Week 12: Original Scans

Below are images of every single drawing I did that contributed towards the animation. Some of them didn't even make the final cut - enjoy!

 

Week 11: Technical Experimentation Episode 3

To add a sense of realism to my characters, I wanted them to blink (just as humans do). However, as I want to add an 'eerie' effect to my animatic, I decided to make their blinks more random and less constant than that of a human.

This episode of technical experimentation will show how I added the blink effect.

1. Before animating anything, the first thing I did was import the 'blink' and the 'character's eyes' into After Effects.

I then placed the blink over the character's eyes as this is where the blink will appear when the eyes are closed (see below).

2. The second step involves the timing of the blink. Naturally, when the character's eyes are open I want the blink to disappear, and the same vice versa.

To do this, I had to change the Opacity of the blink. As I wanted my character's eyes to be open at the start of the scene, I changed the opacity to 0% at 0 seconds (see below).

I made sure that the character's eye and eye lid were set to 100% at the same time (so they would be visible when the blink wasn't).

3. I then had to decide when I wanted the blink to appear. I wanted the character to blink a 1 seconds so I had to make the blink reappear then.

However, it is not as simple as simply placing a marker at 1 second and changing the opacity to 100%. If I did this, the opacity would slowly appear between 0 seconds and 1 seconds. I wanted the blink to appear immediately and not gradually.

To do this, I placed a marker at a split second before 1 second and made sure the opacity was at 0%. This ensures that the opacity of the blink doesn't change between 0 seconds and just before 1 second.

Then, at 1 seconds I place another marker and change the opacity to 100%. This ensured the blink appeared immediately between 1 seconds and a split second before. 

4. The fourth step included doing the exact same thing with the eye and eye lid but with the opposite values. 

For example, at 0 seconds I ensured the opacity of the eye and eye lid were at 100%, and at a split second before 1 second it was still at 100% and finally at 1 seconds, I made sure the opacity was at 0%. This made it so that when the blink appeared, the eye and eye lid disappeared, creating the desired blink effect.

5. The fifth and final step was the opening of the eye. I did exactly the same as before, but with opposite values.

I then repeated this wherever I wanted my character's to blink!

Week 10: Technical Experimentation: Episode 2

Technical Experimentation: Episode 2

In this episode of technical experimentation, I will show how I added a blur effect to a blank area on After Effects. 

I looked at many guides on the Internet, but they only showed how to add a blur to an object - I wanted to add a blur to a blank area (I was creating semi-transparent automatic doors, so I only drew the door frames and left the 'transparent' areas as blank).

I couldn't find any useful tips online, so I decided to take matters into my own hand and do a little experiment. After much trial and error, I finally found out how to do it:

1. Below, are a set of door frames with the antagonist behind them. As you can see, they don't look much like a set of doors as they're completely see-through!

2. I wanted to add a blur to these to make them look like a set of automatic doors in an office.

To do this, I clicked on Layer > New > Adjustment Layer.

I figured it would be an adjustment layer as this allowed me to create a layer on top of my current ones. Even better, it allowed me to modify the layer to a size and shape of my choice.

3. As you can see below, I modified the shape of the layer to fit half of the door. I did this because I want each half to move in the opposite direction, just as an automatic door does. If I put the layer over both sides, it would only be able to move in one direction.

4. I now want to add the blur to the layer. This part was easy. All I did was Right Click (on the layer) > Effect > Blur & Sharpen > Box Blur (Note: you can test any of the blurs, I just preferred the style of the Box Blur)

5. Once I did this, an effects column appeared on the left. Here, it is possible to modify the intensity of the blur. I played around with these settings for awhile until I found the amount I desired.

6. And finally, shown below is my final blur effect. As you can see, it looks like a pair of automatic doors!

Week 10: Technical Experimentation: Episode 1

It's that day - I have finally begun work on my final animation. I am very excited and cannot wait to have the completed product on my computer screen.

As part of my final project, I have decided to document my progress. This is to show you, the readers of this blog, how I went about creating my animatic. It will also allow me to reflect on my work once it is completed - the mistakes I may have made, what I did well and what I can improve in the future.

Technical Experimentation Episode 1:

As previously stated, I want the visual style of my project to mirror that of Don Hertzfeldt's Rejected. In order for me to do this, I have decided to utilise the 'stick-figure' drawing style that Hertzfeldt's makes use of.

1. The first part of the creation process consists of drawing. A lot of drawing. In order for me to animate my characters and scenery to maximum potential, I have to draw each part of the drawing on a separate sheet, then put them together on my computer.

For example, in order for a character's legs to move separately, I have to draw them separately, scan them into my computer and put each one on a different layer in Photoshop.

Here is a screenshot of the legs I drew for the protagonist of the animatic:

2. The next part of the creation process consists of removing the white space from around the object. This is to ensure that the object doesn't interfere with other objects in my animatic.

As shown above, I used the Magnetic Lasso Tool to cut around my object. This tool proved useful as it easily recognised the object on the screen, and cut around it almost perfectly. However, it didn't remove all the white space around the object. To counteract this, I used the Rubber Tool to delete any of the remaining space (shown below).

3. I then copied the cut object, and pasted it onto a transparent background (shown below).

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4. The next part of process was slightly more complicated.

In order for me to be able to animate the eyes and mouth of my character separately, I had to isolate them and put them into separate layers. 

To do this, I used the Magnetic Lasso Tool to cut the desired object, copy it, and paste it into a new layer. I then deleted the object in the old layer.

This allowed me to view each part of the character's face separately, whilst remaining on the same canvas. 

As an example, below is a screenshot which depicts all the different layers, with the character's right eye turned off.

5. I then copied each individual layer and put them onto a transparent background. I used the Mouse Tool to put the objects together to create my character (shown below).

I did this mainly for convenience. By doing this, I had each separate layer ready to animate all in one .psd file.

6. I then opened the the file in After Effects ready to animate! 

Shown below is each separate layer, which I can animate individually.

Week 2 - Stop Motion Inspiriation

In our first seminar we created a short stop motion film. I love the idea of stop motion, I think it is a fantastic form of animation. For inspiration, here are my two favourite sequences...

Blu - 'MUTO'

 Blu is an italian street artist whose real identity is unknown. The above video is his most famous work. I think it is amazing, the time and effort that he put into it is phenomenal - it must have taken if not months, then years. Although the piece isn't technically outstanding, it should be appreciated for the time, the effort and the great artistic level involved.

Skoda - 'Curriculum Vitae'


Skoda - Curriculum Vitae from weareflink on Vimeo.

Made by car company Skoda as part of an advertising campaign, the above sequence is absolutely amazing! A very high standard in artistic and technical level, this is the sort of animation that I want to be able to create one day.

Jordan