YEAR : MMXIX

PROJECT TYPE : SELF INITIATED

CATEGORY : ILLUSTRATION

TRIBUTE TO OZU

PURPOSE

Sometime around the last year 2018, I came across the works of Yasujiro Ozu, Tokyo Story is the first movie that I watched from the Ozu filmography, what caught my attention was the static shots in between the scenes. It could be objects that were beautifully arranged, it might be a view from a window or a view of an indoor scene. Those static shots narrated parts of the story without even having to show the entire scene. I was very much intrigued by those arrangements, all of these frames looked like art pieces in its entirety, I was impressed how even the most mundane objects that we look past in our life could look that beautiful if just they are arranged in a right way or seen through a different perspective that was a key start to the whole thing.

I wanted to showcase these moments by illustrating some frames from the movies. Also, I thought would be a great exercise to study compositions, geometry, proportions, lighting and camera set-up. Also, it would serve as a tribute to one of the greatest directors to come out from Japan alongside Akira Kurosawa, Kenji Mizoguchi. As much of the works by Ozu went unnoticed during his time.

APPROACH

My approach towards this project was a little different from the rest, first I started by making a list of movies that I would be covering in the series. Then I did movie sessions and captured frames from the movies. And created my library of Images. Sorted them out. Creating a library of reference images were the foundation of the whole project.

Next, I had to come up with a treatment for the illustration. I wanted it to be simple, just like the director's works, I set some limitations, ditched the idea of using any colors and decided to use just the textures instead to show the depth and material distinction. I set up the artboard size in the same aspect ratio as he shot the rest of his movies.

The next step would be illustrating the frames, these limitations made the whole process interesting since there were very fewer elements to play around with. First I started by blocking out the objects, with just outlines, then started fill-in the shadows, which gave the depth and later went on adding textures, which made the artwork more defined. Repeated the same process for the 50 frames.

SCHEDULE

The whole project took me around two months approximately to come up with 50 illustrations. I spent one-week doing movie sessions and creating a library of images. I spent a day or two coming up with a treatment. Spent rest the time illustrating the frames and rendering them.

WRAP

My take away from the project was to come up with 50 illustrations which were all alike in terms of style and aesthetics, so I had to keep that level of consistency. So that when all of them when placed together should look alike and different at the same time, but at the same time it should reflect the director's work.

OUTCOME

As a result of all the work and time that went into the project, not only did I ended up finishing the project on time, but I also ended up getting interested in movies more and more, which I think I will explore in the coming projects.

THANK YOU FOR WATCHING

©2023 KARTHIK VERNEKAR 

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