STORYBOARD

I began starting to develop a storyboard for my animation. Here you can see a very rough first draft.

 

And here my storyboard so far! The narrative basically consists of a woman casually walking down a city street, whilst she's walking the background will be moving too, displaying an array of different buildings creating using a range of collaged materials. The woman eventually comes to some steps which she proceeds to walk down until she reaches a park, as she's walking through she swings off a rope swing hanging from a tree and finds herself at a man selling balloons. She buys the balloons and straight away she starts lifting off the ground into the air. The following scenes will simply be the woman drifting off over the city whilst keeping hold of the balloons.

I am a bit concerned that the animation has too much going on so might take too long but if that's the case I think I'll just cut out the tree sequence. What I need to focus on now is which 30 second portion of music I'm planning to take from my track.

An idea I also wanted to incorporate which doesn't come across in my storyboard is that I wanted the story to flow through a series of different sketchbooks so the character would be stepping from one book to another . I haven't seen it done by anyone else and I think it would add a really interesting element to the story. I guess time will tell whether I can create my idea or not.

GENERATING IDEAS

After looking at the video above by Franz Ferdinand which is focused on clever transitions from one scene/image to another it led me to think more about how I want my character to travel. As one of the key elements of my video is to involve some sort of journey, I began experimenting with how my character will move about from one place to another and how I could intertwine this into an interesting narrative style. A-B but all the different roads inbetween.
    I came up with the idea that as well as the character moving from one place to another it would be interesting if I could some how incorporate the whole animation moving from page to page or have the character physically move from book to book, crawl from one sketchbook to another. I began sketching out ideas to see if could make this happen.

I really like some of the ideas I've come up with and I'm hoping I can figure out how I could use some of the transitions in my animation.

INITIAL IDEAS FOR DEVELOPING A BACKGROUND

After looking at a range of animation involving the use of collage and a mixture of materials I began experimenting with how I can create the city backdrops for my composition. Below you can see a few beginning experiments with various materials.

Don't know why they've uploaded the wrong way round :(

Here are some other ideas I had

Johnny Kelly

As well as the past two animation on the last blog I'm also very inspired by a video called 'The Seed' by Johnny Kelly. I'm not going to include another video on my blog but here are a few stills taken from the animation.

I really like the because of the obvious qualities that the seed goes on a journey but also the way the video is created and produced is beauitful and I love the trasitions from one part of the story to the next and hoe everything is made out of paper cut outs. I'm definitley thinking along the lines of using collage and stop motion for my animation so looking at videos so expertly created like this one really helps to push me in the right direction and begin experimenting with different materials.

ANIMATIONS FOCUSED ON A JOURNEY

Because I'm so focused on my animation showing some sort of journey I've taken special interests in animations that follow a similar theme.  Here are two examples that I really like.

This is 'standing egg' by Taijin Takeuchi. I really like the collage style of this composition, definitely considering a similar look for my piece. I also really like the idea of having a silhouette character, and how they used the cat as a flat piece of paper and then later as a 3D standing character.




This second animation is absolutely beautiful. I've also included the making of the animation so you can see just how painstaking the whole production must have been. I was immediately inspired by this piece to think creatively about little bits and bobs i could collect and how they could be used to create a city scape background in my animation. I love the use of money and pins and stitch to create obstacles for the little character dot. Even though the scale of the piece only hindered the painstaking process, i also think it really makes the composition. This video has definitely inspired me in the creation of ideas for my own.

LIFE SIZED ZOETROPE

After looking at the thaumatrope, zoetrope and phonograhantasmascope I stumbled across some videos that use similar effects.

Firstly here is an example of a life sized Zoetrope- a very impressive achievement. I think the reason this is so effective is obviously because of the scale and use of people on a theme park ride but also how there are so many different techniques used- a multitude of canvas's used.

Think the user has disabled the embedded code so if the video doesnt work you can watch it here :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-75uRHYHWE&feature=fvwrel

I also found a really nice video via vimeo of a guy that's created a whole new element of phonographantasmascope by creating a similar outcome but using the wheel of a bicycle rather than a vinyl player. Although I'm not sure this would be relevant to my animation this is definitly a technique I would like to attempt over the summer break. It's also a really nice example of how the different sections of the video are brought to life by the music.

The Cyclotrope from tim Wheatley on Vimeo.

Another video that i really like is called 'Intervelometer' created by Kunal Sen. I absolutely fell in love with the concept of this idea. I like how it's still a bit messy and rough around the edges but the effects are very well created, and how there are references to Victorian thaumatropes and the first ever animation by Edward Muybridge in the 1880s (the horse). Another reason this video is so relevant is because it fits in really well with my animation idea of a journey through a city. I love the concept of the animated characters traveling through the real city life. Just in general a nice combination of techniques and production.

