Character class continuation! This time we go to the sub protagonist. Now, this is not the sidekick we mentioned earlier, this character needs to have some form of bond to the main character. They need to somehow put the protagonist above themselves. Think of Harley Quinn and the Joker, although they are not the protagonists in any sense of the word. Yet it shows a lively, non stereotypical and in some ways ideal portrait of such a relationship. Sick in some ways sure, but it works in quite a few ways.
I want the sub protagonist to be less noisy and serious than most of his/her counterparts. They don't get along with others too well although they really try to pitch in whenever they can. They are hard workers, although like the sidekick, not too successful. It grants an element of comedic relief at times, but desperation is an emotion which really can be highlighted with this character. They can try to the point of desperation which they reveal their true intentions. Foolishly throwing themselves into action which is too dangerous for themselves.
I'd like to go with a female example this time.
Name - Nami Konikawa.
Class - Sub-protagonist.
Race - Human or at least humanish.
Traits - Knows her food, fast runner, energetic worker and easily annoyed/fooled.
Has grown up with the protagonist and has some bonding towards him. Nothing on the romantic scale, but considers him a brotherly figure. Ambitious, but has no real backing in the form of talents. She tends to do stuff without thinking it through. She is anything, but greedy. She does not like long term plans, her concept of scale is way simplified and she generally does not know how the world works. However, she cares deeply for her friends and especially for the main character whom she would die for. This would probably be her fate. She is not one for too long thoughts, but she will have one longer dialogue with the protagonist during all this were she questions just about everything. A heart-warming, kind and clumsy character that has no ill intentions.
This characters makes for a good filler for most of the movie, yet has her own highlight in her death, and I am not trying to develop a soap opera out of this, because the circumstances around her death shall be most complicated and will act as part of the highlight of the movie. Bottom line is that she is a very nice character, a nice person, yet has downturns that she herself knows of, but tries her best to work around.
onsdag 29. april 2009
mandag 27. april 2009
In war, there are no unwounded soldiers. - Jose Narosky
Right, we need to clear up a few things regarding the soldier class.
The soldiers are tough, they always have a loyalty to something or someone. It can be a nation, it can be for the greater good or for someone spesial, so in this case I will construct yet another scenario for the one who should be turned towards if things get ugly.
Name - Raksha oni
Class - Soldier
Race - Human
Traits - Brawling, fighting, shooting, navigating, rationing and intimidating.
Born into the governmental military and served there for over 15 years- Honorably discharged after his sister was taken prisoner by the government he was serving. Spent most of his life at various pubs after that and is ever so often caught in the occasional brawl. With his sister, his hopes for the future of mankind died, until he met the protagonist who needed some additional muscle too his group. He did not agree to join them until the second time they meet, where the protagonist said he used to work as a prison guard and knew that his sister was still alive. He then follows with complete loyalty. Later on it is revealed that the protagonist lied as his sister shown on video was violently beaten to death. This causes the soldier to turn against the protagonist which costs him his life. The soldier lives his last few seconds in great spite of the protagonist which the crowd would have sympathized with at first, but now would be faced with a quite dramatic moment.
The soldier is not smart. He may have intel on places he has worked, but he is never going to figure out anything out of the ordinary. It is a character who cannot really see things from other than his own first person perspective, this leads him to be easily fooled. A lone character in many ways, yet has no problem interacting with the other units. This character can easily be a bit of a hot head, which means that he will rush into situations if he simply is provoked enough to do so. An emotional character when it comes to the core, but aside from that he is fairly isolated. Has a sense of honor and pride which he will not easily let go.
It is important to give generic characters this extra sense of life. Add a few new dimensions too them, break a few rules if needed. However, despite of what character powers one chose to add, never forget that the real character is reflected in works and attitude. This soldier class character is one that would be able to star his own highlight and still remain fairly on the side during the story. It is a fine combination for a film since not all characters can be complete spotlight takers. They compete only in their own area, but the need for them all is great.
The soldiers are tough, they always have a loyalty to something or someone. It can be a nation, it can be for the greater good or for someone spesial, so in this case I will construct yet another scenario for the one who should be turned towards if things get ugly.
