Introduction:
My historical topic I have chosen, is the life and legacy of 'John Kent'. Kent was known for being the first black policeman to ever join the British police force. During his time as a police officer; he faced racial prejudice and was crudley nicknamed "Black Kent", due to his different skin colour compared to a large majority of white officers.
To convey the life and legacy of Kent,I have decided to tackle a short animated feature lasting no longer than one minute. This will be a brief narrative retelling of his story from when his father was a slave, until his death and future descendants carried his bloodline onward as farmers.
Ideas:
Sketch Studies:
Initial Sketches/Concept Art:
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Character Designs:
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Colour Theory/Palette:
Animation Narrative/Storyline:
Sound Effects:
Background Music:
Art Style Experimentation/Techniques:
- Monochromatic Colour/Pan Tones.
- dry brushed, painterly effect. Heavily inspired from the art nouveau movement and blossoming of the silent film near the end of that era.
- dry brushed, painterly effect. Heavily inspired from the art nouveau movement and blossoming of the silent film near the end of that era.
- Audio will be slightly bit-crushed (vintage quality), including narration that matches the old-timey speaking English accent at the time.
- This will also be accompanied by the song 'Meaning (Choral Version)' which sounds closely reminiscent of the 1800s classic music genre; including that of Beethoven, Chopin, Bach, etc.I will provide full credit to them in the credits afterwards. The reason I chose this song, is because the lyrics reflect the meaning of Kent's life in the modern day, and how he triumphed against the racism of the day, and inspires black officers in todays culture and society.
- Old, flickering effect editing finish. This is to further push and simulate the very early attempts at film, which I thought would translate well to 2D animation.
- This will also be accompanied by the song 'Meaning (Choral Version)' which sounds closely reminiscent of the 1800s classic music genre; including that of Beethoven, Chopin, Bach, etc.I will provide full credit to them in the credits afterwards. The reason I chose this song, is because the lyrics reflect the meaning of Kent's life in the modern day, and how he triumphed against the racism of the day, and inspires black officers in todays culture and society.
- Old, flickering effect editing finish. This is to further push and simulate the very early attempts at film, which I thought would translate well to 2D animation.
Art Style Inspiration:
- Art Nouveau (Art Movement)
- Black & White Photograph/Monochrome
- Sepia/stained photograph
Development:
Script/Plot:
When developing the plot/narrative for the animation, I wanted to stay as close to historical recordings as I possibly could. The theme of this animation was to depict an underdog facing all of the odds stacked against them, and with John being scrutinised for his skin colour, I felt like developing that kind of story was almost certainly straight-forward to adapt into an animated feature.
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Story beats:
- John Kent's Origin (Family, Birth, growing up, etc.) - John's struggle and perseverance (Facing prejudice, hatred, how he overcomes it, joining the police force, and serving justice) - John's equilibrium (makes his biggest arrest yet and proves himself, becomes drunk on the job and let go from the force, settles with odd jobs, etc.) - The Resolve (John dies, but his memory lives on today, his family discover him, racism is challenged more, contrast from John's time to our time). |
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Storyboard:
Final Outcomes/Results:
Animation Details:
- Software Used
- framerate
- brushes used
- Colour Palette
- Software Used
- framerate
- brushes used
- Colour Palette
Environment Designs
Research:
The Victorian Age -
Timeline of John Kent's life -
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When researching various outlets for information on Kent's life, I found that he began at the time of slavery's abolition, and lived a life that allowed him to grow up and learn to stand up for what he believed in, hence his eventual employment in the police force. Upon finding these outlets, I created a basic timeline above that recorded his lifespan that fit just within the 19th century, just before the turn of the millennium.
His life overall was a very important time capsule for us in the modern day, as at the time, he was mistreated despite how ahead of his time he was for social rights and being a solid role model of morality.
His life overall was a very important time capsule for us in the modern day, as at the time, he was mistreated despite how ahead of his time he was for social rights and being a solid role model of morality.
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Time period: (mid - late 1880s) -
Firstly, I found it very important to refresh my memory of what I have seen and learned before about the victorian age, since this was a time period that is long gone to us and can only be seen through history. It was the archaic beginnings of technology and old fashioned mindsets, coming off the tail-end of the slave trade and the end of King William IV's reign.
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People (Civilians, Police, Animals, etc.):
In this point in time, the people who lived in the United Kingdom; specifically Cumbria, were mostly living in disparity and poverty, with very little of the townsfolk having access to clean clothing, water, and general quality of life we have now.
During this time, animals roamed the streets daily, disease like cholera would spread, and street violence was at an all time high. This enforced the police to intervene more closely. |
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Environments (City Locations, Events, & Daily Life):
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John's Resting Place
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John's resting place is located in the Carlisle city cemetery.
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Inside Out Episode -
The Documentary on 'John Kent' by Lenny Henry (BBC One's Inside Out):
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An episode on the BBC documentary series called 'Inside Out' was developed on John Kent.
This episode delved into his early life, and was informative on where his family is today in contrast to the victorian era. Another key point to this episode was how Lenny Henry found a lot to admire in Kent's will to serve justice in a world that would mock and even hate him due to his skin colour. |
Artstyle/Animation Style:
The idea for the art style I had in mind, was to replicate the painterly, and intense nature of the victorian age that Kent lived through. It was a grizzly environment that was plagued with violence, disease, poverty, and narrow-minded thinking towards racial minorities in a largely white environment.
Procreate Dreams:
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My softwares of choice, was the popular Apple software: Procreate, and Procreate Dreams. As well as further refinement from Clip Studio Paint for backgrounds, key-framing, and colour correction.
With the help of procreate's brush library, and in great timing too; as the brush library had been updated to feature brand new, hard brush stroked textures that I found very helpful with this task. |
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Clip Studio Paint/Photoshop:
The animation features a framerate of 15 frames per second, which is commonly found in heavily story-based animated media. Examples of these are Japanese anime, action cartoons/films, and independently made animation online. The last one being where most of my experience and background in teaching myself animation comes from.
Wondershare Filmora:
Reference Photos for animation
Audio:
Music:
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Sound Effects/Foley:
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Sound Effects Used:
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Sources:
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