Visual Development and Beat Analysis

This week I have continued doing research for the short, this time focusing on color and visual development now that I have more of an understanding of the historical context. Most of my research focused on the cultural significance of various colors in Bangladesh. Because the meaning of certain colors changes from culture to culture, I think it's important to have an understanding of those differences and similarities in order to make the most accurate and meaningful color choices within the film.

While I found a couple of academic sources to accomplish this, I found them to be helpful in guiding me where to look for information (such as key words), but other than that they were too sterile and detached to be of much use. Instead, I looked for more personal accounts and opinion articles on the cultural significance of colors, and these were much more helpful (which makes sense, as it is coming from people who are a part of the culture, rather than people observing from the outside). Some of the most common colors in both clothing and cultural history are the colors of the Bangladesh flag, red and green, where red represents the sunrise and the blood of those who died protecting Bangladesh, and green represents the land.

I also began working on creating a draft of a color script for the film as part of visual development. I was having difficulty thinking through each part of the script and working out what potential colors would best convey the emotions of each beat. I did end up with some color palettes that could work well, but I decided I needed to do a beat analysis of the script before I could really work out how the emotions of the story impact color.

[ID Copied from Alt Text: A color palette with light brown, dark brown, maroon, dark green, and bright red. End ID]

[ID Copied from Alt Text: A color palette with bright yellow, dark green, dark yellow, dark brown, and blue. End ID]

With that, the other task I focused on this week was doing the beat analysis. As I've been acting for most of my life, I think that this is vital part of understanding how the characters and the story are interacting. I printed a physical copy of the script and marked up each page, drawing a line to note where one beat ends and another begins to map out the emotional transitions in the film, as well as noting the reason for each transition. Though stage acting is different from an animated film, the premise of beats stays the same. Every time a character enters or exits a room, when the situation changes, and when characters change tactics to accomplish their goal, there's a new beat. Understanding these transitions has helped me connect with what the characters are thinking and feeling through the events of the story, and will be a great resource for further developing the many aspects of the film, from the color script to the animation.