THE BOY WHO DRAWS CATS: 3D ANIMATION AS A MEDIUM FOR TELLING CULTURALLY-SPECIFIC GHOST STORIES A Thesis Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for The Degree Master of Fine Arts in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Shumeng Zhao Graduate Program in Design The Ohio State University 2016 Thesis Committee: Professor Maria Palazzi, Advisor Professor Mary Anne Beecher Associate Professor Susan Melsop Copyright by Shumeng Zhao © 2016 All rights reserved ABSTRACT People have always taken great interests in supernatural subjects. Animated films that subjected in ghost and supernatural themes has also increased in recent years. As an animation scholar, my interest is to study why the topic of ghosts has had such enduring charm over the centuries, and wish to make an animation subjected in Eastern ghost story that resonate with the Western viewers. The first part of this paper will examine the most important features that are needed to know about ghost stories in Eastern and Western culture, including the similarities and distinctions. The second part of this paper connects the theory and the project. Inspired by Lafcadio Hearn’s ghost story collection, The Boy Who Draws Cats presents the important substantive qualities and perspectives found in traditional Eastern ghost stories. The process of making the project includes concept development, story design and scene-by-scene design of The Boy Who Draws Cats. In this part, two important visual storytelling tools “backstory” and “mise-en-scene” has been analyzed to communicated characteristics in a culturally accessible way that makes it easy for Western viewers to understand and accept the alternative values that are commonly presented in an Eastern ghost story. ii AKNOWLEDGEMENT The completion of my research could not have been possible accomplished without the assistance of so many people. I would like to give my sincere thanks to my advisor Professor Maria Palazzi, for all the discussions and suggestions she gave me for my ideas and animation. I would like to thank Professor Mary Anne Beecher, who spent great time assisted me with my writing and theory study. Her great guidance helped me make significant improvement of my thesis. And I would also like to thank Associate Professor Susan Melsop who provided important insights for the topic I am studying. Many thanks to everyone at ACCAD and the Department of Design who helped me, and my parents who always support me. iii VITA 2009…..………………..…………………… Chaoyang Foreign Language School 2013…………..…………………………….. B.E. Industrial Design Beijing University of Technology Fall 2014………………..………………….. Graduate Teaching Associate Department of Design The Ohio State University Fall 2015…………………………………..... Graduate Teaching Associate Department of Design The Ohio State University Fields of Study Major Field: Design iv TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ............................................................................................................................. ii Acknowledgements ........................................................................................................... iii Vita .................................................................................................................................... iv List of Figures .................................................................................................................... vii Chapter 1. Introduction to my interests of ghost ............................................................ 1 Chapter 2. Understanding Ghost Stories ......................................................................... 7 2.1 Types of Ghost Characters in American Folktale............................................ 7 2.2 Definition of “ghost” in the Eastern countries............................................... 10 2.3 Types of Ghost Stories in China and Japan.................................................... 10 2.4 Comparison of Ghost Stories across cultures .................................................12 2.5 Conclusion ..................................................................................................... 23 Chapter 3. Designing the Story ...................................................................................... 27 3.1 Visual Storytelling Using “Backstory” and “Mise-en-sene”........................ 27 3.2 Identify a Story ............................................................................................. 32 3.3 Design and Evaluating an Original Plot ....................................................... 33 3.4 Selecting a Traditional Folktale ..................................................................... 34 Chapter 4. Designing the Animation ............................................................................. 39 4.1 The Initial Story Structure: 4 “Chapters” and Early Storyboards................. 39 4.2 New Approach Developing Visual Concepts ............................................... 44 4.3 Scene-by-scene Analysis .............................................................................. 47 4.4 The Animation Process ................................................................................. 58 v 4.5 The Role of Technology and Software ......................................................... 59 4.6 Integrating Sound to Support Emotional Qualities and Clarify Meanings..... 72 Chapter 5. Conclusion and Reflection ............................................................................ 75 5.1 Achievements................................................................................................. 75 5.2 Challenges and Weakness.............................................................................. 77 5.2 Future Improvements..................................................................................... 79 5.3 Conclusion ..................................................................................................... 81 Bibliography ...................................................................................................................... 83 vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Scene from Spirited Away (Miyazaki Hayao, 2003) uses mise-en-scene to create a feeling of danger............................................................................................... 29 Figure 2. Scene from Ohayo (Satoshi Kon, 2008) uses mise-en-scene to communicate multiple emotions ........................................................................................................... 30 Figure 3. Scene from Up (Pete Doctor, 2009) uses mise-en-scene to suggest characters’ personalities ................................................................................................................... 31 Figure 4. Preliminary storyboard 1 of “The Boy Who Draws Cats” showing the boy drawing his cat at home.................................................................................................. 40 Figure 5. Preliminary storyboard 2 of “The Boy Who Draws Cats” showing the boy’s experience with drawing with nature ............................................................................. 41 Figure 6. Preliminary storyboard 3 of “The Boy Who Draws Cats” showing experiment with representing the violent encounter ......................................................................... 42 Figure 7. Preliminary storyboard 4 of “The Boy Who Draws Cats” illustrating discovering and enlightenment ...................................................................................... 43 Figure 8. Scene development 1 of “The Boy Who Draws Cats”– The entrance of the village ............................................................................................................................ 48 Figure 9. Scene development 2 of “The Boy Who Draws Cats”– In the forest ............. 49 Figure 10. Scene development 3 of “The Boy Who Draws Cats”– In the temple lobby .............................................................................................................................. 51 Figure 11. Scene development 4 of “The Boy Who Draws Cats”– Spiritual drawing... 52 Figure 12. Scene development 5 of “The Boy Who Draws Cats”– The warning .......... 53 Figure 13. Scene development 6 of “The Boy Who Draws Cats”– Keep to small spaces ............................................................................................................................. 55 vii Figure 14. Scene development 7 of “The Boy Who Draws Cats”– The Fight ............... 56 Figure 15. Scene development 8 of “The Boy Who Draws Cats”– After the chaos ....... 57 Figure 16. Explorations with different art styles ............................................................ 59 Figure 17. Different approaches in building the scene using computer graphics ......... 60 Figure 18. Explorations of lighting qualities in Mental Ray .......................................... 61 Figure 19. The process if constructing the scene using Renderman .............................. 62 Figure 20. Finalizing the scene “The entrance of the village” ...................................... 62 Figure 21. Converting 2D sketches to the 3D layout of the scene “in the temple lobby” ............................................................................................................................ 63 Figure 22. Finalizing the scene “in the temple lobby” .................................................. 64 Figure 23. Initial character design of “The Boy Who Draws Cats” ............................. 65 Figure 24.