horizontal still frame diagram

turning the still frame diagram horizontal (90 degrees counterclockwise) we have more of a temporal representation of the scene. the scene stills were taken every 2.5 seconds which is shown at the top and by markers at the bottom as well.. the original scenes and color diagrams are at the bottom with brackets for each of the five groups of seven still scenes. the main horizontal banding of color that is the focus of the diagram is basically an abstracted color diagram of the original more detailed color studies of the scenes below.

this is similar to OMA's flag for the european union, which they created by combining the colors of all the EU countries flags. it is also a sort of bar code that brands this group of countries.

scene color study

a video i made to help study the color diagrams. i is useful to play it with the dissolve feature from frame to frame because you can start to see the transitions from diagram to diagram.

color overlay_diagrams

removing the scenes from this matrix, we see these diagrams. the colors here are fascinating and the potential for this to become an animation are presented. i plan to use the color abstrations in the animation as a way to present the action of the scene.

scene stills_color overlay

taking stills from the scene every 2.5 seconds, a diagram emerged. lining up the images vertically on a sheet yielded five sets of seven still images from the film. each column of seven images turned out to represent a major sequence of events in the scene: the first was amelie's moment of clairvoyence and inspiration; the second sets up the man on the sidewalk and amelie as she gets the idea to whisk him up; the next two columns are the adventure itself, running through the streets in a flurry of motion and sensory experiences; and finally, the fifth column represents the final part of the scene, shot with one camera, where the man gets dropped off in front of the metro simulatneously stunned, disoriented, and thrilled. taking it a step further by trying to understand the scenes compositionally, i began overlaying swatches of highly saturated colors over the scenes. a similar pallette is used throughout the scene and color is also used as a kind of constant that strings the quick flickers of film together so as not to completely disorient the viewer.

animation_draft 1

diagram revision

our class discussion led me to revise the diagram as follows.

amelie_movie clip

for project 2, i chose the guardian angel scene in the 2001 french film directed by jean-pierre jeunet. the scene begins with amelie walking in slow motion across a bridge. its a moment of inspiration and clarity as she has just successfully delivered her first act as guardian angel. for her second act, she whisks a blind man up for a wonderfully disorienting walk through the street. the scene is spliced with focused clips of details of the journey. the director frames the faces of the pair as the camera moves fast with the gait of amelie as she pulls the man along on her arm. the scene comes to an end as the camera sweeps up into the air and comes straight down on the blind man who is thrilled with his adventure and simultaneously inspired.