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.