Adaptation A - Musicals Infographic

A few pics to show the style I'm going for with my Infographic on 'The World of Musicals'. The aim is to start with musical notes, so at the moment I'm focusing on how I can use the circular shapes of music notes to create famous musical characters. Above are Dorothy, Lion, Tin Man and Scarecrow from The Wizard of Oz. Underneath are Annie and Sandy (from 'Annie') and John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John's characters in 'Grease'. More to come...

Infographic Research into Musicals

Facts about musicals:-

- Musical evolved directly out of operas

- There are two different types of musical - "Book musicals" and "sung throughs". Book musicals have songs interspersed between dialogue and acting. In "sung throughs" nearly every line is sung with only occasional dialogue. 
- Many older musical films had singers dubbed over the actors' voices as they couldn't carry a tune
- There is a new trend of 'jukebox musicals' adapting a play or musical from an artist's catalogue of songs (eg Mamma Mia, Moulin Rouge).

Tropes of musicals:-
- All-knowing singing narrator
- Angry Mob Song
- Bad Girl Song
- Colourful Song
- Crowd Song
- Cut Song
- Dark Reprise
- Death Song
- Fanfare
- Friendship Song
- "I Am Becoming" Song
- "I Am Great!" Song
- "I Am" Song
- "I Want" Song
- Duets
- List Song
- Opening Chorus
- Pep Talk Song
- The Song Before the Storm
- They've Come So Far Song
- Triumphant Reprise
- Villain Song
- Welcoming Song
(from tvtropes.org)

List of famous musicals:-

• Singin' in the Rain (1952)
• West Side Story (1961)
• Wizard of Oz (1939)
• Cabaret (1972)
• The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964)
• The Sound of Music (1965)
• High Society (1956)
• Oliver! (1968)
• Guys and Dolls (1955)
• The Jungle Book (1967)
• Mary Poppins (1964)
• Grease (1978)
• Bugsy Malone (1976)
• An American in Paris (1951)
• Meet Me in St Louis (1944)
• Hairspray (1988/2007)
• Frozen (2013)
• Once (2007)
• My Fair Lady (1964)
• Les Miserables (2012)
• Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953)
• Moulin Rouge! (2001)
• Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (1968)
• Top Hat (1935)
• A Hard Day's Night (1964)
• All That Jazz (1979)
• Annie (1982)
• The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
• Chicago (2002)
• Dancer In The Dark (2000)
• Sunshine on Leith (2013)
• Evita (1996)
• Fiddler On The Roof (1971)
• Funny Face (1957)
• Funny Girl (1968)
• Tommy (1975)
• Little Shop Of Horrors (1986)
• Mamma Mia! (2008)
• New York, New York (1977)
• The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)
• Stage Fright (2014)
• Sweeney Todd (2007)
• The Blues Brothers (1980)
• The Wiz (1978)
• One From The Heart (1981)
• Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench (2009)
• Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971)
• 8 Women (2002)
• Golden Eighties (1986)
• South Park (1999)

Mudbox introduction

Today we had our first Mudbox lesson with Simon. We played around with painting mainly and sharing files between Maya, Mudbox and Photoshop.

Maya Tutorials & Film Reviews

Maya Tutorials

Head Modelling - Blocking

Head Modelling - Refined Blocking

Head Modelling - The Mouth

Head Modelling - The Lips

Head Modelling - The Eyes

Film Review

Hero's Journey (Ratatouille) - http://emmalmorley.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/heros-journey-ratatouille.html

Archetypes (Kingsman) - http://emmalmorley.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/film-review-kingsman-secret-service.html

B-Movies (The Blob) - http://emmalmorley.blogspot.co.uk/2015/10/film-review-blob-1958.html

Exploitation Movie (Mad Max: Fury Road) - http://emmalmorley.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/film-review-mad-max-fury-road-2015.html

Documentary (Montage of Heck) - http://emmalmorley.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/film-review-documentary-montage-of-heck.html

Adaptation (Saving Mr Banks) - http://emmalmorley.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/film-review-saving-mr-banks.html

Comedy (Jackass) - http://emmalmorley.blogspot.co.uk/2016/01/film-review-jackass-comedy.html

Film Review - Documentary: Montage of Heck

Montage of Heck is the 2015 film by Brett Morgen documenting the life of Nirvana frontman, Kurt Cobain. It was made in conjunction with Kurt's daughter, Frances Bean Cobain and features interviews with those who knew him best including his wife Courtney Love, his mother and former bandmate, Krist Novoselic.

The movie would appeal mostly to fans of Cobain's music but it is also a very moving insight into the life of a man who was gentle, immensely creative but just fell on the wrong side of the tracks. The film features much of Nirvana's music and has been cleverly put together to create a very moving account of the artist's life.

Featured throughout the film are animated sequences by artist and creator of the animated short Junkyard, Hisko Hulsing. These accompany audio which was given to Morgen by Cobain's family and are a really fitting tribute to someone who was himself artistic in many different ways.

As well as the animated sequences created by Hulsing, Morgen has included and animated Cobain's own artwork which was often satirical and always had a message to give. Whether a Nirvana fan or not, this film would be interesting to anyone who has heard of Cobain and wants to learn more about the troubled life he lead and lost so soon.

