Project 2: Forrest Gump Inspirations

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I had a few inspirations for my Forrest Gump project.

Quote 1: I hate space – Gravity (2013)

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Road Runner, Nicola Ginzler

I had my inspirations from my childhood cartoons, such as Road Runner, Bugs Bunny and Tom & Jerry. There will always be this scene where an animal will consistently do something, such as running, and does not realize it has run off the cliff. When it finally realizes, it will then drop down from being suspended in midair.

The idea of a cat is also representative. Cats are creatures which are so curious, but as a result they climb trees and get stuck on trees and end up having to meow for help.

I guess it is comical and fun at the same time.

 

Quote 2: Roads? Where we’re going we don’t need roads. – Back to the future (1985)

Peter Pan (2003)

My first inspiration originated from Peter Pan (2003 movie adaptation). When the children get sprinkled with fairy dust, they jump off the bed but begin to fall, yet the fairy dust takes effect and they begin to fly. That concept is then adapted onto the car.

screenshots Mario Kart rainbow road

Mario Kart (Nintendo) – Rainbow Road

My second inspiration is derived from Mario kart’s Rainbow road, where roads are disconnected suddenly and the karts fly into the air.

 

Quote 3: In the face of overwhelming odds, I’m left with only one option, I’m gonna have to science the shit out of this. – The Martian (2015)

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Hippogriff escape scene; Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling

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Aragog; Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

My first inspiration is derived from Harry Potter, where the large, powerful magical creatures are always the ones saving the main characters, be it Buckbeak the Hippogriff or Aragog the giant spider. They seem to be the backbone of every ‘rescue mission’.

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Howl’s Moving Castle by Hayao Miyazaki, Studio Ghibli.

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Seven Deadly Sins

My next inspiration is from the concept of moving, travelling homes such as in Studio Ghibli’s Howl’s Moving Castle and in Seven Deadly Sins’ house on a pig. It is in the idea that a home is built on a moving object. It is also magical, which enhances the science-to-fantasy aspect of my work.

 

Quote 4: Wouldst thou like to live deliciously? – The Witch (2015)

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Princess Diaries 1

I wanted my background to emulate richness and royalty, hence taking inspiration from Princess Diaries. Anne Hattaway’s royal life in the palace is the atmosphere of a rich person that I have imagined.

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Hansel and Gretel

My next inspiration is in the idea of something being coated with yummy and attractive looking food. It is referenced from the Witch’s house in Hansel and Gretel. The richness of the food is also played up by its variety, type and quantity.

Project 2: Forrest Gump (Final)

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I hate space. – Gravity (2013)

I hate space, by Joey Chan. (Final)

Roads? Where we’re going we don’t need roads. – Back to the future (1985)

Roads? Where we’re going we don’t need roads. By Joey Chan. (Final)

In the face of overwhelming odds, I’m left with only one option, I’m gonna have to science the shit out of this. – The Martian (2015)

In the face of overwhelming odds, I’m left with only one option, I’m gonna have to science the shit out of this. (Final)

Wouldst thou like to live deliciously? – The Witch (2015)

Wouldst thou like to live deliciously? By Joey Chan. (Final)

Project 2: FORREST GUMP (Process)

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My Forrest Gump project revolves around many childhood elements. It is relatively more childish compared to everyone’s work, and I always have this trouble of my work being too dark. Nevertheless, I enjoyed my own ideas despite it not being as compelling and deep as other people’s.

  1. I hate Space – Gravity (2013)

I hate space, by Joey Chan. Draft 1.

My Draft 1 revolved around a cat floating helplessly on top of planet Earth. The cat is actually representative of the main character, Dr. Ryan Stone; she is strong, determined and brave, yet scared and helpless at times. I left a big black space around the cat to emphasize on the concept of a void/vacuum.

I hate space, by Joey Chan. Draft 2.

In Draft 2, I inserted elements of a doctor to better represent Dr. Ryan Stone. She is a doctor, but not a medical one. Hence, I tried to put a labcoat on the cat. However, the nature of Threshold made it such that it looked like a funeral garb instead. Hence, I identified other elements that were in conjuncture with Doctor, even if they were of the medical field. As a result, I used a head mirror and a stethoscope on the cat instead.

