Utopia dystopia Book continues...

For the past few weeks I have been working on the next stage of the Utopia Dystopia Book.

Basically the next stage is create an experimental version of the printed book.

My book is a mixture of utopian and dystopian true facts in my life. Having many problems mainly due to parents splitting and me being daddy's little girl. Making choices that should lead to utopia but end up as dystopia; the book tells it all from 1993 till 2008.

I asked myself a few questions about the book. These are as followed:

What are the main characters?
> Daddy's Girl
> Father
> Mother
> Unluckiness
> Threat
> Hurt
> Goal

What are the main scenes?
> 1997 - Parents splitting
> 2004 - Goal
> 2007 - Reunited
> 2007 - Mother shouting
> 2007 - Threat
> 2008 - Moved with father
> 2008 - Final Choice?

How can this story be narrated?
> Animation - Stick people
> Typography Animation
> Interactive Questionnaire
> Puzzle Game - 'Reunite Daddy's Girl'

Could the narrative of this story help the girl?
50/50 Chance - If the father saw it and understands it from her point of view and life experience from her age of 4 till 19, then maybe. However, on the other hand, by working with her past she may overcome the problems she has within her that are there because of her past. She will be able understand and learn from it and change. As well as that, she may realize that shes finally done it and that 'her goal' can change slightly, but be the same via long term. After all, we are all certain her father wants the best for her.


After thinking about the questions and answers, I decided to re-create the book by converting it into a typography animation. The animation will be created with words taken from the book. I will also create a sound file that will narrate the story. As the sound is played, words will appear on the screen, at certain points, images will appear and handwritten text to emphasize the story. The colours used will be black, white and red. Black and white contrast well together, whilst red comes in with love and pain. I will also add a few subtle colours and use the red for certain harsh and loving moments, e.g. threat and loving daddy. I will also add a viewer interaction at the end of the animation. This will allow the viewer to place their opinions and thoughts of the story as it could help the girl and also get them to answer the question that appears at the end of the animation.

I next created a plan for this animation.
1st step = Write script and make changes if necessary
2nd step = Create sound file
3rd step = Plan out animation on paper for visual reference
4th step = Start creating animation

I managed to write the script and made quite a few changes till I finally was happy with it.

With Many Thanks to Anneke Pettican (tutor at Huddersfield University) who gave me details for making a high quality sound file at a radio studio on campus and Ian McNaught (technician for the Radio Studio) to create the sound file. Also many thanks to my friend for playing the role of the narrator and also to 2 of my cousins aged 10 and 3 for playing roles of 'daddy's girl' at a younger ages. I created 2 sound files whilst I was there, and then edited the first one into the second one to get the best result. Very Happy with the recording. Thanks! :D

I designed the plan of the animation before I was able to record the sound file as the Radio Studio was fully book. So designed the whole animation down on paper. This works well because I just have to copy from it when I create my animation.

And finally, this past week, I started creating my animation. I first started in After Effects, but because I'm new to the software and my deadline date in mind, I decided it would be safer to create the animation in Flash instead as in more experienced to use it.

Currently still working on the animation. It is making slow but great progress!!

This is the animation I handed in for week 12:

Note: Timing is may out of place due to freezes.