Rochester Institute of Technology
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10-28-1999
Deconstructing Pandora
Katherine Mervine
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Recommended Citation
Deconstructing Pandora
A Computer Animation Thesis Report By
Katherine Kinnear Mervine
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Fine Arts, Computer Animation
School of Film and Animation Rochester Institute of Technology
Rochester, New York October 28, 1999
Professor Howard Lester Chair
School of Film and Animation
Section I
Reproduction Statement
I, Katherine Kinnear Mervine, hereby grant permission to the Wallace
Memorial Library at Rochester Institute of Technology to reproduce my thesis
in whole or in part. Any reproduction will not be for commercial use or profit.
Table
of
Contents
Section
ISection
II Section III Section IV Section V Section VI Section VII Section VIII Section IX Appendix A Appendix B Appendix C Appendix D Appendix E Reproduction StatementDevelopment ofthe
Story
Synopsis of
Story
Character Design
Methods
Score and Sound Effects
Final Production Conclusion
Bibliography
Thesis Proposal Storyboard Production Stills Photographic ReferenceSection II
Story
Development
When Ifirst decidedtoanimatetheancientGreektaleofPandora'sBox,I
wascontent enoughtocreate a simplefilm fromthecommonly heardstory.
Pandora, thefirst femaleonEarth,ismadehappy byhersimple existence asthe
wife ofMan, but isunabletoresisttheonethingsheistoldbyher husbandnot
todo: openthestrangebox hidden inthehouse. She surrendersto her
curiosity,opensthebox, andtheworldis destroyed.
"Pandora'sBox"
has alsobeentranslatedoverthecenturiestomean,"...a
processthatgeneratesmanycomplicatedproblemsastheresult of unwise
interference insomething."'
Atfirstthegravityofthis definitionescapedme,as
Ithoughtitwould simply beatalerich with visualpossibilities perfectlysuited
forcomputeranimation. As I developed ascriptfromthestory though, I
discoveredtheoriginal myth was abit differentthan theonethatis commonly
understoodinpopular culture. Asampling fromtheoriginaltaleincludesthis
eye-openingnarrative:
"... Forerethis the tribesofmen livedon earth remoteandfree from ills
andhardtoiland heavysicknesses whichbring theFates uponmen;for in
miserymen growoldquickly. Butthewomantookoffthegreatlidofthe
jarwithher handsandscattered,alltheseandherthoughtcaused sorrow
and mischieftomen.OnlyHoperemainedtherein an unbreakablehome
within undertherimofthe greatjar,anddidnotflyout atthedoor; forere
that, thelidofthejarstoppedher, bythewill ofAegis-holdingZeuswho
gathers theclouds. Buttherest, countlessplagues,wanderamongst men;
forearthis fullofevils, andtheseais full."2
AsIcreatedthescript,I becameincreasinglyuncomfortabledevelopinga
workbasedon a centuries-old misogynist story. Ifoundmyselfcomingto
termswithmyown sense offeminism:whatitmeanttome andhowit impacted
myrelationships with everyone aroundme. Do I simplyrecreate themythof
Pandoraandignorethedeeper meaningofthestory? Or do Itakealeapand
changeit into somethingmoredefining? Iwasfortunateto findabookthat
helpedmetounderstandmymisgivingsaboutchangingthePandorastory. In
theintroductiontohercontroversial 1992bestseller, Backlash: The Undeclared
War Against American Women,Susan Faludistates, "...Inthe last decade
publicationsfromtheNew York Times toVanityFairto theNation haveissued
asteadystream ofindictments againstthewomen's movement,with such
headlinesas,WHEN FEMINISM FAILEDorTHE AWFUL TRUTHABOUT
WOMEN'S EQUALITY. Theyholdthecampaignforwomen'sequality
responsiblefor nearly every woebesettingwomen, frommental depressionto
meager savingsaccounts,fromteenage suicidestoeating disorderstobad
complexions. .. This bookhelpedmetounderstandthatabandoningwhat
feltright(in reformingthemeaningofthePandorastory)to thepressures ofthe
society around mewasnotjustapersonalissue,butauniversally feministone
as well. Pandora'sBoxwashappeningin mycentury!
