The Proposal:
The Colours Of Grief
Content
Question/Title
Unspoken Whispers of Loss : How can colour psychology and the 5 stages of grief be utilised in an immersive projection animation project to create a visual and emotional journey that reflects the grieving process?
Summary
Grief is a natural part of life when experiencing or responding to loss, especially the death of a loved one, it is a journey that almost everyone would experience within their lifetime.
The feeling of loss visually demonstrated, throughout time, has enabled humans to cope and connect with one another through the fog of grieving.
This project will visualise an artistic and immersive experience of one of the many ways to view grieving. Audiences for this project will experience the animated coloured story live in person whilst it is projected around them in their environment, by using projection mapping software this story will come to life around them. This would be demonstrating different researched models, such as the stages of grief and the psychology of colour, allowing the audience to follow along through this perspective of grief.
Using the significance of common experiences of grief this project will be able to demonstrate my own portrayal of grief using colours to portray emotion, taking inspiration from other creatives such as Gris (Nomada Studio, 2018).
By immersing the audience in another person's viewpoint on sorrow and its associated features, I hope to help them make a link between their own emotions and experiences.As people experience loss in completely different ways this will involve common tropes within the aspect of losing someone you love and how it could affect a person.
The time frame for creating and producing this animated projected narrative would be around 3 months.
Aims
My project aims to redefine how audiences experience animation by using it to visualise the delicate complexities of grief. Through vibrant colours and evocative emotions, I want to challenge perceptions of grief and foster connection by showcasing the stories of sorrow, loss and coping.
Grief is a complex subject, and I want to make it accessible for anyone to watch but target more specifically a young adult audience or those who have experienced the trauma of grief. Colour psychology will play a key role in the core narrative and will make the style of the art impactful for all viewers. Following similar themes of hard hitting stories using the theme of colours such as ‘If Anything Happens I Love You’ (Netflix, 2020) or ‘Over the Moon’ (Netflix, 2020) which both cover the concept of tragedy and grief in completely different ways due to their audiences. Where first uses greyscale and dull colours to demonstrate intense loss whereas Over the Moon’s story relies on bright vibrancy despite the devastation that presents itself.
By utilising these features, it additionally illustrates that there is no timeline to how long or intensely someone would grieve. But as grief is rarely a simple process, colour alone would not adequately convey how people grieve. Therefore I need to have an impactful story that will enhance the colours of the story.
Immersing the audience through projection will convey animation in a relatively new way; manipulating the real world to be the canvas for my story. Familiar places become portals to a whole new experience allowing the story to unfold around the audience, instead of being confined to a screen. By setting the narrative in familiar surroundings, the audience is invited to actively engage with the narrative.
Grief is such an impactful part of life that for many changes their perception of the world they live in today, alongside this colour itself is also meaningful. Individual hues have as many personal meanings as there are people, however it is evident that there are cases in which physiological reactions and even colour associations are remarkably universal and human. ‘People are unquestionably affected by colour in subtle ways, whether it be in cognitive tasks or tests of skin conductance and heart rate’ (Daryl Talks Games, 2020).
Examining this and its relationship to bereavement is crucial because it lets people know they are not alone in their emotions and that colour can have a big influence on one's journey and mental health.I aim to test whether the stages of grief can be effectively represented by colour, and whether viewers can be drawn into a visually captivating narrative by employing proven coping mechanisms like art therapy and colour hue exposure to help them deal with the grief of loss.
Regarding my personal interest in the subjects, it also comes from my own experience with loss and art. Particularly during the previous five years as I worked through my own grief at the loss of multiple loved ones.
By pursuing this project will allow me to continue to develop my artistic skills of digital animation, particularly in projection mapping softwares. This product could then further, in the future, be developed as a projected video game or interactive piece where the audience could end up controlling the storyline or interacting with the character.
Background and Literature for Proposal:
Creating Immersion within Animated Stories
Animation has been used in a range of immersive products and can be used to enhance storylines. Creatives, like Grau (2003), suggest that immersion is prevalent in the creation of artworks and this includes animation. As animations are typically used in a range of different stories and media products it can be used in such a vast range of ways, however there it has barely touched the surface of its potential when it comes to projection immersions.
