Chihiro's Dream | Process Journal

9-GRID | PROCESS JOURNAL

CHIHIRO‘S DREAM LIM MINQI & TAN JIA HUI DID03

CONTENTS 01

MOVIE ANALYISIS

02

DESIGN CONCEPT & JOURNEY

03

ERGONOMICS STUDIES

04

THE 9-GRID

05

PLANS / ELEVATIONS / SECTIONS

06

1 : 10 MODEL

07

1 : 1 MODEL

MOVIE SYNOPSIS

The movie begins with an unhappy Chihiro moving to a new house with her parents. As they drive to their new house, they got lost and chanced upon an abandoned theme park. As they ventured further in, an attractive smell wafts through the streets. Unable to resist temptations, her parents begin binging on food despite Chihiro’s pleas to leave the place.

As she explores the streets, she met a boy called Haku, who told her to leave this place immediately. She ran back to her parents, but to her dismay, both of them had turned into pigs. It turns out that they had entered the spirit world. In order to save them, Chihiro has to stay and work in the bathhouse.

Through adventures and various events, Chihiro managed to save her parents and escape the spirit world. She also made several friends throughout her adventures and changed to a more self-independent and courageous girl as compared to her personality initially.

MOVIE ANALYSIS

PIGS

VOMITTING

To symbolise the price paid for being greedy

To symbolise the idea of greed & overconsumption

ABANDONED SHRINES

SELF-IDENTITY

People forgetting their traditional values for the more modern ones

Remembering ones’ roots & never forget their values & beliefs

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

PART 1 MIDDLE OF NOWHERE / JUST A DREAM

PART 2 A STRANGE VISIT TO THE NURSERY

PART 3 ONE FINAL TEST

At the start, Chihiro was very reluctant and unhappy to move to a new and unfamiliar place. She is afraid of a lot of things, and is highly dependent on people. After realising that she was stuck in the spirit realm, she was unwilling to accept this fact.

This part shows that Chihiro lacks manner as well. She did not knock on Yubaba’s door before entering.

However, her character has developed slightly. She was ďŹ rm and determined and know what she wants. Through determination, she gets a job in the bathhouse.

Chihiro has changed from a spoilt child to an independent girl, who does all her tasks dilligently. She is willing to work hard and does her best. She resolves problems (No Face) that arise because of her and helped Haku to seek forgiveness from Zeniba.

There’s always a transition of spaces from either dark to bright or bright to dark.

When Chihiro is feeling down or uncomfortable, the spaces around her are always messy and cluttered. However, when she is at peace, her surroundings are always tranquil and serene, which can be seen at the train scene.

DESIGN CONCEPT Inspired by Chihiro’s journey in the spirit realm, the 9-grid re-creates the experiences of Chihiro as she ventures through the spirit realm. Close study of her postures and movements are applied within the spaces as well.

One of the most noticeable change to Chihiro at the end of the movie is in her personality; from being passive and dependent on others to an independent girl. User can understand Chihiro’s personality change by going through her experience and movements within the space.

THE JOURNEY THE START

THE END

SECOND STOREY

FIRST STOREY

SECOND STOREY

THIRD STOREY

X, Y, X, Z

Y, X, X, Z

X, Y, Z

Y, X, X, Z

TOTAL: 7X + 4Y + 4Z START

END

ERGONOMICS STUDIES 2000 2000 450

400

600 600

900

2000

2000

SIDE WALKING

1610

1690

360

600

SLIDING THINGS

2000 365

2000 470

500

620

800

2000 1610

SQUATTING DOWN / BENDING DOWN

2000 120

2000

1540

800

2000

2000 1610

1610

BALANCING

WALKING WITH HANDS UP

2000

2000 900

800

2000 1480

1610

WALKING

2000 500

2000

1540

770

1300

2000

2030

2030

2000

1400

STANDING

STRETCHING

2000

2000

430

1320

300 2000

2000 1690 720

400

CLIMBING

CRAWLING

THE

9-GRID

SCENE 1 THE TUNNEL The slits of the wall panels allow light to pass through. The slits that are hung at higher heights allows user to cling onto it as they walk through the “tunnel”.

ACTION

Clinging

SPACE

Dark with slits of sunlight passing through windows and holes Narrow

SCENE 2 GOING UPHILL By tilting the floor panel at an angle, it shows the displacement of Chihiro as she climb further up the hill.

ACTION

Climbing uphill

SPACE

Bright Open Gentle slope

SCENE 3 CROSSING THE RIVER The distance between the bar and the platform is 600mm such that in order to grab the bar, user has to stretch their body across.

