Statement of intent
| Section 1: Review |
| When starting the course I had no real experience in any of the softwares especially the 3D modelling software called maya. I found maya the hardest to learn since there were no tools I had used before. Where as softwares such as photoshop still used the same basis of “cmd+z” being undo and many similar tools like the paintbrush and eraser tool etc. I personally think I have made great progress as I now know how to create 3D models/structures and mainly how to texture faces to certain materials and textures. I also now know how to create a 2D animation using animate cc. Before starting this course I used to do some clay and lego animation at home, so I already had some experience with stop frame animation however I did not know how to use the animate cc software. This heavily influenced me to do a 2D animation for my FMP. |
| Section 2: Project Concept & Proposed Artist Statement |
| The aim and concept as well as the reasons for me doing this is because I listen to and enjoy music as well as having a passion for 2D animation. When I was younger I created clay and Lego animation as I said before and I enjoyed it even though it took a lot of time and patience. Most people don’t have the patience for animation but I manage to enjoy it. I think my main strengths for animation is my patience and how I do not get bored/ have god patience. I think my weakness is that I am not the best drawer/designer so my character’s may not look the best. I will watch normal real life (non-animated) music videos and then also watch some cartoon edit as well as cartoon music videos. I will look at the way they use colour and lighting to have better effect to the music video as well as the different scenes and shots of the person singing/rapping. I anticipate producing a 2D cartoon music video. My idea might change within the next few days however I am pretty strong and certain I would like to create this. I will create this using animate cc and then maybe will go to after effects to add some cool edits in with it. From watching many music videos in my time I am sure I will need around 4 different scenes to shoot from and possibly a few different outfits for my singer/rapper as well as different levels like on shot of the singer/rapper high up on a roof and another close up into the camera. I will complete my project with a finished animated music video and will present it via a YouTube video on my website. I will start off with finding a song I want to do a must video to in the first-second week, then I will create the different backgrounds/scenes as well as my different outfits for my character from the 2-5th week. Then I will get animating in around the 5-6th week. The animating can take a while especially if I reach the 2 minute and 30 second mark so I am leaving a good 4 weeks for just animating. |
| Section 3: Methods |
| I will use a frame by frame technique as well as maybe having some characters with a rig tool. For example, there will be several frames where I have created each frame to differ from the other one. I will also create the set of the video on Maya and then render it and draw over the image and colour it in. This way if I want to take 360 shots I can because I can just move the image in Maya slightly and render it/trace it from that angle. I will also use a similar technique for my characters, as in I will get a picture of myself maybe and then trace around it so it will have the realistic look to it as well as being consistent throughout. I will mainly need this technique as my drawing skills are not the best. There is a large range of animations across the internet which I could look at and get ideas for my own animation. For example, I may like a certain style of the characters in the animation and possibly will implement that into my own work. To do this animation I will be using mainly Animate CC and possibly photoshop or sketch-up to draw and create the characters and drawings. By the second-third week I want to start my drawings and try and get animating as soon as possible. |
| Section 4: Evaluation |
| I intend to record my decision making and choices by uploading pictures and explaining my thoughts and the reasons for it. For example, I would put a picture of the costume of my character and explain why I chose for them to wear that type of clothes. I will decide if my work is successful by checking if it reaches the time mark of around 2 minutes and 30 seconds as well as checking if the quality of the animation has similar standards to a professional cartoon music video. To evaluate my work, I would make sure it checked the requirements as well as seeing if I did use the research and ideas I collected throughout this process. I would also ask people to watch it and collect data from their responses which I could then use to determine if the final production of and quality of it has been successful. |
| Proposed Research Sources and Bibliography (Harvard Format) |
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These are the books and any sites or films I have used to reference or inspire my ideas. Wells, P. and Moore, S. (2016). The fundamentals of animation. London: Fairchild Books. Queiroz, A. and Wiedemann, J. (2007). Animation now!. Köln: Taschen. Collington, M. (n.d.). Animation in context. Bluth, D. (2005). Don Bluth’s The art of storyboard. Milwaukie, Or.: Dark Horse. Bluth, D. (2005). Don Bluth’s art of animation drawing. Dark Horse: Milwaukie, Or. Martiniére, S. (2012). Velocity. London: Titan. Albarn, D. (2005). Gorillaz – Feel Good Inc.. [Online] London. Albarn, D. (2001). Gorillaz – Clint Eastwood. [Online] London. Burd, D. (2015). Professional Rapper. [Online] United States: Dirty Burd. Anon, (2019). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVqcUi9tpCw Anon, (2019). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=478ewrAuCXI. Anon, (2019). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CY8E6N5Nzec. Anon, (2019). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcyFfcJbyeM. Anon, (2019). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ml_IT6TSRzQ. Anon, (2019). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h06Xs5IFQ6k. A Scanner Darkly (movie) |
My Timetable of my work is shown above.
