FMP log. Evgenia lesnikova
Through time and memories
Stories that we store and broadcast through things and states
Interview with me
FMP proposal
What is your area of study?
I'm going to explore Russian traditional costumes in terms of storytelling and cultural code. In lectures about the history of using Russian embroidery, I have learned interesting information that embroidery for the Russian people was originally a source of information about the social, cultural, political, age, biological and other aspects of their life. The position of the embroidery also mattered. For example, different levels of placement on the hem had different meanings. When adding embroidery layers, a picture of a person's life, its story, was formed.
My area of interest is to study the meaning of patterns, shapes, their placement and use it as a storytelling tool to capture the moments of a person's life.
What is the title of your FMP?
Fairy tale (p.s. - initially)
What research will you do?
Historical lectures on traditions, costume history, cultural code research, ethnographic
museums (Moscow, St. Petersburg). Books and magazines on the history and specifics of the Russian costume, proverbs and sayings related to clothing, beliefs, superstitions and myths. I will consider how the cultural code is used in modern media (Ornamika, fashion designers, illustrators and artists) and research how it is converted, it is interpreted in a more modern way.
Perhaps, I will consider the travel option to places related to my origin and family in order to visit museums and materials about the traditions of these places (Kazan, Astrakhan, Kirov region). In this case, I can build a story around a narrower topic, related to a certain place and my family as a starting point for storytelling.
What kind of work will you produce?
Which materials, processes and outcomes will you use and present?
First of all, I am thinking about creating an animation that tells the character's story through patterns, costumes. Animation is likely to be more abstract as a visual sequence of stages in a character's life, where each stage can be reflected as a transformation of patterns, drawings and traditional costume figures. I do not intend to directly use and repeat traditional patterns, but I will interpret them, for example, in the same way as Ornamika does. The purpose of interpretation can also be to create my patterns that can be used for printing on fabric. Optionally, for the presentation of the final work, it will be possible to use textile elements with these printed patterns.
First of all, for the basic study of materials, I will draw up a plot as a story of a character’s life, or a story of a certain stage of life, or a reflection of key moments in life (birth, adolescence, transition to one’s family, death, as an example).
Next, I will work on creating key patterns and visual graphical representations that will reflect the selected stages. I am considering using a combined animation technique. Perhaps I will add collage technique, textures of fabrics with the addition of digital elements. Another option is to use media that can be easily converted as a printed version for fabric. Apart from external locations (museums, exhibitions), I will use the print studio for fabric printing if I choose to use this additional option.
How will you measure and assess your progress?
First of all, success depends on the search for connections, how storytelling was traditionally
used in Russian costume, how it reflected the story and status of a person. And also how I
can interpret these connections and translate them into a more modern abstract plot, story,
patterns. Since I have two areas of interest - animation and work with textiles, then
animation and work on the interpretation of patterns can become a starting point for the
visual representation of a future textile collection (clothing items, accessories), which can be
a continuation and development of the final project already outside the FMP.
I plan to document the process using Tilda or Padlet.
I plan to review various materials (books, exhibitions, lectures, etc.), record my ideas and
thoughts on the blog, make sketches, storyboards.
Are there any special considerations to take into account?
If I decide to connect my project with a narrower study of the traditions of those places that
are connected with my origin and the place of life of my relatives (my family), I should plan
and take into account in the schedule of the trip, visits to specific museums of exhibitions
there.
I may also need to use fabric printing equipment in Britanka or outside (as a fallback) and
plan the use of fabric for printing (selection, print testing, etc.) for the presentation of the
work (optionally).
Initial research
List of lectures
Andrei Borovsky about the cultural codes of the Russian costume
Embroidered codes of Russian clothes. Andrei Borovsky.

Summary of the lecture

Embroidery is primarily a source of information

An example from the lecture is padol.
Tiered horizontal arrangement of embroidery patterns grows from the hem upwards and does not repeat. From "unprotected" suit entrances. talks about the world, the earth. About how the grain falls into the soil and germinates. About how the events of human life are consonant with the rhythms of nature. Female figures - an exit to the earthly plane.
The amount of sleeve embroidery also increases gradually with age and increases from the seam down. The composition of embroidery with tiers is also not repeated.
1.The gradual growth and non-repeating composition of embroidery with each tier is one of the codes for embroidery of Russian clothes.
White color (space empty from embroidery) is also an important code of Russian clothing. This is the unknown, a symbol of death, birth, infinity. However, the white color was not endowed with a negative meaning. Death was perceived as a natural continuation.
2. The balance of white and embroidery is another code of Russian clothing.
There is no embroidery in the child's clothes, it appears gradually from an empty white canvas.
3. Embroidery that no one will ever see (only the owner), which is hidden under layers of other clothes, is another code for Russian embroidery.

