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Alien Spotting

It is done! I am a graduate now.

The film was screened at the Srishti Graduation Exhibition held at Freedom Park, Bangalore from 21st to 25th January. It was nice to see what people had to say about it.

My space >>

The poster doubling up as the headphone stand >>

Happy looking viewers >>

submission

27 October | Review 6

Mr Ravindra said,

- The end needs more closure, ending with the TV might get confusing, try something else, the older ending with the eye worked better (Have changed it back to an eye, but a different one)

-The break-away section is very different but still somehow fits in, so that’s fine.

They said: It works

I think the sound needs more work, and would like to work on it some more post submission.

Diane Arbus / Photographer

"On her own, against the advice of many friends, she had pursued her documentation of people on the fringes of society." She photographed "deviant and marginal people (dwarfs, giants, transvestites, nudists, circus performers) or else of people whose normality seems ugly or surreal." A friend said that Arbus said that she was "afraid... that she would be known simply as 'the photographer of freaks'".

curtsy Ramya

"Photographer of the freaks". That would be rather politically incorrect in today's world. Though if you hear her talk about her work, it isn't demeaning in any way, rather honest which I suppose made it acceptable/ worthy of applause.

Peer feedback

-Establish the eye-hole as the viewer, add his somewhere in between as well so we remember he exists, otherwise he makes appearance only in the beginning and end. Also, show him as a person not just an eye.

-Tv could be used as an interface?...

-In any still scene make sure there is some movement somewhere/ don't have it completely still at any point

-People might not get that you are talking of aliens as a metaphor, make it very clear at some point, because that changes the meaning of your animation completely. (govt. hosp is where most people got that it was more that aliens from outer space)

-Some scenes (bus) needs to be worked on// some places need more details

-Keep fluidity of motion consistent/ add in-betweens/ some transitions need work

- End needs more 'dum'; It needs something to tie everything together. End with a bang/ come back in a circle.

20 October | Review 5

Showed the animation (almost completed)

Feedback:

-The voiceover doesn’t sound as urgent anymore (it should, at least towards the end)

- Script too political at places; people catch on to ‘government hospital’ and ‘villages around Bangalore’ which I might need to change. These are too specific and refer to a certain (lower) class who I’m calling aliens (and this makes me look bad). Even if the script is based on what others have said, I am responsible for it. So I need to look for alternatives.(When I showed it to peers though some took it very literally and thought my aliens were from outer space till this point.)

- One (very) important scene needs more work, need to pay attention to the visuals and find ways to subtly hint to another layer of meaning. Since it’s made using found images, need to be very careful at choice of images and associations they might evoke. Need to finish this and another link between scenes.

- Concentrate on finishing it before working on the changes

In terms of animation style etc, seems to be working fine.

(Will be sitting with Ramana on the 21st, to make it smoother)

Next meeting on the 23rd