Proposal for study - Responsive

Proposal:

Please identify and explain your self directed or live project. Be as thorough as possible and  include an overview of your area of study, why you are interested in it and an outline of the content you intend produce. This proposal will give staff some guidance and a reference when it comes to assess the work. 

As a multi-disciplinary artist, I am interested in working in a variety of mediums, creating a range of different outcomes; however my main aim for this module is to improve in developing narrative, character and animation production. This will be a self directed brief, developing my own practice under the title Bambi Willow, as I can look into branding and setting up my own freelancing business. During this process I will develop a deeper understanding and strengthen my professional practice within various creative sectors, mainly focusing on animation. To make my project multimedia I will use transmedia storytelling, expanding my ‘world’ across zines and other crafts. My work for this projects suits late teens upwards, looking at the recent trend and increase in handmade and kitsch, which is why it suits being made into different craft forms. I will primarily be working on a panda series named ‘Bam & Boo’. I intend to produce a few small animations/gifs of pin up pandas, which will then lead into developing a more specific and meaningful narrative (may not complete it within the time frame but work towards getting a complete animation by the end of the year for animation festivals). I will also enter the 11 seconds club using these two panda characters. I hope to create a short animation in 48 hours, which will challenge me to work quickly and effectively to make a sweet yet simple narrative driven animation. Within the transmedia story telling, I wish to create a zine under a specific subject matter which effects my characters, create a few print quality illustrations, as well as taking on any freelance projects through these characters. With development these outcomes may vary, and I may find more suitable avenues to go down. I am looking to enter competitions and festivals with any animations I produce, which will be decided when the animation is finished. The craft element of this project will be commercially based, and my aim by the end of this project is to sell work online, at craft fairs, and potentially in art shops.

Collaborative Opportunities

Are there any stakeholders in your project? Do you plan on working with anybody?

If so Identify who they are and what they will be doing

As I am looking into freelance practice and making my own company I will mainly be working alone, but I may seek help if undertaking specific workshops when exploring craft, potentially in laser cutting, screen printing and fabric printing. For my animations, I will also need help with the sound design for my animations, which may need a small team or potentially just one person. I have chosen to work alone for the majority of this project, as I have identified that this is how most freelance animators and illustrators work if they are not within an animation company. Not all freelancers exclusively work like this, however I think it is important that I develop my skills and confidence to work in such a way, preparing me for the future. As this is a self-directed brief, there are no companies or professionals that are stakeholders in this project. I am my main stake-holder, as this module will hopefully project my work into the public eye. I am however working to an audience, and if I wish to succeed I need to ensure that I have aimed it right and please their needs. If I am to sell my work too, this holds even more importance.

Resources:

Do you have any specific resource or equipment requirements.

You should also note if there are any particualar health and safety or risk ssessment concerns. 

I will be using Julia Pott’s ‘Narrative for Animation’ online Skillshare course as guidance when developing my main animation narrative Depending on the avenues I wish to take the craft element of this module down, I may need to book inductions with using the laser cutter, screen printing and fabric printing. For the majority of this module I will need to use traditional ways of working using paper and pencil/pen/ink/or any other materials to render with. I am hoping to explore, if only briefly, hand-drawn animation using paper. I have my own lightbox and a smaller more portable lightbox too, meaning I can animation at home and on weekends. The majority of the time when animating I will be using a mixture of Photoshop and After Effects, using a Wacom drawing tablet, where I will explore animation techniques. I may also use Flash to animate and experiment with. For the sound element to my animation I may need to book out the sound booth, however I will need to look into this more when I come to it.

Submission Details

Please state submission details/ costs if there are any associated with entering a competition. 

I will be entering the free competition 11 second club during this module, however the deadline depends which month I undertake it, as it is a monthly competition. For my main animation, I will need to look into festivals which suit my animation once finished, as it may or may not be suitable directly for children (older target audience), in which case I will need to look into different categories to enter into. Most of these deadlines will be in summer for graduate animations, so I will need to look into undergraduate categories. So prices have yet to be confirmed. I will also look into the D&AD brief ‘Tell don’t sell’ and see if my longer animation fits into that competition.

Bibilography:

Please list a range of books, magazine, journals and web based sources that you anticipate using. Please use the Harvard referencing system.

Also state if you will be undertaking any primary research during this investigation phase

Alger, J. (2012) The Art and Making of Paranorman, Chronicle Books: San Francisco Anderson, W. (2009) The Making of Fantastic Mr Fox, Rizzoli: New York Kaufman, J.B. (2012) The fairest of them all. The making of Walt Disney's Snow White and the Severn Dwafs', Walt Disney Family Foundation Press: San Francisco Thomas, F. Johnston, O. (1995) The Illusion Of Life: Disney Animation, New York: Hyperion. Williams, R. (Second Edition: 2009) The Animator's Survival Kit, Expanded Edition: A Manual of Methods, Principles and Formulas for Classical, Computer, Games, Stop Motion and Internet Animators, London: Faber & Faber. 11 Second Club [Online] Available: http://www.11secondclub.com/ (27th Nov 2013) D&AD [Online] Available: http://www.dandad.org/awards/new-blood/2014/ (27th Nov 2013) SkillShare [Online] Available: http://www.skillshare.com/dashboard (27th Nov 2013)