Lorelei

Hello and welcome to the Lorelei Project website page, specifically created for my Graduation. The videos that I have made for this project are using the Lorelei Method, about which you can read further down below where I uploaded all my videos and tell you more about my process.

I hope you'll enjoy

(Any links and documents can be found on the page down below, also beware spoilers!)

The Lorelei Method

The Lorelei Method is a way of working that I have created during this project, hence the name.

(This method is still a work in progress!)

It's a combination of two parts within a video:

The first part is the story that you tell, this can be through many different means whether it's audio or visual. For my project I chose to animate Lorelei's story.
The second part is the deep dive into that story, it can be about how it was created, who created it, why it was created, details about the characters, the backgrounds and the story itself. As long as it is related to the story that has been shown or told at the beginning.

Adding a note to warn for spoilers or perhaps triggering elements that the deep dive might bring to light is something I personally did add to the videos, but is not always necessary depending on the story that is being told or shown.

Also important to add: both parts can equally fulfil other themes. I went for entertainment with my story and informational for my deep dives, even edging on educational for some. Those don't have to be the themes you have to work with when using the method, be creative make it however you want. I certainly did.

Artistic Vision

As a storyteller I use my art as a medium to tell many different stories. My art is but an extension of my mind that keeps creating tales. I believe that stories can connect people all over the world, no matter what kind of story it is. Anyone can relate to a sad frog that needs to finish it’s chores but doesn’t want to. None of us are frogs, but we all have chores we don’t want to do.

The power of a story is great, a bad tale can bring whole nations down and a good tale can create nations from the ground up, as long as enough people believe in either one. As a storyteller, I don’t wish to create stories with this big of a power, but I do hope that through the stories I create people find connections with others by sharing the same enjoyment or dislike for my work.

Both ways would help me grow as a storyteller and artist. I will continue to work hard to keep improving the stories that I create, how I artistically enhance the experience and finally how I share them with the world.

Lorelei | Animated Story part 1 - Lore and Speed paint

This was the first video in the Lorelei series, this video took the longest to make for I had to figure out who Lorelei was first I also had to understand for myself what the Lorelei Method would look like. Luckily this was the first video, which means improvements were on their way.

Below there are some sketches I made as ideas for how this video could visually look like. I decided to go for the one where she was painting. As the light and shadow play of the scene was most interesting to me, though all returned in some form over the course of the series. With the middle one coming back in video 2 and the one on the right returning in video 4.

Lorelei | Animated Story part 2 - Programs and Apps

With this being the second video, I had already made some improvements and decided to dive right into the story. In the first video I had already hinted at the unopened envelopes on the table, now she received yet another one. Though in this video you don't learn more about these envelopes, as the viewers had to wait for part 3 for that information to be outed.

In the animator's cut of the video, I spoke about all the programs I had already worked with and why I would or wouldn't recommend them. I also mentioned Pro Create and Pro Create Dreams for I used both apps on this project, due to the fact I might not be able to work with Adobe after the academy.

Lorelei | Animated Story part 3 - What do you create and Why

Video 2's improvements, continued into video 3. Here I hinted at the envelopes being from the Lord of the region, threatening Lorelei to come to dinner. When those didn't work, he sent his son. Who we already saw hinted at in video 2, as the shadow in the left corner. The video ended on some kind of cliff-hanger, for you see she went to the Lord's home but you don't know what will happen next.

For the animator's cut I spoke about how important it is to understand the why behind what you create. My supervisors had encouraged me to answer this for myself too for I struggled with this. So I went through the whole process in the video to find my final answers.

Lorelei | Animated Story part 4 - How I work

Video 4 is where the drama increased. Lorelei found herself in an interrogation with her old enemy. The one who turned her into a vampire, the Lord of the region. It takes a while, but when she finally blows up, all the information is out. He is the monster that created both her and his son. He caused them this immense emotional pain only for his own gain. Of course, the Lord does not agree and wishes her dead.

In the animator's cut, I finally spoke about my whole process as a maker, this was the first thing I had wished to do, but sometimes other things are just far more important. The video speaks for itself on this part.

Lorelei | Animated Story part 5 - The end of an era

With the graduation period coming to an end I had to find a good spot to end the series for now too. Already having figured out that the Lorelei series would need much more care and attention in other means. In this part, Lorelei emotionally broke. I speak more on this in the video itself during the animator's cut.

Something I do wish to address here is them using quotes from the poem of Beowulf. One of the if not the oldest surviving old English poem in England. Both of them have lived long lives already, their choice of quote hints at their inner struggle. Lorelei, telling him to tell of her death to others when it finally comes. The young lord telling her he'll come for her, for the fight is far from over.

Lorelei | All Animated Stories combined part 6 - Enjoy!

This last part was my wish to add all the animated parts together, for not everyone wishes to follow a whole series with an animator's cut. Sometimes you just want the story parts. This allowed me to add an introduction to Lorelei's story, whilst showing her living through the ages. I tried to dress her accordingly to the location and the time period that she'd be in. For there are differences per country in Europe over the years.

Though a fashion historian would most likely tell you that they aren't fully historically accurate and that's okay, I tried my best to make them as well as I could.