Film Review - but more so a reflection than a review..

The 1996 blockbuster film, Twister, shows several levels of relevance to my film past the plot line of confronting a tornado.  The fact that it is a special-effects heavy tornado film did jump start me into researching important details about tornados, both in its scientific understanding and in its cinematic representation. Although, Jan de Bont’s film functions not only as a (then) high-level special effects spectacle, but also functions on a few levels that has helped me get a better framing about what I am trying to achieve with my film. 

Tornado depictions in Twister, more specifically the big one at the end, resembled that of an F5 or an EF5 tornado – those of the highest intensity.  That is the tornado I have been planning to portray in my film.  I found it helpful seeing how they decided to portray the tornado compared to the youtube reference footage I’ve been using to animate.  A notable difference was how debris was handled.  What you can’t see in a lot of reference footage is all of the debris that is being tossed around the tornado and the hail that precedes it.  The attention to detail in the debris is evident, especially when characters are up close to the tornado.  These shots are showing what would be impossible to capture in an environment that would easily put lives at risk in order to capture it.  These are important details that help strengthen this film and it is because of this, amongst several more layers, that I was able to relate to my current pursuit.

The film positions itself to revolve around Helen Hunt’s character, Jo Harding, and her ex-husband trying to resolve what tension they have left from their failed marriage.  This brings up a relationship issue that persists through the chase with the tornado.  Interpersonal tension is what I am aiming to create through the relationship between the father and son in my film.  In Twister, the two characters face a series of tornados which seem to reignite the bond they both seemed to let go of.  This is a resolution I am aiming to create in bringing the father and son together at the end.  What lines up more so with my film and Twister is past the obvious confrontation with the tornado which I feel serves as a tool to describe the real matter at hand.  In the later parts of the film I was slowly coming to the realization as to what Helen Hunt’s true purpose in the film was – what she was really after.  As the film progressed, I felt I understood her purpose, but it became completely clear with one of the last few shots.

Jo Harding and her ex-husband face the tornado one last time, waists tied down to a pipe and holding on for their lives. This scene is their last confrontation with a tornado and is the biggest confrontation they’ve had – this time seeing the eye of the tornado.  Immediately after this scene, in which they survive, we cut to a shot of an underground bunker door opening up with a surviving family being revealed.  Coming out first is a father holding his young daughter in his arm.  Jo Harding’s purpose this whole movie has really been about her trying to impossibly fix her past – and this shot is the confirmation needed to show that she just has.  Fixing her traumatic past is the true motivation for chasing tornadoes and also the cause for her failed marriage, which had been exposed earlier in the movie.  With my film I am aiming to create what would seem to be a truer cause for the farmer and his trials – it is his depression and desire to leave forever.  Of course, like Twister, my protagonist’s innermost desire must have its resolution. 

                Functioning as a landmark film in special effects with the subject matter revolving around tornadoes, this film proves its reliability towards understanding the types of film conventions that are in play when portraying a tornado on screen.  Not only on that level but upon focusing on the character, there are several more levels within the story that describe the conflicts that Jo Harding and my farmer face.  A combination of all of these factors makes for a quality comparison for evaluation, especially being in a phase where there are parts of the plot I have yet to decide upon – conflicts to be made evident and worth pursuing.

Grad Panel

Here's a quick recap of my grad review panel - which happened earlier today.

1) There are confusing parts in my animatic regarding which character we are currently following.  This was made clear over time in the animatic but at first was a little ambiguous.

2) That being said, overall, the rest of the drawings were nice and readable.

3) Story suggestion: have him go outside in the beginning.

4) Story suggestion: have him stay outside in the ending.

5) Worry more about animating as opposed to story, right now.

6) Character suggestion: keep him athletic and built to serve a particular contrast towards the subject matter of what I am making this film for.

The last one puts me in a little bit of a dilemma.  For a while there have been suggestions towards making him move less like a 'hero'... less built and less athletic.  Strong suggestions at that.  So now there have been a good amount of suggestions sitting on either side of this dilemma.


I know there are pros and cons to both, but what it really comes down to is why I am making this film.

My decision on this is to come.

Schedule

Here's a sample of what the next few months look like for me.  Something (or things) to do every day.
All tentative, but something to work with as my film develops.

Directed Study

This is my final assignment for my Experimental Animation course.

I compiled a few different things I've been working on throughout the semester to create a pseudo-trailer for my film, Odium (working title), which I am about halfway through developing.

What I am aiming for here is essentially to give the sense of what my film is about, introducing my farmer and the tornado.

Software used:

Photoshop
Flash
After Effects
Premiere
Maya
TV Paint
DragonFrame



Newest Scenes

Storm
I re-did the scene from my 'Character Study 2' video, taking the character out and tweaking a few other things.  I used this shot in the Directed Study to describe the storm exclusively.

Walking
In removing the storm aspect from my 'Character Study 2', I was able to recreate the environment that my character was walking through.  Now it has a much calmer tone to it, essential in creating the lead-up to the tornado shot.

Tornado
I spent the weekend (and then some) creating a tornado shot.  Using the reference of a photograph by Camille Seaman along with endless youtube videos of tornados, I animated one of my own using Flash.

