Wednesday 22 January 2014

The Final Piece!!

After taking on board the comments from my presentation, here it is, my final animation:



Overall, the feedback and comments I've received for this have been very positive! I think finishing the backgrounds and adding some audio definitely helped make this piece better - bringing it alive, giving the characters some ground and giving the audience and idea of perspective/distance.

Monday 20 January 2014

Audio

The last thing I had to do to complete my animation was to find audio to go with my film.
My plan from the start has been to just use simple sound effects of a dog panting, birds for the background noise, barking, the contact of tail/hand on ball and breaking glass (for when the ball smashes into the camera). I thought this would be the most appropriate for exploring the natural instincts of animals and I wasn't sure what style of music to go with anyway...

The obvious place to look for sound is Youtube, since there's all kinds of videos on there, and some people kindly record sounds specifically for people to upload! 
There are also a few websites such as "Freesound.org", which is dedicated to providing and sharing sound effects between users.


Once I had found all of the sounds I wanted, I downloaded them and opened them with the software "Audacity". This allowed me to select the part of the sound I want and change the volume of it, so it all sounds appropriate with the section it will accompany and it won't blow anyone's ears out...

Audacity.

The timeline which you drag your curser around to select the clip you want.

The sound adjustment.

After exporting all the right files, it was just a case of putting them into Photoshop in the right places.

You place and move the audio in the same way that you control your frames, so it was just a case of lining them up and timing it right.

Final Improvements

After presenting my work so far, I needed to take the feedback I received on board and improve my animation.

The first step was to flip a scene of my animation; because before it looked a bit odd with the camera angles I had used, so I changed the dog running scene:
Original

Final Cut

I decided this would be the best scene to change, since all of my other scenes indicate the ball was thrown from right to left.
After I had sorted out the dog's direction, I could start creating a background for that same scene, so that the audience knows how fast he is running.
For both of these tasks, I drew the image, selected the area I wanted, and moved it along slightly, or rotated it until it looked right.

The next task I had to do was finish the backgrounds; to make the sky blue and fill in any white gaps I had missed out until now.
I think I have successfully managed to keep to the same style I originally started with, but I tried to keep the trees in the very back very simple, so they don't take attention away from the action!



Another important thing I had to change was the guy's throw. It was suggested by one of my tutors in order to make it look better, I should exaggerate the arc he forms further then I originally did.

Original


Final Piece

Looking at them side by side I realise my tutor was right, it does look slightly better now he has extended further back.

The final task I had to do was add facial features to my animals. I decided to keep them simple, with black dots for eyes and a small oval nose for the dog, because I think that suits the colouring and rest of the style better.




Hopefully all of these changes will make my animation better!

Presentation...

So today my whole class had to present their final animations... This is what I had to show them:



Overall they were impressed with the motion of the animals, saying the dog's run cycle was "spot on"!
One of the main things we discussed was the lack of audio, and how the sound effects will really bring my piece alive. I have to say, I agree with my tutor; I'm hoping adding sound will complete the animation and go well with the movements.
Another thing asked was about the references I've used. My tutor said he can distinguish the different quality of animation at the start - where I had used no reference, compared with the run cycle where I looked at the sketches on Youtube and the book "Animators Survival Kit".
To improve the run cycle further, it was suggested that I add a background that moves with the dog to show the distance and speed he's running; I agree since this will ground him and show where abouts he is moving.


Saturday 18 January 2014

Roobarb

I love the quirky, lively feel that all the 70's hit TV show Roobarb and Custard episodes have:



Every frame was hand drawn by Bob Godfrey's team, which explains why the pictures move slightly as it plays through.
It's noticeable that some of the frames have been looped, to make the sequence longer; this is a useful technique so you don't have to draw the images over and over again. Despite this, I think using this technique too much could make the animation look simplistic... But it's is good for it's time!
I also like this style for the simplistic colours, and how they aren't completely blocked in; giving it an old fashioned feel.



I think drawing is a good technique for beginners to use and study since it doesn't matter how perfect the images are, as long as they move fluently.


Wednesday 15 January 2014

Colour

Now that I'm happy with the movements of my animation, I'm ready to start colouring it.

