Reflection

In my essay, I researched how colour and composition is used in cinematography effectively. I identified different methods, such as harmonious colour schemes and the use of perspective lines, and then applied my knowledge by examining what messages they create in the anthology The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. In my practical work, I demonstrated how this information can be applied thereafter by developing a series of storyboards showing the different methods and their effects. For instance, in one shot the convention of lead room is contradicted. Brown (2016) states that the "eyeline or gaze has some visual weight" and that, for a composition to be balanced, there needs to be room in the frame. Moura (2011) explains that the breaking of this rule by putting the subject too close to the edge of the frame will give the feeling of claustrophobia or the unknown. I designed the first storyboard to create a sense of helplessness by placing the subject on the edge of the frame. I also developed my own visual language with colour. A theme through out the storyboards is the link between orange and power which references what is shown in the short Meal Ticket and the colour red.

I think that my practical work is effective at demonstrating the different techniques I have learnt through my research. However, I feel that without a script to go along side it, some of the meaning is lost. Even so, the overall tone is communicated through composition and colour.

Animism

We had to pick an inanimate object and give it life. I picked the bun on a head bangers head.
Then we had to add life to the background. I made the table and light bounce.

I enjoyed this task and, if I had more time, I would have like to refine it and experiment with more creative backgrounds and complex movement.

Lip Sync

To start this lip sync, I made a list of mouths for every sound/shape I could think of.
After hearing the audio, I split up the sentence and selected the right mouths.
I set it to the right time and tried to add some emotion.

If I had more time on this, I would make the movements smoother and give more movement. I like how it came out but it would be better if I moved her jaw down with the long 'oo' sounds. I also think that the shoulders bunching up and then realising would be effective.

Essay Structure

Between colour and composition, what is the most effective tool in cinematography to convey power in The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)?

Intro

-          Purpose of cinematography – to communicate à book 1 and 2 and 3

-          Article 2 – what are the most important

-          Rules of cinematopgry stem from paintings, pre dates photography and cinema – article 3

-          There are two types of power – artificial and primal à video 1

-          What are the divides of power – primarily split between the will of fellow man and the force of fate ?

-          Article 1

Para 1

-          Man v man – buster Scruggsbb

-          Monochromatic – article 1 book 3 – colour reflects subject and tone of story done

-          White vs black  done

-          Scale done

-          Horizon line / thirds? done

-          Off centre – centrality video 1 book 3 – disrupt pattern MAYBE

Para 2

-          Man vs fate – analgones

-          Analogous

-          Blue vs orange – article 4 breaking rules
book 4 – orange duality
book 2 – color most important. Change with him.

-          Lines of perspective video 1

-          Reuse of shots to show change – book 1 contrast

-          Off centre -> book 1 balance
centrality video 1

Para 3

-          Man vs man and fate? – meal ticket

-          Complimentary and triadic colour theme.

-          Red = worth
red/green – video 3 article 4 negative and positive components

-          Contrast – video 2

-          Nose /sight room à book1 artixal 3

-          Negative space à video 1

-          Frame within a frame – the stage…

Conclusion

-          Composition has better served the coen brothers in conveying power as they rely on a wide variety where as the colours are used to support what the composition suggest

-          Composition is what gives the colour their meaning as colour is a completely nuanced association

-          However

-          Overall, in cinema, composition will always be more important in cinematography as a tool because it is the visual necces

-          Black and white films article 6-8

-          Colour blind people  article 6

NOTES:

-          Books 1 and 2 and video 2 and 3 emphasis the innate reactions we have to colour agree colour is most

-          Vieod 1 says comp is most effective and fundamemtal
article 2 says it is the 2^nd most important therefore above colour rated 4^th or 5^th

-          Faults of colour

-          Research supports comp

Primary Research

I asked 10 people some general questions about colour and film. These are the results:

Questionnaire
What colour scheme do you find the most emotive?
(Analogous 2, Monochromatic 1, Triadic 1 and Complementary 4)
Is saturation more evocative than hue?
(Yes 0, No 4, Sometimes 5,  I don't know 1)
Do you watch black and white films?
( Yes 7, No 3)

I was surprised by how many people watch black and white films. I will reference this in my essay.

