2D Assignment 2 Research: Translating a Movie Quote into a Single Design. Whew.

I was so excited when the brief for Assignment 2 came out because we were finally getting to use softwares to create design compositions; something that I was a little bit more familiar with. And plus we got to do silkscreen printing. MAJOR POINTS FOR THAT.

The brief was pretty straightforward: produce 4 compositions based off of movie quotes. The 4 different design compositions can either be based on 1 quote or be based on 4 different quotes. Much excites.

Immediately, the quotes that popped into my mind were as followed:

“Curiouser and curiouser!” – Alice, Alice in Wonderland, 2010

“You are entirely bonkers. But I’ll tell you a secret. All the best people are.” – Alice, Alice in Wonderland, 2010

Alice in Wonderland has to be one of my all time favourite movies. While I love both the animated film as well as the real life adaptation, I will always have a soft spot for the real life adaptation because of the hint of darkness brought about by Tim Burton. Quote no. 2 is a personal favourite because for once I felt that being different, being seen as weird and crazy, was a good thing. For a person that always felt as though she never really did fit in with the crowd, this was a comforting thought.

“Alrighty then!” – Ace Ventura, Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, 1994

A really old movie but I remembered watching it while I was younger and laughing real hard and Ace Ventura’s antics. Not exactly sure if it is really a quote since it is actually more like a catchphrase for Jim Carrey’s character.

“May all your bacon burn!” – Calcifer, Howl’s Moving Castle, 2004

Studio Ghibli movies are awesome and while my favourite out of the whole lot is Spirited Away, this adorable little line spoken by Calcifer the fire demon jumped out at me. Why so I am not exactly sure but I thought it would be fun to pick a ridiculously straightforward quote like this to work on.

“The flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of all.” – Emperor of China, Mulan, 1998

“You don’t meet a girl like that every dynasty.” – Emperor of China, Mulan, 1998

“My little baby, off to destroy people.” – Mushu, Mulan, 1998

Mulan was one of my favourite disney princesses growing up and this was probably really encouraged by my parents, especially my dad. He wanted me to grow up being independent and capable of handling things by myself, not at all like the stereotypical girly girl who had to rely on other people or men to step in and do the work for her. Naturally, I have quite a lot of quotes from this movie. And by now, you would have probably already noticed my preference for all the short, almost nonsensical (when taken out of context) quotes.

“This time is cabbage?” – If Cats Disappeared from the World, 2016

A really ridiculously touching movie, I cried like a baby watching this film. Enough said.

Now that I have more of less shortlisted a bunch of quotes, let’s dive into the designs itself. To get a better idea of what the lecturers were looking for, I had actually went ahead and did a little snooping around, looking at our senior’s OSS entries for this particular assignment. Can I please just say that some of them are really really REALLY good?!?!?!?! Like I would legit want to print their designs onto a tote bag or shirt and carry/wear it around.

The start of the research process for the design also meant I had to turn to trusty ol’ Pinterest (#Pinterestislyfe). Keywords used include ‘fan art’, ‘illustrations’, ‘wallpaper’ and ‘tattoo’. I also looked at logo designs to get a bit of inspiration as to how I might want the composition to be shaped. This kind of served as the basis of my designing process which I will talk about in a separate post.