The costume of a girl in the period of readiness for marriage

and before the birth of her first child

The richest costume becomes when young people are ready to create new families. The costume of a girl of marriageable age and until the birth of the first child. Further, the brightness of the costume and the saturation of the embroidery are on the wane. To old age, when there is nothing more to tell.

Homespun cloth with plain weave had a coordinate system, counted stitches and hundreds of variations.
Embroidery has always been cheaper than store-bought fabric. Cross stitch is a simplification after the advent of factory fabric.

  • Bird. Symbol of happiness, messenger. The bird is free, winged. The messenger of the human soul, the soul mate of the ideal husband. Therefore, it is often depicted on things related to the wedding.
The headdress always tells about the connection with the heavenly. Signs of the sun, how the luminary travels across the sky. Tells how the seasons change as well as the phases of life.
A headdress is a mark of a woman's age (maiden, young woman, woman, old woman)
  • Symbols of horses and deer as drivers and carriers of the sun. The tree as a symbol of time and the change of phases of time, my place in time. Where am I now?
  • Rhombuses and crosses with curved edges are also symbols of the sun.
Alternative history of the Russian costume: in search of national identity.
Andrei Borovsky.
FALSE AND TALES OF THE RUSSIAN COSTUME.
Andrei Borovsky.
Collections, Analytics
Projects that explore national patterns
Ornamika
Main site - Interpretations - Analytics   
There are a lot of references of national costumes, patterns, as well as examples of interpretations in a more modern manner.
Artists
Which preserve, broadcast and interpret national identity
Venera Kazarova
"Artist, fashion designer.

I create clothes for theater and contemporary choreography as well as paper cut objects for decorating the space and photo shoots.

In my work I try to combine my love and passion towards paper & fabric with the use of both materials as well as plastic utensils, polyethylene and everything that comes to hand, especially vintage stuff.
My inspiration comes from nature forms & from dreams & fairy tales."

An interesting animation option using costumes. Stop motion. Abstract sound.For my patten fabric costume option, I would consider a similar animation option. Perhaps even with the involvement of actors and collaboration with acting studios (I have a few acquaintances).
Olya Chikina
"Drawing inspiration from folk tales, Olya transforms characters and invents new ones, creates vivid optical illusions that mix traditional motifs and modern reality." 

Transfers traditional patterns and recognizable keys of national identity to contemporary painting.
Johann Nikadimus
Artisan of Russian pearlwork sewing.

Preservation of the traditional craft. Collaborations with a modern twist. The return of the era of kokoshniks to our time.
Uzory.moscow resturan
Embedding tradition in modernity. Knitted traditional patterns for decorating the windows of a restaurant in a Stalinist building
ORNAMENTЫ
"Reviving Tradition.
Ornamenting the Future."
Ónsitsa
"Magic of Russian Tradition. Vintage fabrics, mix of authentic and modern design, redesign and spell in every piece"
Krestetskaya line
Preservation of traditional cross stitching in modern clothes
Alisa Gorshenina
"I work in various media from painting, graphics, textile sculptures to video art, animation and digital collages. In addition, I work with materials such as metal, wood, ceramics and constantly experiment with new ones."

Project "Russian Foreign" (Russkoe Inorodnoe)

"I like it when one object flows from one to another. First I make a textile object, then I draw it, then I shoot some video art or a photo with it.

I unravel the tangle of my nationality. We are molded from different pieces (nationalities) and it seems to me that this is Russia, very diverse."
Also Russia. Podcast
New rustic art | Alisa Gorshenina

Link to listen

"Often, when they talk about the “Russian style” in art, they mean Bilibin, kokoshniks, patterned ones - in general, everything that became fashionable and popular in the era of the national upsurge at the turn of the century. In Soviet times, this aesthetic was reworked and became a cliche that replaces the great diversity of Russian culture and the cultures of the peoples of Russia. All of it, as it were, collapses into the image of a Russian beauty in a kokoshnik. However, not all residents of the country identify themselves as carriers of kokoshniks. Moreover, kokoshniks, generally speaking, are also very different.

