Introduction 4 Field of Study

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Field of Study

Fairy Tales In Motion

Motion Graphics

Field of Study

My chosen field of study

My chosen field of study for my FMP is motion graphics which is essentially animation, but with text as a major component. It’s animated graphic design. The word “animation” is an umbrella term that includes almost anything that has movement (Silveira, 2021) I find this field particularly intriguing as it allows for the marriage of sound, motion and graphic design to work together creating a grand narrative for the viewer to experience.

While motion graphics is becoming more widespread within the design industry with the growing reliance on web design, app design and design for social; it has existed as a key communication tool for many years. It has been used as a tool to add greater depth and meaning to stories. Some of these early examples include movie title sequences with pioneers such as Saul Bass where their work represented an unexpected and creative approach to setting the mood for spectators, creating excitement, and introducing technical information about the movie in a two minute piece of motion.

How I was introduced to motion

My personal interest in motion design comes from a university project I did where I made a 30 second animation that captured the story and values of the Virgin Media brand. The process of researching what the company stands for gave me the inspiration to communicate using moving image and text. I want to continue developing this skill to improve further.

Fig 3. Animation by Eiko Ojala, Fig 4. Animation by Marta Azaña

Fairy Tales In Motion

Title Sequences

Function of a title sequence

In my final major project, I explores how to make a title sequence. However, before researching the history and examples of movie / game titles, I first needed to understand their purpose.

I concluded three main factors that feed into a successful title sequence. Firstly is it’s ability to set the tone, pacing and genre of the media as it is often the first impression the viewer has setting the mood for what’s to come. Secondly, the titles can build up anticipation for the audience by creating an emotional response engaging and exciting them so they are glued to their seats waiting for more. Thirdly, effective titles foreshadow key themes without overshadowing the plot. This creates questions that will get answered later.

Field of Study

Fig 5. Kyle Cooper, Se7en (1995) Title Sequence

Fairy Tales In Motion

Tropes In Motion Graphics

Motion Graphics techniques

The world of motion graphics is fast moving within the industry. For my FMP I wanted to document the current trends within the field to begin understanding techniques I can experiment with

• Glitch effect • Kinetic typography • Isometric shapes • Retro • Grain effects & texture • Morphing / Seamless transitions • Liquid motion • Animated logos • Animated collage • 3D elements • Merge 2D & 3D • Broken text • Sophisticated VFX • Thin lines • CGI • Restricted colour palette • Self-drawing lines • Background animation • Hover effects • Surreal digital animations • Illustrations • Loading animation • Animated galleries & slide shows • Looping videos / GIFs • Abstract minimalism • VR Animation Field of Study

Fig 6. Examples of Tropes In Motion Graphics

Fairy Tales In Motion

What Is A Fairy Tale?

Field of Study

My chosen topic

I have a great interest in fantasy writing, movies and games which are based off myths and legends from around the world. For my FMP, I am creating a title sequence and thought having a fantasy theme for the content would be perfect for the animation. It is for this reason I chose to create a title sequence based around fairy tales.

What are Fairy Tales

A fairy tale is a traditional story written for children that usually involves imaginary creatures and magic. However, fairy tales often carry several moral messages for the reader making them models for human behaviour that, by that very fact, give meaning and value to life (Bettelhelm, 1989:35). They allow the reader to project themselves into the story.

Features of a Fairy Tale

• Short story • Hero/Heroine • Evil character • Magic • Overcoming evil • Moral messages • Predictable structure • Oral tradition • Usually a happy ending • Traditionally acted as warnings for the time period and place the tales are from • Good vs Evil

Fig 7. Fairy World Illustration by WallpaperBoat

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Context

Fairy Tales In Motion

History of Title Sequences

Some of the first title sequences were seen within silent films. These were simple, non animated designs using only type with some minor decoration often on a black background. In the case of the director D. W. Griffith, He was one of the first examples of branded title cards including his name as a signature within the frame.

Early movies were silent films meaning that the title cards served an additional function beyond modern title sequences where they were needed to fully comprehend the story. These cards were used throughout to set the time and pace of individual scenes (Braha and Byrne, 2013). Despite the first title cards simplicity, this pioneered a new trend that only developed further with the introduction of new technologies such as synchronized-sound motion pictures in the 1920s introducing sound and speech beyond companying music to films. Later in the 1930s, full colour motion pictures were introduced creating all new viewing experiences for viewers not possible before.

Context

Fig 8. D. W. Griffith, Intolerance Title Card

Fairy Tales In Motion

Saul Bass

Saul Bass is one of the greats within the field of graphic design and titles design. Bass brought modernist design revolutionizing not only how titles looked, but also how people viewed them.