2
Hesiod,Theogony (English).The Homeric HymnsandHomericawith anEnglish
Translation byHughG. Evelyn-White. Theogony. Cambridge, MA., Harvard
UniversityPress; London,William Heinemann Ltd., 1914.
3
Faludi,Susan. Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women.Random House.
Withtheaid ofmy thesis advisors,Professors HowardLester,Stephanie
Maxwellandthenow retiredDr. JackSlutsky,ItransformedPandora'sBox
intoatalethatnotonlyhadpersonal meaning,butalsobrokefree fromthe
traditionalcontempt of a woman'sfreewill. Pandorawas oncea euphemism
forthefemaleembodiment ofevil,but in myworkIwould giveher back her
Section HI
Synopsis
of
Story
"Pandora"
beginsinablackand whiteworld,floodedbyanevening storm.
Lightningflashes illuminateoddbodypartsofstatuary shroudingtheexteriorof
a museum. Asthelightningintensifieswefindourselvesinsidethemuseum
surveyingalongrowofGrecianstatues. Anotherboltoflightningcauses a
statue of a woman(Pandora)attheend ofthemuseumhalltoawakenanddrop
thevase she isholding,whilefallingherself. Asshefallssheinadvertently
smackstheMan sharingthepedestal withher. Heawakens as well. Bothgo
througha process ofdiscoveringthattheyareindeedalive and can move.
Althoughawkwardintheirbodycoordination,theyeventuallymaketheirway
to theopposite end ofthemuseumhall. Pandorafindsshe andtheManareat a
door. Pandoratouchesittentatively atfirstthenfinally pullstogetherher
resolve andpushes itopen. Withaflashoflightandburstofsound,shehas
openedthedoortoa modern world of color andnoises, alientoeverythingthe
shehas seen. Thestatuesthemselves arenow alive withflashingcolors. In
fear,bothrunbacktowards their pedestal, but Pandorafallsto thegroundin
herattempt, andthe man runs ahead withouther. Pandorasitsupandlooks
backatthedoor. Atthismomentthemanis backonhispedestal,tryingto
regainhisoriginalform. WhiletheMan in hispanic strugglestoreinstatehis
former"self," Pandora hasmovedbackto the opendoorwhichis radiating
noises and colorsmorevibrantlythanever. Afteralastglancebackattheman,
sheturnsaway from himand movescloserto the thresholdbeyondwhichisthe
modern world. Thereis ablinding flashoflight followedbya quiet moment.
reachingouttoher. Themuseum assumesitsoriginalstate andthedooris
closed.The Mansits alone onhispedestal withthebrokenvase onthefloorand
Section TV
Character Design
Not entirelyabandoningthePandora's Boxstory,I kepttheoriginal
charactersinmind whenIcreatedthemuseum. DuringmyresearchIwas able
tofindphotographsofstatues of severalGreciangodsmentionedinthestory:
Aphrodite, Zeus,andMercury.Drawingthemfromthephotographswasthe
easiest partofmakingthiswork. Iused a simple numbertwopencil onheavy
drawing papertodraw thefigures,andscannedtheseimages intoa computer.
FromthereItook themintoaphotographic manipulation software program
calledAdobe Photoshop. Photoshophasusefultools such asscale,brightness,
contrast,perspective, layers, andblurs,to mentiona few. Iusedthese tools to
alignthe statuesproperly inthemuseumhall.
Icreatedthemuseumhallfrom sketching images fromtheMemorial Art
GalleryattheUniversityofRochester. Iwantedtoestablishan empty space
with afeelingof mystery. LuckilytheMemorialArtGallery's"GrandGallery"
hallwas perfectforthis task. Withcathedral ceilings andflyingbuttress-like
windows,I foundthatsketching itwas notonlysimple,butalsoajoy.
