Week 2: Draft Proposal Extended

I have revised and improved my draft proposal to convey properly what I wish to achieve throughout my project and essay:

Proposal

I am wanting to explore character design with mental illness taken into consideration, as this has become more frequent in modern character design.

I will explore older character designs from the 1930's - 1950's, such as Mickey Mouse, Betty Boop and early Looney Tunes, to modern characters from shows like Steven Universe, Adventure Time and Bojack Horseman.

I will also be looking into live-action films and television shows that focus on mental health and take note on how it is portrayed, using the information that I gather to better my own designs and learn how the characters gain sympathy, animosity or adoration through simple design choices.  

As appeal is one of the twelve principles of animation, I want to explore how this translate theoretically to character design as well. I will be reading on how to make informed decisions throughout designing the characters, whether they are the protagonists, antagonists or the comic relief and how you can push these defined archetypes to create more complex and even more appealing characters.  

Research into particular mental disorders will be imperative to this project, on disorders those that I am familiar with and ones that require further study; symptoms, reactions, dangers and recovery that is involved with each particular illness. 

I want to focus on three particular mental disorders; one that is particularly common, one that I know a lot about and one that I am not that familiar with.

I will also conduct interviews with professionals, people who suffer from the disorders, people’s own opinions on mental health and drawing from my own experiences with mental health.

Colour and shape theory will play a huge part in the project, as both will determine how the characters are portrayed by the audience. I will experiment with different colour schemes and design the characters with certain shapes in mind to visually communicate what the character represents.

My practical work will be one or a series of character designs that have been thoroughly thought out, taking in colour and shape theory also getting feedback from outside source to make sure I am clearly conveying the right message across.

From my first and second hand research, I will determine what attributes to focus on for each mental illness to make the distinctive from each other. I will gather my peer’s opinions of each stage of the design process and take on the constructive criticism to improve my designs where necessary.

I will be creating characters with backstories, which means I will have to think how this would affect their personality, their relationships and their outlook on the world. Creating in-depth character sheets will aid me in creating competent decisions on the characters’ physical appearance.

I was also thinking of showing the journey of a character going through mental illness; before, initial stage, during, recovering and recovered. Exploring different ways of showing the internal struggle physically.

Case Study: El Camino A Breaking Bad Film

El Camino is the tale of Jesse Pinkman after he is freed by his former partner in crime Walter White from a white supremacy gang, who had imprisoned him to cook White's signature crystal meth.

The film shows Pinkman dealing with the trauma that he went through as he is evading the law. Showing clear signs of PTSD and even Stockholm Syndrome without really addressing it directly. 

Aaron Paul, the actor portraying Jesse, shows exactly how he is feeling through the intense acting; from his initial escape and the overwhelming joy he feels, to panic from his extreme flashbacks remembering his time with his captors, to the dark, brooding and controlled way he fights for to escape from the law, to finally coming to peace as he is finally free from his torment and the people that caused it.

  

Even down to the way he dresses, you can see that he has gone through an immense change in character; from when he was a young, naive and, in some ways, stupid drug dealer to a hardened, wisen and experienced individual shows through the colour and textures of the clothing he wears in the respective scenes. 

Week 2; Research into Mental Illness

In order to create concise characters with mental illness, I had to do research into the particular disorders that I had chosen:


1. Anxiety Disorders can be an ongoing and impact the ability to live your life as you want to.

.General Anxiety disorder: The most common type of anxiety disorder;

Symptoms

• Over worrying 
• Feeling out of control
• Feeling on edge
• Alert to your surroundings
• Muscles tension and sweating

GAD can be diagnosed alongside depression or other anxiety disorders.

Cause of Anxiety 

• Genetics 
• Life Experience; this could be bad experiences such as being bullied or losing a loved one.
• Drugs: Caffeine and alcohol
• Circumstances

Treatment for anxiety

Self Help

• Meditation
• Eating healthy regularly 
• Exercise
• Have a daily routine
• More sleep
• Keep a mood diary

2. BPD: Borderline Personality Disorder:

BPD is an illness that affects the way you think and feel about yourself, as well as your emotions and relationships with other people. Sometimes called emotionally unstable personality disorder (EUPD)

• BPD means that you feel strong emotions which can be difficult to cope with. You may feel angry or upset very often.
• Around 1 in 100 people have BPD.
• Having BPD can make it more likely that you will self-harm or act impulsively

Symptoms

Experiences of living with borderline personality disorder are unique to each person. You only need to experience 5 of the following to be diagnosed with BPD.

