Adaptation B: Investigating the Mapuche

  I decided to do some research into the other elements o fthe project. Since the tale of Colo Colo relates to the indigenous Mapuche of South America I decided to look into their culture in regards to the house. In the source I found i was a little disappointed to learn that the traditional Ruka is no longer lived in by the majority, who these days more favour dwellings in Chilean or Argentinian cities. But if an online journal by J. Cavigla is anything to go by, there are a few who still live in them in the wilderness here and there but for the most part the Mapuche have adopted city life.

  While there are variations of shape, most rukas are straw windowless buildings with only one entrance, a bed set against the wall and a central fire pit and numerous domestic implements hanging from the ceilings and walls. The simplicity of the ruka should allow me to direct creative focus on Colo Colo itself. Could also explain how the entire thing could be burned down considering it is made of straw. Sources also mention that ideally, a fire is burning at all times within the building, which means I might be able to play around with smoke and lighting.

For landscapes however I hopped into Google Maps to see what the regions were like and got something of a duality depending on where I looked. In southern Chile, within the Andes, there was lots of lush, green, mountainous terrain. In southern Argentina it is a lot more flat and dry.

References

• Cavigla, J., 2012; The Ruka of the Mapuche; Arauco: A Novel; available at http://www.arauconovel.com/the-ruka-of-the-mapuche/ (last accessed 2nd February 2016)
• Chilean Museum of Pre-Colombian Art; Mapuche: Settlement Patterns; Pre-Colombian Chile; available at http://chileprecolombino.cl/en/pueblos-originarios/mapuche/patron-de-asentamiento/ (last accessed 2nd February 2016)

Maya Tutorials: Further Dynamics Tests

  Took a productivity hit this past weekend so while these animations were supposed to have gone up Friday, progressi n getting them up has been slow. The above animation has sound largely because I felt it was strange for such an event as this to be completely silent.

  Provided below is the development progression of the Coca-Cola can's disappearance and the destruction of the planet. Particle mapping is getting complex but I am definitely enjoying myself while I'm working, which is a very good sign.

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Adaptation B Story Idea

I had a little thought on a possible story if I do go through with making a story out of Colo Colo.

Starts with a tired-looking South American man who returns home. He falls into his bead, and that night Colo-Colo emerges from the wall, crawling along the ground and up to the bed (still deciding if it would actually levitate), making noises along the way. It examines its victim and, extending a long tongue, laps at the corners of the victim's mouth, this happens for several days until the character decides to visit a local Machi for help. The Machi returns, chanting a ritual to exorcise the Colo Colo, which screams as the exorcism sets it on fire and drives it from the home. After a good night's sleep, the man dumps the creature's remains in a waste basket.

Adaptation Discussion And Feedback

  I believe that Friday's discussion with Alan has helped give me some direction in my projects. The first discussion was regarding Adaptation A: I was informed it needs to be more snappy, and was shown Danny Rollings' "top 10 weird science facts" infographic to get an idea of what it involves ,as what I had currently was more like a narrative than information. With more work involved than was probably needed. Fortunately what is really needed ot be done is streamlining; cutting down the scenarios I have to short topical segments. And I already have some direction in art-style so Adaptation A is mainly a matter of streamlining.

  I had shown Alan some of the creatures I had looked at, but regarding where to go next. But what we had settled on was a case of more research as I had considered looking at Mayan culture and style, though further investigation on the Chiccan brought creative trouble as they are for the most part, snakes that send water to the clouds for rain. But any story feels la little thin on the ground. It was suggested that I look at Mayan artwork to help me visualise a style.

  Later in the day I felt terrible as some cold-like illness crept on me, getting so bad by the middle of the night that I was unable to breathe through my nose. But this led me to a flash of inspiration, as I felt more sure about a project revolving around Colo Colo.

  I had researched it in the early phases before but the similarity of my ailment has been what has driven me (lately I have considered that when it comes to escapism or a handicap, I should try and find way to turn it towards something productive). Performing some research I have come to understand that Colo Colo.is a vampiric being from Mapuche (a South American ethnicity native to  the southern regions of the continent) folklore. It is a creature, commonly with rodent, poultry or serpent-like features, born when a rooster incubates an egg. When it nests within a person's house it will hover over a resident each night (there is no description of it having wings so my guess it it levitates) and sustains itself on  the saliva of its victim, exhausting the person in the process which can eventually lead to death. People who suffer from Colo Colo's parasitic feeding will be exhausted during the day and their house will smell of faeces. When Colo Colo.is suspected to be dwelling there are two possible ways to get rid of it: Call in a Machi (a Mapuche healer or shaman) to exorcise it, but if that doesn't work then you will need to burn the house down. It has the cry of an infant or baby as well.

  Floating South American rooster-rat-lizard thing that thinks it's Dracula, lives off peoples' saliva, cries like a baby, stinks of excrement, and removed by either a native exorcist or setting your house on fire. It sounds interesting to me at least and there looks to be a project I could embrace the technological side of: Hybrid creature designs, particle effects, dynamics, sound design and animation for isntance. The information I have could be the groundwork for a tale about what Colo Colo. is, what it does and ending with how to get rid of it. Perhaps the story is told though one character meeting another who is currently suffering from it. I feel the need to at some point make something on the course that familiarises me with working with a voice artist.

