BRIEF 1:
3 in 1 brief:
The first brief received was the 3 in 1 brief. Three briefs, one choice. I decided to choose the creature brief as I have an interest in creatures, especially mythological creatures.
3 in 1 brief
Creature Brief
Mythological Creature Research
Definition of mythical creature: A mythical creature (mystical or legendary creature) is a creature
that is found in mythology or folklore. Examples of this can be found in medieval bestiaries. Most mythical creatures have magical or supernatural power and may be either good or evil or have their own neutral causes. Most creatures are meaning they are composed of parts of two or more animals. One classic combination is a the centaur which combines both a man and a horse or the Minotaur where a human is combined with a bull. (Some of these juxtapositions of the species are not meant to be taken literally). Some creatures resemble more spiritual beings for example in a religious context, angels or demons. Mythical creatures usually symbolise vices or virtues or the power of good or evil. Their existence may have been secondary to the moral of the tale they are in.
Research on creatures:
Creature 1:
Dragon
Dragons are
mythical creatures usually depicted as gigantic and powerful serpent or
reptilian creature with magical or spiritual abilities. The most well known
dragons in culture either come from European folk traditions or Oriental dragons
which come from the Chinese dragon (lóng).
Dragons are
perceived differently by different cultures. Sometimes they are described to be
able to breathe and spit fire or poison as well as many other elements. They
are usually serpentine or reptilian, hatch from eggs and possess feathered or
scaly bodies. They are also portrayed as having large yellow or red eyes.
Sometimes they are portrayed with dorsal spines, keeled scales, or leathery
bat-like wings. Winged dragons are only in European dragons. Oriental dragons are more serpentine. Dragons
can have no legs, two, four, or more. A dragon with wings but only a single
pair of legs is a wyvern. Modern depictions of dragons are larger than their
original representations, which were often smaller than humans.
Dragons
have spiritual significance in various religions and cultures. In East Asian
cultures dragons were and still are revered as representing the primal forces
of nature, religion and the universe. Dragons are associated with wisdom and often
depicted to be wiser than humans and in longevity. They usually possess some
form of magic and are often associated with wells, rain, and rivers. Some
cultures say they are capable of human speech.
Creature 2:
Anubis
Anubis (Greek
name) or Anpu is a jackal-headed ancient god associated with mummification and
the afterlife in ancient Egyptian religion. Anubis assumed different roles such
as protector of graves as, embalmer. Osiris replaced Anubis as his role of Lord
of the underworld. His most prominent role was to usher the souls of the dead
into the afterlife. He attended the weighing scale during the "Weighing of
the Heart," in the afterlife in where the soul was determined whether to
be allowed to enter the realm of the dead.
Even though Anubis is the most depicted and popular Egyptian
God of the pantheon, he has not been described in any myths.
Anubis is depicted in black fur instead of the usual realistic brown as the color symbolises both rebirth and the discoloration of the corpse after embalming. Anubis is also associated with another canine like god Wepwawet which has grey or white fur. Anubis' female counterpart is Anput.
Creature 3:
Qilin (Kirin)
The Qilin 麒麟 is a
mythical chimerical creature known in Chinese and other East Asian cultures. It
is a good omen bringing prosperity or serenity. It is sometimes called the
"Chinese unicorn" when compared with the Western unicorn. It is
believed to live for at least 2000 years. It is one of 9 sons of a dragon. It
is sometimes included in the list of four noble animals, along with the Chinese
dragon, phoenix and tortoise - instead of the tiger.
It is always
lonely, and appears only during the reign of an outstanding ruler or when a
great sage is born or dies for example before the birth and death of Confucius.
It can only be seen by the chosen ones. It is considered a harbinger of
happiness.
Qilin have Chinese dragon-like features. Having thick eyelashes on its head and eyes, a gravity defying mane, a beard, and scales like a dragon. The body is usually depicted as equine-like similar to deer, ox, or horse shaped with cloven hooves. Modern depictions of Qilin are similar to the Western unicorn throughout Asia, and among artists in the West.
Creature 4:
Chinese Lion
Chinese guardian
lions or Shi
are representation of the lion in pre-modern China. Their statues stand in
front of Chinese Imperial palaces, Imperial tombs, government offices, temples,
and the homes of government officials and the wealthy and were believed to have
powerful mythic protective benefits. Also used in other artistic contexts.
Pairs of guardian lion statues are still common decorative and symbolic
elements at entrances, one sitting on each side.
The lions are
usually a manifestation of yin and yang, the female representing yin and the
male yang. When used It would consist of a male leaning his paw upon an
embroidered ball (绣球) (representing supremacy over the
world), which is sometimes carved with a geometric pattern resembling the
"Flower of Life". The female lion is portrayed restraining a playful
cub that is on its back (representing nurture and the cycle of life).
