An Ending (for now at least)

The time has come to bid a woeful farewell to the poor Captain Mo. But his story is only just beginning.

Legends tell of seven dastardly beasts of the ocean depths that clawed Mo's galleon to watery ruin. Each foe more terrifying than the last, the list of seven was rumoured to be:

1. The steam driven mechanical sea demon; Cranky
2. The fearsome cannibal sea-monkey (the last of his kind - he dined upon the rest. Now he's hungry.)
3. The forlorn penguin-squid
4. The lantern fish
5. Phantom Parrot
6. The hat-wearing urchin
7. The oarfish of doom

Will Captain Mo's relentless determination ever lead him to new seas? Our thoughts are with you Mo.

Reflections

In the Masters Proposal for this project, I stated that I wanted to create an outcome combining a "juxtaposition of old techniques and new technologies, cross-discipline design and whimsical storytelling." (Holwill, C., 14-04-2010) I believe I have managed to accomplish this in the film I have produced.

I enjoyed creating a film inspired by textiles and drawings with a playful narrative, and subsequently producing merchandise and textiles inspired by this film. I used old techniques, such as drawings and screen printing, combined with modern technologies such as laser cutting and computer-aided design. I also mixed disciplines, by introducing footage of textiles and scans of screen prints into an animated environment using Adobe After Effects, and then extracted images from this animation and applied them to t-shirts and stationery. I believe this is an innovative approach to the potential applications that these disciplines can offer.

This project has the potential for future development. Originally I had hoped to experiment with a wider variety of techniques which would exploit the capabilities of textiles and introduce them into an animated environment. My project became more focused, and I decided to restrict my research to only one method - creating and compositing moving imagery using Adobe After Effects. This enabled me to gain "a more comprehensive mastery" in my selected technique. (Holwill, C., 14-04-2010) Adobe After Effects allowed me to build upon my existing experience in Photoshop, and create a 'collage' of imagery and real footage, which could be animated and manipulated, thus creating the desired aesthetic. This layering of drawings, printed textiles, laser cutting scans and footage of real fabric moving and rippling related directly to the juxtaposition of techniques and ideas that I had intended to produce from the outset. Although the final film was produced using a computer-based programme, the layering effect had similarities to screen printing and collage. Layers were built up, added to and embellished, creating the final film.

As stated in my Masters Proposal, the areas of innovation I hoped to explore in my project were:

· Combining traditional techniques with modern technology
· Combining animation and textile disciplines." (Holwill, C., 14-04-2010)

On reflection, I believe both of these aims have been achieved.

The merchandise range of t-shirts and stationery I designed is an effective continuation of the narrative, expressing it in a new and perhaps more commercial context.

For future work, I would continue telling Captain Mo's story, and the additional fearsome foes he encounters. Each of these monsters would be expressed in a new technique or aesthetic. I would also continue to develop my range of merchandise.

Captain Mo's Memorabilia

Merchandise is progressing nicely, with one more t-shirt in the collection:

T-shirt Front

I would also like to make a ship necklace which will swing down across the waves, creating Captain Mo's bumpy voyage.

T-shirt back

The Mini-cards and postcards from Moo also arrived this week:

Mini-cards

Postcards

I have started making badges with the same images, and ordered some exciting paper from Crafty Computer Paper. All of their paper is printer-friendly, so I ordered double-sided cotton, shrink paper, repositional sticker fabric and magnetic paper. I can use all of these sheets in my inkjet printer.

The shrink-wrap paper turns into a hard, plastic-like object after it has been put into the oven. The images printed onto the paper must be cut out and placed on a baking tray, and left in the oven for 2minutes. After this time, the tray is removed and the images will have shrunk to approximately half of their original size, and hardened into a thicker, more durable state. I have experimented with this and think they will make effective brooches, pendants and zipper pulls.

I have printed my images onto the double-sided cotton to sew up into purses, and have yet to try the magnetic paper. For the repositional fabric stickers, I would like to print a seascape of various waves and a ship, lure and monster. These can then be played with and rearranged to tell the story of Captain Mo.

