Illustration and Visual Narrative // Task 2 - Decisive Moment
ILLUSTRATION AND VISUAL NARRATIVE - Task 2 (decisive moment)
23/9/2021 -21/10/2021 (Week 5 - Week 8)
Mariam Ayman Mohamed Abouelala (0347638)
Bachelors of Design (Hons) in Creative Media / Taylor's University
Illustration and Visual Narrative Task 2 // Decisive Moment
INSTRUCTIONS
LECTURES
Lectures notes
Chiaroscuro
Chiaro = Bright, Scuro = Dark.
Chiaroscuro refers to the use of light and dark to create the illusion of three-dimensional volume on flat surface basically its all about balancing the light and the negative space a design can be balanced.
Comics Is example of Chiaroscuro
Chiaroscuro is used to Increase dramatic tension, Create sensational effect which lead to creation of movement and flow However its a great study of form and value practice And Pull viewers' attention to a subject in an intense way.
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Figure 1 Art work using Chiaroscuro |
Movement & Rhythm
Movement is the principle of good design which gives the artist control over what the viewer sees next. Using this principle, the artist can create the path our eyes will travel as we look at a work of art, it's how a design leads the eye in, around, and through a composition.
creates the path the eyes follow For example the eye will travel along an actual path such as solid or dotted line, or it will move along more subtle paths such as from large to smaller elements, from dark to lighter elements and so on
It can be achieved by shapes, forms, lines, and curves as well.
However , Rhythm/flow is one of the most difficult design principles to be achieved in art.
Flow and movement help to narrate the illustration effectively by the use of visual hierarchy.
The sense of rhythm/flow and movement is created when the composition flows into a direction of a specific point.
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| Figure 2 Example of Movement |
Hierarchy
Hierarchy is the choreography of content in a composition to communicate information and convey meaning.
Visual hierarchy directs viewers to the most important information first, and identifies navigation through secondary content.
“Visual hierarchy controls the delivery of the experience. If you have a hard time figuring out where to look on a page, it’s more than likely that its layout is missing a clear visual hierarchy.”
- The Nielsen Norman Group
- The Nielsen Norman Group
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| Figure 3: Maximising Overlaps |
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| Figure 4 Establishing Patterns and Rhythms |
PRACTICAL
Task 2 : Decisive Moment
We were asked to select a decisive moment from our favourite tv shows, films, comics, or manga. After that, we were then to make it into an animated GIF movie poster. We were also reminded to be careful when choosing these moments as some may just be an iconic but not a decisive moment. A decisive moment is a scene that changes the storyline for good or bad.
Instructions
Figure 5 Task 2 Instructions
Week 5 - Visual Research
For this assignment, I decided to choose one of my favourite films and create an animated movie poster for it, which was SQUID GAME, Its South Korean fictional drama in which contestants
who are deeply in debt play children's games in order to win a ton of cash.
The downside is that losers will be killed. Seriously, if a person can't nail "Red Light, Green Light," they are totally a goner
Hundreds of cash-strapped contestants accept an invitation to compete in children's games for a tempting prize, but the stakes are deadly.
After that, I did some additional visual research for inspiration as well as for reference on how I want my poster to look like. Then I started by looking which scene to choose that has a great decisive moment for the movie poster.
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| Figure 6 Squid Game Poster Inspiration |
I started by taking some inspirations about posters in General how to make it Simple and effective and to apply all the instructions as well .
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| Figure 7 Joker poster inspiration |
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| Figure 8 Dunkirk poster inspiration |
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| Figure 9 Inception poster inspiration |
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| Figure 10 Squid game poster inspiration |
Idea Exploration & Process
I initially had an idea for the poster creation As Decisive moment I decided to use one of the workers as the domain inside my poster, This is what affected me about watching the series, and it is the character of the guards (how much they are just employees, but they control the whole thing, and this is palpable in our daily lives where there are people who have no business who can control us just because that is their job entrusted to them by another person who has power Down with the authority, and let freedom come.
