Illustration and Visual Narrative : Task 2/Poster

Week 5 - Week 9 : 24 Sept 2021 - 22 Oct 2021

Tan Yi Yun
0345559
Bachelor of Design (Hons) in Creative Media
Task 2 / Poster


LECTURE

Week 5

Visual Techniques : Chiaroscuro

Chiaroscuro refers to the use of light and dark to create the illusion of three-dimensional volume on a flat surface.

Examples in contemporary media - comics

Figure 1.1, Chiaroscuro in the comic "Death Note"

Why Chiaroscuro is used? 
- Increase dramatic tension
- Create sensational effect
- Pull attention to a subject in an intense way
- Create a tasteful composition of negative vs positive spaces

Figure 1.2, Chiaroscuro example


Composition (III)

Having rhythm in art is one of the most difficult aspect to achieve/explain. Let's say in the context of music, good music has good beat, and good beat means good rhythm. To create "movement" in art, we need to make use of the basic visual elements, shapes and lines. 

Figure 1.3, Maximise overlaps to create interesting composition

Figure 1.4, Establish patterns and rhythms

So, how do we start practicing? There is a great quote from Pablo Picasso, "Good artists imitate, great artists steal". 
Figure 1.5, Analysis of great artwork

Figure 1.6, Analysis of great artwork

Figure 1.7, Analysis of great artwork



INSTRUCTION


TASK 2 / POSTER : Decisive Moment

Here it comes another interesting task : Minimalist poster! 

Think of a moment in time that changed a narrative for the better…or worse. Or a scene in a movie that turned the tide of the story. Or a particular part of a video game that made you rejoice or cry along with the character. Or a memorable chapter in your favourite book that made you return to read it again and again. These are decisive moments that impacted a story and you as an audience. Whether the moments are based on real life events or fictional narratives, human psychology is easily affected by moments like these. As a designer, you are to capture these moments and translate them into a single piece of animated artwork.

So, for this task 2, we are to create a minimalist poster that showcases one impactful moment in an existing fictional narrative in the media and consider experimenting with our own interpretation of the event and design.

Visual research

Figure 2.1, Example of minimalist movie posters, Week 5 (26/9/2021)

Figure 2.2, Demonstration by Ms. Jennifer, Week 5 (26/9/2021)

After researching for some inspirations, guess what is on my mind now? Hint : It is currently Netflix's most-watched show in 90 countries. Answer reveal in 3...2...1...! Squid Game! It is a South Korean survival drama television series broadcast by Netflix. It tells the story of a group of 456 people who are invited to risk their lives in a mysterious survival game with a ₩45.6 billion (US$38.7 million) prize.

Official trailer is included here. 

"Squid Game" official trailer

I chose this TV series, not only just because I love its story plot, but there are various moments that make me wonder : If I am he/she, will I do the same? I found every decisions made by the characters is never easy. They have their struggles. So that's why they are here. It is terrifying in the sense that it lays bare the worst instincts of humanity. 

Idea exploration

With the build up of depressing emotions, I started to sketch some scenes that shows a decisive moment. 
Figure 2.3, Rough sketches, Week 6 (28/9/2021)
After receiving feedbacks from lecturers, I agreed that my sketches are too concrete. Also, the decisive moments do not show strongly in these sketches. I realised that I should simplify the scene as the project requirement is a minimalistic poster. 

This time, I came out with another two sketches (refer to Figure 2.4). The first sketch is the moment they can decide whether to continue the game or not. A huge piggy bank filled with money is hung in the air, questioning people's faith and beliefs. 

The second sketch is the moment Ji-yeong wants to throw her marble. The position of her marble will decide the fate of another girl, Sae-Byeok. It is a cruel, decisive moment. 

Figure 2.4, Rough sketches - simplify scenes, Week 6 (3/10/2021)

I chose to work on the first sketch (in Figure 2.4) because I already had some idea how to work on the animation —— money falling into the piggy bank, and the flashing green and red button on the table. 
 
