Lille: Marathon de Animation Day Two

What. A. Day.

I've barely stopped working all day (and I started nice and early at 8:30am), as it's been a mad rush to finish our animation. But we managed to get it done, with only a minute or so to spare until our deadline.

Our Final Submission

The day started off great. I'd come into the studio to a folder full of components to animate that Paul had spent the previous night making. This meant that I could combine both mine and his components in After Effects to make up the street that was going to be one of the main focuses of the animation. I had tried to work in Paul's style of working when creating my own components so that they would fit seamlessly in the composition, and I think we had managed to do a good job. I'm very happy with the outcome of this scene, as it doesn't look flat and it feels that the character belongs.

The stress came from straying away from the timings and the planning set out by the animatic. Theo and I had very different ways of working, and because we had such a small time frame to get the project finished, there wasn't much room for discussion or error. Theo animated all the character movement, and whilst I was impressed with the work he had done, some of the sequences were much shorter than expected. I also had to work out the timings for the animations he sent me, as he wasn't experienced with working frame-by-frame in Photoshop and his exported work played far too quickly. Though it wasn't ideal, I just had to run with it as we didn't have much time. I tried to put the sequences together in After Effects the best I could, and I just simply extended other scenes, making longer than expected (mainly the scene with the side-view of the street, and the character walking down the street towards the camera).
Another thing that proved to be a problem was the way that Theo had animated the character getting hit by one of the objects. Again, we were really impressed with the motion, but it wasn't produced at the angle I was expecting. We originally agreed to have the character shown from the side, so the falling back would be parallel to the camera in the scene. This way it would be easy for me to simply add the weapons flying in from the side in After Effects. The new angle, whilst more dynamic and interesting, made it much harder for me to work with the weapons. In the end I simply opted for animating/positioning the knife frame by frame in After Effects over the top of the image sequence of the character. I masked out the parts that shouldn't have shown through. This certainly was not the most optimal method of animating, but we didn't have time to re-work the character animation, or come up with another solution, and in the end it seemed to work fine anyway.


Overall I'm really pleased with how this project has gone. I've never worked so intensely in my life, and I'm proud of myself and my team for turning the animation around so quickly. There are certainly things I would have liked to have changed had we had more time - for instance, I would put more effort into making the backgrounds more consistent throughout (the start street Paul produced seems a little out of place when compared to the building designs in the following scene), and there are some background animations that would have been nice to implement that were scrapped - but I think we've done very well.

Lille: Marathon de Animation Day One

Today was day one of two of the Marathon de Animation that I signed up for as part of Féte d' l'Anim'. Before today's briefing I knew nothing about the event other than I'd be animating something as part of a team, and what days I was going to be doing it. I soon found out that we were going to be given an image that had been designed by an industry professional, and this image was to be the start and end of our animation. We could do what we wanted with the animation, so long as it was 1080p, 16:9 ratio, 25FPS and 10 seconds long...

...and we had less than 48 hours to do it.

I was teamed with Paul, an illustrator who had graduated from LCA, and Theo, a French animation student. This proved to be an added challenge due to the language barrier (though Theo spoke very good English, there were miscommunication issues), but I was very excited to work with new people in an actual studio. It was definitely something I've never experienced before.

Initial Storyboard Thumbnails

We were able to come up with an idea for the animation relatively quickly; we opted for an animation that mimicked old school cartoons such as Popeye and Mickey Mouse. I sketched out an initial storyboard, and when we were happy with the shots, I made up a quick animatic in After Effects whilst Paul worked on background design, and Theo on the character.


Today has definitely been a stressful one. Due to the short deadline, I'm feeling a massive pressure to get the work done, which is only amplified by the fact that I can't do much until other components have been made and sent my way (I'm animating them in After Effects). It's also been quite stressful because I have had to take on jobs that weren't originally assigned to me, and we only have a day to turn this animation around. It's been great to experience a new way of working that is out of my comfort zone, as it's really challenging my animating ability, but I think i'll be glad when this is over and I can go back to animating in programs that aren't set-up in French.

Let's hope tomorrow goes well.

Smitten Fox: Discussion of Progress

I had started to work colour into the fox design and I had opted for quite a realistic style, when I realised I hadn't discussed how they wanted the final finish to look like. I showed them both my progress so far and explained that this could be an option for them - quite a lifelike fox - or if they wanted I could experiment with different styles. For instance, watercolour, block colours for a more cartoon look, or a looser colouring style.

Fox Logo Progress

They were really impressed with the progress that I had made, and they were happy for me to continue working in the style I had opted for. Then they asked me how I would incorporate their company name into the design. I had visions of the text being sat alongside the fox, and very roughly showed them what I meant and how it could look. I outlined that we would be able to experiment with different fonts and they could decide on what they liked best.