Name - Raksha oni
Class - Soldier
Race - Human
Traits - Brawling, fighting, shooting, navigating, rationing and intimidating.
Born into the governmental military and served there for over 15 years- Honorably discharged after his sister was taken prisoner by the government he was serving. Spent most of his life at various pubs after that and is ever so often caught in the occasional brawl. With his sister, his hopes for the future of mankind died, until he met the protagonist who needed some additional muscle too his group. He did not agree to join them until the second time they meet, where the protagonist said he used to work as a prison guard and knew that his sister was still alive. He then follows with complete loyalty. Later on it is revealed that the protagonist lied as his sister shown on video was violently beaten to death. This causes the soldier to turn against the protagonist which costs him his life. The soldier lives his last few seconds in great spite of the protagonist which the crowd would have sympathized with at first, but now would be faced with a quite dramatic moment.
The soldier is not smart. He may have intel on places he has worked, but he is never going to figure out anything out of the ordinary. It is a character who cannot really see things from other than his own first person perspective, this leads him to be easily fooled. A lone character in many ways, yet has no problem interacting with the other units. This character can easily be a bit of a hot head, which means that he will rush into situations if he simply is provoked enough to do so. An emotional character when it comes to the core, but aside from that he is fairly isolated. Has a sense of honor and pride which he will not easily let go.
It is important to give generic characters this extra sense of life. Add a few new dimensions too them, break a few rules if needed. However, despite of what character powers one chose to add, never forget that the real character is reflected in works and attitude. This soldier class character is one that would be able to star his own highlight and still remain fairly on the side during the story. It is a fine combination for a film since not all characters can be complete spotlight takers. They compete only in their own area, but the need for them all is great.
søndag 26. april 2009
Man: the glory, jest, and riddle of the world. - Alexander Pope
I want to go through some steps of character creation this time. Now, what is a character? For me, a character is like a package, the simple ones you just open up and see what's there. However the more advance packages may require you to remove the tape, it may also require even more work, multiple layers of steps you have to open in order to reveal. All of them revealing a bit more of the design and infrastructure. So the question remains, if you had opened a package which contained only innocent dolls, how would you react if the last layer was a false plate of wood and underneath that was a collection of highly powerful guns? Stuff like this occurs all the time, so among the hundreds of predictable characters, there are a few ones which really surprise you, sometimes at the worst moment possible.
Introducing the character class - Follower.
The follower is someone who is loyal, who does what he is told without any questions. Who would give up his/her life for the protagonist if there was no other way. Their agenda tends to be slightly weaker than other character classes seeing that they have a strong bond towards the protagonist. They are capable in their own field, but are not as effective as the protagonist overall.
This is a pretty bland description, and despite the guidelines, nothing is keeping you from experimenting. Here, allow me to demonstrate.
Character - Sly Fawks.
Class - Follower
Race - Human
Traits - Hacker, lockpicker, information trader under the cover of being a merchant.
Story - Has recently meet the protagonist and agreed to work for him/her. The only side not is that if some additional profit was possible to come across, then it would be up for grabs. Helps the character reaching places he otherwise could not reach. Develops a tie that goes beyond the pay factor. That aside, for other life forms he/she shows little respect for as they link into a bad past experience. Personal conflicts also stand in the way of doing things just like the protagonist wants, so at some times it just passes the just acceptable area.
Relationships - Has a strong bonding towards the main character, yet finds himself constantly clashing horns towards another character. This eventually expands towards a level were trust is hard to achieve. Despite a few highlights, most goes downhill because the two characters cannot co-exist well as long as they work together on something.
So, now we got something a bit less stereotypical. With this character, we are free to develop plot ties which all creates a more first person experience. Their agenda does not have to be perfect, nor does their reasoning. They can be caught in the moment and foolishly relying on their own advice. They also can downright fail the protagonist. However, they are not wholehearted betrayers. They want to do their job and do so well. They also understand the concept that there are greater things at work and in order to achieve those very unlikely scenarios, they have to bottleneck whatever personal pressure they have, this can lead to as far as the point of insanity, which would be a perfect plot filler for your average follower.
