Illustration and Visual Narrative: Task 2 - Decisive Moment

30.04.2022 - 28.05.2022 ( week 5 - week 9 )
Len Hoi Yee / 0353430
Illustration and Visual Narrative / Bachelor of Design in Creative Media 
Task 2 - Decisive Moment 

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Week 5 - Week 9 ( 29.04.2022 ~ 27.05.2022 )

Instructions

Week 6( 02.05.2022 ~ 08.05.2022 )

Chosen Narrative: Free Willy 1993 

Short synopsis of the movie 

Free Willy was a famous American family drama film in 1993 where an irreplaceable bond between a 12-year-old boy and a 3 ton killer whale. Willy, the killer whale was captured by a group of whalers in the wild and sent to the Northwest Adventure Park. Jesse, the 12year old boy was caught vandalising the Park and he met Willy while cleaning up the graffiti he painted. The adventure begins with Willy started reacting to Jesse's harmonica and Willy saved Jesse when he tried to avoid being seen sneaking into Willy's tank to see Willy from the workers in the park and accidentally falling into Willy's tank. They then become closer, Jesse started feeding him fish, playing and swimming with Willy, and training Willy to become a performer in the Park. A strong bond was built between the two. One day, Jesse saw a few Park workers trying to kill Willy by destroying Willy's tank in order to cash in large amount of money on his insurance policy. Then, Jesse suggested freeing Willy back into the wild. In the end, Willy managed to escape away from the nets that were sealed off by the whalers and jumped over the breakwater and lands into the other side of the ocean. Willy is freed. 

Reason for choosing Free Willy

The reason why I picked this movie for my task 2 is that it portrays a lot of informative lessons in life and also a great relationship between one another regardless of whether you're human or animal. " How far would you go for a friend ?", Jesse and Willy helped each other out throughout their journey as friends. Also, they got close fast is because they have a similar background as Willy was separated from his family while Jesse's mother abandoned him since young. On top of the logline, Their main theme song was Michael Jackson's " Will You Be There", this song has gained recognition from this movie as they both just paired perfectly with each other, as they are both related to friendship and family love. 

Up until now, I still love and remember every moment that happened in this movie, when I rewatch it I even cried sometimes. I watched this movie all the time when I was young and it has impacted me to love orcas a lot until it has become my favourite animal. The more I step into the adult world, the more I appreciate this movie. 

In my opinion, animals do deserve freedom as well, and it is not anyone's right to take away another's freedom. None in this world should be nor wants to be separated from their family, the same goes for animals. The unique part of this movie is how the young boy befriends a weigh 3 ton killer whale, and how he helped Willy to be freed from captivity. He went this far despite of all the obstacles he encountered while freeing Willy. All these have made me love this movie more and more, even the sequel movies have informative moral stories as well. 

That is why to show my love for my favourite movie, I decided to make a minimalist poster out of it. 

Visual research

Fig 1.1 Minimalist poster examples

To make a minimalist poster, which I have never done before, I did a lot of research on the minimalist posters. I realised that minimalist posters mostly have 3 different colours in it , so it only gives out the minimalist vibe, as simple as possible but still be able to convey its message to the audience. For this task, I have to pick a scene from Free Willy as my decisive moment, a scene that I love the most from this movie and have impacted me.  

Idea exploration 

Figure 1.2 Iconic scene of Free Willy

In Free Willy, the most iconic scene definitely would be the scene where Willy managed to escape from the whaler's capture and jumped over the breakwater into another side of the ocean with the help of Jesse. From the original poster itself, we can see there's a whale in the air and a small person on the rock. From the video below, it is the iconic scene in the movie. 

Week 7( 09.05.2022 ~ 16.05.2022 )

Sketches

Fig 1.3 First sketch, Week 7 (09.05.2022)

For my first sketch, I was planning to pick this scene as this scene shows love for each other as soulmates. and I was being extra trying to add the white patch on the whale as the background. 

