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!