FINAL ANIMATION (Print to Pixel)

thoughts for the future..

Throughout the duration of this project i have learnt alot. including how to use such software as after affect and iStop motion etc.
Straight from he start of the briefing as soon as i found out it was animation i intended on doing cell animation. I believe this is due to the fact i love drawing and creating characters. Although it is an extremily lengthy process, it's when it all comes together when you really appreciate what you have created.

good points :

• the storey 
• the way i have captured Pedro's emotions through his eyes and body movement
• the way i have made it look as though the camera pans out and how i have made it look as though the ball bounces of the screen.
• i believe the hammer at the beginning is effective as it is the cue for the music and it sets the scene well for Pedro.

improvements that could be made:

• more cells in order to make it run smoother.
• add colour to enhance the mood
• stronger, darker lines

if i had the opportunity again i would do the above however this brief has been a massive learning curve for me and it has opened my eyes and made me realise in fact how difficult and time consuming animation truly is.

best get recycling !

With me doing cell animation it was inevitable that i would be utilising a lot of paper...

setting the scene....

After watching my animation over and over again. i couldn't help my self but think there was something missing. i was happy with the animation however the background around the paper was bare. Therefore i set out to look for interesting objects that i could lay out to create an authentic look so that it appears that the paper has come alive...

I also noted that the lines on the animation weren't shaded enough and they weren't as clear as i had hoped. to fix this i then went over parts that needed the final touch and also added a spot light facing the paper to bring out the white paper in contrast to the black lines...
Here are some images that i took whilst in the process of filming...

the way in which i captured my animation was through my cam on my macbook. i did this because i wanted to make it look as though the paper came alive and the angle that it is captured is at a slant so it doesn't look all formal and perfect. i wanted a realistic and believable look and i think that i have pulled this off.

adding those final touchess

A big decision of mine was whether or not i was going to introduce the music right at the start or as soon as the hammer slams down. Therefore i created both options and judged them on with one would have more of a dramatic effect..
these are the two options ...





personally i believe the second creates more of a dramatic effect because the music is triggered by the hammer which all sends him to his cell.

Hammer time..

judgement day

Whilst having a brief idea as to what my final animation will look like ... (post below). i decided on a new idea to open the sequence. i needed a strong opening that relates to being locked away and the first thing that came into my head was a court room. i then began thinking how i could animate an aspect of a court room to link to Pedro sitting in his cell. these are images that immediatly popped into my head.

after researching into such things as displayed above, i decided that the object that would have the best impact and meaning behind it would be the judges hammer.

Using the images above i began to quickly draw up what  i had interpreted to be a judges hammer slamming down. Here are some of those images...

More progresss..

i have photographed this sequence by using iStopMotion on my macbook. there is currenty no music and it is fare from complete but i believe i am heading in the right direction to what intended to do.

progresss..

personally i didnt feel as though the ball scene below was effective enough so i decied to change the angle of the shot so it looks as tho Pedro is throwing the ball at the screen. i believe this is more successful.

a scene inspired by the great escape ..

i am quite pleased as to how this turned out. you can see that bob is happy about his current situation with the ball and i believe the arm and ball movement is realistic...

further experimentation with movement..

small character similiar to Pedro but with no expression expermimenting with walking techniques.

Final storey board...

1.

Setting the scene..

Sunny outside..

Depressed look..

2.

Walks over to the bars to look outside..

3.

Sad expression..

Clenching on the bars..

4.

Exterior view of his cell to show colour and happiness outside..

5.

Slouches back down to the floor..

Depressed..

6.

Ball comes in through the window and hits Bob on the head..

7.

begins throwing the ball against the wall a few times..

8.

Ball flys out of the window..

Gutted..

9.

Depressed once again..

Pedros getting emotionn againnnnn !

Sad to angryy ! 

experimentation into how Pedro could express him self through his eyes.

Pedros getting emotional !

With my audio being rather depressing i believe that to capture the emotions necassary, Pedro's facial expressions must say it all. therefore with this being so i decided to change his eyes in order to make the emotions stronger... e.g 

 

sad..

fed up..

angry..

by giving Pedro eyes like these my aim is that people will sympathise with him.

Here are more facial expressions that i plan on utilising...

Change of plan..

After revisiting my original storey board and listening to the audio i have been given i decided on a new idea. the reason as to why i have done so is that i believe to fits to the music better, and demonstrates my three words better... depression,  failure, and dramatic.

The new plot

Male character is locked up in a cell. he is a failure to society and is depressed. the sun is shining out side with people smiling and running around. a small ball is thrown through his bars which he then begins to through against the wall. with excitement he throws it too hard and it bounces out of the window once again. out of reach. he then slouches back to the floor, depressed once again...