However, I realised the outcome would look weird, and also that is a picture, it is not part of a scene in the movie. 

Fig 1.4 Second sketch, Week 7 (09.05.2022)

For this sketch, it is somewhat similar to the original poster and the second part of this task is to do a little animation on the poster. So I was thinking I could do the whale jumping and water splashes as the animation. This sketch is similar to the original poster. 

Fig 1.5 Third sketch, Week 7 (09.05.2022)

For my third sketch, I got inspired by these posters I found and I wanted to try this style out on my poster. So I drew a front view of a full-body killer whale and inside will be the iconic scene of Free Willy. This is the concept of double exposure, which I find it's pretty interesting and minimalist. 

Of all 3 sketches, I have decided to go for the second sketch as I feel it's more appropriate and easy to execute compared to the third sketch. I was planning to try out the third sketch if I had enough time. 

Tracing

Fig 1.6 Tracing the whale , Week 7 (11.05.2022)

Fig 1.7 Tracing the rocks , Week 7 (11.05.2022)

I tried to trace the rocks together with the shadow, for some parts that are unclear, I just outlined it based on a random rock shape. 

Fig 1.8 Filling colour for the rocks , Week 7 (11.05.2022)

After tracing the lines, I used the shape builder tool to separate the bright and shadow part to fill in colours. Filling shades for the rock and I changed the red to grey as the part is where the light shines on it, and the black colour as the part that the light doesn't touch. 

Then I started working on the background, where I have come up with 3 different designs.

Fig 1.9 Background 1, Week 7 (11.05.2022)

This is exactly the same as the poster, where there is a sunset and an ocean. I have applied radial gradient onto the sunset making it glowy. 

Fig 1.10 Background 2, Week 7 (11.05.2022)

I was playing around with the colours and I felt this definitely has some contrast but visually it doesn't really make sense.

Fig 1.11 Background 3, Week 7 (11.05.2022)

For this I wanted to make the whale and the guy the main focus so I thought of changing the rocks colour to a brighter tone. 

Then, after consulting Ms.Anis, she suggested to go for the first one as it has greater contrast.

Week 8 (20.05.2022)

I have always been quite bothered by the poster I did because it does look exactly the same as the poster. On 20.05.2022 Friday class, I have consulted Mr Hafiz's opinion on my poster and he said it's like tracing the original poster. So, Mr. Hafiz gave me some tips and suggestions on how to improve it. He said that I could change the angle and make the water droplets the animation. 

Week 9( 23.05.2022 ~ 30.05.2022 )

So, I have decided to redo my poster because I honestly think the first outcome is not what I am satisfied with and of course, I want to design a poster that is appealing for the movie that I love. So, I tried to replay the scenes where both of them interact with each other to capture the decisive moment. 

I didn't take much time to think and I immediately dive into drawing a rough sketch to get an idea of how i am going to reposition the whale and the boy. 

Decisive moment scene

Fig 2.1 Iconic scene , Week 9 (23.05.2022) 

Fig 2.2 Decisive moment chosen scene, Week 9 (23.05.2022)

This scene is the part where Jesse was coaching Willy on how to do tricks as a performer. From the video above, we can see that when Jesse gives the hand sign, Willy jumps out of the water. So I planned to make this into a poster. This scene is similar to the iconic scene. 

For the animation, I planned to do some water splashes and droplets falling down from Willy's body to Jesse, just like the iconic scene where Willy jumps over Jesse. 

New Sketch 

Fig 2.3 New design sketch, Week 9 (23.05.2022)

For my new design, I have made a more close-up view of the whale and the boy, making them the main attention of the poster and less focus on the rocks, because from my previous design the rocks seemed to have stolen their thunder as it was properly traced and shaded. Then, for my animation, I am still sticking to the one where the water droplets and water splashes will be the animation. 