When I coloured the squirrel, I used a picture as reference online, and noticed the different shades in the fur.
Because of the style I am using, I decided to narrow down the shades and make it as basic as possible, since he will be moving so fast anyway! I think the outlines help define the shapes properly (this goes for all my drawings!) since the background is as bright as the characters. Using different types of strokes for the tail I think helps show the different textures of the animal, since the tail is a lot fluffier then the rest of him.



For the human, I firstly had to decide on the skin colour. I thought a paler colour would be better for standing out on all backgrounds, so I just had to experiment with how pale:
Experiments for the skin of my human


Once I had coloured him in, he needed a colourful shirt. All the colours I have used have to stand out on all backgrounds, including the green grass in the first scene. I decided a dark red was quite opposite of green and blue, and generally a nice colour for a jumper.

Experiments for the colour of my guy's jumper


The last major thing I had to colour was my dog. I wasn't sure which would be best in contrast with the backgrounds so I looked it up on google and found lots of dogs with similar colours to this:


Using that as a basis, I experimented with different brushes on Photoshop to decide which would give me the best texture for the dog.


I decided a standard painted effect would look best, because based on my camera angles I can use just one block colour throughout.


Rough Animation

I'm pleased to say I have drawn all the outlines and movements for my final piece!


Overall I am pleased with what I have produced; apart from the second scene where I still need to look at references to make the animation better quality.

I'm most pleased with my squirrel's jump over the log and the run cycle. I think those actions in particular move smoothly, and look like real animals.
I think the main problem with the second scene (throwing) is the ball doesn't fly high enough once he's thrown it, so it doesn't give the impression that it's going very far. It was also suggested that I exaggerate the arc that he moves in, to make the throw look more "manly" and to experiment with the 12 principles of animation properly.

The next stage for me now is to add colour and outlines to the characters, to flesh them out and make sure the movement still works fluently.

Tuesday 14 January 2014

Feedback So Far...

So far I have managed to get most of the outlines/movements roughed out!

My tutor watched it with me saying most of it is good, but suggested I change the size of the squirrel and dog in this scene:



After hearing this we realised the squirrel is too big compared to the dog, since squirrels are supposed to be small creatures. 
In the other scene I have drawn with them together the squirrel is noticeably smaller, but this is easily changed since I can select the image I want and drag it to make him the size I want.

Apart from that, I think most of my other scenes work well:

I managed to include one of the 12 principles of animation: the 'squash and stretch' in scene 6.

The squirrel jumping over the log in scene 4 works really well, nice and smooth action with the tail following in pursuit.


After watching the dog jump over the log in scene 5, my tutor referred this action to looking like Jake the dog from the TV series 'Adventure Time', which was one of my inspirations for this animation.

Looking at the reference video I found a couple of months ago, I'm proud of how my dog's run cycle has turned out; the legs move smoothly and it works as an image staying in the same place - If I get the background moving across the screen then it'll further enhance the dog's movement.

Overall, I think my film is going well, if I change the first couple of scenes (using reference to study the movements properly) then I will be quite pleased with it so far!

Sunday 12 January 2014

Looney Tunes

Looney Tunes was one of two most popular programmes to be shown in movie theatres from 1942 into the 60's, beating it's competitors (Disney, Paramount's Famous Studios, Universal's Walter Lantz Productions) during the short film era of cartoons.




I think Looney Tunes is a good thing, for animation students in particular, to watch, because it uses the 12 principles of animation as often as it can, which is useful to observe and learn from when applying it to your own animations. 

They always have short, but funny stories to their cartoons, expressing the character's emotions with exaggerated facial expressions or motions; not necessarily dialogue or narrative all the time...


Gertie the Dinosaur - Winsor McCay

Made in 1914, this animation was the first of its kind, to be projected and presented for an audience to see "Gertie" following instructions and interact with a man reading a script.



It was the first animation to use keyframes, animation loops and tracing paper! Winsor McCay wanted Gertie to have an appealing personality, so acted her out as a pet abiding or not listening to McCay as he spoke her.

I think seeing this animation live in action for the first time would have been a ground breaking and inspirational thing for its time, since it has fluid movements that accurately represent how an animal moves.