Creatingthemain characterstookabitmore research andthought.I drew
Pandorafroma piececalled, "The West
Wind,"
byThomasRidgewayGould,
locatedattheMemorial ArtGallery. It isa smooth marble statue ofayounggirl
withher hairanddressblowinginthewind. Ithenaddedmy versionof a vase
thatwasdevelopedfromaphotographof an actualjarwith illustrations
depictingtheoriginalPandora's Boxstory.
The ManwasdrawnfromanotherMemorial ArtGallerysculpturecalled,
"TheFalling
Gladiator,"
byWilliam Rimmer. Heisamuscled warriorfallen
twodrawings intoPhotoshopandeasilycompositedthembothontoarock,
strewn withbroken bitsof an ancient city. WiththatI hadalarge Grecian hall
with authenticGrecianstatues, and onethatrepresentedtheoriginalstory of
Pandora's Box.
Themain
characters'
animatedformsprovedtobeataskmoredifficult. It
wasmy desiretocreate romanticized versionsofthetwostatues inasimple
blackandwhitelinethatretainedthedetailsoftheirrespectiveGrecian dress.
Myoriginal sketches costumedthemanina stripedtunic withlotsoffoldsand
intricatehemlines,shoes anddetailsofhis face. Pandoraalsohada more
elaboratetunic-dress and shoes withleathersashes windingup hercalf
muscles, aswell asfabulously wavy hairandbig eyes withlotsoflashes.
Animatingthesedetailedcharacters provedtobeextremely time-consuming,
whichIwilldiscuss further inthenext section. Simplifying mycharactersto
therudimentsoftheirfeaturesand clothes worked muchbetter forme,allowing
Section V
Methods
Theanimation provedtobethebiggestchallenge. With littleprior
animationexperience,Imovedforwardwithmyambitious characterdesigns
andfoundthatthey wereincrediblytimeconsumingandfrustratingfor many
reasons.
Animationrequiresmany differentstagestoseeitthroughto thefinal
vision. I began myworkstarting fromthelaststep! Insteadofbeginningwith
a rough sketch andonward tokeyframes, in-betweensandfinalclean-ups, I
startedmyanimationswiththefinalclean-ups. This wayofworking showed
very littleprogresstomythesiscommitteemembers and made me certainI
would neverseriously finishthefilm. Ready togiveup fromserious
unorganizationandtime-managementissues,Ileftschoolforayearandahalf.
Workingat a commercialanimationcompany and at asoftwarebusiness helped
mebecomewellorganized,as well astaughtmelessonsinproblemsolvingand
howtocreatelarge-scaleprojects with shortdeadlines. Upon returningto
schoolIre-evaluatedwhatI had donewithmythesis workinthepast andwhat
Ineededto dotocomplete it. Iabandonedeverything but my backgroundsand
mystatuedrawings, andIalso alteredthestorysomewhat.
I beganwithadetailedstoryboard ofeveryscene. A story board is,"... a
seriesofdrawn imagesthatgraphically portraytheactiondescribed inthe
script.
"4
Aftercreatingthe storyboard,Imade amoving onewiththe
approximatetimingoftheentirefilm,shotbyshot, called an"animatic."
4
White,Tony. TheAnimator'sWorkbook. Watson-Guptill Publications. NewYork, New
Thenextstepwascreatingtheroughanimationforeach scene. Byusinga
smalllaptoplighttableI didnot needtheanimationpapertobepunchedand
attachedtoa registrationdevice,the traditionalwayofutilizinganimationbond
paper. Becausethepaper was as small asthelaptoptable, I simplyre-adjusted
thesmall stack of paperbyhand. Ineveranimated morethanfive framesat
once, soIneverfound my wayofworkingtobeahindrance.
Scenebyscene, Itimedouttheanimationwitha stopwatch andthenlaterin
my head. Inanimationthereare severalways toestablishtime. Forexample,
Pandorafallingto thegroundtofollow her brokenvase neededtobequick.
Therefore Icreatedthe threemain poses ofthe action, orrather, threemain
keyframes: Pandoraup,falling, andfallen. As I wantedhertostart offslowly
thenfallquickly,Imadefiller drawings in-betweenthemain poses. More
"in-betweens"
fortheslowermovements,fewer forthefastermovements.