Practical

Before developing my storyboards, I experimented with the lip sync animation we made previously. I shifted and analogous scheme to a complementary one to show the shift in emotion.

Power - Wolf > Girl

Composition
- Lead Room - Shot A: Girl is stood on the right, looking right. No room left for the line of sight to give the feeling of claustrophobia, fear of the unknown and the idea of being trapped.
-Shot B: The Wolf takes up the whole frame to contrast shot A. The snarling nose is almost pushing against the side of the frame to build anticipation and the idea of complete power.
Colour
- Shot A : Analogous. Blue is the colour of despair, it washes over everything. The feeling of helplessness.
Shot B: Complimentary. Orange and blue
- Orange chosen to symbolize power - the orange mouth and eyes of the wolf .

Power - Girl > Wolf

Composition
-Shot A: Dutch Tilt. Contrasts the balanced levels in the two previous shots --> signifying power change.
- Shot B: Negative space. Emptiness shows the diminishing power of the wolf. Significance given to the severed paw and blood as the only subjects.
Colour
Shot A - Triadic. Blue Red and Green. Red is more intense then orange to imply a viscous want for power. Green is introduced to disrupt the complimentary scheme --> another change, this time more violent.
Shot B - Trail of orange blood to show that the power has physically left he wolf, there for the girls taking. Return to complementary.

Power: Girl > Grandma

Composition

- Scale: Grandma is small in the corner, weak (Shot A). The girl is close to the camera (Shot A) and then is towering over the lens, filling all the screen. Similar to the wolf, taking up space infers intimidation.

- Orange light does not touch the Grandma through the window. Grandma has her back to it, nursing wounds. Power is left unguarded ready of the taking.
Colour: Complementary scheme.
- Shot A : orange does not touch the Grandma, power is free for the taking and enjoying

.- Shot B: Orange light behind Girl. Almost has orange/power of her own but is still blue. The backlight is tinging the edges of her orange suggesting power is within reach.

Power: Girl > Grandma

Compositon
- Contrast / Repeated imagery - the trophy (the wolf paw) turns into the Grandma's severed hand, revealing that she is a witch/werewolf. Identifiable by the ring.
-Centre frame - the centre of all conflict
-Symbol of her amputated power.vs Girl's hand in same pose clasping a rock to stone the grandma to death with and assume all primal power. Girl has fully obtained all power from the older woman. The girl prospers with the downfall of the senior.

Colour

- Analogous shots that contrast in saturation and hue --> Grandma has lost all orange and is bathed in blue, complete despair. Girl has almost lost all blue. Remaining blue encourages a cycle may start (and the circle of the ring) where someone in the future will come to assume power from the Girl too.

Study Task 6 - Practical

Linking to the folklore-esque style of The Ballad of Buster Scruggs  anthology, I am going to experiment with demonstrate different colour schemes and compositions to explore the power dynamic changes in a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood. 

I will produce several developed storyboards focusing on colour and composition exclusively. 

The specific retelling I am going to allude to is The Werewolf from The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter (1979). I think referencing another anthology will best support what I've found analysing the Coen Brother's film. 

The Werewolf generally has three shifts in power:

• Wolf > Girl - the wolf attacks the girl
• Girl > Wolf - the girl fights off the wolf
• Girl > Grandma - the wolf was her grandmother. The girl hunts the grandmother. 

Study task 5 - Introduction

Between colour and composition, what is the most effective tool in cinematography to convey power in The Ballad of Buster Scruggs (2018)? 