Introducing the character class - Follower.
The follower is someone who is loyal, who does what he is told without any questions. Who would give up his/her life for the protagonist if there was no other way. Their agenda tends to be slightly weaker than other character classes seeing that they have a strong bond towards the protagonist. They are capable in their own field, but are not as effective as the protagonist overall.
This is a pretty bland description, and despite the guidelines, nothing is keeping you from experimenting. Here, allow me to demonstrate.
Character - Sly Fawks.
Class - Follower
Race - Human
Traits - Hacker, lockpicker, information trader under the cover of being a merchant.
Story - Has recently meet the protagonist and agreed to work for him/her. The only side not is that if some additional profit was possible to come across, then it would be up for grabs. Helps the character reaching places he otherwise could not reach. Develops a tie that goes beyond the pay factor. That aside, for other life forms he/she shows little respect for as they link into a bad past experience. Personal conflicts also stand in the way of doing things just like the protagonist wants, so at some times it just passes the just acceptable area.
Relationships - Has a strong bonding towards the main character, yet finds himself constantly clashing horns towards another character. This eventually expands towards a level were trust is hard to achieve. Despite a few highlights, most goes downhill because the two characters cannot co-exist well as long as they work together on something.
So, now we got something a bit less stereotypical. With this character, we are free to develop plot ties which all creates a more first person experience. Their agenda does not have to be perfect, nor does their reasoning. They can be caught in the moment and foolishly relying on their own advice. They also can downright fail the protagonist. However, they are not wholehearted betrayers. They want to do their job and do so well. They also understand the concept that there are greater things at work and in order to achieve those very unlikely scenarios, they have to bottleneck whatever personal pressure they have, this can lead to as far as the point of insanity, which would be a perfect plot filler for your average follower.
torsdag 23. april 2009
Humanity is acquiring all the right technology for all the wrong reasons. - R. Buckminster Fuller
Today I am going to put down my oversized manga sword, I am going to suspend my activity related to overpowered characters as well as surrendering my interest towards easy fixes in stories. Today I will focus on how to make things work the hard way and the measures which are mandatory to take in order to make them work.
Let's say we have a character, one who is willing to work for the greater good, yet cannot do so without taking drastic measures. Innocents will be killed, civilians will be caught in the crossfire and nothing is as easy as it looks. So this character uses another character by manipulating the circumstances around this character, thus acquiring his/her services which are mandatory in order to fulfill their goal despite putting that other character in grave danger. A sense of trust me, trust you develops and the audience is reluctant, but agrees with the main character on what has to be done. A point comes were the other character figures out what really has been going on, and that his/her life is successfully ruined. A dramatic scene then follows were the main character has to reap what he has sown. To say the least, it will be a deep, dark and volatile experiense.
I will now link towards one of the best shows I know about, the Shield. This is a kill scene, a major spoiler. You have been warned.
Now, this is obviously a confession scene. So, it goes aside from the heat of the moment, but adds a stunning amount of crowd reconsideration. This is a policeman who has gone in the line of fire countless times, regulated crime higher than any officer ever could, risked his lives for others and even gone on the side of the law a couple of times to catch killers who the law could not touch. However, it also is the same man who killed a cop, who murdered many guilty and killed a few innocents, who planted evidence and got false confessions. Who manipulated the law that he signed up to serve. In a way, he was always two step ahead of whoever wanted to sabotage for him. However he was just a human and although he had loyalty, he betrayed the lesser for the greater. He cleaned a lot of Farmington on his own by choosing the lesser evil every now and then. However, he never got rid of the element of self, nor was he fighting for justice in his every turn. Much of it was strictly personal, which was why he made quite a few mistakes among his many well planned acts.
We need more realistic heroes who cannot do too much on their own, but know how to manipulate others as well as lie like a pro. Someone who is capable, but also can take risks, go aside the law and even manipulate a person so that a life is ruined to complete the cause. I think that would add a new dimension into films although it is a lot of information that would need to be digested in a shorter amount of time. Worth doing some research on, which I probably will the coming days.