Post World War II, Titles with moving backgrounds were becoming more common yet they still remained unimaginative, the status of title sequences were low being seen nothing more than a list of names before the film began. Seeing this Bass used techniques of paper cut-outs, live action, animation, type design and montage to make his titles capture the essence and mood of the film to come. His titles expanded on the function of solely crediting cast and crew to becoming part of the film itself. Some of his stand out works included that of The Man With The Golden Arm (1955), Anatomy of a Murder (1959), Psycho (1960) along with many more.

For my own FMP title sequence, I plan on making the contents engaging capturing the theme and mood of the chosen fairy tale within the type and motion on screen.

“My position was that the film begins with the first frame and that the film should be doing a job at that point”

Saul Bass

Context

Fig 9. Saul Bass, Title Credits

Fairy Tales In Motion

Fig 10. Saul Bass, The Man With The Golden Arm

Context

Fig 11. Saul Bass, Anatomy of a Murder

Fairy Tales In Motion

Look Into Game Titles

For my FMP I wanted to experiment with creating the opening title sequence for a video game. I am always engaged when the credits pop up after playing through the prologue of a game due to their ability to set the tone and themes of the story, foreshadowing what’s to come.

Uncharted 4

The titles are stylised to be following animated sketches in a notebook revisiting the main protagonist, Nathan Drake’s, previous adventures from past games. With the titles being accompanied by an orchestral score of the main theme the sequence boasts a high level of production value. Creative director, Henry Hobson, described the aim of ‘retelling the epic history of the franchise in a manner that visually echoed the themes of the game’

Tales From The Borderlands

Is an episodic game with each episode having its own intro sequence capturing the chaotic world of the borderlands while still continuing the story by having intractable events influencing the credits.

Until Dawn

Until dawn is a cinematic horror game where the players choices directly affects the outcomes of the characters who’s actors have been motion captured to place themselves into the game. To introduce the story the titles play out as a series of haunting images set to an unsettling rendition of Dock Bogg’s “O Death”, neatly packed in the middle of which is a brief cut-scene designed to set the stage for the main events of the campaign. Imagery used foreshadows events in the game.

Fig 12. Heavy Rain Opening Credit

Fig 14. Tales From The Borderlands Opening Credits Context

Fig 13. Until Dawn Opening Credit

Fig 15. Uncharted 4 Opening Credits

Fairy Tales In Motion

Fig 16. Octodad Opening Credits

Context

Fig 17. Tales From The Borderlands Opening Credits

Fairy Tales In Motion

Fig 18. The Last of Us Opening Credits

Context

Fig 19. Uncharted 4 Opening Credits

Fairy Tales In Motion

Game vs Film Titles

So what is the difference anyway

Firstly what makes video game title sequences so interesting is the fact that they don’t technically need to have them. While in movie and TV it is a contractual obligation to credit cast and crew up front, this is not the case for games which often don’t require opening credits as a legal requirement. This means that title sequences in games are not there to simply credit people but the creators are able to use them in more meaningful ways.

Furthermore, one key distinction between games and films is that games have the ability to tell an interactive story in which the player controls. This interactive dimension is able to be extended to the titles themselves. In the cinema, the audience can’t make a character interact with the credits but in the opening of Octodad, players still have control of the playable octopus allowing them to grab onto the credits breaking the letters as you fall through them.

With the development of new technology in the games industry, players are now able to put on their VR headset and immerse themselves in the 3D titles going on around them making the conventional title sequence its own surreal out of body experience as seen in the game I Expect You To Die. The possibilities for titles in games truly allows the creators to enhance the story they are telling.

Fig 20. Octodad Opening Credits, Player Breaking Credits

Fig 21. I Expect You To Die Opening Credits VR, CaptainSauce Playing Context

Fairy Tales In Motion

Origin of Fairy Tales

Today, fairy tales are regarded as magical stories to read to children with many adaptations of the tales to screens depicting characters the likes of Cinderella and Snow White getting their happy ever after fairy tale ending. However, the origin of these well known tales is almost always more dark and sinister compared to the popularised versions today.

Origin of Little Red Riding Hood

The origins of Little Red Riding Hood go back to the 10th century where it was passed on through oral tradition amongst the poor. The first person to write down this folktale was French writer Charles Perrault, in his book Mother Goose Tales. The story later spread to Germany and England, carried by French refugees of the Wars of Religion and later conflicts, until the Brothers Grimm wrote it down again in the 19th century retelling the classic tale as the well known tale today.

However, with the long history of the tale of girl in red walking into the woods spanning several centuries, there have been a number of changes that have transformed the tale. Some of the earliest versions involved gruesome accounts of cannibalism where the wolf kills and butchers the elderly woman. He pours her blood into a bottle and slices up her flesh on a platter. Later tricking Red to eat her pretending it is bread and wine.

In this section I will explore a handful of the key writers of original tales to gain a better understanding of where fairy tales originated from for my FMP.