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| Figure 11 Inspiration of the workers |
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| Figure 12 Inspiration of the workers from Pinterest |
Week 6 - Digitalising in AI
Unfortunately for this week I didnt record any screenshots of my progress cause I lost the file so I only have JPEG Pic Thank god its not accepted at the end so I will not lose marks 😆.
Final poster Outcome Digitalising ( not the final )
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| Figure 13 Final Poster Outcome First trial 2/10/2021 |
Before receiving the feedback , I thought I was on the very right path as I did the things needed and I feel this poster is really good enough And after receiving the feedback I realised its horrible and not done in the right way , and after understanding what I did wrong I realised that this artwork doesn't work for the Decisive Moment .
Perhaps , I lost the file as well The best Part I wasn't sad at all that I lost it cause I will recreate everything from the scratch again cause even the idea is not correct .
I have got feedback from Miss Anis saying that what is the decisive moment captured here also there is no story whatsoever its just poster about squid game & She advised me to refer back to the brief .
To be honest I got shocked cause I already have an idea behind the poster but then I realised that its "JUST POSTER FOR SQUID GAME" "NO DECISIVE MOMENT BEHIND THIS POSTER"
Miss Jenifer's Feedback No need to write description its a poster not gaming card this time , And she also asked what is the decisive moment of this poster ? any scenes its based off?
Then I decided to squeeze my mind again and to think of correct idea this time , I came up with an idea & Also I showed it to Miss Anis and Miss Jenifer and Finally both of them liked my idea a Lot and Im expecting that the answer of my question will be Season 2 xD ..
So here is my idea If the hero had chosen the red card instead of blue card, He would have been from the organisers not the players, Cause I think the card colour is related to their outfit colour. The Colour of the workers outfit pinkish red, and the players greenish blue, So the hero at this scene he chose blue card so he was the one who determined his fate and role at the time.
So that's why I'm saying that season 2 maybe he will choose the red card and will be from the workers and he will take his revenge 😆.
So I started to draw my idea on paper first and then to digitalise it .
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| Figure 15 Squid game sketch 3/10/2021 |
Week 6 - Digitalisation in AI
I started by applying the easy things first like squid game word , Netflix , Squid game shapes & choice = destiny word
I will make the background plain and I will work more on the hand , I was thinking to make it something realistic
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| Figure 16 Progress of poster creation 3/10/2021 |
To be honest , I was really struggling as I had no idea to make anything looks realistic so I started to watch some tutorials of how to make any drawing more realistic .
I watched some tutorials on youtube , Im really not sure of the outcome as I couldn't imagine the poster with realistic hand at the same time I don't have much time so I decided to take the decision and start to work again
I searched on how to make drawing realistic
Then I followed the steps carefully
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| Figure 19 screenshot of the youtube tutorial 4/10/2021 |
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| Figure 20 screenshot of the youtube tutorial 4/10/2021 |
I also learned how to make the gradient using mesh tool during Moahmed Khayal's tutorials He also have a channel including all the things need to be learned in AI
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| Figure 22 screenshot of the youtube tutorial 4/10/2021 ( In Arabic Language) |
I followed the same steps as the tutorials.
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| Figure 23 My work progress using mesh tool on AI 5/10/2021 |
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| Figure 24 My work progress using Transparency light AI 5/10/2021 |
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| Figure 25 My work progress using mesh tool on AI 5/10/2021 |
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| Figure 26 My work progress using mesh tool on AI 5/10/2021 |
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| Figure 27 My work progress separation of hand parts on AI 5/10/2021 |
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| Figure 28 My work progress separation of hand parts on AI 5/10/2021 |
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I used Mesh , Shadows with more layers , Clipping mask , Blinding mood (screen) , Vectors with play by blinding mood .
I decided to move the hand to upper right to minimise the negative space .
