COP - 1 to 1 - 24/10/19

During my 1 to 1 session I decided to go for the 360 degree animation question, focusing on the advantages and disadvantages of this emerging technology. I chose this one because I have a lot of oppurtunities for character design during this course, but the 360 degree one is much more unique. I was definitely interested in both topics however I'm very excited about this one as I can learn more about this new technology.

• One major aspect I can look at is the control over storytelling, and whether this becomes an advantage or a disadvantage.
• Animations to research:
• Ted talk cave animation
• All of the gogle spotlight stories
• Blind Veysha (and how it is a perfect style for 360 animation)
• Library books on 360 animation

COP - Initial Questions Research - 23/10/19

I researched a little bit into each of the topics that I found interesting from the 4 lectures, and settled on either looking at:

1. Inclusive storyelling within character design, and whether visual stereotypes are necessary to convey a character's personality.
2. 360 degrees animation and whether it can become mainstream.

1. Things to consider:

• how stereotypes can be used to play with the audience's assumptions. For example Lotso from Toy Story 3. His character design was soft and rounded, with large eyes which is normally associated with protagonists and "good guys". More subtle than that is the inclusion of negative visual stereotypes with the postive ones, so in this example the use of purple as his colour scheme, as this is a typical villain colour.
• the misrepresentation/lack of representation of female characters
• group character designs such as "teen girl squad"
• "What is beautiful is good" or "the halo effect" stereotype

2. Things to consider:

• how it is supported on different platforms/software for both the audience and the artist
• the advantages/disadvantages of it (e.g. the trade off for how it is interactive is that only one person can view it at once - its a solo experience)
• the difference in experience it offers for both the artist and the audience
• how the film language for narrative changes, such as the struggles of not being able to control the camera

Squash and Stretch - 22/10/19

Squash and stretch is a technique used alongside exaggeration to enhance a character's action/reaction. The most important thing to consider is that when squashing/stretching, the dimensions/volume should stay the same (unless exaggerating).

The first exercise we did to practice this was a vertical bouncing ball, using this corn starch cylinder as from the top view it's circular, and the side view its elongated thus giving the appearance of stretch/squash. We had no instruction with this and therefore we had to experiment and fail ourselves. The end result wasn't perfect but I feel was a good first attempt. The main thing we had to change about this one is removing one of the stretch frames as it started stretching too early - it should only stretch just before it's about to land. The height of the second bounce should also be slightly higher too. One thing that we learnt was that although it was shot on 2's, the squash frames as it landed on the ground should be on 1's as that movement is very quick.

We then were taught about bouncing balls moving in an arc. The main points to this were that the ball needed to be spaced so that it was cushioned at the peak of the arc, almost like a reverse easy ease. Also the path of the ball should be an arc and not a zigzag, as well as that the ball should stretch-squash-stretch upon landing. Whether it stretches any longer before landing is up to the animator based on how elastic they want the ball, but that should also dictate how high the peak of the next arc is. I think this one is a lot better than the first as all the frames were spaced well and in the correct order, however to improve it it would need to be sped up, either by making the framerate 30fps, or by shooting it on 1's. Currently it looks a bit floaty.

The last exercise was to create a flipbook animation of an action that utilises squash and stretch. I think the actual stretch and squash drawings although exaggerated were good and well proportioned, however the timing of the animation was a bit off. I think the start of the stretch should have been slower to show more effort going in to stretching the character, and it should have held for a few more drawings at full stretch to then emphasise the speed of the release. The first squash frame should be a bit more squashed and then when it comes back up from the squash it should stretch a little bit rather than going straight into the final position as at the moment that final movement looks a bit jumpy.

Arcs - 21/10/19

In this session, we learnt about how arcs are used in animatoin to create fluid and believable movements. They are:

• non-mechanical
• more expressive
• the most efficient path of movement from A to B

The first task was to create a pendulum as this is the most basic exercise to demonstrate and practice arcs. I found out that spacing was key to creating convincing movement, specifically using an easy ease to show how physics affects the ball. I think my pendulum turned out good and was well spaced.

The next exercise was to create a stop motion action that demonstrated arcs. This exercse was really effective at showing me how arcs are necessary, as because it was a physical object, I was unable to change the dimensions of the puppet and therefore had to move it in arcs. It also made me pay much more attention to them and the best movements for the different parts, such as the main arc of the finger but also the secondary arc of the palm of the hand. I feel like I struggled with keeping all the secondary movements constant and keeping the spacing accurate, which gives the end animation a slightly floaty effect. I think I could have chosen a more extreme action to help with my understanding, such as a snake or rope etc.

I revisited the pendulum after feedback from Ben saying that a common mistake of easy-ease's is putting a frame in the centre of the arc, which looks off on playback. My pendulum had a frame close to the middle, therefore I took it out to improve the spacing.

COP - Questions 3 and 4 - 17/10/19

Question 3 - Trendy, unforgiving, essential...How is inclusive storytelling shaping the norms of representation amongst well-written characters in animation?

