THE FORM!

Your Name

Gabriel Aronson

Statement of Intent

An animated adaptation of the classic nursery rhyme Jack and Jill with roots in illustration, early animation and cinematic composition.

Field of Study

Motion graphics and character animation.

Focus

1. Parodic cartoons

2.  Old forms of animation.

Context

This piece is a reaction to the tradition of animated fairytales. Practitioners include Lotte Reiniger and Ray Harryhausen. People who have parodied the fairytale include Tim Burton and the Looney Tunes cartoons. Looking at composition in illustration and film: Edward Gorey, Wes Anderson. Looking at praxinoscopes, zoetropes. Drawing from my experiences at Blink Productions. Practitioner: David Wilson. The aesthetics of the flat, in a 3-dimensional world: toy theater, pop-up books? Practitioner: Andrea Dezsö. The history of fairy tales, and the subversive process of breaking down such moralistic tales for comedic purposes.

Methodology

Primary research includes figuring out the logistics of zoetrope animation. Creating a looping animation as a title sequence for the piece. Integrating scanned and photographed textures into the piece. 

Secondary research includes looking at the work of previously cited practitioners, and further research into the world of animation in the victorian and edwardian eras. Also looking at the origin and meaning of fairytales.

Resolution

A subversively funny piece of animation.

Jack and Jill development ramblings

My final project is an adaptation of the Nursery Rhyme "Jack and Jill"

For the storybook feel, I've been looking at Lotte Reiniger, who did many adaptations of fairytales in her signature silhouette style. Because her work is silhouette, it means all movements, and environments, need to be laid out laterally, across the screen. This leads to very figurative landscapes, delicate and intricate. 

I really like this paper-cut feel and am looking to incorporate some of it's fragility into my work.

Because I am going for a dark feel, I am also looking at one of my favorite writer/illustrators, Edward Gorey. His work falls into the category of literary nonsense, and the same can be said of many nursery rhymes. His characteristic drawings are usually quite bleak and minimalist: empty hallways, half-open doors, grey landscapes, dead gardens, etc. The compositions of his drawings are very specific and geometric, with the placement of characters within their environment (or deliberate omission of content within the frame) telling as much a story as the actual content.

Because of the Edwardian influences, I'd like to explore the use of a zoetrope as the bookends for the piece. Though most of it will be animated in the computer, I think it would be fun to introduce the nursery rhyme as a strip of animation played back in a zoetrope. The idea is that the scroll is one in a large cabinet of dark nursery rhymes, hinting at the possibility of a larger series.

If I am to going to go with the zoetrope idea, my main concerns in that area will be to

a) find/build a zoetrope.

b) make the film strips 

c) storyboard and film that sequence.

Based on these influences, I am thinking of employing a 2.35:1 cinematic aspect ratio, which allows for almost triptych-like compositions. The sort of two-dimensional cinema feel that I am going for is characteristic of the films of Wes Anderson, who primarily uses constrained lateral camera movements such as tracking and pedestaling. 

I am looking for humor in restraint. Little movement or action, minimal gestures used to convey over-the-top emotions.

I have re-written the last two lines of the nursery rhyme as a "twist ending" if you will.

Jack and Jill

Went up the hill

To fetch a pail of water.

Jack fell down,

And he did drown,

And Jill had peace thereafter.

The idea is that Jill is constantly plagued by her younger brother Jack, and decides to push him down the well in retribution. The narrative is simple, with titles alternating with corresponding sequences, like in silent film.

An interesting article on awkwardness in film at Splice Today.

The Film in question is this:

Watch Death to the Tinman in Entertainment  |  View More Free Videos Online at Veoh.com

Jack and Jill

Character designs:

2.35:1 super widescreen aspect ratio gives storybook feel:

Final Project Inspirations

Changing tack, an adaptation of a Nursery Rhyme. Combining stop-frame and after effects.













Cuteness in lowbrow art.

Mark Ryden:




Gruesome cartoon violence in a cute context:







Adding violence to traditional animations of fairy tales (stop-frame by Ray Harryhausen)




Cuteness vs. Gore
Stop-frame animation

Final Project Ruminations

I am thinking of doing a short non-narrative piece that explores themes that have cropped up working on the excursion piece with Parrot in the Tank, specifically the creation of different realities, and the disparity and overlap between two simultaneous pieces of moving image. I'm thinking split screen, projections, the viewer interacting with the footage, various surfaces and how they interact with the footage.

Here are some pieces that I have found inspiring:



I want to experiment with projecting onto people, projecting things interacting with their bodies. I want to play with projecting a person's own image onto themselves and what can be achieved with that.


Only the Brave, an ad for Diesel jeans (don't you just love how mysterious advertising can be?) which plays with simultaneity in a tryptich format. Three individual stories, lined up side by side tell a fourth story. How can I play with simultaneous action, perhaps having a person interact with themself (and projection as well).

I'm thinking things traveling through the body, and into other people's bodies, through projected elements that show what's inside. Cutting a person open, by laying an image over them. Picture Frida Kahlo's "Las Dos"



How do people disappear into their environment?


A building in Vienna that is covered in LED's

The Pebbleman

After returning to London, I had my first meeting with Parrot in the Tank members, where we conceived a story for an upcoming "walks" performance at the Untapped Festival at the Arts Depot near Finchley. This will be performed on the 2nd of May, so relatively soon. For this performance I worked on story development, and will be creating an animated flashback sequence, where the main character yearns to return to the sea from whence he came. This animation will be integrated into live footage. I also want to experiment with stop motion using pebbles, as the main character is based on a statue made of pebbles. I would probably use these for titles.

This whole project for me is about collaboration, which is what I've been really looking for after months of relative isolation working on my BBC project. The requirements for this piece are fairly minimal, however the short span between now and the performance means I have a lot of work ahead of me, and I am excited to be working at a much faster pace. After the May 2nd performance we pull out the big guns, and prepare for the 24th of May, which is the Accidental Festival at the Roundhouse Theater. I hope to do some more in camera animations, but also work on projected elements, and how the viewer interacts with all three modes: real world, virtual world, and the projected world. Many, many possibilities!

Initial inspiration for the flashback sequence can be found below:


The Tale of How from Shy the Sun on Vimeo.

Coeur de Secours