Fig 22. Little Red Ridding Hood Illustrations Context

Fairy Tales In Motion

Charles Perrault

The Mother Goose version of Little Red Riding Hood is less gruesome than many of the original folktales with the cannibalism being removed, but the story is still disturbing without a happy ending. In Perrault’s version, Red walking through the woods shares her grandmother’s address with a wolf. Next, the wolf sneaks in and eats the grandmother disguising in her clothes for Red’s arrival. When she arrives he exploits her naivety by asking her to strip and get into the bed, where he then attacks and eats her.

Perrault’s 17th-century moral to the story is a reminder that fairy tales were originally meant to educate children about real dangers, not just wolves, but others who wanted to take advantage of children as seen in his version of Little Red Ridding Hood. Fairy tales weren’t made to be happy stories for kids but instead lessons catered to the time period and location. At the end of Perrault’s story, he includes a moral to help children understand the meaning behind the tale:

“Children, especially attractive, well bred young ladies, should never talk to strangers, for if they should do so, they may well provide dinner for a wolf. I say ‘wolf,’ but there are various kinds of wolves. There are also those who are charming, quiet, polite, unassuming, complacent, and sweet, who pursue young women at home and in the streets. And unfortunately, it is these gentle wolves who are the most dangerous.”

Charles Perrault

Fig 23. Charles Perrault, Little Red Ridding Hood “All the better to eat you up with. And, saying these words, this wicked wolf fell upon Little Red Riding Hood, and ate her all up”

Charles Perrault Context

Fairy Tales In Motion

Brothers Grimm

Development of Little Red Cap

Moving away from the predatory story of Perrault’s version, in the 19th century Wilhelm and Jacob Grimm retold the story with the first half following similar lines of Perrault having the wolf trick Red with both Red and the grandmother being swallowed hole.

However, the story doesn’t stop there. The Brothers Grimm introduced the huntsman who saves the day as he cuts open the wolfs belly with a pair of scissors allowing the girl and her grandmother leap out alive all while the wolf is fast asleep. To get revenge, Red takes over, filling the wolf’s body with large stones. The wolf apparently sleeps through this whole process, but when he wakes up and tries to run away, the stones are so heavy that he falls down dead.

Rapunzel

In the original Grimm story she is shorn of her hair and cast out into the wilderness when the witch holding her captive learns that a prince has been visiting her nightly. When the prince visits again, the witch tricks him into climbing the tower using Rapunzel’s cut off hair, only to push him from the tower blinding him. He wanders the wilderness until he is reunited with Rapunzel and the twins she has given birth to, guided back to her by her beautiful singing voice. The tears of happiness that Rapunzel cries restore the prince’s sight, and they all live happily ever after.

The one theme throughout Grimm tales is that pure goodness is always repaid with a reward. Despite this, Grimm tales still have a high probability of violence.

Fig 24. Grimm Brothers, Little Red Cap

Fig 25. Grimm Brothers, Rapunzel “Little Red Cap fetched some large stones. She filled the wolf’s body with them, and when he woke up and tried to run away, the stones were so heavy that he immediately fell down dead.”

Brothers Grimm

“grasped a pair of scissors with her right hand, and snip snap, cut it off. And she was so unmerciful that she took Rapunzel into a wilderness where she suffered greatly.”

Brothers Grimm Context

Fairy Tales In Motion

Hans Christian Andersen

Unlike the other authors, Andersen’s work was mostly original work rather than transcribed folktales from the region.

The Little Mermaid

Andersen’s original story is tragic throughout being filled with poetic irony. Firstly, mermaids live for 300 years, but have no immortal souls so Ariel is promised a soul if she marries a human. Ariel’s transformation to be human causes her to lose her voice along with having constant agonising pain being described as ‘each time her foot touched the floor it seemed as if she trod on sharp knives causing her tender feet to bleed’.

This is before her heart is broken when her prince marries someone else creating the problem of Ariel dying without gaining a soul. The Sea Witch informs her that if she kills the prince she will turn back into a mermaid and live giving her a knife to carry out the deed, but Ariel chooses to sacrifice herself, throwing herself into the sea becoming sea foam. The end.

The story has no happy ending instead being filled with tragic irony throughout. Contrastingly, in the Disney version of Hans Christian Andersen’s tale, Ariel eventually wins the heart of Prince Eric, gets her voice back and celebrates with a beautiful wedding on a boat, surrounded by her aquatic friends and family. This adaptation of the story is not the only example of Disney rewriting classic stories into their well known family friendly, magical tales seen in their films.

Fig 26. Hans Christian Andersen, The Little Mermaid, Illustration by Edmund Dulac “Dashed overboard and fell, her body dissolving into foam”

Hans Christian Andersen Context

Fairy Tales In Motion

Disney Adaptation

While the original stories contain violence, tales of loss, suffering and disturbing content. Disney takes a much more child friendly approach censoring or removing violence and darker themes seen amongst Grimm, Andersen and Perrault fairy tales.