Due to projection being such a small area of the immersive areas of animation there are nor many forms of projection animation. Companies, for instance Frameless (2023), have made high quality animation pieces. However, there is very rarely a full scene for an audience to be fully engaged with.
So taking into consideration the technology and how digital art has undergone technology at unprecedented speeds in the past 20 years (Paul, 2015) animation could become more prevalent within the projection industry. So, therefore it would be vital to understand more of how projection could develop the immersion of animation in a new or fascinating way.
Grief and the stages within experiencing loss
Most people will experience grief at some point in their lives; death is an inevitable part of life. This brought about the most known grief model to this date which happens to be the Kübler-Ross Model (2005), more well known as the 5 stages of grief.
These stages being: Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression, and Acceptance.While dealing with loss is never easy or straightforward, this model helps to explain some of the steps that are involved in mourning. We learn to cope and realise that "We will never like this reality or make it okay, but eventually we accept it," (Kübler-Ross, 2005) even though the majority of individuals never truly get over the loss of a loved one.
Other academics have added to and developed models based on the five stages, further supporting the premise of this theory. There is no one correct way to grieve because grieving is so deeply complex, but having a model for it can help people understand themselves better.
One of the main criticisms of the original model is that it tries to determine that there is a correct way of grieving, that grief has to be linear and almost tied into a neat line. Nevertheless, mourning is not a linear process, some people may go through the stages more than once in their lifetime or in a different order. Another important criticism of the model arises when it is viewed as prescriptive rather than descriptive, indicating that a patient must move through each stage to reach the final goal of "acceptance." (Tyrrell et al., 2023)
It is difficult to put into words or reduce the reasoning and feelings that accompany loss to a linear process. On the other hand, there are certain typical experiences that people share with mourning and they often fall into the one or more of the 5 stages within Kübler-Ross and Kessler (2005) model on grief and grieving. One of the significant critiques of the model is that it is perceived as prescriptive instead of descriptive, suggesting that a patient must progress through each phase in order to arrive at the ultimate objective of "acceptance." (Tyrrell et al., 2023).
Despite this Kübler-Ross suggests that these are just the major steps of grieving and that there are often smaller emotions that go into the different stages. That sometimes some stages can feel endless, ‘It felt even more endless than before and, once again, I had to deal with this old familiar guest. I learned the only way around this storm was through it.’ (Kübler-Ross and Kessler, 2005) This metaphor describes grief as a friend, a guest, something familiar feeling. Even though acceptance is the final stage there is no suggestion from the model that people reach acceptance easily or within a linear fashion.
Storytelling using Grief, Psychology and Animation
Narrative techniques frequently expose us to death and bereavement. These new experiences provide novel empathetic experiences of loss to viewers of artworks (Kühn-Botma, 2020). Showing animation is capable of invoking deep emotions within audiences due to these stories. Nevertheless animation, notably older animation from the 1980s, was able to subtly or gradually expose various forms of grief through animated scenes, with one of the first steps frequently being to let the audience, often children, to "gather a basic understanding of death." (Graham, Yuhas and Roman, 2018).
Understanding the various ways that popular animations depict grief for their viewers can be gained by researching the history of grief in animation. As ‘Death is a painful but unavoidable part of life.’ (Graham, Yuhas and Roman (2018) knowing the different portrayals of grief through childhood Disney style films to more heavier versions of grief’s process such as Your Lie in April (Naoshi Arakawa et al., 2016).
The various phases of mourning were utilised by other animations to construct these aspects, matching each emotion to one of the five stages through devastating scenarios. Some made ‘this feeling of isolation is further enhanced by the atmosphere of the game, as the plain white background, the poorly drawn lines of the ground, and the lack of music communicate a feeling of seclusion’ (Vasilikaris, 2022). Having grief be a prominent theme within some animation but so is using colour to portray it, this is done in a range of ways from using dull colours or vibrant hues to represent emotions such as joy to heartbreaking sorrow.
