So today I sat and watched the movie for the first time. Fantastic movie, and didn’t expect the twist at the end. I rewatched it and starting noting key events, writing down what I thought was important, scene by scene. Meanwhile, the group researched as I made notes.
Fight Club
Today we were assigned the movies we will be studying for the following two weeks. We got Fight Club. I’ve never seen the movie before so i’m really looking forward to this! We have to put a schematic together, then an artefact that summarises the movie. We’re going to start with the schematic.
I volunteered to put a rough draft together seeing as I haven’t seen the movie. The others were talking about how there are a lot of hidden meanings and twists in the movie, so I thought it would be best to have a fresher view on it. Also so i could see how these twists would affect the story. Tomorrow i’ll be making a start on the rough schematic.
Maya: Jonas
After learning how to make Jonas jump, I experimented a little and attempted to see if I could add a run just before he jumps. I tried searching for walk cycles for characters that had no limbs, to help me create a walk for the Jonas model, as of now I couldn’t find anything so I looked at various standard walk cycles and tried applying what I could to this character. Here’s what I came up with!
To improve it I’ll have to work on the timing of the run at the start because it moves way to fast, at the minute i’m still trying to wrap my head around the graph editor so i’ll ask for help on that. Once I figure it out i’ll post a fixed version on this post.
Here’s the edited version, I found out how to slow the walk down at the start using the graph editor. Below is the result.
Creating our City
We’ve finally got stuck into creating our city! At the moment we’re just taking it easy and going through the concept stage, drawing away and seeing what catches our eye.
We also looked into multiple films and movies that had floatings cities, basically if it was a island/city/living space and it floated, we looked at it. To name a few we looked at the floating city in the clouds sort of stuff like in:
- Star Wars: Bespin – Cloud City
- The Legend of Zelda- Skyward Sword: Skyloft
- The Legend of Zelda – Twilight Princess: City in the Sky
Left Image Source: Skyward Sword: Skyloft Concept Artwork – Zelda Dungeon. 2016. Skyward Sword: Skyloft Concept Artwork – Zelda Dungeon. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.zeldadungeon.net/2012/01/skyward-sword-skyloft-concept-artwork/. [Accessed 3 February 2016].
Right Image Source: Tor.com. 2016. Get Your Head in the Clouds with These Cities in the Sky! | Tor.com. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.tor.com/2015/08/21/weird-cities-in-the-sky/. [Accessed 3 February 2016].
After casual research and sketching in general, Megan came across Aequorea floating city concepts. Basically, this “city” is a 3D printed city made using recycled garbage and floats on water. It’s designed to be easily sustained and good for the environment.
Vincent Callebaut Architectures AEQUOREA . 2016. Vincent Callebaut Architectures AEQUOREA . [ONLINE] Available at: http://vincent.callebaut.org/page1-img-aequorea.html. [Accessed 09 May 2016].
After coming across this, we decided to pursue the “floating on water” path. After seeing this I looked into the possibility of there being floating cities on water anytime soon, and found an article and project by “The Seasteaders Group”. They’re aiming to have some sort of floating city arrangement set up by 2020 if they get the funding. How this project works is they aim to have loads of seperate square or pentagonal plots of land that will mesh together. They will be set up on the edges of coasts and the plots can be rearranged for the floating city/towns needs.
Mail Online. 2016. Floating city project costing $167m to create concrete platforms to house 300 | Daily Mail Online. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3153412/Will-cities-future-FLOAT-167-million-project-using-concrete-platforms-home-300-people-2020.html#v-4343795294001. [Accessed 3 February 2016].
Floating City – Water and Lily-Pads
So we’ve finally made a start on our floating city assignment. After sitting down and discussing it with the team we all came to the decision that we wanted our city to be floating on water.
When we were settled on this idea, I started drawing up some concepts and I came up with the idea of having our city based on the structure of a lily-pad. By lily-pad (Water Lilies), I mean that it is mostly based on its its structure. For the water Lily to stay afloat, it has a stem structure that contains a lot of hollow cells. These cells contain air and keep the top half afloat. Based on this information, these are some concepts I drew up.
The Writer’s Journey: Vogler Presentation
So we’ve started our first assignment of this semester. We’ve been tasked with reading “The Hero’s Journey”. Each group will take a small portion of the book each, analyse it, and then go onto present it.
The four chapters that have been set with us are:
- Threshold Guardian
- Herald
- Shapeshifter
- Shadow
Here i’m going to put all of the group’s findings on the four chapters. When putting the presentation together, we read over the four chapters, then took a chapter each to specialise in, any information I found useful for another member in the group, I would have sent it for them to use in their chapter and offered help where I could.
PDF LINK TO PRESENTATION: The Writer’s Journey (Will be available to download through blackboard too.)
Threshold Guardian – This is the archetype I mainly focused on
A “Threshold Guardian” is used as a plot device that will test the hero at one point or another on their journey. The archetype is used to test the hero’s dedication and will to complete their task. If the hero is beaten by the Threshold Guardian, they may not want to continue their journey. However, if the hero is beaten, it may result in the hero being more determined to finish their quest.
This Archetype can appear at any time, and can take on various forms. A Threshold Guardian can take on various forms. These forms can be people; Bodyguards, bouncers, police etc. They can also be props. A wall could be a threshold guardian as it is in the hero’s way, and they must pass it. Even a locked door, or any kind of barrier. This archetype can also take on non-physical forms. By this it is meant it can be a type of weather, or an emotion felt by the protagonist. A heavy storm could stop the hero from completing their journey, and troubling thoughts can also put them off.
