Animating

Over the holidays i did some animating, and now in desperate need of vitamin D and

have a tendency to hiss at bright lights. I have majority of Lewis animated

however, it looks clunky to me, not sure if this is just a matter of spacing

or if i need to add some more in-betweens, a little of both i suspect.

The animation is coming along, i still have alot of work to do though, and cant

quite shake this feeling of sheer panic.

I will have to draw a few extra hands for Lewis as i didnt account for when he is

holding things. I only have open hand drawings and i need some closed hands from

different angles. Another thing is the umbrella, this is something i keep pushing aside

and i really should be attaching it to him whilst i animate the shots, so now i will

have to go back and add it in.

Today my car wouldnt start, its been playing up for some time now, so i didnt go to

school, i had to get the problem sorted as it is becoming really unreliable.

So i stayed at home and did some animating, also working on my showreel.

Aside from that, so far so good, the spacing is bothering me with the animation, but i just need to sit down and focus on the action and figure it out. I shall continue to keep chipping away at everything and hopefully the light at the end of the tunnel will start to appear shortly.

:)

Lewis things

Oh Hai everybody.

It has been a while since my last confessio.........er, i mean blog, sorry for the delay but life

has been throwing some mean curve balls my way lately.

I have done a little animating, not as much as i would have liked to, or need to but ill take some as opposed to none. I have a walk cycle for Lewis (minus arms and head currently), also i have animated the keys for when Lewis bends down to pick up a light bulb, just need to add a couple inbetweens. I have also animated Lewis's head from posterior view as he is looking out to the ocean, not much happening there, still trying to figure out what else i can make him do in this shot, considering its just his head moving, perhaps that is enough? I have done a meagre attempt at Lewis sighing, which looks bloody ridiculous but the fundamentals are there to work with. I had a chat with Ed about this and he helped me understand what the arms and hands could be doing to make this sigh not look so bomby.

Last but not least i have done some more animation tests for the paint on glass, Jack and I went through a few experiments and came up with some nice results. Im still thinking of diluting the paint a hell of a lot more (Jack i know you love thick paint), i just think super watery water colours look like water.................say that ten times fast.

The next two weeks are also going to be crazy, im hoping (fingers crossed and praying to all gods out there) that i can get the animation done by the end of the holidays, if not then i fear i may go insane(yes yes even more so).

Oh one last thing, i have drawn up the light house and it comes apart like a cracked egg, to reveal the broken foundations left behind when it takes off. I like it, i still want to roughen up the edges of the bricks a little but im happy with how it is looking. Still have to do the weather vein and tweak a few things etc etc.

Its late and i will have to post visuals for you all on monday, as i am working the weekend and then i have to rush to my sisters hens day/night (good grief, what timing).

Anyways, just touching base, hope you all have a lovely holiday and message me if you need me etc. Lewis umbrella thrown in there also.

:)

IK_ A' No No

AAAAAAAAAlllllrighty then. I have placed the backgrounds into the running comp, i have also blocked out the characters in the running comp. Doing this has brought to my attention that the colours of the characters and the backgrounds are not working. Lewis and especially the mechanical bird (fizgig 510 is his name but nobody knows what im talking about when i use this) get really lost in the colours, they are so washed out against the sand etc, makes it veryhard to see them. Anyway im sure there are ways of correcting this in after fx by playing around with compostion, hue, saturation etc etc. I was always going to darken everything up with the backgrounds anyways, so hopefully once this is done it will be better.
Have moved onto animating, i had major dramas over the weekend with the IK handles. The dramas were, it confused the shit out of me. Im going to chuck the IK handles (sorry Darren), its too fiddly and if you move a handle just a fraction out of shape then things get all stretched and crazy and it just snowballs.
Sitting with Jack today and going through animating just by using the scale, rotation and position is a much more calming way in my eyes. It makes sense to me and i can concentrate on the animation as opposed to concentrating on IK handles and trying to figure them out. The puppet tool will also help me out, so im basically back to square one in regards to my animation technique. I have come full circle to see that i should have stuck with my initial way.
So things are a little more clear and i can animate without having to call Seamus or Taylor in a mad panick.
Good Times :)

DVD Cover

Jack i just read what you wrote about the shadows being too dark, yes i agree with

you there. The solar flare was just a quick after thought to try and get

the cover done along with the other things we needed to hand in.