PEDRO !
(character)

i have made Pedro this way as he will be easy to animate. the simple stick like features give him easy mobility and clear direction of movement.

His facial features consist of a large mouth beady eyes and eyebrows. this shall allow me to capture his emotions through movement in his face.

quick image of Pedro looking depressed peering out of his cell holding onto his bars.

Further development below looking into movement and expression.

research... cell animation captured using istop motion.

i came across this by simply browsing through youtube at other animations and it really caught my eye. i like the way that the expression and idea is very clear. i wish to capture such elements as the sketchy look in my final animation.

expermienting with iStop Motionn and cell animationn

again this is the same cell animation as below, however, instead of it being 6 fps this one is 3fps which i believe has a better outcome as you can understand what is going on more clearer.






me and one of my peers created this cell animation using 6 fps and used 34 sheets of paper. i enjoy creating these because when you are in the process of making them frame by frame you cannot see how smoothly it will be, but when you piece them together on what ever programme you choose (iStop Motion) the animation comes alive.







i am not sure as to why the video shows as red but never the less i think this short animation i created is effective although it only took me 20 minutes to do. i shall be developing these animations further in a more detailed and professional manor.









exploring with ways i could potentially use iStop Motion to create a hand drawn piece..

expermienting with AFTER EFFECTS ..

here is an example of what i did in a session recently where i was given an image of a skeleton which i had to manipulate enabling it to move.

i also added a swirly line, simply through experimentation.

story board ideaaa

1. crowd excited, arms in the air waving and jumping 

2. sid encouraging the crowd to be loud and cheer

3. zooms out to set the scene 

4. Camera beind him to see the scale of the fire ring.

5. Zooms in on the ring of fire, flickering and raging.

6. Pans around the fire facing Sid lookin worried.

7. Zooms in on his face to see the worry and fear in his eyes

8. Pans out, he sets off, hat falls off due to speed

9. Heads closer to the fire looking as though he may hit it

10. His head catches the bottom which sends him on a downward spiral on fire

11. lands on his head 

12. Still on fire he runs (floats quickly) for help

13. zoom in, safety man grabs bucket of water and charges over to him

14. Both make way to middle of page and frows water on Sid

15. zooms in on him, burn't, wet, dissapointed and sad.

animation that tickle my fancy..

i have posted this because i like the way that although karl's eye region is quite simple, you can still understand how he feels through the movement of his eyebrows.

character ideas

once i had listened to my music i then had to come up with a character ... 

here are some of my ideas...

this is my final charcter that i chose.... Sid the stuntman

i also gave him a scarf and a sombrero.

i shall be capturing his emotions through his eyes and eyebrow movement.

i then began drawing out what it would look like when he started to be animated, this is what i drew up.

by doing so i believe i have managed to capture the sense of movement, and you can begin to see how it could be animated and how many frames would be needed. 

here are a couple more in relation to my final idea.... the stuntman

thoughts and ideas whilst listening to my music..

By the end of my animation i wish to capture three elements... sad, failure and disappointment. 

When listening to the music over and over again many ideas came to me. Most of which were Mexican related.. e.g sombrero's, bull fighting, zorro. 

My two favourite ideas are ....

1. Bull fight, crowd cheering, matador hands in the air embracing the audience whilst the bull is not happy as he is contained so tightly, bull charges, matador instead of fights decides to turn and scramble away resulting in him being hit, leaving the audience disappointed and him feeling sad and like a failure. 
2. Stuntman,  flying through a ring of fire high in the air, crowd cheering, he begins his run up but as he approaches he hesitates slightly resulting in him crashing into the fire, which sends him crashing to the floor set on fire, safety man then runs on with bucket of water putting him out. how ever he is left burn't sad, feeling like a failure and the audience are disappointed in him.

further inspiration and experimentation

experimenting with cell animation in our workshop... 

the storey here is that both characters begin a heated conversation .. the alien then whips our his lazer and shoots the boy but it just goes through his hair, so the boy whips our his gun a kills the alien.

i like these animations using stop motion as they are playful and dont really have too much of a meaning to them.

len lye

Stop Motion with Tim Burton

Vincent 1982

Personally i believe Tim Burton has been one of the best and most successful stop motion animators ever. The poem 'Vincent' is a animation that he created in 1982. It is quite a dark and gloomy piece and Tim has kept it simple and quite emotional. 

A quote from Tim Burton ..

"There is something about stop-motion that gives it an energy that you don't get from any other form."

Nightmare Before Christmas 1993..

Although when Nightmare before christmas was created there was new technologies out. Tim's love for stop-motion defied all technologies, he wanted to capture the beauty of art and making things and he believed that there is something gratifying about doing so.