Example Mock-ups

Cameron had a suggestion of having the name in/on cardboard in a similar way to Little Big Planet's logo, and asked whether this would work/I'd be able to do this. I told him that I definitely would be able to experiment with this, but that he should consider how they were wanting to present themselves; cardboard has connotations of being quite crafty and is a cheap material. This might portray them in a different light to what they were hoping for, and a clean font would have different connotations. This might make them seem more professional than quirky. I left that with them to think about, but told them I'd be happy roughing up different ideas if they were unsure. Ultimately it is up to them and what they choose to go for in the end.

Little Big Planet Logo

We also briefly discussed the size of the logo. At the minute I am working on a large scale to accommodate the level of detail I had opted for with the design, but told them there is always the opportunity to scale down. I also told them that I am going to stick to working on separate layers, so that there would be the opportunity to re-position elements to make their branding appropriate across a potential promo pack. For example, a letter head could include the company's name along the top of the page, and have the fox sitting in one of the bottom corners. I also discussed the option of having a big logo that could be used on a larger scale, for instance on channel art, banners or websites, and then having a small logo that could be used for social media icons. The smaller icon could simply be the fox's face.


They both seemed really impressed with the insights and ideas I had for their company, and are excited to see how it will turn out. I let them know when I would next be able to work on the project and get back to them with progress, and they told me not to stress as they're not working with a deadline. However, I still would like to push to get this finished, as not only will it be a job out of the way, but it will also leave them with a good impression of me.

Update: They have both since informed me that they will not need the logo finishing until a couple of months down the line, as they both have other commitments they need to put first, and know that I too am in the same position. This has taken some weight of my shoulders, as I can now focus on the things I need to produce for submission/uni. I have informed them both that I shall continue with the logo once uni is out of the way, and they said that this was fine, and that they can't wait to see the outcome.

Smitten Fox: Taking on a Brief

I had met two students at Leeds College of Music when I had gone to meet students to potentially collaborate with for Extended Practice, and though we didn't end up working together for my film, we did exchange contact details and connected with each other on social media. Recently they have got into contact with me saying that they were impressed with the work I was posting to Instagram, and they were wondering if I would be interested in designing the branding for the musical they had written and produced.

The company they had put together to distribute the musical was 'Smitten Fox', and they were hoping I'd be able to design a logo for it. The design they were after was pretty self explanatory; they wanted a fox character looking smitten. Though I wouldn't class character design as my area of expertise, I was happy to take on the brief as it was a good opportunity for me to get work/name out there, as well as a chance to transfer my digital skills to something other than animating.

They were unsure whether they wanted to have just the one character or a fox couple as their logo, so I got started with sketching initial ideas to see what they thought.

Initial Sketches

As they had told me they liked my drawing style on Instagram, I tried to keep the characters looking quite true-to-life as this is how I have worked digitally in the past. I showed them what I had managed to come up with so far before I carried out any further designs, to see if this is what they were looking for. They said they really liked the first fox that I had drawn, and when I asked if they needed any more sketches in order to make a decision on what they wanted, they told me no and that they were happy for me to go ahead an develop that design. 

Which is what I shall do. 

Brand Me: Revamp!

I decided that I wanted to set up my own website, but I thought it would be best to re-design my logo before I did. Looking back at it now, it's a little outdated. Though I am happy with the design and the colour scheme across my social media, I feel my drawing skills have improved greatly since then so I have decided to simply redraw my portrait.

New Logo

...Compared to my Old Logo

I think my new logo is miles better than my old one. I prefer the more intricate linework in the hair (which reflects what I like to do as an artist) and is overall much more crisp and clean. It also looks more like me, which is a bonus, and a clear indicator that I have improved with my digital drawing.

Updated Channel Art - Tumblr

I have since updated my social media pages where appropriate, and incorporated the logo into some of my backgrounds.

Lille 2017

A couple of months ago, an email was sent around asking whether students were interested in going to Lille to take part in Fête de L'Anim', specifically to attend a video mapping workshop and meet/work with professionals in the industry. I immediately agreed. I have very little experience with projection and video mapping, but I thought this would be a great opportunity to meet new people and network, as well as widen my skill set.

I have since been taken off the Video Mapping workshop to participate in the Marathon de l'Anim, which I'm happy with as this workshop focuses more on animating, which is more tailored to what I want to do.

Now that a brief itinerary has been set to me, I think it's best to start researching the event. I should look to find out what exactly it is that I am going to be doing, so I can prepare myself to work, but also to find out WHO is going. That way I can find out what kind of work different practitioners/companies have produced, and see who is worth trying to approach and network with whilst I'm there.


I definitely need to remember to take my business cards.

The Lifting Tower: Projection Night

On the 1st of December the projections went live as part of "Christmas in Leeds", and it was amazing to see the final outcomes. Though the official turning on of the projection only had a small turn out, it was great to see that there was a live audience for our work; an audience that sang Christmas carols might I add. It's definitely put me in the festive mood.

My Projected Clips

Seeing the animations actually projected, I now have a better understanding of what works, and though I don't plan on doing anything like this again any time soon, at least I know what to avoid. For instance, in the penguins falling animation, you can't see the eyes of the penguins that are close to the 'camera' and out of focus.

