The Experience
Media
Video Recordings
Audio Recordings
Music in MP3 Player
Process
Audio Editing
Behind the Scenes
Installation by: Jun Ming, Jia Jun, Nok Wan
Month: November 2017
Project 3: Ego (Process + Final)
Episode 2
Based on the mindmap i did in the previous episode, I picked out 4 things that describe me.
- Alien/ My fascination with space and astronomy
- Aventurous/ Travelling/ Exploring
- Passion in film-making/ Imaginative
- Loves to laugh/ Spreading happiness
Sketches:
*These are just the initial planning of sketches. Changes of the sketches are made after consultation and personal exploration.
References
While looking through different ways of doing vintage surreal collage, I stumbled upon some very useful websites and videos that can help me with my work.
http://eugenia.queru.com/2012/10/29/how-to-do-modern-vintage-collage-digital/
Eugenia Loli who is one of my reference artists has a website where she teaches people the basic steps of making these collages.
These are some tutorials I found on Youtube that helped me with my collage.
The best of the best websites I found were websites that contained a compiled list of high quality vintage images that we can download and use to create the collages.
https://www.flickr.com/groups/vintagemags/pool/page50
https://www.flickr.com/photos/eugenia_loli/favorites/page4
Final
Strip 1:
For the first panel, I picked out horse to represent me because horses travel far and wide, making adventures of their own. For me I want to be like a horse, being able to roam everywhere and seek my own adventures. I used analogous colours, blue, green and white to bring out the serenity and peaceful feeling when I make my own adventures.
The setting I have picked out is the iconic empire state building. Standing tall and high in New York City.
Because I am adventurous, instead of taking the lift up to the top of the building, I will run up the side of the wall of the building, seeking my form of thrills and adventure. I placed the white horse at the center and darken the other spaces so that the visual dominance and focus is placed on the horse itself.
Strip 2:
Even since I was young, I was always fascinated with space and astronomy stuff. Things like the galaxies and aliens always excites me and it was even my ambition to become an astronaut when I was young. For the first composition, I added space elements that I like and revolves these elements around the musuclar man (Me). For the colour wise, I played with the Triadic colour scheme by using blue, red, yellow and white. I really like the background because it contrast with the elements at the center making everything pop out. P.s. Inspired from the NASA Logo.
For this composition I played with complementary colours Green and Pink with a dark background. This combination helps to make the composition stand out. I chose a pink planet to show the fantasy and dreamy ideas.
Isn’t it cool to be able to go on a date in outer space??? The pink lake links back to the pink planet you see in the second composition of this strip. I tried playing with different backgrounds of different colours but in the end I chose this because it contrasts well with the pink lake and is pleasing to look at.
Strip 3:
I love making people laugh and spreading happiness makes myself happy. To represent this side of me, I think the best way to show it is to bring in the iconic character, MR BEAN!!! Sunflowers are used to represent cheerfulness. I use the combination of yellow sunflowers and red background to further emphasize the liveliness and joy in me.
My initial idea for this was to show a setting of a cemetery, but because the style I was going for was surrealist collage style, I was stuck for awhile for this portion because i do not know how to show the cemetery settings. I decided to change it up abit and reference Julia Geiser’s collage style and decided to try the “head manipulation technique”. I cut the frankenstein head into half and added famous dead people that we all know of. Besides, I used monochromatic colour scheme of black, grey and white to give it a dead and dull look.
For the third composition I also used the same technique of collage. In this composition, all the dead comes back to life as shown in the change from monotone to colours. The dead appears to come out of my head which is filled with Sunflowers. And as they come back to life, they began to dance with joy. I use a neutral pastel background so that it does not overpower the focus on Mr Bean’s head.
Strip 4:
I have a strong passion in film and I am quite an imaginative person (humble) and I always tend to try to think outside of the box and do something different. Hence I came out with a simple composition of a man and a camera on my head to represent the imaginative side of me when I look through the lens of a camera.
And as I walk through a boring while looking through the lens of my camera,my imagination begins to run wild as I turn the boring city into something interesting by seeing a Godzilla tearing the city apart. The third composition is the extension of the second composition as the view pans upward. I tried playing with negative spaces by outlining the shape of the Godzilla with different buildings. I used the analogous colour scheme of Yellow, green and light green for all 3 compositions for this strip. By keeping it consistent it also help me better to tell a linear narration. i purposely chose a combination of lighter colours as the darker colours looked too harsh and was unable to bring out the Godzilla shape that I wanted.
Reflection
This project got me quite stressed initially because I was unsure of which styles or techniques to approach because I was not confident of doing any of them. Besides when I was doing my first strip, I got frustrated with myself because I spent hours and hours on the single strip but was unable to get what I wanted. And also, it was really annoying because it was really hard for me to look for pictures that fit perfectly and the pictures that had the right colours in them. However, as I slowly progress, I started to get the hang of doing as I begin to do it with the mentality of “just try & learn”. I definitely learnt a lot more skills on photoshop and was even better than I was 13 weeks ago. 2D really made me see everything differently now as the design elements ideas constantly get stuck in my head wherever I go.