Intervelometer from Kunal Sen on Vimeo.

FIRST ATTEMPT AT A THAUMATROPE



THAUMATROPE

Today we had a session with Lee where he gave us a brief background on animation, where it all began, different types and some examples of designers.

 

thaumatrope -  

a card with different pictures on opposite sides, as a horse on one side and a rider on the other, which appear as if combined when the card is twirled rapidly, thus illustrating the persistence of visual impressions.

Here's an example of one of the best thaumatropes on YouTube. Really like the effect, so simple yet so effective. Definitly worth having a go.

zoetrope-

 A 19th-century optical toy consisting of a cylinder with a series of pictures on the inner surface that, when viewed through slits with the cylinder rotating, give an impression of continuous motion




Phonographantasmascope-

I can't actually find an online definition for a Phonographantasmascope although you can see the footage below and decide for yourself. Essentially it is a different kind of zoetrope, in this case based on flat images drawn or stuck onto a rotating disc, generally onto a CD or Vinyl player.

WORKSHOP- CELL ANIMATION

Today we had a narrative cell animation workshop. We were asked to create a very simple character that we would be able to reproduce a number of times. After various attempts at simple pig and cat designs I decided to continue with a little pencil character, which naturally moves like a pencil, drawing as he moves on the tip of its lead. Once we had created a character we had to introduce it to the character of the person sitting next to us ( in this case a shark) and use them both in a 3 second animation created using 12 frames per second so 36 drawings in total. We first had to create a storyboard incorporating a start middle and end. Originally our story was for the pencil to draw the shark and then for the shark to eat the pencil

 but after realising there wasn't really enough time for all of that to happen in 3 seconds we went for a more simple approach which can be seen below.

Even though the animation is a bit bumpy I'm really happy with the overall effect and because of the style of the technique I think the imperfections can sometimes add to the piece rather than take anything away. And the pencil is really happy with himself too.

MORE MUSIC VIDS

Because our animation is all about our response to the music we've been provided with, I continued to look at different music videos and found some absolutely brilliant examples of the different routes you can take.


First up we have The Ok!Go who have produced a series of brilliant videos, many of them using stop motion techniques. This is just one example of their creativity, although different to many of their videos which generally focus on some kind of journey and the band members, this is equally as brilliant. It involves 215 loaves of bread and I imagine a lot of patience. For some reason the embedded video isnt available so to watch just follow the link instead.

http://youtu.be/IkYfB1C0Zgc

 

Next we have a video called 'Squeeze me' by Kraak & Smaak which is easily one of my favourite music videos. Absolutely love the flip book effect especially the techniques of zooming in and out of an image inside the area of the flip book and how the director makes this respond to what's happening the background. Would love to develop something like this but I definitely feel I'd need more time to create something even slightly as interesting as this.

Kraak & Smaak from WEAREWILL on Vimeo.

This is definitely my other favourite found gem called 'LIVE GOOD' by Naive New Beaters. It's lucky I've got the video for you to see because I have no idea how to describe this video. I'm not really sure what the effects are called but I would love to create something similar to this. The changes from person to person and scene to scene are so inventive and just brillaint. Enjoy!

naive new beaters - live good from EL NINO on Vimeo.

Next we have a video called 'My Drive Thru' by N.E.R.D, Julian Cassablancas and Santogold. The track and video were created for a Converse campaign so obviously each character is always seen in a pair, and links are made by joining each person together shoe by shoe like paper chains but what I like about this video is the different ways each character moves including the paper chain, flip book effect and I really love the scene where Julian jumps through a number of layers of paper leaving behind a cut out silhouette on each page. After watching this video it makes me think about how I could use a flip and fold kind of effect to perhaps have one character but with a flip book of faces so i could easily change an expression. Really strong effect either way.

MICHEL GOUNDRY AND SPIKE JONZE

I continued researching different music video and film directors. One film director I looked into was Michel Goundry, which was so interesting because he directed one of my favourite films, 'Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind'. I love the style this movie was filmed in which involves such brilliant visuals and imaginative changes of scene and setting as memories in the film combine and switch with each other.

There's also a scene in this film that I found most interesting which involves Goundry to be particularly imaginative with scale. I think these are the visuals that remain with you after you've finished watching the film as they're so striking and at first confusing which of course leaves you wondering how it's all filmed and created. After watching a YouTube video explaining how it's done, my brain still can't figure it out.

