exploded comic + post-mortem
our exploded comic ::
(rui + lucia)
(maquette)
post-mortem ::
our intention was to tell a short-story inspired by the 'noir cinema' themes and plots by using materials opposite to this ind of cinema aesthetic. Lust and charm were replaced by disposable used plastic cups and metal wire.
initially we decide to keep the story shorten to its main characters and events in a very minimal way; old movies were recalled and we set a scenery of passion and crime and a triangular setting in the characters relations and interactions.
we started developing the plot with a character (the victim) still alive and started exploring its relationships with the other characters (the girl and the shady guy).
The characters were designed based (again) on their minimal traces as individuals (femme fatale = lipstick on the cup border and small pieces of parfum stones)instead of exploring their physical characteristics - as all characters were represented by the same kind of cups. The 'victim' character is left unchanged, by doing this we are questioning its protagonism in the story, though he is certainly needed for the story main events (the crime) it is not certain that he might be the point of interest in the narrative.
The structure of the story, its events and characters interactions is exposed in the wire-frame supporting and attaching all the objects(characters and events) in the piece - as in the narrative.
The suspicion mood in the narrative was explored through a triangle in the relationships:
boy, girl meets shady (in the back of the boy), boy meets girl, boy meets shady (in a circular placement and multiplying the events in order to create some confusion - center of the piece/sculpture).
As for the mystery elements, the note received by the boy afterwards, unsigned and with an incomplete
and interpretable message starts building up to his murder.
After the boy/victim's death both the girl and the shady surround his body but on opposite sides of it.
By doing this we tried to create and explore the final but most important doubt even more confusing and the 'reader' question all the assumptions made (who is happy and who is sad about the murder? was there a love relationship? between who and who? is the murderer present in the story?) - and the mystery goes on.
During the presentation we found to be crucial the characters 'make-up' as a clue to the narrative unwrapping. On the other hand we didn't give a strong direction for the piece to be read which might have difficult the task.
The use of metal wire was also questioned as it become to present and strong in the piece and also aesthetically disconnected to our approach. During our building process we found it technically very helpful, though not very eye pleasing too. Other construction approaches such as using fishing wire and have the story hang from the ceiling at a higher level would probably solve this and the reading direction (bottom - top).