After the formative, it is clear that I have done enough research and development into my ideas.
Strengths
Research
Development of Idea
method of production
Weakness
Story boards
After the formative I have come to a decision to focus of the mask idea, my tutor and my piers agreed this was the idea which had the most potential. It is also more realitsic then some of my early ideas, time is a constant worry so I have to be practical in my means of production. I also am slightly behind on the practical side of the project. I should have already started animating and selecting the software that I am going to use. The spent to much time on my research and may have got a bit caried away.
I will use Photp shop, Maya , Z Brush, After Effects and Premier to edit and create my idents.
Now that I have researched into existing Idents , I will now research into films or documentaries which I feel will inspire me. The type of media that I will look at will be relivent to the British Museum , it will either be on Ancient culture or anything to do with history.
This Documentary series Wild China is full of beautiful scenery , cultural gems and natural wonders . I am very likely to use a Chinese artifact for one of my Idents and would want to focus on China's bright and colorful ancient history.
I decided to use this clip as I can picture a ornament of a Chinese boat , the camera could pan in and a small animation of Chinese fisherman could appear accompanied by tranquil music the animation would come to a stop and transform back in to the Chinese ornament. A slogan could then read 'A thousand years of history in a single visit', 'The British Museum'.
I decided to use Baraka as one of my sources of Inspiration due to its shire creative scope . Baraka took thirteen months to make and was filmed in 24 countries, the team went around the world three times, the film contains no narrative or subtitles. The Director states "it's not about why you are there it's about whats there" This film is therefore about simply appreciating culture and the planet, I can relate this to The British Museum which should also be about appreciating what is around you. Braka is a film about history nature and social situations , the British Museum is also about all these things. Director Ron Fricke/Cinematographer believes that we are connected to everything, I feel this is relevant to the Museum since everything which is now has its roots in history.
This trailer fills my imagination with ideas, I want to try and capture this sense of escape, I want my idents to take the audience into a new world for a brief period of time.
I could use certain camera shots and techniques to make an Ident from a collection of photos .
I love the vivid colors and sense of fantasy in these animations.They also make a lot of references to mythology which is well suited to The British Museum.
I think this animation would be prefect for a tribal piece of art work. A Native American dream could start to animate in the flip book style. (Cave Paintings )
One of my ideas was to do with the Aztec civilization, which you can see in my sketches section in my blog. This video inspired me and gave me ideas to the type of sound and atmosphere that I would like in my Ident. I also think it is very effective the way the camera pans into the forest.
If you skip forward to 1:27 in this video there is a scene of the Aztec Kingdom this would be perfect for my other idea where the camera zooms into the eyes to reveal an ancient world.
This film Mongol tells the story how a boy rises to become the great GENGHIS KHAN who ruled the largest empire in history to this day. The film is rich with cultural heritage and I could use the film for Mongolian artefactual from the British Museum.
An Ident has to represent the company in a short period of time , DreamWorks Ident does exactly that and is very memorable due to its unique style. Color, music and design all combine in order to project a sense of what the company is about . Dreamworks also uses the Harp Instrument which immediately makes you think of a dream or childhood fairy tale.
I decided to use the DreamWorks Ident again , yet this time for The film gladiator . I posted this video to demonstrate how powerful music is for creating a different type of feel. This music is ominous and dark because Gladiator is a serious type of film so it therefore has to represent what the film is like.
I wanted to use this as an example to show how music and sound will help direct my Ident.
The Bungie Logo has been made famous from its popular Halo franchise. The Logo is simple yet very memorable due to its iconic guitar sound . The bacteria looks impressive in the way in which it transforms into the earth, Bungie could be trying to symbolize the idea that they create Showing that they are inventive. Bungie often creates games which are slightly mythical and are highly imaginative. There games have a degree of realism which the audience can relate to such as realistic weapons and vehicles. However they also create worlds of fantasy, such as alien planets. The Bungie logo is often accompanied by the famous Gregorian style church chant, this then suddenly makes the ident unique to Bungie and as soon as the audience hears this we know it is a halo game. The church style sound represents that Bungie wants to be different from its competitors such as call of duty and other FPS . When I am making my ident for the British museum , i will also have to consider something that is iconic to the British museum. Simplicity is the key , since every Ident that i can remember are the simple ones e.g. Pixar , Dreamworks, Bungie and E4 .
The DC comic Ident is simple but very stylized , using after effect I will attempt to add some style to my Idents so they have a polished and professional feel like this one. The bats in this Ident could be symbolic of the companies most famous heroes batman.
The Disney Ident represents the magic kingdom, therefore it is stating Disney equals magic. The message is simple and clear. This does not however state all Walt Disney films are about magic it's stating that all Disney films have the quality of magic in the way that they are made.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R94X1M7r1SU
This Chanel 4 ident is set in Tokyo , I'm struggling to see how I could use this for inspiration for the British Museum. The concept could be a way of introducing the young generation with there past. Manga is so popular amongst Japan and now the west. I would like to somehow merge the two.
I think these types of Idents are extremely effective , the large expanse of land , brings the viewer away from confinement its almost like a refreshing breather from hectic television. However I think it would to time consuming to create something like this for my project.
After visiting the museum, I drew some basic sketches. I now want to do more research into Idents. After analyzing my drawings I realized my ideas were all very similar . I also thought of many other films, adverts and Idents which will inspire me which I will now research.
Plan.
