If I directed a film

As someone who already directs, I tend to tell stories about self worth and learning to accept oneself for who they are. Most of my films deal with love, either finding it, or trying to overcome a past one. I have made films all over the spectrum however, from horror, to sci-fi, to inspirational, to psa. I don't really mind making any of them, it's all about taking a creative spin on them!

Flash Animation Artist statement and Mind Map

For our flash animation assignment, we wanted to look at what home was, and how we defined home. Our main idea based around the concept that home is not where you are, but where you feel like you are accepted. We also chose to tell this story using a theme of nature because we felt that it helped reinforce the idea that home is not based on a specific location or building, but in those who surrounded you. The idea of telling this story using a polar bear came from the simplicity of the color scheme needed to tell the story. A polar bear would provide a simple black and white character that could be manipulated easily. Since our idea revolved around feeling accepted, we decided that initially the polar bear should be an outcast for some reason. At first the idea of giving him a black spot came to mind, as it would give a big visual representation of why the other polar bears wouldn’t accept him, while the pandas would. In the end, we decided to make him chubby. It was a more subtle way that would lead to the end result we were looking for while allowing us to make more statements on the question of what home is. We felt that having him first try and draw on his spots would show how home is a place where you are accepted for truly being yourself, and how trying to force yourself to fit in does not help. The scene with the bird was added into the piece to try and show how when looking for a place to belong and call home, we have a tendency to try and latch onto anyone or anything. It showed our desire to have someone to care for us. It also provided a nice example of how you can be liked by others without being truly accepted or really feeling that you belong with them. This is why the chubby polar bear ends up being happy when he first meets the bird, but the bird still flies away. The bird is fine with the polar bear, but has his own place to call home. Another way to put it is that even if you are accepted for who you are, there is a kind of mysterious factor that goes into being able to call a place home. Even though the bird is accepted by the polar bear, it is not considered his home. We started and ended our project with the polar bear appearing to be lazy because we thought it was a cute and somewhat humorous way to provide an example of being accepted. There were some issues in making the polar bear chubby enough to stand out, which is something we would try and further work on if given more time or if given the opportunity to reconceptualize this particular piece. Overall, we felt the various ideas and the overall meaning of our piece was maintained throughout and we are excited about the end result.

Ethics

When thinking about what is ethical in our culture vs others, we have to first examine what we as american decide is ethical. We tend to give a lot of freedom when it comes to how content is used and how it is displayed to us. Terms and Conditions when on a website are written so elaborately and subtly, that we are never meant to understand them. Ethics have also become more loose when you look at places like the movie industry. Very few things are now considered taboo for movies. Our money centered system lead to this. When money becomes a priority, ethics gets thrown out the window very frequently.

What type of creative am I?

Today we discussed different types of creativity. These models are brilliant creativity, personally creative, and creative unqualifiedly. Brilliant creativity are people who express unusual thoughts, personally creative people experience the world in novel and original ways. Creative unqualifiedly people are those who effect change in their culture because of their creativity.

I feel that I fall into the personally creative category. I see the world in a unique way that gives me a way to interpret and create art. Just throughout my day I often find myself looking at everything as strange symbolic acts, even when they often are not.


With this, we were given an activity to make something out of a basic shape. I made a little fox out of it.

Thoughts and Reactions: Cat Soup

1. What is this movie about.

In a literal sense, this movie is about a young cat and his sister who go on an adventure through a very strange world. They go to a circus and end up in an endless sea for a while, and to a strange desert. In a less literal sense, I interpreted this film to be about a young boy coping with the loss of his sister. As he is traveling on this adventure through this strange world, he is searching for half of his sisters soul to try and bring her back. He is able to interact in such a way because he had a near death experience (drowning) at the beginning of the film but was brought back. The movie also alludes to some of the major sins at times, which the younger cat commits in an attempt to bring back his sister from the dead.

2. What are 3 creative strategies you can pull from this film?

This film did a great job in it's execution of visuals and manipulating visual symbols. A good example is during the circus when the wizard turns words into the things they say during the circus. I think the transition between the more common symbol into the thing it actually represents is an interesting way to interpret.

I also enjoyed the design of their transitions through different scenes. I felt like they made them seamless while transitioning between very different areas. It helps with my creative process as it allows me to explore more ideas and search for a more creative way to get between them.

Finally, I thought they did a good job of using objects and actions to symbolize how people were feeling within the family. When the boy first drowns, it is somewhat unclear what actually happens there, but the lacking response of the mother when he runs up to her implies he is not actually there. Also, I interpreted the family turning into alcohol as a symbol of their coping mechanism when dealing with the deaths of the children.

3. General Reactions

I personally loved this film. I thought it gave a lot of good ideas in a very abstract form. I thought it was also a great example of how to tell a story visually as opposed to just using dialogue. The dialogue was only used when required to move the story along. I also liked the amount that was left up to interpretation, as I felt it gave the audience more of a chance to relate to the film.

Cat Soup Instructions

1.What is the animation about?
2. Name 3 Creative Strategies you can pull from the film
3. Your general Reactions to the film

Animation Mind Map

Shape Tween Test

Spiderman Test Animation