IVN Eshaa Dina Darsheeni 0358298

Illustration And Visual Narrative | Task 1: Vormator Challange

- October 04, 2023

4/10/2023 | Week 2 - Week 5

Eshaa Dina Darsheeni | 0358298 | Section 4

Illustration and Visual Narrative | Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media

Task 1: Exercise 1 (Vormator Challenge)

Lectures

Stylized Design

There are three types of stylized design

1. Iconic
2. Simplicity
3. Unique

Shapes

• Shapes design a character's silhouette to identify a character from one another
• And add weight to their personality and character

Colour

• Colour can be used to establish the basic roles of the characters by determining and separating the
  basic characteristics of heroes, villains and even background characters.
• Colour can even determine psychology by giving out impressions of different emotions.

Emphasis & Contrast

• These principles are used for exaggeration to memorate
• Colours and shapes are often emphasized and contrasted in a good character design to make them stand out 

Harmony

• Every element (shapes, colours, motifs, patterns) in the design should complement each other
• Visual hierarchy and how it reflects the narrative of the characters

Expression & Posses

• Clear visualization expressions (behaviours, quirks, personalities) are important for easier visual appeal to viewers

Chiaroscuro

What is chiaroscuro?

•   The use of light and dark creates the illusion of three-dimensional volume on a          flat surface.
•   Tonal contrast
• 
  

The purpose of chiaroscuro:

• To increase the scene's dramatic tension by exaggerating the subject's importance using colour or light contrast.
• To create a sensational effect that helps elevate fantastical viewpoints to emphasise the narrative.
• To attract attention by establishing visual hierarchy, the main point of a scene.
• To make the tasteful composition when negative spaces and positive spaces are used to create attractive scenes

Composition 1: Visual Types and Shots

- In design, composition refers to the way you arrange the elements in your visual.

- Photography involves deliberate choices regarding the content of the image, with the photographer deciding what to include and what to exclude in each shot.

- Arranging elements is a manner that effectively conveys meaning and is the key to successful composition. This may involve organizing visual elements like colours, shapes and objects to communicate a specific message or idea.

fig 1.5 The Grand Budapest Hotel

Basic Composition Visual Rules

~ Visual should capture these rules on...

1. Visual Narrative--- Visual elements in a scene are effectively enhancing and supporting various elements of the narrative, making the storytelling more effective and engaging.

2. Visual Flow--- A scene in which visual elements are organized in such a way that they guide the viewer's gaze or focus in a deliberate and clear manner.

3. Visual Balance--- The arrangement of visual elements within a scene is done is such a way as to create a balanced composition. 

4. Visual Hierarchy--- The organization or placement of visual elements is designed in designed to influence the viewer's perception by drawing their attention to specific details or areas first

Different Types Of Shots

~ Establishing 

   - The role of wide shots in filmmaking, is to give the audience a broad view of the setting, including its grandeur, while still ensuring that the audience can follow the storyline or actions taking place in that setting.

fig 1.6 The Wizard Of Oz

~ Bird's Eyeview

   - In cinematography overhead shot is commonly used to provide a unique perspective on a scene or subject, often offering a bird's eye view or an aerial view of the action. This technique can be used to capture interesting visuals or highlight spatial relationships within a scene.

fig 1.7 The Avengers

~ Frame Within A Frame 

   - The importance of carefully composing shots in cinematography by using frames within frames to achieve these desired effects in screen space, depth, and visual interest.

fig 1.8 Mulan

~ Medium Shot

   - A specific camera shot technique used in filmmaking that frames a character by capturing approximately three-quarters of their body, and it is described as being between a close-up and a long shot in terms of the amount of detail and context it provides.

fig 1.9 Titanic

~ Close up

   - A technique used in filmmaking to show an intimate and detailed view of a character or object. It is an opportunity to delve into the character's emotions and thoughts. Such shots enable the audience to "catch" or perceive the emotions of the character more clearly, and the audience can become emotionally invested in the characters. This investment in the characters' well-being is established early in the scene.

fig 1.10 Get Out

~ Worm's Eye View

   - The close-up shot is used to capture an intimate or personal moment. It allows the audience to gain insight into a character's thoughts and emotions and it helps us to be emotionally engaged to the character or the scene. It helps to set the stage for emotional engagement and investment in the characters' fates as the scene continues.

fig 2.0 The Avengers: Age of Ultron

Composition Theory 2: Perspective 

- It involves the skill of creating images or representations that convey a sense of the objects' "height, width, depth, and position in relation to each other." In other words, it's about creating two-dimensional images that accurately depict the spatial relationships and visual characteristics of three-dimensional objects.