Then I brought that into after effects and composited it with some footage I was using for my Deeper Focus work from Experimental Animation to get a sense of the texture of the tornado.

Project Proposal

Odium  ˈōdēəm/   

general or widespread hatred or disgust directed toward someone as a result of their actions

Pitch
What talking does to reality we don’t understand,
Worrying about where it will be or where it really was.

Summary
For my grad project, I aim to produce a 6 minute animated short called Odium. It is about a farmer who is faced with a dilemma while being confronted by a tornado.  The aim of this film is to convey the experience of depression.

Synopsis
Farmer Shel comes home to tie up some loose ends after a hard day’s work, although what approaches will keep him from completing it and perhaps for good.

Description
Odium is a drama that is being created for an audience that has experienced, understands, or at least knows someone with depression.  In a broader scope, this film can be catered toward a general audience that seeks out this genre with the exclusion of younger adolescent age groups.

My film begins with the protagonist treading back home where the comfort of family resides.  Although, a noticeable disconnect with his children is evident, creating an atmosphere of mystery and tension.  Odium will use this relationship to make a comment on parent-child relationships and will function to show residual effects from having depression.

The condition of depression affects our minds and bodies, taking control over how we think, what we feel, and what we do.  To include this aspect I chose the tool of metaphor to create an environment where the sky functions as the mind, the ground as the body, and the connection between the two being a disruption in the form of a tornado.  Descriptions of depression often align with the feeling of a vast emptiness, thus I chose the setting of a vast farmland.  That leaves the character to act as the tool for showing what navigating through this type of environment of depression is like.  It is important to emphasize for people who suffer from depression that depression is not who they are, thus the two elements of a character and tornado are separate entities for the audience to see.

Visual Treatment
This film will be done in 2D traditional animation.  A variety of software will be used to produce the visual look.  Animation will begin in programs Flash and TV Paint, with only some elements coloured.  The animation will then be brought into After Effects for compositing, which includes completing the colouring stages by using mattes for both the clothing and tornado effects.  The compositing stage will bring in assets created in Photoshop and Maya and will finish off with overall colour correction that will define a muted, dark visual tone.  The animation style will have qualities that identify with North American 2D animation as well as Anime. 

Sound Treatment
The sound design will help enhance the dramatic tone of the film.  A white noise or shallow ambience will accompany the moments where the rumbling and foley of a storm won’t be necessary.  To accompany the storm and ambience in my film I will include music.  The score will be written and performed by me in piano – recreated digitally.  I will receive assistance from a friend who has agreed to do the sound design and mixing for my film.

Agreements
No documented agreements are necessary to complete this film.

Verbal agreements have been made by:
Connor Krawelitzki – Sound Design
Jose Siman – Reference Footage
Nick Arciniega – Reference Footage
Rajan Lail – Reference Footage

Tension Charts

The film I decided to do my tension chart comparison on is a 1984 american drama, Paris, Texas.
There have been quite a few similarities between this film and what I have been writing - which has been quite the surprise.

These similarities include:
Father and Son relationship that has tension.
An older hopeless looking man as the main character.
An overall tone of hopelessness.
Particularly long held shots.

I felt like I also learned a thing or two about film theory by doing this activity.
One thing I noticed was that the colour was there to describe the mood in a very particular way.  I noticed the usage of red and green in particular.  At the same time I was noticing the relationships of the characters and how there was an aspect of connection vs separation going on.  All I knew was that these were different components of the film and went far enough to establish that they were tools being used.  I felt like I wasn't making all of the connections just yet while I was watching the film.  It wasn't until after I made the tension chart I realized that these two particular elements, amongst the other elements I was tracking, were being used in relation with one another.  What I learned was that this film used the colour green to describe the aspect of connection happening between two people, whilst contrasting with notes of red when indicating a certain separation occurring.

I got a pretty good review of my tension chart, my teacher said the points were more or less where they should be.  So here is an image of my tension chart separated into 3 Acts.

Act I

 Act II

Act III

In looking back I realized there were more benefits to watching this film other than getting fairly good character reference for my farmer.  I looked at the different components that I used in the tension analysis and everything except for the dialogue aspect are tools I can potentially be using.

I structured my tension chart around what I did for Paris, Texas.  It was interesting finding where there were similarities - but there was one particular one that was more of a surprise.  I wanted to record the act of removing the house and tornado and thought that it would be similar to the row I recorded the 'Mystery' in Paris, Texas.  So I began plotting out the mystery behind my protagonist's psychology.  This meant indicating things like the storm cut-ins at the beginning, the house disappearing, and the fact that he's imagined to be dead for a moment.  As I wrote it out, I found some slots would be written simply explaining what the shot was... thus kind of taking away the value of having this be an aspect of tension that I am charting.  I resolved to chart it a different way. I charted the thoughts behind it, conveying an inner dialogue that's directed to either the audience or just me.  This opened up more detail for me to fill out for some scenes that weren't previously involved with this row of 'Mystery'.  On top of that, it wound up serving as a parallel to the 'Dialogue' section I have in my tension chart for Paris, Texas, where I filled it out as both the actual dialogue and my inner dialogue.

My main critique is re-thinking how I filled out the climax of my film, so expect changes there.  Until then, here is an image of my tension chart separated into 3 Acts.

Act I

 Act II

 Act III