Typically, if this archetype were to appear at the beginning of the story, the hero is most likely going to get beaten, and this may result in the hero feeling undetermined and the hero may need the “Call to action” archetype to get them back on track. If the threshold guardian were to appear at the end it is more likely the hero will pass them.
There are multiple ways of passing the guardian. For example, the hero can simply beat them, or “get into the spirit” of them. For example, in Star Wars Episode IV – A New Hope, Luke and Han kill Storm Troopers and steal their armour to navigate through the Death star unnoticed. The Hero can also wear the “Mask of the Shape shifter” in order to get past the threshold guardian. (The Shape Shifter archetype will be covered later.)
Herald – By Gianni
The Herald archetype, are entities/ people/ props that would arrive to warn the Hero/protagonist that change is coming. Typically, the Herald can absorb traits from other Archetypes, for example, the herald can go onto become the hero’s mentor after warning them off the change. Example: Star Wars Episode IV – A New Hope, Ben Kenobi. He arrives and warns look of the dangers he’ll face, and then goes onto become his mentor.
The Herald can take on different forms, like the threshold guardian. For example, in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, his Hogwart’s acceptance letter could be the herald. Hagrid could be the herald as well, as they are both doing this job. Herald’s can be called upon to inform the protagonist of the causes of the conflict in order to provide them with motivation and keep them on track. After the Herald has completed their job they aren’t really needed again in the story unless the plot demands it.
Shape shifter – By Megan
The Shape shifters role in a story is to bring doubt and suspense into a story, and they have proven to be difficult for the protagonist and audience to identify and trust. A shape shifter can create tension, uncertainty and suspense in the story through their changing appearance, behaviour and mood. To summarise the shape shifter archetype, they can befriend the hero and later betray them. Or vice versa, they can be acting bitter and belittling toward the hero, but really they were doing this to protect them. For example, Snape, from the Harry Potter series.
The Shape shifter archetype is based on the concept of the Anima and Animus, coined by Carl Jung. The “Animus” is the male elements found in a female’s subconscious, and the “Anima” would be the female elements found in the male’s subconscious. Vice versa. These elements manifest in characters in our dreams, or in expectations that we project onto the opposite sex. These projections aren’t necessarily positive or negative.
“These projections of our hidden opposite sides, these images and ideas about sexuality and relationships, form the archetype of the Shape shifter.”
“Shapeshifting is a natural part of romance as it can be difficult so see who a person really is when you’re in love with them leading to the concept of the Femme and Homme Fatale.”
One way of wrapping your head around this would be to look at Yin-Yang. It basically means one side can’t exist without the other as there is part of the other within itself, and vice versa.
Image Source: http://clipartist.net/svg/abstract-yin-yang-tao-clipartsy-com-svg/
The Shadow – By Cliodhna
“The Archetype known as the Shadow represents the energy of the dark side, the unexpressed, unrealized, or rejected aspects of something.”
The Shadow archetype represents repressed feelings and/or hidden emotions, however this can also shelter positive qualities that have been rejected for whatever reason. Shadows are regularly presented as being villains, however they typically aren’t fully evil. They are there to challenge the Hero and give them a worthy opponent. Sometimes the Shadow can be an ally of the hero, they can share the same goal yet often disagree with the hero. In the writer’s journey, it is said that “Antagonists and heroes in conflict are like horses in a team pulling apart in different directions, while villains and heroes in conflict are like trains on a head-on collision course.
Shadows in psychology are seen as the “shady” parts of ourselves that we are always in a struggle with over old bad habbits and fears. It is possible for the shadow archetype to grow in monstrosity if it is subjected to deep trauma, guilt and loneliness. This is possibly why the shadow archetype is usually paired with villains.
It is possible for heroes to manifest a shadow side. When they are crushed with self doubt, the hero can take a turn for the worse, they can become selfish and wicked, instead of their typical self sacrificing attitudes.
It is possible for other archetypes to take on the “mask of the shadow”. For example, looking at drill sergeants. They can be seen as mentors who wear the mask of the shadow. Their duty is to get cadet’s through training, but at the same time try to drive them out of the program as only the best should make it through.
Another example could be Hannibal the Cannibal from Silence of the Lambs. Hannibal is a dark projection of the dark side of human nature, but is a helpful mentor to the FBI when helping them catch another killer.
In order to create a memorable villain, writer’s should add a admirable feature or a touch of goodness. They should also be humanized in order to make them appealing by making them vulnerable. Graham Greene makes his villains frail. The hero would be on the verge of killing the villain to discover they’re pathetic but have people they care about. “Suddenly the villain is not just a fly to be swatted but a real human being with weaknesses and emotions. Killing such a figure becomes a true moral choice rather than a thoughtless reflex.”
Typically, Shadows do not see themselves as the villain or the enemy. This type of villain is usually quite a dangerous type of villain, they are so obsessed with accomplishing their goal because they believe they are doing good. They are known as “The Right Man”.
One of the most important shadow figures in movie history would be Darth Vader in Star Wars – Episode VI – Return of the Jedi. Toward the end when Luke is being electrocuted, Darth Vader overcomes his External shadow and overthrows the Emperor to help his son. “All his wickedness is finally forgiven.”
“The Psychology concepts of the shadow archetype is a useful metaphor for understanding villains and antagonists in our stories as well as grasping for unexpressed, ignored, or deeply hidden aspects of our heroes.
Practicing before the main presentation
Just before we presented on Tuesday, we used Monday to put all the finishing touches on the presentation. We also ran over it quite a few times. Everything turned out rather well!
When it came to presenting it, Cliodhna unfortunately couldn’t make it because of serious personal reasons, so I covered for her as best I could. To be honest, while I’m happy with how it turned out, I feel we could have maybe ran over the presentation a few more times.
Jack Creaner 
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