Week 6

It is the Monday of Week 6! I presented my 20 images this morning and got some really good feedback;

 

• Maybe I don't need to always have her on a body of water? Maybe sometimes it can be a bit magical? (eg boat going through sand, water etc)
• Her hair portraying some of her emotions and how she is feeling is a good idea.
• My backgrounds are coming along well, however, I need to make sure that the way they are composed is beautiful as well as the actual painting and details... also the placement of the girl within each scene is important.
• I mentioned my bird idea replacing the light at the end and being present throughout the film... and they forcefully objected to that... so they said that I'd need to re-think the transitions... and that maybe I could use an element of the previous scene to link over and lay into the next, giving a fluid and beautiful transition! I really loved this idea although it may be hard and I'd really have to plan my scenes... which I need to do anyway, but you know!

 

I was also told of an advert that might be interesting to draw from, a twining advert for tea, the colours are beautiful and the soft look is just what I'm going for;

 

 

Today while I had the attention of the lovely Alex Gillespie, I asked him to show me a little compositing on After Effects, that I was thrilled to bits about!! But it would not upload unfortunately... However I now know how to pan and make it snow :)

 

• So, my next steps and plans for this week are;
• Start my industry Report
• Try scenes with a heavy light and dark shadow contrast, where she moves in and out fo the shadow
• A scene with a rainbow, the scenes Ive collected research for
• A scene with a dandilion and maybe work out a few transition animations
• Plan out a colour transition page with girl studies to show opposing colours and complimentary colours
• An animation test of the girl properly moving
• Aaaaaaaand a new storyboard where the girl has actions in everyother scene, maybe ever 3 or 4

SO! Let the week commence! :D

 

ps. I have started thinking about tieing all my scenes together geographically, and so started following this guys website;

http://kienlam.net/around-the-world

 

 



20 Images

  So for week 6 I have to compile together 20 images to present that will communicate my film to my fellow classmates and tutors. During Week 5 I worked hard to produce those 20 images of different scenes, camera angles and After Effects-effects, to try and show how my film will flow.

 

 

I know I would like to use geographical location to show that she is travelling around the world, and not just anywhere and everywhere, although Animation does give me the freedom to do this... I know I also need to use colour, weather and the seasons to show the passing of time (this is where I can have some serious fun with colour) and also a little character performace to help the audience to connect with her on her quest.

 

At the beginning of this week I was given some brushes by an animation graduate that would help me immensley with my concept and background painting in Photoshop;

 

 

 

Above is what I got from my first attempt with playing around with them, and this is probably my most favourite piece of concept art so far!

 

But I plowed on and produced a few more scenes, some had more time taken on them than others... some were just to show the range of weathers/colours/moos etc.

 

 

 

I was really happy with some of these, not only the ones that took a few hours, but also the ones I bashed out quickly... they all help me to form ideas about what I want and don't want in the film anyhow! I'm particularly pleased with the studies of my girl character... I really needed to pin her and her little boat down, which I know feel I have done! Note the last image where I've painted a scene with an After Effects simulation in mind... I think this works quite nicely!

 

Looking down this row of images, I am reminded of how I wanted the film to flow in the order of the colour spectrum... I still feel that this would be beautiful... however... would transitions from contrasting colour to contrasting colour not be more dynamic?

Hmm...

 

I had also toyed with the idea of changing the light for a spectral/spirit in the shape of a bird? I thought that if she has this kind of guardian bird in every scene, either following her or sat somewhere in the scenery, then it is the bird that she offers up it would all tie in together nicely and would make a nice transition through the frames. Here is some research and some deisgn ideas;

 

 

 

 

 

 

Week 5

It is the Monday of Week 5, and I've presented my new changes to the story, design and over all rhythem of my film. They were received well and my class mates gave me some really good advice on how to loosen up and generate some more stunning and varied backgrounds as I keep getting dragged down in the construction of them.

 When I'd been looking at my reference concept art pieces, I'd been trying to translate them to a realistic language, but really, I'd forgotten that I don't need to do that in my film, they can be fanciful! And by jove they are going to be!

We also discussed in this lecture if our films offered passive or active viewing... I believe that in the same way that 'Father and Daughter' is ACTIVE viewing, that mine is also active viewing in the way that the film does not spoon feed the story to the audience, they have to interpret what they are seeing and form their own conclusions. Discussing whether or not my film had an immersive story/style was quite interesting, as I really want to push the feeling of observing the girl, and her character seeming very alone on her own journey. However, this means that it would be more difficult to make the audience relate to the girl character... her animation style and the little interactions that she has with her surrounding will help with this I think. If in scenes she is stood upright, looking around her and engaging with her search, and in other scenes (probably rainy miserable ones) she'll just be slumped in her boat.