Art Therapy and Colour Affecting Our Moods
Colour subjectively is often associated with different meanings, often personal or linked to memories, however colour associations and physiological responses can be deeply universally human, especially with their meanings.Colour is also highly relevant in human visual perception. Colours can affect a person's visual attention (Green and Anderson, 1956) and, furthermore, colours can affect how a given stimulus is perceived. (Martini, Perez-Marcos and Sanchez-Vives, 2013).
Art has been used to help the grieving process in many cases, especially as psychologists have found that colour exposure can have a major effect on one's mood.
‘Colour can also affect an individual’s emotional and physiological state.’ (AL-Ayash et al., 2015). These theorists have also conducted studies to show that colour also affects your emotions and the way your brain reacts, such as red increasing your blood pressure making your blood boil or blue giving an overwhelming sense of calm. (Csurka et al., 2010)
Colour can influence a person both subtly and emotionally by exposure to various colours over time, as indicated by colour research on ways colour can alter human mood and mind in psychology and through associative meanings. This illustrates in part why techniques like art therapy are so effective in attempting to start the healing process for someone who has experienced trauma or loss. Additionally, colour analysis has revealed that colour can have an impact on ‘human physiology, such as heart-rate, blood pressure, body temperature and vision.’ (AL-Ayash et al., 2015) Thus demonstrating that different colours and hue exposure can also have an affect on one's body as well as their minds (Metz et al., 2017).
Other real world forms of effectiveness have also been demonstrated by colour psychology, the study of how colour influences the human mind for instance, how lighting influences a person's mental state; for example, blue frequently has a calming effect on people. Turning street lights blue at night was one way to test this effect, which decreased the percentage of crime and suicide rates in this studies particular location and led to a mood that lessens one's desire for violence (Mikkelson, 2015).
Goals and Objectives
DESCRIPTION | BENEFITS |
To create an animation using animation software such as Blender or Procreate Dreams that immerses an audience into an emotional story. | To be able to demonstrate improved skills in creating animated pieces that can engage an audience. |
To develop my skills in projection mapping softwares to portray a story into a real world environment that will immerse an audience. | Advancing my skills in immersive softwares that I previously had limited practice in to create a moving story about the grieving process. |
To evoke emotions through using art, colour psychology and the stages of grief to affect an audience on an emotional level. | Enables the audience to experience as well as puts into practice the different researched colour theories. |
Scope of Work
Undertaking this consists of creating a bunch of hand-drawn animations, showing each major stage of grief using specific colours, provoking different emotions within the audience and allowing them to connect to the characters emotions through empathy. This will then be projected into the real world space using a laptop and projector.
To create this project I'll be using Procreate Dreams and Madmapper. I am using these two specific software’s as I have the most experience with these two compared software's compared to the other software's available that would get the same or similar results. There are some software that may be more efficient in creating this piece, such as Blender, as I am most familiar with these two software’s it will take me less time than using other softwares that I have not practised within, but will allow me to develop transferable skills and learn more in-depth about these particular softwares.
This 2D Hand-drawn digital animation, in a painted style and then projected. This particular approach was chosen to develop my skills further in animation and projection. I will then use a few projectors to make the scenes be in our live environment and transition the movements from each scene or of character movement from each wall using mirrors connecting to the projectors. The project will need: a projector, speaker, a mirror connected to the projector (for transitions and movement), a laptop, Ipad/ Drawing Tablet and a Canvas.
The audio will be ambience and go with the overall atmosphere of each section of animation pulling it all together. The audio will also be created through AI softwares or with the use of copyright free audio, this is due to the fact I do not have the skill set to create music myself.
The end product will be reliant on the set up of the setting for the live event which will consist of: an empty room with three walls surrounding the canvas in the centre, the room will be one given through the university whether on campus or in a showcase location.
