Task 2: Idea & Research

For the second task of this module aka 'The Mime'. The first idea I had was to have my character playing the party game 'Charades'. For anyone who isn't familiar with this game, one person selects a card which will have something written on it eg. the title of a book or a name of a film and they then have to act out the word for the others playing to guess.

For this to work, I guess I'm going to have to include two characters or at least implement people shouting guesses for what the mime is preforming.

This is just a possible option for this task which I'll need to get some feedback on first before I develop it any further.

Anyway I just typed 'Charades' into Youtube and found some interesting videos, one of which is from Monsters Inc. I don't remember this scene from the movie (it's been awhile since I was watched it though) but it's fun to watch.

In terms of style this is the approach I'd be going for. Stylised, fun and exaggerated actions.

I also found one from Monty Python:

Another from ABC's Modern family:

And lastly, something a bit different, a clip of a comedian performing what they've called 'Kareoke Characdes' to a song, haha!

Hopefully I will get to do something with this idea... it could be pretty entertaining if done right!

Task 1: Idea Development

After getting some feedback from my class last week I decided to take another look at my idea and develop it some more to get a better understanding of my character and what I wanted to portray in my scene.

Using the sheets we received last week in our lecture I made a document and wrote up a character profile, an animation plan and looked at how I wanted my character to develop in the scene in terms of mood and body language.

Initially I had planned to have my character as a young child, but after talking through my idea with my classmates and tutors it became apparent that a young child would not behave the way I wanted them to in my animation as they would not yet be thinking the way I perceived my character would. As a result I realised my character would need to be older, more in the range of pre-teens - early teens where their thought process would be more developed which would influence their reactions more. 

The character would need to be nearer the age of the kids in the movie Monster House which I recently watched again as part of my research.

I also watched a short movie recommended by my tutor called 'The Sandman'. You can watch it here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjgHbRrnjhU&feature=feedf

The boy in this short is a bit younger than my character will be but the overall mood and feel of the piece is definitely along the lines of what I would like to achieve as it shows the development of fear and builds suspense very well!

I'm currently awaiting feedback on my developed idea from my tutor and also from Ed Hooks, who's working with our class on this assignment. So hopefully by the weekend, I'll know whether I can proceed or if I need to make any further adjustments.

Either way I did some more filming yesterday with my housemate to get some more footage implementing the changes I've made, which involve the character running the last bit of the animation. I also filmed footage for the landing section of my animation which I'd only storyboarded previously.

I've also more or less finished my scene for the time being. I did some more work on the stairs, adding the banisters in and also putting in some additional items for the hallway. I also made some adjustments to the lighting.

Scene with light:

Scene without light:

When the scene gos darker in the animation after the character has turned off the lamp, I plan on including some additional lights to only light the character so he remains clear to the audience. I'll be experimenting with that when I've begun on the animation. Any other needed adjustments can also be made at this stage.

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Here are two shorts I watched recently.

The Backwater Gospel:

This ones pretty creepy, but it has a really interesting style to it, dark and twisty! I also like crows...

The Saga of Bjorn:

I liked this one too! I like the stylised characters and its pretty funny in comparison to the first one.

Task 1: Storyboard and Animatic

So the last few days I've done yet more filming, wrote out a plan of what I want to happen in the animation, sketched a storyboard, done up the storyboard to make it more readable and created an animatic to establish a rough idea for the timing and possible camera shots.

Here's the Photoshop storyboard:

You can't see the text but it basically outlines the camera shot and whats happening, which should be clear in the animatic.

And... from that my animatic:

It needs some sound effects still, which I've been gathering and possibly some sort of creepy audio track. I need to look into the background audio...

Going to get some feedback on my work so far and go from there.

Task 1: Establishing the Scene

Since establishing my idea for task one and getting it approved I've been doing some pose drawings to represent fear and also done some thumbnails of possible scenes to get an idea of how I want the piece to look. 

These are the my thumbnails showing a few variations of the 'stairs' scene.

 I picked the one I liked best took it into Photoshop and turned it into a colour key thumbnail by painting on it. I already had an idea in my head of how I wanted to stage the piece in terms of lighting and colour so I applied this to the drawing and this is how it turned out:

I like it. I think the colours work well together but I figured they would being contrasting. It should create a nice moody look for the scene.

