Saturday 30 November 2013

Blik - Bastiaan Schravendeel

A nice example of 3D animation:


Blik from Polder Animation on Vimeo.

I like the character design, because its simple and doll-like without faces and simple colours. I don't think an animation needs facial expressions to tell what the characters are feeling.
The lighting on it is really nice, casting shadows to make the piece feel properly 3D.
The movements are very realistic, it feels like it has been rotoscoped over recorded film.
It feels quite pixilated in places which ruins the effect, but I still think it's a nice style generally.
However, the story isn't as interesting spread out over 8 minutes; if it had been cut shorter without unnecessary scenes then it would have been better.

Wednesday 27 November 2013

Tarzan - Ideas Generation

Another of my final ideas involves having two men, or monkeys (haven't decided yet!) in a jungle, having a race swinging on the vines through the jungle. In the story, one of the characters will swing into a tree - because they weren't watching where they were going - and the other character wins.

I instantly thought of "Tarzan" or "George of the Jungle" when I thought of different environments on Earth, so I found these test runs of Tarzan that could be a good reference for when I'm animating:



Dogs - Ideas Generation

One of my final ideas involves a dog going to fetch a stick, which the owner has thrown into the water.
If I was to animate this, I will need some reference to see how the dog moves in different conditions.

This is a good example of a run cycle. This would be a good camera angle to use, as it would allow me to practice drawing the proper movements of a dog.



This owner decided to study and record his dog as it swims to get his toy. It shows a good variety of angles to see the dog from all different perspectives, which will be useful to observe how a typical dog acts!



However, for this narrative to work I need something else to happen in the story... I could turn it into a funny pun where the dog runs into a tree on his way back from the water, or when the owner throws the stick the dog runs back with a tree or something bigger; just to bring the story alive.

The Classical Elements

Our class were asked to think carefully about our new brief: Animation process and production. Since the whole brief is based on creating one animation, it allows us to go through the full process of making an animated film.

So I asked myself, what comes first? ... For me it's writing down all words/thoughts that relate to the elements given to us in the brief: Fire, Water, Earth and Air.

After writing these down, I can see words that stand out to me as ideas. I think either Earth or Water would be the most interesting/simple elements to base my project on, since the animation we have to make must contain a narrative, I can see the most short stories being made out of these.

Saturday 9 November 2013

Final Piece - Jack in the Box!

After much planning, persistence, and so many test runs, I managed to finish the final piece! Here it is:



The tests I made before this were moving too fast. This is because on Photoshop I completed the wrong settings, which means the timings on the frames were different to 12 frames per second (which is what I filmed it at!) So when I tried to export the video, it would play really fast.
To change this I saw the little frames at the bottom and changed how long they stay on the screen for, from 0 seconds to 0.08 seconds.



Overall I think I've achieved quite a lot in a short space of time; practicing the pendulum technique with the spinning lever, getting different camera angles, and trying to get the speed right with the movement of the boxing glove.

I used key frames in the sequence with the lever:


Using these frames layered on top of each other on a light box, I was able to work out where the in between frames should be placed. After drawing these 4 frames, I drew a circle around the outside to make sure the lever stayed the same length the whole cycle.

I tried to get the timing so that it would look like it clicked, rather then run smoothly, because I think that would have created a more authentic jack in the box. You can kind of see it, faintly, but the sequence runs too fast to be able to tell.

I used the same frame rate for the scene after, with the high angle of the box, to make it look like the same lever moving. Despite it being shifty - the table not staying in exactly the same place - I think this effect gives the animation a more lively tone to it, rather then just a lever moving:


For the boxing glove sequence, I wish I had created more impact with the glove-on-box, because that would have exaggerated the action further, and maybe made it slightly more comical. However I'm happy with how the glove moves; the speed of it and the little bounce after the impact. If I could go over it again, I would add even more of a recoil to emphasise the overlapping technique:


The concept of the last scene works quite well, as it shows the puppet inside is scared/cautious of what just hit it, so appears for a sneaky peak. I could have made the sequence longer, to show how scared the puppet is, but I think the movement of the eyes works well:



Overall, I'm proud of what I've made in the short amount of time I had to make it! If I could go back on it, I would add sound, just to bring the piece alive! However, I might do once I learn how...
But anyway, back to the present! I practiced some of the techniques and processes I've learnt through the whole project on this task, and I think I pulled them off quite well! I hope you think the same...



Flipbook - Petr Jindra

This is a good example of flipbook animation, as it's allowing the drawings to interact with the person flipping the book.


flipbook from Petr Jindra on Vimeo.

Jindra created a nice, smooth action, getting the timing right with the frog! The character design makes the frog more entertaining to watch, as some of its features have a hint of secondary action - the squash of the eye after it lands, for example - which makes it look smoother but realistic at the same time.

Jack in the Box Development

My final idea requires several objects; a box, table and boxing gloves.
So I thought the easiest way to decide what these things will look like would be to draw them out. I couldn't decide what a boxing glove looked like, so drew out several interpretations:


I think the 3rd design looks the best (second from bottom), as it's simple with a cartoony style. I chose this over the others because I prefer the thumb positioned this way, and the simple stitches in the wrist part look better with this design then the crosses.

I then had to think about what other aspects of the film will look like, and what tool I will draw with (not meaning to sound like a builder!) 
Looking in the top left corner of the picture below I used several different media to see which would look best for my animation... And I went with the biro! Because it has the most constant black line, although very similar to the fine liner, I thought the biro would straighten up the edges to my lines.


Going over my other drawings on this page with the biro makes me think I've made the right choice, because it makes the image clear. So I drew different angles of the box, including how it will look damaged, to discover what the lever will look like and figure out in my mind how it will move...
Using the boxing glove designs I created earlier I illustrated my final choice onto this design sheet, and I think it suits well with the style of the other drawings. 
I also need different angles of the table I will have in the background, hopefully to set the right scene. The change in camera angles should keep my film more interesting, and build up a bit of suspense as the lever winds up!

Now that I've decided what it will look like, I'm ready to make the actual film! 


Monday 4 November 2013

Jack in the Box Final Idea...

So I followed what I previously wrote as a final idea, and came up with this:


I decided to draw in the last scene because it will show me what it should look like if I do decide to draw it in. This being said, I will draw the other scenes first and see how the film looks, and how much time I have left before presenting it to my fellow animators!
The positioning of the box in scene 4 allows the viewers to see the boxing glove appear more clearly, and having the shots the same in scene 4 and 5 makes the impact of the glove-on-box more apparent, having more of an effect on audiences.

I think the idea would look better drawn out over a light box onto layout paper, because hopefully this will give it a flickery, old fashioned effect.

The most accurate way to get the action right is to use a reference... So I found this on youtube:



The music lasts for approximately 9 seconds before the puppet pops up... My animation is supposed to be between 5-10 seconds so I will have to shorten the music sequence for mine.

I also looked up the movement of a boxing glove on a spring:



The spring is slow to start with, then it pops and moves faster. So this means for my animation as it hits the box I will have to make fewer frames to give the impression that it's moving faster, and bounces softer and softer as a secondary action (aftermath of the impact between box and glove).