Fig 2.4 Tracing Willy, Week 9 (23.05.2022)

Based on the scene captured, I have traced the whale but only the half body, and for my poster the whale can't be in half body. 

Fig 2.5 Tracing Willy's tail , Week 9 (23.05.2022)

So, by looking up the Internet I have found a picture of a killer whale with the same angle and traced the lower part of the body for Willy to complete his body as he jumps out. 

Fig 2.6 New whale, Week 9 (23.05.2022)

After I have traced it out, I feel it definitely does look more appealing and make more sense in terms of its angle. For the rocks and Jesse, I reused them from the old poster.

Title and logline

Title: Free Willy

Logline: How far would you go for a friend

At first I wanted to go for a different logline which is " Will you be there?", it's the main theme song of this movie, and I feel it contains a lot of complicated feelings and emotions in this song, so I feel why not i use this as the logline instead of the original one. 

Then, I realised it is not enticing that it will hook the audience into watching the movie, but "How far would you go for a friend?" is more on point. I also tried fitting both lines into the poster, but it disrupts the whole layout, so i had no choice but to pick only one. 

Fig 2.7 Designing the title, Week 9 (23.05.2022)

For my title, I chose a font that is more chilly and interesting instead of the typical Times New Roman, because the original poster's title font is also quite interesting. 

Fig 2.8 Tracing Willy's tail, Week 9 (23.05.2022)

To spice things up, I replaced the 'Y' in the title with Willy's tail because whale's tail has a similar shape to the letter 'Y'. 

Fig 2.9 New design outcome, Week 9 (23.05.2022)

Last but not least, I have added a black coloured outline for the title ' Free Willy' and this is the outcome of the poster which I haven't included the water splash and droplets yet. 

However, I felt the title had some problems, the colour and the font just don't go well with each other.

Fig 2.10 Designing the title, Week 9 (24.05.2022)

I have decided to go with a thicker font and remove the tail 'y', and I traced the title from the original poster by using Pen tool. Then I was playing around with the colours for the font. Black and white seemed fine but the black colour kind of blended in with Willy's skin, thus, it doesn't stand out as much as the white font, but the White title has created a contrast with Willy's skin and looks more stand out than the black coloured title. 

Fig 2.11 Designing the title, Week 9 (24.05.2022)

Okay, done with the title, for the logline I chose the white colour because the above logline is already in black and I feel that the bottom logline is better in white colour because if the title and the bottom logline are in black, it clashes with Willy's skin. 

Water Splash 

When I have decided to opt for Free Willy as my poster, I have already mentally prepared with the amount of work and time I have to invest into making the water splash. To make a water splash effect, I had to study the angle and direction of the splashes while the whale is jumping out of the water. 

Visual research 

Fig 2.12 Picture as reference, Week 9 (25.05.2022)

I have chosen this picture as a reference as its angle is the same as Willy on my poster. So, I studied arch angle and water splash based on this picture. I did look for others also, but this was the closest to mine. 

Fig 2.13 Video as reference, Week 9 (25.05.2022)

 

                                      Fig 2.14 Water splash animation reference , Week 9 (25.05.2022)

Fig 2.15 Water splash animation reference, Week 9 (25.05.2022)

So after considering the angle of the water splash, i decided to trace the labelled in yellow marker one, as that one seems to match the angle of Willy's jump the most. 

Fig 2.16 Tracing water splash, Week 9 (25.05.2022)

After tracing the water splash I filled them with colour and tried out on my poster.  

Fig 2.17 Different background colour, Week 9 (25.05.2022)

So I have created a new background colour for my poster which has gradient on it, and I tried it out on my old background colour which has the sunset. However, I felt the water splash doesn't fit the overall look of the poster. 

Fig 2.18 Picture to trace the water splash, Week 9 (25.05.2022)

Then I tried racing the water splash from the original poster.

