Applied Animation: The Model Part 4

In today's session we continued to make the mold for our 3D models. It was pretty much the same as last weeks session, as the process was the exact same as last week. However, this week didn't go as well for me as I had a small issue with the plaster leaking out of the clay. It wasn't a big disaster, but it is still something that I'd have liked to avoid, as it made separating the two slabs of plaster a little more difficult than it should have been.

Despite running into that minor issue, I did manage the second part of the task quite easy. In order to split the plaster, we had to soak the molds in luke-warm water to activate the soapy substance we had painted onto the mold before pouring in the second layer of plaster. This made the seperation process a lot easier, as it meant that the two sheets of plaster didn't glue together. 

Overall, I am really pleased with today's progress and I feel that I did well for my first attempt. I feel confident that I'd be able to do this process again with little support and fix the issues that I had this time round.

Can't wait for next week!

Applied Animation: Treatment

Finally came up with a treatment that I feel I can work with! I've been bouncing around with a few ideas for the past few days and haven't been able to decide on a definite story line and I'm not going to lie it's been frustrating. On the plus side I do feel as though I am on track with this project and that my time management is a lot better than in previous projects (I hope it continues).

So after colour coding sections of the book that I want to use to guide my story line for my title sequence, I decided to write down, in more detail, the different aspects of each section of the animation. From this I was able to sort through the mess of thoughts in my mind and figure out what it was that I actually wanted this title sequence to be. It took a lot of work (and a lot of cup of teas) but in the end I came up with an idea that I am fairly confident will lead me to produce a good piece of successful animation.

Now that I have my treatment and my idea is a solid one, I can begin to think about creating my storyboards and animatic.

Visual Language: Turn Around

At first I really struggled choosing an object for this study task, as I really wanted something that was going to challenge me, yet I didn't want it to be too difficult. But I don't own many interesting objects and the final choice was between a Tangled ornament that I had or a seagull ornament. Naturally I chose to do the Tangled ornament.

In all honesty I thought this task was going to be a breeze, that I'd get it done in a few hours, touch it up and be done with it. But no, this wasn't the case at all. In fact it took me a good 12 hours to get all 12 frames drawn and even then the character changed in size throughout the animation and moved around a little. That'll teach me to assume that things will be easy!

Despite the fact that I found this task quite difficult I did actually really enjoy it and it has taught me a lot about the level of skill in terms of how controlled I can keep my drawings and how confident I am at my own line making. I don't feel as though I am lacking too much confidence when I make a line on a piece of paper, but I do feel that I could benefit from committing to the lines I make more, as this will make my drawings a lot smoother and they will look better, as the confidence in my own skills will be visible through my line making. 

Overall, I am pleased with my first attempt at a turn around and I feel that I have done a good job. However, there are some improvements that need to be made. For a start I need to remove all the 'grungy' smudges from around the drawing, as it kind of ruins the whole thing and makes it look really messy. I also need to make sure that all the frames are lined up correctly to prevent the character from moving around the page. I also need to re-do a few of the frames, as she grows as the animation progresses and it looks a bit silly. 

I think I will make these adjustments and possibly render the frames in pen to make the drawings look neater and the animation as a whole tidier. 

Applied Animation: Stardust

I chose to look at this title sequence because of its fantasy theme, plus I also really like the film. Unfortunately I can't find a clip or any images to show on here (sad times yet again).

Film cover for Stardust.

This title sequence is more of a setting the scene kind of title sequence in which there is a lot of live action going on and little of the titles at all. Despite this, I really like this opening scene when it gets going and actually reaches the titles. Throughout the opening scene I feel that I am drawn to the use of camera angles and the way they have been used to take the audience through the environments and the way they have been used to lead the story forward. There are some really interesting ones and I feel that I am actually moving through the environment rather than standing back and simply watching. 

Example of one of the camera angles used.

Another I like about this title sequence is the simplicity of the title. I don't feel that the title is too 'flashy' or in your face like some titles can be, and I feel that it fits in really well with the overall theme and mood of the film. This is something that I should consider thoroughly, as it is a significant part of the title sequence and could effect the overall mood and tone of the animation if it were done wrong. 

Screen shot of the title.

