Update.

A realisation:

It's almost the New Year and I've realised that working for another group, as well as trying to do a film solely on my own, is near enough impossible. I had faith and determination at the beginning of the year, but the work load has just proven to be a bit too much. As a result, I will unfortunately have to drop Kelly's group in order to get myself up to speed with my animation.

More painted environments.

Outside 'Street View' - Unfinished.

Boy in shop.

Having shown my tutor, the artwork with the boy in the shop, she pointed out to me that the red and browns were just a bit too harsh to be mixed with the glowing purples in the shop and advised me to alter the colours I used for the boy. I have taken this into consideration and will be changing the colours I use for this character.

Walk cycle. 'Boy'

A quick line test of the walk cycle. A bit jittery with the head movement, but this can be fixed

The art of posing.

Life drawing sketches and character posing. To get a better idea on how to animate my boy, especially during the dance sequence, I employed the help of my friend's younger brother. I've used this as direct research. As he played around in the garden, I did a few quick sketches of key poses that I will be working from in my animation, this also gave me a better feel of how a young child would move so that I could bring my character to life more.

The work of other animators.

Lizzi Akana and her 'Marvelous, Keen Loony Bin'

I'm sure I have mentioned Akana a few times before now in my previous blogs, but I just can't seem to get enough of her. Her work is compelling, surreal and just all together intriguing, it's no wonder I can't get enough of her work, she's a role model for all wannabe female 2D animators.

Looking here at this animated short, it's interesting to say the least. ‘Marvelous, Keen Loony Bin’ shows a weird world of foods and balloons where something is always missing and much is to be desired. It portrays a day in the life of the limbless, headless, faceless and brainless and paints a surrealistic picture that is strangely addicting to me. This brilliantly made animated short was just one of few that truly held my attention from beginning to end. The story itself oozes creativity but with the quirky characters and beautifully animated scenes it is with no surprise to me that this runway hit won multiple awards. Produced as Akana’s senior project, each frame was hand drawn, scanned individually, painted in Photoshop, then composited in After Effects, an example of dedication and hard work.

A repeat watch, I find the audio to fit nicely with the scenes and the whole feel of the film to exempt a sort of humorous yet endearing edge. It’s quirky nature whirlwinds us into a bizarre world that lacks one’s crucial element to living yet life goes on. And it is with its dreamlike style of drawing that really gets me going, I want to take note of how something so simplistic can translate so well. I tend to find myself sketching characters that lack originality and life and thinking up stories that make too much sense. Perhaps its time to dig a bit deeper and think a little more out of the box.

Painted environments.

Colour Pallet - Magician's shop

After much deliberation, I've decided that purples would work nicely in my film. This is the colour that I would most associate with magic, therefore I will be using this pallet for colouring the interior of the shop. Dark purples give it that element of mystery. I thought about using lighter colours in the spectrum however, when I tested the different colours, they didn't work as well and the detail was basically lost in it.

Research of design ideas.

...Under construction

Sketch Ideas of environments

Animatic with sound

Updated character sketches and digital designs.

 Following a brief one to one, it was said that my characters needed more definition to them. The Magician seemed to lose volume and shape once turned side ways and a fault was found with the design of the boy. After being brought to my attention that the boy will lack mobility without a neck, I have made a few adjustments.

Completed animatic.

Here is the completed animatic. It is a bit jittery in places so I will  re-upload a clearer version at a later date. With the inbetweens, the final film is estimated to be around a minute and a half.

Final animatic.

Research in sound design.

The process of specifying, acquiring, manipulating or generating audio elements. It is employed in a variety of disciplines throughout the media spectrum. I in this case, will be using it in my final animation to reflect the mood of the film. I will be mainly recording my own sounds and manipulating the audio to create the desired effect. As a pianist, I am also playing on the idea of composing my own piece to add to the animation however, this is still yet to be decided as there is a huge work load involved.

As the feel of the film is suppose to be quite mystical and magical with a slight air of darkness about it, I've been looking into music that could portray this.

Celtic Fairy Music - Dance of the fairies

Omnia - Fairy Tale (Instrumental)

Tales of the Night (Original)

A Witches Tale

I want something quite slow and contemporary. The use of string instruments and percussion create that element of magic and curiosity that I want to include, with this I have searched into music that give of this feel. Anything that explores the idea of the unknown and mystical gives of this image such as fairies and witches, however it is not necessarily these images that I want the sound to convey but something more magical and surreal. More like things coming to life when you see them as the power of magic fills the room.

Character variations.

Here I have done a few character variations to best decide what features I prefer for my character.

Group pieces.

More environments for my other group.

View from bedroom window

Improvement made to the park

Characters and colour pallet.

Final character design

Original character design

More character sketches.

Very rough.

The look I was aiming for is quite timid and sweet yet with a slight inquisitive nature about him. My tutor said the boy didn't look young enough for the age I wanted him to meet (6).

Very rough.
The look I was aiming for is quite timid and sweet yet with a slight inquisitive nature about him. My tutor said the boy didn't look young enough for the age I wanted him to meet (6).

Creating character ideas using shapes.