Ural artist Alice Hualice combines Ural folklore, ancient Egyptian gods, Slavic costumes, abandoned villages, Turkic motifs in her works, sews masks and costumes for the theater, photographs and dreams of a workshop in her native village of Yakshin. We talked to her about how the countryside treats contemporary art, whether the place where he lives influences the artist, and why Moscow artists are not “regional” if Moscow is also a Russian region."
Tutorial with Laetitia

KEYS: persona, costume, performance, stop motion, costume, textile, printing on textile, traditions, embroidery, developing patterns, storytelling, contemporary or historical (?)



The basis of the story? - Take something simple and familiar: you story, you interests, you codes.

  • What is interesting to me and my peers now?
  • What kind of cultural codes are present in our lives?
  • What kind of codes are an integral part of our life?
References from Laetitia:

African Prints/Techno

Developing folk pattern including a modern code of culture.

War carpet

Storytelling through the carpet, textile. Important topic for the nation.

Hermes carre

Storytelling in textile in modern scarf.
task for the next week

Analyze 2-3 people of my age.

  • Interests
  • dreams
  • Fears
  • What is important
  • Built-in artifacts of life.

Find some code that everyone understands. It is possible to transform it through the Russian traditional pattern (stylistically).

How can you tell the story of me and my family through textiles?

Tutorial with Сhris

KEYS:

  • Visualize ideas, maybe it will be just a textile design.
  • Start collecting your images, we are visual artists, it is important for us to show pictures
  • If it is about your personal experience, what kind?
Chosen Direction - Wedding Overview
task for the next
  • Explore wedding traditions in ancient Russia.
  • Remember and write down your thoughts, feelings of how it was with me, in order to take the plot as a basis.
  • Look at what traditions were in the clothes and image of the bride (embroidery, costume)
My experience. Wedding. Meeting with the husband's family.

  • I'm interested in the tradition of moving from the bride's family to the husband's family, as a renunciation, as a new life. My personal experience is that there was no idea like this, what awaits me, there was no transition, there was no understanding. Moreover, in my mind there was no image of a family, it was a transition without a transition.
  • The first meeting with the mother-in-law was very strange, incomprehensible, when you don’t know how to behave. She was like this: my mother-in-law arrived at night, and I pretended to be asleep. These were strange feelings, fear that they would not be accepted, fear of being somehow different, of not living up to expectations. I was not introduced. I was thrown into a river. Strange feelings.

A Wedding in Varkalland

The mockumentary film, A Wedding in Varkalland became the the centre piece for their exhibition, and is a absurdist, witty and perceptive piece exploring the challenges and compromises made between cultures for diasporic peoples.Storytelling through the carpet, textile. Important topic for the nation.
How to present
Plan A

My ideal option is to work with the textile design (pattern design) of the wedding tradition in my interpretation. Combine this with animation like a showreel and textile pattern representation. The animation would reveal the history and symbolism of the pattern's use.

The minimal version is an animation and a printed pattern that would decorate the video area.

It is also possible to convey in some way through the pattern the emotions that are associated with my personal experience of marriage and the transition to my husband's family. Emotions as a background for animation.

Plan B.

No need to make costumes. However, it also suggests the option of printing on fabric.
The idea is as follows. The monitor will be presented as with the history of the wedding. The window will be framed with patterned curtains. Frames from the animation will be used as a pattern. It can be like a storyboard of an animation, or a pattern will be made up of pieces of animation illustrations.
Additionally, it is planned to place a pattern or characters or other decoration in the style of animation on the board itself.

Application method options:
  • printing on transparent film
  • drawing a picture using a stencil and paints
  • alternative: printing on textiles and fixing textiles on the board?
Plan C.

For an online exhibition, the minimum option may be to exhibit only the animation.

Plan D.

In view of the circumstances, if it would be impossible to finish the animation on the extended deadline, I can draw key scenes and print them on fabric, like a construction board. An alternative option can also be printing patterns on fabric and presenting them as an interior object.
As a development, a series of illustrations can be printed on fabric and framed in thematic frames.
Options Costs
Printing on fabric
  1. Britanka print office

  • only synthetic fabric (80%)
  • thermal transfer printing

Cost = 480 per/m + fabric base







Suitable fabric option for printing:

Print cost

2. SolStudio Industry

  • All kind of fabric
  • digital printing
  • minimum order: 30 meters (can include several designs)
  • production time: from 5 working days

Cost = print + fabric base + test printing

TIFF format, all layers must be combined into one "Background";
Resolution - 254-300 dpi;
Color model - RGB,
color profile - sRGB IES61966-2.1.