Question 4 - Offensive, futile, courageous...What does it mean for animation practitioners to be subversive in a world of propaganda and political correctness?

I also enjoyed these presentations but not as much as last weeks as these were a lot heavier and less in my line of interest. Question 4 is definitely interesting however didn't have any topics that made me want to research further. Question 3 was very interesting as the presentation and the views presented were a lot more subjective and open to discussion. I found myself thinking through the subjects and arguments a lot, and would possibly like to explore these two subjects further:

• Female characters and their physical representation in animation
• How much does inclusive storytelling affect character design? Are stereotypes necessary to convey personality in characters?

COP - Questions 1 and 2 - 10/10/19

Question 1 - CG, VR, AR, MR, AM...How has new technology been influencing our expectations of style in 21st century animation?

Question 2 - Manipulation, aesthetic choice, lack of identity...How is the concept of nostalgia utilised by creators of animated content?

While I found both lectures interesting, question 1 was definitely my favourite and had me thinking about the multitude of topics I could explore as I'm really interested in the technology behind animation. Question 2 was definitely more discussable, however there wasn't anything about it that intrigued me further than the general understanding behind why nostalgia is used so much as a manipulation device in animation.

Within question 1, the following topics interested me the most:

• The use of CG in television. Can handdrawn/ traditional animation compete with 2D CG in western television? I also found out that while western TV is predominantly CG, japanese/french is hand drawn. Why is this the case, what makes CG so popular in the west OR why is handdrawn still the most popular in Japan/France? Has the use of handdrawn animation in Japan contributed to its popularity in the west?
• Can stop-motion compete against 3D CG animation? With the advancements in technology meaning that 3D animation can recreate the stop motion style without the costs involved (lego movies, south park etc.), will stop-motion animation phase out?
• The big boom in 3D animation created the desire to go back to 2D styles (Paperman), so will this translate into TV, with 2D CG shows becoming predominantly hand drawn again?
• Can AR animations be utilised on a commercial scale (watching films in the real world, advertisements, google glass etc.)?
• 360 degrees animation. Can it become mainstream? What are the benefits of it? I was really interested in this particular topic due to how it changes the experience on both the audiences' and director's side of things. Also how the technology open doors for multiple plotlines in a narrative as well as interactive animations.

Timing and Spacing - 15/10/19

The principle we learned in this session was timing and spacing, the most important principle of animation. Timing refers to how long an action lasts to achieve its optimum effect. Spacing is about how far each frame is from eachother, and consists of 4 types: linear, ease-in, ease-out and easy ease. Two quotes from the seminar that sums up this principle really well are:

• The real trick to great animation is not to make great images that move, but to make great movements that work as images.
• What happens between each image, is more important than what exists in each image.

We first practised the different types of spacing with a plasticine ball. This was the easy ease, and I feel like it worked well, however to make the effect more obvious I should have added more steps to really highlight the ease in and outs. Actually trying out the different types of spacing with the same exercise showed how each one creates a different feel to the ball's movement, without actually changing anything about the ball or the direction.

Next we practised timing by animating a blink using only two frames - eyes open and eyes shut. The personality of the character should dictate how long the blink lasts, and as my character is a bit jittery I wanted the blink to be quick. I found this quite hard as I couldn't decide between 3 or 2 frames for the blink, but I ended up deciding 2 was too quick. This exercise showed me how important timing was to convey the right emotion and personality of a character.

I couldn't decide on an action to use, so I created two quick rough animations to visualise my different ideas. I think idea 1 showed the personality of my character more, however a slower dance would suit Creak much more than a quick one, and that combined with the slow head turn would result in too many frames for this exercise. Idea 1 also lacked a reaction to the offscreen prompt. Moreover, idea 2 allowed me to have a contrast between the slow head turn and the quick flinch back that allows me to practise two different types of timings, thus I went with that one.

Finally, we had to animate a 6 frame movement for our characters to perform. Overrall I found this very hard but it taught me a lot about timing. I feel like the contrast between the slow head turn and the fast reaction was efficient at creating a scared reaction, however it took me a long while to decide on the correct timing. One thing I need to work on is focusing solely on the timing and ignoring the lack of inbetweens. This is because I was focusing too much on how the animation wasn't fluid. I feel like the timing of this scene isn't completely perfect, however I'm not sure what bits need to change. The shot definitely needs a lot of inbetweens though.

Pose to Pose and Straight Ahead - 14/10/19

During this seminar, we learnt about the two different methods of animating a sequence; straight ahead and pose to pose. The first was the original method, suited for stop motion as well as natural, fluid movements. The second was developed to maximise efficiency in the industry as multiple people can work on one shot. It is more structured.

An alternative method is to combine the two together, utilising the structure of the keyframes and breakdowns of the pose to pose method with the looser, more fluid movement of straight ahead animation for in betweens.

We first experimented with straight ahead animation, using plasticine to create a short animation. I definitely noticed that it was easier to create more fluid animations with this method as there wasn't a set end frame to reach, therefore it didn't matter if the successive frame was in a certain place - nothing was "wrong". I also noticed that it was harder to keep an even spacing as there was no planning. This was noticeable when the the flower started slowing its spinning as it jolted a bit and sped up slightly before slowing down again. I did really like the freedom of this style however.