Poster Final Second Poster Outcome ( not the final )
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| Figure 31 Second poster outcome 7/10/2021 |
Poster Final Second Poster Outcome GIF Animation ( not the final )
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| Figure 31 Second poster outcome GIF animation 7/10/2021 |
After Showing Miss Anis my work she told me its much better than the first trial , She also advised me to follow miss Jennifer's instruction
So After consultation with Miss Jenifer , She told me that you need to adjust further. i don't think you should put the red borderline though. Remember i told you that this is not a card design She also told me I misunderstanding their instructions and suggestions, as the cards I did cube squares. not just normal squares. As I tried to make it realistic as much as I could , cause also I didnt want to copy paste everything I wanted to do something unique and different with effort as well so I tried to use my imagination but I think I misunderstood the requirements , I told Miss Jenifer that if anyone saw the poster he will definitely understand my idea.
Miss Jenifer advised me to but you need to train your eyes for designing too, and definitely can improvise further. all the long hours and detail work are good effort, but if the design isn't effective, then you'll need to try and try again. I didn't become a professional overnight either.
So I started to think how I should improvise my work and to follow the instructions as well.
So the idea of making half of the poster realistic and other half not , wasn't really good idea .
I don't have consistency in this poster like some things drawn and the others realistic so I felt after the consultation that It doesn't make any sense.
After another consultation with Miss Jenifer I was so stressed and disappointed cause I felt that Im not on the right path , the idea is correct but actually the design did not really effective and not as what mentioned with the requirements .
Miss Jenifer told me some notes so I took down her notes and started to work on that .
She advised me to try to resize your illustration because your current version isn't very impactful since the hand and cards are small.
She also advised me not to leave the background too plain , I can add money won or the card of the squid game & also lovely Miss Jeniffer told me "Hold your horses on the animation"
Also another feedback I got that movements of the cards not good , she needs the cards to switch like that cause the movement I did is only switching cards .
This what she means , She need to see the card moving like that .
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| Figure 32 screenshot during the consultation with Miss Jenifer of explanation of the motion 7/10/2021 |
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| Figure 33 screenshot during the consultation with Miss Jenifer of explanation of the motion 7/10/2021 |
Miss Jennifer is such a lovely , She showed also example during the consultation for what she means as an example even she showed the movement of the card
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| Figure 34 screenshot during the consultation with Miss Jenifer of explanation of the feedback 7/10/2021 |
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| Figure 35 screenshot during the consultation with Miss Jenifer of explanation of the feedback especially for the motion 7/10/2021 |
Lastly after the consultation and after I wrote down all the feedback I have got I did 3rd design with consideration to every feedback I got I realised that it doesn't make any sense to make poster very realistic like that as the hand I did so I took decision to ignore using Mesh and to draw everything .
I started again by Building up the idea , So I started off by sketching everything on AI with alignment of everything will be included inside my poster to adjust my spaces .
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| Figure 36 Screenshot of the process during creating the hand of the 3rd poster & last on AI Step by step 14/10/2021 |
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| Figure 37 Screenshot of the process during creating the hand of the 3rd poster & last on AI Step by step 14/10/2021 |
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| Figure 38 Screenshot of the process during creating the hand of the 3rd poster & last on AI Step by step 14/10/2021 |
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| Figure 39 Screenshot of the process during creating the hand of the 3rd poster & last on AI Step by step 14/10/2021 |
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| Figure 40 Screenshot of the process during creating the hand of the 3rd poster & last on AI Step by step 14/10/2021 |
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| Figure 41 Screenshot of the process during creating the cards of the 3rd poster & last on AI Step by step 14/10/2021 |
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| Figure 42 Screenshot of the process during creating the background of the 3rd poster & last on AI Step by step 14/10/2021 |
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| Figure 43 Screenshot of the process during creating the background of the 3rd poster & last on AI Step by step 14/10/2021 |
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| Figure 44 Screenshot of the process during creating the background of the 3rd poster & last on AI Step by step 14/10/2021 |
Then I showed to Miss Jeniffer , She told me Composition looks alright , proceed with the colours
Then I started to colour my work .