The Lifting Tower Brief: Change of Plan...

Working on this brief has been incredibly confusing. At the beginning we were asked to produce a 1-2 minute narrative, and after investing a couple of weeks into our ideas, our groups were split up and we were then told that our clips were to be cut up into short animations. It was a little frustrating because of the wasted time we'd invested, but I was still on board as I liked the ideas we'd been able to come up with based on Tom's concept boards.

Showing our progress in a meeting, we were advised to make more fun, snappy animations, and not to worry about a narrative across them. Again, this was quite frustrating as we'd put time into forming a short narrative that still made sense once cut up into short clips. Though it did mean that I could produce a series of quick animations involving the Yeti and Penguin characters that Tom had provided us with. The understanding at this point was to simply make our group's work consistent by using the same characters.

Yeti Parade

Yeti Portal

Yetis Waving

March of the Penguins

Penguins Falling

Flying!

I'm really pleased with the work I've been able to produce for this brief - especially my 'Flying!' animation, as I think the character animation is the strongest in this short - and it has given me experience at using the Puppet Pin tool. However, I'm not so pleased with the overall experience of working on this brief. It has been very back and forth in terms of what was required of us and very confusing as to who we were supposed to go to with our progress. Also, by the end of the project it didn't feel much like a group effort, rather individual projects (minus the character design contribution from Tom). The only aspect that made it feel like I was part of a group was that I'd ask for feedback once I'd completed each animation. Other than that there wasn't a great deal of communicating, and in the end we had deviated from our original ideas and produced work that wasn't necessarily consistent in style. 

I also feel like I took on a lot more work in comparison to the other members of my team. Which is fine for me, because I'm happy with the experience of the work and what I now have to show for it, but I'm hoping that as a group we have enough to show and that it fits what the client is looking for. We shall have to wait and see.

Despite a few organisational issues and the confusion, I'm happy that I participated with this brief. It has widened my skill set and has given me a chance to look at projection mapping, which I wouldn't have considered looking into had it not been for this brief. I'm excited to see how it looks projected in Leeds, more on that as it develops. 

The Lifting Tower Brief: Making a Start With Animating

The first two ideas that I was assigned with was the Yeti bowling and dancing. I started with the dancing as I thought this would be easier, so I could ease myself into working; I'd never used the puppet pin tool on After Effects before so I thought it was going to be quite a challenge teaching myself.

Yeti Dancing

I opted for the Robot due to the angle of the yeti character, and I think it was quite successful. It's a fun animation that is an appropriate length to catch the attention of passers by. 

Yeti Bowling

I definitely prefer this animation to the first one I produced. I think the character is animated better and the overall look of the animation is more dynamic and visually pleasing. My group also seemed pleased with my work when I shared it with them, so I'm happy to leave them as they are. 

Manchester Animation Festival: Making of Ethel and Ernest

Ethel and Ernest Trailer

Director Roger Mainwood, Animation Director Peter Dodd and Producers Camilla Deakin and Ruth Fielding from Lupus Films, sat down and talked about the making of Ethel and Ernest, a film adaptation of Raymond Brigg's graphic novel. Prior to this talk I had never heard of the film, but now I can't wait to see it. 

Having researched extensively about character performance for my dissertation, I can see why this film is successful, or at least going to be. The production has an attention to detail that is truly fascinating. This teamed with how the characters look and move naturalistically, has resulted in very real, very lovable and relate-able characters. The behaviours aren't exaggerated in any way, instead they are very true to life. It is the subtle actions and details that draw you into this film, and allows you to empathise with the characters.

After the talk, I tried to ask the team more about their production, and whether they used a lot of referencing whilst animating. I could understand if this film was heavily referenced due to how realistic it looked, and how fluid the movements were, but apparently it was very rare for the animators to work with reference; there was definitely no rotoscoped animation that's for sure. Instead the animators would study from real life to ensure natural movements and behaviours. This has really stressed the importance of life and gesture drawing for me, and is something I am definitely going to push myself to do more of, as this is pretty much exactly the kind of work I want to produce myself/would like to work on in the future. If I am going to be able produce animation that plays back this smoothly, and this realistically, I am definitely going to have to practice drawing too. 

Manchester Animation Festival: HOUND

HOUND

This is an example of a short film, where the execution of the production has worked wonders for the story. The story itself is quite simple; it is basically a series of short narratives that accurately portray the personalities of different breeds of dogs. The film is very silly and playful, and the way that the dogs have been designed and animated gives them lots of character appeal. You can instantly relate to this film if you are a dog lover yourself, because the personalities of the animals have been carefully considered and have been portrayed with very recognizable traits.

Though the concept is quite simple, the animation is not. It displays good use of the animation principles to really enhance the performance of these dogs. A good example of overlapping action/drag occurs at 1:20 when the dog is elegantly waving its hair/ears around. 