Risks
Main Risks | Mitigation |
Time-frame: Due to hand drawn animation being time-consuming the time-frame could become a major issue. | To solve this risk I would start off by coming up with a strict week by week, month by month plan of what needs to be completed within each time section and then I will beta test to see how long a scene from the storyboard I create would take me to do a sketch up animation. If it ends up taking up too much time that I would not complete it to an effective standard I would then fall back to my contingency plan that will fall along the concept theme and story but would still hold the same idea of projection mapping art but I would end up creating several 3D and 2D pieces that would be projection |
Software: There is a chance of failure to the software or it malfunctioning on my devices. | I will use tested stable versions of the softwares. Possibly put off software updates until the project is complete. Most softwares that I plan on using such as Procreate Dreams are constantly updating and fixing bugs, which can help to fix malfunctions. I am capable of using similar assets such as Adobe Animate. Giving me more options if the original software I use runs into problems. I have also tested the relevant softwares that I will use during this project. |
Hardware: There is a small chance that I could experience a potential failure or damage. There is also a chance of: Theft or loss. | I have backup devices available in case something goes wrong with my laptop, projector or iPad. Along with this I will create back-up save files through both one drive and on external hard-drives so there is little risk of loss of progression or work. |
Location: last minute change of location or potential risks that could be faced within the location itself. | As my project is heavily reliant on a particular location and space, I would first have a planned location and a potential backup location that would work for my project so that I have options. I would also do a risk assessment of the locations. |
Outside of Project Commitments/ Potential Emergencies | I have made my schedule be able to be shifted to accommodate potential commitments, I have done this by making 2 weeks available for lightwork, which will allow me to be able to shift my schedule around if I find that I have to commit to something outside of the project or if any emergencies. |
Timetable/Milestones
This is my month by month version of my timetable:
MILESTONE | START DATE | END DATE | OUTCOME |
Planning: The script, storyboard, audio and research | 26th April 2024 | 14th May | To produce the storyline into a full script and with a storyboard for each major scene. |
Script/ Sketch animation (testing out two stages) | 15th May | 31st May | Using two of the storyboards plot out the keyframes and sketch animation for two of the stages and the transitions between the two. |
Beta testing: Projection mapping the two stages sketch animation into environment | 1st June | 1st June | Testing projection animation and transitions between two scenes, experiment with layering the scenes and stages through movement and projections. |
Script/ Sketch animation | 15th May (continuation from the previous sketch test) | 15th June | Using the developed story, start planning out the characters movements and then the first layer to the animation to plot out movements and keyframes and then move forward to a more detailed sketch of the different scenes. |
Beta testing: Projection mapping sketch animation into environment | 16th June | 16th June | Test out projecting the whole 5 stages, transitions and movements. |
Rendering and refining the animationing into a stylised piece. | 17th June | 31st July | Defining the sketch into full stylised animation with colour as its main focus point. |
Testing the projections | 1st August | 9th August | Final test of the layout and transitions of the projection. |
Final touches and modifications | 10th August | 22nd August | Adjusting small details that will pull the whole project together. |
Present, set up and film the final outcome | 23rd August | 26th August | Set Up, Submit and Showcase the Final Product. |
Budget
Potential Investments Requirements | Cost | Supplier of Product/ Additional Information |
Procreate Dreams / animation software | £20 - £30 | Currently Own |
MadMapper Full 2 Month description | £80 | Full for showcase but could use the demo for the testing stages, or receive the full description through the university. |
Immersive software such as: Blender, Touchdesigner or Unity | £0 | Free Softwares |
Ipad / Drawing Tablet | £400 | Currently own |
Projector & Laptop | £1500? | Can rent through the university |
Location/ Space to present the final product | £1500? | This would be done through the university spaces or rented by the university. |
Audio Assets | £50 | Can look into copyright free audio or AI music. |
Large Canvas’ or Moveable Walls (3) | £150 | I could rent these from the university art department. |
Total: | £3,710 |
Evaluation
The project throughout will be continuously assessed in relation to its core objectives, functionality, technology and animation. To do this, repeated testing will be required throughout the production process. This will be done to see any issues, complications or changes that will need to be made throughout the process. To make sure that personal bias doesn't affect the results, peer feedback will also be utilised.
Developing prototypes will be subjected to beta testing, this will be done by gaining input from viewers to witness testing to gain outsider input and then see what needs fixing, what they believe needs adjusting and taking into consideration their suggestions. This will be used to analyse the outcome of using colour and how it would affect the audience. Constant reflections throughout the project will allow me to consistently be on top of improvements that need to be made and fixing any issues.
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