Commedia Dell'arte

Commedia dell’arte is a form of theatre characterized by masked “types” which began in Italy in the 16th century and was responsible for the advent of the actresses and improvised performances based on sketches or scenarios. Commedia dell’arte, conversely, was performed by professional actors (comici) who perfected a specific role or mask. Italian theater historians, such as Roberto Tessari, Ferdinando Taviani, andLuciano Pinto, believe commedia was a response to the political and economic crisis of the 16th century and, as a consequence, became the first entirely professional form of theater. This is debated though, as evidence shows that there were possibly actiunions prominent as far back as the Greek Times.

This video gives a brief introduction to the characters of commedia dell'arte and their mannerisms.

I am going to recreate a mask that is traditionally used in the plays, using clay and latex.

Forrest photos for the hoax

The completed Illustrate book "The flame"

This is my completed book, I am overly happy with the way it has turned out, I'm glad that I decided to change direction after the first story I created, as I wasn't entirely happy with the outcome, and create something with more detailed illustration. Also, using one colour as the focal point was a better idea than full colour that tried before, it doesn't diminish the detail of the illustration, it highlights it and creates a focal point of the flame, which I think is fitting as thats the title of the book.  I tried to create a realistic book, by adding what would be on a real book, things like a barcode, reviews from publishers and a short blurb. The overall story of the book is of friendship and overcoming a problem as a team, it is aimed at children from reading age above wards, but I think it also engages parents that could perhaps be reading it to their children. Throughout the process of making this book I have gained a lot of knowledge on how to create thing on photoshop and illustrator, this will help me in my further units.

Creating a clipping mask.

Insert the thing you want to put into a clipping mask

put the shape you want to contain it in above it.

Send the image to the back of the shape

select both the shape and image, press object, clipping mask. then make.

Focal points in media.

I've looked into ways in which the media have used single colours as focal points, the film Sin City, solely uses red as a a focal point to engage the viewers attention. I am going to do something similar to this, by having one focal point throughout the story.

The film Schindler's list also uses red as a focal point on a backdrop of black and white. It's a really effective way of engaging the audience through colour.

Starting a new story.

After finishing the first story I am now going to create a second one, using the skills gained from the first story board. For this story I feel that it is better suited to produce a small illustrated book rather than a story board. I started by drawing the illustrations for the book pages, the story is about a group of candles who overcome 'The flame' by working as a team.

This is an illustration  for a cell in the book ...

I then used the magic wand tool to colour the image up...

After doing this I wasn't entirely happy with the result, I thought that the heavy colour took the focal point away from the illustration, after all, my book is about illustration and not the colour of the candles.

So I tried to think of a way of incorporating colour but not in such a heavy way that flattens the illustration, so I researched into that media that have only used slight colour in an effective way, creating a focal point.

My complete 5 cell story board

This is my final outcome of my first idea, I love the way it looks, but I am going to create a second one where I can use the skills I have learnt during the first one. Helping me to work quicker and know what works well and what doesn't. I  know I can do better than this so I will use the skills gained for the first one to create an even better second one.

Using the layout paper

Today we used layout paper to draw the backdrops for out story board, here are my outcomes...

I then coloured them up on photoshop and this was my outcome, 

I think with the photographs I took superimposed on top will add great depth to my cells, making it more engaging. I used bright colours as I hoped it would engage younger readers.

this was a really useful technique to use, and using the layout paper for the first time was a good experience, doing this has helped me to widen my range of skills and techniques. 

My multi media techniques- Illustrations

These are the illustrations I have done of my characters, I then put these into Photoshop and coloured them up to add them to my story board.

As you can see, from this one illustration I have created many characters/expressions. I changed them using photo shop as this is much quicker than redrawing each individual illustration.

I love how these playful characters have turned out, now i will superimpose them onto images i have taken for the background.

My multi media techniques-Photography

These are some of the photographs I took for my story board, I like that I will have a clear contrast in media, from having these crisp and detailed photos against my illustrations, using these photographs will help me create depth in my short story board.

My multi media techniques- Working with Plasticine

Today I have made plasticine models that I have photographed that I will import onto my story board, here they are...

I've never really worked with plasticine in this way, creating something with such detail, but it was really fun to make and I'd consider doing this again. I was able to create a really good effect with the tops of the vegetables, by just lightly dabbing the tops of the models with a pencil. I think this really fits my story well because they're very colourful and fun to look at, which is very suited to my target audience.