AccordingtoTonyWhite, authorof, The Animator's Workbook: Stepby Step
TechniquesofDrawnAnimation,"...inbetweening producingthedrawings
inbetweenthekeydrawings isoffundamental importanceto thesuccess or
failureof animation
technique."5
I didnothavethe time-basedluxuryof
makingmyanimationlook likea scenefromaDisneyfilm. Theymay use a
thirty-frameinbetweenfora charactermoving its hand from itschintoitslap,
creatingavery fluid movement. Fortunatelyforme,Iwanted ajerkylookto
complimentthemovementof statuescomingalive, and whenyouuselimited
inbetweens, thatis exactly what youget.
WhenI createdtheframesoftheanimation, Iwouldflipthrough thepapers
toget afeel forthemovement. When Iwas satisfiedthetiminglookedabout
right, Iscannedin thedrawings formanipulation in Adobe Photoshop. From
thereI would usethelayerandtransparencyfunctionstolineall ofmy
5
drawingsupto make suretheylookedalike and werethesamesize. Ifthey
didn't lookrightIwould use one ofthemany sizingandimagingoptions
Photoshophas,orinthe worstcases,literally gobackto thedrawingboard.
OnceIwashappywiththedrawings, Iwouldexporteachindividual frame into
theanimation softwareprogram,Macromedia Director. Anindustry standard
foranimationtesting,it issimpletocompiletheindividual framesinarow,or
'score'
asit iscalled,and adjusttheframeratetodeterminethedesiredspeedof
theanimation. Once Iwas satisfiedwiththemovementIwouldcreate amovie
ready for editing (that originallywouldbetheend ofit), afteradding inthe
desired background. But, my backgroundswerelengthy forthedesiredpans,
andthey werealso large in filesize. Not only didtheseissuescausethe
programto shutdown, butalso the open-lined,sketchy qualityofmy animation
drawingssometimes causedthebackgroundstobeseenthroughthecharacters.
Itried todigitallycutthemout ofthewhite 'paper'colortheywereimagedon
and placethemontothebackground,butthiscreated aquirkypaper-dollfeel
thatIdidnotthinkwasappropriateinmeaning. Coupledwith all ofthese
problemsIconsultedafew industryprofessionals who advised metousea
post-production software program calledAdobeAfterEffects. Withthis
programIcould useextremely largefileswithease,andIwasabletoplacemy
characters onthebackgroundwithaspecial effect called
"masking."
By
importingmyanimatedQuickTimemini-moviesinto AfterEffects,Icould use a
pen-liketooltodigitallycutthecharacter out ofthewhitebackgroundand place
itontothemuseumhall background:this methodistechnicallyreferredtoas a
mask. Toavoidthepaper-dolleffect, Iadjustedthe softness ofthemask,
allowing forasoft glow aroundthecharacters, insteadoftheharshpaperdoll
Iwantedthe characterstoflashwith various colors. Itwaseasytoadd an
animated color effecttomymasksinAfter Effects.
Ialso usedAfter Effectstomakemyvideo composition. After gatheringthe
clipsIwanted,Iadjustedtheir colors,sizes andframerates easily. Thisaspect
ofthefilmturnedinto myfavorite,asitwas experimentalandeachclip Ichose
added moremeaningto thecharacters'
outside world. Iwantedtocreatea
visionthatwas notonly fullof color andsounds,butalsoone ofstrife,
arguing,death, anddestruction. Aworldthatwasfullofthebeautyoflife,
Section VI
Score
andSound
Effects
Itwasimportantformenottoletthemusictelltheaudiencehowtofeel. I
wantedtokeepthesoundtrack odd andotherworldly,yetatthesametime
express theemptinessofthemuseumhall,andthatallisnotquite rightinthe
environment. Icalledupon a peer ofmine,StevenPalmer,forassistance. He
understoodthemeaning Iwastryingto convey,andisalsoan animatoraswell
as amusical composer. Throughtrialanderror, we puttogetherasoundtrack
thatwascomprised ofvarious synthesizer sounds. I lateraddedmany sound
effects.
