Tomi's Power Point Presentaion

Power Point Presentation: The Johnson Family Album

Idea:
For my second project, I decided to look at the transformation of a family, and in doing so, also show the transformation of a couple's relationship. I wanted to do this through portraits, because they could be incremental and easily show the changes over time.

Implementation:
Doing this project took a lot of time, I first thought the main think I would have to change in the photos would be the physical appearance of the characters as they grew older. However, I quickly realized that if I wanted to tell a story I would need to add facial expressions that gave tiny clues to how they were feeling at the different points in their lives. But that wasn't it. After, I finished drawing my storyboard, I realized that I could not simply draw the family with 2008 style clothing in each picture, because a society's style changes over years.

To figure out what their outfits should look like in the different pictures, I first mapped out all the ages of the members of the family in each picture. The final picture said that the parents were 54, and so I backtracked from 2008. If they are 54 in 2008, that meant that they were 20 in 1974. I started mapping out the clothes from that guide point.

Figuring out the clothes was the tough though, till I realized that I could google search "19-- family portrait." With those searches, I got a number of guides, and then drew form there.

I am pleased with the project though because it shows a couple different types of transformation.
1. Changes in the makeup of the family.
2. Changes in the relationships between the members of the family.
3. Changes in the physical appearance of the different family members over time.
4. Changes in style and dress in America over time.

Style:
This project also took a lot more time than I expected, because I wanted to switch up my drawing style. Although I would still use the computer, I wanted to stay way from drawing with the line tool or with shapes. I used the pen tool. However, the pen tool does not always make perfect lines, so I could not simply use the paint bucket to fill the lines in with color. What I had to do was create a different layer underneath the lines and color that layer.

Lesson Learned:
The great thing about this project though, is that it led me to realize that from now on, I can easily shade the drawings I make in flash by creating a new slightly transparent layer of color.