Progress 5

This week is mainly for purchasing materials and start my practice on clay making.

This is my sketch of the basic diorama.

The scene on the top left corner is a screenshot from my favorite film, Heidi. (2015) It happens at  01:38:20 when Klara reunites with Heidi and plays with her on the Alps mountains.

Plot:

After living for several years with her Aunt Dete (Anna Schinz), young orphan Heidi (Anuk Steffen) is brought to live in the Swiss Alps with her elderly grandfather, Alpöhi (Bruno Ganz). Despite being known as a fearsome recluse, he soon grows to love Heidi. She quickly befriends the goatherd, Peter (Quirin Agrippi), a boy slightly older than her. For the next few years, Heidi grows up happily with her grandfather, although she wishes to attend school in the village with the other local children.

One day, Aunt Dete unexpectedly returns and tricks Heidi into running away with her to Frankfurt (practically kidnapping her) to become a companion to a young girl from an upper-class family. The girl, Klara (Isabelle Ottmann), is unable to walk and uses a wheelchair; it is implied that she lost use of her legs after the death of her mother. Although her father loves her, he is often away on business, and Klara is left with her strict governess, Fräulein Rottenmeier (Katharina Schüttler). Heidi struggles to read and fit into polite society, but she forms a close bond with Klara.

Klara’s father returns and surprises Klara with a visit from her grandmother, who treats Heidi kindly and encourages her to learn how to read. Despite Heidi showing academic improvement, Klara’s grandmother notices that the girl is unhappy in Frankfurt and informs her son. Klara’s father initially ignores this as his daughter has been happy since Heidi’s arrival. Soon, Heidi’s homesickness manifests in sleepwalking around the house at night, scaring the house staff who had mistaken her for being a ghost. On the doctor’s recommendation, Klara’s father returns Heidi to her grandfather, upsetting Klara who feels that her only friend is abandoning her.

Heidi and Alpöhi joyfully reunite in the Alps. The two quickly settle back into life with each other and Alpöhi allows Heidi to attend school, purchasing a winter residence within the village. Meanwhile, Heidi frequently writes to Klara, who regrets her angry reaction to Heidi leaving. Soon, Klara’s grandmother allows her to visit Heidi in the mountains. The two friends happily reunite, inciting the jealousy of Peter who pushes Klara’s wheelchair off a cliff. He is scolded by Alpöhi and is immediately remorseful of his actions. While playing with Heidi and Peter on the mountains, Klara slowly regains the use of her legs. When her father and grandmother appear to take her home, Klara reveals her ability to walk again. Her father weeps with joy and is grateful to Heidi and Alpöhi for taking good care of his daughter.

Before Klara’s grandmother leaves, she gifts Heidi with a notebook to encourage her dream of becoming a writer. Both families remain good friends and maintain contact with each other.

1. General Project Information

Title: Digital and Paper modeling – Scene in Heidi

Name: Yiqian Zheng

Contact: zheny210@newschool.edu

In this project, I will pick the main scenes in my favorite film Heidi, and remake the scenes digitally as well as handcraft. The digital 3D form will be viewed online by the students and professors. The actual 3D form will be made as a collection and photos will be taken. I might post them on social media so that more people can see.

2. Objectives

I’m going to choose one or two scenes in Heidi and make simplified digital models for them. The target audiences are the students and professors in this class, people that love this film, and people who haven’t watched this film yet. I hope to get more people interest in this film and watch it because it tells a very warm and healing story about family and friends. The scene will be made initially on blender and then turned to the actual installation. The digital form and handcraft will be viewed both online. The handcraft will be constructed with different materials such as wood, paper, cotton, or acrylic paint. 

3. Methodology

First, I’m going to construct the digital model by using blender (Week2-3). Then, I’ll simplify the model by decreasing the number of surfaces, and put it into Unfolder, an application that generates the base graph of paper craft (Week4). After I print out the base graph, I’ll cut and stick each part into 3D paper models.  During the rest of the weeks, I’ll also use other materials to create different textures, such as using cotton to make grassland or mountains. Finally, I put them together as a whole scene and take photos of it. 

Deliverables: Documentation of each process, The picture of digital form, The photos of actual handicraft.

Due date: March 7

4. Budget: The maximum cost of materials is approximately 200 RMB. The cost of printing is approximately 50 RMB.

5. Additional research: I still need to watch tutorials of blender.