It took some time to choose a movie scene to exercise rhythm and pacing. At first I thought about an earlier scene from the 2013 'The Lone Ranger' where an evil outlaw kills the main character's brother. It might have shown some suspense through its slow but sure editing. But this scene where the Lone Ranger and Tonto are buried up to their necks in sand had suspense, but also humour between the awkward relationship between the two characters. The banter between them includes rapid fire editing. Long shots are when Tonto delivers a deadpan remark and when a gag is pulled. The shot of the pocket watch is long enough to draw our anticipation of what sort of trouble is about to drop onto the two characters next. Editing is fast-paced between them wondering what is going on, then when scorpions burst out of the sand. As they get the scorpions crawling all over their faces, we get a lengthened shot, then rapid fire ones between them as the scene ends on a suspenseful note.
When choosing a script to animate from, I went for 'A Change of Heart.' In this story about a sad sack man being seduced by a woman at a bar and getting his heart cut out, I saw a pulpy American crime noir in the manner of Pulp Fiction or comics like '100 Bullets' by Brian Azzarello. Below are attempts at framing, colouring and lighting this gritty, hardboiled and sensual story.
A Change of Heart
Originally in the beatboard, Dennis was an overweight 'sad sack' a la Nick Frost (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, The World's End, etc) but a fat Dennis did not click. Looking further into the script, Dennis is actually at death's door and sickly. He was made frail and lost the hair on his head. Furthermore, I thought back to Alan Moore's graphic novel 'The Killing Joke' where flashbacks imply the Joker to have once been a depressed man before his transformation. So Dennis' eyes bulge from his sunken face and he is half dead from his condition. The suit and bow tie was abandoned for messier, drab clothes to reflect his dishevelled state.
With Tracy, I wanted to seduce even the audience. Noir comics like 100 Bullets or Sin City are quite famous for femme fatales. The minidress was cited by Omid as 'cliche but works' and was shortly switched to red. Some lighting was experimented with as to what kind of effect Tracey would have when she enters the scene.
Research and inspiration for the tone, colours, designs, lighting and misc-en-scene for 'A Change of Heart'
100 Bullets written by Brian Azzarello and illustrated by Eduardo Risso
Wonder Woman written by Brian Azzarello and illustrated by Cliff Chiang
Bruce Timm, creator of the DC Animated universe, brought the antiheroine Huntress to life in 'Justice League Unlimited.' In Huntress, I saw a sassy, spicy lady like Tracy, so I used her carefree attitude and range of moods and facial expressions as a source. Lighting and colour were played around with to accentuate Tracy's seductive air and nonchalant attitude.
Inspirations: 100 Bullets by Brian Azzarello, Uma Thurman from Pulp Fiction, Victoria Beckham and Bruce Timm artwork, lighting and design concepts
A modelling montage of Natalie Dormer inspired me to think of what Tracy could put on to make her and Dennis's night together more exciting. Her alone time with Dennis could do with lengthening.
Possible music
Storyboards
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'A Change of Heart' Animatic
DFPR1101 Reflection and Statement of Intent
Over this semester, I have participated in the production of ‘A Change of Heart’ based on American writer Eric Wall’s script. The outcome has been a series of storyboards of several scenes from the script allocated to each of us. Taz was the one who produced the animatic. As a member of the group, I was nominated character designer during production due to my strengths in illustration, and chose to tackle the last two scenes. In the process of storyboarding, I tackled lighting effects and took liberty with the story by expanding on a couple of scenes. When I read Eric Wall’s script, I started to interpret it as a bloody, romantic crime noir. Knowing that DC comics and Vertigo (DC’s subsidiary publisher) had produced graphic, adult fiction before, I looked into ‘The Killing Joke’ by Alan Moore and Brian Bolland and ‘100 Bullets’ by Brian Azzarello. To beef up my research, I also looked at Quentin Tarantino’s most famous film Pulp Fiction for character and genre inspiration. With these influences, I had an idea how the story should be approached and it earned favour from my teammates. Taz used the minidress design I had for Tracy. My storyboards’ extensions include a sex scene in the hotel bedroom and Tracy looking out at the Tokyo cityscape deep in thought. I suggested to my friends that we add the soundtrack from the animated ‘Batman: The Killing Joke,’ which sounded mysterious and soothing.
If I continued ‘A Change of Heart,’ I would try to establish the story’s tone and produce a neater animatic before moving on to a finished piece. A neater animatic could include lighting effects and the scenes I expanded on. I would continue working on it because I have spent a lot of time in the science fiction and mythical fantasy genres, particularly in other modules. I understand I could have crafted my own story as one of the other groups did, but when I found ‘A Change of Heart,’ I saw a genre I had not tackled before, so that was my chance to branch out my storytelling techniques. If I achieve a variety of storytelling practices, this versatility would help me professionally in illustration or animation. Expanding the ending with the two scenes I added in should provide the story with some dimension.
If I were to produce this story, I would choose to animate it in traditional 2D. In terms of animation, I have the greatest grasp of hand-drawn animation so far. 3D animation can increase my employability, but animating “A Change of Heart” in 2D would complement the colours, characters and story the best. I guess ‘A Change of Heart’ would work as live action, but the DC animated adaptation of ‘The Killing Joke’ has proven that not every animation has to be for children. A romantic crime noir animated in a similar fashion could stand out for audiences visually with its dark tone complemented by a strong colour palette and a comic book-style animation.
Carter, K. McCuistion, M. Ritmanis, L. 2016. Batman: The Killing Joke - Music From The DC Universe Original Movie. Warner Brothers
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnxNqFHsGpEHVneUus6RBhP0oKQVyTvG1
Azzarello, B. Risso, E. 2003. 100 Bullets: Six Feet under the gun. Vertigo Comics
Azzarello, B. Chiang, C. Akins, T. 2013. Wonder Woman: Iron. DC Comics. The New 52
Tarantino, Q. 1994. Pulp Fiction. Miramax Films
Moore, A. Bolland, B. 2008. The Killing Joke. Titans Comics