OUIL501 Study Task 6 Development & Synthesis
Colour and Character: Research
Good with some exceptions: Lord Farquaad, Queen of Hearts (see royalty and strong). But not many 'bad guy' red characters, despite symbolism of the devil and so on. Royalty Lord Farquaad, Queen of Hearts Strong Mr Incredible, Iron Man and other superheroes, that car character, Blossom (the 'main' powerpuff girl), the angry bird, Queen of Hearts, Lord Farquaad, Mario... all of them! 'Sexy' (weird concept for a cartoon) Jessica Rabbit, Betty Boop Appeals to young Children Po, Clifford the red dog, Elmo, Minnie Mouse etc
Colour and Character: Research
Secondary: Purple Villain Ursula, Randall, Waluigi, the Joker Sidekick/secondary character Daphne Reptile ? ? ? Randall, Spyro, Barney the dinosaur! Secondary: Green Sidekick/secondary character Luigi, Mike Wazowski, Alien/little green man Good Robin Hood, Kermit, Link etc
Colour and Character: Research Cool both temperature and personality! eg. Elsa, Sully, Sonic Water/ice Squirtle, Elsa Magical Genie, Cindarella's ball gown, Haden Strong/Main Character Sully, Captain America, Sonic, Elsa Sidekick Stitch, Genie, Dory, Eeyore Sad Eeyore Overall these characters are mostly cheerful and fun. Blue being a primary colour seems to be used for main characters, but it's more common in sidekicks maybe red is the main character? Pale blue can mean coldness, water, ice, sadness etc. whereas dark blue seems to be more for main characters as it's more bold.
Colour and Character: Research
Black and white tends to be used less in children's media and it's often the villain. Black symbolises darkness, mystery, death and white can symbolise purity and magic, but also death, ice, high-tech etc. Here we have some, examples of the uncanny repetition - the stormtroopers, the agents from the Matrix, and through masks - No Face, the stormtroopers, Venom, Darth Vader etc. White can also mean wise, old and good, like Gandalf (or Dumbledore etc)
Colour and Character: Visual Investigation
I’ve started drawing out characters and adding different colours to see whether this affects the viewer’s perception of the character.
Simplification: Research
Scott McCloud - Understanding Comics
Simplification: Visual Investigation
I want to find out whether drawing a character in different styles has an affect on the viewer’s affinity towards it. This links in to McCloud’s theory about simplification, as well as Mori’s ‘Uncanny Valley’ and Kelley’s ‘The Uncanny’. I plan to make a series of experiments in this way.
The Uncanny: Research Jentsch The uncanny is ‘intellectual uncertainty’. It can be used in literature, such as in ETA Hoffman’s The Sandman, in which the doll Olimpia seems lifelike. Freud The uncanny is something vaguely familiar - something which reminds people of deep, repressed impulses - which causes the brain to simultaneously be attracted to and repulsed by it. The brain rejects the uncanny thing, rather than try to rationalise it. Freud criticises Jentch’s theory that Olimpia is the cause for the uncanny feeling in The Sandman, instead suggesting that ‘being robbed of one’s eyes’ is more uncanny. This is because of the human castration complex. Freud also goes on to describe the uncanny in repetition/ the double, linking it to ‘repetition compulsion’.
The Uncanny: Research
Masahiro Mori
The Uncanny: Research Mori Mori describes the uncanny effect through a graph ‘The Uncanny Valley’, which shows the link between resemblance to a human figure and our affinity towards it. Movement amplifies the uncanny valley, and Mori suggests that designers of myoelectric prosthetics and robots should instead use less realistic designs for the risk of creating something uncanny, instead opting for something stylistic which stops at the first peak on the graph.
This links to character design - as the designer of a robot’s exterior is essentially designing a 3D character!
The Uncanny: Research
A sculpture hits the first peak of Mori’s Uncanny Valley - we have a high affinity towards it and consider it beautiful. Wax figures, as pointed out by Jentsch, are too lifelike and are therefore considered uncanny.
The Uncanny: Research
Kelley’s sculptures and essays explore the link between hyper-realism and the uncanny.
The Uncanny: Visual Investigation
I’m also going to make some more Illustrations based on Jentsch’s examples of uncanny things, such as automation and masks. I want to find out whether these things can be uncanny in 2-D illustrations as well as in real life!