Another amazing mind is Spike Jonze, director of 'Being John Malkovich', an American black-comedy which focuses on the idea of there being a portal in which different people can access the body of an unsuccessful puppeteer, John Malkovich. The film is a fantasy fulls of twists and the bizarre storyline leads to some very interesting filming techniques such as viewing the experience through the eyes of the person inside the body of Malkovich.

A reason both of these directors stand out to me in particular is because they both share and interesting use of perspective, whether its clever camera tricks, specialist sets or camera angle they create new and exciting visuals for you to feed off.

MUSIC VIDEOS - Jonas & Francois

Today we had an introductory session with Katy Carrol, talking about each groups music and our initial responses/ how we felt about our track. The discussion then led onto our favourite music videos or directors and this led me into exploring a whole different element of videos online. The first video that popped into my head was 'Goodlife' By Kanye West



I always really liked this video because of the element of graphics and film mixed together, and it's always struck me as a really interesting concept and it all just fits so perfectly together. I started to research the video to see if I could find who was behind the creation and ended up discovering a video of the two creators, Jonas & Francois talking about how it was created. I discovered that the technique used in the video was called rotoscopy meaning drawing over video. It meant that the video was simply filmed in black and white in a studio and then all the imagrey was drawn over the top.

Rotoscope-

1. a projection device that allows images from live-action films to be traced to create an animated sequence
2. ( tr ) to create (the outline of an object) for manipulation in an animated film sequence


After discovering Jonas & Francois I discovered a few of their other videos. A video they produced for the band 'Flairs' called 'Better than Prince' also incorporates the use of rotoscopy although this time it was such a useful tool because it meant they could draw over the top of the band playing and capture very realistice movements.

Another video created by the pair that was particularly striking was their video created for Justice with ‘D.A.N.C.E’. The graphics in the video are similar to those in the Kanye West video however this time they had to use a difference device called ‘tracking’. This is when you film a scene and you place post production elements on top of it, in this case it’s animated graphic design onto plain t-shirts. Creates a very cool overall effect, also allows the designer to push each design as far as possible and work to animate each design.

WORKSHOP - FIRST ATTEMPTS AT STOP MOTION

NEED VIDEO OFF JONNY

EXAMPLES OF STOP MOTION

I immediately began searching the net for stop motion and hand drawn animations and found myself really excited about all of the different styles and techniques of videos I stumbled across. Here's a range of very different animations I managed to find online that really got me thinking about the different elements and processes I could bring into my final animation.

First off we have a simple animation using hand drawn images and additional sound effects. I really like the simplicity and the child like element created using simple felt tip pen drawn images but also the relationship between the images and sound effects, that really make this video what it is. Leaves me feeling a bit nostalgic!

                               

Overfloating from Rop van Mierlo on Vimeo.

This next animation is beautiful, it links the use of stop motion and film so well that I don't really understand how it's been done ha! It's a very sweet story and a perfect example of how you can animate inanimate things into people/creatures that convey emotion.

Bottle from Kirsten Lepore on Vimeo.



I'm sure alot of people will have this next video on their blog but it's such an amazing example of stop motion it blows me away. I was especially impressed by the changes of perspective that were created for example when the sink is used as a swimming pool. Overall just a very very clever journey!

Wolf loves Pork from Sebastian Tissot Dreijer on Vimeo.

This is a video created by studiocanoe for an advert for Lego. Another very simple but very effective idea I really like. It gives me an idea to prehaps do a similar thing but maybe using hand drawn images places over real life buildings/people/objects or maybe using photographs of things overlapping with real life. Either way a really nice idea to play with.

           

Build Anything from Studiocanoe on Vimeo.

INITIAL RESPONSE

This is the chosen track for my group (7). You can see below my initial response to the piece

Visually the composition always made me think of someone walking or driving down a city street on a sunny day. The music has kind of a cheesy 70's vibe that gives you a good feeling and a sense of a happy atmosphere which led me to decide to keep my video light hearted and fairly simple. Listening to the music I always found myself visualising a journey, someone or something travelling from one place to another, but I was less focused on thinking of an idea for A and B and more about what the journey intails, buildings walking past, people on the street etc.

Choosing my 3 key words to focus on came very naturally whilst listening to the track, I decided to focus on

- Journey
- City

- Lighthearted Atmosphere

I also started to put the music into sections so I could start trying to figure out which 30 second section of the music I intend of using. Below you can see a few notes I started making about the track.

I got really into researching different types of animations and different artists/designers/directors. I ended up finding some brilliant videos.

INTRO TO PRINT TO PIXEL