References

• Myth Beasts, 2014; Colo Colo; Myth Beasts; available at http://www.mythicalcreatureslist.com/mythical-creature/Colo-Colo (last accessed 30th January 2016)
• Mythmash, 2013; Colo Colo; Mythology: The Stranger The Better; available at http://fuckyeahstrangemythology.tumblr.com/post/44003478804/mythmash-the-colo-colo-is-a-serpent-like (last accessed 30th January 2016)
• Saunder, C., Allen, P., 2005; Colo Colo; God Checker; available at http://www.godchecker.com/pantheon/south-american-mythology.php?deity=COLO-COLO (last accessed 30th January 2015)

Adaptation A: Investigating Creatures to Adapt

  I have considered an alternative in creature design. So today I looked into a number of legendary creatures I could make into something for a project. I am still discovering what I might enjoy most but I have come to a couple of conclusions. I kept some rules for myself to keep the project interesting: Nothing from East Asia, nothing too humanoid, and nothing that would be too publicly known. Although the last one how well-known it is depends on what part of the world you live in.

  The following are creatures I have taken some consideration in:

Alkonost

• Region of origin: Russia
• Key physical characteristics: head of a woman, body of a bird
• Key behavioral characteristics: evasive, largely benign, lays eggs on beaches then rolls them to sea
• Key abilities: Hypnotic voice; can sing beautifully and entrance travelers into turning back and forgetting them. When their eggs hatch ,the act of hatching creates thunderstorms

Adlet

• Region of origin: Hudson Bay
• Key physical characteristics: Legs of a dog, body of a human, taller than Europeans
• Key behavioral characteristics: aggressive, In conflict with humans.
• Key abilities: Can outrun humans

Chamrosh

• Region of origin: Persia
• Key physical characteristics: body of a dog, head and wings of a bird
• Key behavioral characteristics: Benevolent, said to have gathered the seeds of a great tree and cast them across the world
• Key abilities: Uncertain, powerful wings

Chiccan

• Region of origin: Yucatan Peninsula, Central America
• Key physical characteristics: four giant water-dwelling reptiles
• Key behavioral characteristics: Live in lakes that correlate to the four cardinal directions
• Key abilities: their thrashing stirs the lakes to send water to the sky, the water is returned to earth as rain by other gods 

Colo Colo

• Region of origin: Chile
• Key physical characteristics: varies, common elements are of rats, snakes, feathers and other reptiles
• Key behavioral characteristics: feeds off human saliva, lives under a person's house, has the call of a wailing infant
• Key abilities: Those who are fed from by Colo Colo feel regularly exhausted, thoutr to bring disease, draining power can kill

El Pollo Maligno (Evil Chicken)

• Country/culture of origin: Colombia, South America
• Key physical characteristics: A chicken, large enough to devour humans
• Key behavioral characteristics: feeds on human flesh, malicious towards hunters
• Key abilities: Haunts hunters, driving them deep into wooded areas where they become its prey.

Encantado

• Region of origin:Amazon Basin
• Key physical characteristics: pink river dolphins that can transform into humans with blowholes on the crown
• Key behavioral characteristics: Playful, like attending fiestas, seducing women, wear hats to cover their blowholes when in public
• Key abilities: Shapeshifters, entrancers, can cast illnesses on people, can transform at dawn or dusk

Wolpertinger

• Region of origin: Bavaria, Germany
• Key physical characteristics: body made up of wings, fangs, tails and antlers of various animals all connected to a small mammal's body, often a rabbit.
• Key behavioral characteristics: Unknown
• Key abilities: None known, presumably some inherited from the animals it takes parts from
• Related story from late 19th century Sweden of Skvader, a rabbit-like winged creature hunted by one particular man who hunted it north of Sundsvall.

  There were a number of creatures upon my examination that didn't look strange enough or had quirks that I felt were inappropriate for a broad audience or contained some particularly gruesome facts about them. So far however I think my most confident inspirations are the Akanost, Colo-Colo and Chiccan.

Adaptation A: Storyboard

  The bulk of today was spent assembling the storyboard. I've worked out that in the rate I usually design, 30 frames is about maybe a minute but it can vary depending on what is going on..This feels like one of my shorter storyboards however, and I worked to keep the action snappy.

  The inclusion of the squirrel at the end came from a previous iteration, it was commented that the squirrel appeared at the end, referring to when the squirrel pops up in a post-transition snapshot. I figured I could include it at the end so that the ending card is not total blackness and simple text.

Adaption A: Reworking Storyboard and Script

  The script idea came from the feeling I needed to know what my story wasdoing in terms of length before committing to a storyboard. Partway though I had an idea however: I did not feel the current idea of action, shutter and then picture was a very good flow. So I went back and decided to characterise the main character seen as "Selfie Stan", or simply Stan, and the scenarios we woulds ee would be his misadventures.Above is the storyboard I managed ot get done before I realised the story I had probably wasn't working as well as I thought it would. So I went back to rewrite the script.

V3 Best Time of Day to Take a Selfie

  After publishing this on Scribd I had a thought that maybe the shutter-close transition still breaks the flow. Given the abstract nature of an infographic, perhaps what happens instead is Stan "falls" from scene to scene. For instance transition one to two has him pushed into the GP's office, when the doctor jabs him in his rear end he and leaps up into the forest scene. When the squirrel jumps on his face and he flais about, he runs into the bar scene but escapes the squirrel. When he is then pulled into the cloud of fighting and falls into the teleporter room.

Those will be tasks for Wednesday - to add those into the script and rework the storyboard.