We also discussed plot types, and I thought that mine was most like 'The Quest'. The conflict in my film would either be time or loneliness, the apocolypse ultimately... but time is the only thing that we would be able to see her battle with visually.

The most important thing right now I feel, to get me designing a wide range of backgrounds would be to let loose, and also to really think about all the opportunities and post production tricks that I can add to make the film dynamic. I could use backgrounds moving past a static character, a peep hole to her floating perhaps? Pans, dollys, multi-perspective pans and different perspectives, where she's really close, far away, viewed from within a tree, I still seem to be in a bit of a rut though... hopefully I'll get out of that soon... I have a huge to-do list that needs doing and background designs are pretty high on that list!

I placed the backgrounds I'd already produced on my texture and liked the difference...

You'll need to click them bigger to see on here but it does give it the nice hand made quality I want in my film... I have on my list to experiment by painting/pastelling a background and then seeing how animating on it goes... because producing them actually by hand does look and lot nicer and come easier to me...

Oh well, let's see what the week brings!!



Background Concepts

  This week I started experimenting with colour, brushes, tone, composition and background painting...

From the rough thumbnails and photographs of real natural beauties I have painted a snowy forest and the northern lights. The Northern Lights scene can locate our character on our planet for the audience, and the snow forest can either show the progression of time or travelling far north. I am really happy with these pieces and know that I'd like to develop these scenes for my final film!

I need to start working in the right composition and thinking about pans and layers. I have been talking to Alex who said he would show me some tricks in After Effects and since that I've successfully made my snow scene have flurries of snow in front. I have found some effects that kind of wanted to design scenes for just so that I could use them... but I need to make sure that my scenes are dynamic for the audience.

Some Thoughts ...

  I was shown a film by Bryony (Newport Graduate) called Little Boat on Vimeo, 

http://vimeo.com/22894261

it's about a little boat getting wrecked through all weathers, and we're taken through each scene with the boat as our focal point. The film uses sound really well to help create some tense, sad and almost comical moments, also the use of silent is prominent. 

I like how the backgrounds move past the boat, not the boat moving along a background but I don't that I could get the high aspect, far away, observer kind of shots that I'm looking for in my film. However, the portrayal of the weather is interesting in this film... I can't tell if it's CG or digital 2D... maybe a mixture! 

This is something I hope to look into in my film, 2D painting over a CG environment and camera path... I spoke to Cambell about it and he said it's really easy... so maybe I'll use it for a short simple sequence. 

The above scene led me to thinking about how I present rain...

I love the colours and baroness of this scene... something I'd like to work with.

I toyed momentarily with the idea of birds, or a bird attack/friend in my film... but I feel that may snub the feeling of isolation maybe? 

This scene was silent and was a fantastic representation of a rip rolling storm... very intense and simplistic. 

Loads of other films and people are giving me cause to think these days...

Next steps are to draw up another quick story board, a few more background perspective designs, and I need to think about colour/environment and weather.

I also need to re-think my girl design, and maybe her colour... I don't think I'd like her to be so completely black even in light scenes... however she will be block with no detail... just colour....

Hmmm.

Week 4

  It is now the morning of Week 4, I am in Happy Hour Productions Studio in Bristol, killing some time till there's more scenes to be coloured. 
  In my last post I discussed some uncertainty in the story and main purpose of my film. This is now all sorted and I have a concept that means I can still use my original image concepts and story, but I now have the idea with which to extend my film and showcase more background designs. I was discussing my ideas with Sam (3rd year Games design) and he said.. " Ooh, it's like a Beautiful Apocalypse" (working title??) and that was it! This is a wonderful concept that ties in with all aspects of what my film was and what I hoped it to be. Big thank you to him!!

  So, as the story lies now...
We have our character (design to be revisited) travelling by water, through loads of different backdrops, calm, snowy, stormy, misty, beautiful, and we see no evidence of fellow life. Maybe she sees movement and gets excited, but is only disappointed. There are loads of different angles and shots, showcasing my background painting and constructing skills, as well as colour, the angles will also emphasise her loneliness, and the fact that we are observing her journey. So after maybe 6 or 8 background/environment changes, (which I'm thinking about making them work down the colour spectrum) she arrives at the purple cloudy lake. The lighthouse is partially ruined and crumbled, maybe more old fashioned or rustic in design, and the end plays out as I originally wanted, with the lights floating up past the lake from other life. 
  