Using this design I then started to build the scene in 3D and put in a few lights to experiment. It's not finished yet, but I think for the time being all the important elements are there. Here's how it looks so far:

The stairs rails need more work, some additional items could be added to make areas less empty and some areas need more detailing so I'll probably work on that some more before the weekends over so most of it is established before I start the actual animation. I'll probably experiment a bit more with the lighting as well.

I've decided to use Andreas' 'Woody' rig, which I used previously for my lift animation. I made a few adjustments to it, after talking to Andreas, so I'd be able to do more with the characters eyes as the rig has no other animatable facial elements to it. I set up two controllers so I'll now be able to increase the size of the eyes to become very large (widen) and also shut which I think will help express the character's feelings along with it's body language without relying too much on facial expressions.

I also did some filming yesterday using my stairs at home. I made multiple attempts and tried a few different things for various to get some reference footage ready start on blocking. I'm considering making a storyboard first though or maybe assemble the bits of my reference that I like so I can establish an idea for the timing and general outline of the animation before I start.

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I read an interesting article the other day on best and worst animated characters, which you can read here:

http://www.salon.com/entertainment/movies/film_salon/2011/02/09/gnomeo_and_juliet_character_design

It features an interview with character designer, Shannon Tindle (who's work I really like) and focuses mainly on Gnomeo and Juliet, a 3D animated movie which recently hit the cinemas.

I also watched a pretty creepy but enjoyable short yesterday while drinking my afternoon cup of tea, which I must share here! 

Be warned it may make you think twice about visiting an ice cream van and if you have children yourselves you may be inclined to tell them to avoid ice cream vans at all costs! hehe!

Task 1: Character, Obstacle, Objective

For the first task of the module the brief is to animate a character going up some stairs, taking into account what the task is all about, which is clearly stated in the title.

- Need to know who they are (must be clear!)

- What mood the character is in

- What is their objective; why are they climbing the stairs?

- What is the obstacle?

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 Idea Summary

My idea for the task is to have a person with a deep fear of the dark who has to make their way from downstairs (after turning off the last lamp), up the stairs in the dark to reach the safety of their well lit bedroom.

Character: The character is likely going to be a child, as a fear of the dark is a common problem for kids as they imagine all sorts of monsters are lurking in it.

Obstacle: Fear of the dark.

Objective: To reach the safety of their bedroom which is filled with light.

At the start of the animation they are downstairs and they're about to turn off the last light at the bottom before making their way upstairs to their room, which they will have to do in the dark with only the limited light from the windows. The door of their bedroom on the landing is open and the light from the room is streaming out. It is a place of safety which they desperately want to reach. However, in order to get there they will first need to climb the stairs in the darkness and deal with their fear.

Mood/ Key Elements / Feelings: Atmospheric, Eerie, Suspense, Fearful, Scared, Intense, Nervous, Dark, Moody, Creepy

Other factors: No dialogue, focused on creating mood and feeling through expressing the character using body language and limited facial expression.

 

I'd like to create more emotional moody piece for this one as it's something I haven't attempted yet and I think it would be challenging and fun to do this using just the characters body language alone without relying on any facial expressions to convey the characters mood and feelings to the audience.

I'm also considering that there could be an additional obstacle to further hinder the character's journey to their bedroom. I'm only planning on implementing their if the fear obstacle isn't enough to achieve the effect I want. I plan to have the character creeping to their room quietly, in fear that any hasty or loud movement will draw attention to them  (from whatever lurks in the darkness) before they reach their bedroom where they will be safe. I don't want to have them running, I want creeping!

So if necessary I may implement a door with a 'DO NOT DISTURB' sign on it to give the character a reason to creep and try and remain as quiet as possible. I don't really think it will be needed. I think both of these could work well as separate obstacles... but we'll see! I shall await feedback and until then finish my sketches and thumbnails for the character and scene and set out my idea for the mime piece.

Acting For Animation Begins Here

Yesterday we we began the next module, Acting for Animation, which I have to say sounds like it's going to be a lot of fun!

