s
Childhood
For childhood, I would like to focus on an adventure I used to replay on repeat. This comes from the game Super Mario Bros, a platformer developed by Nintendo in 1985 for the Nintendo Entertainment System. This game is very popular even to today and is renowned as one of the pillars of gaming. As this has become very important for me personally, I would like to try out doing some 4D work to present this in the form of a GIF. I would like to do this through the use of the studio and stop motion.
I would like to make a stop motion video with this landscape where somebody runs up the stairs on the left, jumps off and slides down the flagpole. I can imitate the stairs and the floor with printed out bricks stuck to cardboard and I can simply add the rest of the objects through the use of editing. I am planning on using the rig to set this up and using a small woman for the modelling because that will make the shots easier to do. This stop motion is inspired by a channel called Corridor Digital, a video example is below.
Unfortunately through my experimentation with the camera mount, we found that the space that the camera can capture from the height would not be enough to get the desired effect. Instead, I have decided to layer both practical and digital effect to create the scene. I will use the physical props I have made for the floor, stairs and base for the flag and I will use myself as a model for the character. I will then edit those onto a canvas and use pixel art tools so create the rest of the effects.
Adulthood
For the Adulthood section, I would like to focus on the transition from childhood into adulthood, showing how fast kids actually grow up. For this, I have a few different ideas for what I can do. For my first idea, I would be taking inspiration from the Portal logo pictured below.
This image shows both sides of the portal acting as a doorway, allowing the person to pass through this. I was thinking of incorporating this look by having a picture of both the child version and the adult version pass through the door of a family home, showing the process of them growing up and leaving the house, exploring new possibilities.
My second idea comes from this image below of the evolution of humans.
This image shows the evolution or humans, starting at the apes and ending at the humans we know today. I was thinking of using a similar diagram to this using men of different ages to show the progression of growing up into adulthood. I can do this with my family members, starting with the youngest and going up to the eldest. I would only do this up until the age of myself to show the transition into the start of early adulthood. The ages I would likely use for this are 8/9 for my nephew-in-law Oliver, my 14 year old nephew Harvey and me, a 19 year old. I would need the consent of the parents of these children because they are under 18, but that shouldn’t be an issue.
To practice, I took 10 pictures of myself and made them slowly growing. I then put them all into a line, as shown below.
To make the images flow a bit better, I merged them together and added a solid black colour, making them act more as a silhouette.
I much prefer this version as it is more generalisable as opposed to being specific. It will also account for any differences in the models that would be more obvious without the silhouette, for example eye colour, hair colour or clothing style.
Mid-Life Crisis
For this section I want to capitalise on the fear of the unknown (xenophobia) through the use of time. I would like to use a watch on a hand with a glove and long black nails on it, taking inspiration from the Look-See, pictured below.
For the picture, however, I will be taking inspiration from the shot below from the final episode of season 1 of “The Look-See.”
This shot shows the Look-See’s pocket watch held by a hand coming out of his throat. I would like to imitate the idea of a hand coming out of darkness to show that you don’t know who is holding the watch. However, I would like the imitate the style of the Look-See by having the hand wearing long black fingernails with a pair of dirty red fingerless gloves. This also fits with the theme of the show as you don’t know when the Look-See will appear, much like the idea that you don’t know when the pocket watch will stop ticking, signifying the end of life. This idea was also inspired by the loot booth from Deceit, where you cannot see the man behind the booth that is taking your coins in exchange for skins as shown below.
Death
Death can be shown in many different ways and can be interpreted differently by many different people and their experiences. It is diverse and is a subject that is not spoken about very frequently. From my experiences of death, I prefer to think of it more solemnly and as more of a celebration of life. For me, when somebody gets sent off it is a peaceful experience, as if someone is simply moving on past this world to another. This will be reflected through my work, where death will not be shown as a painful process, it will simply be a guidance to another plane.
For this idea, I was considering having Death pushing someone in a wheelchair towards the light, the pocket watch dangling from their lifeless hand showing that the clock has hit 12:00 and has ran out. However, after some ethical considerations I have decided that this may portray people in a wheelchair poorly and that some people may take the message the wrong way. Because of this, I have substituted the wheelchair for a cane, and have decided to use someone with the appearance of an older man to show the end of life.
This shoot idea came originally from a joke that my friend made about our other friend pushing someone on an office chair, reminding them of someone wheeling along a person on a wheelchair. Developing this idea further, I decided to adapt and took some inspiration from the meme template “Was I a good” which tackles the harsh subject of death in a very sombre way, the same viewpoint that I express.
This version in particular is about a dog, showing that his owner though of him as “the best” being reassured by Death himself, showing that death may not be the terrible person most view him as, instead simply acting as a middleman to cleave soul from body and move it along. The last frame of this small 4 panel sketch is what I am basing the final image on. The idea of them just walking away into the light as shaded models is a very calming although sombre, showing that the dog has a companion to bring him along to his next journey in the afterlife.