The first five weeks of the class were conducted online and the teachers introduced us to many talented and unique artists. I created a document on my computer to record the names of these artists and the works that interested me, and write down my thoughts about them. I think this will be very helpful for me in the future, for example, when I am looking for inspiration. Moreover,  It is also good for reference when I want to conduct artist research later.

I found the five-week course very helpful. Although it was an online course, we still had the opportunity to learn and understand more artists and many interesting works. I was always looking forward to the animations the teacher showed to us in class because some are really interesting and inspire me to create. I think knowing these talented people will help us to know how to improve and understand that there is no limit to art, as long as we have imagination and creativity, it is all art.

We were asked to work in teams of two for this project. My teammate Amber Liu and I decided to draw a 2D animation. The software we used was FlipaClip, which was easy to use and convenient, and we had both used it before, which saved us a lot of time in learning how to use it. The Point of View theme is quite general, therefore we were given a lot of room for imagination and creativity. This is in fact one of the difficulties we encountered, because there is no clear topic regulations, that we were unable to decide on our final idea. It took us a lot time on discussion, planning and brainstorming before we were able to settle on a theme.

Storyboard

Since we had a 30-second time limit, we avoided adding too many details and ideas while drawing the storyboard that will make us exceed the time limits.

I used to draw the storyboard in black and white, but this time we chose to add colors to it. I think was easier to refer back when I need it, and it’s also very clear to see the difference in color because color is a very important part of our story.

Glasses Design

The 3D glasses were an important element in our animation. Because it symbolised the medium that our characters used to see the world and to show their point of view. Therefore we have several designs for the glasses and the final one we choose was the cartoon-style glasses that have only one side of the holder. The reason for this was that we think that our characters are origami which means they are flat, therefore having only one side makes the scene looks more reasonable.

Colors

The color we choose is red and blue because it was the classic color for the 3D glasses, however, we decided to make them into a more pastel color that looks cuter and warmer, which can deliver a more positive feeling to the audience. For the purple, the reason we choose this color was because the color blue plus red is purple. And purple usually has the meaning of wisdom and creativity which were also the concepts that we want to deliver through this animation.

Character Design

I think the character design part was interesting because we were both able to design characters that represented ourselves. We wanted to emphasize that each person is unique, so we came up with the idea of designing our own characters. We hope there will be some elements they got in common and later on, we came out with the idea that they were both origami. We are art students, paper is indispensable to us, it gives us space to create and express ourselves, this interpretation gives another layer of meaning to these two characters that are made out of paper.

We also added unique decorations on them to emphasise the colors they represent so that the audience can understand the story easily.

Reference and Inspiration for Characters

Characters’ View

Those the views that we design for our characters. For the squirrel, she loves nature and city, therefore I created view based on this combination of both ideas. For the cat, we decided that he loves ocean and space, therefore my teammate also designed this view for him. For the last part of the story, where two world combined together, my teammate used elements from both of our view and recreate a new one. This represent the idea of how their point of view has changed and create a new and better view. This view has color fill in, to emphasise the idea that it is different than the two before. However, the elements of nature, city, ocean and space also represent the idea that although we are all lived on the same planet, but how we seen this world is totally different because of the impacts from our living environment, personalities and other elements.

Reference and Inspiration for the View

Music

To create our music, my partner and I decided to use Garage Band software to make because we both have a bit of experience before. We first wanted to use violins and cellos but it was not really suitable for our animation. Therefore later we went for whirly piano and drums can create a sound that is more delightful and happy. However, after the screening feedback section, we had before the submission, the teacher suggest we change the music because the music we had at that time made our animation sounds like a cartoon show or advertisement. Therefore I guess the reason why it may feel that way was that there were no big changes in music in between, therefore we decided to add the electric guitar to highlight the fight scene in between and make the animation became more vivid. 

This process was interesting and I was thankful for the effort that my teammate Amber put in for this music. Because we are both not music professionals, she really spent a lot of time on our music and changed accordingly while we have changes in our animation. 

This process really trained me to start and think of creating our own music. Because in the future we will need to create that every time when we have new work. We can not use the music from others, because there will be copy right. Therefore learning how to make music that can be suitable for my work is important. 