THEME- Nostalgia/olden style
I am doing an animated music video. The animated style I am using is an old style that was used before they had better software which meant they had to draw each frame. This is called stop motion animation which I am trying to replicate. This also means that because each frame is slightly different (as they wouldn’t be exactly the same as before) it would leave the animation to appear to be flickering. This style is sometimes used today but only to create that same nostalgic feeling of the past. This is what I am trying to do, as it will hopefully leave the viewer feeling nostalgic.
One of Bill Plympton’s animations
I also realised that The first movies to be made were black and white because it was a lot more difficult to produce film that had colour than it was to produce a black and white one. So therefore when you think of the shades black and white you think of the nostalgic black and white movies.
WEEK 1 Initial Research- Context PRE-Production
I had a fair few ideas that mostly revolved around animation in a certain way. I did think about doing a game level as well although the main reason I came to this course in the first place is for animation so I wanted to pursue it. I also felt I had done a lot of 3D game level designing already. I had planned on doing a cartoon, until Andrew (my teacher) gave me the idea of a animated music video. I really liked that idea and decided to research further down that route.
Research
Research: https://vimeo.com/channels/mainframemash/235361346
I found this tutorial on MASH dynamics. In the video he explains how to create these pixelated blocks around an image/character as well as then making it all collapse which has a cool effect. I am planning to use this in my music video as I can use this effect on my cartoon character.
Types of Music Videos
Performance Videos
Performance videos show the artist/band performing, although they don’t have to move or dance. If they are singing or playing their instruments then it is a performance video.
I liked the idea of the performance video and decided to do my video based around a performance type of video.
Narrative Videos
Narrative videos are solely focused on creating a story that will usually attract the attention of the audience and keeps them engaged until the end of the video. These videos tend to focus on more serious topics and help speak out about the topics. A lot of the time the style of these videos regulate the same energy of a short film and tend to have different people in the video (actors) rather than the artist themselves.
Concept Videos
Concept music videos are a type of music video where the video is based around one single idea/concept and are usually unusual and different. A lot of concept videos include unusual images or narratives to maintain the focus of the audience. It combines all the characteristics of the song
Secondary Research
Wells, P. and Moore, S. (2016). The fundamentals of animation. London: Fairchild Books.
This page demonstrates how to do walk cycles. which is pretty much the main movements of a walk put together and then if looped can be a constant walk. In the diagrams of the book, they show that when the character is walking into a scene its not just the legs that move but rather the whole body which adds the realistic look to the walk.
Bluth, D. (2005). Don Bluth’s art of animation drawing. Dark Horse: Milwaukie, Or.
This page is mainly focused on creating the head of a character and the types of faces they would pull. The diagram shows that you must start with a circle so you can create the perfect head which I researched into on unit 1. Then once you have got the shape and face all sorted you have the final version, as well as a few squashed and stretched versions which will be used in the animation to add the comical unrealistic effect.
This page of the book focuses on the march of twelves. This is very similar to a walk cycle however a little more detailed and focuses more on a march of character. They show more movement and bounce in the movement which gives off a happy chappy vibe. They also go more in depth by having 8 different poses so they can get the other leg to do the step instead. therefore creating a full cycle you can loop and create a marching character out of.
I watched this video to help me get an idea of how to create the music video. In the video they use 2D animated characters that look very realistic and similar to the people they are representing. However I don’t think my artistic skill is to that level of detail so I will probably have less detailed characters. I still managed to see how they used different scenes and effects as well as how much movement they used in the face. So my character may not as realistic but I will try and use similar facial movements for when my character speaks which will help look realistic and in sync. The main animator in this video is called Douglas Einar Olsen and is notorious for his triangular and sharp character faces. This style has been used in similar videos especially by the artist Tristan Zammit.
Douglas Einar Olsen
This is another animation created by Douglas. In this animation you can see the similar style of character used in the “lil Dicky – Professional rapper” video. However this video wasn’t fully produced/finished so had plain colours that only showed the shade of the character and object.
My Attempt
I attempted to create a similar style of character to Douglas. I am not the best drawer and had to use the mouse to create it. However the face of my character does have some similar traits to some of Douglas’ artwork. For example my character had a strong sharp jaw as well as the eyes and eyebrows which were all created using straight lines.
In this tutorial the narrator shows how to use the rig tool to effectively so that when I create my character I will be able to move the arms legs and head al separately. This tool essentially adds bones to the cartoon character which allows it to act and move with its body parts like a human.