The merchandise I am creating is intended to present a selection of ideas for playful items which continue to tell the tale illustrated in the animated film. Although my competitors such as Disney and Pixar are able to use only a silhouette of a character to create a recognisable image, my film merchandise is still in its infancy and plays a different role. My t-shirts are more crafted and expressive than the placement of a single character in the centre. A better comparison would be to relate my merchandise to that of The Moomins, as shown earlier in the blog. ("Captain Mo Likes..." posted on Wednesday 30th June 2010.) These bags are more playful and illustrative, and capture the inventive, wholesome character I hope to achieve in my own work. My t-shirts aim to be an extension of the animated film, but at the same time aim to raise awareness about it and provoke a curious interest into the origin of the images.

The Final Film... With Sound

At last... the film is complete with sound!! Proudly presenting the epic of Captain Mo:

The soundtrack is a combination of my own recordings from around the university, and some drones and environment tracks from the Edinburgh College of Art sound library.

My own sound effects were mostly recorded from around the print studio - screens being loaded into the drying ovens, paint rollers, thumping squeegees on the tables, and the legendary creaking door into the print room (this provided the sound for Cranky reeling in defeat.) These sounds were manipulated using Audacity. This was a programme I had no prior experience with, but I was able to learn the basics quickly and use it for the required effects.

The tracks taken from the ECA sound effects library were as follows:

"Desolation" from Drama Moods And Drones.

"Drama Drone 9" from Drama Moods And Drones.

"Evil Influence" from Drama Moods & Atmospheres.

"Out Of Our Hands 2" from Drama Moods & Atmospheres.

"Red Dragon" from Surreal Percussion.

"Blast Furnace 1" from Environments.

"Landmass" from Dark Drones.

"A Strange Place" from Dark Drones.

"Anguish" from Dark Drones.

"Machine Room" from Drones.

These tracks were adjusted to suit the film and my own sound effects were built on top. The soundtrack was assembled using Garage Band. Ideally, I would have recorded the whole soundtrack myself, but after considering the time limitations this was an excellent alternative.

Captain Mo's Very Own Book

'The Underworld Likes Captain Mo' book is now available on Blurb!

The Underworld Likes Captain Mo by Chloë Holwill | Make Your Own Book

T-shirts by Mo, Episode 2

Another two t-shirt designs were created today. I'm really enjoying the process of building up the layers in a similar way to building the film in Adobe After Effects. Areas are masked off so I can apply new layers, such as the waves being masked so I can print Cranky over the top. It's interesting to notice the similarities between the two disciplines.

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First, the waves are printed in dark blue.

These waves are then masked off and Cranky's silhouette is printed on top.

Cranky's details are printed on top of the silhouette, while the waves are still masked.

The mask is removed, revealing Cranky bobbing on the seascape. An adhesive layer of waves is the printed, ready for the copper foil to be applied.

The second design was much simpler, with the wave pattern printed in black followed by the adhesive for the copper foil.

Original printed fabrics were used as base textures for the animated film, such as Cranky's surface layer, and the imagery in the film is now being printed onto fabrics. These t-shirts are another example of cross-discipline design within my project

T-shirts by Mo

Today I started printing some t-shirts using imagery from the film. I kept the same colour palette, and decided to try some foil effects to give a Steampunk inspired twist.

This is the t-shirt after the first print. I applied two colours using the same silk screen.

Next, I applied a black pigment to the waves at the bottom, and then printed the whole outline of the design with an adhesive for foil.

I finally ironed on some gold foil. I wanted to make the image look distressed and weatherworn, so I only used foil over some of the design and kept it very faint elsewhere.

This is the second t-shirt design, featuring Cranky lurking at the bottom of the sea.

While I was making the t-shirts, I took some photographs of my screens being washed and the colours left on the table after printing. Some beautiful textures again!