In this rotation, I learnt to look at photographs as shapes, lines and textures. For this project, I took 10 photographs focusing on interesting shapes and textures. I then selected my 3 favourites and composited them together in Photoshop using masks, to hide and reveal parts that I wanted. It took me a while to figure out what I was creating but eventually I came up an idea of what I wanted to do. I also used adjustment layers and various blending modes to create different effects to the layers contrasting dark and light tones. I am happy with how this composition turned out and I learnt a completely new way to look at things.
For this group project, we based the story on 5 random words; tortoise, star, fall, love and ask. We decided to animate the film in After Effects using techniques we’d learnt in the motion graphics rotation. After taking into account the 20 second time limit we had been set, we decided to go for a simple storyline, leading us to start researching various children’s stories, reflecting on their simplicity, to help us to learn how to break town a tale into its key parts. Our tale consists of a lonely, old tortoise who no longer had his partner and would watch the sky miserably, thinking he was the only one who was alone in the world. However, he suddenly sees a lonely star fall from the sky and rescues her. They then agree to run away together and they run off into the distance.
Story Board
Once we’d thought of the initial idea for the story, we created a story board to help plan out the scenes and work out the different assets that we’d need to make.
Mood Board
We then collected reference images of characters, backgrounds and styles that we could use to create our concepts.
Character Concept
Since there were going to be 3 main scenes, we each created a background in Illustrator. We also created the 2 characters with all the different poses that we would need.
Animating
Then bringing all the different elements into After Effects we each animated a scene following what we had already planned with the story board. Once all the scenes were complete we exported them and imported them into Premiere Pro to composite them together. We had to cut a lot of the scenes shorter to fit it to the 20 second time frame. However, this improved the film as a whole as we eliminated the worst bits and kept the best bits which lifted the overall quality. We also sped up and slowed down various parts to help the scenes flow together better.
Music Composition
When we were happy with the timing and spacing, it was time to add sound. I used a software called MuseScore which allows you to compose music for any instruments. I decided to use piano and cello as I feel like they sound great when combined which also reflects on the 2 characters coming together in the film. Since I didn’t have an actual piano with me when we were working on this I also found an app that let me convert my touchscreen laptop into a virtual piano. I tried to reflect the mood of the film in the music, so to emphasise that the tortoise is sad and lonely, I began the music with 3 low chords that when combined sounded serious and sad. I did these chords with just the cello to portray the loneliness of the tortoise. The mood then changed when he saw the lonely star, so to represent this in the music I brought in the piano, climbing the notes higher and higher to show hope and the spark that the tortoise is feeling. The chords that are being played by the cello also change at this point to match the piano. Meanwhile the piano keeps climbing up till it reaches the highest note at the same time as the tortoise is changing from sad to happy. It then holds this note to add contrast to this special moment as the tortoise dramatically smashes through the window in slow motion. The piano then continues with a twinkly sort of tune whilst another line of piano joins in harmonizing it. This matches up with the tortoise and the star coming together and the music then fades out as they walk off together into the distance. As well as the music, we also recorded sound effects for everything such as the footsteps, the smashing window, the star falling, the tortoise crying etc. However, when we compared the version with the sound effects and with just the music we felt that it was better with just the music.
Final Film
I enjoyed working in a group for this project as everyone has their own styles and ways of doing things and sees things differently which adds variety and allowed us to learn from each other. I think we worked well together and I learnt a lot more than I would have if I was doing this independently. I think we could have improved the film by sticking to a more consistent colour palette as well as creating more poses for the characters to give them more movement, but apart from that I think this project came out very well and I’m happy with it.
This rotation made me realise how important sound is for animation and how it can help to create the mood and atmosphere. I made a short video capturing the sounds going from outdoors to indoors as well as learning about room tone and background noise.
Final Composition
For this project, I recorded lots of random sounds and mixed them together in Premiere Pro, playing with the pitch and reverb to create 3 different moods. For the cover images, I tried to picture the sounds as I imagined they’d look, for example, using thicker darker lines for strong and lower sounds and lighter thinner lines for higher quieter sounds. I enjoyed this rotation as I’d never done anything like this before and it gave me a new appreciation for sound.
I really enjoyed going around London sketching the things around me and I found it very relaxing. At first I wasn’t really able to sketch any people because everyone was walking around and didn’t stick around for very long. However, I eventually got used to sketching much quicker and rougher and was able to capture the general idea of what I saw.
Out of my 10 sketches I picked one and turned into the middle of a story by creating a beginning and end. I wanted to make a story with a comedic twist and I came up with an alien that scares away the man who runs away, only to go and sit next to the old lady on the bench and read a book. This rotation taught me to create quick rough sketches rather than getting caught up in capturing the small details which is what I usually do. It was also a lot of fun turning the sketches into part of a story.
This rotation was probably the most time consuming but was also very enjoyable. I have never used a lightbox before but I managed to get the hang of it pretty quickly. We learnt about the different techniques for animating including straight ahead, pose to pose, ease in and out and timing and spacing. I enjoyed using all of them but out of all the animations I made the straight ahead was my favourite. I found it had a nice flowing smoothness that you can’t get with pose to pose. However, pose to pose has benefits as well as it is more structured and can help if you want to plan out the motion.
I’ve never used done animation in After Effects before so it took me a while to get the hang of how it works. However, the exercises we did in class helped me a lot on getting started with it. Once I’d come up with an idea of what I wanted to do, I used Illustrator to create the parts of the character as separate layers so I could animate each part. I then imported it into After Effects and rigged it by parenting layers to the layers they would be attached to and began keyframing the different layers to create a run cycle. Looking back at it, I think I could have been a lot more creative with the story of the video, however I am happy for a first time animating in After Effects. I also think I should have spent some more time to give everything more detail.
I have used Maya before but usually I do modelling in ZBrush, so this was a new experience for me. As I have done mostly realistic models, I wanted to make this scene more simplistic and stylized whilst still capturing the feel and atmosphere.
Modeling
Using the primitive shapes, I build up the scene, focusing on the overall composition. I then started to create the actual models with more detail and shape. For the igloo, I merged a sphere and cylinder then sliced them in half. To make the entrance open, I used the boolean tool, subtracting a smaller cylinder from the mesh. The trees were also made from simple shapes, inserting edge loops and scaling them to create the layered effect. I modelled the bridge out of cube primitives then applied a bend deformer to give it the arch. The shape of the frozen lake was cut out of ground mesh, leading the eye through the scene. To add a bit more detail, I created a footprint shape and the using the boolean tool again, I subtracted the from the snow mesh, also leading the viewers eye over the bridge to the igloo.
Materials
All the materials were created using the AiStandardSurface Shader, importing textures and changing the values for specularity and transmission, depending on the reflectivity and roughness of each mesh. To create the glow from the fire inside the igloo, I created a sphere and turned up the emission settings of the material and gave it an orangey yellow colour. I wanted the glow to subtly penetrate the walls of the igloo, so I added subsurface scattering to the igloo material. I had to tweak some of the textures in Photoshop to give them the desired look. I also had to adjust the UVs of some of the meshes, particularly the igloo to get the textures to look right. Here are the different versions of the ice river…
Lighting
For the lighting, I tested out a few different versions and the one I liked the most was using an HDRI as I felt the contrast between the cool and warm tones really transformed the scene.
As an exercise for this rotation, we had to turn mundane objects into characters, so I chose a bottle and a mug to come up with this…
Sketches
I sketched out 3 ideas for a character with the theme of winter; a penguin eskimo, an ice king and a gangster snowman. I decided I liked the penguin the most.
Artist Reference – Michael Kutsche
I wanted to render my character like with the lighting and style of Michael Kutsche.
Outline
Using the mainly the pen tool in Photoshop I drew the basic outline of the character in a front and side pose, making sure that the proportions matched and lined up with both poses.
Base Colours
Next I filled in the colours, testing out different variations to see which combination worked the best. I decided to go with the orange and light blue as I felt the warm yellowy hues contrasted nicely with the cool blues, portraying the warmth of the coat and scarf.
Added Texture
Using the pen tool again, I added texture to the coat and scarf. I build up the layers with a variety of tones to create the fur.
Final Renders
To create the final look, I used clipping masks and adjustment layers to paint the highlights and shadows, making sure the light was coming from the same direction for both poses.
I made two final versions; one with a plain background and one with a snowy winter scene.
This rotation definitely took me out of my comfort zone as I usually don’t like writing or making up stories. However, once I got into it, I enjoyed it quite a lot. I began writing without much of a plan figuring out the story as I went along until I was about halfway through and I had an idea for what I wanted to write. I then ended up rewriting most of it to fit my idea. I tried not to give too much away too quickly in the story, only hinting to things rather then saying what they are straight out, to make it more compelling, as I’d learnt from the exercises we did in this rotation. At first I found it very challenging to keep the story to 150 words, but after some editing and cutting out parts, I found there was a lot that wasn’t needed and it enhanced the story as a whole. I’m happy with how this turned out and it definitely developed my storytelling.
The Beginning of the End
I woke up drenched in sweat and my whole body was aching. I tried to wipe away a bead of sweat that was rolling down my forehead, but I couldn’t move. A wave of fear and confusion overwhelmed me as I realised I was bound to a post. I could not fathom where I was. I could only recall foggy memories of masked men and severe pain. My heart began pounding against my ribs as I opened my mouth to call for help, but no words came. Looking around the dark room my eyes focused on a piece of mangled flesh in a metal clamp in a pool of blood. The sight of it made me gag as I realised what the gruesome object was. I closed my eyes hoping this nightmare would end. There was a wooden door opposite me. Suddenly the handle turned, and the door swung open.