Mysourceforsound effects wastheInternet. Not only didIfindavast
array ofcopyrightfreesounds,but I alsofound it simpleandfasttodownload
themand keeptheminadigitalform. FromthereIimportedtheminto a sound
effects manipulation program called Sound Edit 16. Itallowed metolengthen
or shortentheclips inaccordance tomy QuickTimemovies,aswellasto
changethe soundsentirelywith anarray of effectslike,reverb,distortion,
Section VII
Final Production
With my finalshots and sound effectscompleted,Isaved all ofmy files
onto a portable 100 MB Jaz diskandtransferredmy data intoasoftware
programcalled,Avid Media Composer. The Avid hardware setup is apowerful
digital editingsystemthatcanplay back QuickTimemoviesinrealtime,without
typicalcomputer animation problemslike framedropout,(wherethecomputer's
compressionsystemliterallydropsoutvariousframes),orbandingimages.
Bandingwas a problemIencountered quite abitwhile stillusing Director. I
tried tokeepmy imagesunderathousandcolors sothefilesremainedfairly
smallandthecomputerdidnot crash. But Ifoundthiscompromisedthe
aesthetic ofthebackgrounds: whereinwhichthecolors ofthepaletteactually
combinedintosolid stripe-like patterns. Luckily Ifound AfterEffects,andwas
abletoworkinmillionsof colors. Iwasthenable tousetheAvidsystemfor
Section VIII
Conclusion
This story hastranspiredfrom Pandora endingtheworldtoPandora
creating anewone. LiketheoriginalstoryofPandora'sBox, sheisstill
responsible forbringingaboutthechaos,but it isa chosenone. Irealizedfrom
theaudience reaction atthepremiereofthefilm,thechoiceisperceivedaseither
a good chaosorabadone: as oneviewerputit,"Youcan seehowterriblethe
worldwelive in reallyis." Myintentionwastoshow shewasleaving aquiet,
blackand whiteworld ofstatuedstillnesstoaforeignone ofcolor, noises and
vibrancy;onethatwastruly alivewithgoodness aswellasbadness. The
differentreactionsdonotbotherme,insteadgivemean interestinginsightasto
how differentpeople perceivetheirrespective worlds.
Formeitmeans sheisfree,and althoughit ispainfulfor hertoleavethe
worldsheknowssowell, shehasgoneontoexperience a greaterlife inall of
Section IX
Bibliography
1.Faludi, Susan. Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women.
Random House. NY, NY. 1992.
2. Hesiod,Theogony(English). The Homeric HymnsandHomerica withan
English Translation byHugh G. Evelyn-White. Cambridge, MA.,Harvard
UniversityPress; London, WilliamHeinemannLtd., 1914.
3. The New OxfordDictionaryofEnglish, OxfordUniversityPress, Oxford,
England. 1998
4.Memorial ArtGallery oftheUniversityofRochester, Rochester,NY. Iused of
twostatuesfromtheircollectionforreference:
"The FallingGladiator,"byWilliamRimmer, ca. 1860. Bronze. On Extended loan
fromthe Metropolitan MuseumofArt, NY, NY. 10.87L.
"The West
Wind"
byThomasRidgeway Gould,ca. 1876. GiftoftheIsaac
Gordon EstatethroughTheLincoln RochesterTrust Company. 66.18.
5. White, Tony. TheAnimator's Workbook. Watson-Guptill Publications.
Appendix A
PANDORA
ADAPTED BY KATHERINE MERVINE
Submitted inPartialFulfillmentoftheRequirements fortheDegree MasterofFineArts
MFAPhotographyProgram,SchoolofPhotographicArtsandSciences
Rochester InstituteofTechnology
Rochester,NewYork
H0WARD LESTER, Chairperson
Professor
SchoolofPhotographicArts andSciences
RochesterInstituteofTechnology
STTPHANIE MAXWEi
Professor
SchoolofPhotographic ArtsandSciences
Rochester Institute of/Jjechnqloey
JA<
Professor
NTID
Pandora
by Katherine Mervine
Treatment
One day, two Grecian marble statues (a man and a woman) ,
located in a museum begin to move when the morning sun
touches them.