Within Disney films, the animation uses bright friendly colours in combination with spontaneous musical numbers, magical godmothers, talking animals and a happy ending to tie the story together.

Similarly to original fairy tales, each story has a lesson following a series of key themes within the plot. These themes act as a moral code to teach children lessons. These moral lessons include:

• Snow White: Be kind, even when others are not • Brave: Be brave (the title does it justice)

Beauty and the Beast: Show mercy and compassion • The Princess and the Frog: Believe in yourself and your dreams • Pocahontas: Stand up for what is right • Tangled: It’s okay to be afraid • Cinderella: kindness, fairness, and patience • The Little Mermaid: There’s No Dream

Too Big or Too Small

Fig 27. Disney, Cinderella, Fig 28. Disney, The Little Mermaid Context

Fairy Tales In Motion

Disney vs Grimm

Cinderella

In Disney’s adaptation, the iconic scene where the step sisters attempt to put on the slipper for the prince is portrayed as being comical using scale to exaggerate how much their feet don’t fit. One sister has the glass shoe hanging off a toe while the other has forced her foot to bend unnaturally only to get the toes and heel in. Disney’s depiction of this scene is light hearted to allow children to laugh at the stepsisters.

However, in the Brothers Grimm version, Cinderella still gets her happily ever after, but her evil stepsisters get a much gorier outcome. Here when the first stepsister couldn’t fit her toes into the shoes so the stepmother handed her a knife and encouraged her to cut off her toes so her feet could fit deceiving the prince that she is his true love. The prince saw the blood coming from the shoe and knew she wasn’t the same person. When the second stepsister tried, her heel didn’t fit so she cut off her heel but again the prince wasn’t fooled. In the end, the two stepsisters were punished for their actions by having their eyes pecked out by pigeons.

While the two versions follow the same well known plot, the Brothers Grimm version introduces increased violence which had been cut from the Disneyfied story. For my FMP I find the gore and darker subjects of original fairy tales to be more interesting than the censored Disney tales aimed towards younger children.

Fig 30. Grimm, Cinderella, Step Sisters Cutting Off Their Heal and Toes To Put On Slipper Fig 29. Disney, Cinderella,

Step Sisters Attempting

To Put On Slipper

“Her mother gave her a knife and said, Cut off your toe. When you are queen you will no longer have to go on foot.”

Brothers Grimm Context

Fairy Tales In Motion

Psychology in Animation

Inside Out

To get a better understanding on how moral messages can be depicted within animation for my FMP I looked into how complex emotions and thoughts were visually depicted within Pixar’s Inside Out

Inside Out is an animated film that explores the inner workings of a developing 11 year old mind. The animation doesn’t follow the traditional structure of a kids film with there being no superhero or villain but instead the main protagonist Riley and her core emotions inside her head. This unique perspective of storytelling still works to communicate morals, messages and meaning to children similar to fairy tales. It breaks down characters to represent singular emotions deliberately naming them after what they represent (‘Joy’ represents happiness, ‘Sadness’ represents being sad). Fairy tales follow a similar trope but in the form of generalised characters such as the evil stepmother which children can associate with being the bad guy while also preserving the goodwill of the true mother as to not overwhelm kids with contradictory emotions (Bettelheim, 1989).

Inside out depicts concepts of:

• Conflicting emotions • Forgetting memories of the past • Growing up • The conscious & unconscious mind • It’s ok to not be ok • Emotions towards events and memories in your life can rapidly change

Context

Fig 31. Inside Out Film Stills

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Project Focus

Fairy Tales In Motion

Project Brief

My Chosen Field

Motion graphics

What is my project about?

For my project I am going to explore how folklore stories from Grimm’s fairy tales can be captured in a piece of motion graphics for a games intro credit sequence. Specifically I will base my animation on the Little Red Ridding Hood story drawing inspiration from the original Grimm and Perrault versions.

What skills & methods will I use?

Using my knowledge of After Effect, Illustrator and Photoshop to make a animation along with collaboration with a music producer to create a cohesive sound that enhances the narrative. Researching different depictions of classic fairy tales.

Why I chose this focus?

To enhance my skills in animation and motion software learning new features and techniques. It allows me to develop my ability to communicate a narrative that successfully capture the interesting stories, characters and world of classic fairy tales.

Who is the audience?

My animation piece will target existing gamers aged 15-35 that have an interest in story based video games along with a passion for mythology and fantasy stories.

What will I produce?

A two minute animated title sequence with a logo produced for the fictional game.

Project Focus

Fig 32. Still From Little Grimm Opening Credit, Luke Goldstraw