FMP: Week 10

Editing my final outcome (in the process):

I focused on a jump-cut editing technique to emphasise the idea of the discontinuous mind of the Jester. I started the film as the main character wakes up and then we can observe how his ordinary day goes. He spends most of the time just laying in the bad and thinking. At that point, I decided to change the name of the animation to "Labyrinths on my mind". First of all, it is the lyrics in the song. Secondly, it will give a viewer, who does not know Russian, an understanding of what is going on.

'Glow and Grow' feedback:

Beth, my classmate, asked me a really good question about my animation: "How does the Jester symbolise dissociation? Just the way he looks crazy?". I told her that I want to create a feeling of derealisation and focused only on his appearance (his deformation). After this question, I re-think and re-evaluate my whole project. I, actually, have to focus more on his vision of the world rather than vision on his outer reactions. If I show him as a crazy creature, I will reinforce the stigma of mental health. Therefore, I intend to create Jester's sense of his life, showing how he spends his day and how he suffers and struggles during it. I will show deformation, but only at the end of the animation to make these feelings intense.

That is why I decided to mix his "normal" behaviour with strange uncanny things in the animation.

Finishing with editing:

For the final outcome I decided to make it in black and white. I think it emphasises the rustiness and makes the animation more holistic.

Final version of the project statement:

For my project “Labyrinths in my mind” I am injured by a stop-motion uncanny clay animation about a jester, which forms are going to be deformed and changeable. Through this, I want to convey the feeling of anxiety and lostness. I see my character as vulnerable, which makes him unstable. His form deformation will reflect this idea. He tries to ignore his own personality and feelings, because feels deeply and through painful experiences discovers the world. It is a gift and a curse at the same time. A lot of going on inside his head. His mind is so intense that he cannot control his life anymore. Through this character I try to discover the topic of metal health issues and acceptance of emotions.

Exhibition plan:

I want this animation to be presented on the projector.

Project Evaluation:

My animation is about the disconnection between a body/physicality and mind. In general, my purpose was to show the inner experiences and states during a psychological crisis on the example of my character, exploring the topic of mental health and the importance of accepting the feelings.

My project is an uncanny stop-motion clay animation. My character is extremely sensitive and unstable, so I decided to show this concept through his constant deformation of forms. As for uncanny, the Collins Dictionary Definition most coincides with my vision of this word, which is "If you describe something as uncanny, you mean that it is strange and difficult to explain". This is exactly what I wanted to convey, the inexplicability and strangeness of feelings, a sense of derealization. I see my character as open to the world, vulnarable, which makes him unstable. He constitutes just as a reflective object, ignoring his own personality. He feels deeply and through painful experiences discovers the world. It is a gift and a curse at the same time.

To develop my idea, I have done a significant amount of artists research. Fundamental to my project were the animators Jan Schwankmaer, Colin Raff and the brothers Quay. Their subtle philosophically directed thought in rather rough execution, surrealism and interest in the ideas of metamorphoses influenced my animation enormously. Their work inspired me to rustic, negligent style and experimental form of the implement.

While working on the project, I definitely improved my concept development skills, which is an important component for my pathway. I have gained knowledge of working with information retrieval and using it to reinforce creative ideas, which is clearly seen in stages of the development of my idea.

The element of theme research has become for me a new essential filling for my understanding of the creative process. Creative activity has acquired a meaningful aspect for me. However, the technical part of my project was frustrating. I felt the lack of professional skills to implement better work performance. Editing requires special attention and studying, even though I have attended Wayan's workshop, and, of course, there is a room for improvement in artistic mastery.

If I continued to work on this animation, I would like to experiment with adding special effects. This would add an element of mysticism to the cartoon and emphasize the atmosphere around the character. At this stage, the work seems insipid, despite the interesting topic. Overall, I rate the final work as unsatisfacted, but I'm proud of the concept development and the primary and secondary researches. Final Outcome turned out mediocre.

Reference list:

- David Pendeltom. (2012, Dec 8). Jan Svankmajer: Conspirator of Pleasure. Harvard Film Archive.

Retrieved from: https://harvardfilmarchive.org/programs/jan-svankmajer-conspirator-of-pleasure

-The Cinema Cartography. (2015, May 28). Breaking The Rules – The French New Wave. [YouTube Video]

Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0R7R0JHvvgo&feature=emb_title