So still a few more mistakes, but its a cover that i can go back to and

fix up when i need it.

I wish i had of toned the white down on the titles and made them a slightly

grubby off white as they seem very clean and white against my style.

DVD cover

This is the makings of my DVD cover, the bird still needs a tail, the back needs a synopsis and of course the title needs to be on the front.

Backgrounds Ahoy!

(All backgrounds still need to be photoshoped, and dont forget people the water will be animated, not a painted still picture as you see here. )

So its that time again, yes thats right folks, Ems blogg is here again.

I have basically been doing the same thing as i was last time i blogged, painting backgrounds

with watercolour.

I have discovered that working with water colours isnt as easy as i had first initially thought, although i have used them in the past i have never actually painted anything of value with them. They are a difficult medium to use in the sense that if you make a mistake its really hard to recover from. If you paint something too dark you basically have to wait for things to dry to be able to lighten them up, and by that point the paper is worn and bally. Also, when applied, they look slick and nice with the water but then when they dry, its an absolute mess!

These are just some thoughts on my painting experience.

Darren rigged up Lewis with IK handles too and we had a play around with moving him. Im really happy with the way he is moving and i love the puppet look, still a few crinkles to iron out but as i said im super happy at the moment.

Backgrounds

I have been painting backgrounds lately, trying to get perspective right and also adding

some interesting textures.

Initially i did a wash of really diluted watercolour to mark out the backgrounds, now im going over them to add some depth and detail.

Still havnt finished the sky and the sand on most of them but you can see where im heading with them.

The background in the top right corner is Jacks deomonstration, i really like the detail in the sand and also the seaweed.

Puppets and Painting

Well im still working on making my puppets, i have majority of Lewis ready,

and have started to work on the mechanical bird.

I have been exploring different textures and techniques in photoshop

and drawing the bird has turned out to be alot of fun.

I have also began painting my backgrounds. Im initially just doing

them in a very light wash of water colour then i will go back over them with more depth. I think i will tweak them digitally and perhaps use pastels along with the watercolour to help create this.

Today i managed to do a test with one of the puppets in AFX with Huni, although

it was just a series of simple movements it was great to see the puppet working

smoothly. Im really happy with the way the puppet looked and moved, and cant wait to

get into animating him.

Last week i had a chat with Darren about different possible ways to make the light house take off look effective, and also how to create the dust that will be falling amongst the debris and rubble during take off. He suggested filming certain substances such as talcum powder, or flour falling in front of a green screen, however upon further discussion with Huni, it was thought that perhaps the glow of the green will show up to much on the powders??? Then we found something similar that can be done in AFX with particles, so i shall chat to Darren about these queries.

This is basically bringing you up to date with my production, discussions with Jack were also had last week regarding milestones that I wish to achieve by the end of the month. I found this quite helpful as it gave me some clarity and helped steer me in the right direction.

Below are the puppets i have created, as you can see some are still works in progress, but nearly there.

Hello there

Hello everyone,

I hope your holidays have been treating you well!

I have finished a couple of puppets and sent them off

to Darren so he can rig them up with the IK handles

script that he discovered, still a few more puppets to

complete and i hope to get them done before we get

back so i can start animating straight away. I am also

going to have a play around with paints tomorrow and do

some backgrounds as im sick of working digitally and need

to break it up a little. Sometimes you just gotta get your

hands dirty! am i right? am i right? :D

Progress has been slow, i have once again had to work alot

as the bills have been piling up, unfortunately its draining

and i find it hard to get creative after standing on my feet,

and runing around for 10 hours, but i have still managed to

get a little bit done.