Fabric base:

Print cost

3. DiTex

  • All kind of fabric
  • digital printing
  • minimum order: 50 meters per 1 design
  • production time: from 10 working days

Cost = print + fabric base + test printing



Print+fabric cost

Wedding traditions research
A wedding is the most important event in life, it is the day when a new family is created. The traditional Russian rite was formed by the 16th century and remained the norm for all social strata of society until the end of the 17th century. It was a solemn and exceptionally festive action aimed at gradually carefully introducing the young couple into the new status of married people, into a different age category, into a new life and family.
Meaning
In the old days, the wedding was most often celebrated very noisily, the guests were the inhabitants of the entire village, and the celebration lasted several days. That is why then they said not to “celebrate” or “celebrate”, but to “play” a wedding. The wedding was like a real theatrical spectacle, each action of which was filled with a certain meaning, and deviation from the accepted order was considered a bad omen.
#1 Youth festivities (party)
Youth festivities and games, during which young people could "show themselves" and look at each other to choose a suitable pair. The participation of young people in such gatherings was obligatory, refusal was condemned by public opinion.
“The festivities were opened with a solemn procession along the main street of smartly dressed girls, performing drawn-out songs and ditties, then round dances followed. A striking sight during the festivities were the old dances and the city dances that replaced them in the last third of the 19th century."
#1 Matchmaking
Matchmakers came to the bride's parents and agreed on the upcoming marriage. If the parties made a joint decision, then later the groom's parents came to the bride's house, who brought with them a collusive gingerbread - a kind of parting word to the future daughter-in-law.
Collusive gingerbread
The only surviving example of an old gingerbread that played an important role in wedding ceremonies. From matchmaking to the very day of the wedding, gingerbread was present at all stages of the wedding. A significant role was assigned to them at bachelorette parties, when the groom brought a special gingerbread baked to order - a wedding gingerbread - as a gift to the bride.
It is believed that the bride shared the gingerbread among the guests: she gave the figurines of people to her friends, the “stars” and “Christmas trees” went to young people, the gingerbread to relatives, and the mirror remained and was kept by her.
Site

Collusive gingerbread. Russia, Yaroslavl Province, Rostov, 1890s Fake. 1920s Russian Ethnographic Museum

and the bridegroom or matchmakers were given a scarf of the bride, her sundress or a piece of fabric as a pledge.
State Historical Museum
When both sides came to an agreement, it was customary to end the deal with a handshake. The fathers of the bride and groom shook hands, wrapping their palms in cloaks, scarves or putting on mittens so that the future spouses would live “not naked”, but prosperously. From that moment on, the girl and the guy were officially considered the bride and groom.
State Historical Museum
#3 Dowry preparation
During the pre-wedding week, an important step was the preparation of the dowry. The girl left for her new home with clothes, shoes, hats, jewelry, and also with several pieces of canvas to sew clothes for her husband and children. An indispensable component of the dowry was bedding (felt or feather bed, blanket, pillows, sheets), as well as numerous towels, tablecloths, napkins, fly, scarves.
  • Dowry box
  • Towel
  • Spinning wheel
It was the last day when the bride, along with her friends, completed her parting with her former life. During the bachelorette party, the bride was saying goodbye to the “girlish beauty”, symbolizing her will, beauty, innocence, virginity, her whole girlish life. The "beauty" of the girl was called a braid ribbon that fastened the girl's braid, a headband. "Beauty" was also symbolized by a wedding tree - a Christmas tree, pine, birch branches, or burdock - which the bridesmaids decorated with ribbons, flowers, shreds, pieces of paper, candles.
#4 Hen-party
The main rite of the entire bachelorette party was parting with her most important symbol - the girl's scythe. During this ceremony, the bridesmaids braided her braid for the last time, testifying to innocence and purity. The wedding braid was woven in a complicated way, using small strands, tangling the hair, sewing it up with threads, tying it with ropes, tying it into knots and sticking pins to make it more difficult to unravel. The groom's side had to buy the braid from the bride's relatives, most often from her younger brother and friends, after which the braid was untwisted. Relatives of the bride, her friends, guests, as well as the groom's matchmaker could take part in the unweaving. The bride was supposed to resist unraveling: she tangled the ribbon braid in her fingers, twisted the end of the braid around her hand, tightly squeezing it in her fist. The redemption of the braid and its opening meant the removal of all obstacles to marriage and the acquisition of the groom's full power over the bride. The bride's loose hair symbolized her readiness for marriage.
  • headdress "spangle", which was worn on a bachelorette party tied over a scarf
  • The final parting with girlish headdresses took place after the wedding or after the wedding night, the young woman was put on the “warrior” women's headdress, which almost completely covered her hair.
#5 Ransom
Then what happened today is called "ransom". The bridesmaids do not let the groom into the bride's house until he gives them gifts, completes certain tasks (competitions, games), when the groom hands over the money, the entrance is free.
#7 Wedding
The wedding, which was one of the seven church sacraments, united a man and a woman into an indissoluble divine union, perceived as an acceptance of responsibility before God and people: going down the aisle meant "going to the judgment of God." This rite gave legal force to the marriage. It consisted of the betrothal, during which the bride and groom agreed to the marriage and exchanged rings, and the actual wedding, when marriage crowns were placed on the spouses, which was interpreted as the imposition of the Glory of God and the indulgence of God's Grace.
The wedding clothes of the bride and groom were supplemented with numerous amulets to protect against damage and the evil eye: the body was girded with a piece of a fishing net or a twisted charmed woolen thread with numerous knots tied on it, the edges of the clothes were stabbed with sewing needles with broken ears (“a needle with an eye “drags after itself” , and without an eye, no witchcraft will be able to cling to"), poppy seeds and money were poured into shoes.
The wedding train was considered an important procession - it accompanied the young to the wedding and to the groom's house.
Sledges and carts were covered with elegant carpets and decorated with ribbons and towels that developed during a fast ride. The front harness was studded with bells, shamblers, vertebrae and bells. Elegant exit arcs were also decorated with ribbons and towels. The horses were specially cleaned and washed, braiding the mane at night into braids so that it became wavy and especially lush. Ribbons, flowers and wreaths were woven into the mane and tails of horses.


