Hansel and Gretal

So this semester has been crazy hectic!  As a result I didn't have a lot to post here during the semester, but I finally have something to show for my efforts now that it's over.  So this is stuff from my absolute favorite class so far, Visual Elements of Story, taught by Nicolas Villarreal.  For the class we are given a few stories that we can pick from.  We have to pick one to work with throughout the semester.  If we want we can change the story up some, but it still has to be the original story at its core.  I picked Hansel and Gretal, placed it back in the 1920's and focused it around the circus (two things I am in love with).   

This is Gretal.  After Fighting with her mom she decides she is going to run away to the circus.  She is stubborn, bratty, and bullies her brother to come with her.  Although she presents herself as confident and arrogant she is secretly afraid and needs him by her side to feel brave.

This is Hansel.  He is terrified of the world and does whatever his overpowering sister tells him to do.  All though the prospect of running away scares him to death he wants to prove to his big sister that he can be brave.  So he goes along with her, shaking in his boots the whole way.  He builds a "hobo stick" out of a homemade fishing pole and his mothers scarf so he can be an "official runaway".  

This is Biscuit.  He is in the dog show in the circus, but due to his short comings is the reject of the show.  Hansel and Gretal find him hiding underneath the bleachers in the circus.  Hansel wants to keep him, while Gretal thinks he is too stupid and will just be a nuisance.  Hansel offers him a Biscuit (hence why he is named Biscuit) and decides to bring him along with them.   In the end to repay the favor he saves them from the witch.

This is Violette or "the Violette Witch".  She, like many witches, wants to live forever and be permanently youthful and beautiful.  In order to do so she takes the youth of young children.  So she sets a large scale trap and hypnotizes a circus into being her personal children magnet.  When parents bring their children in or runaways show up to the show, she lures them away to her gypsy tent with her hypnotizing looks.  There she gives them poison laced candy and then proceeds to steal their youth. 

When amongst a crowd Violette looks beautiful and alluring. But when "feasting" on the youth of children her true side will come out.

This is the scene where Hansel and Gretal are first approaching the circus tent.

This is the scene where Hansel and Gretal find Biscuit under the bleachers.

For the final presentation we needed to make boards with everything we did during the semester.  I split mine into Gretal, the other characters, and the compositions.  If I had more money for printing I would have split the composition board so that it was one composition per page.  It feels too tight as it is.  Oh well!  Things to know for next time.

I loved this class so much!  I wish I could take it again.  It was so much fun to go through the process of designing everything on a story from beginning to end.  I think I'll keep doing things like this outside of class for my own practice.