Task 2: Mime Block

Finally finished blocking out the Mime over the last few days. Took me quite awhile to do due to experimenting with two rigs, the length of the sequence and also the various actions he progresses through.

I did initially start blocking it out using the Joe rig, but I had some problems with his arms due to twists occurring at the wrists :S not sure why this was happening... so I decided to change back to the Max rig just in case I had any more problems later on as I feel I still have a lot to learn in general without having to deal with any additional complications which could make more work for myself and also result in added stress.

This time with the Max rig, I remembered from the offset to set the arms to IK which made things considerably easier for me. I spent some time making him look 'Mime' like and then set about posing him using my video footage for reference.

The finished block did come to around two minutes, but I managed to decrease that considerably when I fixed the timing in certain areas. I don't think I'm going to be able to reduce it by much more though... but there are a few sections I think I could speed up a bit further which will probably make them more effective, like when he's being hung.

This is how its looking:

There's no audio yet. I need to edit the sound file to fit the animation so I've had to install Adobe Premier because I couldn't do it in After Effects. I'm in the process of adding in my breakdowns now and trying to tweak the timing further. When that's done I'll try and get some audio with my next render so it makes more sense.

Task 1: Fear WIP

Developed my stairs piece further since my last post. I've now added in the inbetweens and also made various alterations to the animation and also the camera based on feedback from my class and also the feedback I got from Ed.

The feedback I got from Ed from the last video was:

"Nice work, Lauren. My only note is that you be very specific in your own mind about what it is that your character thinks he hears. You have him jerking around at one point on the stairs, and it seems to me that if I heard a ...suspicious noise upstairs, I would freeze, trying not to even breathe. Maybe he thinks the noise came from downstairs? Also, after he has made it to the top landing, I am not sure what he is doing when he flattens himself against the wall. Is he afraid there is a person in the house and that the person might see him?"

I'd already got feedback from my class about the ending where he slides along the wall recommending I alter it... I also thought it would be better to change it but part of me was kind of attached to it just because of how it looks visually... I loved the poses and movement! Sadly they just don't make sense in the context of the animation so I took them out :( I also made some other alterations here and there to the timing e.g sped up the slamming of the door at the end and started adding in my breakdowns/inbetweens. The plus side of making these tweaks is my animation is now 30 seconds long rather than over 40, which is great due to the time we have on the task.

We had a lecture focusing on camera work last week too, so based on what I learnt in that session I've also totally changed the cameras, which was a definite improvement! I took them all out and the animation now has only one camera which follows the character throughout the piece which was an instant improvement.

This was what I had initially based on everything I mentioned:

In the last few days I've developed it further. I further tweaked the camera to capture the character better as he climbs the stairs, as the angle in the video above didn't really show the poses at their best as he's climbing the stairs. They weren't reading well to the camera. I also adjusted it so it doesn't pull back then zoom in after he climbs the stairs which works much better. Another thing I tweaked was having the camera to stop moving when he glances behind his as well as when he's scared to give the impression that the camera is 'something' creeping behind him/watching him as he moves which works well with the mood I'm attempting to create.

I finished adding in my breakdowns too and altered the start of the animation to more of a sneak rather than just steps.

I made a proper render this time round to get a better idea of how the whole piece is looking with the lighting:

Overall I'm pleased with how it's developing.There's a few areas which I'm still not happy with... mainly the run from the top of the stairs to his room, it's not working for me yet. Not sure how to approach it.. may need to re-block it and go from there. Going to post this one up for feedback now and then delve into it some more.

I really need to block in some actions for his eyes and add in some sound effects too for the next pass.

Blocking and Recording

After feedback from yesterdays class I added cameras to my initial block scene and set them up to resemble my animatic. This is something I should have done anyway in order to test out how the animation looked with the cameras in place and to test if the set-up worked. I made a few attempts at it and this is what I've got at the moment:

I also need to make some tweaks to the speed of the character's movement after he's been scared on the stairs. It needs to be sped up as he's meant to be running. I also need to add in a sound for the part where he jumps just so it reads better ready for it to be sent onto Ed. I should have all of this in place by the end of this afternoon.

I also had a session with a professional voice actor yesterday who narrated the voice over for my mime script. I took the script to draft 4, making a few more cuts in the length and took this version in with me to the recording studio. We did three takes of it and they were all great! He did a really good job of it and even added some improvised bits. I liked the voice and tempo, though it's probably going to need a bit of editing as its currently coming out at around 58 seconds which is way too long! However this is including some pauses so when I put it all together it should come out a bit shorter, but it'll still need a bit or editing I think but hopefully not too much. I plan to film some video reference for it over this weekend so I can make a start on the blocking for next weeks classes.

Oh I watched a really beautiful short yesterday. The combination of the music and style of the piece really work great together. I love the character designs in it!

Task Developments

Task 2: Mime

Last week I shared my 'Charade' idea for the Mime task with my tutor and class. Surprisingly my idea was well received... I wasn't quite sure it would be seen as I thought I may need a second character to make it work, but after some discussion my tutor suggested I have a voice over for the piece, kind of like they do in the Children's show 'Pocoyo' and also in 'Pib and Pog' from Aardmans darkside which is aimed at an older audience and is more along the lines of what I'd like to achieve. 

You can watch it here:

Pib and Pog - X Factor

We also had a lecture on Mime last week which was really interesting. Looking at different examples of Mime artists. There were some pretty weird ones... We also watched quite a few 'How to...' videos explaining how to do various actions as a Mime artist, which will probably be pretty useful when putting together my video reference for it over the next week.

So I've been putting together a script for my piece. It's currently on Draft 3. There's a voice actor in this Thursday so he's going to be the narrator for it. I'm going to time the piece today (as best I can) and then take it into our class later to run it by a few people, see if anything can be omitted and get some feedback. Hopefully by the end of the week then I'll be able to move onto filming some video reference for it all. I'll also get to use the 'Joe' rig, which is now up and running!

Task 1: Fear

As well as putting together my script, I've also been continuing my work on the stairs task. We had a few filming sessions and also quite a few discussions about the 'believability'' of various aspects of my idea. First was the creeping, which I dealt with altering the piece to include a some faster action at the end with a run. I also did the whole write up of my idea then altering his age and developing the concept further. Lastly, the latest point brought up was with the lamp... and whether it worked. I didn't see the problem with it, but it was questioned as to why there wasn't a main light so that left me a bit unsure. 

Personally I didn't want a main light because to me it would destroy the whole mood of the piece due to the bright lighting. I don't think it would work to communicate the character's feeling convincingly which is what I'm trying to go for with this one. Besides that at my family home we have a table lamp which we use instead of the main light at times because it makes softer lighting.

Anyway, I decided to keep the lamp but made a few tweaks to the start of the animation to communicate the character's fear of the dark more, which I think works well and still ties in with my animatic. My only concern now is the length of the piece... 

Oh, my idea development document was also sent to Ed Hooks for his feedback on my idea, which was much to my surprise all good! (I was a bit worried at the time and was starting to think I may have to change it altogether). Here's what he said:

"Love it, Lauren! Good work.  The emotion you are after is “fear”.  If you make the boy merely “nervous”, it won’t read as well.  It is more difficult to achieve an objective (going to bed, right?) if afraid than anxious.  You will also be able to do some interesting things with lighting.  Nice stuff."

I finished the first pass of my block yesterday, just with a main poses, no breakdowns or inbetweens yet. 

Only problem is it's too long...  Surprise Surprise! I've yet to make something that's too short. I'm thinking I'm probably going to have to cut out some of the start. I want it to be at the most 35 seconds. Will get some feedback on it Thursday and go from there!