Background and Contextualising my Honours Study in Animation

1. Locating the Project
Foregrounding the Background
Natalie Styles s2713253

2. Evolution
Background
Artist Social History
‘Walter Street’
Personal Environmental
Histories Story Telling

3. The Project: What is it?
• 2D Animation; 3-4 minutes
• Linear Narrative: Passage of time
• No protagonist . No ‘characters’
• Point of View Shots
• Environmental Story Telling
(Working Title)

4. Logline
A voyeuristic ‘celebration’ of the urban social history of an inner city
Sydney street, and the changes that affect the residents, the
community and the suburb itself from the 1930s to the year 2000.
Is it a Real Place?

5. Croydon & Ashfield: Sydney Inner West

6. Inspiration: Personal

7. Location: Suburbia
• Voyeuristic
• Microcosm of society
• Social History
Union Street (1990) Wendy Chandler

8. Inspiration: Narrative
A constant that reflects change.

9. What it is: Significance of Place
• Setting as integral to the story
• Landscape as character
• Environment as reflection of character
• Reveal narrative through setting vs. character or narration

10. Practitioners: Hitchcock
‘The Camera is Not a Camera’
• Letting the environment reveal the narrative
• Influenced by silent movie era
• Immersive
• Sense of involvement
• Give the audience credit
• Uninterrupted by film maker retains control
of what is and is not in frame

11. Practitioners: Orson Wells (1949)
Wells uses the setting of the Third Man to reveal narrative
And as a negative space to create the third man

12. Psycho (1960)
Letting the Visual Reveal the Narrative
Connectivity of objects (Easter Eggs), Voyeurism & Point of View Camera Angles

13. Recent Interpretations:
Environmental Storytelling
Dear Esther: 2009
“Dear Esther is a ghost story, told using first-person gaming technologies.
Rather than traditional game-play the focus here is on exploration, uncovering the
mystery of the island, of who you are and why you are here. Fragments of story are
randomly uncovered when exploring the various locations of the island,
making every each journey a unique experience.’’ Dan Pinchbeck
http://dear-esther.com/?page_id=2

16. Progress: Concept Art
Objects of Significance

17. Progress: Concept Art
Colour themes emerging

18. What’s Next?
Pre-Production continues and choosing a background style
The options are endless…..literally.

20. For more information and stacks more concept images,
Location photos and sketches please go to my blog:
http://natshonours2012.blogspot.com.au/

21. Links & References:
(In order of appearance)
Ashfield & Croydon
http://maps.google.com.au/maps?hl=en&biw=1600&bih=732&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.,cf.osb&q=
2+walter+street+Croydon&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x6b12babff66c715f:0xfcd44709e2ec942d,2+Walter+St,
+Croydon+NSW+2132&gl=au&ei=8Zx1T4i3NsO5iQeaoYybCQ&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CCAQ8gEwAA
Union Street Animation
http://aso.gov.au/titles/shorts/union-street/clip1/
The Window
http://www.jeanniebaker.com/
Up - Pixar
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2bk_9T482g
Rear Window Trailer 1954
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kCcZCMYw38
Hitchcock Discusses Psycho
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=im1-HcMmh2k
Man with a Movie Camera 1929
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00ZciIC4JPw
Ozu’s Pillow Shots
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFdrUpA8W8k
Dear Esther
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7VJ4lP-05A
Bioshock II
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIopXUPVGFE
Varied Animation Background Treatments
http://animationbackgrounds.blogspot.com.au/