However, after trying to print it onto the tote bag, I realized that the details were so tiny that they could not be scanned and imprinted. Hence, I enlarged the cat and the planet.

I hate space, by Joey Chan. Draft 3 (Final).

Printing was still difficult, but it was better than before!

Emulsion piece!

But I messed up on the printing scale; the print turned out too small on the tote bag. 🙁

 

2. Roads? Where we’re going we don’t need roads. – Back to the future (1985)

In the actual movie, the scene depicts how a car has turbo thrusters and is able to fly up into the sky from the road.

However, I wanted to create a subversion of reality that is even more jarring.

Hence, I chose a ‘suicide’ scene.

Roads? Where we’re going we don’t need roads. By Joey Chan. Draft 1.

Usually, when a car dives off a cliff, it ends up in death. However, I aim to subvert reality by making the car fly off reality into fantasy (established by wings) instead of dropping down the cliff to its inevitable death.

Roads? Where we’re going we don’t need roads. By Joey Chan. Draft 2.

Roads? Where we’re going we don’t need roads. By Joey Chan. Draft 3.

For Draft 2 and 3, I changed the perspective of the cliff to something that is more interactive with the audience. I also changed the idea of a cliff (the one in the first draft was too covulated and messy) to that of a highway instead. However, the roads turned out messy and disconnected. I tried to add cars to improve the effect but it did not really help. However, what worked was how I inverted the highway to create a more jarring distortion of reality. It does give the magical feel. I retained the wings, too.

Roads? Where we’re going we don’t need roads. By Joey Chan. Draft 4 (Final).

In my final draft, i refined everything. I picked a clearer highway, a more retro car, better looking wings (cropped off a bird) and a better contrast in both the hatching of the black and the white. The inversion of the highway is further emphasized with the upside down car, which is going the ‘right way’ in comparison to our car who looks like it just drove down the cliff, yet is able to fly up again with the help of the wings.

 

3. In the face of overwhelming odds, I’m left with only one option, I’m gonna have to science the shit out of this. – The Martian (2015)

My Draft 1 was pretty embarrassing. I mixed it up with another movie about mars where people had to fight aliens off. The actual movie is about how Matt Damon is stuck on Mars because his friends left him behind thinking that he was dead. While waiting for his friends to come save him, he had to come out with ways to survive on Mars. During this scene, he manages to plant vegetables for sustenance- a whole damn garden.

However, in my first draft, I went along with the idea of a pure, destructive force. An explosion. Then I thought about science. The first representation I could think about was Albert Einstein, the king of E=MC^2. A mad genius. Then, I thought about the scene from the Dark Knight (Batman), where Joker struts off in distilled cool vibes as the hospital exploded behind him. Another mad genius. Then, I compared Joker and Einstein, and decided that the idea of combining the both was amazing because they were so similar.

Einstein in Joker Make-up, an explosion behind him just like the scene from the Dark Knight.

Was I not a pure genius?

In the face of overwhelming odds, I’m left with only one option, I’m gonna have to science the shit out of this. By Joey Chan. Draft 1.

Except that I was not.

My idea got rejected immediately because it did not have any movie elements. And it does not portray the idea of my quote. Boo. Moving on…

In the face of overwhelming odds, I’m left with only one option, I’m gonna have to science the shit out of this. Draft 2.

Draft 2 was when I realized I got the plot wrong and started burying my face in my hands begging the movie god for forgiveness.

Hence, I decided to change the idea! I incorporated movie elements such as the garden and the astronaut (Matt Damon) into the picture. I also included a dragon, which is the symbol of power and strength required to plow through any difficulties, alike what Matt Damon has done in the movie (plowing through difficulties, not becoming a dragon). I also implanted a house on the dragon, to symbolize his survival.

The idea revolves around how the character has scienced so much that magic and fantasy happens. Hence, we have a dragon out of fantasy, and even a house on top of the dragon, and a garden on the dragon’s tail.

In the face of overwhelming odds, I’m left with only one option, I’m gonna have to science the shit out of this. Draft 3 (Final).