The ICA consists of three tasks:

• Task 1: Character, Objective, Obstacle.
• Task 2: The Mime
• Task 3: Two Character Dialogue

I'll cover them all in more detail in the following posts.

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In preparation for this at the end of Animex week me and Andreas decided to team up and create a new rig for the module. I designed the character and drew up the modelling views and Andreas created the guy in 3D.  Here's my design: 

 The 3D version  looks AWESOME! I knew he would though thanks to Andreas' skills :) It's always cool to see one of your designs becoming 'real'. I named him Joe, so he will now be the Joe rig, woo!

He's still in the works and the rigging process is currently underway but the modelling and textures look really great so far. I particularly like the 'Mime' texture. Here he is:

I'm also really impressed with the skin! I really need to learn more about texturing and shaders... think I'll look into it during the Pre-Production module ready for the Final Project. But yes... hopefully Joe will be seen in action fairly soon! I plan on using him for the Mime topic, as I think Andreas' Woody rig will suit my idea for Task 1 a lot better.

Animex

Last week I attended Animex for the first time and I have to say it was an amazing week! I went to both the game and animation talks and networking events and took part in Ken Wong's Creative Visualisation workshop. It was great to interact with people who are working in the industry and also hear legends like Eric Goldberg share their experiences. I found it extremely inspirational as both an artist and an animator.

My favourite talks overall were by; Eric Goldberg, Joseph Gilland, Tasha Harris, Florian Zender, Tony West, Ken Wong and Jim Zubkavich.

I also really enjoyed Shelley Page's 'Eye Candy' Session where she screened a selection of short films.

My favourite was 'The Little Boy and the Beast'. I could only find a trailer for it but still worth looking at. Very moving short with a lovely style.

Another favourite of mine was 'The Lost Thing' a short film based on the story by Shaun Tan. Once again I could only find a trailer for this. Great style and an interesting story.

 I also really liked the short 'Mobile' and the stop motion short animation 'The Eagleman Stag' which just won a BAFTA.

Other highlights of the week were catching up with some old coursemates from my BA, Florian being one of them who has now become a successful lead effects artist at Yager! It was great to see him again as well as a few others. I also met some other people on various courses at the Uni throughout the week.

The workshop day was awesome! I got some really nice feedback from Ken Wong on my artwork, which was encouraging! I'm definatly going to make more time for my drawing now alongside my animation work so I can continue to improve and expand upon my current portfolio.

Oh and just to end... Me and some classmates got chatting to a few Disney legends outside the union on Thursday night, and ended up getting photographed. Even though its not one of my better photos I figure its worth showing just for Ed Hooks and Joe Gilland!

AP2 Final Works and Thoughts

The last few days have been spent finishing off my Presenter and Song and Dance pieces. The deadline is not until another week but as Animex begins tomorrow I didn't want to have any work to do during that week so I can just enjoy it :) 

I think both pieces are at a good standard, definitely room for improvement but I'm still learning. I think I'm progressing so I'm pleased with that. Hopefully I'll continue to improve throughout the course.

From this module I've learnt quite a lot I think as well as recognising areas that I would like to look into more in order to improve my animation.

What I've Learnt

-Lip Syncing

Prior to this I'd only made one other attempt at lip syncing so didn't have much experience with it. I have to say though, I haven't found it too difficult and I actually enjoy doing it.

-Work-flow

I think I'm starting to develop a way of working on animations the more I do. Each task seems to make me address something different which then makes my approach on the next task just that bit better. Hopefully this will continue on into the next module.

-FK and IK

I've grasped a lot more about the differences between the two particularly in relation to animating the arms and also weight constraints. However I think I need to look into this more in order to really make the most of it. I'm thinking that the different methods may work better for different things.

-Gimbal Errors

After doing some research into trying to fix my dodgy rotation problems...I found out they're called 'Gimbal Locks'. Seems to be a common problem that people encounter and have problems with in animation. I read some ways of how to try to fix it but all sound really complicated and not fool proof for preserving what you already have. So I'm guessing the best approach to be is to try and prevent it from occurring in the first place. I'm hoping to avoid this or at least limit it in future by getting more familiar with the curve editor.