The age for heroes seems to be coming to an end. So we need to forge the real protagonists from the same ashes we forged some of our antagonists.
Let's say we have a character, one who is willing to work for the greater good, yet cannot do so without taking drastic measures. Innocents will be killed, civilians will be caught in the crossfire and nothing is as easy as it looks. So this character uses another character by manipulating the circumstances around this character, thus acquiring his/her services which are mandatory in order to fulfill their goal despite putting that other character in grave danger. A sense of trust me, trust you develops and the audience is reluctant, but agrees with the main character on what has to be done. A point comes were the other character figures out what really has been going on, and that his/her life is successfully ruined. A dramatic scene then follows were the main character has to reap what he has sown. To say the least, it will be a deep, dark and volatile experiense.
I will now link towards one of the best shows I know about, the Shield. This is a kill scene, a major spoiler. You have been warned.
Now, this is obviously a confession scene. So, it goes aside from the heat of the moment, but adds a stunning amount of crowd reconsideration. This is a policeman who has gone in the line of fire countless times, regulated crime higher than any officer ever could, risked his lives for others and even gone on the side of the law a couple of times to catch killers who the law could not touch. However, it also is the same man who killed a cop, who murdered many guilty and killed a few innocents, who planted evidence and got false confessions. Who manipulated the law that he signed up to serve. In a way, he was always two step ahead of whoever wanted to sabotage for him. However he was just a human and although he had loyalty, he betrayed the lesser for the greater. He cleaned a lot of Farmington on his own by choosing the lesser evil every now and then. However, he never got rid of the element of self, nor was he fighting for justice in his every turn. Much of it was strictly personal, which was why he made quite a few mistakes among his many well planned acts.
We need more realistic heroes who cannot do too much on their own, but know how to manipulate others as well as lie like a pro. Someone who is capable, but also can take risks, go aside the law and even manipulate a person so that a life is ruined to complete the cause. I think that would add a new dimension into films although it is a lot of information that would need to be digested in a shorter amount of time. Worth doing some research on, which I probably will the coming days.
The age for heroes seems to be coming to an end. So we need to forge the real protagonists from the same ashes we forged some of our antagonists.
fredag 17. april 2009
A really great man is known by three signs... generosity in the design, humanity in the execution, moderation in success. - O V Bismarck
The subject of today is anthroporphism. I'd like to go over a few details that has been on my mind recently during my research.
We like to create animals or fantasy creatures who have some human traits. By doing so, we create sub-humans in a way which offers great design opportunities. We also create creatures who mix properties and aliens who often generally act in a human way. I am sure most who have seen Star Wars know that there is a level of anticipation during a scene which has a alien in it. If it is a trooper, it will shoot, if it is a civilian, it will run if fired upon, if it is inside a pub, it will probably be up to no good.
Here comes the thing that is bothering me. I see very few examples of aliens who act strangely or in non-human fashions. I think that any alien who is well made would make for a great antagonist/sub antagonist under the cover of sub-protagonism/follower of the hero. This does not mean that they have to discard their nature fully. I am sure all of you have seen films which features a questionable protagonist of some level. Take the parrot in the Aladdin series, who is more attracted to wealth than other things. However, wealth at most times is an excuse. I like more psychotic villans who can plan, wait and then strike at the best moment. So, if this has been confusing, I will construct a scenario since this is part of the betrayal factor which can be a vital factor if someone wants to create a show which portrays true detective values.
Character - Slanesh the Lizard.
Placement in story - Sub antagonist/most of the time following the hero.
Background - Family tribe got viped out by what is not known at start, but reveals itself later in the show to be the main antagonist.
Character - Kind of weak personality wise, acts like he is shaken. It is later revealed in the show that he saw his tribe got viped out earlier. Which gives him more reason to go under the cover of his personality, although he already well in advance knew what had happened, thus fooling the audience to believe in his innocence.
Character traits - Always guiles the team of protagonists towards a clue, but a clue that will make their perception of the situation point in the wrong direction. Always acting on par with the development of the situation, very rarely saying something that would divert any suspicion towards himself. However he is not without flaw, so he is bound to give away some 'small' clues which point towards himself. Never the main developer of the story, until his betrayal comes in effect.
