Leeds College of Art BA (Hons) ILLUSTRATION OUIL603 Extended Practice
Level
06
Credits 60
STUDIO PRACTICE Thomas O’Connor Final Project Proposal Thomas O’Connor (Blog) Not The Ship Comic (Website)
http://t-oconnor1417-sp.blogspot.co.uk/ http://www.nottheshipcomic.com
Rationale • • • • •
Create work that serves as a personal advertisement.(‘About Me’ website section?) Building on research throughout my University studios (theories on humour and how that can be applied to illustration) Generating concepts that can work as an enthusing audio / visual with the long-term aim of people paying for that product / experience. Realistically applying the work generated to more tangible products, building reputation and street cred. Work generated still demonstrated a professional process, transferable problem solving techniques.
Themes / Subjects • • • •
Starting point is often wordplay and double entendres. Portrayal of popular culture and public figures. Politics / political incorrectness. General observations (perception of public, general demeanours / behaviours)
Professional Context (Contextual References) • • • • • • •
How contemporary professional illustrators operate comedically. (Jean Jullien, David Shrigley, Ian Stevenson, Paul Davis – compile examples, subsequent positive and negative thoughts) How contemporary comedians utilise illustration as a promotional tool (e.g Stewart Lee DVD Cover, how illustration is used on stage (e.g Ross Noble set stage) or physically animated comedy (e.g Family Guy) What can I utilise from existing exemplars? What are the mainstream channels pumping out in relation to what I want to do? (BBC Three, Dave, Comedy Central UK..etc) What independent distribution methods do I have? (Go Faster Stripe? Turtle Canyon Comedy?) How are venues (potential clients) distributing similar ideas? Alternative Comedy clubs? Pubs (murals?) Contact Barry Cryer (change his last name to Laugher) attain feedback on concepts, can my joke structure be refined or condensed? Do I need to collaborate with a writer? Arrange meeting with Stuart Goldsmith (Comedians’ Comedian podcaster, met umpteen people I would like to meet) May provide some direction on my work or an opportunity.
GAG-GIG Brief Outline • • • • • •
A gig of gags to make people laugh... By whatever means… Using dirty under-the-table tactics. Just lighten up. There’s too much serious stuff going on. Life’s too short.
Proposal (Product) •
•
Scripted visual comedy – leading to a promotional video that can be pitched to get live work (Fenton Comedy night? leading to Endinburgh Fringe Shows, DVD reproduction and TV / Online exposure) Also altered jokes to work as merchandise and tangible outcomes: prints, t-shirts, murals.
Distribution • • •
• •
Vimeo (High Definition Platform) About me section of my website Social Media (provide snippets? Short and sweet to maintain interest. Keep some cards close to my chest, leave them wanting more. LinkedIn article explaining what I’m doing. Personalised emails and printed CD / cheap personalised USB to posted to pitch work to important clients?
Context • • •
The ability to perform the content live with background animation. Moments recreated statically to work as an image. Both printed onto high quality stock and materials Potential for the visual work as a mural: North Bar and Nation of Shopkeepers seeking an artist to paint there walls, use work from the performance? Seek new opportunities.
Audience (Tone of Voice) • •
18+ Like-minded educated folk.
Further Considerations • • •
Test what jokes work in live capacity – polish these concepts. Am I good performer or does it work better as an illustrated animation? Maintain an indie approach and don’t follow what en vogue. – show the hand of the maker (anti vector / commericialised side-dog-heads) illustration. Collaborate with an LCA Photographer / Videographer to capture the performance / generate promotional material I’m not capable of as an illustrator.
Final Deliverables • • • •
2 minutes of scripted visual comedy (High-Definition 1080p animation rendered in Adobe After Effects exported as .mp4: doesn’t warrant a 4k setup, it’s not going to be a Pixar movie… at this stage) Gag-gig prints of jokes, reproduce imagery on apparel, distributed postcard format? Informing a publication / zine to introduce people to what I do. Poster & flyers as promotional material (if there’s a confirmed venue, audience and demand for the work) Merchandise – perform in Not The Ship Comic t-shirt?hand out stickers / business cards to bring in a new audience to website and social media platforms.