THESIS STATEMENT
I have struggled a lot with my major and expressing myself through it and through my projects. I find myself going through the same struggles day to day, and often repeating the same days multiple times. I don’t feel very nurtured, nor do I feel I can be as creative as I like to be. So, breaking out of the box and pursuing one of my other passions with the help of graphic design was something that was very appealing to me.
I wanted to create a photo book that replicates how Edgar Wright uses editing to create a stylistic motion picture to learn more about film, editing, and scene-planning. I've been watching a lot of his movies recently, and have been blown away by his editing and framing choices, as well as his on-screen graphics.
THESIS PRESENTATION — 4/18/24
PROJECT INTRODUCTION
As stated before, film is one of my passions. I love watching movies and learning new perspectives, seeing fascinating visuals, and hearing interesting sound design. Film is like a feast for my creative soul. I really wanted to write a love letter to film, and especially to the films of Edgar Wright.
I had never seen any of his movies until this year. I’ve been watching a lot of new films—both artistic and worldly—due to the people I’m becoming closer with. Edgar Wright’s movies, however, really stuck with me. They were so witty and fun, and I enjoyed myself the entire way through. The visuals were amazing, and I was blown away. These visuals really inspired me to want to create my own. I wanted to learn a new skill involving graphic design, not just solve a problem. So, I decided that I would learn how to video edit using Edgar Wright’s style as a base for my project.
Well, the video editing part didn’t work out, so I went with a photo book instead.
PROJECT GOAL
My goals were to educate people (whether they had seen his movies before or not) on Edgar Wright’s style and use it in my photo book, as well as learn a new skill. Because I was no longer video editing, I decided to go the route of a flip photo book. That way, it would still seem kind of in motion.
PROJECT AUDIENCE
My audience was, well, me. I have really wanted to do a project that pursues some of my other passions for a while now, and this was my excuse to do it. Of course, other than myself, my project is for anyone interested in film as well as Edgar Wright’s films specifically.
It is for anyone who also wants to attempt to create something visually similar to Edgar Wright’s films. The book’s description points out certain aspects of his style (on-screen text, timing to music, flashy transitions, etc.) and the photos visualize them.
RESEARCH
A majority of my research came from the films themselves. I took note of how Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010) uses on-screen text and implemented that into my book—
Screencaps from Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010)
—as well as how Hot Fuzz (2007) uses transitions and zoomed shots.
Screencaps from Hot Fuzz (2007)
Even things like Shaun of the Dead (2004), Baby Driver (2017) and Last Night in SoHo (2021)—films that used a lot editing alongside music—were important sources of information for me.
Screencaps from Last Night in SoHo (2021) (Top Left), Shaun of the Dead (2004) (Top Right), and Baby Driver (2017) (Bottom)
From there, I talked to a couple of my friends (as well as my partner and his brother) who are experienced in filmmaking about what film means for them. I also asked them how I would go about getting to what I wanted to achieve. I then moved on to actually trying to create my book.
THE PROCESS
I first started with trying to pin down my narrative: a day in the life of a tired graphic design student. It would show the day-to-day process that I go through: going to class, coming home, eating, doing homework, sleeping, etc. It's meant to be funny, to poke fun at the monotony of it all. After I had my narrative, it was time to start storyboarding what I actually wanted to do.
After I had my storyboards, narrative, and practice photos in, I started working on the photos that would actually make it into the book using what I learned about filmmaking as well as the aspects of Edgar Wright's style. After everything, I had around 252 artboards in my Adobe Illustrator file. That meant I had around 126 pages in my actual photo book. Below, I have a picture of all my photos/pages.
THE COVER
After I had everything I needed, I sent the book off to be printed and designed the cover. Because the project's name was Nancy Cowles's Bachelor's Degree in Monotony, it felt appropriate that the cover should also be in black and white to showcase that monotony.
THE RESULTS
When I had finally received my books, they were beautifully printed. I was very excited about them, and they flipped just as I intended for them too! Here is a sequence from the book that I very much enjoyed.
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, I'm pretty happy with my project. I feel like I did very well considering the restrictions I was given. I wish it could've actually been filmed, even if it were just a small video. I would've really liked to learn video editing. However, I am very glad I got to flex my love for film and do something that was for me for once. It inspires me to want to branch out into other artistic fields in the future, and hopefully I will be able to learn video editing very soon.
References
Visual Sources
“Walk to the Shop” – Shaun of the Dead, Edgar Wright, 2004
“Shaun’s Plan” – Shaun of the Dead, Edgar Wright, 2004
“Police Constable Nicholas Angel” – Hot Fuzz, Edgar Wright, 2007
“Attack on Mr. Skinner” – Hot Fuzz, Edgar Wright, 2007
“Pac-Man Party” – Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World, Edgar Wright, 2010
“You Cocky Cock!” – Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World, Edgar Wright, 2010
“The Bar Fight” – The World’s End, Edgar Wright, 2013
“Bell-Bottoms” – Baby Driver, Edgar Wright, 2017
“How’s Your Dancing?” – Last Night in Soho, Edgar Wright, 2021
“Intro Credits” – Baby Driver, Edgar Wright, 2017
Informational Sources
Reality-TV. (2021). A Guide to the Films of Edgar Wright. IMBD.
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0942367/videogallery?ref_=nm_ov_vi_sm
Vanity Fair. (November 15th, 2021). Edgar Wright Breaks Down Scenes from 'Shaun of
the Dead,' 'Last Night in Soho' & More. YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJ0aFq1ve0M&t=1158s
Every Frame a Painting. (May 27th, 2014). Edgar Wright – How to Do Visual Comedy.
YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FOzD4Sfgag
konradnoises. (October 24th, 2017). Edgar Wright – How to Edit to the Beat. YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxw7LGGNLYY
David A. Cook. (1980). A History of Narrative Film (5th Edition). University of North
Carolina. WWNorton.
Matt Zoller Seitz. (October 8th, 2013). The Wes Anderson Collection. Abrams, New York.
Linda McCartney. (September 16th, 2019). The Polaroid Diaries. Taschen Books.
Stephen Shore. (1982). Uncommon Places: The Complete Works. Aperture.
Fandor. (August 31st, 2018). The Relentlessly Stylized Energy of Edgar Wright. YouTube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltYMR0c4oak
Accidentally Wes Anderson (2017). https://accidentallywesanderson.com/