Character scenario and trigger point - Found wandering aimlessly around in the wilds. The hero picks him up and treats it as one of his own. The hero picks up several other characters later on and thus the group moves towards the explanation of the story which involved a series of creatures being killed. The lizard is newer in the highlight of main involvement and acts mainly as a sidekick. However, him as many others are never near the hero when the next killing occur, but is quick to come when summoned. After diverting suspicion to wrong suspects, which are figured out as innocent despite the major doubt surrounding them. He plants a trap when they are heading towards the main antagonist who would have given his 'true' identity up. The real protagonists fall into it and ask him for help, which is when he reveals his true nature and his true agenda. Which is that he intends to repay every other race he knows of with the same fate that his own kind had to go through. His personality has now grown into something much darker, much more potent and much more able than its cover was. The protagonists mediate upon a few clues that would have lead to his suspicion. Then in an act which fails at the last moment he tries to kill all of them off, however, it does not work, he withdraws to the main antagonist and await the continuation of the story from there.
They need to have an agenda, it could be of morals such as this. It could be of alliance, it could be of events well laid before the scenario and it could even be of pure psychological reasons. However, if not premeditated, well developed and well executed with a few flaws that the audience would ignore, however which they will find once all comes to a full circle. This scenario is constructed on the point, and thus is not a very good example, but it shows how an agenda/act can mix into something that one really does not expect. The audience does not expect to be fooled like this, particularly when the suspect is right in front of their nose. They can encounter much more vile characters with more obvious involvement which will divert their suspicion.
So, how does this connect with anthropomorphism? Well, firstly it is a pointer that some characters may have their own way of acting, a non human way of acting. Yet something that can be associated with some of the worst examples of humanity. The main antagonist often is the highlight of a show, but it does not make things worse to have someone who surpasses even that in cunning. Someone without any real power, but with some real brainpower. Fool the audience, leave them more questions than answers, but have a few subtle pointers towards the unanswered answers, give them something to think about after the show has ended.
We like to create animals or fantasy creatures who have some human traits. By doing so, we create sub-humans in a way which offers great design opportunities. We also create creatures who mix properties and aliens who often generally act in a human way. I am sure most who have seen Star Wars know that there is a level of anticipation during a scene which has a alien in it. If it is a trooper, it will shoot, if it is a civilian, it will run if fired upon, if it is inside a pub, it will probably be up to no good.
Here comes the thing that is bothering me. I see very few examples of aliens who act strangely or in non-human fashions. I think that any alien who is well made would make for a great antagonist/sub antagonist under the cover of sub-protagonism/follower of the hero. This does not mean that they have to discard their nature fully. I am sure all of you have seen films which features a questionable protagonist of some level. Take the parrot in the Aladdin series, who is more attracted to wealth than other things. However, wealth at most times is an excuse. I like more psychotic villans who can plan, wait and then strike at the best moment. So, if this has been confusing, I will construct a scenario since this is part of the betrayal factor which can be a vital factor if someone wants to create a show which portrays true detective values.
Character - Slanesh the Lizard.
Placement in story - Sub antagonist/most of the time following the hero.
Background - Family tribe got viped out by what is not known at start, but reveals itself later in the show to be the main antagonist.
Character - Kind of weak personality wise, acts like he is shaken. It is later revealed in the show that he saw his tribe got viped out earlier. Which gives him more reason to go under the cover of his personality, although he already well in advance knew what had happened, thus fooling the audience to believe in his innocence.
Character traits - Always guiles the team of protagonists towards a clue, but a clue that will make their perception of the situation point in the wrong direction. Always acting on par with the development of the situation, very rarely saying something that would divert any suspicion towards himself. However he is not without flaw, so he is bound to give away some 'small' clues which point towards himself. Never the main developer of the story, until his betrayal comes in effect.
