It was fascinating to see you resolving the right approach for the right audience, and I agree that hookworms are going to fascinate boys of a certain age - and personally, I think 10 upwards is fine, because I was that age once and I remember well enough how fascinated I was by anything horrible!
Personally, I think the Caligari references are a bit too 'art house' for your average boy. While I really like the drawing you've done with the hookworm travelling down the tunnel (I like how stylised it is: the concentric circles, the perfect roundness of the tunnel), again, it feels a bit too 'sophisticated' in terms of its reference.
I suspect your knowledge of 1950s 'B-Movies' isn't that deep, but I can't help thinking that this sub genre of horror cinema is more on message in terms of your target audience. I'm going to supply you with a bunch of visual reference and I hope you'll very quickly see what I mean!
That's probably enough now, but the thing about hookworms is that they have that element of horror about them, but these b-movie monsters were always a bit comedic too somehow - because they were a bit cheap and shoddy, so perhaps that comedic element can be used to 'lighten' the mood and reassure your audience too.
I know you made a sort of 'trailer' for your last project, but you can see here how the use of text can be used to explain what's going in in each stage of the cycle.
Anyway, I'd be interested in your thoughts in light of those youtube clips, but more generally, I think you should look at the lighting conventions of 'Film Noir' - film noir is a category of crime cinema influenced heavily by German expressionism (Caligari etc), characterised by low budgets and atmospheric lighting; looking at film noir will further help you get a stronger visual sense of your world - but hookworms are definitely something from a 50s movie and I think boys would really warm to the 'funny/horror' factor. You might also want to look at Tim Burton's Frankenweenie for further reference in terms of black and white homages to the creature features of yesteryear!
I loved the 50's movie trailers, that's exactly what I imagined the hookworm film to look like! Made me laugh so much :p I loved watching Frankenweenie as well, they are great inspirations, thanks!
OGR 06/03/2015
ReplyDeleteHi Mailin,
It was fascinating to see you resolving the right approach for the right audience, and I agree that hookworms are going to fascinate boys of a certain age - and personally, I think 10 upwards is fine, because I was that age once and I remember well enough how fascinated I was by anything horrible!
Personally, I think the Caligari references are a bit too 'art house' for your average boy. While I really like the drawing you've done with the hookworm travelling down the tunnel (I like how stylised it is: the concentric circles, the perfect roundness of the tunnel), again, it feels a bit too 'sophisticated' in terms of its reference.
I suspect your knowledge of 1950s 'B-Movies' isn't that deep, but I can't help thinking that this sub genre of horror cinema is more on message in terms of your target audience. I'm going to supply you with a bunch of visual reference and I hope you'll very quickly see what I mean!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTLRyLnqCH4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ek43qsMoiUw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTVWQ8dxPW0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdUsyXQ8Wrs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OK2siA30kyQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5xcVxkTZzM
That's probably enough now, but the thing about hookworms is that they have that element of horror about them, but these b-movie monsters were always a bit comedic too somehow - because they were a bit cheap and shoddy, so perhaps that comedic element can be used to 'lighten' the mood and reassure your audience too.
I know you made a sort of 'trailer' for your last project, but you can see here how the use of text can be used to explain what's going in in each stage of the cycle.
Anyway, I'd be interested in your thoughts in light of those youtube clips, but more generally, I think you should look at the lighting conventions of 'Film Noir' - film noir is a category of crime cinema influenced heavily by German expressionism (Caligari etc), characterised by low budgets and atmospheric lighting; looking at film noir will further help you get a stronger visual sense of your world - but hookworms are definitely something from a 50s movie and I think boys would really warm to the 'funny/horror' factor. You might also want to look at Tim Burton's Frankenweenie for further reference in terms of black and white homages to the creature features of yesteryear!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=29vIJQohUWE
I loved the 50's movie trailers, that's exactly what I imagined the hookworm film to look like! Made me laugh so much :p I loved watching Frankenweenie as well, they are great inspirations, thanks!
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