Animated Narratives Week 07: Mind Map and Concepts Explored

For my mind map this week I focused on the collection of ideas I’ve cultivated over weeks 1-5. Using the mind map to further expand my thoughts for direction and concept, I thought more about what every narrative has to offer and what could make them more unique / interesting. This was both in terms of interest to the audience but also what would keep me invested and motivated to continue working on the idea.

I quickly found myself gravitating towards certain concepts more, with a flurry of ideas being inspired by genre or setting. While the ideas of messing with perspective to subvert narrative context in the rollercoaster story and the dark comedy aspects of the skill tester boy had merit, I had a greater sense of direction and creative liberation steaming from the other ideas.

The concept of a contradictive genre / setting in what is essentially a story of exploring one's inner turmoil IS interesting to me, but when scoping the project in relation to the deadline, I felt a simpler story was the better option. This would allow me to experiment more with method and technique in my chosen idea.

This process of elimination led me to deciding to work on the “Girl in the mirror” concept (tentatively titled “Monophobia”)

I am always enthused at the idea of more ethereal “horror” or “horror which doesn’t reveal itself until it’s too late”. Looking at the idea, It has the most clarity in my mind -  I both see and feel the atmosphere of the concept (icy blues, dark shadows, cold overcast winter evening) and most importantly, the way sound would be used to amplify that atmosphere.

Moving forward, my goal in the coming week is to explore and research further how sound is used in ( both animated and live action) film. I already have some ideas as to how foley synergises with ambient sound. But the flow and pacing of how these different aspects fade and work together is something I need further references for In order to gauge my approach.

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