After watching around 30 minutes into this tutorial I realised that the character style wasn’t the one I felt I wanted so I am not going to follow their guide to make the character. However I may still follow how the used rigging and animated the character.
I used this video to give me ideas on different styles of animation I could do for my project. For example I might do a normal what they call “2D animation”. I also watch some animated cartoon tv shows. Such as The Simpsons, South Park and Family Guy. So know what their type of animated style is and might use similar designs.
I found this image via a youtube video and the credit goes to: https://laughingsquid.com/artist-kevin-mcshane-draws-himself-in-100-different-cartoon-styles/.
Similar to the you tube video I posted above this photo is a good representation of all the different styles of cartoon characters I can draw and use. Even though this is all the same on person there are so many different ways to draw him such as a Dragon ball-z type style near the bottom right and a Simpson style in the top left. I may not follow any of these styles and make my own or I can pick different features of each style and make a hybrid. These are mainly here to give me some ideas and inspiration.
I also found this music video for an XXXTENTACION song which used a similar realistic style of animation then the “lil Dicky – Professional rapper video” I am going to use this style of drawing for my animation most likely. I might even change it up so sometimes and have a non realistic look to a variation of my character.
This is another XXXTENTACION music video in which it is animated. In this video it has that same realistic cartoon look towards it as well as having a section at around 00:58 seconds in of a less realistic cartoony look. As I stated earlier I was planning to have multiple styles of animated characters in my video from realistic to really cartoony and this is what it would be similar to.
This is a less detailed and more cartoony style of animation which can look good when done well. I think using this in my video will help show the range and different abilities I have and can use. As well as giving the video a fun and playful theme and keeping the video interesting.
In this Lil Skies music video, shot and edited by Cole Bennet there is a scene where it changes from a real life music video into an animated one. They started by having a face on photo of Lil Skies and then started tracing and drawing a cartoon character starting from the bottom. This way the cartoon character looks very realistic and you also see a cool transition from bottom to top of the change. I am going to use this technique when doing my own animated music video as I am not the best at drawing and I think this will help with creating a realistic cartoon character.
My Own Attempt
I then used his technique of the transition in my animation which worked out great. This worked well as I needed to keep my transitions not too colourful so it stayed with the nostalgia theme.
To create this animated transition I used the paint brush tool and used a splash of dots pattern that created the line. I then kept rubbing out the line and creating a new line slightly further down in each new frame. Once I got to the characters head, I drew around the outline as well as filling the details of the character in as well. I had to make sure it was all above the line though. This then gave off the effect that the line was creating the next scene as it went downwards. This transition is similar to pulling up the blinds to see out you’re window.
These other photos are from different points in the music video where the animation still carries on with different angles. I will try and incorporate some of these scenes and angles from this music video in my own animation.
Tristan Zammit
I found this animator known as “Tristan Zammit” from the “lil skies” and “xxxtentacion” animated music videos. He has his own website and creates a lot of cartoon stylised posters as well as animating those characters into music videos for many musical artists. He uses a similar technique to rotoscoping but with his own style and finish. He will take a picture of someone then trace around them by using rectangular lines and hard edges.
This video was another style of animation I was thinking about using as it is more of a lyric video however still has motion and some easy going animation. In this animation rather than having detailed characters it is just a plain outline and mouth and eyes of a character with no actual colour added to the skin or clothes. I liked the emptiness to the characters, as in they mainly just had the outlines and major details but not coloured in as such. I decided to use that similar style in my music video, however I kept everything black and white to keep to my nostalgic theme. I also thought the characters may have been to cartoon like for my style of video. to In a sense they seem like they are part of the lyrics and text which makes it feel more like a lyric video rather than anything else.
This music video by “lil Uzi Vert” and animated by Amthrupm is a still and more motionless animation compared to other music vides I have seen. There are a lot of pictures that have a slight jitter to them but not a lot of actual character movement. However there are still some parts of this music video that have a lot of and fluent movement. The style of this animation is unique and I like how still but at the same time live they make the images.
The animators instagram: https://www.instagram.com/amthrupm/
This is a music video made for a “Gorillaz” song. As their main theme of music videos is animation I decided it would be a good idea to see some of their videos. In the music video the characters seem to be a mix of the realistic characters and the non realistic characters as they have some realistic parts about them but not all over. I will definitely use this as a reference as well as helping me with ideas for the animation.
I also found this music video by “Gorrilaz” where at the beginning of the video there is no background but instead a white plain. I may use this for some scenes in my animation. It will help contrast my characters as well as juxtaposing.
