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FA7034 - The Five Senses of Asperger Syndrome Animated Documentary (updated 26/7/16)

  • April Slocombe
  • Feb 7, 2016
  • 7 min read

The chosen title for my documentary is The Five Senses of Asperger Syndrome. I chose this title because it is straightforward and to the point.

I have chosen to use the five senses (sight, smell, hearing, touch and taste) and how my Asperger syndrome affects them as follows:

Sight: I don't like it when other people look at me when I'm talking to one person because I find it overwhelming. On the other hand I like the sight of underwater scenes, such as the one I created in my appliqué (below), because I find them very calming.

Smell: I cannot stand the smell of cigarette smoke because it is horrible, makes my clothes stink and makes me cough. In comparison I love the scent of lavender because I find it very relaxing and it helps me sleep at night.

Hearing: This is probably the most sensitive of my senses. It not only affects me but also my brother, who is autistic. I do not like it when people talk too loudly on their phones on the bus because I'd rather not listen to their conversations. On a more positive note I love the sound of music because it blocks out unwanted noise.

Touch: I dislike it when people touch me, especially if I don't know them, because it is unexpected. In contrast I adore the feeling of freshly washed bedsheets and clothing because they are lovely and soft.

Taste: I do not like the taste of very spicy food because it literally burns my mouth out. On the contrary I like other tastes such as cheddar cheese and garlic because I like a lot of strong flavour in my food.

Like with Looming Marvellous: Living with Asperger Syndrome, I will use a combination of rotoscoping and cut-out animation.

Additional ideas I have for my project are using red outlines in the rotoscoping for the shots that depeict the negative aspects of my senses such as my reaction to too many people talking at once and green outlines for how I positively respond to my senses such as eating a cheesy pizza. I also thought of visualising features such as sound and smoke in a similar manner to how sound and music are visualised in An Eyeful of Sound (Moore, 2009) and building a set design similar to that I helped architecture students out with for exterior scenes such as one in which I react to someone smoking.

Storyboards

These storyboards give me an idea of how I want the final animation to look.

Animatic

The animatic gives me an even better idea of how I want the final product to look because it combines my storyboard panels with music, narration and sound effects.

Production Still

This is the first production still of my film. It depicts me listening to music theough my headphones and smiling because it is blocing out the unwanted sounds represented by the starburst in the top right-hand corner. The dark blue zig-zag is separating me from the unwanted noise.

This is the second production still of my film. It depicts me holding my nose in response to the smoker beside me.

Below are the new versions of the full storyboards that include additional shots.

This is the final version of the above still. I traced over the background and the smoker to ensure they match the rotoscoped version of me.

One idea I have for a screening of this film is to provide the audience with objects such as cheesy garlic pizza to eat, cotton wool and soft fabric to feel and lavender room and linen spray to smell. One existing film that inspires me for this idea is Polyester (Waters, 1981) because viewers at original theatrical screenings of this film were given 'scratch 'n' sniff' cards that had smells such as pizza and leather furniture (IMDb, 2016). Whenever a number appeared on the screen the audience would scratch the corresponding number on the card (Gaiman and Newman, 1985: 193). This gimmick was known as Odorama (sic) (Night of the Trailers, 2008).

Below is the final version of my animatic. I am very pleased with it because I have changed the pictures from 4:3 to 16:9 and have added additional panels.

Another source of inspiration for my sensory screening is the Shrek 4-D attraction at the Universal Resorts in Hollywood, California and Orlando, Florida. At both attractions visitors wear special OgreVision 3D glasses and experience sensory features as they view the film such as "moving seats, water, wind" and "mist" (Universal Studios Hollywood, 2016). In the film Shrek and Princess Fiona encounter the ghost of Lord Farquaad whilst on their honeymoon (thus making it a short follow-up of the original Shrek). The film was released under the name of Shrek 3D on DVD alongside the original Shrek in 2004 (IMDb, 2016), broadcast on Nickelodeon under the title of Shrek's Never Before Seen Adventure (IMDb, 2016) and is available to view on Netflix under the name of The Ghost of Lord Farquaad (Roettgers, J., 2011).

A similar attraction called Stitch's Great Escape! is available at Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. In addition to animated segments it uses audio animatronics but like Shrek 4D it offers a "multi-sensory" experience for guests (Walt Disney World UK, c. 2016). Sensory features include Stitch squirting water from his mouth, bright flashing lights and the use of a smoke machine (Crazy About Disney, 2014). Although the attraction is suitable for people of ages there is a warning of loud noises and darkness (Walt Disney World UK, c. 2016) and I feel they are two factors that may cause discomfort in people with autism as well as the bright flashing lights.

The elements of both attractions that inspire me the most are the use of water from both attractions as well as the wind and the mist from Shrek 4-D because they closely link to lavender spray that I intend to use in my sensory screening.

One animated short where its visual style and use of audio influences me for my film is Frank Film (Mouris, 1973). It uses numerous shots of several images filling the screen and two narrations that are played simultaneously. These elements particularly inspire me for my own work such as using a shot of multiple versions of my father and my sister filling the screen to show that I find it difficult to look at them when I am speaking to my mum and another shot of several mobile films filling the screen to depict my dislike of people talking on their phones loudly in public. Also in this shot I could either increase the volume of a conversation or play two at the same time.

There are also several close-up shots in A Is For Autism (Webb, 1992) of people turning taps and light switches on and off, pressing piano keys and opening and closing doors to show that one trait of people with autism is performing repetitive actions. There are also close-ups of spinning records, underground train tunnels and spinning coins. The spinning coins and record are used to depict elements of autism activist Temple Grandin's childhood such as spinning a coin to block out noise and asking a question repeatedly because she found it pleasurable to hear the answer.

There are two elements from Heston's 70s Feast (2010) that particularly inspire me for my own project. They are the cut-out animation sequences that depict Heston Blumenthal riding on a Chopper bike, cutting open a sausage and mash mountain with a light sabre to show that children perceived the 1970s as "a technicolour wonderland of Fab ice lollies, Spangle chews, Angel Delight and Space Dust" in comparison to adults finding the era "a food world of beige drudgery" (Blumenthal, 2010); and Blumenthal portraying a mother leaving for work after having prepared Angel Delight and Smash instant mashed potato as well as a schoolboy eating them afterwards; and Blumenthal brushing the blades of the remote-controlled flying saucers with distilled essence that gives off the smell of a sweet shop.

This is my collage of the businessman on the bus. I have not given him a mouth in this version because I am thinking of animating his lip shapes in ToonBoom.

This is the tracing of the businessman collage. I traced over it to ensure it blends in with the rotoscoped environment of the animation more.

This is my work in progress collage of the elderly lady who accidentally touches me. Although her hairstyle and clothes differ from those in the storyboards, I am pleased with how she turned out and I am thinking of adding a trolley case to her.

This is the tracing over the elderly lady collage. Again I traced over it to make sure it fits in the rotoscoped environment more.

References

 
 
 

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