• Extreme reaction to feeling abandoned.
• Unstable relationships.
• Confused feelings about who you are.
• Being impulsive in a dangerous way.
• Self-harm, suicidal thoughts and behaviours.
• Feelings of emptiness or feelings of abandoned.
• Difficulty controlling emotions and anger.
• Overwhelming mood swings.
• Paranoid thoughts when your stressed.

Red highlighted symptoms are my own symptoms

BPD can be difficult to diagnose because the symptoms are similar to depression, psychosis and bipolar disorder.

BPD can also be diagnosed alongside depression and different anxiety disorders. 

Types of BPD

Borderline type: Difficulties with relationships, self-harming and feelings of emptiness.

Impulsive type: Difficulties with impulsive behaviour and feelings of anger.

Causes of BPD

• A traumatic childhood, such as neglect, abandonment or abuse.
• Genetics; However there is no clear evidence that there is a gene that causes BPD.

Treatment for BPD

Talking therapies: The most common treatment of borderline personality disorder is talking therapy.

• Dialectical behavioural therapy (DBT): helps you build skills with distress other than harmful.
• Cognitive analytical therapy (CAT): helps you understand problems you have in relationships, and change patterns of helpful behaviour.
• Mentalisation-based therapy (MBT): help you make assumptions about what other people think or feel.
• Medication: there is no medication for BPD.

3.Psychosis

If you are experiencing psychosis, you might see or hear or believe things that others may not. You may believe your experiences are real.

• Psychosis is a medical term used to describe seeing, hearing or believing things that others do not.
• Common symptoms of psychosis are hearing voices and believing others are trying to harm you.
• There is no one single cause of psychosis, but genes and your environment can play a part.
• It can be a symptom of mental illnesses such as bipolar disorder or schizophrenia.

Symptoms

• Hearing voices.
• Seeing things with other people do not see.
• Feeling someone touching you who is not there.
• Smelling things which other people cannot.

Delusions

• You are being followed by secret agents or members of the public.
• People are out to get you or trying to kill you.
• Something has been planted in your brain to monitor your thoughts.
• You have special powers, are on a special mission or in some cases that you are a God.

Cognitive Experiences

• Being unable to concentrate.
• Memory problems.
• Unable to take on information.
• Poor decision making.

Diagnosis

Anyone can develop psychosis, men and women are equally affected.

Causes of Psychosis

• Genetics
• Chemicals: Dopamine increase can cause hallucinations, delusions and disorganised thinking.
• Childhood Trauma
• Drugs
• Stress

Treatment 

Medication

• Olanzapine
• Repiridone
• Clazapine

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT).

Year 3 - Draft Proposal

After the initial presentation, I was made aware that I had a clear idea on what I wanted to do my practical work on, character designs that are affected by certain mental health issues and using particular shapes and colours to enhance their design, but I wasn't to sure how to write this into 5000 word essay. 

After writing a draft of my proposal, I do have a clearer idea on how I want to approach the subject matter, however I need to be able to organise my thoughts better on paper.


Initial Draft Proposal:

I am wanting to explore character design with mental illness taken into consideration, as this has become more frequent in modern character design.

My practical work will be one or a series of character designs that have been thoroughly thought out, taking in colour and shape theory also getting feedback from outside source to make sure I am clearly conveying the right message across.

I will explore how very early character designs, such as Mickey Mouse, Betty Boop and early Looney Tunes, to modern characters from shows like Steven Universe, Adventure Time and Bojack Horseman.

As appeal is one of the twelve principles of animation, I want to explore how this translate theoretically to character design as well. I will be reading on how to make informed decisions through out designing particular characters, whether they are the protagonists, antagonists or the comic relief and how you can push these defined archetypes to create more complex and even more appealing characters.  

I will be creating characters with backstories, which means I will have to think how this would affect their personality, their relationships and their outlook on the world. Creating in-depth character sheets will aid me in creating competent decisions on the characters’ physical appearance.

Research into particular mental disorders will be imperative to this project, on those that I am familiar with and ones that I need to learn more about; symptoms, reactions, dangers and recovery that is involved with each particular illness.

I was also thinking of showing the journey of a character going through mental illness; before, initial stage, during, recovering and recovered. Exploring different ways of showing the internal struggle physically.