• I am looking at colour and composition in buster scruggs to show power
• Scene analysis will be the way I begin to determine which is more effective
• Articals, books, videos, magazines
• I aim to find what the limits of these tools are and their strengths 
• I predict that they work best together
• I predict a limit will be technology or colour blindness

• My practical will demonstrate what I have learnt 
• I will storyboard showing how these tools are most effective (most effective use of colour and examples of strong composition)
• My practical will be an example of the real-world value of this research 

Intro:

The ballad of buster Scruggs is an anthology of six tales exploring themes of morality and death across the American frontier. Written and directed by the famed Coen brothers (Ethen and Joel Coen), it premiered in 2018 with great anticipation that was not met with disappointment. Fitting snuggly in with the rest of their formidable filmography, the off-beat humour mixed with drama and unusual characters are traits of their film making. A secondary theme explored throughout these stories is the inevitable shift of power and the struggle to maintain control against the force of both your fellow man and the very nature of fate. The first half (comprised of: The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Near Algodones and Meal Ticket) utilise the most effective tools of cinematography in diverse and complex ways. Cinematographer Blain Brown (2016) summarises the ultimate purpose of successful cinematography as “more than just a picture- it is information”.  Norman Hollyn (2008), a well-established editor of films such as Heathers (1988) and lecturer at the School of Cinematic Arts, clarifies that the art of it “is entirely wrapped up in the details of the story” meaning that cinematography serves the more nuanced propelling of the narrative through metaphor and symbolism. Cinematography as a discipline is comprised of all visual aspects of film; exposure, to lighting to camera movement. The two tools favoured by the Coen brothers’ cinematographer, Bruno Delbonnel, are colour and composition which he equips both independently and in tandem. 

Study Task 4- Images Examples and Theories

My area of research in cinematography with a focus on colour and composition.

1. Select and define important terms / concepts you have discovered through your reading. 

Colour:

Monochromatic - one colour, multiple shades

Complementary - Opposite colours on the wheel (green and red / yellow and purple)

Analogous -  Range of colours all close on the wheel (greens, blues, purples)
Triadic -Three colours evenly spaced on the wheel (red yellow and blue)

Composition:
Frame within a frame - we seek order
Negative space and contrast - we know something by what it is not

Rule of three - points of interest should align
Scale - Size = importance

Power is split between artificial control and primal control

Colour is reliant of context.
Composition gives context. 

1. Collect and analyse examples / images / phenomena that could be interpreted as following these concepts.

The short opens with a strong complimentary colour scheme. The combination of green and red can imply a range of meanings but, within the context of the story, it is a discussion of wealth and value. Red reinforces the idea of profitability. It marks the performer as important with a bright sash and connotes a reference to red’s cultural relationship in china as the colour for wealth. The performance and thus the performer holds power within the interpersonal relationship with the caretaker as the tool to provide. As the financial yield of the performance lessens over time, a third colour is introduced to the scheme and the colour wheel turns. By unsettling the established scheme, the power dynamic is, in turn, changed. At the camp fire, instead of feeding the performer, the caretaker is drinking. The forest is blue, his face is red and the fire is yellow. The scheme reverts from triadic to the complementary green and red palette at the brothel. The red has escaped the performer and now sprawls out, gradually filling up more and more of each shot. Red finally takes up the whole frame when the caretaker happens across a counting chicken. The chicken is marked twice as valuable by, first, the crowd and secondly the red box and feathers. Colour has expressively translated the Performer’s loss of monetary value which renders him a burden to the caretakers survival. By the time the performer is eliminated, his clothes have gone from green to blue, signifying his impending disposal as he is one with the surrounding landscape.  