Fig 2.19 Different background colour with new water splash, Week 9 (25.05.2022)

I have tried a new background colour for my poster which is all blue without gradient(#3).  I was thinking which one suits minimalist more because I notice it is very rare to see a minimalist poster with gradient as the background so I gave it a try with the darkest shade. 

Fig 2.20 Votes results for each poster, Week 9 (25.05.2022)

I have also consulted Mr Haiz's opinion and a few of my peers' opinion, the votes from the 3 posters are quite tied and I guess people would pick the first one is because of the contrast created, the second one cuz of the glow in the middle, but the one leaning towards minimalist, the third poster seems more like it. 

Fig 2.21 Comparison between different water splash, Week 9 (25.05.2022)

So I have traced different water splash and I tried to adjust the angle of the splash towards the right as Willy is jumping towards right. Up until here, I was still lost I didnt know which water splash i should go for. Then, I realised that the right one looks pretty weird to me, and I tried to change the one on the left into all white colour.

Fig 2.22 Comparison between different background colour, Week 9 (25.05.2022)

So here, I have abandoned the water splash with a lot of small splash and go with this. For the background, I was confused whether I should go with the one with blue or the one in orange. However, considering Willy jumping out of the water, I guess blue would be better than a sunset background. 

Final Poster outcome

Fig 2.23Final Poster outcome, Week 9 (25.05.2022)

Animation 

For the animaion, I would be animating Willy jumping out of the water, the water splash and water droplets falling down from Willy's body.

Fig 3.1 Whale jumping animation, Week 9 (26.05.2022)

A total of 9 frames were used to animate the whale jumping, then the water splash would be adjusted according to the whale jumping, which means, I am animating both the water splashes and droplets and the whale jumping at the same time in 1 frame. In short, the water splashes splash based on the whale's jump. 

Fig 3.2 Whale jumping animation frames, Week 9 (26.05.2022)

Fig 3.3 Whale jumping animation frames in Illustrator, Week 9 (26.05.2022)

Fig 3.4 Different speed, Week 9 (26.05.2022)

After adding and positioning the water splashes, I adjusted the speed of the whale jumping, and i felt 2 of them weren't the perfect speed, it's either too fast or too slow, intermediate would be nice. Also, I noticed the water droplets weren't placed nicely so I had to edit it again. 

Fig 3.5Adjusted water splashes and droplets, Week 9 (26.05.2022)

After adjusting the droplets and splashes, it looks so much better than the previous version. So I guess it's left with the speed. I tried again with the speed. 

                             Fig 3.6 Animation frames in Photoshop, Week 9 (26.05.2022)

After multiple attempts, i guess this speed works best.

Final Outcome

 

Fig 4.1 Final Minimalist Poster, Week 9 (25.05.2022)

 Fig 4.2 Final animated Minimalist Poster , Week 9 (26.05.2022)

Feeedback

Week 7 (13.05.2022)

Ms Anis suggested to go for the one with sunset as the background because it creates a nice contrast, she told me to run some colour tests if I am still unsure of which colour to choose.

Week 8 (20.05.2022)

Mr Hafiz suggested to change the angle and and put more focus on the boy and the whale, as for my previous poster it is like tracing the original poster, so changing the angle is fine. 

Reflection

I would say it truly was an exciting and thrilling task for me. From the old poster to the new poster, what I realised I have changed is from tracing the original poster to the part where I combine the scenes together. I realised that the decisive moment I picked is similar to the iconic scene where Jesse gives the hand sign and Willy jumps out from the water, just like the iconic scene, He cheered Willy on and when he gave the hand sign, Willy made the jump. I guess I was wrong from the start of the task, if I had paid more attention during the research phase, I guess I wouldn't have to burn the midnight oil. I have spent so much time in studying the movie, the whale, and the water splashes. I did not expect to change plan last minute and go for a new design when the due date of the assignment is in one week. Thankfully, I managed to finish up everything on time.

One more thing that I personally have to improve is time management, so I don't have to cramp all my assignments in a week and I was legitly burning the midnight oil.