Symbolically, the female lion protects those inside while the male guards the
structure. Sometimes the female has her mouth closed, and the male open. This
symbolizes enunciation of the word "om". Adaptations state that the
male is inhaling, representing life, while the female exhales, representing
death.
Chinese lions
are intended to reflect the emotion of the animal as opposed to the reality of
the lion. This is in distinct opposition to the traditional English lion which
is a lifelike dipection of the animal. The claws, teeth and eyes of the Chinese
lion represent power. Few if any muscles are visible in the Chinese lion
whereas the English lion shows its power through its life like characteristics
rather than through stylized representation.
http://th00.deviantart.net/fs26/PRE/i/2008/246/a/0/Chinese_Male_Lion_Statue_01_by_Ghost_Stock.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/Chinese_Guardian_Lion_01.jpg
http://th00.deviantart.net/fs26/PRE/i/2008/246/a/0/Chinese_Male_Lion_Statue_01_by_Ghost_Stock.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/Chinese_Guardian_Lion_01.jpg
These are my own pictures of me when I was performing the lion dance for Chinese New Year in a Chinese restaurant in Chessington. I performed as the back of the lion, being the bottom part of the torso and hind legs of the lion. The lion has significant cultural importance in China especially in Chinese New Year. Different coloured lions can represent or symbolises different things.
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Creature to analyse: DRAGON
I concluded that from my research, the creature that I would focus on would be the Dragon.
I looked at the motivation, behaviour, psychology and capabilities of the dragon, brain storming and writing down ideas/analysis of the dragon.
I looked at how other artists had drawn or portrayed dragons to get inspiration on how my dragon should be portrayed. I looked at the difference between their anatomy and physical appearance,
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Experimenting with Photoshop
In my first lesson we had to produce something related to our first brief in a very short amount of time so I decided to alter a picture of myself. My creature of choice was a dragon so I decided that I could make myself into a dragon like human being, with wings and fire using Photoshop.
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BRIEF 2:
A Glitch in Nine saves Time brief
The nine themes/subjects that we had to choose from were:
- The Rant
- The Gothic
- The Kitsch
- The Imaginary
- The Document
- The Conversation
- The Portrait
- The Landscape
- The Street
The themes I have chosen (I have picked three but I am combining two together) are:
Gothic:
Street:
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Definitions:
Gothic:
The online definition of Gothic is:
The main definition of Gothic that I want to focus on is that of the 19th century (revived during the 18th century) which is primarily Gothic fiction/literature. The largest sub-genre in Gothic fiction is Gothic horror which combines fiction, horror and Romanticism. The origin of this genre is from the English author Horace Walpole. His novel which is of this genre is The Castle of Otranto written in 1764. It contained the subtitle "A Gothic Story". Gothic fiction were often pleasing with it's terror, melodramatic and sometimes even parodies. These were common features in Walpole's Gothic style. The origin of Gothic was mainly in England during the 18th century. During the 19th century, writers such as Mary Shelley (Frankenstein) and Edgar Allen Poe had much success with the Gothic genre. One of the most famous novels in the gothic genre hails from the Victorian period by Bram Stoker, Dracula. The use of the name Gothic is due to it referring the medieval style gothic revival architecture of the buildings in which most of the Gothic stories would have their setting.
One of the big influences from the Gothic theme is the Gothic horror genre, especially the creatures within those stories: Vampires, werewolves, undead etc.
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Final Outcomes for the A Glitch In Nine Saves Time Brief
Gothic/Street:
For my final outcome for the Gothic/Street theme, I did a short film. I made a short film about a supernatural vampire like being who walks the streets whilst an internal monologue plays about how his race had been persecuted and forcefully exiled from their land by humankind and the hatred he has for humans. He then goes on to kill two humans and progress to say that soon his race will return and get revenge by hosting a giant hunt, a feast where they will prey on all humankind (as humans are their prey) and reverse the scales of authority, showing who will be at the top of the hierarchy. I decided to film this film in black and white to emphasises the Gothic feel and nature seen in most Gothic horror films. Vampires are very common feature in Gothic horror movies and are sometimes the primary antagonist. I decided to film it in the street for a more urban feel to the narrative and to put it into a modern context. I also thought by adding a bit of Parkour would add to the street theme of the film due to it being a primarily urban discipline which is useful for exploring the streets and urban environments. It is also fitting for the movements of a supernatural being as it is quite, swift and animalistic and the best way to represent and convey supernatural movement. I deliberately filmed in a location with many trees to create the gothic "haunted forest atmosphere" especially in black and white.
Putting it a modern setting reminded me of 'modern' vampire films such as Daybreakers, Night Watch, Day Watch and Blade which really influenced me with their dark and urban feel. Another influence would be the Underworld film series where although the vampires are antagonised, the main protagonist is a vampire likewise with the film blade. This gives the audience a sense of sympathy with the character, or view them more as a anti-hero. In the fourth Underworld film where the human government have killed 95% of vampires and believe that lycans (werwolves to be extinct) and I wanted to represent that kind of situation in a shorter story so that the audience feels sympathy with the vampire. In the monologue the vampire declares about vampires coming back to take the authorative role in society and the film Daybreakers influenced me as in that film, the vampires are the species that dominate the world and are in charge of the governments whilst humans are the ones who are hunted for farming and harvesting. The films Day Watch and Night Watch are urban fantasy that has vampires and are also considered modern Gothic horror films and these influenced me with the 'modern vampire' idea as my vampire is a day walker.
Video 1 without voice over:
Gothic A Glitch In Nine Makes Time movie 1 from Chi-Yin Wong on Vimeo.
This video is for the A Glitch In Nine Makes Time brief for my Foundation Course at UCA Epsom.
The themes I picked were 'Gothic' and I combined it with 'The Street'. My short movie is about a supernatural like being (vampire) who walks the streets. He then goes on to kill two humans with his supernatural powers and progresses through the street. I decided to film this film in Black and White to emphasises the Gothic feel and nature seen in most Gothic horror films. Vampires are very common feature in Gothic horror movies and are sometimes the primary antagonist. I decided to film it in the street for a more urban feel to the narrative and to put it into a modern context. I also thought by adding a bit of Parkour would add to the street theme of the film due to it being a primarily urban discipline which is useful for exploring the streets and urban environments. It is also fitting for the movements of a supernatural being as it is quite, swift and animalistic and the best way to represent and convey supernatural movement. I deliberately filmed in a location with many trees to create the gothic "haunted forest atmosphere" especially in black and white.
I had a made another version which is exactly the same except with a voice over whereas this version does not have a voice over. I thought that in this version without having a voice over would leave some ambiguity for the audience and let them decide the story of what's going on in the film's narrative as there is no dialogue, only action.
Thank you and I hope you enjoy my film.
Chi-Yin Wong - Director/Editor/Actor
Kin Tung Wong - Cameraman/Actor
Kuai Peng Wong - Camerawoman/Actor
Video 2 with voice over:
Gothic A Glitch In Nine Makes Time movie 2 from Chi-Yin Wong on Vimeo.
This video is for the A Glitch In Nine Makes Time brief for my Foundation Course at UCA Epsom.
The themes I picked were 'Gothic' and I combined it with 'The Street'. My short movie is about a supernatural like being (vampire) who walks the streets with a monologue of how his race had been persecuted and forcefully exiled from their land by humankind and the hatred he has for humans. He then goes on to kill two humans and progress to say that soon his race will return and get revenge by hosting a giant hunt, a feast where they will prey on all humankind (as humans are their prey) and reverse the scales of authority, showing who will be at the top of the hierarchy. I decided to film this film in Black and White to emphasises the Gothic feel and nature seen in most Gothic horror films. Vampires are very common feature in Gothic horror movies and are sometimes the primary antagonist. I decided to film it in the street for a more urban feel to the narrative and to put it into a modern context. I also thought by adding a bit of Parkour would add to the street theme of the film due to it being a primarily urban discipline which is useful for exploring the streets and urban environments. It is also fitting for the movements of a supernatural being as it is quite, swift and animalistic and the best way to represent and convey supernatural movement. I deliberately filmed in a location with many trees to create the gothic "haunted forest atmosphere" especially in black and white.
I had a made a previous version which is exactly the same except without a voice over whereas this version does have a voice over. I thought the voice over may add more sense to the narrative of this movie rather than audience trying to work out or get confused by what the film is trying to convey.
Thank you and I hope you enjoy my film.
Chi-Yin Wong - Director/Editor/Actor
Kin Tung Wong - Cameraman/Actor
Kuai Peng Wong - Camerawoman/Actor
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Other Practical Works/Briefs
Using iStopMotion
I experimented with the iStopMotion and made two animations using metal wire frame stick figures. I had one friend clicking the button to take a picture of a frame whilst I moved the wire figure.
The first animation I did with the help of my friend Joe was a Matrix style fight scene with my figure throwing a punch that is dodged resulting to a fly kick in the solar plexus of my wire figure.
I made this second animation when I first experimented and used iStopMotion. A simple rotation of the stick figure to see how stop motion and frames work.