1. How could they be used to interpret your theme / question? Triangulate with theorists and critics.

Blain Brown emphasis the power of colour as a key cinematic tool for it’s “ability to reach people at a gut, emotional level” (2016). The multimedia editor and, now, director Jon Fusco corroborated with this view by saying that there is no better way to communicate subtle messages, themes and emotional depth than colour (2016). The reason why colour is so effective is down, essentially, to the innate physical/mental reactions triggered in animals by colour (The Psychology Behind Colors 2017). Some colours have been proven to accelerate our heart beats and tense muscles without need for narrative context. However, it is this unfocused reaction that prevents colour from truly out doing composition when serving a theme. Composition is the “most fundamental principle” of cinematography (Composition in Storytelling 2016 00:00:48) because it directs the use of colour and all other visual storytelling techniques. Sudhakaran, a celebrated creator, places composition above colour a cinematic tool in his online cinematography class (The 5 Most Powerful Elements of Cinematography 2019). Composition is an expressive technique that creates an “everlasting metaphor” (composition in storytelling  2016 00:00:24). As a metaphor, composition strives to communicate a specific sense of tone and further the narrative wholly. The effectiveness of cinematography can be measured the “more  you disrupt the emotional stability of the scene” (Draven 2016). By combining multiple different techniques of composition and colour, creating patterns and then breaking them, Delbonnel unsettles the placement of power. Without composition, colour is open to a wide range of interpretation. In this, all meaning can be lost. It is imperative to note that the history of cinema starts with black and white film where composition manages to convey wholly independent from colour (The Science and Media Museum n.d). Another reason why colour is unreliable on it’s own is that it depends on the viewer having complete colour vision. Currently, the estimated amount of potential viewers having some form of colour blindness is approximately 300 million people. Without a full range of colour vision, the cultural connotations of colour (e.g reds relationship to wealth in china) and the subtle shifts in colour scheme (e.g complementary to triadic) would be completely missed. While the cinematographer has used complex colour schemes throughout the anthology to explore power successful, the technique itself is limited by who can percept it. Composition, however, is more effective as it is universally perceived as it was designed to.

New idea

After seeking feedback with my peers, I feel that my question is too broad and vague. It has no real-world clear use for the research I'm doing. I revisited my interests:

In my research I discovered that the most important thing to supporting the narrative is cinematography.

I think I need to step away from technology as a broad subject and focus on the narrative side of my original question.

Revised question: "What are the most effective tools in cinematography?"

After some more research, I've found that colour and composition are the most effective, diversely and clearly used.

I might narrow this field of discussion further to: "Between colour and composition, what are the most effective tools in cinematography to convey power?"

To keep my essay concise, I will focus on a particular work, most likely the Ballad of Buster Scruggs because it is made up of 6 stories and uses many different cinematic elements for each one.

Study Task 6- Practical response

Outlining your practical approach to exploring your subject. 

• What you intend to investigate and why?

Different technology and the storytelling techniques they lend themselves to because i think finding a correlation between specific mediums and the way in which narrative is told will give insight in to how effective storys are conveyed. 

• How the research / reading can be used is to be used as a starting point (theorists / writers / phenomena / case studies / quotes).
  What activities do you  intend on undertaking? Questionnaires / focus groups / experiments / visits / use of materials and media. (is it highly experimental or more formal sketchbook activities?)

Use of materials and experiments. Visits (ie Aesthetica) It's more formal sketchbook activities resulting in finished pieces.

I want to focus on backgrounds and the gifs to feel like fully realised grabs from a storyboard.

• What do you envisage the end product being? A short animation, GIF, Rushes, A sketchbook? An artefact? A record of activities or event?

A collection of sequential gifs (3?) that use the mediums/technology specified in the essay and demonstrate different storytelling techniques. 

• Start doing the work!

Study task 2 - Research Question

'How have the storytelling techniques in animation been informed by the advancement of technology within the industry?'

I wanted to form a question that addressed the themes i was interested in. This is a prototype and needs refinement.

Through making a series of sequential images utilising different animation techniques referred to within the essay, I will attempt to explore different techniques.

I rewrote the question to make it clearer: "How has the advancement of technology within the animation industry informed the development of visual storytelling tropes?"

Study Task 1 - Initial Ideas

The themes i gravitate to the most are history and technology. I think that exploring a question that combines these themes with a focus on aesthetics or narrative would be interesting and pair well with a visual outcome.

Great Timing - final

Final animation!

Unfortunately, due to personal reasons, this project was a struggle for me to complete. Pacing was a huge issue I had which was not apparent until i was editing the scenes together. On the positive side, this was an opportunity to put my premiere pro skills into practice. I edited the clips in different ways to adjust the individual pace of each part. I think this was a successful attempt.

I set out to create a horror piece that had some cinematic and complex animation (such as the rotation and sink of the seal). In post-production, I decided to deviate from the storyboard slightly by adding in flashes and removing a scene because I wanted to increase the tension by adding some disorientating effects. While my soundscape I had made for my animatic had failed, I edited down the number of sounds for the final( namely a beating heart and excessive static noise). Originally, I had wanted to use the rushing wind to establish the setting, emphasise the isolation (no animals or human noises) and hint at the themes of nature. Then, I was going to have loud static overwhelm and fade out on top of the wind. In the animatic, the feedback I got was that this was too noisy. It did not add to the suspense but instead induced headaches. To combat this, I used the static sparingly and had the two noises melt in and out of each other.