- This concept is often associated with drawing, painting, or other visual arts where artists need to convey the illusion of depth and spatial relationships on a flat canvas or surface. It refers to the techniques and principles used to make objects appear realistic and three-dimensional when they are actually on a flat plane.

Construct Perspectives

- Visuals should capture these rules on...

   ~ One Point Perspective

    A situation or a perspective in which a single vanishing point is used to create guidelines or lines. This vanishing point is significant because it is where all objects in the scene appear to converge or recede, creating the illusion of depth and distance in a two-dimensional representation.

fig 2.1 

   ~ Two Point Perspective 

     In perspective drawing, vanishing points are points on the horizon line where parallel lines appear to converge or "vanish" into the distance. These vanishing points are crucial for creating a realistic sense of depth and dimension in artwork. Objects and buildings within a scene are drawn in such a way that they converge towards these vanishing points. This technique helps create a greater sense of space and dimension in the artwork. Placing two vanishing points on the horizon and establishing two sets of overlapping perspective lines fanning out from them can also create a network of lines that allow objects to recede toward two separate points. This is known as the two-point perspective. It is used to achieve more dynamic and complex views compared to the simpler one-point perspective, where all lines converge to a single vanishing point.

fig 2.2

   ~ Three Point Perspective

     Traditional two-point perspective involves two vanishing points, typically one on each side of the horizon line, which is used to create depth and three-dimensionality in a drawing. It introduces the idea of adding a third vanishing point, which can be located either above or below the horizon line. Adding a third vanishing point can also enhance the artistic impact by creating a dramatic effect, emphasizing scale, or allowing for the inclusion of more objects within a single scene. It can also provide a wider range of perspective angles. This can be particularly useful when depicting urban scenes, as it allows viewers to perceive the space from a "looking down" perspective, potentially revealing more details of a city.

fig 2.3

   ~ Isometric Grid

     When it comes to creating a more detailed concept of individual buildings, it's more beneficial to use a simple isometric view.

fig 2.4

Dynamic Application

- Perspective is a valuable and versatile tool that can enhance the quality of illustrations or scenes. When applying perspective, there is no strict requirement to follow rigid or boring rules. In other words, while perspective is important, we can have some flexibility in how we apply it and don't have to adhere strictly to a specific method. This allows for creative interpretation and adaptation of perspective to suit the needs of the artwork.

[TUTORIALS]

Tutorial 1

Bezier game

We were provided a link to The Bézier Game, a website that essentially functions as a game to assist you become proficient with the pen tool, as part of this activity. It provides a range of drawing exercises that advance from sketching straight lines to creating simple objects like circles and so forth.

                                                                   https://bezier.method.ac/

• Shift key: Constrains the angle of the path you're drawing to either 45-degree increments or a perfect vertical or horizontal line, making it easier to create straight lines or perfect angles. 

• Alt key: Allows you to toggle between creating corner and smooth anchor points, convert between different anchor point types, and independently adjust direction handles for precise path control.

                         

                                    Outlining a car using 12 nodes

                                                            Outlining a car using 10 nodes

Tutorial 2

Light and Shadows

For this exercise we were required to use a new tool called :

• Pencil tool (shortcut= n)
• Pathfinder tool (divide)
• Knife tool

This was the photo given to us which we had to use the tools on

Then i had to use the pen tool to create the sillhouette of the pear

Then i outlined the pear and shaped the light and shadows

Then i used the knife tool to slice the pear into four different pieces

For the next skull i had to use a picture of this skull-

Tutorial 3

Blending Modes & Clipping Path

Silhoutte

For this task i had to trace out a mans silhouette and replace the shadows into images with patterns. Then i had to use the clipping mask to replace the dark shadows.