A final thing I like about this title sequence is the way it uses both live action and animation and combines them together to help tell the story. I feel that this helps to portray the idea that this is a fantasy film and I just really like the way the live actions transitions into the animation.

Example of animation used in title sequence.

Applied Animation: A Series of Unfortunate Events - End Credits

Okay so I know this isn't technically an opening title sequence but it is a credit sequence, so I'm going to class it as it counts. Compared to the title sequence, I feel that the credit sequence is incredibly well crafted and is beautifully made. I love the overall aesthetic of it and I feel that this would have worked a lot better at the start of the film than what they actually used, as I feel that it captures the mood and tone of the story really well and helps to set the scene a lot better than a happy little elf, which plays no relevance to the film whatsoever.

Jamie Caliri uses stop motion animation to create a beautiful visual representation of the story. I feel that this captures the mood and tone of the book really well and I even feel that the soundtrack helps to do so too. Although I won't be using stop motion within my own title sequence, I really like the effect that this has on the sequence and I feel that style is sympathetic to the book.

I really like the way the text comes onto the screen, it doesn't stay stationary for very long making it appear more interesting than just ordinary text. I also really love the textures and the colours used within this sequence, as I feel that they also really help to convey the atmosphere of the story. Overall, this animation has made me think about the importance of colour combinations and the way I present things such as text and also the way I use my camera angles to take the audience through a story.

Applied Animation: The Model Part 3

The third session of modelling that we did last week was by far the best for me so far. We continued to work towards making the mold for the foam model that we will make in the last session. I found it really fun and interesting to see how molds were made from Plasticine models and I really enjoyed using the clay. I actually found molding the clay a lot easier than I did the Plasticine, as I found that the material was a lot easier to manipulate. Before I could use the clay however, I had to make a few adjustments to my character in order to make the process a little easier. In order to prevent damage to both the Plasticine and foam model I had to remove the hood of my character so the plaster wouldn't gather in the gap and rip he hood off when it came time to remove the Plasticine model from the clay. I'm really interested to see how I will attach it afterwards though.

I found this task quite simple and I am really pleased with how simple I found the whole process. Not only that, but I am also pleased with how much quicker I worked on this task than in other sessions. I feel as though my skills are increasing and I feel confident that I will be able to do this again with a lot more confidence and with a lot more ease.

Applied Animation: Guardians of The Galaxy

This is a film that I have watched recently and I decided to look more closely at the title sequence because I really liked the way the scene, mood and atmosphere was set within it. I also really liked how the story as introduced through the title sequence. Plus the aesthetic of the overall sequence is really appealing to me.

I really love how the character within the title sequence contradicts the environment he is in. I feel that it somewhat draws more attention to the environment, as his behaviour is out of the norm for the situation he is in. Another reason I like this title sequence is because of how successful the environment is at portraying the mood and atmosphere of the situation. Again, the colours used within the environment are extremely effective in helping to create the mood within this scene, as many people associate certain colours with certain moods and actions or events.

I also really like the titles within this sequence and how they are presented. I like the fact that they don't distract from the main action, but they are still visible and noticeable to the audience. I also really like how they stand out against the background yet fit with the theme and tone of the film. This is something I will need to seriously consider when creating my own title sequence, as I feel that getting the text right, if I choose to have any, will also have an effect on the tone of the title sequence.

Applied Animation: Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events

I chose to look at this title sequence because I feel that the mood and tone of the book that this film was adapted from has a similar style and mood to the book that I'm looking at for this project. Both of these books contain a nonsensical element and strong sense of fantasy and a slight sense of darker humour. I wanted to explore how the mood and tone of the book was achieved through this title sequence in order to gain some more insight into how to do the same for my title sequence.

The film itself opens up with an animated sequence that is completely off topic and completely irrelevant, or so it would appear, to the story that actually commences throughout the film and then it cuts to a scene in which the narrator introduces the story. The title sequence creates this sense of false happiness and lulls the audience into a false sense of security before telling them of the real nature of the film. I'm not quite sure why the film does this, or whether it holds any actual relevance to the film other than to show the contrast between happy little elves and reality, so I don't think this is something I will try myself, but I do feel that the latter part of the title sequence captures the mood and tone of the story very well.