We then experimented with the pose to pose method by creating an animation where a simple figure jumps across a gap. I used a reference of me jumping to draw in the keyframes and then the breakdowns of the movement. It was quite difficult making sure that the figure was the right size throughout these keys, but once they were drawn the in betweens were simple to add. I really liked the structure of this method as it allowed me to break down the movement into easy-to-understand stages. Furthermore it allowed me to control my spacing easier, however I still think the frame before the figure hits the wall is too far to the left. 

Staging - Nursery Rhyme - 08/10/19

In this session, we learned about using different methods to present an animation and its meaning. The main points from the seminar:

• There should be no doubt in the audience's mind about what event is causing the narrative
• The shot needs to convey emotion
• You must direct the audience's attention, using tools such as colour and lighting to create a tone/mood

I found it very hard to decide on what 6 images would best describe the events of my nursery rhyme, and feel that my final 6 is not enough for a proper storyboard as the pacing between the shots is a bit jarring. I did however like most of my shot's compositions. 

I feel the first shot is too plain and is a bit boring. I could have used a more interesting perspective for the establishing shot. I like the warped angle of the second shot. The closeup of the third shot works well but I should have centered the wheel a lot better to frame it. I really like the perspectives and framing of the final 3 shots. 

I definitelly need to impove my perspectve skills to make my compositions look much more interesting. One tip I learned is to use diagonal lines rather than horizontal ones, which is a technique imployed by Brad Bird a lot in his films.

I'm quite happy with the staging in the splash page, the dead kid being centered in the foreground with contrasting and bright colours brings immediate attention to it, and the perspective of the road and the brightness of the blood leads the eyes to the bus and thus the cause of the death. I struggled a lot with the background however, as I find it really hard to colour convincing backgrounds and its something I need to work on. Also the style is something that I find quite challenging, as initally I tried a Ghibli inspired background however it was messy and uncoordinated. This exercise showed that I need to work on my backgrounds. It also made me think much more about how I should frame each shot to bring out its meaning.

Appeal - Character Design - 07/10/19

This seminar taught us about the appeal of a character, which is the animated equivalent of an actor’s charisma. Essentially, an appealing character conveys its personality through both its visual design and its movements. A key point is that simple is appealing.

To create an appealing character, we first came up with its backstory and personality. I found this quite challenging as it was hard to think of an original idea, however once I focused on individual features in the mindmap rather than trying to think of a whole story for the character, it became much easier and allowed more possibilities. I definitely feel I could have simplified Creak much more however, and was too focused on the story.

I used the character sheet as a template to then sketch ideas of how Creak may look. I had quite a good idea of his appearance from the description, however I found that some things that worked on paper didn’t work visually, so the designs never met all the points of the character sheet. I enjoyed this part however I felt I could have done a lot more designs, especially with the body.

I then started to create the turnaround, which I found quite challenging to make bigger and correctly proportioned. In the end I changed the design of the body to make it more angular, because the first design was too complicated and didn’t show enough character. I like how the front and back poses turned out, but I found the side view very challenging, and I felt the shoulders of the 3/4 pose are too skewed.

Finally I created the expression sheet which I found quite hard to convey the right emotion without reference. The solid drawing exercise really helped with the poses of this character, and I really liked how they turned out, however I feel the character’s expressions could have been pushed more, especially the angle of the head.

Solid drawing - Walnut Man - 01/10/19

This tuesday we had a solid drawing session using a walnut as inspiration for a character design. 

These are my chosen 3 drawings from the walnut exercise, drawn with only 3 strokes, with only 1 stroke and drawn with my eyes closed (top left, top right, bottom). I chose these three because i really liked the gestural marks with the varying textures, and I loved the linework from the blind drawing.

I decided to use the drawing made with 3 strokes as it was a good mix of gesture and form, where I used the topmost stroke as the curve of the nose. I really like the silhoutte and nose of the character but I also should have done more than 2 designs to explore more ideas.

I decided on making this character a priest, but I wasn't happy with the colour palette I chose because it was too dull and I found that the it didn't match the character's expression, so I went back and altered my character, making him wear more earthy walnut colours. I much prefer this version.

We had to create a full bodied character and so far I had only designed the head and shoulders. I liked the loose fitting clothes and the scarf, as well as his slightly hunched over neutral pose to further suggest his age. I definitely need to improve his legs and feet and also could have improved his collar area to make it flow better. 

I found the life gestural drawing really beneficial but also very hard, it's something that I want to practice in my spare time as I feel I need to push the gesture more and increase the drawings' clarity. I was proud of my final 2 drawings however, as the poses were dynamic and showed off the character's personality. They both were distinctive despite the lack of a visible face. To improve, I should exaggerate the gesture of the poses a lot more, especially with the pushing pillar pose as the back leg could really be stretched to show the exertion. The hands and feet are also weak points.