I met up with David, the sound engineer that is working on my

film. We sat down and went through every shot and worked out

the sound effects that are needed and discussed how they can

be created and applied etc. This was such a relief as sound is

quite a big factor of the animation and it helps alot to have someone

who knows what they are doing working on it with me.

The beginning of the animation is quite repetitive in regards to sound(waves and clinking lightbulbs) but

it does get more complex as the story builds towards the end.

We discussed soft and loud dynamics and how this can enhance the mood,

and also David had a few ideas for foley/SFX that i think will work out really

well.

Anyways just a short hello to let you know what i have been up to, cant wait to see you

all when we get back xo

Tracking Document

TRACKING DOCUMENT


There have been a few slight changes so far to my production plan, the environment and backgrounds are still the same, I will be painting on glass to create the ocean, and there will be many layers used with mixed mediums for the backgrounds. I wont be using a rostrum as I initially thought, the reason for this is I really don’t think its necessary, although it would be a great piece of equipment to have and use, I can get a really nice look just by using the one pane of glass as opposed to many layers of glass on the rostrum. If I get time I may still try and rig something up but it’s not crucial. I will be painting the sky and sand in watercolours and scanning these pictures into After FX.

I have had some inner conflict issues this year firstly with the script and now with the style of the animation. I have always wanted to hand draw the production, as I love this style but wasn’t confident with the quality that I could produce, and also I was concerned with time constraints. So I decided to use the puppet tool, as this style seems to compliment the whole steampunky vibe that I have in my head. However, part of me feels like this just isn’t going to look the way I want it to. Over the holidays I am going to test out both styles of animation and see how they look. The mechanical bird has and always will be animated with the After FX puppet tool; this works well here, as he is a machine and will be moving mechanically. Darren has found a script for After FX that allows you to put IK handles on your puppet, similar to Maya, this is great news and although the mechanical bird doesn’t have arms, it will be extremely useful with squash and stretching him as he ticks, buzzes and whirs.
Working with Jack on the animation brief, I had the opportunity to understand 2D animation a lot better, I feel like I know what I am doing now and there is also a huge amount of support at school when needed from the other students and lecturers.


My data storage and file naming conventions are the same, if hand drawing, I have to be diligent with the file naming as it is so easy to get lost and lose track of page numbers etc, but I think this applies to all styles at the end of the day as animation can get very messy very quickly if things are not named correctly and filed away appropriately (Yes I am speaking of past experience).
Overall the production plan has evolved but the fundamentals are still the same, I still have a fairly clear view of where I am headed, a few more animation tests should solve this problem.

FULL STEAM AHEAD!

