Corpse Bride

The story 'When a Door Opens' seems to be based around the relationship between the two main characters and this image from 'Corpse Bride' by Tim Burton was our inspiration for how they might look. This is exactly how me and Katy pictured them. Which is another reason why we made the set black and white and wanted to go with the Gothic theme.

More Photos from the Photographic Studio

These photographs of the woman collapsed were an idea for the second smaller illustration. We have experimented with different light, back drop material, colour and different elements such as the 'magic lantern', charm bracelet and candles etc. We wanted to see what looked the best and what elements worked the best when combined.

The top two images were inspired by Container Plus's image of the live model lying down. I really like the element of the charm bracelet as the idea was to make it look as though the charm bracelet was protecting the woman.

Because the story has a lot of religious undertones and the main place in the story is the church, me and Katy wanted to produce a stain glass window effect. The story seems to cover a lot of imagery about light, so I cut out some sharp edged shapes out of card and placed this in front of the projector light. Which is why you can see the sharp, shattered looking window effect projected onto our models.

One of my favorite photographs was the ones where we have created 'God'. The images with the beam of light that seems to draw your eye down to the 'magic lantern' I thought this worked really nicely, as the lantern stands for hope. It looks as though 'God' is looking over her.

Photos from the Photographic Studio

These are examples of mine and Katy's set designs for the first illustration for the 7x7 book. Here we have created the models out of paper and used real objects such as the pint glass and the religious ornament. I was really pleased with the way everything looked when we got into the studio and finally constructed the whole thing. I think we were both pleasantly surprised, especially when we took some photographs while playing with different lighting effects. I think that's the way me and Katy work best with an element of surprise and not knowing fully what our final images will look like.

The idea was to build the village that is described in the story. So we wanted the church to be the main focus ( that's why we placed it on a higher level) and then we created all the little characters. We put the main character in a pint glass because in the story it mentions him going off to the pub instead of chosing to accompany his pregnant girlfriend to the church, which is where we've placed her placed her.

Katy also drew the family that the main character surveys when he is sat outside the pub. He is supposed to be watching the family with a kind of dread as he is seeing that as a vision for his future. Also the Punch and Judy element is present in our set, as it was in the story with Punch being hit over the head with a baby by Judy.

We also liked the idea of making the village quite Gothic, mainly because of the religious theme and the idea of Gothic churches.

Again we experimented with the lighting and we were trying to project a stain glass window effect over the entire black and white set. I think this created a brilliant sense of mystery and atmosphere to the images, some of which we've succeeded in making look slightly creepy. We also had the advantage of creating these amazing shadows, we were especially happy with the shadows from the trees as they are so clear and sharp.

The only downside to these images is the detail of the drawn characters is lost in the pictures, which is a shame, so I think the next step would be how to move it on further. . . perhaps working with them in photoshop or illustrator. . .

Inspiration

This is a photograph that Katy introduced me to and we got the idea of getting some black and white checked material and using this as a drop cloth for our black and white models. A bit like I had done with the previous Ted Baker brief where I created a Diamond patterned backdrop in illustrator. I think that it worked well last time but it could over complicate the image and take the emphasis off the actual models but I guess we'll have to see when we experiment in the photo studio. . .

The Charm Bracelet

The huge charm bracelet that me and Katy made to drape around the paper woman. . .

The Set Coming Together

These are photographs that we took after all the models were taken.

Set Characters

These are the little paper characters that Katy made for our set. The idea of placing this character in a real pint glass was to reflect the fact that we was in the pub. . .

Set Elements

These are some of the elements mentioned in the story that we were including in our set.

Charm Bracelet - Another Idea for the 7x7 Brief

Another important element to the story and an idea me and Katy really wanted to pursue was the charm bracelet that is mentioned. We thought it might stand for protection and luck, maybe even relating back to the idea of hope?

So our next idea for the 2nd illustration was to make a large scaled women passed out on the floor (like the real life model lay down in the image above by Container Plus) but we want to make her out of paper and combine drawing and using other materials. For example, we want to get some material and make the huge women look as though she is wearing a dress and have it draping out onto the floor along with her hair...

Then we are hoping to make a large scaled charm bracelet out of material and then with the addition of paper charms (the pram, the crucifix and the heart mentioned in the story). We then want to drape the charm bracelet over her like the Container Plus's image above and make it so it looks as though it's protecting her. These models will also be taken into the photographic studio and we shall play around with different lighting and colours.

The Magic Lantern- An Idea for the 7x7 Brief

The idea of the magic lantern mentioned in Joanne's story a couple of times made me think of experimenting with light and the different coloured filters in the photographic studio to create a stained glass effect. This isn't even limitted to just the lantern, it could also refer to the idea of the church and even the idea of hope itself.

This is a lantern that I have in my garden at home, which I thought was perfect! It was exactly what Jo had described about the magic lantern in her story and I love the stain glass pattern effect that it already has on it!

Container Plus- Inspiration for the 7x7 Brief

I thought about looking at some of Container Plus's work (like I have done so with many other projects) and I thought the idea of making words or text and placing it alongside the paper models and real objects and then photographing it was really interesting.

Me and Katy have decided to work together and she was also fond of these images and ideas. We both had corresponding ideas of building our own paper set like Container Plus do, including real objects and then photographing the models in the photographic studio and possibly playing with some lighting effects.

The image with the typewriter (all the little drawings and paper models look as though they are coming to life out of the typewriter) was the main influence for one of the illustrations, we liked the concept of creating all the elements and characters from the story and arranging them so that they look like they are pouring out of the main element of the story, which was the church.

Inspiration for the 7x7 Story

After reading the story by Joanne Key "When a Door Opens", I was delighted! I think that there are a lot of elements within the story that I could work with. My friend John has given me these photographs from when he was in Prague and I thought these really related to the imagery that was running through my mind while reading the story.

The fact that the story is based around a church and it mentions the 'church clock tower' really got me thinking about how to incorporate it into my work. I also really like the idea of creating a set based around a Gothic style. In Joanne's story, she portrays a lot of imagery about light shining through the stain glass windows and hints at the light symbolising hope.

Warhammer Church

Pictures of my dad's Warhammer painted church . . .

Text and Image Brief

I have just been briefed on a new project where I will be collaborating with students from Manchester Metropolitan University, they are currently third year students on an English Literature degree and our task is to illustrate their 3000 word short story. I'm really excited by the prospect of collaborating with writers and I find it really motivating because it is a live project and it also means our illustrations will be shown at the 'English Literature festival' which I'm really looking forward to. We have also been given the commission to produce a 15 sec animation after the summer when we come back for third year and this will also be shown at the festival.

I have been given my story "When a Door Opens" by Joanne Key, and I am working alongside Katy Jones. We have the opportunity to choose whether to work together on the brief or to just support one another. I have worked with Katy before on an earlier project where we had to produce an animation and I think we both worked really well together. So I'm thinking that it would be an exciting prospect if we decide to work with each other, however just bouncing ideas off each other also sounds like it would be very benificial for the brief.