The woman moves first and falls awkwardly off her
pedestal. The ancient jar she is holding falls to the ground and smashes. Falling down her arms flail, hitting the man's
face in front of her.
He falls off his pedestal and follows her throughout the
museum. Their faces react with fear and curiosity about themselves and the other still statues around. them. Both
stumble, roll and try to balance as they to walk down
the museum hall.
When they reach the end of the hallway, they find a
large, Gothic door. Pushing it open they are bombarded by the
colorful and blurry sights and sounds of New York City.
Recoiling from the sight, they slam the door shut and race
back to their pedestals while color slowly seeps into their
gray bodies. Movement is now easier for them. She falls but
manages to crawl up to her pedestal.
At their stands, they attempt to hold their poses but
their limbs fall. Reacting with surprise, they see they have
become flesh and blood. The woman looks at her body and plays
with her new flexibility, then sees the man is flesh as well.
Stepping down from his pedestal, the man reaches for the
woman's hand. They timidly touch each other and discover
skin, hair and cloth.
Pandora
by Katherine Mervine
FADE IN. . .
INTERIOR OF A MUSEUM EARLY MORNING
LS of a large museum hall. The room is marble with 50 foot
ceilings and 10 foot Gothic windows. It is somewhat dark except for the shifting of the morning light across the
marble floor.
LS THE CAMERA SLOWLY MOVES RIGHT. Light moves and reveals
Greek sculptures in various forms. Several statues depicting
Greek Gods in their natural poses are in the room, including ZEUS, ATHENA, HERMES, APHRODITE, AND HEPHAEASTUS . Each hold
unique accessories telling of their individual gifts. After the light passes each, a shadow cascades across the floor. At
the extreme right of the hall are two statues that are not
Greek Gods. One is a MAN in Greek attire simply standing
across from a WOMAN (also in traditional
garb),-holding a
jar. Both eyes are focused on the jar.
MS When the light reaches the unknown couple and passes over
the jar, the Woman statue appears to move.
EXTREME CLOSE-UP of the Woman's hands. Fingers slowly curl.
Elbows move back. We see her neck move and head tilt.
MS of Woman. The jar falls to the floor and smashes. She
twists and turns like someone who has been asleep for a long
time.
LS Stretching her arms out, her body arcs in a backwards "c" like curve. The Woman falls off her pedestal. Her arms flail
and whack the man as she falls. Crawling up shakily, she
stands.
POV She looks down at her hands, through her fingers, to her
feet with wide-eyed curiosity.
MS The man stretches longer and slower than the woman. He
falls off his pedestal and lands with a *thudT on his backside.
LS HIGH ANGLE The Woman walks in-between the Greek Gods with
her arms going from outstretched to close at her sides. The
man follows her and moves with difficulty, as if there is too
Pandora
by Katherine Mervine
FADE IN. . .
INTERIOR OF A MUSEUM EARLY MORNING
LS of a large museum hall. The room is marble with 50 foot
ceilings and 10 foot Gothic windows. It is somewhat dark except for the shifting of the morning light across the
marble floor.
LS THE CAMERA SLOWLY MOVES RIGHT. Light moves and reveals
Greek sculptures in various forms. Several statues depicting
Greek Gods in their natural,poses are in the room, including
ZEUS, ATHENA, HERMES, APHRODITE, AND HEPHAEASTUS. Each hold
unique accessories telling of their individual gifts. After
the light passes each, a shadow cascades across the floor. At
the extreme right of the hall are two statues that are not
Greek Gods. One is a MAN in Greek attire simply standing
across from a WOMAN (also in traditional garb) holding a
jar. Both eyes are focused on the jar.
MS When the light reaches the unknown couple and passes over
the jar, the Woman statue appears to move.
EXTREME CLOSE-UP of the Woman's hands. Fingers slowly curl.
Elbows move back. We see her neck move and head tilt.
MS of Woman. The jar falls to the floor and smashes. She
twists and turns like someone who has been asleep for a long
time.