Production Journal Brief

PRODUCTION JOURNAL

Initially I changed the script about five hundred times (slight exaggeration), I simply had to many ideas running around in my head and I guess was having difficulty collaborating everything into a solid story. Eventually I settled on an idea but the script evolved constantly and I ended up with about fifteen drafts once the final script was complete. After the scripting process then it was onto thumb nailing. Thumb nailing is a lot of fun, it’s a good opportunity to work out the shots quickly and roughly see if things will work or not.
I did a shot list once the thumbnails were finished, the shot list was a good way to see how long the animation was going to be and also to described the different types of shots and camera moves needed for the story boarding.
Character design is also thrown into this process, it took me quite a while to get Lewis looking right, im still not convinced about the final design, I do like him but it bothers me that he looks similar to last year’s character.
The next process was working on the storyboards; this was helpful to see the layout of the shots and also to help work out the length of each shot. The thumb nailing process and storyboarding were a nice break from all the theory that was needed, however I do enjoy writing scripts also. Ed helped me quite a bit with trying to get my head around perspective drawing for the storyboard.
Once the storyboarding process was completed it was onto the animatics. This is yet another tool used to help with timing. Once I had done my animatic I realised that a few shots needed to be longer and possibly cut out some stuff that isn’t quite necessary (as Neale had suggested when he went through my script).
There is a shot where Lewis is staring at a photograph of his homeland and, is over it all, and basically just wants to give up. I really didn’t let this play out long enough and people are getting quite confused when they watch the animatic.
I have found a sound engineer who is very keen to work on an animation, and has also expressed interest in doing the foley. This is great news, as sound is not something I am that familiar with. I will be catching up with him over the holidays so we can sit and work out sounds for the production, and I can give him a clear view on what is needed or wanted etc.
The video block was made for extra reference material; this helps to work out the posing and drawing of the character. Finally the entire production bible was finished off and handed in. The bible basically contains all of our pre production material, ranging from concept art, character design, mood boards, layout, storyboarding, thumb nailing, file naming conventions, budgets and scheduling.
I havnt had to many problems this year overall, I think once again it all comes down to managing my time and energy efficiently to help me survive this year.
Working out which software I was going to use and how I was going to animate was probably the most problematic issue I had. But once that was established I had more clarity and was able to move towards creating my character.
Next semester will be huge and I am well aware of not having a life until the year is over. I will begin animating over the holidays to allow more time tweaking and perfecting the production in post.

Re timed

Untitled from emily dunlop on Vimeo.

This is the pencil test after i retimed it, next step is working out how many inbetweens are required. Vimeo doesnt seem to be doing it justice, and is playing it to slow, also cutting out the blur on the lightbulb as it falls.

Here are a few different poses i will use for my model sheet. I still need a front on (anterior) view but im happy with him.

This is my final production proof of the first shot in my animation. Things will

end up being a bit different and the characters may change slightly but this at

least gives a sense of the direction im headed.

3D Mechanical Bird

This is the Maya bird that Jack Designed, but with a cartoon effect applied to it.

Lewis concept

Some Lewis.

I like this Lewis design, his arms and legs are a bit out of whack but im happy with the colour of the eyes and clothes.

Still not convinced on the shape of his

head though, but he is getting there.

This is a test that i started to create with Jack, then my software vanished and i lost the work. So i redid it again in Darrens class, he helped me with the water and also moving the land around, tilting it to help with perspective.

Just quick photoshop painting for the background, these will not be the colours used, the light house certainly wont be candy striped with red paint. But you get the idea. This shot still has the mid and foreground to be added along with the two characters, Lewis and the mechanical bird.

I realise the water is moving too quickly but it was just a test to see if it would work.

Just a test using water colours on glass, over a light box

Huni had a play around and tweaked the colours a little.

I really like this effect, also possibly using a displacement

map with some real footage of waves underneath could

make for an interesting look.

It flickers way to much and i need to make my movements

alot more smaller with way more frames.

Mechanical Bird 3D Concept (thank you Jack)

Here is some concept designs that Jack so very kindly created for me.

His mouth flips open, where a lightbulb sits, his eyes flash and turn red

when the lightbulb is defective, they flash green when the light bulb is

working and at his neutral state with no bulbs they will be amber.

I am planning to fatten him up a little bit more, perhaps shorten his legs but

i really like this design and cant wait to see him with some grungy textures

applied.

Concept sketching

Just a few sketches done in class with photoshop and flash.

Since the bird is brass i would like to get that rainbow metalic

effect happening throughout his colourings.

I have reached an outcome with the script, Lewis returns to the floating town, his lighthouse bathes the town in light, (it has been thrown into darkness for years) Lewis is a hero.
So completely off topic but still somewhat related to the theme that seems to be playing out, besides i found this interesting and inspirational:
In Greek mythology, Prometheus (Ancient Greek: Προμηθεύς, "forethought")[1] is a Titan, the son of Iapetus and Themis, and brother to Atlas, Epimetheus and Menoetius. He was a champion of mankind, known for his wily intelligence, who stole fire from Zeus and gave it to mortals.[2] Zeus then punished him for his crime by having him bound to a rock while a great eagle ate his liver every day only to have it grow back to be eaten again the next day. His myth has been treated by a number of ancient sources, in which Prometheus is credited with – or blamed for – playing a pivotal role in the early history of mankind.