Illustration List:

Film Poster: http://cdn.collider.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/kurt-cobain-montage-of-heck.jpg
(Accessed 09.11.15)

Still 1: https://s3.amazonaws.com/tribeca_cms_production/uploads/film/photo_2/550a10cdb57ce9148f00011b/KURTCOBAIN_web_2.jpg
(Accessed 09.11.15)

Still 2: http://www.hiskohulsing.com/wp-content/uploads/kurtcobain1.jpg
(Accessed 09.11.15)

Still 3: http://i.ytimg.com/vi/JOhJM2pj0FU/maxresdefault.jpg
(Accessed 09.11.15)

Still 4: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/cc/75/95/cc759531b106a048fb081a66b16a0323.jpg
(Accessed 09.11.15)

Film Review - Jackass (Comedy)

Jackass began as an MTV television series in 2000, featuring a group of friends playing pranks and crude jokes on each other. The concept of Jackass came from Johnny Knoxville who had the idea of testing self-defense items on himself and his friends. This evolved into many practical jokes which are not for the feint-hearted. 

Along with Knoxville, the show featured new stars Chris Pontius, Steve-O and Bam Margera among others, with occasional guest appearances by other celebrities such as Tony Hawk and Brad Pitt. The show consisted of pranks such as jumping from buildings into bushes, shooting each other with paintball guns and stunt driving in golf carts. Often injuries were sustained but this just added to the entertainment. 

Because of the success of Jackass, films were subsequently made which were as popular as the TV series. What makes Jackass so funny is that everything happening is real and those involved are clearly having fun, despite clearly incurring excruciating pain at times. Perhaps the reason Jackass is so fun to watch is because people find it fun to see people suffering when they know it is happening voluntarily! 

Illustration List:

Movie Poster - http://i.jeded.com/i/jackass-the-movie.15911.jpg

(Accessed 17.12.15)

Still 1 - http://assets.rollingstone.com/assets/2015/list/readers-poll-the-top-5-jackass-stunts-20151002/211498/large_rect/1443759119/1401x788-20151001_jackass03_hp.jpg

(Accessed 17.12.15)

Still 2 - https://images.susu.org/unionfilms/films/backgrounds/hd/jackass-number-two.jpg

(Accessed 17.12.15)

Still 3 - http://imagesmtv-a.akamaihd.net/uri/mgid:uma:image:mtv.com:2068329?quality=0.8&format=jpg&height=495&width=660

(Accessed 17.12.15)

Film Review: Hero's Journey - Ratatouille

Fig.1 Ratatouille (Movie Poster, 2007)

Ratatouille tells the story of a rat called Remy who aspires to be more than just vermin and has a passion for good food. This Hero's Journey movie begins with Remy's call to adventure when his colony is discovered by the owner of the house in which they live. He is reluctant to go on his adventure and loses his way until he meets his supernatural aid in the form of the ghost of famous chef Gusteau, who is also the owner of Remy's favourite restaurant. It is here that the rat discovers he is living in Paris.  

Fig.2 Remy & Gusteau (Film Still, 2007)

Remy crosses the threshold into the belly of the whale when he accidentally finds himself in the kitchen of Gusteau's famous restaurant. Here he meets his sidekick, Linguini, a clumsy potwash boy and Remy's main road of trials is to teach his new friend to cook. He does this by hiding under Remy's toque and using his hair to control his arms. Remy uses this technique to cook delicious food in the restaurant through Linguini in a puppet-like way. 

Fig. 3 Remy & Linguini (Film Still, 2007)

Another trial Remy faces is his relationship with his Father, who believes rats should not interact with humans and understands their threat. However, towards the end of the film, Remy reaches atonement with his father when he proves that humans are not so bad and that they can work together. After an argument with Linguini, Remy refuses to cook for him any more and is almost tempted to go home after an encounter with his fat rat brother, Emile. This gives us the refusal to return but then after a change of heart, the magic flight of the film comes when all Remy's rat friends and family come together to run the restaurant after all the chefs leave on discovering Remy and Linguini's secret. 

Fig.4 Linguini & Colette (Film Still, 2007)

Remy becomes master of both worlds when he can carry on cooking but his rat family also live in harmony with the human friends Remy has made, thus also showing the freedom to live at the end. 

Illustration List:

Fig.1 Ratatouille (2007) [Movie Poster] At:

http://www.canmag.com/images/front/movies2007/ratatouilleposter5.jpg

(accessed 08.10.15)

Fig.2 Remy & Gusteau (2007) [Film Still] At: http://www.pixar-planet.fr/dossiers/images/abandon/03.jpg

(accessed 08.10.15)

Fig. 3 Remy and Linguini (2007) [Film Still] At:

http://i.ytimg.com/vi/1gjXO_AEpIQ/hqdefault.jpg

(accessed 08.10.15)

Fig.4 Linguini & Colette (2007) [Film Still] At:

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCPQtzPfRQvDJeYslJKr9tFMk39J1SrH8zPskN_ZowD019oa-GNe1IcFQer4V6Tq4rdjaRPLaPSfi6fMKLli08-q8Km3xT7OGspnl30PMWNw6lLJeXMByPHZzV5StC9Fr9A2DcRF2nJT7n/s1600/rat2.jpg

(accessed 08.10.15)

Infographic Project - Initial ideas

For the Adaptation A project we are asked to come up with 10 suggestions for our given phrase. Here is my phrase and my narrowed down 10 options:-

The World of _____________.

Musicals

Child Poverty

Retro Computer Games

Greed

School Dinners

Cake

Old Age

Food Shopping

The Teenager

The Parent

Coffee

Character Project

Crit Presentation-Character Project PDF

Main Character designs

My main character is very pliable and can use its five limbs in many different ways as shown in the poses above, though its movements are restricted depending on the fabric being worn.

At the beginning of each level, the player chooses which outfit to put the character in depending on the materials needed to complete the world. These are some examples.

Character Project - Game Interface/Title Screen