Couldn't find the video. Sad times

I feel that the mood and atmosphere is captured mostly through the use of colour, or in this case the lack of it. The colour pallet consists of very dull, grim colours that are related to things such as dismay, dingy areas, gloom, depressing things, etc. It also implies a serious tone to the story as, there is a lack of 'happy' bright colours that would suggest a more relaxed, playful and cheerful environment. Overall, I feel that the atmosphere created through the use of colour can be very effective and I'd like to experiment with creating moods through the us of colour within my own work. I feel creating a mood board would be beneficial to me. 

Applied Animation: Final Idea

After deciding to look at the first 10 pages of the story (because I realised that this book doesn't actually have chapters even though I've been looking at this book for the past week), I began to colour code different references from the book that I thought would help me to begin designing certain aspects of my title sequence, such as environments, characters, story line, etc. It also gave me more of an insight into the kind of sounds that are present within the story and what kind of sounds I need to be looking at that will be sympathetic to the style of the book.

From this I was able to create a spider diagram of my final ideas for the title sequence. I was able to narrow down certain aspects and begin to think about what I need to start considering in order for this idea to move forward. I began to think about the story line more specifically and what events and actions I wanted to take place within my title sequence and more importantly, what order I wanted them to be in. I also began to make plans for moving forward with things such as the character design, environment design and sounds. In particular I want to experiment with different sounds and the concept of using a soundtrack for my title sequence, in order to gain an insight into which would help to create the stronger, more appropriate atmosphere for my sequence. I also need to experiment with dialogue and figure out what kind of effect this has on the overall tone and mood of the animation. In terms of environments, I really want to focus upon creating rich environments that are sympathetic to the tone of the book I have chosen. However, I'm not sure whether I want my environments, or my characters for that matter, to be detailed or not and this is also something I need to experiment with. Camera angles is another thing that keeps flittering to the front of my mind and I feel that I would benefit greatly from experimenting with a various selection of them for each important scene in order to find the one that best conveys the mood of that particular event or action within the book. In terms of method, I want to improve my general skills within digital animation and explore creating more surreal and more in depth environments through this technique. Overall, I feel that this has given me a really good foothold that I can begin to build my idea from and I am looking forward to starting on some of the designs.

Applied Animation: Refined Ideas

I have finally refined the ideas swirling around my messy mind and have come up with a few good starting points for some of the aspects of this title sequence. Obviously, there are still a lot of key elements that I need to narrow down further and there are some things that I still need to consider before I start making some final decisions, but I feel that I have enough here to get me started on thinking about a treatment to work from and a simple storyboard and character design, etc.

I gave more thought to the idea of using dialogue and decided that I wanted to keep it to a minimum and use sounds instead to help portray the mood of the story. I feel that by doing it this way I will be able to create a much stronger atmosphere and I won't have to worry about finding the right voice but more so just the right sounds, which I feel might be slightly easier (although I'm not placing any bets on it). Also, regarding sound, I thought on the possibility of using a 'theme tune' or soundtrack, as you find in most title sequences and this is something I am going to have to explore and experiment with. I will have to make sure any sounds or music that I use are legal and that I'm not plagiarizing anyone else work. I also gave a lot more thought to he appearance of the two main characters and began to take references from the actual book. I feel that now would be a good time to begin working on some character designs, as I have the basic appearances down. For the story line I decided to go for picking key events from the first chapter of the book to use to create my title sequence, as I feel that this will help me to create a successful title sequence. As for the environments within my title sequence, I feel that taking on the same approach as I have for my characters would be a good way to go. After collecting some references I'll make a start on experimenting with environmental concepts and colour pallets.

Applied Animation: Initial Ideas Part 2

I'm really looking forward to this brief and I have a few ideas about what I want to do for my chosen book Mort. So after thinking very briefly about what the book is ultimately about I decided to go into more depth about what the book is actually about and I attempted to get a feel for the tone and mood of the book in order to kick start my ideas about how I was going to transform these words into a visual response. I must admit that my first attempt at this didn't go so well, as my mind was jumping all over the place and I was thinking of many different parts of the project all at the same time.