In the future, i would limit the amount of backgrounds I needed to use as I think it would have provided a better sense of space. It would also allow my timing to be a little better as the viewer would be able to register the action of the scene easier.


EVALUATION SHEET EXTRACTS

The purpose of this module was to develop our understanding of the animation production pipeline as we completed all steps from pre-production to post-production work as a single person team. By doing this, I feel I have a disillusioned sense of how long each process takes and the importance of setting limitations to a project. This module has better prepared me for group work as I now know to limit my ideas from the beginning to not over extend my team. I think it is also to improve our understanding of techniques such as how to build an armature and create walk cycles. Surprisingly, I think that the best work I made in this module was the creation of the stop motion armatures and the walk cycle. I think that I made deliberate and well thought out choices when making my model that elevated the standard of my work. For instance, taking the time to source fabric and stitch together the clothing allowed for it to better match my designs than sticking to plasticine would have. It also allowed for cleaner moving when animating as the fabric didn’t dry solid like the plasticine would have. When animating, I considered the force of the wind and how to best hint to his character. Overall, I was more conscious of each choice I made in this process.

Due to personal circumstances, I was not able to apply myself to this module at the level of focus I had anticipated during my early pre-production. The goals I set out for myself in the beginning were not reachable in the situation I was later in. I did not set firm limitations to the task such as limiting the number of backgrounds or textures I could use; this effected the professional level of my work as I could not streamline the animation process to better meet the brief, One of the main issues I have with my animation is timing. I feel that with experience, gauging how long an action convincingly takes and how much to add on will become more instinctual. In the future, I will seek more feedback from peers on the pace of each scene. While being experimental is useful in pre-production in order to try out new ideas, considering the time limit of the project, I should not have jumped from different mediums (pencil to watercolor to digital). I have learnt that the limitations set before the development of a project are vital to ensuring the brief is met. I feel that if I had limited the story to three or four settings, each stage from the storyboarding would have been more suited to the 30 second time limit. My storyboards moved too quickly which prevented good pacing for each scene. I did not notice this until after editing the scenes together in post-production where I did my best to fix this. Despite planning my animation by seconds, I have produced scenes that are too fast to register for the viewer. Next time, there are several things I should do to fix this issue: firstly, my animatic should have been much more developed as the still images did not inform me at all. If I had done this, I could have fixed the timing by adding frames and filler. Another way I could have prevented this is by planning less scenes and pulling the narrative back to a smaller part of the story. In this module, my confidence in software has grown and I have utilized the skills I have learnt in photoshop to make some animation easier and smoother. When working on the stop motion armature, I feel that my thought process was more purposeful than in other tasks. Next time, I would like to maintain this focus and it will be more effective on a project with more realistic restrictions. While I feel that my techincal skill has grown throughout this module (such as the seal and expression scenes being at a higher standard than I could ahcieve before), i know that the timing does not allow for the overall piece to register.

Working as I go

Week 1-2

Researched genre of Horror, Brainstormed character designs and developed story.

Week 3-4

Scripting and story boarding. Reworking designs based on feedback and focusing on themes.
My characters were too cartoon-styled and friendly looking so I started to play with different silhouettes.
I drew from reference and then tried to apply that to new designs.

Week 5-6

Maya workshops. I attempted to create a tent for my DIY modelling task using eClothe but I don't fully understand the workspaces and how they effect the tools.
Restoryboarding

Week 7-8

Wire armature building. Sculpting the face plate.
Creating armatures takes time. I had the option of using Plasticine once i'd built the foam and bandage base. I chose to use air-dry clay instead as it won't crack when I move the head. I have decided to also make clothes for the puppet instead of using Plasticine because I really like the textured quality of my designs . I started sourcing fabrics to use.
Collecting more sounds.