Editing

Once the music and animation were completed, the last part was to combine them together and do the editing. The software that we chose to use is Cap cut, which is a relatively convenient software that can be used on both phones and computers, therefore it is more convenient for us to transfer information and files between different devices.
After we combined both animations, the time exceeded 30 seconds. To solve this we used some of the functions in the Cap cut such as speeding up to make some of the movements smoother. For example, the jumping part I drew, after speeding up looked more reasonable. We also added some special effects to make the whole animation looks richer.
Although I know I will learn more professional software in the future, I think this kind of easy-to-use software is good for me to practice or use in my leisure time, and it can still help me practice my editing skills.

Keyframes

I am personally very satisfied with this work because these key frames show that we have finished the plot we planned on the storyboard. Although some parts were deleted due to time constraints, the overall story direction has not been changed.

Final Outcome – Periwinkle-d

Our Story

The red and blue lines represent the viewpoints of the cat and the squirrel, they have their own perspective on the world, which is the scene that they saw when they put their glasses on. The cat likes space and the sea, while the squirrel loves nature and the city. In fact, this also represents that everyone has different preferences and views, and although we all live in the same world, we are concerned about different things. In the subsequent story, they collided together and found that each other’s ideas and their own do not match. In order to defend their own ideas, to prove that they are right, they fought. However after a rapprochement, that is, after the breaking of glasses in our animation, their worlds merged together again. This also shows that their point of view has changed, but also accepted each other’s ideas. Therefore we emphasize the difference in the scene at the end with the color purple. They were both surprised, but both accepted each other and chose to see this new world together. We left a space at the end of the story so that the audience could imagine the rest of the plot.

Moral Behind Our Story

From this story, we wanted to show the audience that everyone’s point of view is worth listening to and respecting. As your worldview is gradually opened up through experience and exposure, you will find new and perhaps more surprising things that might change your life.

Overall Conclusion

Overall, I really enjoyed the project and I was lucky to be teamed up with Amber, who is a very responsible and talented team member. Through this project, I learned how to narrow down the topic to a specific theme that we want to do. I am also delighted to have completed this project, and for myself, it successfully conveyed what we wanted to say. Perhaps the downside is that if we had more time, we could have made the story clearer. For example, the part in the middle that shows the viewpoints of the two characters, I think that part goes by too fast and it’s a little hard to see the details that we have drawn on the two views. The current version, if it’s a first-time viewer, might not get the message we’re trying to convey, and that’s something we need to reflect on and change.

The project was interesting in that we had to find an answer to the question “Why is this place called Elephant and Castle” and express it in an artistic way. I was excited to hear about this theme because when I first came to this place I was also curious about this. The name has no particular connection to the idea of elephants or castles. Therefore I understood that this would be an activity that would stimulate imagination and creativity, and I believe that through this activity I would get to know the place better and see it from a different perspective.

Working Progress

The first step to start this project was to team up with six people and then brainstormed. Each of us had different ideas, and that’s what I think makes this kind of activity meaningful, through communication and discussion we may come up with better and more thoughtful works. I also think our group members are very creative and all their ideas are interesting.
My idea was to make a sculpture, either out of clay or cardboard. Because I enjoyed doing arts and crafts, I like this kind of work. I think this will show the different ideas of each person and show the creativity of each person.

But after discussion, we decided to go out and interview people and ask them what they thought about the name “Elephant and castle”. We believe that games like board games or card games can enhance the relationship between people. This is exactly what we hope to convey, and we hope to pass on these stories about Elephant and Castle to more people.

Interview

The second part of what we did was we went out and conducted interviews. We went around the college looking for strangers to interview. I thought this was good training because I’m a bit afraid of communicating with strangers. However, with the company of the group gave me more courage to talk to people. Interestingly, I found that everyone had a different understanding of the subject. The most impressive thing I remembered was that two strangers told the same story about the king and princess of Spain at different times. I don’t know the reason behind this, but the coincidence was really memorable. After interviewing some passersby, we decided to interview some teachers and students in the school, and they gave us many creative stories.

Card Making

To design the product for our projects, we decided to choose 13 stories that attracted us the most. The reason for this is that the full set of poker cards is 52 cards with 13 different numbers. Therefore to achieve the idea of playing cards, 13 stories suit the best. With these 13 stories, each of us will take a few of them and draw them out in our own interpretation. It was a

To design the label of the playing cards, we decided to design them individually and share them with other group membered. The one we choose at the end of my design. I tried to make it simple but directly lead to the point of “Elephant”. The outline design of the card was coming from another group mate. She designed it based on the idea of “castle” I think it was really creative and fits our theme really well.

I think the way we discussed the design was effective because it gave everyone’s ideas a chance to be seen and everyone could explain their work, which not only allowed the person’s ideas to be better understood but also gave other group members the possibility to be inspired and coming up with new ideas.

