Experimental

To concieve the idea for this project I asked some people two things, "If I were an animal, what would it be?" also, "If I were a song, wht would that be." I gathered answers and created a song and a costume. I then listened to the song over and over whilst starring at the costume and story boarded what i thought the song would look like if it were and animation involving a raccoon lady.

For the look of this part I was heavily influenced by films such as Where the Wild Things Are, David Lynch's, "Rabbits", Frank and one specific shot in Lars Von Trier’s,“Anti Christ”.  I think there is a feel of vulnerability in this shot where I am lying on the grass and I thought that was apt as when I take my mask off I feel a bit exposed. I think that’s why the bit’s where i am wearing the mask involve more confident and aggressive actions. Almost like an alter ego. Shooting the film took a while and it was quite wet and cold not wearing any shoes but i had a lot of fun doing it.

Through making the self portrait film I learnt that pre production can be really important and planning is very useful. Having said that, my other two experimental pieces were much more improvised and subconsciously made due to tiredness and just doing whatever seemed to work at the time. I enjoyed the spontaneity of that and that the pieces evolved before my eyes. I think both methods have their time and place. I also learnt that for me, it’s important to think about what I want to communicate through my film before I choose a medium.  Another thing I learnt is that smooth animation takes a LOT of frames but also their is something charming about wibbly and jumpy bits because imperfection is quite relateable. I also learnt that being influenced by other people is great and a natural process for me.

3D

So over Easter, I completely changed my concept for my 3D environment and although that meant ditching hours of progress, I was excited about my new fantastical idea. I stumbled upon some photos of an abandoned Wizard of Oz theme park and instantly wanted to use these as an influence in my work. I enjoyed learning about edge loops and painting objects on Mudbox. So many paintbrushes and textures to choose from.

Bees

Today was the most fun animating day I've ever had. I have grown attached to the bee puppet that I've made (on the right) and I feel like a proud mother when I watch him dance. His name is Runt. Also we struggled a lot with lighting and green screen but got there in the end. Small tip: If u need a small stop motion green screen, do not book out one that is actually 10 meters long.

3D environment modelling

After watching a modelling tutorial on youtube, I decided to start modelling my urban explorer environment. Most of the research I did was on old abandoned hotel rooms. I'm excited to do more. 

3D showreel

This is my 3D showreel, a compilation of 3D animation tasks since the begining of the course.

2D showreel

THis is a collection of all the 2D tasks we've been given since starting the course in September.

Digital painting

Today we had a photoshop tutorial on digital painting in photoshop. I lost my cable for my graphics table so i had to do it with a mouse. I think considering i used a mouse, it went well. I really enjoyed this technique and leant a lot about mixing colours and creating shadow and highlights.

Mood Boarding and Initial Storyboarding

We decided on a low poly style with simple muted colours. 3D backgrounds with paper texture and the possibility of stop motion characters. After writing the story, I stared storyboarding with Mel. This took a longer time than expected. We then gave the boards to Luke and Kialle to edit into our first animatic. 

Camera projection mapping

Just had a Maya workshop on projection mapping through a camera. I found this a little tricky but not too bad. I look forward to using this for larger landscapes and in my Urban Exploring 3D modeled scene. I think the hard part is remembering what i did but that's alright because tutorials will always be there for me. Lining up the vertices is key. It brings 2d images to life which is quite exciting.

#swag

Stop-motion E-motion

Vanity and Despair

We were asked to come up with two emotions/ scenarios and act them out using these puppets (Sam and Sally). I think this has been my favourite animation exercise so far. The detail in the hand and the arcs of the movements really paid off in the vanity clip. I think the despair animation was a bit jerky due to the difficult positions and the lack of stability in the puppet. Overall I am quite happy with these and its nice to express emotions and give the characters personality instead of just actions. 

Happy Birthday Penryn, 800 today!

We received our brief and went on a tour of the town in which our university campus rests. Penryn is 800 years old this year and to celebrate, we were told to make group animations that reflect stories of Penryn and it's rich history. Our films will be screened publicly in the town and exhibited to the locals, (Rynners) It may be because I really like bees, but for some reason a story our tour guide told us about the conception of what was Glasney College which is now Falmouth University, got stuck in my head. The story was that the bishop of Exeter was visited by Saint Thomas in a dream. The saint told him to travel to penryn,

"And thou shalt find in it a large willow tree, and therein a swarm of bees; and there thou shalt appoint the High Altar and ordain the fabric. Of which said place it hath anciently been prophesied “In Polsethow shall habitations, or marvelous things be seen.”

Source: Thurston, C. Peter  “The History of Glasney Collegiate Church, Cornwall”  1903

 When hearing about how he found the bees and the willow tree and decided that's where he would build the church/ college, I pictured quite a surreal scene with bees helping and guiding him. From this Melanie and I adapted the story into a more surreal and contemporary story that the people of Penryn might find amusing and relatable.

Dive and Juggle

I finished my juggle which took a lot longer than i thought. I'm still not sure about the timing and te hand positions but i think its ok for a first try. I also finished a dive using flash i grew quite fond of the little character and i named him Timmy.

Box lift using constraints

I learnt how to use constraints and parenting in Maya. Using a rig by Joe Daniels. I like that an old man can lift a massive box as if its a feather.