Independent Project Update: Design Research & Story Planning

Digital tools can be beneficial for the young generations to understand dialect cultures and can change their perception of Chinese dialect. As animation videos are easily interpreted to help in supporting the young generations cultivate interest in the Hakka dialect and transfer the information through the video. It also explores how animation videos act as a medium to improve young generations' experiences and bring out the fun and diversity of culture.

Based on the answers provided by the interviewees, I have gained a lot of insight and inspiration from it. Therefore, it gave me the direction to plan my video and be able to attract young people. The concept for this video will be a stop-motion animation with characters similar to aliens to promote and illustrate the uniqueness of the Hakka dialect and create a good impression of the Hakka dialect and culture.

Storyline:

Story Planning.pdf

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Practitioner:

Research into other artists and animators also plays a major role in completing this project as it provides me inspiration and a better understanding of the overall art direction for their project. Jan Svankmajer is an animator and his working method serves as great guidelines in designing the composition and style of the animations. Svankmajer’s style of designing in the films that he produced, for its exaggerated and distorted. For example, one of his films “Passionate Discourse” shows a clay man and women kissing and melting into one another, but they are end up fighting and destroying each other. The movie is disturbing, horrific and funny, and leads to a profound reflection on human relations. His works really inspired me and the information in the animations is matched with my characters and the art direction of the animation.

Visual References:

The visual inspirations for the outcome is inspired by the aliens and nature paper cutting artworks. Characters play an important role in the video as visual interaction helps to draw the interest towards the young generations. Textured papers, colour pencils and crayons will be used as the material for designing the scene and characters to enhance the experience of watching.

Storyboard: