Project 3: Genre and Narrative (Piper)


Artistic statement


Jamie was only a regular reporter until his best friend Sam suddenly decides to go missing. No one knows where she went. Her friends have no idea, and the police don’t seem to care. Distraught and angry, he pours himself into a useless search, turning up nothing but empty trails. Just as he was about to give up, a mysterious source turns up with the information he is desperately seeking. Right upon his doorstep.

He follows the clues, taking him to the strangest, weirdest places. Fuelled by his obsessive need to find out the truth behind Sam’s disappearance, it finally leads him to the entity behind it all. The Piper.

But was it all worth it?

 


Original Story


  • Based on the folk tale, The Pied Piper of Hamlin.
  • Story talks about how the town of Hamlin is terrorized by a frightful plague of mice
  • In their desperation, they hire the Pied Piper
  • Using his pipe, he entices the rats to follow him to a watery death
  • However, was refused payment for his services
  • Decides to lure the children of the town away with his music, never to be seen again.

Pre-Production Phase


Crafting the script

Elements we wanted to bring from the original tale:

  • The Piper and his ‘Pipe’

Things we changed:

ORIGINAL PIPER
VILLAIN: The Pied Piper VILLAIN: Pip, our Celebrity
POV: Third Person – Narrator POV: First Person – Jamie
VICTIMS: Rats, Children VICTIMS: Sam, Pip’s Fans
MODUS OPERANDI: Pipe MODUS OPERANDI: Snapchat
MOTIVE: Revenge MOTIVE: Unexplained
  • Storyboarding in this case was not very effective.
  • More emphasis is put on the script itself.
  • The storyboard provided a guideline rather than being a production bible.

Production Phase


Location Scouting:

CRITERIA FOR OUR LOCATIONS:

  • elaborate, suitable backgrounds
  • chilling, mysterious atmosphere
  • fit the flow of the story
  • easy commute
  • accessible and quiet for filming

After much discussion and google searches, we decided upon five final locations.

PIPER (2)

Filming Process

PIPER (3) PIPER (4) PIPER (1)


 Post-Production Phase


 

PIPER (5) PIPER (6) PIPER (7) PIPER (8) PIPER (9) PIPER (10) PIPER (11) PIPER (12)

Project 3: Ego

 

 

1) Spirit Of Adventure + Observant = Me

Spirit Of Adventure

Spirit Of Adventure

Split Complementary

Main Colours: Red, Blue, Green

Explanation: The idea of going to different places with an adventurous mindset has always been something I really love doing. Taking on a different approach into going to different places allows me to explore and gives me a fuller experience. This whole experience of getting into a design school is a form of adventure on its own as I develop and discover myself to do greater things. The volkswagen in the image represents my idea of a roadtrip adventure with a couple of friends driving through ridges and ridges of mountains.

Observant

Observant

Triad Harmony

Main Colours: Orange, Green, Purple

Explanation: Being observant has always been a trait of mine since I was young. I’ve always been aware of the things around me as well as the people around me. Like noticing what they wear, what they are doing and even some of the littlest details that is often overlooked by other people. I’m a quiet person by nature, so for me naturally, listening to people and taking in what they say is a common practice for me. The gift of sight is a wondrous thing and we often take it for granted. I used the binoculars as a symbol to being observant and it is more of an exaggerated form to show i’m looking around and people-watching.

Me

Me

Tetrad Harmony

Main Colours: Red, Orange, Green, Blue

Explanation: Spirit of adventure and being observant combines to form the ‘Me’ equation. This picture shows me being in a tent, using my visual senses to embrace the sights and sounds around me without any form of technology. I used slightly warmer colours to emphasise on a more natural atmosphere.


 

2) Courage – Hesitation = A Better Me

Courage

Courage

Triad Harmony

Main Colours: Blue, Red, Yellow

 

Explanation: Being courageous is something I wish I was better at when it comes to deciding on life decisions. I’ve always wanted to try parachuting off a helicopter. It is one of my life goals to achieve such a feat. For this picture, I made an establishing shot where the helicopter is flying above the mountains, showing a sense of height and showing a breathtaking view. I used red for the helicopter to give a strong contrast from the icy blue mountains below and it will direct your eyes straight to the helicopter first.