In my final draft, I tried to lighten up my picture by removing a lot of black. However, dragons are generally quite dark, which is why I changed my creature to something equally strong and powerful- a Griffin.

It would be weird to suspend the Griffin in the air, hence I put him on Mars for some ground. It also helps in framing my picture.

 

4. Wouldst thou like to live deliciously? – The Witch (2015)

It is rare for someone to take quotes from a horror movie, but I did it.

The movie was about a Witch who kept driving a girl (Thomasin)’s family members into delusions and into doing stupid, crazy things. In the end, Thomasin had enough of their shittery and decided to become a Witch instead. Wew.

My first draft had little reference to the movie. But I wanted to play on the idea of living and deliciously. Hence, I had the idea of dumping a woman in a delicious pie, and the woman has to look comfortable and high attractive- to seduce people into doing the same, maybe?

Wouldst thou like to live deliciously? By Joey Chan. Draft 1.

Rejected, of course.

It was too literal.

Wouldst thou like to live deliciously? By Joey Chan. Draft 2.

Wouldst thou like to live deliciously? By Joey Chan. Draft 3.

In Draft 2 and 3, I took my idea from Hansel and Gretel. I coated a rich looking retro woman’s dress in delicious food, which instantly gives the idea of richness and attractiveness, such as the witch’s house in Hansel and Gretel. I inserted a rich background to emulate the wealth she holds.

However, the darkness was too strong, which makes the dress barely visible in contrast to the background.

Wouldst thou like to live deliciously? By Joey Chan. Draft 4 (Final).

In my final draft, I tried to change the background into something less dark. However, the final result still turned out very dark. What I could have done if I had more time and advice was to generate more crosshatching in the background or at least around the white spaces such as in my previous works, in order to make the lady stand out more.

HOW TO RUST METAL 101

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WARNING: Please ensure that the room you are rusting the metal in has GOOD VENTILATION. Just like fixation, the process stinks like hell so if you don’t want your room to stink like a gas chamber, PLEASE OPEN YOUR WINDOWS OR SOMETHING. Get some air in.

Don’t regret it the hard way like me.

Step 1: Get White Vinegar, Sea Salt and Hydrogen Peroxide.

Woah, sounds like dangerous shit but trust me, it’s not. You can obtain Hydrogen Peroxide from any pharmacy but I chose to get mine at Unity because it’s way cheaper than any Watson or Guardian. They use Hydrogen Peroxide as an antiseptic for injuries, so don’t go thinking it’s something potentially dangerous like Hydrochloric Acid.

I used a random brand of Sea Salt (really, it’s just for oxidizing and absorbing the moisture, so the brand does not matter).

For the White Vinegar, I used Heinz’s because it’s the easiest to find at any supermarket.

GET TWO SPRAY BOTTLES READY TOO.

Spray Bottle, White Vinegar, Sea Salt, Hydrogen Peroxide, Spray Bottle.

STEP 2: Fill ’em up!

Fill some Hydrogen Peroxide into one of the Spray Bottles. Same goes for the White Vinegar. It would be wise to get two different coloured spray bottles to ensure you don’t mix it up.

I used Red for White Vinegar.

I used Blue for Hydrogen Peroxide.

STEP 3: Get a tray.

For me, I used an aluminium tray and some aluminium foil. This is to hold your metals while they rot to hell.

A sparkly metal tray wrapped with a ravishing metallic foil.

Please don’t follow this step. I mean, do get a tray, but NOT ALUMINIUM.

It rotted through my tray. I don’t know how, but there was no hole or anything. If you really want to use an aluminium tray like mine, do put a newspaper or something underneath to protect your table/floor/shelf. You can throw everything away after you are finished with the rusting.

STEP 4: Get all your metals ready.

Depending on your project, it would be good to get a variety of metals.

For me, I worked with various sizes of nails, bolts and screws. I even used paper clips because I wanted that copper sheen.

STEP 5: Lay ’em out.

Do it neatly, please.

This is to ensure the spray and whatever gets to everything. We don’t like halfassed rusting- that is not convincing at all.

STEP 6: Spray and garnish it with salt.

Spray the HYDROGEN PEROXIDE first. Make sure that all metals are well-covered.