Another music video I found from Gorrilaz. This one also doesn’t have an animated background but instead it is a normal real video with the animation added over the top. I probably won’t use this technique as it doesn’t seem right as the animation contrasts too heavy and looks out of place in this type of scene.
My Attempt
Due to me liking the “Gorrilaz” style of cartoon character I decided to try and create my own version. The main character I based this on had a very lanky and slim body type so I made sure to implement that into my design. The posture of the characters are usually quite bad and have a slight hunch back and I think that is to show how the characters are very chilled back and are not strict or serious, that’s why I decided to add a slight arch in the back.
One Take Video
Dax is a rapper who is well known for his “One Take Videos” in fact that is how I found out about one take videos. Doing a one take video but for an animated music video would be fun however I am planning to have multiple scenes through out my video. However while watching this video it gave me an idea for a scene I could have in my animation. I could have a scene similar to this where my character will be walking towards the camera and along a street similar to this video.
My Design
I liked the idea of doing a one take music video although I did not think there would be enough time. Either way I decided to trace round a clip from one of his music videos to see how it would look if it was animated. I liked the look of the outcome but knew I would not have nearly enough time to do a whole video on it.
Aleks Leks
Aleks Leks was the animator of this music video and created what seemed to be a concept music video. I loved the idea of trying to create an animation like this as I loved how the characters kept morphing into different creatures so smoothly. However this would not co-inside with my theme and therefore I decided not to give it a try. I also thought it would be too difficult for me as of now.
Ged_kid
https://www.instagram.com/ged_kid/?hl=en
I also used this guys Instagram page to get some inspiration of less detailed animated characters that I could also use in my music video if necessary. The style he used is quite simple and would be easy to animate with the rig tool on animate cc as I would not have to draw each movement of the character, instead I would just rotate a part of the body on a anchor point.
My Attempt
I noticed that most of his characters had very simple shaped heads. So i decided to start by creating another layer with an oval shape. This way I can base the head around that shape when drawing on top of it.
After drawing the head on top of the oval shape, I then used the paint bucket tool to fill in colour onto the characters face.
I finished off the neck and shoulders and then decided to copy and paste it into another layer which I would use to give it a white outline. So once I painted it all white I enlarged the image so it would be bigger than the original image and therefore have an outline around it.
Finished Design
This is the design I ended up with when creating a ged_kid style of character. The character is quite easy to create and I could use for my animation. However I doubt I will use it as this doesn’t match my theme of “nostalgia” as it looks young and the use of colours give it a lot of life.
I also watched this video to give me an idea of loads of different animated music videos. Most of them I already knew so it wasn’t that helpful but I still found out about some others.
I also researched some songs I could do the music video. I wanted a similar type song to the gorillaz song “feel good inc” because I enjoyed the style of that music as well as the music video.
I originally planned on using this song for my music video, however there was a lot of rap which I wasn’t keen on doing since it may take too long to animate all the fast pace mouth movements. As well as that I realised that this song was not too nostalgic as it had up beat and lively beats. Apart from that I did enjoy this song and was very tempted to use it.
This is the song I am going to use as it is similar to the Gorillaz song and I can already imagine what I am going to do for the animation. I will look up the songs lyrics as well as the instruments used so I can create those same instruments in my music video. For example if there are drums used in the song I will get a drum set in my video.
I have researched the lyrics so when I come to animating the characters mouth for lip syncing I will know exactly what words they are saying. Because in some songs it is not always clear what the lyrics are so it’s best not to assume and instead research.
I also researched the band to find out how many band members there were as well as finding what instruments they played. This way I can possibly create some scenes with characters playing instruments.
I researched the target audience of the band to see who this should appeal to. I also listened to some of their songs which have a nostalgic and less modern feel to them. So therefore in the music video I am planning to either create a nostalgic black and white feel or a psychedelic/ bright colour type feel.
For example in the Gorrilaz “feel good inc” video you can see the animated characters using instruments like the guitar and a drum set. I will use this same technique so it looks more realistic and like an actual music video.
I also found this video for if I decided to do an easier 2D animation in After Effects. I might use this later on for when I do a less detailed section of my character.
Richard Linklater
Richard Stuart Linklater is an American filmmaker. Linklater is known for his realistic and natural humanist films, which revolve mainly around suburban culture and the effects of the passage of time. I found out about this film maker through the film “A scanner Darkly” which uses rotoscoping to animate the whole movie. I then researched him more and found some other of his films.
ROTOSCOPE
A Scanner Darkly
In this research case study “A Scanner Darkly” they use Rotoscoping throughout the whole movie. Rotoscoping is an animation technique where the animators use a real life photo to trace over motion picture footage, frame by frame, to produce realistic action. Originally, animators projected photographed live-action movie images onto a glass panel and traced over the image. So this creates a realistic style of animation drawings which I will be using later on in my own animation.