1 - ReseachIdents, post videos on to my blog
2 - Research films and other media which may inspire me
3 - Visit the museum and come back with more photos (European section)
I think it would be interesting if I could create a stopmotion effect, this would appeal more to children . I can imagine someone sitting and looking the egyptian painting , then the eyes could move and the whole painting will be animated grabbing the woman and pulling them into there world. The person could then be also animated in the iconic Egyptian style art work.
I copied a photo that I took at the museum , of two chinese men fighting . The two figures are practicing Kung Fu . I would like to keep the statues in the exact same positions but suddenly throw in a back drop of a chinese setting, such as green mountains and temples the scene would depict something of a peacful nature . I would animate the characters using 2 d software , then make them fight one another. The characters will then go back into the original position and I may use the same slogan 'The British Museum where history comes to life'.
This is also similar to the my other ideas, in this one I would like the Aztec mask to fade out into a modern south Americana's face. The editing will be subtle and I will use after effects again. This time I would like the slogan to read ' Know your your history know your self'. I came up with this idea, when I thought about how there is a lack of interest with the young and there history. This slogan is to help make young people more interested in the British Museum making them aware that people descended from these ancient people and that all history is deeply rooted in modern society.
This is a continuation of my previous idea , to do with the Aztec mask . This time the camera would pan in a lot faster and the eyes would be the main focus rather then the whole mask. Music and sound effects would still play an important part in the animation. instead of the camera slowing panning in , would like it to snap from shot to shot then suddenly snapping to the eyes. The eyes would then appear large covering most of the screen. Inside the eyes I would like to create an Aztec world, such as Huge Pyramids , an impressive sky and a general scence of grandeur. I would like to animate this in after effects. The Mayan scene would also be a digital piece of artwork drawn in photoshop. The digital piece of artwork will look impressive and hopefully immerse the audience into an ancient word. I would also have the same slogan again 'The British Museum where history comes to life'.
Another contiuation, this time eyes would open up to reveal a life like quality showing the mask coming to life.
After taking a photo from the Japanese section, I thought it would be interesting if the Samurai Armour could turn around as if it suddenly came alive. The short animation could have a slogan at the end 'The British Museum, where History comes to life'. Most of the people who visit the museum are tourists or older people, I didn't see any children. My only concern over this idea is that it may be scary for children, however due to the age of the audience it may not be a problem. I would like to use Maya to animate this, as I need to practice more with the software and this would be a good opportunity.
I felt very inspired after my visit my mind was full of exciting ideas. I also found the museum slightly overwhelming as there is so much to see. I took around a hundred photosbut documented a few which I thought about using.
After some initial research into Indents, I decided to visit the British Museum. I could have continued researching, yet wanted to get stuck into my project and remain fresh. I hoped to gain inspiration, ideas for my Indents and photos for reference material.
After my visit, I will produce some rough sketches, and then go back to researching Indents.
I went into the BBC website and found out more about the history of Idents
Before Idents companies used logos’ to identify them selves and still do.
Idents came about as technology advanced and gave designers a chance to be creative.
The only part which moved was a small globe in the middle.
1953
1963 the globe was now an established symbol for the BBC. The globe would spin and the Indent was shown in-between shows
In 1997 BBC’s idents went under some huge changes , the way in which the company advertised them selves were far more artistic, and the thinking behind the Idents were more elaborate
A number of hot air balloons were filmed in different locations around the UK.
The idea behind these new idents conveyed the message that BBC was both a national and local broadcasting company.
“We need some Idents done for the British Museum, maybe your students could come up with some ideas for us? We need three clips between five and ten second clips that we can play before during and after our presentations to reinforce The British Museum’s identity. They can use the gallery’s logo, they can use images from the gallery’s collection, and they can use current or future exhibitions as a theme. Such as the current Aztec exhibition.
It would be great if they came up with a range of ideas… I would like to see three or for Idents , I don’t know the first thing about computers? A storyboard for each as well as some explanation of why they have taken that approach would be excellent support for their actual animations. I suppose they’re going to have to do a little bit of research into the museum and what we’re about to really come up with something useful…”
• Do some research into the National Gallery Storyboard, explain, and produce three to for segments of animation to reinforce the identity of The British Museum.
The Brief Before I begin my project I think it will be a good idea to explain how I takled the brief.
I downloaded evernote which is a free programme which helps me to stay organized as i often find it a challnge to stay organized. I wrote up a seven week plan on evernote to help me to stay on track.
The Brief then asks two questions, regarding ways in which I will aproach the project. out of the four possible paths I decided to chose 2.D conceptualization. This will give me a chance to be creative and pursue something that I am interested in.
I have deicided to use one of the Brief's formulated by the industry , yet make some minor changes. Instead of choosing the National gallery I will chose The British Museum and isntead of creating 6 five second clips I will create three ten to five second indents. This will give me the chace to vary my idents as many Idents in the indusrty range from five seconds , ten seconds and beyond.
The main reason for chosing this project rather then the others is down to the amount of freedom that I am given. The other briefs are more sructured and you have to follow a certain path. I love ancient cultures and have a deep fascination with Asian and tribal traditions. This will help me when it comes to ideas as I wont spend ages trying to think what to do as my ideas should come naturally. Over the years I have watched many documentaries , films about remote and ancient cultures. I also travelled around Asia in my gap year which deepened my interest even more.
I will try to fufill the brief and produce storyboard for each of my idents. As stated my idents will reinforce the identity of the Museum.
Idents
Indents are visual representations of a company, a way of branding them selves. Television Indents have to fit in with the style of the company for example, E4 Idents are playful since the audience range between teenagers and young adults, while BBC's Idents are more mature reflecting their audience.