Work Outcome
I came out with two backgrounds patterns .
1st poster outcome difference in the background patterns
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| Figure 45 Final poster with First background pattern 21/10/2021 |
2nd poster outcome difference in the background patterns
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Me & Miss Jeni liked the first one better , but she commented on Make Your Choice , put it just under the title, cleaner and neater. Because the log line placed on the left in big words seemed is overpowering the main title "Squid Game".
The title should never be overshadowed by the log line.
She also liked this style other than the other style that I did the realistic hand .
Final Poster Outcome & Submission JPEG
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| Figure 46 SQUID GAME , Final Poster Outcome & Submission in JPEG 21/10/2021 |
Final Poster Outcome & Submission PDF
Week 7 - Animation in Adobe Photoshop
For the animation , I want to move the cards as instructed not switching the blue card supposed to to appear bind the red card and to go back again to its place .
First trial of GIF animation
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Then I tried to improvise the motion of the cards to make them a bit close to each other and still the motion not the same as Miss Jeni's example I feel it needs a bit of improvising , Also I changed the colours by mistake in the first animation I made the red colour behind the blue colour not the same as the poster so I modified that mistake .
Final Poster Outcome GIF & Submission
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| Figure 49 Poster animation Gif Final submission 21/10/2021 |
Google Drive Submission for Task 2 (Decisive Moment)
FEEDBACK
Week 6 - Decisive moment on first poster
Feedback from Miss Anis
I have got feedback from Miss Anis saying that what is the decisive moment captured here also there is no story whatsoever its just poster about squid game & She advised me to refer back to the brief .
Feedback from Miss Jennifer
Miss Jenifer's Feedback No need to write description its a poster not gaming card this time , And she also asked what is the decisive moment of this poster ? any scenes its based off?
Week 6 - Decisive moment on second poster
Feedback from Miss Anis
Miss Anis commented its much better than the first trial , She also advised me to follow miss Jennifer's instruction
Feedback from Miss Jennifer
She told me that you need to adjust further. i don't think you should put the red borderline though. Remember i told you that this is not a card design She also told me I misunderstanding their instructions and suggestions, as the cards I did cube squares. not just normal squares.
Miss Jenifer advised me saying you need to train your eyes for designing too, and definitely can improvise further. all the long hours and detail work are good effort, but if the design isn't effective, then you'll need to try and try again. I didn't become a professional overnight either.
She advised me to try to resize your illustration because your current version isn't very impactful since the hand and cards are small.
She also advised me not to leave the background too plain , I can add money won or the card of the squid game & also lovely Miss Jeniffer told me "Hold your horses on the animation"
Also another feedback I got that movements of the cards not good , she needs the cards to switch like that cause the movement I did is only switching cards .
Week 6 - Decisive moment on Last poster (Submitted poster)
Feedback from Miss Jennifer
She told me Composition looks alright , proceed with the colours .
She commented on Make Your Choice , put it just under the title, cleaner and neater. Because the log line placed on the left in big words seemed is overpowering the main title "Squid Game".
The title should never be overshadowed by the log line.
Week 7 - Animation GIF
Feedback from Miss Jennifer
Miss Jeni commented during this week saying
"In all honesty, the design is really nice. As for the animation... I don't have any comments further",
She told me also the animation it's better than the previous animation .
REFLECTION
Experience
I wasn't sad at all after receiving the feedback cause I have to redo everything from the scratch , To be honest I got shocked cause I already have an idea behind the poster but then I realised that its "JUST POSTER FOR SQUID GAME" "NO DECISIVE MOMENT BEHIND THIS POSTER"so i have to go back and think again for another idea.
For the second poster I came out with good idea actually and when I showed my idea to Miss Anis & Miss Jenni they both liked it so I started to calm down again and to work again .
For the second poster the nightmare poster this was one of the most difficult and annoying poster I have ever done , after wasting a lot of time on watching tutorials , trying and trying I know the poster is simple but the hand really took me a lot of time to do ..