Adventure Time

Recently I've enjoyed watching the TV series 'Adventure Time', for it's simple yet quirky style and colours, and frankly the characters are just awesome!
It's looking into the lives of Jake the dog and Finn the Human, and their adventures as they help people and save them from bad guys...


It was created by Pendelton Ward, a man who now works for Cartoon Network. He was inspired by the role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons and various video games, which shows through the episodes! 
Every frame is hand-drawn, and it can take up to 8 or 9 months to completely produce and make one episode!
Overall smooth animation, but random story lines! But it works because of the quality of animation.

When I drew different possibilities for visual styles, I drew Jake the dog as one of the ideas. It could have been interesting to draw a similar character to him!



This being said, I decided not to use him since I don't want to copy too much from anyone else. So I used some of his stretching qualities in my animation instead, particularly in scene 5 (did I mention Jake is magic?!)


Sleeping Beauty

Sleeping Beauty, although has similar storyline to Snow White and Cinderella, is visually completely different.
The reason Walt Disney chose to produce a film like this was because the roots of the story were so successful in Snow White and Cinderella, with one main heroine who finds love in the end.
It started in 1951, writing a rough script for the film, based on the story "La Belle au Bois Dormant", and finally being released in 1959! However it only had 5 chapters in it, so the writers had to re-visit it to add more action to make it exciting and captivating for audiences. For his previous films, Disney felt they had added more gag sequences and sub plots to fill the time, but with Sleeping Beauty wanted to focus on the main plot and characters.




To make this film stand out from its predecessors, he wanted to change the visual style, where the other fairy tales - Snow White and Cinderella - had a rounded look, Sleeping Beauty was more stylised and modern, which I believe results in beautiful images.
The actual cell-frames themselves were all coloured in ink individually, and designed by a man called Eyvind Earle; but this kind of production took one week per painting rather then the average one day for the other films.



This was the first and last feature length film to be stylised and created in this way, simply because it was too expensive to produce, with little profits made at the end.

Saturday 11 January 2014

Toy Story

Toy Story is the first ever fully computer generated feature length film, and one of my favourites!

It's also the first ever full length film produced by Pixar Animation Studios, as previously they had only made short films, including; The Adventures of Andre & Wally B, Tin Toy, and Knick Knack.
Walt Disney Pictures approached Pixar after seeing their successful short: Tin Toy, with the idea to expand the world through a toy's perspective further. So after many trials and re-writing the whole script, they created this masterpiece:





What I find interesting about this film is the advanced computer technology they used, and what a revelation it was to the animating world at the time. Maybe this is why it was the top-grossing film on it's opening weekend, because nobody had seen anything quite like it before.

I love the characters, and development of them from drawings to 3D computer designs:
The original design and attitude of "Woody" before they changed the script






I find it interesting to see alternative designs for characters, since they could have changed the whole mood and feel to the film if the artists had gone with different designs. But they had to consider the audience and what would appeal to them, so the original "Woody" wouldn't have been a good viewing for children since he had a bad attitude and was mean to the other characters. This was what the producers called "Black Friday" because it looked like the film would have been a complete disaster, they almost considered cancelling production all together.
But instead they changed Woody to make him friendlier and likeable to the viewers, despite his mistakes during the plot:, and came up with these as just two of all the final character 3D designs:



It was released the year I was born (1995), and I've seen a lot of other films made in the same way, but I don't think any of them captivated me as much as Toy Story did, since it was the first ever of it's kind; a true revelation to our newly modern world.

The Adventures of Andre & Wally B

Pixar's first short film; The Adventures of Andre and Wally B (1984). The reason they created this film was so they could experiment with character animation in 3D.
Because technology wasn't as advanced back then, John Lasseter (character designer and animator for this short) talks about the restraints of having to design the characters in perfectly symetrical shapes, in circles, cylinders, so that it would work in 3D.
Here you can see the development from the initial ideas and concept design to the final cut:




It's a significant period in time because Lasseter could have created something completely different to this, something ordinary like a robot. But this film showed audiences that Lucasfilm (later to be renamed Pixar) weren't afraid to experiment, and admit what looks good or bad, which really pins the start of their success as an animating company: