The Mummy Beni

Final Arefact!

This piece was created by just taking audio reference from there piece rather then coping the movements exactly and mimicking the camera angles the piece was put together as the way I feel it should be converted into an out of context animated piece. The important key is making sure the narrative stays the same even though the piece is away from the rest of the film, so the audience know what is happening at all times. In the previous artifact I learnt that just because an object is positioned in a certain way in a real life film it doesn’t mean that object and other features should be positioned the same way, I rendered the last piece without lighting which also changed the context as the character in the film wouldn’t have seem the wall object however in my animation because there was no shadow covering the object the audience didn’t understand why he didn’t previously see the object in front of him until so many seconds later?...

TBC......

http://youtu.be/JpAzGoDWpzg

Notes for Arefact

The Mummy Jonathan

Pantomime consists of actors and actresses overacting because the audience is at a distance, shuttle movements would be lost in such a big theatre which is in great contrast to the movies where the actors would be expected to create shuttle movements as everything is much more noticeable on the big screen. The piece I have created lies between the movies and pantomime because when a piece is converted into a 3d animated sequence often movement which would be noticeable in the a film don’t relay the same message onto the audience in the same way so by adding just a touch of exaggeration we can improve the narrative of the piece.

Two versions of this piece where created the first piece was to replicate the original movements taken from the film.

 with the intent of seeing how exaggerating and changing the original scenes movements slightly.

The second piece worked much better for an animated sequence and even though there were aspects of over exaggeration this complemented the narrative of the piece. Because a real person can express emotions in such an amazing way from the way we breath, sweat, panic, cry etc.. we can only keep going until we achieve the most effect result. 

Normally when concentrating on an animation lighting would be left out in these types of test however because in the original scene lighting is used to cover aspects of the setting this piece would have benefited narratively from the dark shadows which should have been casted. This links to what I have learned previously about making everything simple “Spell it Out”  (what is the readability like of the scene)

When a piece is transformed from realistic footage into an animated sequence as I have demonstrated, the sequence is completely out of context so by making shuttle changes to the setting will complement the narrative. This will allow the audience to be able to enjoy a piece even if it is taken away from the original context.

This arefact has taught me that allowances have to be made when converting real life characters into animated ones.

There were also many aspects of the piece that could have been improved in response to the feedback received

In feedback talks it was suggested that by animating the piece just through the reference of the audio this might give a much better narrative.

“Timing is more Important then spacing” r Williams p.314

http://youtu.be/WzsNUFhZRYE

http://youtu.be/HPJsjeLFSw4

A3 gorilla advert

Notes for A3

By applying what I have learned in the previous experiments,

Structuring the shape the character from the original advert to animating creates to more photographic positions each image can be read clearly to avoid confusion into the characters movements or mind frame.

such as exaggerating ligament movements.

Shoulder rolling when raising give a more effect look.

Simultaneous movements

Head movements constant, head bob with slight tilt.

Lessons can be learnt from animator such as Richard Willams who stress the importaince of anticipation in animation, the reasons for this is “because it communicates whats going to happen” its all abpout the thought process.

By moving the body back slightly before action this give the character the chance to show he has anticipated his movements. For example “if someone is going to hit someone he would anticipate back before swinging forward.” P.280 Richard Williams.

“The Anticipation tell us exactly what’s going to happen” this give the audience a clear understanding of the scene leaving less room for confusion in mix messages.

I have found animations are more enjoyable when they are easy to understand almost childsplay,

284 Bill Tytla said “be simple, be direct, be clear and be very simple, make a statement, and finish it- simply.” 

“We use live action reference as a library of information – Emphasise what we want edit out – or ignore what we don’t want to make our statement” R Williams p374

Just because something works in real life doesn’t mean its going to look as effective when being animated we have to learn what to take and what to leave behind when creating the illusion of life.

“Almost any bit of animation we do can be inventive were not obliged to imitate life for that we have cameras.” R Williams p374

http://youtu.be/xRQuSxHQw7o

A2 mythBusters

By using what lesson learnt from the first demonstration, I can apply this technique to a sequence from a television series in an effective way I have been able to recreate the scene into an animated sequence.

This piece was created the intention of telling a story successfully through animation, however the feedback received lead me to believe the necessary changes would need to be made when telling a story some peers felt that the body language wasn’t clear enough in some parts of the short clip meaning the messages weren’t being clearly transported as I initially believed.

Story telling becomes restricted by unclear poses however this experiment has taught me that by making each pose much clearer to a viewer

Pose express narrative.

Spell it out- by making all actions clear to the audient the piece wilol be better understood

First 15 seconds

Structuring the shape the character creates to more photographic positions each image can be read clearly to avoid confusion into the characters movements or mind frame.

Pose each position with the camera and audience in mind.

Slow movements down giving the character thinking time indicated with head tilts etc…

Use minimal camera angles, in the true scene there were multiple camera angles used however in an animation I’ve found that by limiting that amount of camera changes the audience can enjoy the piece a lot more with less changes. (This is just another difference between working with clips of a realistic nature to working with animated clips.)

The group comments indicated the second half of the piece was of greater believability mainly because it has structure through sound however the first half did not have this meaning the movements became unclear….. to understand this better 

http://youtu.be/y4O_2o0M6JY

Research Question.

Surreal to become real? Why do movements which would be unrealistic in real life make an animated character become more believable?

My first artifact aims to investigate character development through a range of practice’s which can be incorporated into an animation.

There are many techniques for developing a character, not just in the form of animation, for Example… Chekhov Technique involves developing a character from the Fingers to the hands then arms and so on…

“You might thrust them forward aggressively, clenching your fist, if the desire reminds you of grasping or catching or you might stretch them out slowly and carefully, with reserve and caution.” “Having one started this way you will no longer find it difficult to extend and adjust your particular gesture to your shoulders, your neck, the position of your head and torso legs and feet, until your entire body is thus occupied.” (Chekhov, 1953)

Laban's theory is slightly different but aims to achieve a similar result.

“Movements originate in the trunk, the center of the body and then gradually flowing out to the extremities of the arms and legs are generally more free flowing than those in which the center of the body remains motionless when the limbs begin to move. (Laban, 1980)

To demonstrate these techniques a pre-modeled character was animated to express an aggressive action, the reason behind the choice of emotion was because anger is an easily recognizable form of expression in which an audience can relate with. The action was broken down into stages and constructed in two difference methods. By creating these pieces this will demonstrate character development and how different mediums such as acting and dance can translate into the world of animation and the importance of knowing how the body moves.

A 1

When Producing this experiment the original assumption was that there would be a visible style difference between the two techniques but according to peer feedback this process did more in proving that this method works best on an individual level rather than defining types of animation, for example each animator will find their own most effect way of creating life.

I will now concentrate on key framing as this was lacking in the first experiment.

From here my intention is to develop these skills being put to practice by animating a sequence from the television series concentrating on the story telling aspect of a scene paying a great deal of attention to the characters body language when storytelling. The way our minds read what is happening in a scene if often determined by the shapes a character will make this creates body language.

http://youtu.be/F7uvmuzKPd4

So here is something im currently play with, Im testing lighting situations that may occur day or night trying lighting which wouldnt usally be around the normal family home.

So here it is, This is the Animated piece I have created for the Soho Rushes Competition. The reason the piece is only 640x480 is because this was the size requirement for the competition but because animation has been created for my university project i im re-rendering it currently in hd 1920x1080, which will give a much better quality of viewing.

These images were taken from the final client project Animation...