Overall I think this was a great film, and it has proved that a story can be greatly improved if the animation is of good quality. Again, I shall need to bare in mind timing when producing my own work, and really try to nail the principles of animation, as this short has proved that it really does make a difference.

Manchester Animation Festival: Mr Madila

Mr Madila

Mr Madila is a student film that won The Audience Award at this year's festival, and it's not too hard to see why. I loved this animation. I think the reason why it was so popular among the audience was down to its comedic timing and the personalities of the characters, because visually it wasn't anything to write home about. Sure, there were snippets of the film that did look quite pretty - for instance the space scenes - but the character designs were simple and made up of black and white lines that were often quite sketchy. I wouldn't in anyway say this was a bad thing, in fact, I think it has worked well in this instance. It created a contrast between the real life characters (the ones animating the interview), the animated characters and the actual content of the interview, and the spiritual and out-of-this-world elements. The colour and experimental scenes also helped to highlight the wonders of Mr Madila's mind, which only made him more of a lovable, and exciting character.

Pretty Space Scene Example

Like I said, it is the comedic timing of this film that made it so successful, in my opinion. The animators have obviously been able to focus greatly on this, as well as the lip-syncing and facial expressions to make for a well produced animation. They have exaggerated the movements of Mr Madila's character just enough to emphasise his bizarre personality without going overboard. This greatly contrasts with the way they've animated the interviewer. His character instead behaves very naturally and makes subtle movements and facial expressions, which allows us to relate to him and the situation he is in, and how he must be feeling in the presence of such a theatrical and energetic character.

This is something I should bare in mind when making my own film. Though my own film isn't going to have any dialogue, I can still make the characters believable by really focusing on timing, and allowing the characters to interact and react to their surroundings and each other. 

Manchester Animation Festival: Fox and the Whale

Fox and the Whale - Trailer

Fox and the Whale is something that stood out to me at MAF, but I have very mixed feelings about it. The first thing I have to say about the film is that, visually, it was stunning. It is obvious that a lot of time and effort has been put into the design of this film, and all aspects of it have been carefully considered resulting in breath-taking visuals. The lighting is very realistic, and has been used to convey emotion in different ways. The scenery is also beautifully textured making this also seem very real. In fact, the only aspect of this film that doesn't look realistic are the characters, but even because of the way they have been designed and subtly textured, they fit seamlessly with the background. The fact that they cast shadows and have light hitting them in just the correct way makes them feel as though they belong in that environment. 

Visually I can't fault this animation. I also think the sound design has done wonders. But for me, the reason why this film wasn't as successful was down to the story. I thought the narrative of the story was lacking, and I found myself rather bored towards the end of the film. There just wasn't anything really engaging about the narrative. 

What I'm taking away from this is that the narrative of the film is just as important as its design. Without an engaging or interesting plot, you're going to lose the attention of your audience; there is only so much pretty visuals can do. I'm going to strive to achieve a nice balance of the two with my own film. 

Manchester Animation Festival: Meet the Experts

Whilst at MAF, I managed to get tickets to the 'Meet the Experts' event, where I got to go on a 'speed date' with producers and directors from different animation companies; Real Time UK, Studio Liddell, Factory, Brown Bag & Cosgrove Hall Fitzpatrick. It wasn't quite what I was expecting from the event as we got put into groups, so didn't get the chance to chat with people one-on-one, but it was still a great opportunity to talk to industry professionals.

It was really interesting to hear about their first hand experiences of how they made it in the industry, as well as seeing the difference in opinion on what companies want to see from CVs and applications. For instance, Tracy at Studio Liddell stressed the importance of having work experience. By this she didn't just mean in the animation field; she'd be interested in seeing that I've got up and done something with my time, and the skills I've taken from these experiences. For example, doing volunteer work or building social skills from a part-time job. However other companies such as Brown Bag aren't as interested in this, and just want to see the work you're capable of producing.

One thing that was consistent across all of the companies, was how much the importance of our showreels was stressed. They made it clear that they wanted our showreels to be easy to find in our applications, and how they should be precise and to the point, showing our strongest work. It was also mentioned that it might be a good idea to tailor your showreel to the company you are applying for, or to have different showreels for different job positions, but you MUST state what you are applying for in your application, as it may not be clear from the work you send in and so you might not be considered.

It was quite reassuring to see that some studios put a lot of emphasis on taking on junior animators too, and it was pointed out that we shouldn't be disheartened or put off by a company just because they might use a different software or method to what we are used to working with. Some companies will admire the passion and willingness to learn, and will train up junior animators anyway. In most cases they may just be looking for the talent and ability to animate and/or work as part of a team.

Branding Review

A year has passed since I set up my branding and my online media presence, so I thought it would be appropriate to review whether it's still relevant.  I think it is. I'm still happy with my name/tag handle as it's unique and easy to say and remember, and my logo still accurately represents how I want to come across; smiley and creative. Though I do think it would be a good idea to start making more illustrations that involve myself again, similar to the one featured below, to just update people on what I'm into and what I'm doing. It's also where a lot of my Instagram following came from, and it is work I'm interested in making, as it combines my personality and figure/gesture drawing, something I'm definitely interested in pursuing and getting better at.