Task 1 

 Exercise 1: Vormator Challenge

Task 1 (20%) - Individual: Exercises
The first task will be exercises that aid and benefit me in gaining theoretical and practical knowledge in illustration and visual narrative to inform and provide me with the necessary experience to take on this module.

Submission
Daily in-class technical exercises

Vormator Challenge character

Game card design

Learning goals

• Generate and communicate design concepts and solutions through manual and digital skills effectively and skillfully.
• Use creative thinking skills and methodologies to explore, generate and test a wide range of conceptual ideas.
• Use information and communication technology to source navigate, select, retrieve and manage information.

In this exercise, we are given a set of shapes and with these shapes, we are challenged to create our own unique design on Adobe Illustrator, within a strict set of rules.

Rules:

• Allowed to rotate, flip and duplicate the elements.
• Have to use all the elements.
• Scaling is allowed, but proportionally, so skewing or free transform.
• Can add, subtract, intersect and group elements as you see fit.
• The use of colour is unrestricted; you can create your own colour schemes (e.g. use Adobe Color).
• Allowed to use gradients.
• The elements may be filled, and the use of strokes is allowed.
• Allowed to use filters or effects (e.g. drop shadows).

First we had to trace the shapes we were going to use for our character

Then i created a character using the shapes i traced

I created a background for my character

FINAL

Task 2: 

The Decisive Moment 20% (individual)

Marking Criteria:

•  Interpret the scene into a minimalist poster design - 10%
•  Execution: Illustrated, composited, and animated with frames using suitable     technicalities - 10%

Timeframe:

• Week 4 - Week 8

I started by learning more about urban legends. I had a long time selecting because there were so many options, and they all seemed so intriguing. In the end, I went with the well-known urban legend known as the Slenderman.

RESEARCH

MOODBOARD

I began to loosely sketch up my ideas after compiling all the material and drawing inspiration from images I saw online.

SKETCHES

Then i proceeded to digitize my sketches using Adobe Illustrator. It was quite a challenge for me because it took a really long time to digitize each frame for the animation. First i started creating the silouette of the Slenderman so it would be easier to balance out the other elements.

After developing the design in Adobe Illustrator, I then exported it all into a stack in Adobe Photoshop. From there, I edited my work and made a timeline. I had done this in some other classes, so it was rather easy for me. I also had to return to Illustrator to make a few last-minute edits to my work.

Week 7: Progression- Gradient and Textures 

We learned about Gradient and Textures today, we were given 2 sets of pictures today and we had to turn the colours into gradients and textures. We only have to choose one among the others for the first set of pictures to play around. After Mr Hafiz showed us how to do it in Adobe Illustrator, I immediately started my work after class ended.

fig 2.7 First Set Of Picture

fig 2.8 Second Set Of Picture

After playing around with the gradient and making sure it's to my liking, this is my final work.

fig 2.9 First Set Of Picture With Gradient and Textured

fig 2.10 Second Set Of Picture With Gradient and Textured

After that, we had to use the Shaper Tool in Adobe Illustrator to draw out 3 triangle shapes and were free to play around with the colours, gradients and texture

This is my Final Work.

fig 1.0 3 Triangle With Colours, Gradients and Textures

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Digital Triptych - Exploring Scott McCloud's Transitions

For this assignment i decided to do my artwork inspired by my previous assignment which was The Slenderman.

REFLECTION

Since this was my first time using both the programme and all of these capabilities in Adobe Illustrator, I found this module to be a little difficult. However, I also seized the chance to increase my knowledge and abilities because I knew it would be useful for my future profession. The conceptual portion of this module is more difficult than the actual artwork; it guides me in discovering my own special method of visual storytelling. I was also able to refine my creative abilities and create a style that is unique to me with this module.

Positive criticism from my friends and lecturer, Mr. Hafiz, was also very important to my development. It gave me insightful feedback on my work and assisted me in identifying areas for growth.

It was really challenging to work on the urban legend project, which was our second duty. I now have a great deal of respect for the animation producers in the industry since it helped me realise that this is how they come up with animations. I have a lot of questions in week 8 that I am unable to get the solutions to because of independent learning week. My mother gives me guidance on what areas I should concentrate on developing and is a huge help with my effort.