Sleighs are visiting (holiday).
The animation process
My visual test
Back to my sketchbook Heaven
Direction in which I want to develop visual style:

  • Collage
  • Textile
  • Pattern
  • A little surrealism - a combination of the female body and images - symbolisм

My emotions and my experience?
  • What emotions does the bride-girl have before the important event in her life?
  • Does the self-awareness of the bride-girl in the centuries of our ancestors and now coincide?

I will reflect on my own experience.

I did not have a full-fledged family and ideas about what a family should be like. On the maternal side, there were no conversations and initiations into a woman or an understanding of what a woman is, what is her role and value in the family, what is the role and value of a man in the family. All these moments were blurred in my mind.

I had a frank fear and misunderstanding of what was waiting for me in general. There was no sense of tradition and connection.

Maybe that's why, in part, I decided to turn to traditions and make up for some unworthy moments.

Tutorial with Laetitia

Your new idea is clear and understandable, more formalized.

The direction of the visual language and the collage is excellent. BUT:


  • You need to make a plot
  • Maybe start with a costume?
  • Costume, textiles as a map of history
  • What do you want to show? What is your vision for a wedding? Beauty, costumes are a spectacle? Idealization?
Storyboard
Draft sketches to understand the story and scene transitions for future animatics
#1
1.1 - A girl in the room. Suit with patterns
1.2 - Patterns as a symbol of memories and reflections of the stages and history of life.
1.3 - Jump to memories. Symbols swirl around the girl
1.4 - Jump to memories. Symbols swirl around the girl
1.5 - Symbols rearrange into the first scene from the flashback
1.6 - Round dance of young people, as a ceremony of demonstrating oneself to others
1.7 - Round dance of young people
1.8 - 1.9 - The girl and the boy meet each other
1.10 - 1.11 - Transition to the matchmaking scene. The side of the future bride and groom is symbolically depicted on textiles. In the hands of the image of a girl and a guy in the form of birds - as a symbol of the successful creation of a family.
#2
2.1 -2.2 - Agreement on matchmaking reached (combination of portraits). Handshake
2.2 - 2.7 - Transition to the scene of preparation of the dowry. Preparation of textiles, embroidery.
2.8 - 2.11 - The transition and the scene of the bachelorette party and the unweaving of the bride's braid as a symbol of readiness for married life.









