CONTEXTUAL PRACTICE
11/11/19
For the moment I think that I understood quite clearly Haruka's guilty pleasure. I believe that among all the scenarios going for a walk was one of the best, as changing place and environment help us to relax, clear our minds and be open about our passions, analysing them more in depth. On the contrary, the cardboard box scenario made us feel more uncomfortable and it limited our conversation as we could not hear each other properly. I usually like conversing with people and I felt really at ease with Haruka, we could understand each other easily, probably we were helped by the fact that we have similar personalities. Maybe the language barrier made hard to explain complicated concepts sometimes, but it was not a big problem as we always found a way to express our ideas more clearly.
DIGITAL OUTCOMES
11/11/19
We had dinner together and I taught her how to cook carbonara. Then we ate our pasta and had a conversation together with Haruka's roommates. We got to know each other better and it has been very nice to confront with many people, especially because we found out that many of us shared the same guilty pleasure of Haruka.
RESEARCH
12/11/19
While I was researching I found these very interesting mechanical flip books:
Exhibition at Grumpy Bert Gallery
Wendy Marvel and Mark Arnon Rosen came out with the idea of realising kits of DIY mechanical flip books that people could assemble at home on their own. The photo above shows an exhibition in which 46 artists from Brooklyn used this FlipBooKit to bring their animations to life. I think that the idea making something tangible starting from an animation, a video or a sequence of images is really engaging and playful. I believe that the user can easily enjoy the process of making as the instructions are clear and simple. This work has a retro nostalgic vibe to it, since blends both digital and analog technologies. Which is a characteristic that is very successful with the general public as people tend to be a bit nostalgic of the past and this can be a great way to rediscover some of the analog pleasures in the current digital world.
Wendy Marvel and Mark Arnon Rosen's mechanical flip books website:
RESEARCH
"The recipes of Arturo and Kiwi" is a children's TV series that I used to watch when I was around 10 years old. And I remember it to be a fun, almost zany animation. Throughout the series the two characters replicate traditional Italian dishes while explaining how to do them in their own particular style.
Le Ricette di Arturo e Kiwi - Pizza Margherita:
CONTEXTUAL PRACTICE
12/11/19
The use of the images helped me a lot to further develop my concept. However, as my original project evolved, I got a bit lost in the process. I need to clarify some ideas by continuing to experiment with the animation, as what I did in the studio did not help me that much. So, for instance, I could make a flip-book to better visualise the concept or research on the several food videos on the internet to find inspiration on how I could represent my love towards food. At the moment the thing I am mostly sure about is how I would like to set up the beginning of the animation: a mouth that eats some spaghetti. My aim with this outcome is to convince Haruka that she should enjoy eating without feeling guilty or conscious about her weight.
RESEARCH
12/11/19
Terry Gilliam
I really like his genuine playful approach to animation. His works are very entertaining in their simplicity. And he always gave a humorous twist to them. He often nicely mixed images and drawings. I found that mix of media very interesting and I will use it in my project's final outcome.
Terry Gilliam explains Monty Python animations:
RESEARCH
12/11/19
Andymation is an animator that through his YouTube channel shows how to make flip books giving some suggestions. I found his works very useful to understand how animation works.
Andymation's YouTube channel:
CONTEXTUAL PRACTICE
18/11/19
I believe that it was easier for me to give and receive feedbacks in a small group as each one of us was involved in the process and everyone had very interesting things to say. And on top of that commenting other people's work has been also very helpful to identify common mistakes that should be avoided. I felt a bit limited by not being allowed to explain the concept of the video before playing it. But it was actually very useful to make sure that anyone would have understood the guilty pleasure by just looking at the animation. So we were able to get suggestions on how we could improve the way we delivered the message. The written feedback brought to light same issues about the clip that during the spoken feedback weren't raised. So it definitely enriched my review.
RESEARCH
Food is so rooted in our culture that we even have songs that commend it. One among the most popular ones is "Viva la papa col pomodoro" which means "Long live bread and tomato soup". It is a very poor traditional dish that Italians ate in the past when they could afford nothing except stale bread and tomato. Now it is a dish usually eaten by children and elderly.
Rita Pavone - Viva la pappa col pomodoro (1964):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZ5Zwrcvvaw
A more recent song that talks about food is "Le focaccine dell'Esselunga" - "The little focacce of Esselunga". Esselunga is a chain of supermarkets based in Italy.
OEL - Le focaccine dell'Esselunga (2017):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G3aouxsHZ5I
The whole song is a parody and an ode to those focaccine that Esselunga sells. The trap song is very famous among young people in Italy and the year that it came out the selling of focaccine increased exponentially.
CONTEXTUAL PRACTICE
13/11/19
I usually prefer to work alone, but I am always very open when it comes to working in group. As it has multiple benefits, such as the diversity and amount of ideas that could come from a collective brainstorm; you've got a constant fresh insight of the project as everyone has different points of view; you give each other suggestions on how you could improve the work; it also helps you to get accustomed to compromise, finding the right balance between the different ideas; and the fact that the work has to go through the opinion of multiple individuals increases the chances for a bigger percentage of people to like the work.
I personally always try to bring original ideas to the table and I really like the researching process. I usually try to get as much information as possible on a topic as I like to be prepared and precise, especially when I deal with serious issues. I often tend to use my personal knowledge and cultural baggage as starting point for the creation of a piece, too
My work is usually interactive and I like to involve the public asking for their thoughts and opinions. I enjoy focusing my pieces on serious issues to inform people and spread awareness on certain topics. However, when I touch those themes in my works I often try to include a fun element or present them in a more enjoyable way, without downplaying the concept behind it. On top of that, I like to put my particular style in everything that I do and interpret the briefs in a very personal way, giving them a humorous twist, when it's possible. Furthermore, I don't stick to one mean of communication, I prefer to branch out into using different medias to deliver the messages in my outcomes.
DIGITAL OUTCOMES - Flip book experiment
This experiment helped me to understand that making a flip book isn't a good idea as it would take me too much time to actually make it, film me flipping it and then add the sound while editing the video. I would have issues even with the time limit: a flip book that can illustrate an animation of 1 minute would need too many pages to put together, so I would have needed to divide it into many mini parts.
CONTEXTUAL PRACTICE
14/11/19
I got a bit stuck in the process of making the animation as, though I did know how to start and end it, I did not know how to illustrate and describe through images food and all the positive emotions that could relate to it. So, I have looked at several food porn references to get inspired:
And it reminded me of the various photos of food that my friends, my relatives and I share each day through WhatsApp. So I have collected those images:
I will use some of these photos to enhance my animation and, as Will suggested me, it could be a nice way to link it to my roots and my cultural obsession with food. I will try to show Haruka a different approach to eating through the photos that testify my experience and positive attitude towards it.