Final Outcome

The following image was the cards I drew. The story that I got was about the Spanish king, the Spanish princess, and how a princess and an elephant are friends. I decided to include my own interpretation of the story that those people told. I tried a new style of drawing for those three cards, and I think I am quite satisfied with the result. The challenging part for that three-story is the Spanish king and princess because I need to include some Spanish elements, it took me time to do research and ensure that the elements I put in are relevant.

These are the final products that include all the cards that we made. It was an amaze when I see them put together. Each of us has our own style which implicated the idea that each of the stories is unique. Especially some of them includes color and some did not, this gave the final look variety and make it looks interesting.

To make our work more impressive, we also designed the back of the card. After the cards turn around, they will become like a puzzle that created the image of an elephant. And the Ace card will show the image of the castle. This helped to reinforce the theme and makes our work more attractive.

Final Outcome

To present our work, we videoed our cards and also the flipping process and added in the music, video, and also audio of the interviews. The reason that we did this process is to make this piece of work more complete and can effectively share with others in the class.

Overall, I think it was a valuable and memorable project that really helped my learning journey. Firstly working in a group, therefore it helped to improve my team working skills and how to communicate my idea with my group mate and decided on the final decision through discussion. Secondly, I really liked our final product, I think it was interesting and it did deliver the concepts we wanted to convey. We showed the possibility of art and how creativity has this much variety and also showed how everyone has the ability to imagine and created an interesting story.

For this activity, we were asked to draw the appearance in front of us in five minutes. I was sitting at my desk at the time, therefore I chose to draw this image from the first-person perspective.

I think the interesting part about this activity is that although it is the environment I live in every day, I haven’t seen everything as closely as I did in these five minutes. This kind of exercise helped me to practice my observation and drawing speed, and to sketch the basic appearance of these objects in a short period of time.

In fact, I used to be unconcerned about observational drawing, I thought it was just a matter of drawing from things, and the improvement that this kind of exercise can give me is very limited. Throughout this term, after doing several observational drawings on scenes, people, or simple activities like this, I realised that my ability to capture shapes and forms had really improved, which I could not achieve by drawing from photos. I think it is very interesting. Not only did it help me with my art, but I was able to appreciate and be thankful for the little details around me that I hadn’t noticed before, which added more surprises to my life.

The numbers on the clock made me panic and I couldn’t help but pick up my pace as I saw the bus was about to leave. I thought I could make it, but I saw that the last person was about to get on the bus, and in an instant, I realized this might not be possible.
Am I about to give up, I saw that the last person did not get on, but kept looking back at me. This is when I felt the kindness from this stranger, and it was this bit of kindness that allowed me to catch up with the car.
She didn’t say much, but I still gave back a smile and a
“Thank you.”

This small exercise that we did in class required us to write a short 5 lines story within 6 minutes. I think it was an interesting activity to do because instead of doing drawings like we usually do, we have this opportunity to do some creative writing. I think the challenging part of this exercise is how you can create a story with all the ideas you want to express within these 5 lines. It was a bit difficult for me, but I really enjoyed it, because I usually do creative writing such as writing novels during my free time. Therefore an activity like this gave me a chance to express my creativity through the medium of words instead of shapes and colours.

The topic that I choose from the five choices was”The kindness of a stranger”. The reason I choose to do this topic is that when I first saw this theme, I suddenly recalled all the memories of the kindness that I have been given by strangers. It was a warm and surprising feeling. Therefore I decided to go for the real thing that happened to me recently which was a girl seeing me chasing the bus, and decided to hold the bus for me. It was a small thing, but that did make my day feel better. Therefore this topic really makes me reflect on how a small kindness make shown a big impact on others’ feelings, which reminded me that in the future I should give more help to others even if they are strangers.

For this exercise, we were asked to leave the room and go outside to draw our own map. I chose to go across the street to a church near my dorm. I’ve lived in this dorm since last year and this church is like a kind of homecoming landmark for me. Although the dorm is not my real home, when one is far away from home and has a place to make oneself comfortable, I defined it as home. Therefore, whenever I pass by or see this church, I feel a sense of relaxation and I love having it near where I live, it’s special and different from when I was in Asia. I also put the street view in my picture because I like this street; it has a small-town-like feeling and makes me feel new.

Through this exercise, I have learned more about my surroundings and can really see what attracts my attention. By standing in one place and drawing, I discovered details that I had never noticed before, noticing the interactions of passersby or the movements of small animals beside the road. It was all interesting to me, and I learned the importance of observational drawing.

