Stop Motion Narrative

“You Never Know”

by Eleanor Goodfellow

The stop motion film I created follows a character I constructed with small paper polyhedral forms. I strung the shapes together with thread, monofilament, and “paper-joints.” Then, manipulating his limbs, I follow this character around on what seems like a typical day. While this little paper person experiences a casual morning wake up, enjoys the weather in a local park, and lies out in the sun, he remains blank. No name or facial expression. I wanted to keep it this way to give my viewer the sense of anonymity and inevitably feel connected through this. I really want my viewer to feel that this is whole scenario would be realistic, but it is partially fantastical due to the inanimate objects taking the roles of people. Throughout this day our protagonist becomes despondent and lonely, especially after seeing pretty girls and couples in the park. He then retires to his apartment studio and while in there another character enters the film. You see this mannequin head with long blue hair, making its way into the studio. While our main character is contemplating what to draw a marker falls off of the desk and onto the floor. Our new character sees this, and the two then notice each other. He hops down from his chair to greet her, which is where I end the movie.

Reading Homework

1.) Describe interaction and stability in 3D form. What is the three plane rule. Give an example.

There are only three ways that two planar forms can interact with each other..

-When paper is folded, it meets at a common edge.
-An edge of one plane can have a common boundary with another.
-Two planes can pass through one another.

The "three plane rule" is that a stable structure results when any three planes meet so that each plane interacts with both of the other planes.

2.) What is an environmental plane and planar structure. Give examples and describe it.

Environmental planes can easily been found, they are your walls, ceilings, shelves, etc. They are obvious examples due to their ability to define space in where a planar object finds itself and the ground plane is what a planar structure is attached to.


3.) Define an architectonic form. List three examples given in the reading.

Architectonic form is defined by having qualities, such as design and structure, that are characteristic of architecture: a work of art forming an architectonic whole. For example:
-regular geometric shapes
-emphasis on horizontal and vertical orientations
-the contrast of closed and open space.

4.) How can a reflective surface effect the transition of space.

Reflective surfaces may effect transitions by creating the illusion of space, repetition, and degradation.

5.) How can planes define volume.

Space is divided and shaped by planes usually in a series; for example, a circle can be shown as cross-section slice from a sphere.

Describe the following organizational principles that relate to 3-dimensional form.

-organization
the structure or pattern that ties an object and it's elements together.
-synergy
elements alone are not interesting, but when combined in numbers it creates something of value.
-order/freedom
our minds instinctually search for and create order, so excess freedom can result in the lack of viewer engagement.
-structure/unity
structure relies on formal and mathematical principles, while unity is the principle that perceptual devices bind a composition together.
-symmetry
an image or object identical on both sides when divided by a central axis
-repetition within variety
it is an assembly of same elements in a composition, when there is no variety in the repetition, viewer interest may wonder.
-rhythm and gradation
movement, fluctuation, or variation marked by the regular recurrence or natural flow of related elements ;a step or place in an ordered scale.

Another sculpture

I thought I had posted this already! Another study I did in class. I really love how this one turned out. I'm trying to do something like this but in a larger scale and including my repurposed materials. (Currently working on sketches)

Japanese Street Fashion

When it comes to down to "what inspires me" I am a big fan of fashion and more specifically Japanese street fashion! I scour the pages of japanesestreets.com for inspiration towards my work and my wardrobe. No one is as fearless with fashion as the Japanese, at least in my opinion. I saw one recently that totally relates to our first lessons of modular relief. Although we've moved on from this, I thought you guys would enjoy this as well! I'm even adding a couple that look like they included some repurposed materials. They're all from the Bunka Graduation Fashion Show in Shibuya Tokyo.

The first three photos show the use of polyhedral forms, just like I used in my project. It was so interesting to see it used in fashion!

The rest show the use of repurposed materials, unfortunately there wasn't info on what they used.

Material Exploration

Just trying different ways to manipulate different materials...

1.) Paper/Quilling
2.) Cork/Cutting
3.) Wrapper/Quilling & Placement

Maquettes - Serial Planes

Serial: things in succession or installment, which vary from one another but belong together through form or content.
Planar: made of, or dealing with, planes.
Concave: a negative area in a plane or surface.
Convex: a protrusion, or outwardly pushing form.

1.) horizontal serial planes
2.) horizontal w/ a 90 degree angle
3.) vertical serial planes

Vic Muniz

Since we are beginning to work on a project working with recycled materials I thought I would mention Vik Muniz (Vincente Jose de Oliveira Muniz) and the "Wasteland" project.

"Wasteland" is actually a documentary film by Lucy Walker that follows Vik Muniz over a span of three years while he works in the world's largest dump in Brazil, "Jardim Gramacho" located near Rio de Janeiro. There he met many "catadores," self designated trash pickers. His plans changed after meeting these eccentric characters and soon he began to create portraits of them with the trash they collected from the dump. Their collaboration reveals the dignity and despair of the catadores and explores the combination of art and the human spirit.

I was extremely inspired when I first found this project, I love when something beautiful is created from materials we perceive as ugly or disgusting. I also adore the transformation of how you perceive the subjects. We may look down on these people due to their "dirty" lifestyles, but Muniz makes look past their rough exterior and see them as real individuals. They live, love, and suffer possibly more than than you and I, and should be respected not shunned.