Taking note from our character design tutorial with Neil, we were encouraged to experiment with shapes. Keeping in mind simplicity, visual impact and the style it is drawn in.

Initial ideas for the Magician

Characteristics for the Magician: Slender body type with a round hollow head, his tall and lanky features add to the mysteriousness of his nature. Dressed in only black and white and the single same expression throughout it is hard to determine for the viewer whether he is good or bad.

 Initial ideas for the boy

Characteristics for the boy: The characters seemingly large head and wide eyes alongside his short, rounded body exaggerate the fact he's perceived as young and aloof. He walks around with a curious nature about him and a child-like view to life.

'Fantasia'

A quick and short analytical review of 'Fantasia'.

 A Walt Disney animated masterpiece of the 1940's that blends together beautifully the image of magic and music. Filled with vivid colours and neatly tied together scenes, this is the sort of visual I'd like to portray with my animated short. In a way, it's quite surreal, brooms coming to life, fairies dancing, everything going to the beat of the music, no dialogue needs to be given when you have such visuals and complimentary music working together. That in itself, speaks for the whole animation. The characters are charming, and the colours are set to create a certain mood and strive to send out and element of mystery. I've taken note that the main colours used in Fantasia are deep purples and blues.

Further animatic progression.

Only a short sequence, but it all adds up to the final piece. With this sequence, I'm trying to get good camera angles with panning the camera down.

More pieces for group work.

Work for - 'Black Dog'

Variations on the characters bedroom.

Rough Character designs.

Here are some initial sketches for my two main characters.

The Shop owner / Magician

The boy

Scene development.

Inside sketch

Colour gradient

Outside sketch

Working on the animatic.

For the first sequence, I have done a little walk cycle.

I have also done a rough template for a head turn which I will be working on once I have done the character sheets.

The key points of storyboarding.

Following my lecture today, I would just like to note down the key and important facts of storyboarding.

-Best to start of small, work in thumbnails then once everything is worked out, work on bigger paper.
-Work in colour erase blue then neaten up afterwards.
-Work in the same format as your project.
-Work out where your sequences are.
-Break down, colour, mood, overall concept of film.
-Work loosely.
-Plan out the geography of the scenes in the film.
-Work out your angles.
-Work out floor plans.
-Keep the board simple, simple is best.
-Make sure perspective is right.
-Jump cuts are VERY bad.
-Do not cross the line.
-Use composition to enhance what you're looking at i.e foreground interest.
-Keep it varied.

Another project update.

I have since made amendments and changes to my story since showing my storyboard to my tutor.

Change 1 - Title: 'Magic Bubble'

Change 2 - Instead of the boy popping the bubble and a whole load of magical things happen, the boy gets engulfed by the bubble that is forever growing behind him as he watches the shop owner blowing bubbles.

Change 3 - The shop owner pops the bubble once the boy has had his fun.

Ending - The boy gets hurled to the ground after the bubble pops. The shop owner gestures for some money to pay for this magical project, the boy digs deep, pulls out some change and buys the item. He then leaves the shop skipping into the distance leaving a trail of magical splashes behind him.

Rough storyboard.

Project update.

Since running my idea past my tutor for my end of year final film, I have since changed it.
It was brought to my attention that although the storyline was interesting, there actually was no beginning, middle or end so I have altered it a bit.

New plot (In progress) -

Boy enters a magic shop. He wonders around for a bit browsing and testing the goods. The shop owner presents him with an item, a tube of bubbles. Curious, the boy takes it, he has a fiddle and tries to work out how to use it. Confused, he hands it back to the shop owner who proceeds to show him how blowing bubbles is done. The boy is amused, he's playing and dancing as the bubbles form around him. He decides to reach out for one but then it suddenly pops. Every thing goes black and dusty. As the dust starts to clear, the boy sees in front of him a totally different environment, everything is magical and has come to life. It's almost as if he has been transported to another world. The lighting goes dim and once again everything is back to normal. ... To be continued.

Pre Production and animation pipeline.

Pre Production

Over the next coming weeks, I will be using this blog to detail and follow the work done in the pre production stages leading up to the final film. I will be finalising preparations and working under the multiple job roles you would in the animating world.

I will be breaking down the script into individual scenes and all the locations, special effects, visual effects and characters will be identified. From finalising the storyboard and camera angles I will be using, I will be working towards cementing my character designs as well as working on the layout designs. From then on, I can go on to putting the camera angles into place and making adjustments if needed. All of this will be working towards the animatic which will then be presented as the basis for my end of year film. Every step of creating the film will be carefully planned and designed.

Pipeline

The processes involved in an animated project and the approach that is needed to help facilitate a realistic schedule. It is defined as a structured process flow which enlists all the functions involved and how they intertwine with each other. Following this will help myself and any other person who may play a minor role in producing my film communicate the different processes as well as keeping to schedule.

The first point of call shall be the story board. I will start with thumb-nailing scenes so that I can get a feel of the story and determine shots and camera angles. From this I will then do a rough storyboard which I will then finalise into a production storyboard which will contain details and directions of the camera shot/zooms/pans, slug notes and/or off-screen notes as well as strong poses.

Following this, I will be choosing the SFX to go with the film which will then be edited into an animatic.