I may want to revisit this again in a couple of months time, and maybe just vamp up the logo and channel art as my drawing skills develop or change. As it stands I'm happy with how I come across and my consistency across all my online platforms, even on my business cards (that I intend to dish out at Manchester Animation Festival). Though, I am going to put in the effort to set up a website, and try to post more on Twitter to maintain my online presence and get across that I'm interested in the world of animation. Other than that I think I'm quite on top of social media. I've began to update my Instagram almost daily, and now that I'm back at uni and making more animations, I'm posting to YouTube again.

The Lifting Tower Brief: Forming a New Group

Since the last briefing our group has been split up. We have been encouraged to mingle with illustration students, so myself and Emma have teamed up with Tom, and we picked up Greta along the way. Our previous ideas have followed Katy and James to their new group, and we have been left to work with the ideas that Tom received feedback for, which I think are really interesting.

We have sat down as a group and discussed what we would like to do for this brief, more precisely what we would like to have our Yeti and Penguin characters do. We made a long list of all the actions and small narratives that we thought would be suitable, and thumb-nailed ideas from there. Once we were happy, me and Emma but together some rough storyboards to present to Jim at Lumen, who is in charge of this brief.

Initial Storyboards

Jim was happy with our ideas, but advised us to try and make the most of the space on the building, and to be careful about the colours we choose for the characters and the textures we use, if any. As we had the 'go ahead', we decided to distribute roles and work load. Tom is going to be the designer, and shall make up assets that myself, Emma and Greta, are going to animate in After Effects. 

Tom's Yeti Design

Tom has since designed the Yeti character, and has made sure to make the limbs on separate layers, so now we can make a start on animating; we just need to assign each other different ideas/narratives to work with. 

The Lifting Tower Brief: Concept Art and Submitted Ideas

Design Board of Concept Art

In order to start designing for this idea, we compiled a list of structures and landmarks that we thought represented Leeds well; Trinity Horse, Owls, Barrel Man, Town Hall, Hyde Park, the Market, Corn Exchange. I selected five and I tried to keep the drawings relatively simple and not involve too much/any shading, as ribbons or playful lines were going to be making up the shape of the object or building. I kept these relatively consistent, but gave the ribbon more detail so that it would contrast with the rest of the drawings/animation. I thought this would help wrap up the animation (pardon the pun, if you will). 

Once I had completed the concepts for the first idea, we were able to sit down as a group and thumbnail the storyboards for each of the ideas. From here, Katy put together the final storyboards and Emma was able to pair these with our concept work to present on art boards.

Final Art Boards

I'm really pleased with how smoothly this process has gone, at it's been a nice way to get back into the swing of working, especially as part of a team. Now we've submitted, it's just a matter of waiting for the results. 

A New Year: Taking on a Live Brief

To get us back into the swing of working, we've been provided with a live brief to participate in. The brief requires us to come up with and present three ideas for a one minute animation that will be projected onto the Lifting Tower. As I have never worked with projections before, and because the deadline for the initial ideas is the 7th October, I thought it would be best to collaborate with other animators. Myself, Emma, Katy and James have formed a group and we have begun working on ideas to fit the brief, and since meeting up we have 'dished out' roles.

The three main ideas we have come up with are:

- Ribbons/Lines that build up into iconic structures/landmarks that represent Leeds.

- An orb/trail of light that weaves in and out of trees in a forest, lighting it up as it flies through.

- Focusing on the German Market. A camera pans through a scene to show close ups of 'the essence of the market', for instance, beer and mulled wine, pretzels, hand made toys and wooden soldiers.

Discussion of Ideas

I have been assigned to focus on our first idea. I am going to sketch up concept art and initial thumbnails for potential shots, which I shall pass over to Katy who is in charge of storyboarding. 

Brand Me: Creating a Vimeo Account

I have recently made myself a Vimeo account with the same branding as the rest of my social media. I thought it would be beneficial for me to set up an account, so I could have a professional page where all my finished animations could be found. I upload all my videos to YouTube and my blogs anyway, but they can get lost among other work and test animations.

Vimeo Account

A Talk With Barry Purves

A while ago, we were lucky enough to have Barry Purves come in to talk about his work and give us tips to help our practice. His work was so beautiful that it made me want to drop everything and start a career in Stop-Motion Animation and I found it particularly inspiring when he talked over his animations, breaking down each scene, telling us about what was happening and the reasoning behind each decision made, especially with Plume.

Still from Plume

Plume is a about a "primaeval winged man" that "falls to earth and is robbed of his freedom by his alter egos. He finds redemption by casting off his former existence", and according to Barry, is a "textbook 3 Act structure". Whilst watching, Barry explained the importance of shot framing, and how he had always shown the character facing and travelling right to left, to show his journey and the geography of the scenes. It was also made sure that the character fell from the top right hand corner of the frame when he was beginning to struggle and experience trauma, and rise up towards the top left hand side of the frame when he is beginning to heal in the end. The lighting and colour that was used also helped to portray how the character survived trauma. For instance the white character on a black background shifts to a darker character on a light/white background when he is recovering at the end of the animation. 

