4/12/2020
For our homework, we had to cut out a 10cm cardboard frame and take it around outside while wandering the streets.
I could see this happening if I were in the UK, however, Bangkok’s streets were always busy and narrow, especially the one near my house where there isn’t a foot path and I had to be o the lookout for oncoming cars.
I recorded my walk journey with my dad when we went out to look for a place to eat for lunch. Walking around, I made note of the different places we pass, its significance to me, and any memory I associate with it. I roughly drew the map on a napkin.
Coming home, I compared my map with the on of my street on Google Maps, and coloured in every place I noted down accompanied by the sketches I made for them.
This activity showed me how much I knew of the streets I grew up in as well as made me realise how much things have evolved and changed compared to when I was a child. It may not cover a huge area, but it was an area I knew by heart.
FILMING MY MAP
18/12/2020
As my map was drawn digitally, I decided to animate the lines and the colours within it to give it life as well as adding recorded sounds of the streets to make the viewing experience more immersive.
3 FILMS
THE BROTHERS MCLEOD – MARFA
The minimalistic animation style in Marfa only played a part in communicating information about the town. A huge part in showing us the atmosphere of the different places were the sounds and the poem. The dialogue from the locals felt real, as though a tourist had visited the town and talked to everyone there. The poem was read out in a voice like they were reciting all the different places in the town, with no need for explanation or elaboration on what each place was or why these objects were mentioned. It was a town that didn’t feel the need to explain itself, which made it all the more realistic and immersive.
FEELING MY WAY
I resonated with this film quite a lot, from the different sounds to the animation style. It portrayed very well my scattered attention during my journey to school or back to the accommodation, distracted by everything on the streets with little commentary to myself as well as looking down to check the map on my phone. I liked the subtle addition of sound whenever the POV focused on something specific e.g. the trash cans that had banging sounds as though the person walking was imagining what it would sound like if they started banging on them like drums.
TIM MACMILLAN – FERMENT
http://animateprojectsarchive.org/films/by_date/1999_2001/ferment
Watching this felt like when your life is flashing before your eyes and your memories trigger past you with all the stimuli you’ve sensed and associated with those places. The film was shot in a way that felt surreal as though you were in a coma or got into an accident fatal enough to lead you to one.
These films were great examples of how vital sound is to visual media and how immersive it can make an experience. Sound played a bigger part in animation than I had expected, what with how there was more than one way you could convey what was happening to the audience than simply what is seen.