#3
3.1 - 3.3 - The groom comes to the bride's house. The tradition of ransoming the bride (gifting the bride's side).
3.4 - 3.5 - Church wedding
3.6 - 3.7 - Arrival at the groom's house. Meeting of young people with traditional loaf (round bread)
3.8 - 3.9 - Traditional treat loaf. Breaking the pieces - as a symbol of the unity of the lives of the young
3.10- 3.11 - wedding feast
3.12 - 3.13 - Removing the veil from the bride. Go to the next stage.
3.14 - marriage bed
#3
3.15 - Marriage bed
3.16 - The transition to a new stage in the life of the newlyweds
3.17 - 3.19 - The appearance of a child. Closing the circle. The symbol of the child is transferred to the girl's costume. A man appears in the room - a representation of the family and family unity.
3.20 - 3.21 - Textile curtain with embroidery and titles
Sound references
Voice wedding rituals
A peculiar musical form is the chants of couples performed in the field during the cleanup and representing a solo beginning, in which the names of a guy and a girl are called, followed by a powerful choral chant-vocalization on the vowel “o” - on the so-called field voice.


Wedding songs:

The plan is to create my melody, sounds for the animation. It will be the animation without conversations.

The main reference: Meredith Monk
This is a fairly simple melody, based on the melodic repetition of phrases,
singing sounds. This is a very emotional experience for a woman. Lyrical girlish chant.
It is five women's voices, a lot of acapella singing, and very interdependent in the forms, and very reflective of that organic kind of energy of nature.
— Meredith Monk
Voice wedding rituals

A peculiar musical form is the chants of couples performed in the field during the cleanup and representing a solo beginning, in which the names of a guy and a girl are called, followed by a powerful choral chant-vocalization on the vowel “o” - on the so-called field voice.
Examples
Symbols
The costume (clothes) of the bride as protection during the transition to a new life and a new social status.
This is her assistant and guide, the keeper of the history of her life.
Charm symbols in embroidery merge with the image of a woman, with her body.
The first frame test
Wedding suits research
What type and composition of clothing was adopted for different ages and statuses of men and women.
As well as the symbolism on clothes and its meaning.
  • Doll Bride
  • groom suit
  • Married woman costume
  • Girl costume
  • Girl costume
  • Married woman costume
  • young woman
  • young woman
  • maiden
  • women and maiden
  • young woman
  • young woman
  • girl's headdress
  • married woman's headdress
  • Symbols of horses and deer as drivers and carriers of the sun. The tree as a symbol of time and the change of phases of time, my place in time. Where am I now?
  • Rhombuses and crosses with curved edges are also symbols of the sun.
Bird.
Symbol of happiness, messenger. The bird is free, winged. The messenger of the human soul, the soul mate of the ideal husband. Therefore, it is often depicted on things related to the wedding.
On embroideries, it is most often included in the overall composition with a female figure or a tree. This is a sign of the resurrection of nature, the awakening of the earth, dawn - the rooster sings at dawn when the sun rises. Two birds head to head are a symbol of a happy marriage, which is why this plot is so common in ritual women's clothing. Birds on a towel are a sign of memory of the dead, a symbol of the soul, a messenger of another world. They are also a sign of a good harvest.

- a peacock is a bird of family happiness, which carries solar energy;

- falcons, roosters, doves - a symbol of the newlyweds. A characteristic feature of the wedding towel is the arrangement of birds heads to each other. Pigeons either hold a viburnum berry in their beaks, or sit at the roots of a tree - a symbol of a new family.
my interpretation is the borderline state of two young people before marriage
Symbols of horses and deer as drivers and carriers of the sun.
The horse is the peasant breadwinner, the support of the entire economy. The horse was as necessary to the peasant to grow bread as the sun itself. The sun acquired the image of a horse, and the horse, as it were, acquired the power of the sun. The horse was endowed with divine power and was considered a sign of the sun and sky. Horse, equestrian, wheel are equivalent signs of the sun and heat. Let us return again to the "trinity" of Russian folk embroidery, in the middle is a woman, to the right or left of her - horses or horsemen. Horsemen are signs of the seasons, signs of the equinoxes, winter and summer, which the people celebrated with holidays and rituals.

The tree as a symbol of time and the change of phases of time, my place in time. Where am I now?
We say: the roots of memory, the roots of history, the roots of the family. We say: family tree, genealogical tree. The tree participates in our life not only serving us as a dwelling, giving fruits, decorating our house. A tree is not only a boat, a cart, a toy, not only household items and art. A tree is an image of the world and a way of thinking. The first man was a gatherer of roots and fruits, and he owes his life to the tree. A tree is both a house and a temple, and the last refuge of a person. The tree was the universe. The roots are a sign of the underworld, the earthly world corresponds to the trunk, and the sky corresponds to the crown.