Barry's Tips:

- Try to keep a 'front' to your compositions. Sometimes it can make things confusing if you start working from the 'back' and view more than 180 degrees. 

- Similarly, always cut to things that are in the same relation to the frame. For example, if you have a wide shot of a character laid down and want to cut to a close up of the face, make sure to keep the same shot framing, otherwise the cut can be quite jarring and/or confusing. 

Example of Shot Framing

- Blinking out of sequence can help create un-nerving characters.

- Even the smallest gesture can greatly improve the story-telling

- "Tell stories to say 'I'm here'"

- Use colour, editing, texture and lighting to help tell your stories.

- 'Masks' can be used to help talk about ourselves, and are often used to aid storytelling. For instance, Mary Poppins is a mask that helps us see the damage in the family, and she helps the family see this so that they can heal. Mary's Umbrella is her mask that allows the audience to learn more about her character as she talks to it. 

- Have a good showreel for when you leave.

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to what Barry had to say, especially because he talked with such passion about his work. I thought the way he captured movement in his animations was astonishing, his love for theatre clearly shows in his work, as the characters really put on a performance that makes for very touching pieces. This is definitely something I would like to strive for, and shall practice in future projects. 

Creating Game Art: Jim The Annoyed - Menu Screens and Other Components

(I actually posted about this a few months ago, but I accidentally deleted it - oops)

The second task I was assigned to do was to create a menu screen for the game. The predetermined environment was simply going to be set outside, and the platforms were going to be made of grass and mud, so I thought it would be a nice idea to have the menu screen made in the same way. I made a sprite sheet of grass and mud titles, then made up a screen to the required dimensions.

Game Components

Animated Menu Screen

I also made a death screen and a paused menu in the same style as the menu screen, so that there was consistency within the game's style. 

Sadly, there hasn't been any further progress made with the game, as James now has other responsibilities with University. Because of this, I don't have any further evidence of my art and how it looks in game, but it maybe something that we begin working on again in the summer, once the university year has finished. I definitely hope so, as I have thoroughly enjoyed working on this project and I have liked experiencing what it could be like working on a game. 

Brand Me: Making a Promo-Pack

As I already had made myself a business card and a creative CV, I thought it would be wise to make a promotional pack. I completed the pack by making a letterhead, as well as a mock-up of a CD/showreel case and stationary. 

I'm really pleased with how well my branding has gone and how professional it all looks. I like the consistency in style and colour, and the way I have presented it above makes it look like the blue hasn't been over-used. It's definitely beneficial to me that I have made this pack, and I think it would help me further to get a physical copy; not so much the letter head and stationary for now, but I should definitely have at least a showreel and business card to hand if I attend any events or festivals, so that I can get my name out there. 

Brand Me: Creating a Showreel

In order for me to put together a showreel, I first needed to create an ident. I wanted to incorporate my Logo, so I tried a quick animation in After Effects. 

First Ident Attempt

I liked the general motion of the ident, but I felt that there was something missing. It seemed a little too simple and it didn't scream 'animation student' to me, so I thought of how I could make it do this, and I thought "hey, animating the logo might do the trick". 

As my logo is just my face, I couldn't think of a great deal of things I could animate. I first thought of making the logo smile, but I didn't think this was much of an obvious motion/gesture, and it might be easily missed because of the size of the logo in the ident. Instead, I opted for a wink, because it was more obvious and required a bit more movement that would stand out more than the smile. I also thought it was a little corny which I thought suited me quite well. 

Final Ident

I really like how my ident turned out. Making it has restored some of my confidence at animating digitally, as I avoided cutting corners this time around. Some frames did take me quite a while to get right, but I found that using the pen tool for some of the features/the longer lines helped, and I have been able to make a nicely flowing motion. 

Icon Comparison

To animate my logo, I felt that I needed to tone down the level of detail, and at first I thought the difference in style between my logo and ident animation was going to be an issue. I thought about replacing my logo with a frame from the ident, so that there would be more consistency, but I was fond of my logo as it was. In the end, I decided that this wasn't going to be an issue. The characters are drawn and coloured in a similar manner, and the colour scheme is still consistent with the rest of my work, so therefore I think it's okay that there's a little variation between the logo and ident. 

Now that my ident was finished, I could move onto putting my showreel together. I started by trying to find a suitable soundtrack to accompany my work, and after hours of searching I found one that I liked. It was just a bit too long though at one and a half minutes, so I had to do my best to make the end of the clip flow with where I had trimmed the file, as I didn't want the music to just fade out mid song. It was a painful process but I think I did a good job and it wasn't all for nothing. Besides for being for my showreel - obviously - I have discovered that I don't want to pursue sound design and editing, meaning that I'm finally starting to narrow down on what it is I want to do, because as it stands, I still have (next to) no idea. 