I know there's not much there.I told you it was a mess.

So I left this and did a bit more research before coming back to it and deciding to write out the plot summary of the book instead, as I thought this would help me to pick apart what the actual story line of the book was (and it worked). What I gained from doing this was that the book mainly focuses upon character development, but it follows two characters and shows us the changes they go through and how they develop along the way. There is also a sense of bonding between the characters and, as usual, there is a bit of a love story going on with one of the characters. This gave me something to think about in the back of my head in terms of how I was going to create the right atmosphere and tone to help imply that this is what the story is about.

This kick started my brain into actually working and I was able to produce a spider diagram of the thoughts I had swirling around my head.

At this point I had decided to go down the digital route for creating this animation, as I feel that it will allow me to create very surreal, vivid environments for my characters to be in, which I feel will be a really important aspect if I am going to portray the mood of this book successfully. So I focused on the things that I could achieve using digital animation and still can't decide whether or not I want any elements of 3D animation in there (it's a tricky one because it looks amazing, but is insanely difficult to do). I also thought about the camera angles that I might want to use throughout this title sequence and reminded myself to experiment with them because the right camera angle can make all the difference. I focused mainly on how I will create my story line and came up with a few ideas such as taking key events or actions from the first chapter of the book, or merging the general plot together to create an overview of the story and turn that into a title sequence, or just simply set the scene. Right this minute I'm more for the idea of taking key events or actions that happen within the book and using them as starting points to create my title sequence, as I feel that this would be a good way to introduce the story but not give it all away or risk it looking like a trailer rather than a title sequence. I also gave some consideration to my characters and who would be involved within my title sequence and I realised that it's only two main characters with the possibility of there being side characters or simply characters to create crowds or to help the scene(s) make sense. Lastly, I thought of sound and dialogue. There's a lot of speech within the first chapter of the book but simply because of how the second character is introduced. Thinking about this, I feel that all that dialogue is unnecessary and I don't know if I will actually need to worry too much about it. Sound on the other hand could be used to create a very powerful mood and atmosphere to this animation and it will benefit me greatly to think about how this is going to help me portray the tone of the book. 

I have a lot of work to do...

Applied Animation: Stephen Player

Stephen Player is an illustrator that works with Terry Pratchett to create beautiful depictions of the worlds that Pratchett creates. I have chosen to look at these because I feel that they will give me a good idea on how to visually capture and portray the mood and atmosphere of Mort in my title sequence.

In particular, I love the colour pallet used within each of these illustrations, as I feel that they capture the atmosphere of the setting of the Discworld in which Terry Pratchett's characters live. The colours used help to portray the 'dingy' atmosphere of the crowded streets that many of the stories are based in. Not only that, but they help to give you a real feel for the place that the story is set in, which helps an audience to engage with the story on a more personal level. This is something I am going to have to think about in order to create a successful and effective title sequence.

In this illustration I really love how Death has been represented, however, I'm not quite sure his personality is captured within this drawing, as he appears to look like your average everyday grim reaper. Despite this, I like how he appears to be translucent, as I feel that it helps to imply his role within the scene. I also really like the burst of colour in the clothing of the other character, as I feel that it conveys the idea that story isn't all serious and glum and 'dingy'.

I chose this drawing because I really love the mood and atmosphere that has been created here. I feel that it creates the perfect atmosphere for the character it is portraying and it effectively conveys the tone of the setting. With Mort being a book which focuses on Death's role in life, I feel that this will be an important point of inspiration for me when I come to designing my characters and the settings they will be in.

Again I chose this illustration because I feel that it successfully portrays the atmosphere and mood that is present within Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels. I do feel that this image holds a little too much detail in it if I were to create something similar for my animation, but I do feel that it demonstrates good use of spacial awareness and depth. Again, this is another thing that I need to seriously consider when creating my title sequence. 

Applies Animation: A Game of Thrones

A Game of Thrones is a TV series that I really enjoy watching and I feel is a good example of a successful opening/ title sequence. 

