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Illustration & Visual Narrative: Task 02


23/09/2021 - 29/10/2021 (Week 05 - Week 09)
Adena Tan Sue Lynn / 0345769 / Bachelor of Design (Honours) in Creative Media
Illustration and Visual Narrative
Task 02: Decisive Moment

Lectures

Week 05 (23/09/2021)'s lecture is currently staying in Illustration & Visual Narrative: Task 01.

Week 07 (07/10/2021)

3-Acts Structure

Figure 1.1.1 Traditional three-acts structure chart

Setup: Introducing the world the character is in before the story begins. Usually ends with conflict being revealed to audience.

Rising Tension: Series of obstacles to be overcome by the protagonist. Usually is more difficult and has higher stakes than the previous one.

Conflict: Highest point of tension. Major decisive turning point for the protagonist.

Resolution: Conflict's conclusion. This is where protagonist overcomes, accepts or is defeated. This is where everything ends. 

Storytelling Basics

Central Theme:

  • What the story is really about. Can have the author's personal opinion on the subject.
  • Major Theme: Idea intertwined & repeated through the whole narrative.
  • Minor Theme: Appears more subtly & doesn't necessarily repeat

Conflict

  • What drives the story. Creates tension & suspense which makes it interesting.
  • Engages the audience.

Characters

  • Includes a number of them within a story.
  • Each has their own roles & purpose.
  • Central Characters: Characters are vital to the development of the story. Plot revolves around them.
  • Protagonist: Main character. Has a clear goal/conflict. Commands emotional involvement from the audience.
  • Antagonist: Opposes, problematic. Is a obstacle to the protagonist.



Instructions

Before sketching, I decided to list down some media I have liked to use for this task. I could only think of Choi Wooshik movies. Oops...

Movies: 

  • Parasite
  • The Witch: Part 1 - The Subversion
To make my decision, I decided to try and think of moments within both films. First, I focused on Parasite. 

Whenever I think of Parasite, this particular montage appears in my head. It holds some of my favourite shots in the whole movie. The first one is this particular shot of Kijung [Park Sodam's character] blowing the fuzz of the peach. Alone, you wouldn't think much of the shot. With context, it provides such a chilling thought in comparison to the warm and bright lighting of the shot. 

Figure 2.1.1 Screencap from Parasite's montage of the peach

Next, I will admit that I have watched a little too many theory videos on Parasite. Something that stuck with me long enough to make it here is the opening and closing shots of the movie. Both shots lead down to Kiwoo [Choi Wooshik's character], but has him facing completely different things.

Figure 2.1.2 Screencap from Parasite's opening & closing scene

Finally, I kept re-watching the montage scene as mentioned earlier. Another shot which had stuck out to me was this particular shot. It's when Kiwoo, Kijung and Chungsook are having a pizza while discussing on how their mother could get Moongwang's position as the Park family's housekeeper. 

Figure 2.1.3 Screencap from Parasite's montage of the hot sauce

For The Witch: Part 1 - The Subversion, I honestly had trouble thinking of scenes that brought decisive moments and wasn't too much of a spoiler. However, I was determined to think of some scenes. 

Firstly, is the scene which made me squirm in my seat when I first watched it. It was shot in such a way that was from the victim's point of view of the Nobleman [Choi Wooshik] angling the gun to themselves with his powers.

Figure 2.1.4 Gif of a scene in The Witch: Part 1 - The Subversion

Next is this scene where Jayoon [Kim Dami] has to decide her next actions as the people who are hunting her have broken into her home and threatening to kill her best friend, Myunghee.

Figure 2.1.5 Photo of the scene where Jayoon gets threatened

In the end, I decided to go with Parasite. Not only is it my favourite film, but the story & cinematography is something I truly will never forget for years to come. 

Following that, I started sketching my ideas for the poster. 

First, I did the peach. Following the original shot's lighting, I tried to input it into the sketch for the ease of future me.

Figure 2.2.1 Sketch 01, The Peach, 29/09/2021

Then, I proceeded to draw the hot sauce idea. 

Figure 2.2.2 Sketch 02, Hot Sauce, 29/09/2021

Finally, I sketched the idea of the opening and closing shots. 

Figure 2.2.3 Sketch 03, Window Socks, 30/09/2021

After looking at each sketch and deciding on the animation aspect as well, I decided to go with Sketch 01: The Peach (Fig 2.2.1). To start, I tried applying Chiaroscuro to observe the highlights and shadows of my reference. For this, I used Adobe Lightroom.