ACTION

Stretching

SCENE 4 RUNNING ON STREETS The steps in blue are all of different heights to signify Chihiro’s movements of running up and down the streets as she tried to escape the spirit realm.

The steps in pink are decreasing in width to show her increasing fear as she realised she is stuck in another world now.

ACTION

Running and climbing

SPACE

Twist and turns Staircases Narrow and wide paths

SCENE 5 THE LEDGE The distance between the bar and the platform is 600mm such that in order to grab the bar, user has to stretch their body across.

ACTION

Grabbing Sidewalking

SCENE 6 THE BROKEN STEP The sudden drop in the heights of the walking way signify the broken step in this scene.

ACTION

Running Climbing down Hands up

SPACE

Long flights of staircases

SCENE 7 THE SOOT SPIRITES The distance between each stepping platfrom is widely spaced such that user has to stretch their legs to reach the other platform, “avoiding� stepping on the soot spirites

ACTION

Wide steps

SPACE

Restricted movements due to the large amount of soot spirites moving coal

SCENE 8 THE LIFT The user’s movements are restricted due to the cramped space. User has to reach out to pull down steps in order to climb up.

ACTION

Reaching out

SPACE

Cramp Restricted movements due to small space

SCENE 9 OPENING DOORS When triggered, the door frames will swing towards the user, as if it is automatically opened. The decreasing height signifys the rolling action of Chihiro as she tumbles into the room.

ACTION

Pulling Tumbling

SPACE

Doors swinging opened

SCENE 10 MOPPING THE BATHHOUSE As the user pushes the “mopping” bar, it triggers the steps to fall from the wall as the latches are unlatched.

ACTION

Pushing & crawling Climbing up

SCENE 11 THE FALLING PIPE The floor panel is shaped in such a way such that when dropped, it deviates at an angle from the wall.

This gives the idea of the pipe falling away from the wall.

ACTION

Balancing

SPACE

Narrow walking platform High grounds

SCENE 12 NO FACE ACTION

Running

SPACE

Turns and corners

As Chihiro escapes from No Face, she runs across the bathhouse, turning at many dierent corners.

As she knocks against the wall, it triggers part of a wall to drop, making her lower her height to get through.

SCENE 13 THE RETURN Chihiro’s journey ended as she runs through the intertwining streets . The floor panel is shaped in a zigzag to show her path of returning.

The last part is where she goes down a rocky slope and back to where she started.

ACTION

Running Climbing down

SPACE

Turns and corners

FLOORPLANS ELEVATIONS SECTIONS

B

2000

2000

2000

A

A

FLOORPLANS FIRST STOREY

2000

02

B

A

2000

01 2000

1:50

B

B

VOID

VOID

VOID

2000

A

A

FLOORPLANS SECOND STOREY

2000 2000 2000

02

B

VOID

VOID

2000

A

01 VOID

VOID VOI V VO OD

2000

1:50

B

B

VOID

VOID

VOID

2000

A

A

VOID

VOID

02

B

VOID

VOID

2000

VOID

VOID

VOID

VOID

VOID

2000

FLOORPLANS THIRD STOREY 1:50

2000 2000 2000

A

01

B

PLANS ELEVATION 01 1:50

2000

2000

2000

2000

2000

2000

PLANS ELEVATION 02 1:50

2000

2000

2000

2000

2000

2000

PLANS SECTION A-A 1:50

2000

2000

2000

2000

2000

2000

PLANS SECTION B-B 1:50

2000

2000

2000

2000

2000

2000

THE 1:10 MODEL BEFORE ACTIVATION

AFTER ACTIVATION

0

0

200

2000

2000

200

The floor panel is activated by cranking. After the floor panel is lowered down, the user has to push the “mopping” bar as they crawl through this space.

As the bar is pushed, it pushes the bar that latches the steps to the wall away. As the latches are unlatched, the steps fall one by one as the user continues to push the “mopping” bar.

THE MODEL 1:10 3MM PLYWOOD

Mechanism inspired by door latches and push bars.

Model done in 3mm thick plywood. We made use of laser cutting to cut the model pieces.

THE 1:1 MODEL

Selected area for 1:1 model We choose part of the 1:10 grid to build up an 1:1 model made out of 9mm thick plywood. Tools that we used to cut are jigsaw and bandsaw. Nails and screws are used to attach pieces together as well as L brackets for support.

Rough overall dimensions: 1200MM x 1130MM x 1200MM (L x W x H)

Tricky part of the 1:1 model is to think of ways to support weight. To support the weight of the steps, we designed a sliding support for it. HInges are used as additional support. L brackets and at brackets are also used to strengthen.