To start with I really love how the opening sequence gives you a real sense of the environment that the story is set in. I really like how the camera travels over a map of the world that makes up the story and I feel that it is a really interesting way to give an insight into what the series is about. Not only that but I also really love the aesthetic of the title sequence, as I that it fits really well with the tone and style of the series and I feel that it helps to create the correct atmosphere and it also helps to portray the time period the series is set in, it is sympathetic to the style and tone of the books that it is based upon. This has made me think carefully about how I am going to effectively create a title sequence that is sympathetic to the book that I have chosen. In order to do this I have to think about the tone of the book that I am looking at and I need to think carefully about how I would portray this visually, colours and style will play an important role in this and I need to take time to think about each one of these closely. 

Another thing I like about this title sequence is how simple the sequence is but how effective it is despite the fact that it is simple 3D animation. I feel that it is so effective because of the camera movement and it has reminded me that I don't have to create an elaborate animation for my title sequence to be successful. 

Applied Animation: The Colour of Magic and Hogfather

In order to get an idea of how other films and TV series have effectively created title sequences to set the scene for the audience I have decided to look at the two mini series that have been created from some of Terry Pratchett's other Discworld novels The Colour of Magic and Hogfather. Despite the fact that these are TV series and I am creating a title sequence on the notion that Mort will be created into a film, I feel that these would give me a good indication of what kind of thing to aim for when introducing such a colourful, imaginative world.

The Colour of Magic

Hogfather

After watching the introduction to both of these TV adaptations of two of Terry Pratchett's books, which are of the same series as the book I have chosen, I realised that they aren't actually that great. I don't feel that they represent the style of the books all that well and I was a little disappointed after watching them. I feel that the ideas behind the title sequences were good and that they had much potential, however, I do feel that they are lacking something and that they don't quite capture the tone of the books. 

Despite the fact that I feel these are unsuccessful attempts at introducing the atmosphere and the tone that is present within the books of these series, it has given me an insight into what I should aim to avoid when creating my title sequence. It has also given me ideas about what I should be thinking about in order to make my title sequence successful such as, the tone I set in the very beginning of the sequence and the atmosphere I create with the visuals I use. 

Applied Animation: Do it Yourself

For the second part of this task I had to create a 3-D object of my choice using the sills I had learnt in the previous session using Maya. At the time my mum was playing on Nintendo DS so I decided that I would give it a shot, a I felt that the shapes were quite simple to figure out, but at the same it would give me a challenge as there were so many.

I found it really easy to begin with and I was quickly making progress on the model at a steady pace. I found it surprisingly easy to use the tools that I ha learnt the other day despite the fact that I hadn't familiarized myself with them beforehand. I must admit that I did struggle with the smaller details within the model, but I soon figure a way around it and was able to make them with little frustration. 

There are some obvious things missing from this model because I couldn't figure out how to do it, and being at home, I couldn't seek out the help I needed. Having said this I still think it looks pretty good. But I'd really like to develop my skills in Maya further, as I had a lot of fun making this object.

Overall, I am really pleased with my outcome and I feel that I have managed to successfully carry over the skills that I learnt in last weeks session. I feel confident that I will be able to continue to use this program and I feel that with more practice I will be able to create more detailed objects. 

Applied Animation: The Model Part 2

In last weeks modelling session I moved on to adding the body of my character to my armature. This was exciting stuff.

The next part of making my model involved padding out the middle section of the frame in order to reduce the amount of weight of the overall model to prevent it from toppling over when the Plasticine was added. I literally taped newsprint to the poor guy.

Then came the most fun bit; bringing my character to life with Plasticine. I really enjoyed this part and I feel that it has been the best part of model making so far. However, I did find that I got very frustrated towards the end of the day with my model, as it takes a lot of time to achieve the shapes that you want. Having said this, Plasticine is a great material to work with and I found that it was very easy to manipulate once I got the hang of it. I'd used Plasticine before when I was taking a foundation course, yet I never managed to achieve what I did in the first few hours of this session and I was really pleased with my progress and how well I used the material.

Once I had completed the body of my character it was time for clothes. I was really worried about the hood of my character as I thought that it would be too heavy for my model, however, it wasn't and I'm really glad that I managed to create the character exactly as I wanted him. I am, overall, extremely pleased with my finished outcome and I am impressed with how quickly I have learnt the skills required to do this.