Showreel First Draft

I thought I was on the right tracks with the first draft of my showreel, but I think I had made some of the clips too long; especially my infographic clip. I cut some of the scenes down, which meant I had to find a selection of little snippets to fill the gaps. I had to mix them up a bit so there wasn't scenes from the same animation too close together, whilst still trying to focus on starting and ending on a strong note. 

Final Showreel

My second attempt was much better, and I'm happy to declare this as my final showreel for 2016. I showed a couple of students my showreel to see if there were any changes I could make, but I actually didn't get criticized . Instead I was praised for how some of my scenes transitioned, which was great!

Brand Me: Designing a Business Card

Having no previous experience at designing business cards, I quickly did a google search of creative cards before I got started on my own.  I particularly like these designs as they are clean and professional. They don't use too many colours and they have a nice layout, which is what I would like to achieve with my own business card.

Business Card Research

I made a couple of different designs and layouts, and made sure to make the card consistent with the rest of my branding (same logo, font and colours). I have seen and been given cards before that have had a still from an animation or piece of art work on the front of the business card (or the back, depending on how you see it), and I thought it would be a good idea to do this with my logo instead. I experimented with whether text was going to accompany the logo, and if so, where it would sit and how big it was going to be. I did the same with my contact details.

Combinations of Front and Back

I was unsure which combination I preferred, so I asked others about their preferences to see whether this would help me decide which to go for. There wasn't a definite winner, though options 1,5 and 8 were selected the most frequently, so in the end I just went with my own instinct and combined the back of 1 with the front of 5.

Final Business Card Design

Now I have a design I am happy with, I will be able to get some cards printed for when I attend festivals or events so I can hand them out and get my name out there. 

Lecture on Sound Design With Jan Meinema

A few weeks ago, we had a visit from Jan Meinema, a Senior Lecturer at Bath Spa University. He spoke to us about sound design and some of the animations he had worked on, and I found it all to be very informative. I can see a lot of what he taught me coming in useful for future animation projects, especially as some of the tips he gave were simple yet effective.

I've always known that sound design can greatly improve an animation piece, but I never realised just how much of an impact it can have if carried out correctly. Jan taught us about different recording equipment and how they were used, and that you should try to get as close to the filter as you could when recording and maintain this distance so that you don't hear the reflection of the space you are recording in. especially if the characters the sound will be applied to aren't in a similar environment.

Another thing that I took away from this lecture, was how sound design can be used to create perspective. Sound doesn't necessarily have to 'follow' the entire scene, but you can 'zoom' into a character or a specific area of a set by using sound. For instance, having an extreme wide shot of a scene yet still being able to hear a conversation between two people in the very distance, zooms in on the characters and can draw your focus onto them, whilst still establishing setting.
An example that Jan showed us that helps demonstrates how perspective can be established was actually a short film I had researched in my first year for a candle reference. Now that I have been shown it in a different light, it has made me appreciate it a whole lot more.

Once Upon a Candle - The Animation Workshop

The way the sound was recorded/edited for when the candle is inside the drawer, differs from when he is sat on the desk top to help create a sense of space. There is a particularly good example when you hear the candle from outside of the drawer at 3:22, as the sound is more muffled to portray that he is sat inside. 

When I haven't wanted to use a music track to accompany an animation in the past, I have always turned to using ambient sounds to enhance the viewing experience, but what I never really thought about was that you don't always have to use sound effects for things you can see in the scene. Instead, if you use sound effects that are stereotypical for that particular setting you can help imply that that is where the animation is taking place. For example, hearing farmyard animals can help indicate you are on a farm, even if there aren't any in the shot. 

Titles Lecture With Martin

Yesterday we had a short lecture with Martin about making titles and compositing in After Effects. He showed us a quick example of a title sequence he had made using Photoshop layers and images and how we could import these compositions into After Effects and animate them. I already was aware of this as well as a lot of what Martin was showing us, but I did learn a few things which would definitely had benefitted me had I been made aware of this earlier.

The first thing I wasn't aware of is that you could pre-comp some components so that when you use masks and animate, say, the position of the components, the mask won't move with the position change, but will instead stay stationary. This would have been a huge help when I was making my info graphic for CoP for instance, as I was animating the mask path in order for text to emerge from behind it, but at least I know now for future reference.

I was aware of the animator function on text on after effects, but I had never had a need to use it before so it was nice to see the different ways in which it could be used. I also wasn't aware that you could use two animators on the same component and use this method to have thing exceed the 100% offset, which could be helpful for creating secondary action or implementing other principles of animation.

Pitch Perfect: Pitching Our Company

As Joe finished the website and showreel, he was able to slot his work into the presentation that I had shared with everyone to work on, and the slides have since been altered and as a result look much cleaner and better laid out. 