Digitalisation of Poster

The first thing I digitise is the piggy bank. I want it to be shiny and reflective, and so, I looked for glass ball reference to see whether I can apply the similar lighting on my design. It was a bit tricky to create a reflective surface. 
Figure 2.5, Glass ball reference, Week 6 (3/10/2021)

Figure 2.6, Piggy bank reference, Week 6 (3/10/2021)


Figure 2.6, Piggy bank digitisation progress, Week 6 (3/10/2021)

Figure 2.7 shows the first draft. Ms. Anis said I can remove the crowd because the focus of my poster is on the piggy bank and the table.  

Figure 2.7, Poster digitisation progress, Week 6 (6/10/2021)

Hence, I removed the crowd and added lights at the background. 

Figure 2.8, Poster digitisation progress, Week 7 (8/10/2021)

During the process, I faced an issue of wrapping the "X" on the red button. There is no problem for the green button because I can simply make an oval using the Shape Tool. I found that there is no "warp" or "distort" option when I right click in Adobe Illustrator. I managed to solve this problem when someone gave me a hint of using Free Transform Tool during the consultation. Gladly it worked! 

Figure 2.9, Distorted "X" using Free Transform Tool, Week 7 (8/10/2021)

Then, I looked for money illustration as a reference and started digitising them. 
Figure 3.1, Money reference, Week 7 (10/10/2021)

Figure 3.2, Money in the piggy bank, Week 7 (10/10/2021)

At this stage, my poster was almost done. I did some final touch up by adding texture on the table. Finally, I inserted the title and logline at the bottom of the poster. The font for the logline is Army of Darkness. I have tried a few fonts like Bembo Std and Janson Text LT Std (both serif font) but they do not suit the title. I chose Army of Darkness because of its interesting overshoot of "A", "R" and "V". 

Figure 3.3, Texture added, Week 8 (16/10/2021)

Figure 3.4, Title and logline, Week 8 (16/10/2021)

Figure 3.5, Finalised poster, Week 8 (16/10/2021)

GIF Animation

There will be 2 parts I want to animate. The first one is money falling into the piggy bank. The other one is the flashing buttons on the table. 

Figure 3.6, Create different layer for flashing button, Week 8 (18/10/2021)

Figure 3.7, Different layers for money falling animation, Week 8 (19/10/2021)

Then, I exported all the frames and opened in Photoshop. 

Figure 3.8, Animation frames - first draft, Week 8 (19/10/2021)

Figure 3.9, GIF Animation - first draft, Week 8 (19/10/2021)

Although the first draft already looked pretty smooth, I added two more frames and made a slight amendments. I tried to match the last frame to the first frame so that the animation will be continuous. I also fixed the white border by re-exporting all frames.

Figure 4.1, Animation frames - second draft, Week 8 (20/10/2021)

Figure 4.2, GIF Animation - second draft, Week 8 (20/10/2021)

Bonus - Audio Version

I added audio as well using the song "Pink Soldiers" from Squid Game original soundtrack. I repeated the gif 3 times to extend the duration.

Figure 4.3, Bonus - adding audio using Premiere Pro, Week 8 (20/10/2021)


Final Outcome

Figure 4.4, Final Minimalist Poster, Week 8 (20/10/2021)

Figure 4.5, Final GIF Animation, Week 8 (20/10/2021)

Bonus - Final GIF Animation with audio, Week 8 (20/10/2021)

FEEDBACK

Week 6 :

Ms. Anis and Ms. Jennifer said my sketches have a little "too much" spoilers as they show the participants are playing the games. Ms. Jennifer likes the 3rd scene, but it might be too realistic for this project. They suggested me to go for abstract art. 

Week 7 :

Ms. Anis and Ms. Jennifer approved my final idea. Ms. Anis said it would be better to remove the crowd, and enlarge the table. For the animation part, money falling into the "piggy bank" would be a better approach. 

Week 9 :

Good effort for adding audio! and smooth animation (Yayy!) 

REFLECTION

This project is really fun. Not only I enjoy creating the vector poster for Squid Game, but also get to experience animating it. During the process of idea exploration, this project gives me a good excuse to rewatch some episodes(eh heh). I think the part that got my heart attack is exporting the animation. I almost faint when I saw my final animation in greatly pixelated and colours changing. I tried to export a few times by adjusting the settings and sharpen the images. Finally, the issue is solved! 

Overall, it feels great to be able to convey the decisive moment of Squid Game in form of animation. I also get to further polish up my skills in Illustrator and Photoshop.