Scripts scripts scripts and more scrips

Currently finising up my 11th draft and patience is wearing very thin. Jack im taking the whole leather wings thing out, the lighthouse itself is just going to take off as it originally did in the earlier versions. Tonight im going to try and give a bit more emotion to the ending, perhaps he comes home from being banished to a different world? perhaps his family is ecstatic to see him and perhaps he isn't sure how his homecoming will be received? its going to be difficult to do this with minimal or no animation as i think there is already to much going on as it is. I was thinking something similar along the lines of 'UP' with a series of photographs giving a small backstory as to why he is there etc.

Not in a creative mood this week, so im finding this a very difficult process.

However i did grab inspiration from coloured sand today! Yay for coloured sand, i like it, and think animation wise it could have a nice texture to my beach? Its quite time consumming though as i would have to die the sand for a few hours and then dry it all day or however long it takes sand to dry. I was also researching rostrums a little bit today and i think i could make a far easier version with just a couple of clamps on two bars that will hold the glass levels, and then using a tripod and manuvering the lighting around this.

Here are a few images of coloured sands and also of a rostrum.

Hello there

Wow, im up to the 10th draft of this script, i cant believe how much it has changed since the first draft. I still need to rewrite the ending, the bird is going to be part of the light but will keep you posted once i can muster up the creative motivation to end the damn thing.

Im really happy with the way its turned out, i wasn't sure at the beginning, which i guess is why it has evolved into what it is today.

I have to rewrite the treatment now because the old one doesnt fit, im still struggling to word the Premise, but that just requires a little bit more concentration.

What else?

Oh yes, have started doing a rough shot list, and trying to visualise the shots so its doesnt look flat and boring.

Cant wait to start thumbnailing and storyboarding!

I want to use water colours and dare i say it, perhaps paint on glass again for my backgrounds, but this will come later.

I really see this script as a 3D script funnily enough, but im going to stick with 2D because i just dont think i would be able to do it justice with my 3D skills (which are minimal). Besides 2D is lots of fun right?...............................right? :D

Most recent script draft to date 25/02

ext.beach-morning

Lewis trods along the beach, he holds a beaten up old umbrella that has many patches to cover the rips and tears.
Every so often he stops, hunches down, filters through the sand, then continues on.
A soft tinkle can be heard as light bulbs gently wash ashore.

EXT.BEACH-MORNING
Lewis gazes out to sea. He watches the light bulbs tumble in the waves and emerge at his feet. He sighs and turns to stare at the dunes. Beside him a small mechanical bird softly ticks and whirs. Lewis picks up a lightbulb and inserts it into a panel on the mechanical birds back.

EXT.BEACH-MORNING
Static crackles from within the bird, dials on its back move left to right, then a red cross appears on the tiny screen.
The light bulb ejects from the panel and explodes in the sand with a soft pop.
Lewis and the bird walk on, behind them a wake of defective shattered light bulbs.

ext.beach-afternoon
The sun is high, Lewis wipes the sweat from his brow and stares up at the sky. He places the last bulb of the day into the panel on the birds back and once again the red cross flashes on the screen.
Lewis lets out a long exaggerated drawn out sigh. Lewis and the mechanical bird slowly walk back towards the lighthouse.

EXT.BEACH-AFTERNOON
Lewis shoves the heavy copper laden door to the lighthouse open with his shoulder.
Lewis and the mechanical bird trudge inside.