Immediately after, spray the WHITE VINEGAR. Again, make sure that everything is covered.

Afterwards, cover the whole thing with the sea salt you have been wondering about. I guess you can choose to omit the salt, but it will take longer to rust.

STEP 7: Leave it there.

Let it rust! It will make fizzling noises like you just opened a can of coke, and it will definitely stink because of the rust and white vinegar. However, it is perfectly okay. Just leave it there. The longer you leave it, the better the rusted effect. I left mine alone for 2 weeks to obtain the state it was in the project. It rusted even more after I built my structures, and it was quite prettily rusted by the day of presentation.

Rusting in process.

Rust.

Rust.

More Rust.

The rusting process will end up dyeing your salt another colour. This is because the metal rubs off onto the salt as the salt absorbs the moisture mixed with metallic elements.

It will tend to look pretty, but you are advised not to keep those dyed salt bits as a souvenir. For one, they really stink. For two, I don’t know if it will start spreading its joy of rusting to your other materials.

So friends! This is how you rust metal.

P.S This is my first attempt. I ripped the method off from Google so if you have better methods then by all means!

Project 2: Memorabilia

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This project was about picking an object which was either extremely important to us, or of no use to us anymore; yet we still keep it. We had to make an abstract structure out of it.

My two objects were the hamster keychain I treasured because it reminded me of my first (but dead now) hamster Hammy, while the other object was my first arcade card from my teen years, but has expired eons ago.

I picked the arcade card.

The arcade card was worth a ton of memories for me. It was my first “key” to the gateway of adventures- the arcade world. I was not allowed to visit arcades to play as a child because my parents said it was a waste of time and money. I grew rebellious as a teenager and decided ‘hey I really want to try playing at the arcade’ and so I went to get my first card on my birthday when I was 14. To me, it was like a whole new world, where a gateway into a wonderland opened for me. I imagined extremely high-tech flying thingies everywhere, and electricity fizzling in the air. Neon lights flashed, and the sound of speeding vehicles resounded throughout the air.

Damn.

I wanted to establish a concept whereby arcade times were the golden era in my life, where I could enjoy and have real fun. However, as times go by, I grow older, and I slowly lose time and interest in arcades. I could probably easily access arcades when I go to shopping malls now, but I choose to go eat or walk around rather than play at arcades. Yet, I remember the fun times I had at the arcade.

I chose my medium for this project to be Rusted metal.

The metal symbolizes the strength, tenacity and power it has, helping me to win my games and plow through any difficulties (stress, sadness, etc). However, as I stop playing at the arcade, the things left untouched (my arcade gaming experience) start to rust and melt. Nevertheless, I retained a gold-ish tint because despite not being in contact with gaming much anymore, I still remember the fun times I had- and miss it.

HOW TO RUST METAL 101:

I will post it on another post under research. Otherwise it will become way too long.

MY FIRST DRAFT:

I tried to make an arcade box. Y’know those old arcade boxes with Donkey Kong or Pacman? I was trying to re-establish that.

My first idea was to create a ‘shelf’ which represents the levels you have in games. The physical levels where you can jump up and down on. I used brass strips for that.

Then, I wanted to put a different arcade character on each floor to represent all the games I’ve played, including Space-Invader and Mario.

But it was too difficult and practically impossible with the materials I had on hand to make the characters out of nails and in small scale.

No one did it before online either. So research was basically for naught.

Hence, I decided to settle on establishing PACMAN.

PACMAN SHELF, by Joey Chan

As you can see, it didn’t really turn out well. It practically failed. Boo.

So I re-explored my ideas and tried to remember what I usually thought about as a kid.

Then, I remembered how I always had flavour with flying animals; about how I could ride on them and fly everywhere and rescue civilians from burning buildings, or something.

So, I decided to go with the idea of a flying bird; a Golden Bird. It would be the main transport to bring me everywhere in the arcade world.

I made it into a trophy too, to represent my victories in arcade gaming which inspired me to love Arcades more. A golden trophy! A GOLDEN BIRD TROPHY!

Hakuna Matata.

I used my remaining materials to make a Golden Bird out of rusted nails, establishing it’s wings with rusted paperclips and hot glue for a melting effect (and it sticks the metal together).