Project 3: Ego (Research)
Episode 1
For this last assignment for 2D, we were required to come up with 4 x 3 panels to describe ourselves. This is similar to the previous assignment, except this time we need to come up with 12 instead of 4 compositions. Besides that, this time round we will have to play with elements of colours and its different combinations.
ME, MYSELF & I
Before starting, I need to think of the various personalities, characteristics or things that describes me.
ARTIST REFERENCES
Because I am not really confident with doing illustration or using traditional methods I decided to approach collage style for this assignment. One style i really like is the vintage surreal collage style.
- Karen Lynch
Karen lynch uses vintage pictures and piece them up together creating a vibrant surrealist collage which I really like. Her collages style mainly focuses on creating imaginative settings by layering different images together.
- Eugenia Loli
Similar to Karen Lynch, Eugenia Loli also does Surreal Collages. Her collages really wows me because they are so creative. She is able to find the correct moments to piece with the correct settings creating a really fun and amazing compositions.
- Julia Geiser
Another surreal collage artist is Julia Geiser where most of her collage involves a person. She creates a surrealist composition by slicing and dividing the body parts and adding different images to it. Although it looks creepy, but I think this is an interesting style to show the me portion.
COLOURS
Playing with different colour combinations can help to make your composition stand out and make them pleasing to look at. Below are some examples on the different ways we can play with the colours.
Monochromatic color schemes are derived from a single base hue and extended using its shades, tones and tints.
Colors that are opposite each other on the color wheel are considered complementary.
Analogous color schemes use colors that are next to each other on the color wheel.
The split-complementary color scheme is a variation of the complementary color scheme. In addition to the base color, it uses the two colors adjacent to its complement.
A triadic color scheme uses colors that are evenly spaced around the color wheel.
Reference from: http://www.tigercolor.com/color-lab/color-theory/color-theory-intro.htm
Foundation 4D: Interactive Storytelling (Proposal)
SUFFOCATING SILENCE
DONE BY: TEO JUN MING, YUEN JIA JUN & LUNG NOK WAN
PLOT
The installation follows the story of a little girl name Gwen. Gwen was born without a father and was raised solely by her mother, Jasmine. And when she was 12 years old, her mother re-married to Kevin and both of them moved in with him. Kevin is semi-alcoholic and has violent tendencies and these are shown through his abusive actions towards both Gwen and Jasmine. At the age of 13 years old, her mother passed away due to sickness, leaving Gwen with Kevin became depressed and became more aggressive towards Gwen. He became bipolar and was unpredictable in his beatings and scoldings. He even threatened Gwen that if she tells anyone, he will beat her… Gwen was afraid to seek help, she had no one of authority to help her. Gwen is lonely and helpless, she became a victim, a victim of child abuse… After several months of abuse, Gwen had enough as she plans an escape, an escape out of this nightmare.
PRESENTATION STYLE
The interactive installation follows the experience of a victim of child abuse. Audience put themselves in the perspective of the child and follows her story. The installation will be placed in a dark room. In the dark room, the fort is lit up, hence symbolizing a place of comfort and warmth in the midst of darkness.
Sequence of event:
Projector scene –> Tunnel leading to main fort –> Main fort
Emotions to evoke:
- Fear
- Trauma
- Sympathy
- Helplessness
- Loneliness
Projector Scene:
- At the entrance, the audience will be shown a clip of a portrait shot of Gwen and Kevin through the projector. In the clip, Kevin is constantly abusing Gwen both verbally and physically and also showing’s Gwen’s emotions as she undergoes the abuse. The clip will be played in loop and will be in black and white and in slow motion. Providing audience a preview of what is the installation about.
E.g.
E.g. Film for Greg from “Me and Earl and the Dying girl”
Tunnel leading to fort:
The tunnel helps to provide a sense of time and help us to sequence the experience as a whole from happy to sad – the unfolding of the child’s life and story. (A brief background of her life)
- The audience will first enter the tunnel that leads to the main fort.
- As the audience enters the fort, they enter the personal space of Gwen.
- In the tunnel, the first thing the audience will see is the pictures of Gwen and her mother, Jasmine. (To establish the understanding that Gwen is raised by a single parent, Jasmine)
- Single pages of journal will be placed to provide a narration to her story. (The story should flow from a happy mood to a sad mood)
- Next thing the audience will see picture of Gwen, Jasmine and Kevin together. (Establish that Gwen and Jasmine moved in with Kevin)
- Voices of Kevin’s violent actions and quarrels with Jasmine will be heard. (Bring in Kevin’s violent tendencies)
- The audience will then see a black and white picture of Jasmine within a frame with white lilies. / The audience will see a the same picture of Gwen and Jasmine from point 3. However, in the picture, Jasmine’s face is faded and the picture is black and white. (Jasmine passed away)
Main fort:
In the main fort, audience will interact with various objects belonging to Gwen, allowing the audience to empathize with her situation and slowly piece her runaway story together.