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Moving Pictures Brief
Thaumatrope
I created a Thaumatrope (a toy that was popular in the 19th century which was one of the earliest forms of animation) out of a piece of card and two elastic bands for this brief as it is a efficient way of showing an animation using traditional and analogue techniques and to help me understand a basic form of animation, experimenting with different mediums.
I decided to relate this to my Creatures brief which I was doing on Dragons.
On one sided I drew a Dragon head (related to my creature brief) with it's mouth open as if to breathe fire.
On the other side I drew a fire bolt which would come out of the dragons mouth once the Thaumatrope was spun fast enough giving the illusion that both images were combined.
Here is the video of the Thaumatrope in action:
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3 Point Lighting
3 point lighting is the use of three different positions for three spot lights when taking a picture or filming. This is because this lighting technique can fill in the darkest areas and soften shadows, provide separation from the background and give more depth and aesthetic interest to the image. This is commonly used for TV/Film Production and Photography shoots.
The three lights are the:
Key Light: Key Lighting is the main light which is the brightest and has the most influence on how the shot looks. This light is usually aimed onto the model's face.
Fill Light: The fill light is the secondary light which is usually placed opposite the key light. It is used to fill or soften any shadows created by the key light. It is usually less brighter than the key light.
Back Light: Finally the back light is usually placed behind the model and it's purpose is to provide definition and subtle highlights around the model's outlines which then helps to separate the model from the background giving a more three dimensional look to the model helping them stand out.
We had a brief to experiment with 3 point lighting by choosing three emotions and doing portrait heads of them. The emotions we were offered to do were:
- Joy
- Despair
- Rage
- Dignity
- Disdain.
I chose: Rage, Joy and Despair.
I used three lights as the Key Light, Fill Light and Back Light.
I found that using shadow for the photography helped emphasise the different tones of the face and provide a sense of atmosphere to the pictures. I put more shadow for the facial expressions of more sinister emotions such as rage and more key lighting for lighter expressions such as joy.
Using my dad as a model, here are the expressions:
Rage:
Joy:
Despair:
99 Ways Brief
For this brief I had to interpret Matt Madden's 99 Ways to Tell a Story storyboard and do my own film on it. I could relocate and reinterpret anyway I want but I still had to use the original dialogue set.
99 Ways to Tell a Story - Chi-Yin Wong interpreation from Chi-Yin Wong on Vimeo.
This video is for the 99 ways Brief for my project for my Foundation Course at UCA Epsom.
The video is my interpretation of Matt Madden's Script and Storyboard for 99 Ways to Tell a Story.
Credits:
Chi-Yin Wong (Me) - Director/Camerman/Actor
Kin Tung Wong - Cameraman
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3 By 3 Brief
Nadia from Chi-Yin Wong on Vimeo.
Nadia
Short film that is taken using one continuous shot. The film is about a pair of old friends who after a memorable Christmas party rediscover their old shed they used to socialise in. To rekindle old memories they enter the shed unknowingly that the outcome of leaving the shed will result to them turning into female versions of themselves! Discovering that their old shed has become a gender changing portal excites the friends who re-enter the portal who come out (male again) with a more harmonious, philosophical and enlightened mindset.
This was filmed for the 3 by 3 brief which required a film that was one continuous shot.
Cast and Crew:
Chi-Yin Wong - Scriptwriter/Screenwriter/Editor/Co-director and actor 1
Joe Dunton - co-scriptwriter/producer and actor 2
Media Sheybany - director/camerawoman
Berfin Karaman - camerawoman 2
Luisa Charles - Actor 3
Chloe Debbonnaire - Actor 4
Lauren Sharp - co-director
Fares Guettoch - producer
Thank you so much to these people for helping me in the creation of this short film.
For my media film brief at UCA Epsom.
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Avatar Brief
In the Avatar brief we had to take a picture of ourself and then modify/edit it using either analogue or digital methods. I used Photoshop to edit my picture. I experimented with different methods as I hadn't had much previous experience from Photoshop before I made this image. We make the avatar in the way that it would represent ourselves or our character. We then uploaded to Edmodo as our profile picture.
Hey Chi-Yin, just looked at your work and really like it, was good watching your a glitch in nine with both sound and no sound. If need any reviews or feedback don't hesitate to ask me for it.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much James! That would be great, please do give me feedback/crit or review on my work.
DeleteHey Chi, loving the work at the moment! There are so much you an use for this! I love all of them, but the one i love the most is the dragons (I love fantasy and i love dragons). Also thought it was cool that you linked the dragons to the Chinese culture. But they are all amazing, you put so much work into it and it shows. Keep it up!
ReplyDelete