Figure 2.2.4 & 2.2.5 Attempting to apply Chiaroscuro, 04/10/2021.

Doing this allowed me to further grasp how the light is landing on the figure and where the shadows lie within the frame. 


I first did the hand.

Figure 2.3.1 Hand, 06/10/2021.
Figure 2.3.2 Hand Holding Peach, 06/10/2021.

Figure 2.3.3 Adding Kijung, 06/10/2021.

After getting my feedback from Ms Anis & Ms Jennifer, I coloured the peach and fixed Kijung's 'moustache'. Next, I tried finding a typeface like the one in the movie poster. A Google search later and I met 'Fragment'. Then, I decided to add 'A Film by Bong Joon Ho' below the title. For that, I used the typeface 'Lemon Milk'. Finally, I decided on the background colour. I had some trouble as I didn't know if I wanted a lighter or darker colour for the background. 
Figure 2.3.

Once I finished the poster, I proceeded to animate it. First, I wanted to see how I could move Kijung's side profile. Below are both my tryouts without the peach fuzz. For this, I created the frames in Adobe Illustrator and made them into gifs using Adobe Photoshop using the frame animation function. 


Figure 2.4.1 & 2.4.2 First tryout of moving side-profile


Figure 2.4.3 & 2.4.4 Second tryout of moving side-profile

Overall, I liked the second attempt (Figure 2.4.3) much better as I thought it was more smooth in comparison to the first attempt. With that, I decided to use the second attempt to animate in the peach fuzz. 

Before starting on the peach fuzz process, I decided to watch the shot (Figure 2.1.1) again and again. From what I saw, the peach fuzz seemed to flow freely, but some seemed to move in a wave like form. Maybe it was just the lighting, but I knew I wanted to make my peach fuzz flow like that.

Figure 2.4.5 Gif of the shot

Taking the base from the second attempt [Figure 2.4.4], I proceeded to start building the fuzz into the shot. I started adding it in the third frame, slowly letting it come out of the peach. Then, focusing on the fourth frame, allowing for the peach fuzz to escape and flow. Finally, the peach fuzz finally ends in the fifth frame. Altogether, this built a total of 14 frames to be in the gif.

Figure 2.4.6 Gif frames

Next, I input all the frames into Adobe Photoshop. 

Figure 2.4.7 Timeline in Photoshop

This allowed me to come with my gif which I was happy with!

Figure 2.4.8 Gif Version 01

However, we were advised to add in a logline for the gif. Instead of 'A film by Bong Joon Ho", I replaced it with this particular line from the montage scene. 

Figure 2.4.9 "It's a forbidden fruit."

Then, I got to work and replaced the sentence with the chosen logline. 

Figure 2.4.10 Updated frames

Finally, I compiled the frames. Below is the end product with 13 frames.

Figure 2.4.11 Final Poster Gif


Final Submission: 

Figure 2.5.1 Final Submission: Final Decisive Moment Poster: Parasite [기생충], JPEG

Figure 2.5.2 Final Submission: Final Decisive Moment Poster: Parasite [기생충], PDF

Figure 2.5.3 Final Submission: Final Decisive Moment Poster: Parasite [기생충], GIF


Feedback

30/09/2021 (Week 06): Ms Anis & Ms Jennifer agreed that my Sketch 01 & 02 are the best among the three that I did. They told me I was able to proceed on and choose my ideas for those two sketches.

07/10/2021 (Week 07): When Ms Anis & Ms Jennifer saw my illustration, they noted on how the peach would look better if it was coloured. They also mentioned how Kijung's side profile could be simpler. 

14/10/2021 (Week 08): When I asked Ms Anis for feedback on my final poster, she said it was nice. 

21/10/2021 (Week 09): Ms Anis & Ms Jennifer said my simple animation for the gif was good. 

Reflection

This task thought me many things. When given this task, I could never imagine making a minimalist poster because I never knew when to stop myself when producing something. Fortunately, with the guidance of my lecturers as well as the lecture sessions, it helped me get a better grasp on when is enough. Also, chiaroscuro helped me tremendously with creating the hand, side profile and peach. Editing them to show the lights and shadows forced me to analyse and carefully think of how they naturally relax.

References
Picture Credits

Figure 1.1.1 -  https://blog.reedsy.com/three-act-structure
Figure 2.1.1 - 2.1.3 - Joon Ho, B. (Director). (2019). Parasite [Motion picture]. South Korea, CJ Entertainment.
Figure 2.1.5 - Hoon Jung, P. (Director). (2018). The Witch: Part 1. The Subversion [Motion picture]. South Korea, Warner Bros.


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