In this image you can see how the animator has traced over the first real image and then created their own cartoon version later on. The technique used which is called “rotoscoping” will be the same technique I use for my animation. As this will give the realistic 3D look to it. I won’t do it as detailed as in this film but it will be the same technique.
Beavis and Butt-Head Do America
This research case study is another film created by Richard Linklater. In this animated film he uses a different style of animation and not rotoscoping. Instead, he uses a normal 2D unrealistic style of animating with his own unique character designs. I may also do a similar style of unrealistic drawings in a section of my music video, however with my own style rather than using his.
Bill Plympton
A-HA Take on Me
In this music video of “a-ha – Take On Me” there is a lot of animated sections. In these animated sections they use a style created by Bill Plympton which is where you create the same drawing in the next frame but with the rough sketchy style to it. As well as this the sketchy style will also differ between each frame so it creates a nice flicker affect to the video. That is why in the video the character even when standing still looks like they are changing/moving (flickering). This music video also has a nostalgic vibe as it is done in a black and white type of theme. I also stated that I wanted to create a nostalgic vibe for my music video so I will most likely use this style of animation. Creating a black and white flickering animation would be perfect for the theme of nostalgia.
In this research case study I found another film that uses a similar rotoscoping technique to “A Scanner Darkly”. The film is called “Waking Life” and in the trailer you see the use of rotoscoping. However this was created before A Scanner Darkly and therefore isn’t as well animated. They also create the background on a plane so that they can slightly move it around without having to create a new background for each frame. I might also use this technique if I manage to figure out how to use it well.
This Research case study “Waltz With Bashir trailer” is another film where they use rotoscoping to animate their characters and scenes. However in this film the animator has gone for a mix between a normal realistic rotoscope and a less realistic and more normal animation style. So this is a mix between the two, a hybrid you could say which I think works quite well. I doubt I will use this technique in my animation although I may change my mind so I can’t say one way or the other.
I found this research case study “Renaissance” which is a french animated film trailer. In this trailer you can see that it is a animated film and uses some rotoscoping but not a lot. This style of animation is yet again a mix of some plain not too detailed characters however quite realistic and possibly created by rotoscoping. The most distinctive feature of this trailer is the fact that the whole film is in a strong shade of black and white. The film only has these two shades and not a typical black and white film which uses grey (different shades of black and white) to create shadows and define features on the characters face.
Japanese style of animating
The Japanese term for animation is anime and most people refer anime to Japanese animation. As most of it and it’s style is and was created in Japan. There animation has colourful graphics and vibrant characters as well as fantastical themes.
I used this website to find out some of the main differences between American cartoons and Japanese Anime: https://www.shs.edu.tw/works/essay/2016/04/2016040113592689.pdf
Japanese animated physical appearances are usually quite exaggerated with large eyes and big hair. As well as this, the facial expressions are also very exaggerated such as when the character is stressed or embarrassed they have a sweat drop that happens pretty much instantly as well as being over the top and unrealistic.
As shown in the image above, they usually base the areas/places on real life places and positions. Where as most cartoons are made from imagination and cannot be found in the real world.
PIXAR
Most of Pixar’s Animated movies are in the 3D style of things and have a realistic but cartoony look. They are heavily cartoon based but with realistic features to the point it is obvious they are humans and living in a human planet. I would also say that due to the more cartoony style and less detailed characters they appear nice and not as threatening and thus why they are targeted at a younger child audience. I would most likely stear away from this type of animation as it is not at all related to my theme and is not meant for serious videos.
Art And Design Movements
Cubism
Cubism is a highly influential visual arts style of the 20th century. This style of art was created by Picasso and Georges Braque in Paris around 1907-1914. This style of art emphasised on the two-dimensional surface of the picture. This was very diverse from the traditional techniques of more common art. A lot of the art created from cubism had presented a new reality in the paintings which had a lot of radically fragmented objects.
Pop Art
Pop art is also an art movement, however this emerged mainly in the united kingdom and the united states during the mid 1950s. The movement was also very diverse from the traditional fine art due to it including imagery from mass culture such as advertising and comic books. The most common artists to create the pop art work are Andy Warhol and Jasper Johns.
Primary Research
EGX exhibition
The EGX exhibition is an exhibition I went to with some of my friends from my class in college along side the rest of the class. We went around separately and looked for any artwork or games that were relevant to our project. Because it was an exhibition on games I didn’t know if there would be any thing that would be slightly relevant to my work. I then realised most of these games have their own characters and art designs on their banners. So I could find different styles of cartoon characters.