Int.lighthouse-night time
Lewis stands on the top deck of the lighthouse, his forehead pressed against the giant glass panels. He stares out at the dark ocean, out to the horizon.
He watches a tiny light far out into the distance, and slowly places his hand against the glass.

ext.beach-morning
Lewis and the mechanical bird fossic amongst the seaweed and light bulbs, stopping to test them every so often.
A strange sound catches lewis's attention. He tilts his head to the side to listen and can hear the sound clearly now.

EXT.BEACH-MORNING
Lewis crouches down and picks up a different looking light bulb. The bulb is larger than the others with an intricate center.
His hands shake with excitement as he holds the bulb up to the sun. He slowly inserts it into the testing panel on the mechanical birds back and after a long pause a green tick flashes up on the tiny monitor.

EXT.BEACH-AFTERNOON
Lewis squeals with delight, he back flips, throws sand and swings his umbrella around in circles. He runs to the shoreline and squints into the horizon, with a huge grin across his face.
Lewis runs back to the lighthouse with the mechanical bird scurrying along behind him.

INT.LIGHTHOUSE-Night Time
The sun is setting as Lewis busily checks the gears and leavers of the lighthouses beacon. He opens the glass panel covering the light and places the bulb into the socket. He polishes the glass and closes it up.

INT.LIGHTHOUSE-NIGHT TIME
The light flickers on, fades to a small dim glow, then with a loud buzz shines so bright, Lewis falls back against the wall. He steadies himself, spins the light and it lazily picks up momentum until the beacon is turning at a steady pace.

INT.LIGHTHOUSE-NIGHT TIME
In that instant a light from the distance shines directly into the Lighthouse, it illuminates the entire upper deck in an eerie blue glow. A silhouette of a girl waves at Lewis. Lewis grins, stops the beacon spinning and aims it at the light coming from the horizon. He stands in front of his Light, creates his own silhouette and waves back to the girl. He looks through his telescope and can see a small lighthouse almost identical to his, he happily sighs and continues to make shadow puppets with his new friend.

Hello everyone and welcome back!

Over the holidays i worked a hell of a lot but not on animation,

I did do a few drawings and sketches but nothing really grabbed me.

I have been struggling to find an idea this year, i have hundreds of them

but nothing really solid.

I always keep coming back to lighthouses for some reason so i decided to go with

my gut instinct and keep with the lighthouse theme.

Initially i was going to do a story from second year that i wrote and really love, but

the more i thought about it, the more it didnt seem suited for my major. It did involve a light

house but was very sad and dramatic.

After speaking with quite a few people at uni i tossed around a few ideas, such as one about

a fisherman (which i still plan to make maybe next year), Neale helped me come up with an idea

about a metal forest which i really love but couldnt visualise it properly, and i wasnt into

making a forest this year. I just couldnt stop thinking about the beach and this bloody lighthouse!

So back to square one, i wrote yet another script ( i think ive done about five different ones so far) and i enjoy the characters in this script but, after showing Huni it still needs alot of shuffling and rewriting.................................arrrrrrrrghhhh.

Not a problem, i love to write. :D

Here are a few pics i came up with:

They are a bit out of order, this one is a really quick sketch about a fisherman and a blue ringed octopus, (the octo wants to steal his coke can to live in)

This is an oil pastel, just playing with the

mediums really, there is a wolf hound in the

story i wrote last year, but this guy is way to

cute for that story.

This is Lewis! I love him for some

reason, i like his old crappy umbrella ( i say parasole

but everyone looks at me strange when i say this)

This is the guy im re writing my story for

I like this cool underwater crab

tank thing i drew, not sure what its for

but was fun to play with the oil pastels

More oil pastels, i dont like this thing

and i dont know what he is, but the colours

are cool.

This is a few sketches of a mechanical bird.

This little guy is Lewis's companion? minion? sidekick?

Finally, my light house!

First time i have really played around with

water colour paints on paper, and its so much fun!

Im a huge fan of water colours, i really like the look

you can create for some beautiful backgrounds and

shading, I would like to do my backgrounds in

watercolour and sketch over them a bit with the wacom