- Torn family picture of Gwen and Kevin suggesting the dislike she has to Kevin.
- Teddy bear with slashes at the back. (A way for Gwen to build up her buildup frustration)
- Mp3 player with ear piece (Emphasis on her loneliness, and her way of escape from Kevin’s violent tendencies)
- Picture Journal of stickmans depicting the violence at home (Inability of her to put her experience in words)
- Sounds of Kevin abusing her can be heard from outside. (To show the trauma she’s facing)
- Camcorder story telling of her situation. Similar to using journal. (Further emphasis of loneliness and helplessness). Reference from lonelygirl15.
- Changing the perception of a warm and comforting place to a depressing place (Slight Plot Twist) → Evoke sympathy towards Gwen.
- Journal entries to document her runaway plan and also her daily abuse.
- Vlogs of Gwen talking about her daily abuse through the camcorder → Create an intimacy between Gwen and the audience → Loneliness and helplessness felt by Gwen. The vlogs will also document her runaway plan.
- The last vlog of Gwen’s, she revealed her anger and ended off with “I had enough!”.
- As the audience leaves and exits the room with the question behind their heads
LOGISTICS
Objects for Projector:
- Black and white projection of Kevin abusing Gwen
- Black and white projection of Gwen taking the abuse
- Projector
- Music (The big ship by Brian Eno)
Objects in Tunnel/Fort:
- Photographs: Kevin’s face scribbled away
- Photoframe: picture of passing of mother
- Torn pages of journal: for narration of story
- White lilies: symbolises death
- Picture Journal: stickman doodles illustrating how Kevin abuse her
- Teddy Bear: 1 side in good condition, the other all cut up
- Mp3 player with earpiece
- Camcorder
- Portable Speaker
- Lamp: light up the fort
- Colour Filter: to be placed at the front of the lamp
- Pillows: create a sense of comfort
Room:
- Fairy lights: wrapped around the fort
- Cardboard boxes: fort/tunnel building
- Trash bags: block out light from windows
- Projector: vlogs projection
- Clothing Pegs, Bedsheets, Chairs, Pins: fort building
- Portable Speaker
- Trashbags: Cover windows
LOCATION
- Dark Room
- Art 02-23
LAYOUT
PICTURE REFERENCES
ARTIST REFERENCE
Lonelygirl15 – The main character in the vlog series started vlogging in her bedroom about her personal life, her best friend, Daniel and her conflicts with her parents. Eventually revealed that Bree was a member of a secretive religion, recognized as the fictional Hymn of One. Her vlogs also revealed that the Hymn of One is a powerful society who want the Trait positive blood of young girls like Bree, propelled them further into a journey of a dark adventure.
How we tie back closely to our project – whereby the child abuse victim, Jane, started vlogging as well. Day by day slowly revealing her misery life of being a child abuse victim. Her vlogs are mostly on accounts of her unable to reach out to anyone for help.
ReMoved – Follows the emotional story through the eyes of a young girl taken from her home and placed into foster care.
“Trapped in the misery of my life,
Lost in the sorrow of my soul,
Unable to see the light.”
Other reference:
RESEARCH
Child Abuse:
- Child Abuse can be physical, emotional, verbal, or sexual.
- Children who are abused are often afraid to complain because they are fearful that they will be blamed or that no one will believe them.
Some Reasons for Child Abuse:
- Young, single non-biological parents.
- Family disorganization, dissolution, and violence, including intimate partner violence.
- Poverty and other socioeconomic disadvantages, such as unemployment.
- Parental stress and distress, including depression or other mental health conditions.
Child Abuse Killings:
- Children going through adolescence need the support of parents, who must give them room to grow and help them confront tough issues. Those who commit parricide have parents who have not been available to help them.
- One reason why child abuse killing happened is due to the severely abused child who is pushed beyond his or her limits.
- Analysis revealed that the six adolescents who fit the profile of the severely abused child had approached life fairly passively until the homicide.
- They kill only when they feel that no one is there to help them.
- The youths killed a parent or parents in response to a perception of being trapped.
Child Abuse Run Away:
Accounts of Child Abuse:
- “I’d get thrown against a wall and she would hit and kick me.” (https://www.nspcc.org.uk/what-we-do/childrens-stories-about-abuse/petes-story/)
- Abused by personal helper (Personal Account)
– Got hit on the head with severe items phone, cane, belt
– Blasted water straight to the face.
– Caned everywhere
– Did not want to tell his parents as in fear of getting more physical abuse by the helper. (being threatened)
-
NSPCC: Stories from survivors of child abuse
Fort:
- Provides refuge from the outside world
- Providing the child his personal space
- Promotes imagination and creativity
- Small space provides a sense of comfort and security
(https://littlebinsforlittlehands.com/importance-kids-fort-building/)