For this exercise, we went out to the gallery in a group, we looked at different artworks to find an artist and artwork that utilised objects and collections as a piece of artwork. I think this was a valuable experience because Tate Modern is an art gallery that includes a lot of different genres of work. I feel like by looking at others’ work, I will be able to get inspired by those marvelous artworks and really use the inspiration in my own work.

Below is some artwork that we thought will be related to the project, but we did not use it at the end, I think it will still be worth recording it in case in the future we need them as reference.

Life of Imitation – Ming Wong and Tseng Kwong Chi

At the end of the gallery visit, we decided on the artist that our group was going to do for the presentation which was Life of Imitation by Ming Wong and Tseng Kwong Chi. Other than these four paintings, there was also a short film acted by Ming Wong show in a form of a split screen. This was an interesting way to show this artwork because this film used actors from different races, to show the same plot and characters. Therefore using the split screen can make this message even more obvious and the make it became more powerful.

I find a strong connection with this art piece because I lived in Singapore for 8 years, and I noticed that this is a country that has a combination of 3 different races. It was a refreshing thing to notice and I was surprised by the diversity when I first went to Singapore. Therefore after further researching and understood about this artwork and its artist, I know more about the negative side of this situation, where the problem of discrimination and prejudice on race, gender and identity are still happening around us and its still the topic that we need to improve and work on.

Through the reenactments of classic movies, the audience can empathize with the characters more. I understood the concept of “race” that the artist wanted to convey through the constantly changing cast. I didn’t know it was about Singapore at first, but when I guessed the culture that the actors might be originated through their appearance, it suddenly connected with the experience I had in Singapore and I became more involved in the work. However, my reaction was also a presentation of stereotypes that although they were from different races, they could all be called Singaporeans and no one should be treated differently. I feel very strongly about this work, and I’m glad to see something so close to me in the UK, which is so far away from Singapore. It not only conveys the international issues that we need to focus on now, but it also shows the unique ethnic culture of Singapore.

The following informations are the research I did for this artist and artwork, we have a presentation together as a group to introduce this artwork to the class.

Ming Wong is a Singaporean artist who was born in 1971 and worked in Berlin. He specializes in exploring a person’s identity through film and today’s pop culture, or themes that are related to identities such as culture and race, and delivering different meanings through his reenactments of the classic.  

The reenactments of Wong’s Life of Imitation come from Douglas Sirk’s 1959 remake of the classic film “Imitation of Life. It is a story that delivered issues such as class, culture, and gender. Wong’s piece features a scene that shows a conflict between a black mother who visits her daughter, who has a near-white complexion, and who also sees herself as white. The theme of this work continues to revolve around the dilemma of multiraciality and gender and their impacts on identity. 

This is also the theme that Wong emphasized in this work which is racial Passing. Passing in the context of identity occurs when people of one race are identified by people of another race. This was relatively common in the past, for instance when the black race assimilated itself into the white majority to escape the social injustice and discrimination faced by the black community at that time.

His works are diverse, and he uses painting, video, photography, and installation elements to convey the message he wants to bring to the audience.

By reinterpreting classic films, the work releases the emotions caused by these issues. In this work, the three men are played by the three main cultural groups in Singapore, Malay, Chinese, and Indians, and this unexpected choice brings a strong sense of contrast to the audience.

This was the first activity we did. We were asked to find twenty items that did not belong to us but shared a connection in between and then arranged them into a story.  I hope to show a fantasy adventure story through my twenty pictures. Therefore I decided to find to object while I was walking around the city. I did not focusing on only objects instead I decided of look at them as a scene, imagined that what will be its jobs and position if it is really a scene inside my story.

I expect there will be a lot of different characters in this story, just like the different kinds of people we meet in our lives, they show an impact on our thoughts, actions, and others, I think an important part of the journey is interaction with others. Therefore I choose a lot of objects with character elements as the people that are behind and help the main character’s growth.

Moreover, I choose a lot of images with obvious and unique designs, such as the pink store and the beautiful illustration outside the door of a store. I think those are light the highlight of this journey, they are significant, and they are meant to be remembered by the characters, like the major events that the protagonist is facing in those non-fiction stories.

Overall although the connections between my images are not obvious by just looking at them, I think it does present what I want to deliver. If I would like to make it into an animation, I would need a more defined storyboard, music, and character design. This exercise really helped me to find inspiration through daily life and create a story with the objects or images I have.