This first photo is a very serious and detailed piece of art I found. style of art would be great for a concept style of music video as it has unusual characters and creatures. However trying to animate this would take way too long as well as the fact that I do not have the ability to draw like this. I also realised that if I did draw this type of art then it would not relate back to my theme as the creatures seem more futuristic than nostalgic.
This second photo is of a game called Dreadlands which appears to be a brawl type of game. I like the simple but detailed style of the characters on this game, they really stood out to me and made me question changing my whole theme so that I could incorporate their style of art. I also noticed they had a reoccurring design where you can’t actually see their faces/ they have some sort of mask on. I thought about using the mask idea however that would be pointless in a performance music video since you wouldn’t see the character singing along to the lyrics.
In this third photo you can already tell it is a lot more simple and more of a basic design. This reminded me of the Ged_kid type character designs I researched earlier and how most of the heads are very round and nonhuman like. I think this style of character design is great for a tv show or comedy animation like family guy but not for a music video based on nostalgia and the past.
Experimentation
Rotoscoping
I started off by getting a green screen image of myself and putting it into photoshop where I was planning to draw around/trace/rotoscope my image. However my plan was to animate myself rotoscoping the image so you can see the gradual change from a normal real image to a cartoon.
Since my plan was to animate me rotoscoping my character I imported my image into animate cc. This way I can do frame by frame animation onto my picture.
I then started by outlining a bottom section of the photo. I traced every like I saw as well as the outline of shadows. I then used the ink tool and clicked on the photo to get the colour of that section. For example if I clicked on the hoodie I would get a red colour identical to the one in the photo. I then used the fill/bucket tool and filled in the sub sections.
I struggled to do each frame as the fill/bucket tool didn’t work well as the scene in animate cc is an open canvas therefore meaning you need to full close of every section for it to work. So I just decided to rotoscope the whole thing without animating it. So rather than me planning to do a video of me rotoscoping it, It will just a simple rotoscoped picture.
I then used the paint brush tool to further trace around the edges and distinct body parts of my character. I made sure to draw round the nose and mouth areas as they are very distinct facial parts.
Next, I traced around my hair and more distinct facial features such as my eyes, eye brows and slight cheek dimples.
I then used the ink/colour picker tool to select each sections colour then use the fill/bucket tool to paste the colour in. This makes the image cartoon as rather than having lots of different shades and details of colour there is only one. I also added some more edges and detail to the hair to give it some texture and make it look slightly realistic. As you can see it still looks like the original photo, the only difference is it has been turned into a cartoon.
I then exported it into photoshop and change around the image tracing settings to get a similar style to the “Renaissance” film. This can also be achieved by changing the hue and saturation of the image. This technique is used in the “Renaissance” film and gives it a simple but detailed vibe.
I then varied the settings of the image trace as well as using the actual real image of myself. This way I could see how realistic my character would have to look to work in a similar effect to the Renaissance.
Onion Skin-Experimentation
Onion Skin is a tool you can use in animate cc which allows you to see a low opacity image of the frame before. this helps if you are trying to recreate the same image and slightly change it for the next frame.
The animation above is a stickman animation. I created this is animate cc by using the paint brush tool and having the onion skin tool active. In the images below you can see how in different colours it can show you the different frames. The blue represents the frames before and the green represents the frames in front.
Motion Tween tool
I first tested this on the animated ball I did in unit 5
25th March
This week I plan to finish my storyboard and therefore have every scene planned out for my animation. I will do my storyboard using the Wacom tablets onto photoshop.
I started my storyboard with my first scene which will be a band playing there music. I got this idea inspired from the gorrilaz “feel good inc” music video. I plan to make the stage and set 3D on maya. That way when I come to animating the video and I want the background to change/move to a different camera position, I can due it being 3D.
I then finished the story board with a total of 4 completely different scenes and 6 in total showing there are some repetitions. I also realised how messy it looked after completing it. So I will make another one with a different and more professional style.
In the story board I had a max of around 4 different scenes. A lot of the scenes will be repeated and slightly manipulated in the animation as they usually do that in most of the music videos I have watched. The rare occasion they don’t repeat any scenes are usually in a “one take video” music video which means they keep the camera rolling the whole time and don’t redo and do the different segments of the song in different areas. It is all done in the same place with one take.
