something to think about...

28/2/10




thinking about imagery I used in my last assignment and bringing this into the animation process

want hand drawn 'childlike' images









another idea would be single line drawings on a pastel drawn coloured background...





possibly having the two boys here draw into the animation itself..... discovering the world of fun play and learning... how it can take you out of a lonely, uninspiring place to one of confidence building and belonging.

cartoon capers....

27/2/10




27/2/10

Did a 10 frame (should have been 9 i.e: 1/2 a 18 frame total but I needed the last scene!) story board for the last half of our Titanic piece for Mon - my cartooning skills are not up to much it has to be said but it gets a little easier the more you do it - important to have consistant drawings! As I haven't see Corinne's yet, I'm sure our whole story board will be very 'interesting!' Not easy to draw rats so looked some up on Google images.









Also very useful was the '30 seconds bunnies' version of Titanic - for getting the essential scenes. I'd already written them out before but this clarified them a bit.



It may be that Corinne and I overlap with our frames but we'll see on Mon. We can cut them up and rearrange them if necessary

Vis Comms Session 22/2/10

On Blackboard go to Visual Communications/my courses there are more film and animation clips to look at as well as instructions and ideas on storyboarding.

Aim of this session:

· To work in pairs/groups/individually putting together a storyboard for a 30 second animation on a well known story of our choice (30 Second Stories! – see following sheet)

· Look at 30 Second Bunnies on YouT www.angryalien.com"





We will then animate these in next week’s session (TV studio is booked from 1.00 – 2.00pm from next week – this only gives of all us 1 hour between us with Derek). Try booking the studio/animation room with Derek at other times where possible – e.g: after 4.00pm)
· Consider your aspect ratio
· Don’t have to work to wide screen but this is usually used in animation (16 x 9). Can use normal screen 4 x 3.
· For a 30 second animation you would need a minimum of 9 storyboard screens and a maximum of 18.

Updated my blog - with a little help from Julie. Asked about embedding video
.
· Need to go into Edit html option
· Click on ‘embed (right hand side of screen) – copy this – edit/html – paste – preview. You will then see the video appear in the blog.
· Need to edit past postings using this so that all videos can be seen.


Working with Corinne we first considered to storyboard Bridget Jones’ Diary using rats for our characters. Need to:

Look at the defining moments in the film and storyboard accordingly:

Mother saying ‘you’ll never get a boyfriend if you look like you’ve wandered out of Auschwitz
Bridget wearing a ‘carpet’ – him wearing naff Christmas jumper – Mr Right, Wrong jumper!
Bottle of wine

Looked at a couple of trailers on YouTube to get ideas but felt there was probably too much to put into 30 seconds and not enough defining moments to get the whole idea across.



We then decided to use ‘Titanic’ for our film.







Defining moments:

Modern day – she – only survivor of Titanic disaster seeing ship for first time since it sank
Titanic – maiden voyage – unsinkable ship!
Passengers including our heroes boarding Titanic – Rich/Poor
She goes to edge of ship – he saves her and so begins a beautiful relationship
She meets him in basement – party
She takes him to dinner on the upper deck – role reversal
He paints her naked
Her fiancé – diamond
She and he – diamond
Ship hits iceberg
Everyone on top decks oblivious – some sleeping, some carry on dancing, eating etc
Gradual realisation of what’s happening
Not enough lifeboats
Confusion and fighting re: who should go..etc etc
Him and her trying to escape
Orchestra play on
All fall off
He and she clutching at debris
He lets go and sinks
She survives
Fast forward to present day – recovery of Titanic

Again, we want to use rats for our characters – think ‘rats fleeing from a sinking ship’ phrase.
Define the differences in their ‘class’ - those in steerage walk on all fours…. Those above decks, the upper classes walk on two legs.
Use cheese instead of the diamond
Rats scuttling around




Another resource that we may find very useful. Empire magazine do a yearly competition that involves re-enacting well known films in just 60 seconds. It's very similar to the 30 second bunnies but they use live action and they are obviously twice as long! Links are up in the task folder on Blackboard, but here is the URL in case you can't access BB: http://www.empireonline.com/awards2010/donein60seconds/

13/2/10

Read through 'Animation - A Handy Guide' by Sheila Graber (From Pastels to Pixels) - a great simple guide structured around 20 key events in animation history from Cave Art to the development of 3D computer-generated images. The supporting DVD has links to more information around a subject plus a 'flick book' animation programme. Tried my own and saved it into my documents - it's a FLK file but can't open it again. Will have to ask Julie about this on Monday

more thoughts, inspirations...

8/2/10

Checked out more animation clips Julie has posted on Blackboard
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7UvbwCjXUk - Steriogram - Walkie Talkie Man- brilliant music video using animated puppets made of wool Frustratingly unable to embed this onto blog site

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NiwqRSCWw2g Sepultura - Ratamahatta music video using claymation - I'm guessing this take weeks to make!! Again - can't embed this here.

My Animated World



'This Stop Motion Animation takes you into another world. In this world no physical laws count. The only laws that count are the laws of the Animator.I animated myself through my house and the city of Breda, the Netherlands. It took me 6 months to complete. That is mainly because of the weather. It wasn't always suitable to shoot my scenes.The song I used is called Chinois by DJ Aphrodite and can be found on the record Aftershock'.

Also looked at:

‘The Nose’ – Alexander Alexeioff & Claire Parker (1963). Pinscreen animation technique. 16mm Black/white 3D effect





‘Train Landscape’ (1974) – Jules Engel





‘Triangle’ (1994) – Erica Russell. Cell animation using stencils and drawings
beautiful simple drawings where movement is fluid and suspended at the same time






‘Full Moon’ (2001) Paul Glabicki. Lightwave 3D software & digital video compositing. Format: VHS, Betacom SP, DVD, colour. ‘



I read about these films in an Animation book but sadly have been unable to find them on the internet in order to upload them here.

Film-Wipe-Film’ (1983) ‘Under The Sea’ (1989) – each took 4 years to make.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TH8ndxAhoRc&feature=PlayList&p=4EF895659EF47F2D&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=17

‘Mothlight’ (1963) – Stan Brakhage. Collage on film – pressed dead moths between sheets of film, then re-photographed though an optical printer



‘Colour Cry’ (1952) – Len Lye. Applying, then exposing stencils and other objects directly onto film. Direct film – drew directly onto film. Painted, stencilled and scratched directly onto film.




‘Colour Box’ (1935)





‘Radio Dynamics’ (1942) – Oskar Fischinger. Technique: animated cells on nitrate stock, Format: 35mm, colour; exploring cinematic drawing




Had a look around the TV studio and editing suite in college. Obviously this is a new and daunting process as it appears so open-ended and time-consuming but it is therefore exciting also. However, I am worried about the time-scale that we have to do all this in. This is a totally new discipline. Always the same with me. If we’re all doing different processes how can we have enough one-to-one time with a tutor. Have to book time in with the TV studio technician.

Had a look at work by White Strips video director Michel Gondry
interesting use of mixing real film with projections – a great layering of story effect.




My assignment

Look at work based around the issues covered in first assignment. This work must be

Emotive
Have a cause
Inspire

(have a look at ‘how to make an animated cartoon Drawings/Video series’)

My organisation: Children/parents learning/activity sessions:
Reading
Play
Creative

Move from
Confused
Lonely
Isolated

A journey via creative play, reading and story telling to

Social
Happy
Fulfilled
Learning

I want to use drawing animation

Wax crayons drawing out children images…their feelings prior to the activity sessions and how those sessions might make them feel positive afterwards…
Use the imagery I used for the poster and leaflet designs
Drawn out words?
Photos of crafts inter-sperced with drawings


Research other adverts in a similar vein. Think about your target audience and what you are trying to convey to them – how you want to engage them. What works? What doesn’t?

Look at Youtube animation examples and tutorials for drawn animation
Make a blog as an alternative to a sketchbook (can embed research from Youtube and early experiments) Look at Julie’s blog at http://www.personalanimushadow.blogspot.com/
If using a sketchbook, take screen shots
www.netover.com/~kingskid/dolch_store/indexstore.html use of animation to get an educational message across
Look at various children’s illustrators – their styles

How to Create a Stop Motion Animation - http://wikihow/com/Create-a-Stop-Motion-Animation a simple step by step guide. Will check this process out with Derek, the TV studio technician at college. Need to know if I can use my own digital camera and if I can only really use this technique in the studio due to the need for a fixed camera - can I use a tripop at home to experiment?

Case studies and examples researched via http://www.swgfl.org.uk/Learning/Film-Animation-Mini-Site/Case-Studies/Animation wanted to see examples of animation films for ecduational use

Zu3D http://www.zu3d.com/ - a new stop-motion animation program made specifically for schools. It has been developed through primary school ICT Clubs with the expert knowledge of a professional animator who has worked with Aardman. This is software for children to use - it is both stimulating and engaging and enables children to work independtly on their own stop-motion animation. My advert must appeal to children and carers alike and therefore engage both groups.

'Through the arts, children will also develop original ideas, explore issues and solve problems. Children will take part in different activities - from singing and composing their own music to photography and animation' http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/primary-curriculumreview/downloads/83306-COI-DSCF-CurriculumReview(Summary).pdf

Looked at more drawing animation examples and saved them as print screen docs



(the author here described this as a bad animation but it gives me an idea of simple drawn animation

How to Animate - Spacing for Animation

Storyboarding.........

1/2/10

Having a look at Story Boarding.... need to think about my advert and what 'message'/'story' I am trying to relate through a compelling visual means - in this case, drawn animation.

and http://andypages.com/images/kiddwest/storyboard01.jpg

Checked out http://animation.about.com/od/recommendedreading/qt/storyboarding.htm for more storyboard ideas and essential points

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUNkHqH67LE Battlegate storyboard. We've been working on a fully 2D animated promo for Battlegate that we'll be using to pitch our show with. This is the animatic we created from our storyboards for animation production. Written and Directed by Chris & Leila, Voices: Marcko (Michael Mauro), Hugo (Michael Kristoph), Banistero (Richard Dodwell), Diego (Gary Forbes).





