Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, No!

THE BRIEF

We were given a script with the phrase "Yes, Yes, Yes, Yes, No",  as a starting point to create a 30 - 90 second animation in groups of 3 - 5. The script can be interpreted in any way we wish so long as it incorperates the phrase (written or spoken) and we've been urged to be as creative as possible.

For the project I'll be working with Sebastian Braende and Chris Burrows. I'm pretty stoked to be working with these guys as we all have our wee niche and it'll be great to learn off eachover.

THE STORY

The story is fairly simple and resolves around a girl in her early 20s, being stalked via CCTV as she goes around her daily routine in town. She is unaware until the very end as to the extent of the surveillance and it is at this point that we hear the final "No". The "Yes" will be provided via voice over by the camera operator who will not be seen until the end scene.

To add more depth to the animation, we've decided that the camera's that watch her should be also be animated. We're currently experimenting with the idea of whether static cameras should bend towards her or generate a character of themeselves and chase/scuttle after her. Giving them humanistic qualities. So that's the idea.

BACKING RESEARCH

- "The advance of civilization is nothing but an exercise in the limiting of privacy.” - Isaac Asimov

- "Big Brother is watching you." - George Orwell.

- Upto 4.2 million CCTV camera's in operation in the UK.

- 1 camera for every 16 people.

- Security Guard stalks cleaner via CCTV:
http://www.deadlinenews.co.uk/2011/03/13/cleaner-claims-security-guard-stalked-her-with-cctv-cameras/

- Traffic Camera found pointing into couples bedroom: http://www.lossofprivacy.com/index.php/2009/12/a-cctv-image-that-goes-too-far/ 

 Put simply. We are a surveillance society.

STORY DEVELOPMENT

As reference for our animation, we've used Falmouth as our base for the enviroment. We documented where CCTV was used in real life and got some great ideas for shot angles, locations, backgrounds and storyboard concepts. 

                 

STYLE

For the style we've decided that the background should be live-action (thus basing it in Falmouth), the two main characters in 2D and the CCTV creatures in 3D (made to look as real as possible). The idea behind this came from the following examples of compositing.

[Schindler's List - Girl in the red coat]

[Muller Rice Advert]

[Pink Floyde - The Wall]

                         

I've also been looking at how to best convey emotion to an audience. The following are techniques that I feel are relevant to our film:

- Colour Effects: Tinting images to look cold (blue/green) can give a pessimistic look where as reducing the contrast so an image is hard to see or colour correction can make an audience feel uneasy.

- Frame Emotion: Theory of proximity. Variations in shots from close-ups to wide angle shots will vary the intensity of emotion and highten the dramatic meaning.

- Suspense is Information: If something is about the harm the character, show it at the beginning of the scene and then let it play out as normal. Reminders of looming danger will build suspense if the character is unaware of it.