LS Stretching her arms out, her body arcs in a backwards "c"
like curve. The Woman falls off her pedestal. Her arms flail
and whack the man as she falls. Crawling up shakily, she stands .
POV She looks down at her hands, through her fingers, to her
feet with wide-eyed curiosity.
MS The man stretches longer and slower than the woman. He
falls off his pedestal and lands with a *thud' on his
backside .
LS HIGH ANGLE The Woman walks in-between the Greek Gods with
her arms going from outstretched to close at her sides. The
man follows her and moves with difficulty, as if there is too
LS The Woman is full of fearful curiosity as. she leads the
Man in and out of the line of Greek Gods. Her head lolls as
she looks around and stumbles.
LS The Woman and the Man push past the Zeus statue to the
left end of the hall.
POV MAN & WOMAN In front of them both is a large, Gothic
museum door. It's so tall it almost reaches the ceiling.
MS The Woman goes to the door slowly. Her hands caress the
carved, wooden surface. He follows.
CLOSE-UP of their hands pushing the door. It opens an inch.
JUMP CUT
HIGH ANGLE WS of the Man and Woman standing stunned in front
of the museum door. The left panel of the door is open and
reveals a city street.
EXTERIOR AFTERNOON CITY STREET.
POV MAN & WOMAN
New York City is seen and heard in full color.
Buildings tower hundreds of feet above. Cars rush past and honk, a sledge hammer is heard. People are yelling. The scene is blurry.
JUMP CUT MS They both slam the door shut, and stare ahead
with shock. Their backs are against the door.
LS WIDE Both run back to the pedestals. As they move, color
slowly overtakes their grayness . They lose their awkwardness
as more color enters their bodies.
LS The woman runs with her arms in front of her. She falls on
her face, then pushes herself back up to her pedestal and
stands in her original position.
MS Climbing up, the Man and Woman pose in their original
positions. After some time of trying and finding that their
limbs fall weakly, they realize they cannot become stone
again.
CLOSE-UP of the Woman opening one eye, then the other. She
looks around.
POV WOMAN. She looks at her colorful hands, tunic and legs.
She turns her hands over and brings them close to her face.
She looks up at the Man. He is looking at her.
MS They look at themselves and see that they have absorbed
the color from outside the door. The Man steps down and
LS WIDE-THE ENTIRE HALLWAY CAN BE SEEN. THE ROOM IS WELL LIT WITH THE AFTERNOON SUN. Both are off of their pedestals. They
timidly reach out to each other. Both are loose and gestural.
They shift from linear to blurry with color.
She moves left, he moves left. This continues for sometime until their rhythm builds up to depict dancing.
Methods
I plan to draw on animation bond paper,
using soft,
dark, 4-6B drawing pencils. The statues will be drawn
realistically, with various shading appropriate to their
respective materials. When the man and woman come to life,
they will be drawn in a loose style. When they move, their
gesture lines will stay behind, as after images. When the characters find that they have become human- flesh, they will
be depicted with colored pencils, and they will remain
sketchy.
Using the "Adobe Photoshop"
program, I will draw
in-betweens with the program's Layer function, this will allow
me to essentially draw on computer "tracing paper"
with my
pressure-sensitive computer pen.
The color images will be animated in "Fractal Painter."
I plan on importing all my images into the animation program, "Macromind Director"
.
The city and sound effects will be taken from RIT's sound library. I intend to utilize talent from the Eastman
School of Music for my soundtrack.
The complete movie will be saved on Zip disks,
transferred onto an optical disk, recorded onto SVHS video,
and then digitized to the AVID system for final edit.
Budget
Task cost in kind
Storyboard 500 .00 500.00
Script 1,500.00 1,500.00
Animation 20,000 .00 20,000.00
Editing 1,000.00 1,000.00
Sound effects 100 .00 100.00
Musical score 3000 .00 3000.00
Optical disk 400 .00 0
SVHS tapes 60 .00 0
Zip disks 50 .CO 0
Bond paper 75 .00 0
Pencils 5 .00 0
26690. 00 26100.00
Timeline
Spring Propose thesis, draw storyboards, draw backgrounds,
plan summer animation with advisors.
not officially enrolled in thesis
Summer Do as much rough animation as possible. Create NYC
scenes.
not officially enrolled in thesis
Fall Do initial animation, meet with committee
6 credits
Winter Compile movie. Meet with committee, make edit
4 credits
Spring Finishing touches made to movie. Write thesis paper
from journals kept during the entire process.