Final Presentation Slides

Prior to presenting, we discussed who would talk about what and we thought that it made sense to talk about the work you had worked on and the area we were going to specialise in within the company. So I was in charge of talking about social media and the pages I had set up, were as Emma was going to introduce the company, Joe would talk about the website and finances and Ciara the business cards and how we were going to approach clients.

I feel the presentation went well and I think it definitely helped that we discussed roles before hand, as it meant we didn't trip up or interrupt each other. I also feel it was a success due to the lengths of research we had gone into in terms of competition and finances, and we really considered all aspects of our brand and how we were going to present ourselves and get our work out there.

The only concern that was mentioned was with our title logo, and how some of the stray pixels could be misinterpreted as accented letters, which may be a slight issue with international clients if we ever worked with any. It is something we would definitely reconsider if we are going to pursue our company further.

Pitch Perfect: Preparing For Our Presentation

As we had all completed the tasks we had been assigned, we were now in a position where we could drag and drop our work into a presentation. The only thing that we had to consider in more detail were the finances. Joe, Emma and myself (Ciara was unable to attend our meeting, but still contributed over messages) sat down and researched further into the costs we would need to get started. We were already aware of how much the rent for the studio was going to cost as well as things like software licences as we had made note of these previously, but things like business insurance and optional equipment we quickly looked up. We even went on GoCompare to try and get a more accurate business insurance quote, but at the end of the form it said they would be in contact with us at a later time regarding a quote which wasn't particularly helpful at the time. In the end we just took an average number as an estimate from our Google searches. 

GoCompare Enquiry

I put all of our costs into a spreadsheet so we could clearly see the amounts we would need to be earning/what it is was we would be spending, and used Mike's 'Cost of Living' spreadsheet as a guide for working out tax, as I personally had no idea how to do this or what we would get taxed on, and because of this I included two total expenses figures, one with tax and one without. 

Expenses Spreadsheet

As Joe was working on the website and showreel, I took charge of making the initial slides for our presentation. I made sure to keep the style consistent throughout the slides and with our logo and brand so it would look more professional. 

Initial Presentation Slides

Pitch Perfect: Deciding on a Studio Location

As a group we had to decide where we want to be based, whether this be in the UK or abroad. We were all happy to stick to the UK - though we briefly discussed Ireland as there's a tax break there at the moment - but we thought it would be best to research studio spaces that were available to us and for what price before we decided on a location.

We discussed different cities we'd be happy working/living in, such as London and Manchester, and looked on websites such as Gumtree and various property websites for potential studios in these areas. We found that a lot of the studios were very expensive and the cheaper, more affordable places weren't suitable for us. We were hoping to find a studio that was reasonably sized that would have space for desks and all of our equipment, but a lot of what we found were open plan office/desk space rather than studios, or they were just too small for four of us to work in.

Few Examples of Websites Looked at / Search Results

In the end we decided on Duke Studios in Leeds. We found that the prices were reasonable for everything they were offering with their 12 month contract, studio space. We emailed them asking for an estimated price for a 4 people studio and they replied with (-), which would definitely be ideal, especially as we like the look of the space.

Studio Spaces Available at Duke - Email from Duke Studios

We also thought that the location was ideal, as Animation in Leeds is beginning to grow. Not only this but it is easy to travel to and from, so we could easily attend festivals in nearby cities such as Manchester so we can network. 

Brand Me: Refining my Social Media

Ever since that it has been suggested to me that I should change my font on my channel art, I really don't like the 'O' in my username, so I have taken the advice and changed the font that I use.

Considering Fonts

I scrolled through all of the fonts that were available to me on Photoshop, and I didn't really like any of them, so I searched through a website called Dafont.com, to see if anything stood out to me. I didn't want anything too quirky, though I wanted it to be rather simple. Here I have tried out different fonts alongside my logo. I was looking at the thickness of the text and the letter spacing and in the end I opted for 'Giraffe' because I thought it wasn't too ordinary, yet was clean and worked better than my old font. 

Then came the task of remaking my art, and getting the positioning of the components correct so that they sat nicely on my sites. Making the Tumblr background was particularly annoying as the preview of the theme isn't the same as what is shown on your page. Though it took way longer that initially expected, I think the re-work was definitely worth it. 

New Channel Art

I have since removed the standing character of myself from the channel art. Despite being fond of the piece, I felt that the drawing that I produced for Onform was a better choice, as it was cleaner and much less pixelated when blown up to a different size as I had drawn it using vectors. I still have my original portrait though however, and shall continue to show the piece on my blogs. 

Regarding the "LaurensAnimations" in my YouTube URL/Username, there isn't anything I can do about that at this moment. In order for me to make a custom URL I now need to have 100 subscribers, and I had set up my old URL when this wasn't the case and when I used the account for my Art Foundation work. The "LaurensAnimations" doesn't seem to show up usually when you search for my name, instead the link is a bunch of random letters, but it will still work as it is still associated with my account. As I can't add "Laurenimations" to my URL, I'm going to make sure to tag all of my videos with this, so that you should still be able to find my work if you search for it.