Read the web comic @ http://www.battlegate.com These storyboard images really give a feel for the whole film - as detailed as they need to be but not so simple as to lose the feel of the finished film.

Will attempt to do a Post-It note storyboard for my initial idea and work from them.

see this




Storyboards are like blueprints for your movies. And the bigger your production, the more important they become. As Christopher Columbus once said, "Making a movie without a storyboard is like throwing your money into a bottomless pit."Download Our Storyboard Template HERE:http://s3assets.nextnewnetworks.com/7...

Animation for the nation.....

2nd January 2010

I begin this assignment with the usual dread but am facinated to walk into the world of animation and all its possibilities. Initial thoughts are restricted by lack of knowledge but I've had a look at some of the following techniques:

• rotoscoping (very early animation)
• puppet animation
  
  
  
  Drawing animation
  
  
  
  
  
  Cell animation
  
  
  
  
  
  
  Sand animation (done on a lightbox) absolutely amazing and mesmerising.
  
  
  
  
  Paint on glass animation
  
  
  
  
  Clay animation
  
  
  
  
  
  CGI (computer generated imagery)
  
  
  
  
  
  effects are really strong in this but we will not be using this method in college

My intial thoughts are to work on a drawing animation, using the drawn images I've used in my previous assignment - the child like drawings. I would like to advertise, through animation, the importance and provision of creative play for children, using hand drawn images on either hand drawn backgrounds or photographic backgrounds/collages etc?

Looked at as many examples of animation and films to get inspiration - and the history of animation to get a real feel for it's beginning and it's development:

The Little Chimney Sweep - Lotte Reinger - sillouette animation , 1954





beautifully created, a real sense of atmosphere and scene setting. Also informative in an imaginative, engaging way

Good Night Children - Yuriy Norshteyn




Norshteyn spent a year and a half making this animation for the introduction/conclusion to Good Night, Children (Спокойной ночи, малыши), a popular Russian nightly show for young children to watch before they go to bed. The first part would air before each daily show, the second part after.This is a truly beautiful animation which absolutely makes a story book come to life

Kids City - Leonie Sawides Animated and Directed by Leonie Savvides, music by Mark Bradshaw, animation in After Effects and Flash. Kids' drawings battle the drab geometry of traditional learning. Visions of Voltron, Transformers, Fat Cat, Goldilocks, Dorothy and more all squished together. 2006.






This combines film and drawn animation to put a message across and gives a real sense of reality giving way to imagination

When I Grow Up - Justin Seau in Final Cut Pro, After Effects http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQ34KTHUQlc 'When I Grow Up' is an animation that explores the family and ambition of five children. The children were interviewed then asked to draw their family and themselves. The drawings were traced, then animated in After Effects. This really appealed to me as it directly connected the children in the animation to the children's voices and any watching the animation - brings their world to real life.

Eat This Child Originally Mangez Cet Enfant. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ISOr600QCm0 First of Grey Gerlings new series of weekly animated cartoons, made from index cards and ink





. and Sperm Rider - Seed of Destruction - Barf Question Films - Grey Gerling. Drawn animation, layered, Flash




Advent Of Sock http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLN511gm-G8





I love all these animations and they work particularly well with the music. Colourful, engaging, modern yet reminiscent of 50s cartoon/superhero characters, they hold the attention from the beginning and have a slightly comical, yet sinister feel to them.

I Met The Walrus - composited in After Effects - text used. In 1969, a 14-year-old Beatle fanatic named Jerry Levitan snuck into John Lennon's hotel room in Toronto and convinced him to do an interview. 38 years later, Levitan, director Josh Raskin and illustrators James Braithwaite and Alex Kurina have collaborated to create an animated short film using the original interview recording as the soundtrack. A spellbinding vessel for Lennon's boundless wit and timeless message, I Met the Walrus was nominated for the 2008 Academy Award for Animated Short and won the 2009 Emmy for 'New Approaches' (making it the first film to win an Emmy on behalf of the internet). Very effective way of using animation to directly mimic what's being said in visual form

Blu - painted animation (graffiti





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuGaqLT-gO4 http://www.blublu.org/The new short film by Blu: an ambiguous animation painted on public walls.Made in Buenos Aires and in Baden (fantoche)note wall painted over, image moved along/repainted - see 'shadow' effecthttp://www.blublu.org/http://www.blublu.org/sito/video/muto... music by Andrea Martignoni

Darkness/LIght/Darkness - Jan Svankmajer
Shortfilm by the Czech surrealist Jan Svankmajer. Year: 1989. Running time: 6 min. clay animation -





gives a shock sense of scale and claustrophobia - the power of the imagination

Collecting examples of different moving imagery fuels the imaganation and gives me scope for what I may be capable of.

Use Post-It notes for Story-boarding (can interchange them and move them about) 16 x 9 format.