I was unsure to be honest I would be able to finish this assignment before the deadline or not but I really passed through very difficult time to come up with the poster and I didnt submit it at the end .
This time the idea was good but my design didn't work , I got good feedback from Ms Anis but after consultation with Ms Jenni and referring back to the assignment brief it didnt match the requirements , Even I did the animation in bad way .
I worked and worked and worked I didn't sleep for few days trying to finish the work and of course with the guidance & assistance of both Miss Anis & Jeniffer they really helped me a lot to produce better work .
I have learnt a lot during this period about AI , also about some features and also I learned how to manage my time and the most important thing to believe in myself more .
The third poster it was very challenging for me cause this is the 3rd time to redo the poster so I have no time to do 4th and also this one for me should be the one I have to submit so during this process I was so motivated and stressed at the same time , but with Ms Jenni's guidance I felt that this time will be the last and the best .
It was not first time to animate on illustrator but it was a bit challenging as well cause I need to do specific movement but overall Im glad that I managed this project and im super satisfied with the outcome that I did and proud of myself a lot !
Observation
After studying Chiaroscuro & during my visual research for the posters in general I observed that Gestalt theory and Chiaroscuro often used cause it grabs the viewer attention and gives some sense of drama especially for the horror movies , this is first time to observe something like that .
And because Squid game not horror but it's Fictional Drama .
Also Decisive moment is really very important in a movie and it's also not easy moment .
Also I realised that some movie posters doesn't contain much of info and thats what I have learned from my first poster I did , I introduced a lot of info which is totally wrong , it should be quite simple and didnt contain much of info about the movie to flare-up & Grab your attention more to watch the movie and also to raise your interest and that also what chose of colour scheme should do , Choosing of colours is really important cause each & every colour within the poster symbolise & reflect something about the movie .
Findings
I found that when I did 2 posters wrong and not following the requirements despite the time consuming and the stress I went through but I really learned a lot of things from the lecturers and also from the tutorials and from the research as well on how to do a poster design .
That stress and confusion I went through made me lose half of my hair but also it pushed me forward to squeeze my mind and to think critically and outside the box , At the end of the day I really appreciated the effort done with me from Ms Anis & Ms Jennifer actually without them definitely I would be lost but thank god without them and their guidance also and without my effort idid in this project I wouldn't have had this final outcome which im totally satisfied and happy and proud also of it !
FURTHER READING
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| Figure 50 Creative Character Design Book |
As a character designer, you need to keep in mind that your character always tells a story, not vice versa. " Brian Tillman
This is a unique illustration that often wonders why "styles" like those created by publishers like Focal Press have never been published or published on a large scale. It is one of the books.
CREATIVE CHARACTER DESIGN is a how-to book of illustrations depicting unmistakable urban hip-hop. If you consider these books, how to draw caricatures and cartoons of heads and figures (perige) as the basis for learning how to draw "pop" masses / "features", this CCD book is such a book. 20 years of the new millennium.
In a sense, Tillman refers to illustrations and plots, and form follows function.
What's special is that Tillman, a writer and creative director at a design company, has a very straightforward illustration basics and psychological overview to get the most out of his talent.
According to Tillman, before one can approach an illustration, he/she should possess the following five (5) traits in order to correctly capture the image. They are as follows:
Archetype
* Story
* Being Original
* Shapes
* References
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| Figure 51 The Silver way book |
Probably the ultimate resource for aspiring character designers. It's a huge book about 1 foot wide, with over 220 pages of tips, exercises, and pattern design. In each of the
chapters, we go further towards the goal of creating great characters. It starts with explaining what it takes to be a good designer and what character design really means.
writer Stephen Silver has decades of experience as a cartoonist and character designer in the entertainment industry, including some of his most notable works on the television shows Kim Possible and Danny Phantom.
He provides live mentoring and gives back to the arts community by helping other artists learn and understand character design. And this book is just another example of his generous teaching.
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