My colours were black, gold and brown, which is the idea of rust and decay, yet retaining its significance in my life.

The Golden Bird, by Joey Chan (Right Profile)

The Golden Bird, by Joey Chan (Left Profile)

PRESENTATION DAY!

Peter could not see what the bird meant. He was unimpressed. Boohoo. It was too unrepresentative in his opinion. Then, I fished out my Pacman structure and showed it to him. Then he became mild impressed.

He said that the Pacman structure represented how I try so hard to be perfect, yet I failed and that’s the success of it- it symbolized the decay of my work. The arcade box tries so hard to stay relevant and perfect, yet it rots and is ugly instead. Yet, it is more representative of the idea I was trying to put forth.

On the other hand, I restarted my project, and came out with something that was supposedly perfectly made- yet it was a failure because it was unrepresentative. It is also symbolism of the decay and failure of arcade gaming in staying in my life.

The Golden Bird and the Pacman: A Symbolism of Decay, by Joey Chan (Front Profile)

The Golden Bird and the Pacman: A Symbolism of Decay, by Joey Chan (Side Profile)

I didn’t understand until a few days later what he was trying to say.

But here you go! My Project of Decay.

Project: Image, Sound and Memories- Painting Teddy

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Painting Teddy

My story revolves around the theme of Adolescence, where it focuses on my Teddy bear’s memories. It talks about her journey in the place she is most familiar with; the bedroom. The setting takes place at her owner’s University dorm bedroom.

In the past, as a child, the Teddy is a constant best friend for her owner. She is also the ‘protector of the night’, defending her owner from the monsters she is afraid of as a child during night time. They do everything together, rarely apart.

However, her owner grew up. She stopped being afraid of the monsters beneath her bed. She plays with her Teddy less now. She is bogged down by school commitments and studies, and often comes home late, spending long hours outside of her room.

Teddy was still taken to her owner’s University dorm bedroom, but she gets even busier. Teddy misses her owner, and even though she no longer needs to protect her owner from her childhood fears or to entertain her owner, she still wants to do something for her. She wants to make her owner happy even though it does not get to spend much time with her anymore.

This journey revolves around the bedroom, where the Teddy is confined to; she never leaves the bedroom. Yet, it is her whole world because it is where she spends the most time with her owner.

PAINTING TEDDY:

The music I used are a mix of solemn and upbeat music, because as children, we tend to have roller coaster emotions. We can feel happy at one moment, and sad right away at the other. While the Teddy’s owner grows up, the Teddy does not grow up. Hence, she remains stuck in the state of adolescence, where she is just like a child.

The upbeat music represents the child’s mind, where it is happy, active, loud and exciting. The solemn music represents the sadder thoughts the Teddy holds. Aside from the music, there are also verbal speech present in 4 of the tracks. Those are the Teddy’s thoughts in her head. The reason why I did not include speech in all the tracks is because the Teddy does not necessarily think clearly all the time. For example, she may not have been thinking of anything in particular when she climbs off the bed in the second photo.

The Teddy first appears on the bed. Then, she moves to the window, then to the floor and to the wall. Then, her owner appears at the door, and finally, the scene transits back to the bed.

The bed represents the place where she starts from, hence ending at the same place. The window is the only connection aside from the door, where the Teddy can see outside the bedroom. Hence, it is also the place closest her owner whenever she yearns for her.

When the Teddy transits to the floor, that is where things are casual and down-to-earth (literally). Over here, Teddy gets her paws dirty to involve herself in craft work. The floor is where Teddy ‘plays’. As children, we usually play with our toys on the floor as well, hence also hinting how Teddy yearns to play with her owner again (going back to the past where Teddy plays with her owner on the floor as children).

When we transit to the wall, that is the place closest to the door, and by putting the painting there, it expresses Teddy’s eagerness to show her owner her artwork to make her happy.

Finally, at the door, that is where the owner comes home. It is the place dividing the outside world and Teddy’s world. It is the place which indicates when Teddy finally gets to be with her owner again.

 

Inspired by my Teddy Bears Fullbuster and Laboon who are always there for me. 🙂