Evaluation and Reflection

Evaluative Statement

(Understanding and application of subject knowledge) and (research value and intention of the project)

Graphic in my eyes is the use of various media to help create bridges or communication and connections between two different cultures using visualisation, thus creating an understanding and concept beyond the things themselves, to see more possibilities in the world, to see what no one has seen before. My final work 'Felling in your dream' is a drama-based science animation. Its theme is Alice in Wonderland syndrome. It deals with the problem of the wall of mental perception between people with Alice in Wonderland syndrome and normal people. In other words, "Let you be me, smell what I see and think what I think". It is a way of breaking the ice and improving the quality of effective communication between normal people and patients.

Research (visual, theoretical, academic, cultural sources)

First of all I have no grounding in the medical side of things, so I don't have any ideas or constructs that have any validity, I'm going into the psychiatric side of perception with an all-exploratory mindset. The symptom is a disturbance in the way a person perceives their body, the world around them or both. It is called Alice in Wonderland Syndrome because that makes objects appear big and small, like scenarios that appear in dreams, which is wonderful and interesting. Through my in-depth research, I found that Alice in Wonderland Syndrome is a symptom, not a disease, but a complication of a disease. Based on this speculation, I researched and collected the symptoms of 100 people with Alice in Wonderland syndrome from various internet forums. The symptoms were mostly found in children between the ages of 0 and 20, and the five most common triggers were summarised separately: epilepsy, drug intoxication, schizophrenia, migraine, and EBV; almost all of these five conditions are highly recurrent in at least two individuals, suggesting that they are interrelated; EBV can cause encephalitis, migraine can be caused by encephalitis, and schizophrenia and epilepsy go both ways; The direction of my work was to visualise the characteristics of these illnesses, which appear to have very different symptoms but have commonalities, and then link them as clues that run through the complete visual experience of Alice in Wonderland syndrome that I wanted to present.

The development of creative practice

I planned and researched the whole creative practice, and since I needed to do animation, I had to follow the set-up of the script. So I researched the narrative of the film and realised that there are many different kinds of narrative that can bring very different feelings to people. Linear narratives are always slightly monotonous and boring (but simple), and non-linear narratives are multi-layered story lines and threads (but difficult). Through my viewing of the non-linear narrative films, I found that the strong storytelling gave a suspicious and light experience, and the multi-layered story lines and clues appeared to be storytelling and sensual (but difficult). Due to considerations of the overall style and thrust of the animation, I ended up choosing the circular narrative (multiple time periods) in the non-linear narrative - the causal loop. For a large number of loops, and then adding the thought of the cause and effect that leads to the loop, people will be invested in thought as well as fear, because the unknown is the biggest fear of human beings. I think this resonates well with the audience to the fears of those suffering from Alice in Wonderland syndrome,.

In order to put this into practice, I needed to design the characters, the architecture, the interiors, the lighting, the camera positions, the special effects and so on. Given that this is a popular science video, the script needed to be in line with the "dream world" and "fantasy", which is contrary to reality. So I chose to use the brain, the body tissue most associated with AIWS, as the architectural prototype, so that the problem is immediately apparent. The lighting, the architecture and the design all correspond to the psychological cues of the people, the double balance of fear and comfort.

Planning, progress and production. Manage your own learning and progress

My plan for the first week was to start with a project idea, I had a rough idea in my head, it could be photography, it could be animation, it could be special interviews and so on. But I wasn't exactly sure, so I started with a direction, which was about getting some real time feedback by interviewing a lot of patients, drawing an animation of each frame, similar to a data visualisation, and maybe adding a 4D sensory system. After the tutorial in the second week, I decided to change the original data visualisation into an animation with storytelling, as the sense of immersion would be stronger, but the visual collision might not be as strong, and did research to basically set up the output and the form of features to be reflected. The third week was spent designing the script and setting out how the script should be interpreted. Week four was ready to start practice, first building the set design, concept design, week five character design,, interior design, character binding. Week 6 animation starts, splitting, running shots , character poses, mannerisms, how to run. Week seven week eight continues this act. Week nine renders, week ten ends with editing, switching between transition shots, adding voiceover.

Evaluation and Reflection

The theme of my project is Alice in Wonderland Syndrome. When conceiving the output medium, my thinking was very restricted. Initially I conceived of an animated output method, but then I realised that visuals alone were not enough. As my research progressed, I realised that the symptoms were distortions of perception, not just 'visual distortions', and that a single visual experience was not highly reductive or powerful for the viewer; I then came up with a simpler, more achievable way to create a 4D experience (given the achievability, and it was my I came up with another simpler way to create a 4D experience, including visual, auditory , tactile, etc. It's a neurological disorder that few people know about and my plan is probably more complete. So when I did my presentation and overall plan, not many people had ideas and few constructive suggestions, which may have made it a little difficult for me to progress afterwards. This week was spent tweaking the plan as I delved into my research. From my first-hand research, I have found that the cause of most people with Alice in Wonderland Syndrome is a brain disorder. There are symptoms of epilepsy, schizophrenia, drug intoxication, migraines and EBV respectively. So I decided to change my plan for the content of the animation and use the symptoms of Alice in Wonderland Syndrome to show the characteristics of his illness in a different presentation. Because it was a better realisation and a more specific direction than my first version of the plan.

In the latter tutorial I was given substantial practical advice on how I could use non-linear narrative techniques in my animation due to the psychedelic and disorderly nature of the symptoms, and could try the 'red herring' incident and focus on that, changing my initial thoughts on the previous data visualisation as this time inspired by my friend, thus turning to a narrative script.

During the week I researched art styles that might be associated with visual and perceptual distortion, namely spatial dislocation, distortionist art and surrealism. The creators of these art genres have some associated mental illnesses and I thought it would be appropriate to use this form. The decision was made to use animation for the final output because after trying to sketch it out, the painted output seemed flatter and less varied in form in comparison, which may not give a sense of immersion. It would give the impression of being more illustrative and childlike, but that doesn't really fit with what I was trying to convey.

Then there was the all-important practical aspect, where I had major trouble, both with skeletal binding and learning stylised effects, which was almost more than I could handle, as well as with the rationalisation of stance which was a very big problem for me, as the lack of familiarity with the principles of human movement made me make too many mistakes in my first attempts, moving positions before designing steps, etc., like I was So I slowly changed this later in the character pose design, choosing to pose first and then move accordingly. Also stylising the scenes was very difficult for me, it was a very rudimentary attempt. It was very crude but the result of changes made, including some problems I found again with the broken surfaces of the models causing major problems with the rendering. But the rendering took so long that it took nearly a hundred hours and I just couldn't afford to make changes. In the future I hope to use more 3D rendering for graphic design, combining 2D and 3D, realistic light and colour for storytelling and playability, it's an amazing visual experience that I will continue to experiment with.

Communicate and demonstrate a creative practice

It's a medical science animation, so obviously it's meant to increase awareness of AIWS and to make a spiritual link with the patient. I hope that the audience can read into my work a basic meaning that belongs to their understanding and inspiration, and a kind of discovery and guided exploration of the spiritual world of others. The grotesque is always curious and frightening, but it is only when you really get close that you realise the pain that exists in the thing itself, rather than being imagined and heard.

Falling into your dreams

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