Final Major Project

Brainstorming Ideas for FMP

SO the time has come to decide on a final major project for my final year of University, it is crazy how time flies!

I left my project on a note of badger culling before Christmas, but now is the time to extend on this animal rights theme and really get to grips with more global issues. Therefore I have opted to move away from badgers and more forward into the world of endangered species. Whilst a broad topic, my aim will be to produce a collection of illustrations which convey what is happening around the world which cause many species to become threatened. This may be portrayed through narrative to demonstrate the truth behind the matter in a similar way Sue Coe has done in her work.

As part of my initial research I will explore several animal welfare organisations such as the WWF to gain statistics and information about which species are endangered and the main issues concerned with each particular threatened animal.

Self-Initiated Project Brief: Missing Malaysian Flight MH370

Brief:

For my self initiated project, I will focus on looking into the current news event of the missing Malaysian flight MH370. Keeping up to date with several articles, I intend on recording past, current, and on going stories about the missing flight. This will be recorded through illustration to depict the most important aspects of the news story. My main focuses will be on the missing passengers and their relatives, perhaps using photography from news articles to depict the events.

Summary of Missing Flight MH370 so far...

The Malaysian Flight MH370 went missing on the 8th March 2014 along with 239 victims on board, including passengers with various nationalities. As expected, there was much anguish and frustration felt by the relatives on board the plane. Helicopters and Navy vessels have gone to a calculated search zone in the Indian Ocean. Debris has been found but so far none of it has been identified as part of Flight MH370.

Initial Ideas

Initially, I have began looking into current and past news articles about the Malaysian Flight. This has led me to look at online UK based news sites such as Sky News and BBC News to give me a better insight into the story so far. However, I felt that when I looked at several articles I was very unsure what was a portrayal of truth or speculation. This has made it difficult though I can use this as part of the reportage of events I will illustrate. 

One article I came  across of Sky News showed the faces of some of the missing passengers on the flight, including reports on some of the backgrounds of certain passengers. I feel this connected the audience with the story on a deeper level rather than using only statistics to describe the traumatic event. 

Here is a link to the article:

http://news.sky.com/story/1227545/missing-plane-mystery-faces-of-flight-mh370

As soon as I read the article I was touched at a deeper level by the story. From this, I realised that I wanted to portray this same deep level of meaning in my own illustrations which would create a reportage of events relating the missing flight through various articles I find. 

Source: The Guardian newspaper online

Here are a couple of illustrations I created on post-it notes to focus the attention on the missing passengers and the anguish faced by their relatives. The post-it notes reflect on how many of the relatives and others have written notes of prayers and wishes for the missing people on Flight MH370. By illustrating the faces of the passengers, it draws attention to the real crisis of the event; the unknown whereabouts of the plane leading to speculations about whether the passengers survived. This conveys the idea of hope which many of the relatives hold on to.

Missing passenger: Ju Kun

Missing passenger: Paul Weeks

I have also illustrated the 'void' in which the relatives may feel due to the traumatic event: 

Missing passengers: Muktesh Mukherjee and Xiaomo Bai

Here I have illustrated the silhouette of two missing passengers to reflect on the unknown whereabouts of the missing flight. They are not portrayed as deceased nor alive, it is just a mystery. The blue tones are symbolic of the speculative search areas in the Indian Ocean.

48 Hour Project Brief!

So today I was kindly informed by lecturer Ian Massey, that there is a new project brief set... with a deadline for TWO days time! At first this slightly worried me, though after speaking about it I realised this would be perfect experience and practice for real illustration client briefs I could possibly be set in future. Therefore, I am very excited about this quick project as it will test my abilities as an aspiring illustrator and challenge the speed in which I work.

Here is the project brief which was set:

• You have until 2.15pm on Thursday  to produce a good working visual of an illustration for the magazine Sight and Sound. Your visuals will then be presented to the Art Directors of the magazine (aka Dr Lisa Stansbie and Dr Ian Massey), who will with other students provide feedback on the work you have undertaken.

• Your illustration is to accompany a one-page feature article about the film you are working with as the subject matter for the current project. The illustration will form part of a double-page spread, and will fill a whole page of the magazine.

• The illustration should encapsulate the key themes of the film, or concentrate on a key scene which is central to the film narrative. It must be in portrait format, and in colour, though the amount of colour utilised is up to you. You may use any technique you feel relevant.

• The magazine is published by the British Film Institute and as a wide and informed readership. You illustration should be pitched at the magazine readership.

As a starting point I decided it would be best to find out more about the magazine, Sight and Sound, published by the BFI to give me a better idea of their own personal style and content. 

After viewing the 2013 issue of Sight and Sound I found the general look of the magazine to be quite clean and ordered. There also seems to be a colour scheme of muted tones which fit the overall professional look of the magazine. Above, the imagery contains dark tones to imitate the horror theme of the issue. There is a clear target audience of adults for this magazine, so when creating my editorial illustration I will take into account the style of the magazine and common themes.

For my personal editorial illustration, I will take inspiration from the film I have been working with, 'Drowning by Numbers'. As I have already been looking into some of the key themes and scenes for my main project, it seems appropriate to work with what I already know. Therefore, my editorial illustration will focus on one of these elements whilst taking into account the predominant style of the magazine.

More to come soon!!