Week 10-11

Creating clothes for wire armature and waiting for face plate to dry. Painting the face plate and attaching hair. I painted the clothes also to add wear and grime. I really enjoyed the experience.
Filming walk cycle and collecting sounds for animatic.
Working on my DIY maya piece- spear

Week 12-13

Reworking animatic and beginning animation process by sketching key frames.
I do not feel confident with my backgrounds. The feedback I received from peers is that they don't mesh well with the character as they are too textured in the same way. I have experimented with using oil brushes in Photoshop ontop of a textured background to mix and smooth the texture. I like how this fades out the background and still has textures.

Week 14-15
Animating
I started by filling in what I had started the week before with in betweens as well as sketching out the other scenes, limiting it to the time frame on the storyboards. I realised that inbetweeing did not work for the seal scene as the seal was losing its shape as it dropped. I switched to drawing straight ahead which helped smooth out the motion.

Week 16-20

Animating. Post Production. 
Deviate from storyboard- I did not have enough time left to execute the longer and more complex shots left so I toyed with other, faster scene ideas that would still progress the narrative.
Finished all the scenes.
I began editing the animation together. I noticed that the pacing was all wrong- all the scenes individually looked right and played well but, when together as a sequence, there was no room to register the action of the scene. I used premiere pro to add frame holds and change the play speed of certain clips to help remedy this.
I also added flashes and rearranged clips to ramp up the intensity of the piece and give a feeling of disorientation as the story shifts from normal to supernatural.

SketchBook

Animatic

Here is my animatic. Unfortunately, I exported it wrong and lost the sound. However, I did receive feedback on the soundscape I had made prior to this (it was too complicated and lost impact). (will be in submission folder)
The sounds do add to the feeling of dread but they are overwhelming and take away too much focus on the action.
The scenes can seem a bit too long so I might need to shorten later
The title card is boring and needs more visual appeal.

Scripting and Storyboarding

First Storyboard -

Script

Title – HUNTER 

EXT. BLIZZARD.  MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN.  DAWN. ESTABLISHING SHOT

MAN trudges across back-lit snow, dragging a SEAL hooked on a line. Blood dragged across. Stationary Shot. (HARSH WIND SOUNDS)

Signs of BEAST revealed to viewer- scratches on trees. (STATIC SOUND)

FULL SHOT.
MAN struggling to cross down-flowing river, SEAL bumps off rock and falls into water, blood from SEAL blooms into water. Water tugged out of shot. (FLOWING WATER)

Camera dives into water, following blood as it flows down into darker water.

Camera bobs up to surface, face to face with carcasses and carnage.  ARIAL VIEW reveals more.

MID SHOT. MAN steeping heavily up small mound, snag of wire. Plants stick into snow.  Turns and yanks. Wire yanks back. WIND NOISES BLEND INTO RISING STATIC NOISES.

Lets go of wire. Raises stick to reveal spear, CLOSE UP shine of flint end.

MID SHOT, cautiously nears hiding behind branches. Parts branches with one hand.

CLOSE UP of horrified expression. STATIC NOISE INTENSIFIES. HEART THUMP BLENDED IN.

Hand drops Spear.

CLOSE UP reflection in spear head of figure BEAST. ZOOM IN.

BEAST back full shot, feasting on seal. Pause. Beast Turns. Blood neon bright dripping down chin. SEAL ripped open. MAN steps back, falls. HEART BEAT TAKES OVER NOISE.

Beast Screeches. BLACK. STATIC TAKES OVER NOISE.

SILENCE. GROSS WET RIPPING NOISES. LOW STATIC AND WATER FLOWING.

Credits- Blood blooming into water, forming words and drifting away.

Reflection 
I made the first storyboard after the initial design of the characters. It lacked narrative direction but, after writing the script, I had a better sense of time, place and tone. A weakness of my final storyboard is the lack of camera movements used on each board. As this is a solo project, I know the boards make sense of me as they are my vision. In the industry, the storyboard would need to be clearer with more precise notes on time and lighting so that a whole team of animators could all work on the same scene. I think this board is weak for a group project but suitable enough just for myself. On the other hand, I think that this exercise has helped pace my animation, especially on how to amp up the tension steadily.