The task of having to fill a sketchbook in a week seemed rather daunting at first but I'm glad I filled it as it provided me with a good body of work on which to gain feedback. The crit provided me with some new ideas, and a lot of positive feedback on my current outcomes. The main issues discussed around my work were the characterisation of shape and the interpretation of sound through shape and gesture. My peers seemed to think that the shape based work responded really well to the qualities I had identified in the song, and worked well to create subjective and interpretive outcomes that were simplistic and universal in message. Block colour was also pointed out as an area of strength in my sketchbook as my peers thought it complimented the aesthetic of the shapes and the playful tone of voice I was trying to achieve.
DEVELOPMENT POINTS
A development point raised was the necessity of facial features. We had discussed the value of irregular forms and simplicity and this made us all question how much information there needed to be on the faces of my characters. The body formations are so charged with character through their irregularity and gesture so it now seems to make more sense that my character faces are reduced to their simplest forms.
Further to my characters faces, my peers questioned the action and narrative of the characters. Within the frame of the gif, what were they doing? How was the composition going to work? Up to this point I hadn't really considered picture area, I was focusing more on the shape and content of my work. Some suggestions were made about having my character dancing or jerking sporadically to echo the qualities of the sound. This is something I had intended to explore, creating a simple narrative around dance that reveals the audio characteristics of the piece.
The crit also invited my peers to make visual suggestions, shown in the image above, considering modifications and potential narratives and movements. These have helped me to get a better idea of how my characters might translate in a moving gif and how I might develop them in line with a narrative. I think this will require further roughs and testing in order to understand the potential actions of each gif.
REFLECTION AND NEW AIMS
In light of the suggestions and praise received, I will continue to develop the blocky, irregular shape qualities in my work but start to consider a reduction of information. How little visual information can I get away with? Exhaustive drawings of possible faces in my sketchbook will be essential to the development of a more simplified outcome and I will need to explore media in order to develop a character that is compatible with animation. I will need to give particular consideration to the 3D gif as this will alter the form of the character most signifcantly. For this I may explore the use of cut paper and collage in order to achieve subtle movements that maintain the intended form of the character.
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