Design thesis screening poster.
2 credits
Thesis showing at the RIT Film & Video Department
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AppendixD
Appendix E
Original Pandora
Story
"...Forthegodskeep hiddenfrommenthemeans oflife. Elseyou would
easily do work enoughinaday tosupplyyou forafullyear even without
working; soon would you putaway your rudder overthe smoke, andthe fields
workedbyox and sturdymule wouldrunto waste.But Zeus inthe anger of
his heart hidit, becausePrometheusthecrafty deceivedhim; thereforehe
planned sorrow and mischief againstmen. He hidfire; butthat thenoble son ofIapetus stole again formenfrom Zeusthecounsellorinahollow
fennel-stalk, sothatZeus whodelights inthunderdidnotsee it. But afterwardsZeus
who gathersthe clouds saidtohim inanger:
"Son ofIapetus, surpassingallin cunning,you aregladthatyou have
outwitted me and stolenfire-agreat plague toyou yourself andto menthat
shallbe. But Iwill give men astheprice for firean evilthing inwhich they
may allbeglad ofheartwhiletheyembrace theirowndestruction." So said
thefatherofmen andgods, andlaughedaloud. Andhe bade famous
Hephaestusmakehaste and mix earth with waterandtoputin itthevoice and
strengthofhumankind, andfashion asweet,lovelymaiden-shape,like to the
immortal goddesses inface; andAthena to teachherneedlework andthe
weaving ofthevariedweb; andgoldenAphrodite toshed grace upon her head
and cruellongingand cares thatwearythelimbs. And he chargedHermesthe
guide, theSlayerofArgus,toput in hera shameless mind and adeceitful
Forthwiththe famous LameGodmouldedclay inthe likenessof a modest
maid, as theson ofCronospurposed.Andthegoddessbrighteyed Athena
girded and clothedher, andthe divine Gracesandqueenly Persuasionput necklaces of gold uponher, andtherich-hairedHours crownedher head with
springflowers. And Pallas Athena bedecked her formwith allmannerof
finery. AlsotheGuide, theSlayerofArgus,contrived withinher lies and
crafty words and adeceitful nature atthewill ofloudthundering Zeus, andthe
Heraldofthe gods put speechin her. And he calledthiswomanPandora,
because allthey whodwelton Olympusgave each agift, a plagueto menwho
eatbread. Butwhen he had finishedthe sheer,hopeless snare, the Fathersent
gloriousArgus-Slayer,theswiftmessengerofthe gods, to takeitto
Epimetheusas agift. And Epimetheus didnot thinkon whatPrometheus had
saidto him,biddinghimnevertake a gift ofOlympianZeus,butto send it back for fear itmightprove tobe something harmfulto men.But hetook the
gift, andafterwards,when theevil thingwas alreadyhis, he understood.For erethis the tribes of menlived onearth remote andfree from ills andhardtoil
andheavysicknesses whichbring theFates upon men; for in miserymen
grow old quickly. Butthewomantookoffthegreatlidofthejarwithher
hands andscattered,allthese andherthoughtcausedsorrow and mischiefto
men. Only Hoperemainedthere inan unbreakable home within underthe rim
ofthegreatjar, anddidnotfly out atthedoor;forerethat, the lidofthejar
stoppedher, by thewill ofAegis-holdingZeus who gathers theclouds. But
the seais full. Ofthemselvesdiseases comeuponmencontinuallyby day and
by night,bringing mischiefto mortalssilently; forwiseZeustookaway
speechfrom them. So is therenowaytoescapethewillofZeus."1
1
Hesiod,Theogony (HnglishVThe Homeric HymnsandHomericawith anEnglish
Translation by Hugh G. Evelyn-White. Theogony. Cambridge, MA.,Harvard