Character scenario and trigger point - Found wandering aimlessly around in the wilds. The hero picks him up and treats it as one of his own. The hero picks up several other characters later on and thus the group moves towards the explanation of the story which involved a series of creatures being killed. The lizard is newer in the highlight of main involvement and acts mainly as a sidekick. However, him as many others are never near the hero when the next killing occur, but is quick to come when summoned. After diverting suspicion to wrong suspects, which are figured out as innocent despite the major doubt surrounding them. He plants a trap when they are heading towards the main antagonist who would have given his 'true' identity up. The real protagonists fall into it and ask him for help, which is when he reveals his true nature and his true agenda. Which is that he intends to repay every other race he knows of with the same fate that his own kind had to go through. His personality has now grown into something much darker, much more potent and much more able than its cover was. The protagonists mediate upon a few clues that would have lead to his suspicion. Then in an act which fails at the last moment he tries to kill all of them off, however, it does not work, he withdraws to the main antagonist and await the continuation of the story from there.
They need to have an agenda, it could be of morals such as this. It could be of alliance, it could be of events well laid before the scenario and it could even be of pure psychological reasons. However, if not premeditated, well developed and well executed with a few flaws that the audience would ignore, however which they will find once all comes to a full circle. This scenario is constructed on the point, and thus is not a very good example, but it shows how an agenda/act can mix into something that one really does not expect. The audience does not expect to be fooled like this, particularly when the suspect is right in front of their nose. They can encounter much more vile characters with more obvious involvement which will divert their suspicion.
So, how does this connect with anthropomorphism? Well, firstly it is a pointer that some characters may have their own way of acting, a non human way of acting. Yet something that can be associated with some of the worst examples of humanity. The main antagonist often is the highlight of a show, but it does not make things worse to have someone who surpasses even that in cunning. Someone without any real power, but with some real brainpower. Fool the audience, leave them more questions than answers, but have a few subtle pointers towards the unanswered answers, give them something to think about after the show has ended.
mandag 6. april 2009
All pleasures contain an element of sadness. - Jonathan Eibeschutz
Alright, for about a week or so I will be without school computer. Which means my ability to produce own pictures will be at a minimum for a short time. In this post, I want to talk a bit about how sadness co-relates with love. This is an important aspect when it comes to characters.
Sadness can be converted into both ambition and anger. Sadness at times defines love, loss and the relationship between life and death. Most characters are better off with some sort of weak point, and I don't mean something that is easily summon able. I mean something that needs well planned maneuvers, unpredictability and great timing to create. This time, I am going to go with an example from the shield. The tv series. Two characters, one who is the boss of a gang called the one niners and the captain of the Farmington police district. Antwon is the gang member.
___________________________________________________________________________________
Antwon: Because just like you he had shit on me! You had to know it. Your boyfriend cheated that evidence. So what does it make him, huh? You for knowing?
Captain: Do you wanna talk about indiscretions? Secrets in the dark? How about when you where a kid? 13, 14? Fat, not very popular. Burying your head under the covers to drown out the screams of your baby sister. Your 6 year old sister that your daddy raped night after night. You could not stop it could you? too much of a coward to confront your old man, but not your mama. She emptied two loads of buckshot into his gut. So daddy's dead, baby sister's in the psych ward and your mama is doing life in chino. All because you couldn't come out from under the covers, but, oh, boy you are making up for it now. Yeah, you're real street tough. You’re a gangster, full of cop-killing rage, but you are still too much of a coward to save your own son...... Cuff him.
__________________________________________________________________________________
Even the worst of antagonists have their feelings, at least in the sense of humanity. Praying on a weakness by dialogue can produce some very interesting results. This is an example on how even someone who is very tough gets cracked. Not so that he spills open, but that it creates a dimension of weakness that can be opened if done so correctly. Having a weakness does not mean it is easily summon able. It does however mean that the character can add more depth to the story. Some characters are more easy to break than others, but 99% of the time it is good to let someone have a weakness.
Sadness corresponds in music, dialogue and environmental tones. It can affect different characters in different ways. Don't forget that the audience also are more or less experienced when it comes to cinematography. If something is off, they will notice even though they are not professionals. The movie industry is one that has a target audience where the majority has seen a ton of great movies, so it's no use trying to convince them with something that is half done. They will either fall asleep, turn off the tv or change the channel. If one gets all the elements right, then one can create an aura of sadness that affects the show in different ways. Depending on what the result one wishes to create.