Hesitation

Hesitation

Tetrad Harmony

Main Colours: Blue, Green, Orange, Red

 

Explanation: Hesitation is the restriction that stops me from being courageous. I always hesitate and think of the possible scenarios that could happen if I say yes or if I say no. I like to think of the benefits that it brings to making a certain decision or whether it is not advisable to do a particular thing. In the picture, I used 4 different colours, mainly green for most part of the things on my body and blue being the sky. It shows me hesitating whether to jump out of the helicopter.

A Better Me

A Better Me

Split Complementary

Main colours: Blue, Red, Green

 

Explanation: Courage minus hesitation to form ‘A Better Me’. This picture shows me jumping out of the helicopter with a parachute deployed. It symbolises me stopping my hesitation to do things and telling myself to just do it and embrace whatever comes by. I used red to show contrast of the parachute with the blue sky.


 

3) Travel x Film = An Ideal Me

Travel

Travel

Analogous (3)

Main colours: Light Blue, Medium Blue, Dark Blue, Yellow

 

Explanation: Travel has always been my passion. I love the idea of going to places and exploring the culture and experiencing something out of my own comfort zone. In addition, I like meeting people from different parts of the world and getting to know them in depth, learning about their stories and just realising that other people might not be as fortunate as we are. This picture shows my perspective of being in an airplane seat, looking out of the window. I used mainly blue hues to show the clouds and the blue sky bouncing off the wing of the plane.

Film

Film

Tetrad Harmony

Main Colours: Red, Orange, Green, Blue

Explanation: Aside from travelling, film is my next passion. I like to document my adventures through different countries and places, putting it together and sharing it with people. Film allows me to look back at my documentation of a place in the future and remembering all the good times I had at that particular place. It is just something I enjoy doing, the whole process of capturing a priceless moment in time. The video camera I used in the picture is a Super8 film camera, a traditional format that is rarely used in today’s time. It shows me holding the camera in one hand and the red, orange, green and blue hues forms a spectrum out of the video camera.

 

Ideal Me

An Ideal Me

Analogous (5)

Main Colours: Blue, Yellow Green, Green, Orange , Yellow

 

Travel x Film forms ‘An Ideal Me’. This has always been my ideal path in life in the future. Being able to travel and getting paid to do it in the form of doing videography is a dream that i’m working towards. The picture shows me taking a video of the statue of liberty. I used mainly blue and green hues to achieve the visuals that is more pleasing to the eyes.


4) Stable Job + ‘Me’ Time = Me In Five Years

Stable Job

Stable Job

Triad Harmony

Main Colours: Purple, Green, Orange

Explanation: A stable job is something that everyone yearns for. A stable job would mean a stable life, with lesser worries of income issues. I put myself as a director in this picture, with me shouting ‘CUT!’ to symbolise something I would want to pursue, being a director for a movie and pursuing my passion for film.

 

Me time

‘Me’ Time

Tetrad Harmony

Main Colours: Orange, Blue, Red, Green

Explanation: Apart from wanting a stable job, I also yearn for some ‘Me’ time, meaning to have time to do my own things without any form of commitments or boundaries. In the picture, I used mainly orange as a strong contrast to the blue waters to direct the attention towards the canoe. The whole picture symbolises me going through a carefree life, without anything to worry and drifting through life as it moves on, just like the canoe drifting with the water current.

me five

Me In Five Years

Analogous (5)

Main Colours: Orange, Yellow, Yellow Green, Green, Blue

Explanation: Having a stable job plus having ‘me’ time forms ‘Me in five years’. I would want a mix of both having a dedicated job at the same time not be too bogged down by work and having my own free time to pursue my other passions. The picture symbolises me doing other passions apart from my job, like creating creative content to share with people.


Artists’ References


 

1) Andy Warhol

Illustrator Andy Warhol was one of the most prolific and popular artists of his time, using both avant-garde and highly commercial sensibilities. In the late 1950s, Warhol began devoting more attention to painting, and in 1961, he debuted the concept of “pop art”—paintings that focused on mass-produced commercial goods. In 1962, he exhibited the now-iconic paintings of Campbell’s soup cans. These small canvas works of everyday consumer products created a major stir in the art world, bringing both Warhol and pop art into the national spotlight for the first time.

andy

2) Roy Lichtenstein

Roy Fox Lichtenstein was an American pop artist. During the 1960s, along with Andy Warhol, Jasper Johns, and James Rosenquist among others, he became a leading figure in the new art movement. His work defined the basic premise of pop art through parody. Favoring the comic strips, his main inspiration, Lichtenstein produced hard-edged, precise compositions that documented while it parodied often in a tongue-in-cheek manner.

roy

roy2