  I am really happy with this now and feel that I will be giving and getting everything I wanted from my final film. 

  Keeping my original film concept also means that I can continue to follow the Gantt chart I created (pic to follow) and the short animation experiment I did does not go to waste. I was looking at layers and movement of animated light in photoshop, just to see if it would work or take ages or whatever. 

So on Saturday (when Sam gave me the Beautiful Apocalypse epiphany) I explored the idea more and got working on some basic line background structure. The book 'Dream Worlds' by Hans Bacher was always at my side, it gives me great advice and understanding of shot construction.

However, this seems to have changed my hopes and needs for the soundtrack. I will have environmental noises like water splashes and such but I will also need music to carry the story and the emotions on. 

So I have 3 more days at work experience, and because I start at 9:30 and finish at 6:30, only to get home around 8:30, I will get very little of my own work done this week, however, I will document my work experience well for the essay.

Peace out.

Week 3

  I'm currently half way through Week 3 (Wednesday), and after a chance chat with Leonie yesterday, I have decided to change my Final Film idea, almost completely. 
  Even though I'd had the concept and visuals for my final film in my head for quite some time, I was finding it difficult to get myself excited and into the project. Fortunately, after showing my ideas but also what I wanted to gain from the final film itself. When I told her I wanted to showcase backgrounds she pointed out that all the backgrounds for the idea I had one have essentially been the same... which is very true. And so we stared brainstorming ideas on how to get as many backgrounds and a variety of backgrounds, I showed her my research and what kind of backgrounds I wanted to work on and so we came up with a new premise that I'm really really excited about.
  
  The new idea is that my film will not have a character as much, or a narrative or plot, but is just a 'journey' through many different worlds and backgrounds. The thing guiding the viewer through the .....

  As I was writing this post, another idea has sprung to mind...

  This above idea is about a little spirit/sprite who lives in a book shop, she discovers an encyclopaedia and is completely blown away by all the knowledge (working title?). It would be a fast paced mash up film of short sequences of her flicking through the book and discovering everything from architecture to anatomy to languages to myths and animals. 
The little sprite thing really drinks it all in and its really joyous and exciting. With this idea I could have a plot and still have a range of backgrounds to paint. I could still use pans and multiperspective panoramas, but also work on staging a little more. I feel that something like this would help me to develop my background painting more than the original plot-less film I was going to make after speaking with Leonie. It's a little more character driven which is not what i wanted to focus on the most, but the animation can still be in the fluid style that I like and the I'll have more practice producing backgrounds for all different types of shots. 

   It is now Friday of Week 3, and upon reviewing this idea and the idea discussed with Leonie, I have decided to go back and develop my original idea further. The more I thought and tried to plan out a more complicated film, I remembered why I designed my original concept in the first place.  So, I have decided to go back to my original aesthetic and film concept, but to elongate the beginning so that I can branch out on backgrounds and still have a variety to show my skills. I feel a little more excited now and confident that I can achieve this. So my first steps from now on would be to think about the beginning of the story and quickly draw up a few backgrounds, to then storyboard with. 

  Yesterday and today however, (Thurs & Fri) I have been on work experience with Happy Hour Productions in Bristol, colouring and shading frames for a short animated advert. I will be there Monday to Thursday on week 4 as well, but I feel confident that I can get a good level of work done by then. 

Week 2

  It is now the end of week 2! The presentation on Monday went very well and my film idea and concepts were very well received! I presented the concept art, a short synopsis and my research. Here is said synopsis;

So between now and the Week 3 meeting, I have not done much about my own project, yet have drawn up some story boards with 2 alternative endings, experimented a little with the girl characters design and movement. 

I am quite happy with the above studies but presenting them to the class tomorrow will be interesting! 

All week I have been animating a short cut story scene for the very dapper Sam Coleman, although working on his final game has stopped me from doing my own work, I am extremely pleased with what I managed to produce in 3 days and it was great to get into animating again after the summer. I have definitely developed my skills in animating hair, travelling wind and scarves, I was also very pleased with my timing. I will not post any of it here as it is for another project all together.

Today (Saturday) I am hoping to get started on the first draft of my dissertation, and maybe some more background designs to show on Monday. 

I have also developed my own Gantt chart for this semester starting on week 3!