In about a week or so I will try to go through some of my cinematography philosophy in greater detail. Hopefully by then it will be easier to illustrate what I am talking about. Until then, this example here serves as a single pointer.
Sadness can be converted into both ambition and anger. Sadness at times defines love, loss and the relationship between life and death. Most characters are better off with some sort of weak point, and I don't mean something that is easily summon able. I mean something that needs well planned maneuvers, unpredictability and great timing to create. This time, I am going to go with an example from the shield. The tv series. Two characters, one who is the boss of a gang called the one niners and the captain of the Farmington police district. Antwon is the gang member.
___________________________________________________________________________________
Antwon: Because just like you he had shit on me! You had to know it. Your boyfriend cheated that evidence. So what does it make him, huh? You for knowing?
Captain: Do you wanna talk about indiscretions? Secrets in the dark? How about when you where a kid? 13, 14? Fat, not very popular. Burying your head under the covers to drown out the screams of your baby sister. Your 6 year old sister that your daddy raped night after night. You could not stop it could you? too much of a coward to confront your old man, but not your mama. She emptied two loads of buckshot into his gut. So daddy's dead, baby sister's in the psych ward and your mama is doing life in chino. All because you couldn't come out from under the covers, but, oh, boy you are making up for it now. Yeah, you're real street tough. You’re a gangster, full of cop-killing rage, but you are still too much of a coward to save your own son...... Cuff him.
__________________________________________________________________________________
Even the worst of antagonists have their feelings, at least in the sense of humanity. Praying on a weakness by dialogue can produce some very interesting results. This is an example on how even someone who is very tough gets cracked. Not so that he spills open, but that it creates a dimension of weakness that can be opened if done so correctly. Having a weakness does not mean it is easily summon able. It does however mean that the character can add more depth to the story. Some characters are more easy to break than others, but 99% of the time it is good to let someone have a weakness.
Sadness corresponds in music, dialogue and environmental tones. It can affect different characters in different ways. Don't forget that the audience also are more or less experienced when it comes to cinematography. If something is off, they will notice even though they are not professionals. The movie industry is one that has a target audience where the majority has seen a ton of great movies, so it's no use trying to convince them with something that is half done. They will either fall asleep, turn off the tv or change the channel. If one gets all the elements right, then one can create an aura of sadness that affects the show in different ways. Depending on what the result one wishes to create.
In about a week or so I will try to go through some of my cinematography philosophy in greater detail. Hopefully by then it will be easier to illustrate what I am talking about. Until then, this example here serves as a single pointer.
torsdag 2. april 2009
If at first you don't succeed, failure may be your style. - Quentin Crisp
Thanks to a few friends I have done some research on style, research and editing. Now, something that could make a bunny cry is the fact that there are very few 3d films which uses artistic complexity in the shape of pen strokes and such, even on the filter level. Luckily I was able to find one which did so, and it is one of my all time favorite 3d shorts. How the design allows for the lack of action and the overall simplicity/well lowing story is just amazing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qi_TQ_cg1e8
Back to what I am doing, now, I am trying to develop a sketch style of 3d. Now, you don't have to jump out of the roof just yet. It is still at a research level, however there are some things which must be highlighted in terms of the research I have made so far. One of them is the fruit, I think there is something here, and that's an achievement in itself. I think the style can work in both a neutral, fast and slow pace. There are however a few difficulties, but none which have stopped me so far. I will mention some of them.
Uncomfortable eye complexities - A sketch style of 3d could, if it was at a feature length movie. Tire the eye down or make it seem dull after some, if not a short period of time. How do one get away from this? Well, the style I am thinking of does not necessarily have pen strokes all over itself, but where there is movement the matter might be different. One way to 'trick' the viewer is to have a highlight which features less of this and which is sure to catch the viewers eye.