- viburnum - the tree of the genus, the red berries of the viburnum symbolize the immortality of the genus;

- oak - a sacred tree, the embodiment of Perun, the god of solar male energy, serves as a talisman of the vitality of the family;

- grapes are a life field on which the husband is a sower, and the wife must grow and protect the tree of their kind, a symbol of joy;
List of symbols that would fit the steps described in the animation:

A symbol, the name, the meaning, an animation stage:
Divided and grouped symbols into layers that symbolize a certain life stage:

1. - birth, protection, transition to a new life and its amulets
2. - education, the transition from childhood to youth, education of the spirit
3. - Girlhood, preparation for a new period of life
4. - The transition from girlhood to wife, to a young woman, wedding, wedding symbols, birds, symbols of a strong marriage
5. - the period of marriage and the formation of a family, children, procreation and family hearth

0. - symbols of home and protection in the interior
- - Symbols for conception and related to the child


Animatic
Draft for the future animation
Tutorial with Laetitia

"In general, I am very satisfied with the plot of the animation".


Tips to think about:

1. What gender is the child? This is important in terms of demonstrating the cycle and evolution. If this is a girl, then this may be the cycle of the woman that you are talking about.

2. The final scene would fit better with the animation idea around the characters if the child also turns into a character.


My addition: the child symbol can be added to the costume of the woman who appears in the first scene. Thus, another stage in a woman's life is added.

It seems to me that also at the end you can add the figure of a man who comes out from behind the curtain. Then it will not seem that the woman is alone. A portrait of the family will already be formed.

The second version of the animatic:
- with test frame style
- the ending was improved on the advice of Latisha: the appearance of a man at the end for a full portrait of the family and the transition of the symbol of the child to the woman's costume
Comments and disadvantages:
- no sound to understand the dynamics and intonation of the frame.


Test frame style:
Tutorial with Irina

Now there is not enough sound draft.

It will give an understanding of the dynamics of the scenes. For example, the round dance scene is more dynamic, the scene with the appearance of a child may be with the sound of a lullaby, and so on.

The sound will also give timing.


You need to add a title at the beginning and credits at the end.


  • Record draft soundtrack
  • Place additional screensavers + missing development frames at the beginning and end (tutorial with Latisha).
  • Ideally, on Crete, at least add 3-5 seconds of animation with ready-made visuals and sound in order to understand the direction and dynamics of the animation, how objects move.
  • If necessary, fill out the SAС form
Resources
Additional materials for creating illustrations
Free photos for collages

Since I decided to work in the collage technique, it is necessary to take into account the specifics of copyright when working with other people's photographs. The Cut and Glue community has put together a compilation of free-to-use resources for collagists.

Working with sound
I divided the animatic into several key themes, which I gave color marking. Tried to keep the variety to a minimum.
Gave each theme a set of characteristics, as well as possible links to key themes.
List of musical themes
1 - Intro + final family tune (1st piece)
Calm, introductory.
Perhaps: the sounds of nature, the sounds of the house.
Speed: Slow, increasing slightly towards the next scene. For the closing version - decreasing in speed and sounds.
2 - Round dance + acquaintance (2nd piece)

Smooth or abrupt transition from the first theme.
Loud, cheerful, dynamic.
Speed: fast, slowing down at the moment of acquaintance.
Possibly: instruments, sounds of nature, voices, dances, bells.
3 - Matchmaking + conspiracy + dowry preparation (3d piece)

Speed: more measured, monotonous with elements of perkyness.
Possibly: musical dialogue + rhythm (embroidery, work)
4 - Bachelorette party + braiding (like intro?)

Speed: more measured, monotonous.
Possibly: musical dialogue, women's songs, candles
5 - Ransom (similar to a round dance)?

Speed: dynamic, call
Possibly: ringing, laughter, conversations
6 - Church wedding (4th piece)

Speed: slow
Possibly: church, howling, speaking, chanting
7- Meeting of the young (similar to a round dance)?

Speed: fast
Perhaps: ringing, round dance, bells, sleigh, laughter, smiles
8 - Celebration and disclosure of the bride

Speed: fast with transition to deceleration
Possibly: a round dance from transitions to the topic of matchmaking and then to the intro
9 - Bed + children's theme (5 piece)

Speed: slow
Possibly: intro + lullaby
10 - Family portrait

Speed: slow
Possibly: intro + addition
Change of direction. Working with textiles
At some point, I realized that I was having a hard time coping with the current situation and animation. There was an internal breakdown. Perhaps this direction has burned out for me, or it is on this project that it has lost its meaning and interest. Among other things, I realized that for the remaining time I would not be able to make the animation on time in the quality that I would like. So I decided to try Plan D, which was originally on my back-up list.
From the draft illustrations, I selected a few that, even in an abridged version, would reflect the original story of the wedding:
Pattern scheme
I planned the kind of pattern that could be printed on textiles
Interior

I considered several alternative options for how to implement this pattern.