Since the first storyboard looked very messy and unprofessional, I decided to create a more professional storyboard using simple shapes and colours. I created this using the polygon selection tool and outliner a character. I then used the ink bucket tool to fill in that segment of selection with a dark grey colour. I then selected a pattern on the paint brush and used it to highlight the characters and where the light would be shining from. This is the first scene
I used the same steps from before to create the second scene from the story board. I traced around the face I had originally created therefore making it obvious that it is a head from the side view. I want this scene to reoccur a lot throughout the music video as it is simple but yet nostalgic and works well whenever anyone in speaking. It will be clear what he is saying as I will have the character lip sync to the lyrics.
For the third scene I created multiple of the characters in different poses. This was supposed to show the sequence of the character walking/running or even hopping along the stage. This can very but the main point of this scene is to help show he is performing on stage.
The fourth scene is similar to the second one in the fact that it is only the head/upper body and will just be lip synced.
This scene is a full body shot of a character stood in a pose. With most of these storyboard scenes, I will probably not stick to them depending on my time as I may need to do a more repetitive scene to help cover the time factor.
Character Designs/Sheets-Experiments
I researched some character sheets and found this one. This one I liked as it showed every angle a character may appear in. 
I decided to try my own version of the character sheet (above) however my drawings were not that detailed and yet I still struggled to get that same representation. So I realised this wasn’t for me and instead only used 2D images (below).
I created the head of my character looking forward and looking sideways. These are the only angles I plan on using of my character because of my lack of skill in doing the different angles.
Production
First scene
I started by creating my stage in maya. I did this by creating a square then stretching and squashing the size to get to this plane rectangle stage block.
I then created subdivisions which appear as stairs up to the stage. I did this by using the multi-cut tool and then using the extrude tool to intrude slightly. I repeated this step and intruded further and further in each time to create a gradual indentation which creates the stairs look.
As shown I completed the first part of the stage then I just needed to add a few pillars and maybe a walk way. I don’t have a screen shot of those but I created the walk way by clicking on the face of the bottom stair and extruded it out. To create the pillars in the corners of the stage I used the multi-cut tool to create the subdivisions then I extruded them upwards.
I then added a character and used the camera tool to create a animation of the camera zooming out of this character.
I then drew around the character and any significant object or shape. I did this for each frame and therefore created the flickering Bill Plympton style of animation. I used the pencil tool to draw around the character as it gave a nice sketchy feel to it.
Second scene
As I am not the best drawer I recorded a video of me lip syncing the words at home. I then did my transition effect and drew around my head and shoulders using the paint brush tool.
After drawing over my whole head and shoulders I started to create different versions of the same head so that when I play the animation the frames are slightly different which creates the Bill Plympton style of flickering animation. I also think doing this technique gives life to the animation as it will always be changing due to the flickering and therefore always moving. I then also carried on with the video and each frame would trace around the mouth and jaw area to get the realistic look of my character lip syncing.
Third Scene
I then added this next effect where I use a simple tool called the “motion swine” tool which allowed me to move and object from point a to b without having to do the in between frames and movements.
After figuring out how to use the motion twine tool I decided to make a load of bricks and try and do the same thing. I started the bricks at point a (the left photo) then to point b (the right photo).
Then the motion twine tool did the rest for me. I decided to add the bricks across the screen as the song is called “another brick on the wall” which is like saying another problem on a wall of problems. I felt like in the song he was fighting back to one of his previous problems (school) and therefore thought I would make my character brush past his problems as he is conquering them. You can also see in the gif above that my flickering motion had worked and been a success.
I then changed the colour of the bricks to black as I needed to stick with my black and white style to reference the nostalgia.
Fourth Scene
This scene was just a short scene to interval from the singing. I decided to showcase one of the instruments played in the song and created a motion of it being played. This took ages to draw around as well as edit.
Fifth scene
For this scene I decided to do a very similar scene to my second one but this time it was face on and not the side of the face. However this became very challenging because my recording was a bit blurry which meant any details were hard to see. The main struggle that this occurred on were the lips and teeth as it was hard to tell exactly where the lip or teeth ended. this was done the same way as the second scene (I had to create a new face each scene) to keep the flickering look from Bill Plympton.
Sixth Scene
This scene was the same as the second one although I inverted the colours/shades. I did this, as I was inspired by another animated gif I saw when I was researching some gutair animations.
After seeing this I decided I would give it a try. I realised it was still black and white so it would be fine, however it doesn’t have the same black and white feel as before which may not relate the nostalgia as much.
seventh scene
This scene was the same as the fifth scene, although I did add a light effect which creates the thought that the character is on stage with the spotlight on him. This is good as it replicates the performance type video.
eighth/last scene
I started with a simple line that looks similar to a worm that flows around the canvas until it turns into a pocket watch. The reason for this scene is because my theme is nostalgia and a pocket watch symbolises nostalgia perfectly.