Style in terms of cinematography - It might look a bit like a comic if it is stiff. So the trick is to make it very flexible. Not necessarily in terms of camera speed, but in terms of the object placements, camera perspectives and how things play out.
Style in terms of the abstractness itself - Figures would have to be very morphable. I would want to have characters who would change proportions in a way not just necessarily supported by the camera angles itself, but also in terms of the very figures we speak of. Now, it would have to be comfortable to the eye, so that does not mean that characters rapidly grow while on scene, it would have to work hand in hand with perspective. Fool the viewer, but not so much they know they are being fooled.
I have made a short previs, now, I know the last shot in particular is a bit messed up since he would have to be closer, the gun is quite some distance from his arm in that scene though, which is a bit of a warped perspective. I will post the edited and unedited version of the shots. This is a half a day project though. I have seen google mess around with the edited versions of these though, filtering out effects and such. When making this I wanted to check if the slow style would work. Poses, the line of action and so fourth. That was the intent at either rate.
http://img531.imageshack.us/img531/6605/editeduu6.flv
http://img531.imageshack.us/img531/7517/uneditedsmallbh6.flv
Aside from them, I also looked into a bit of perspective. You can find a few examples here.
http://www.3dartist.com/3dao/s/16/daynigh4.gif
http://www.artuproar.com/uploads/skins/previews_m/warpedperspective.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/ab/Fpnostalghia2.jpg
http://www.cis.nctu.edu.tw/~whtsai/France%20Tour/New-Summary_of_Trip/Webpages_of_Summary/originalimages/03-30-05-02%20Beautiful%20road%20trees%20in%20perspective%20of%20Champse-Elysees%20Boulevard.jpg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qi_TQ_cg1e8
Back to what I am doing, now, I am trying to develop a sketch style of 3d. Now, you don't have to jump out of the roof just yet. It is still at a research level, however there are some things which must be highlighted in terms of the research I have made so far. One of them is the fruit, I think there is something here, and that's an achievement in itself. I think the style can work in both a neutral, fast and slow pace. There are however a few difficulties, but none which have stopped me so far. I will mention some of them.
Uncomfortable eye complexities - A sketch style of 3d could, if it was at a feature length movie. Tire the eye down or make it seem dull after some, if not a short period of time. How do one get away from this? Well, the style I am thinking of does not necessarily have pen strokes all over itself, but where there is movement the matter might be different. One way to 'trick' the viewer is to have a highlight which features less of this and which is sure to catch the viewers eye.
Style in terms of cinematography - It might look a bit like a comic if it is stiff. So the trick is to make it very flexible. Not necessarily in terms of camera speed, but in terms of the object placements, camera perspectives and how things play out.
Style in terms of the abstractness itself - Figures would have to be very morphable. I would want to have characters who would change proportions in a way not just necessarily supported by the camera angles itself, but also in terms of the very figures we speak of. Now, it would have to be comfortable to the eye, so that does not mean that characters rapidly grow while on scene, it would have to work hand in hand with perspective. Fool the viewer, but not so much they know they are being fooled.
I have made a short previs, now, I know the last shot in particular is a bit messed up since he would have to be closer, the gun is quite some distance from his arm in that scene though, which is a bit of a warped perspective. I will post the edited and unedited version of the shots. This is a half a day project though. I have seen google mess around with the edited versions of these though, filtering out effects and such. When making this I wanted to check if the slow style would work. Poses, the line of action and so fourth. That was the intent at either rate.
http://img531.imageshack.us/img531/6605/editeduu6.flv
http://img531.imageshack.us/img531/7517/uneditedsmallbh6.flv
Aside from them, I also looked into a bit of perspective. You can find a few examples here.
http://www.3dartist.com/3dao/s/16/daynigh4.gif
http://www.artuproar.com/uploads/skins/previews_m/warpedperspective.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/ab/Fpnostalghia2.jpg
http://www.cis.nctu.edu.tw/~whtsai/France%20Tour/New-Summary_of_Trip/Webpages_of_Summary/originalimages/03-30-05-02%20Beautiful%20road%20trees%20in%20perspective%20of%20Champse-Elysees%20Boulevard.jpg
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