Review - 25/10/2013

Sorry, I've somewhat neglected this blog. I got something of a slap in the face from two modules needing to be handed in at the same time, and having a holiday on the hand in day.

Over the time I haven't been updating the blog, I did research into different techniques of animation and how they effect the final product. Then, I chose a technique which I wanted to use on my own animation. I chose to use Photoshop animation, as it allowed me to use interesting textures, such as the one on Red's cape. This was such a large factor because I very much want the background trees in the creepy part of the forest to be twisted paper, because when I was a child, when trees were described as "twisted" in a storybook, that was what I imagined. Another reason I chose Photoshop was because I have it at home, and this means I can work on it at all times.

After I had made my decision, I started working on the assets for my animation. Firstly, I drew a pencil sketch of a walk cycle, and traced it up to become a loop of Red walking. An interesting thing happened when I line tested the sketch version in that Red's walk cycle had a little kick in it that I hadn't planned on, but I felt it suited her, so I let it stand. I used Dragon Stop Motion to create an animation of Red's looped walk cycle. Since Dragon creates a folder with the taken frames, I could create a Photoshop animation of the frames.

The first job, when I was animating in Photoshop, was simply dragging the frames into the file, turning them into separate layers, then resizing and arranging them properly so that, when going through them, they made the animation.

Once all the frames were there, I opened the Motion window, which appeared across the bottom. I made all the layers except for the first frame's layer invisible. Then, I took the frame, which created the second one. I changed the visible layer to the second frame, took the frame, and continued much the same for the rest of the frames. Once I had taken them all, I set how long they would last while the animation was playing, testing how the changes effected it, until I was happy with it.

Since I was coloring in Photoshop, I decided, to make my life easier, to put each of the layers in a folder in Photoshop, along with their coloring and the cape texture. I did the usual method of actually coloring the image, turning the line-art layer into a multiply layer, then using the magic wand tool and expand to make sure that the color, carefully kept on the color layer, wouldn't bleed over the edges of the line-art.

The last job is to add the cape textures, through a similar method, which I think I may have already documented, but better safe than sorry. First, I copy the texture and paste it onto the photoshop file. This will put it on it's own "Smart" layer. Then, I make it invisible, select the line-art's layer, and use the Magic Wand tool to select the inside of the cape. I choose the texture's layer again, and make it visible, before copying the part that is still selected. Then I delete the texture layer, and paste the selected outline. Finally, I arrange it so that it is below the frame's line-art layer and rename it so that it's easily identifiable.

Interesting Character Design

The Other Mother, from "Coraline".

This is possibly the creepiest damn thing I've ever seen. Too long, too thin, with eyes that tell you that everything is wrong with this character. In "Coraline", the titular Coraline travels to a strange world, which contains parallel versions of her parents. Now, both of them are pretty creepy, but the Other Mother simply takes the cake, with her physical frame, the spiderlike way she moves, and those horrible eyes. Human beings, I have found, universally have a problem with eyes when they don't look right. Be they missing, or, like the Other Mother, not quite right, it's a quick and efficient way to make things seem just... Off. And this is long before the Other Mother starts becoming truly monstrous.

Jack Skellington, from "The Nightmare Before Christmas".

(As a side note, this is now my desktop image, in honour of Halloween) Jack is on here partially as an interesting comparison. With his long, thin frame, and spiderlike limbs, he is very similar to the Other Mother. Yet, where the Other Mother is terrifying, Jack is charming. I think this may be because, in the case of the Other Mother, her height and thinness are exaggerated, making her look more and more wrong. On Jack, he is tall and thin, but not exaggeratedly so. He is also far less sharp. The Other Mother's more monstrous forms are full of points and sharp edges, whereas Jack is much more rounded. A good look at his torso and head make this clear. While his limbs are long, his heart (or ribcage, rather) is a much softer shape. He also has large, round eyes, and a very expressive face (or skull, as the case may be). These make him look friendly and trusting, almost childlike in a way.

"Slayer", by Tim Biskup

This is another case of taking a creature that could be frightening, and making it charming. Again, this creature is rounded and softened, with it's single eye taking up the majority of it's face, making it look childlike. These simple techniques make it seem like an innocent, even when it has sharp teeth and a bloody axe. I'm not 100% sure, but I also think the same character is in the Pictarot, or at least one very similar. Perhaps it is a container character, used for many things with minimal changing?

Weekly Review - 11/10/2013

This week, I mostly did research into things to do with my animation, and how different professional companies do model sheets. I've also been brainstorming different techniques.

I've looked into various professional model sheets, and how they are constructed. I've realised that, usually, the colours, turnarounds, expressions etc are on separate sheets, instead of all on one the way I did so on my model sheet. It likely may have helped with fitting things on. There were quite a few expressions that were originally on, but I instead left it with just my own personal favourites. However, I feel this hasn't weakened my sheet at all, because the two I used were fairly indicative of the rest, and I got across enough of Red's character in other things, her posture in the turnarounds, her background, any way I felt I could get across Red's heart, I got it across.

I also started looking into different animators, and their techniques. This has been informative in a lot of different ways, but it doesn't get any more explanation, because it's going to be another post on here!

I also took part in an exercise where me and the others in the class at the time, between us, created a 7 frame animation, drawing a frame then passing it on. We each drew a first frame for this, so that none of us would be left twiddling our thumbs. This ended up... Very interesting. If not for the teamwork, or animations themselves, then certainly for the glimpse into the participants' psyches.

Yes, I know I'm a day late again.

Weekly review - 5/10/2013

Yes, it's a day late, hush.

Right, well, this week was mostly spent working on the character. Mainly Red, since she's the main character. It was suggested that we work through a sort of questionnaire on the character, to help us better understand them. I also had to type it up, due to poor handwriting.

I may have gotten snarky with it at some points.

This week, I also traced up and coloured my character turnarounds, expressions, and saved the colours in some flowers, for when I made the character sheet, which I did on friday. I put the colours in flowers because I felt like simple dots looked a little boring, and I wanted something that would fit in with the illuminated manuscript theme. Looking up some illuminated manuscripts, I noticed that floral patterns would sometimes decorate the sides, so I went with some flowers to put the colours in. On the character turnarounds, I put a texture on the cape, to add visual interest, but I kept the rest of Red flat because I didn't want to make her look too busy. While colouring the expressions, I came to the decision that the cape's original pattern was too heavy, and changed that by lessening the opacity and putting the lining's colour beneath it, after some experimentation. I added two freckles to Red's face, to add a more distinctive look to her. This was brought about from looking through some of my old sketchbooks, and realising that, aside from being 3ft tall, I had about ten characters that looked awfully similar to Red.

And here is the finished sheet.