Once the lines connect then the detail will start to unfold. I liked this animation as it was like the pocket watch was being drawn right in front of my eyes.
After creating the chain and every other detail apart from the inside of the clock, I decided to try and add a cool transition. I tried to fill the inside with black and then in a way have it wash out and the numerals to be there.
This is the final look at the pocket watch. I even made the second hand on the clock go up every second so it comes to life and creates that nostalgic feeling.
FINAL OUTCOME- Music Video.
Evaluation
Intentions:
The aim of my project was to create an animation for a song of my choice, and in doing so try to make it relevant to the songs lyrics and meaning.
The context for my work mainly stems from the a-ha “take on me” music video as that gave me my main idea of the Bill Plymton style of animation. I also wanted to keep it an olden style video and to feel nostalgic so that heavily influenced my video as well.
I think I have met most of my intentions. As I have stuck to the nostalgic feel and done the Bill Plymton (olden flickering style) on my animation. However I didn’t meet all of my intentions as I was supposed to keep the animated video relevant to the song lyrics and meaning. Which I did do to a certain extent. For example I animated the side of my face lip syncing the lyrics with no clear emotions and kept it robotic, which makes you feel like you are a robot to the school system. This is relevant to the song as the song is about disliking school and chanting that you don’t school/education. However I could of created a school scene to help show that it has a better relevance to the meaning of the song.
Research:
My research was very successful in developing my ideas and my project, as I used a lot of similar techniques in my animation from what I found in my research. I attended the EGX Exhibition which had many game designs but also character designs and styles of the characters/cartoons. This was relevance to my project as it allowed me to see many different techniques of cartoons/styles of characters and their designs, which I could later use for my own animation. The Bill Plymton research was definitely the most relevant research to me, as I used this technique throughout my whole animation. The Bill Plympton research inspired me because I instantly liked the flickering style of animation and how it kept the animation always flowing. I also liked how it had a nostalgic vibe to it. The most important thing I learnt from researching is the different styles of animation and how to do them. I didn’t rely on my subject knowledge to help with my project at all due to the fact that I had little subject knowledge to start with.
Development:
My idea development kept fluctuating and changing constantly. I started off with an idea to do a simple 2D family guy style of animation then changed to a detailed realistic cartoon (Tristan Zammit style) then to the Gorillaz style of animation then on to the Bill Plymton style of animation. The main reason for the mass amount of change in my idea development was mainly due to the research I did. As I would research something and find a new style of animation which I preferred than the last one. Meaning that I had a plan at one point to use all of the things I researched for my animation. However even if I did not use a certain style for my final animation I definitely took away ideas from them. For example I did not use Tristan Zammits style of animation but I used one of his transition techniques. Having all these different ideas and experiments helped my project as it gave me a range of styles to choose from and therefore a style more suited for me. The main problems I faced on this phase was deciding what style to use as there was such a wide range of options. To fix this I created a few experimental pieces of each style until I realised I preferred the Bill Plympton style the most.
Methods of working:
At the beginning of may I decided that I was going to make my final outcome using Bill Plympton’s style by tracing real videos and images of myself lip syncing along to the song. The main method I found to produce my work efficiently, was to use the “f6” button which creates the scene from before and then I would rub out and draw over the old scene with the matching movements to the new scene. E,G rather than tracing the whole image each frame I would only draw over the parts of the scene that change since the last frame.
These methods of working became very successful and this helped with time efficiency as it allowed me to animate faster. there weren’t too many weaknesses to this method although it did seem a bit weird that only some parts of the image were changing. If I was to re-work the project I may change the methods I used at the beginning and instead add a loop of 4 different frames so it always is changing and has Bill Plymtons flickering style.
Final Outcome(s):
My audience is Pink Floyd fans which are now primarily the older generation and therefore the choice of my theme was nostalgic. I hope that the viewers of my work will enjoy and feel nostalgia when interacting with my work. I hope the audience of my work understand the reference of robotic like school student as well as the nostalgic vibe.
Reflection:
I would say my work was quite successful as it demonstrated the nostalgic style and the meaning of the song through the video. The main changes in my work were the changing of animation style and that occurred because of the constant research of different styles I found. I feel happy and pleased with my outcome.
Project Management:
I planned to use most of my time at college for the production of the animation and then most of my research and blog work at home. I didn’t stick completely to my timetable and I had to re-consider my use of time due to that factor.
Additional Development/Improvements:
I would re-work the first section of my animation as it is poor quality and low detail. I would add more detail and time into it if I could re-work it. If I had another 10 weeks to extend my project I would mainly focus on adding more detail and different scenes to improve and develop my animation.
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