There's 3 instances of this error occurring in my dance :( Once in the head and twice in the top of the arm, which is a shame but not much I can do about it except try and prevent it in future. In the case of the animation I've tried my best to key the problem out but its no preventing it breaking the flow in his body in sections. 

-Animating to Audio Tracks

As in the dance more than the other two, as I had previously lip synced to an audio but I've never animated a performance piece to an audio track or song which I really enjoyed. The dance in particular was interesting especially using the beats per minute in relation to the frame rate to better time actions to the beat. Good fun!

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I'm sure I've also learnt/improved in other areas as well throughout the three tasks, like timing, moving hold etc. I've also had fun!

Areas I'd like to Improve:

FK and IK

-I'd like to look into both of these methods more to understand the pros and cons of both methods better and also learn more about constraining, which I think will be extremely useful and save time constantly keying eg. a hand constantly to keep it in place.

Eyebrow and Eye animation

I find animating the eyes, particularly the eyebrows rather difficult. I understand what makes the eyebrows move and how they're affected by other aspects of the face but I definitely think I'd like to look into eye animation a lot more to better exploit and improve my facial animation.

The Graph Editor and Splining

I've recently began experimenting with the graph editor a bit more, using it to better refine my curves but I still find it a little overwhelming when looking at the curves for the body in comparison with editing the curves for the 'bouncy ball' and 'ball with a tail' exercises from the previous module. I've been experimenting with it though and I think I'm starting to get a hang on it more now.

I've been using trajectories to analyse my curves until now, adding or deleting keys as necessary to get a better result. It's worked so far but I'm sure the graph editor will be a lot more beneficial. Also I think checking the trajectory paths earlier in my work flow might be worth trying out in future to save time cleaning it up at the end.

Still a bit unfamiliar with the whole animating the spline path process, but once again I'm thinking the answer lies with the graph editors.

Offsetting

I'm still wary of offsetting... I think it's something that I'll get more comfortable with as I progress. I've heard a lot of people saying how offsetting too soon can be messy and not only that but also it seems that some people offset just because they should. I've offset some areas in my animations by the odd frame but only if I've felt its necessary, like when I want that part of the body to lead the character into his next position. Maybe there's more to in than that? I'm not sure. More experimenting with this is probably needed.

Lighting and Rendering

I don't consider this as important as the above points but its definitely something I'd like to explore more, especially as it nears the final project so I can get the best quality result for my final renders! 

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So that's my analysis of this module. It's been fun, I've learnt a lot and I'm making more progress and enjoying it. Can't wait to start the next module now, new tasks to tackle and also delving more into the acting side of things. Should be interesting!

Here are my finals:

Going to put everything together now so it's all done! Woop!

Weekend Work

Over the weekend been working away at the dance and presenter pieces. I've made progress... though there were instances of multiple set backs due to the whole 'dodgy rotations' issue again. Is this some kind of bug in Max (the program not the rig)? I'm not sure but it's insanely annoying and dis-heartening after you've done hours of work and then you find his arm just spasms randomly >.< thanks to help I managed to 'cheat' away this only to have it occur another two times in the same animation with the arm again and also the head! ARGH! 

I've managed to sort of cover them up ... as the alternative of deleting and re-keying alround 500+ frames of the animation wasn't really an option I wanted to consider at this stage.

Going to ask in class today and see if anyone has a solution.

All of these instances occurred in the dance sequence this time. Aside from these issues, it's coming along quite well.  Seems the more times you watch it the better it looks, lol! This is where it's at now:

Will see what feedback I get today now and then take it from there.

I also returned once again to the Presenter piece and made further changes to the 'Infernal' action. After emailing the last one for feedback it was suggested I make the action more 'subtle and evil' which I think was a good idea as I still wasn't happy with the last one. So I toned it down a bit and made some other alterations to his poses and then adjusted his facial expressions a bit and I think it's working a bit better now.

I made some attempts at improving his walk too...not sure how well that's turned out...but here it is now anyway:

Will put this one up for feedback today too and go from there.

I plan on experimenting with the cameras for both pieces too at some point this week, to find the best angle and possibly include some cuts if it works. I think camera work is definitely needed on the dance one.

Anyway, to class!