The simplest - printing in the form of a sequential series of illustrations on textiles and design in the form of a picture

Garment
A more interesting option, given my experience in creating the kaftan
for the Size Matters project! and my desire to be involved in the creation of clothing.

Possible clothing options using a pattern:

Finished illustrations for the pattern

and composite view of the pattern

As a piece of clothing, I decided to choose the form of a loose kaftan, which in the future could be worn. I found an oversize pattern and a modern version.
  • Appearance of the kaftan
  • Technical drawing
Pattern mockup for the kaftan pattern:
Printing on fabric. Test 1.
At first I tried to print in Britanka's print office. Previously, I had already gone through induction
and tried to print on this printer, and the print quality suited me at that time.
Since the office uses thermal transfer printing, it was necessary to order a special synthetic fabric (the cost of the fabric is in the figure on the right).

In the beginning, the drawing itself was printed on paper.

The quality of printing details and the collage element turned out to be terrible. There were many defects and creases in the fabric itself (see the video below). It's good that we first printed a test sample of 40 centimeters and it came out at a price of 212 rubles.

The most annoying thing is that the color palette did not match the original at all.
I wanted to save money, but in the end I only lost both in money and in quality. To be honest, I was most embarrassed that the fabric that can be used for this type of printing is synthetic and did not meet my ideas about the original quality and properties of the product. Although I chose a material that was weightless, plastic and soft, the fabric had little in common with natural fabrics and the concept of preserving tradition, at least in the use of materials.
As a result, I decided to give it to a good production with digital printing, which turned out to be much more expensive.
Printing on fabric. Test 2.
Back in the spring, she participated in a textile design competition organized by SOLSTUDIO.
Then I just asked what they do and found out that they have their own production.
They also provide fabrics.
I actively communicated with the manager Pavel and even went to the production to see the fabric samples that they provide.


I took samples of natural fabrics for myself, which I think would suit my project:
I also received instructions from Pavel on how to prepare a sample and made a technical task and prepared a pattern file according to the requirements:
Unfortunately, at the time of ordering the desired fabrics were not available. The only available option was viscose. I decided to print on it. Lightweight flowy fabric.

I received my order 5 days after payment. Printing 3 meters of fabric (color proof) turned out to be 9,000 rubles.
The high price is due to the very small print run.

The print quality fully corresponded to the original drawing and the required colors.

Creation
Book design is the art of incorporating the content, style, format, design, and sequence of the various components of a book into a coherent whole. In the words of Jan Tschichold, "methods and rules upon which it is impossible to improve, have been developed over centuries. To produce perfect books, these rules have to be brought back to life and applied."
Front matter, or preliminaries, is the first section of a book and is usually the smallest section in terms of the number of pages. Each page is counted, but no folio or page number is expressed or printed, on either display pages or blank pages.
Of the features of working with a pattern, ideally it had to be combined at the seams and halves of the parts, so that the drawing and the story would not be interrupted at the junction of the seams.
The final outcome. Post-production. Team
Description and Moodboard for a photo shoot
The embroidery of the ancient Russian costume as a narrative tool told a certain story of a person's life, his status in signs and symbols. I took this idea as a basis and made 16 illustrations that tell about the stage of a woman's life from adolescence to marriage and starting a family. Based on the illustrations, a pattern was created for printing on fabric and then the caftan was sewn.
On the one hand, I keep the tradition of telling the story of life through clothes. On the other hand, I transfer the very image and method of narration to the modern form and environment, as a continuation of the transformation of memories in time.
This is a story about a woman and her memories, which she keeps and transmits through things and states. Illustrations, photographs and caftan are part of her memories.
From conversations with the team:
Show the product itself in its entirety + close-ups-details of the pattern: for example, a piece from the back + head, raised arm + shoulder, hem, what is it.
Something thin, elusive, light, bare legs closer, even if on the stairs and in the city. Here a girl came out of the forest with bare feet and in the city she feels just as free with bare feet.
Outcome
We are ready to keep stories
Team
Huge thanks to my team
who helped me in a short time and due to various circumstances to organize a photo shoot

Model: Yulia Ledovskaya
Photo: Denis Savkin