identify

this is the animation talked about in the previous post, its a mixture of pixillation and stop motion animation, mainly pixillation. it relates to my previous post due to its underlying message of we all help each other survive/ everyone is crucial to each others survival. due to the darkness of this animation it is aimed at a mature audience as it would otherwise confuse or disturb minors. especially the stop motion elements of the short, they would definitely disturb the younger generation.

identify

The Maker is a stop motion animation using a miniature set with models to portray a story, with a few computer added visual effects to do things otherwise almost impossible to do using real world objects, there is no dialogue in the animation but it really doesn't need it, which is why i think that the animation is aimed at 17 and over, due to its thought provoking nature and the way it can speak to some people in terms of experiences they have been through. it reminds me of jan swankmajor who animated the short 'breakfast' which has a similar principle to this animation, the thought of making/using the thing that is going to progress you.

2006 feature film 'a scanner darkly' is a 15 month long project (after principle photography) using a technique called interpolated rotoscope, which is essentially cel animating a video clip frame by frame but in this case it was a feature length film. the animation style looks very quirky, everything is constantly shifting and bubbling in a way which relates to the message that the film portrays; it is a drug awareness film to sway people (teenagers more) away from using drugs, with the unique animation style it relates to the message as in a way it is simulating what it would be like to take the drug in the film. and the story line is the big shocker as it shows the destruction of the brain.

in a way it is a covert deterrent of drug use to teenagers, as the animation used can appeal to teenagers as it is colourful and engaging to the eye, followed by the messages in the film.

the brothers quay released 'the street of crocodiles' in 1986 which was supposed to be a short animation but turned out to be a 30 minute long film about a man closing a lecture hall and releasing a puppet from his bonds to roam free a strange environment where mysterious and creepy things move and seem alive.

the underlying message could be something to do with the change in education; the freeing of the puppet from his strings could be a representation of different theories of teaching methods coming into place or the 'free thinking' attitude that was just arising. represented by the cutting of the puppet strings could relate to the fact that no longer are women expected to be secretaries and men builders etc. but instead a free feeling of having an ambition of what to be.

the stop motion i am very fond of as it incorporates different objects normally found in a pile of junk and re animating them into something much more sinister/ thought provoking.

so what i am trying to get at is the fact that animation doesn't always mean making things move, it can harbour a much deeper, emotional or political message in which the technique in which the animation is filmed and the style, this being stop motion it includes very old objects which could also relate to the old methods of teaching etc.

Here is a 'straight ahead' animation using thousands of sticky notes to tell a story.

The animator; Jeff Chiba Stearns, created this animation after toiling for years trying to make a career in animation he realised two things: he missed out on everything that was going on in the world and that he was over run with yellow sticky notes containing hundreds of to do lists! so it was a self reflective piece.

this can relate to many animators around the world and even very busy people so already it has a very precise but vast range of audience.

and in terms of the animation itself its very 'doodly' but in an interview Jeff said thats what his career is based around, and if this is the animation he likes doing then there is nothing wrong with that, i can relate to him very much as i prefer working in a similar way!

and the technique i am also fond of, the straight ahead animation, it relates to the kind of uncertainty or craziness/ sketchiness of the world.

Identify

Here is another 3D animation of a foreign children's TV series about two larva who get into all kinds of situations, i chose this animation as part of my identify study task due to its distinct target audience.

the way i can tell that this short animation is for children between the ages of 6 to 11 is due to the comical values that fill the animation. a big give away is the fact that the two protagonists act themselves like a 8 year old, the way they make tunes with whatever makes a noise and despite the fact everyone is getting taken by the spider they carry on which can also demonstrate the naivety of children and their ignorance to what is going on in the world.

but despite being aimed at young children there is also parts that adults can find enjoyable, being as though they will probably have to sit with the child/children that are watching it.

also everything is all very exaggerated which can make things easier for children to understand.

the process is a very simple textured world done digitally using something like maya or 3DS MAX.

Identify

I wanted to start the identify study task with one of my favourite animations, its the film '9' by tim burton, a story about a small number of sack dolls brought to life by their creator.
the film is visually gripping due to the small world the little creations live in and the certain enemies they face.
it is animated digitally using a 3d software, i presume that there was no cgi used due to its cartoon feel and exaggeration techniques including squash and stretch on the characters, which i also think that adds to my theory that is more aimed at young teenagers due to its bouncy feel and characters that you feel emotionally attached to. but on another note its quite a dark animation (which i love) which leads me to believe that its maybe aimed at an older audience.

in terms of a message it is maybe trying to portray, there is alot of reference to death, and the little characters  are told to be the living parts of the deceased creator so the hidden meaning could be something like 'those who are dead, are still here with us in our minds and in our hearts'

this also makes me agree with my previous opinion of the intended audience, as younger teenagers might not handle death as well as an older person.

pose to pose pendulum

Here is my pose to pose animation of a pendulum. pose to pose differs to straight ahead animation in the way that you draw the key frames of the animation first and then slowly fill in the inbetweens to finalise the animation, then you scan all the images in and create an image sequence through quick time 7. there are a few issues with my animation, one being how the ease in and out is very abrupt so i need to create more overlapping frames to make the motion look smoother.

but i really enjoyed using this method, it is easier to create spacing and timing and using a light box made the animation look more professional due to the consistency of the pendulums shape and motion.

pendulum!!

This is my latest attempt at the pendulum task, to use timing and spacing to create the illusion of weight and momentum of the grandfather clock pendulum.

i really enjoyed creating this one due to the fact you can draw the animated parts first then when you have animated it you can draw the background. the only issue with this though is the animated bits could potentially look detached from the background, especially in more complicated scenes. but for the sake of just one moving part it was a pretty effective way of animating it.

I have noticed that the pendulum disappears at the end of the animation, which is due to the technique i used to create it, the background layer you cant animate on so at the start the pendulum is not there but i will be learning other techniques which could over come this.

also the pendulum looks transparent which i noticed after exporting it, its because the brush i used to paint it was at half transparency, which is my own silly fault.

speed throw animation

This is my latest attempt at the spacing and timing task, as you can see there is a lot of stretch as i was trying to emphasise speed of the ball being thrown across the scene, i am pleased with the outcome but there is still a slight feeling that it looks alive. so i will work on fixing this as i develop my abilities in photoshop frame animation.

This is the second instalment of the digital frame animations, this is stretch and squash including spacing and timing, i am not happy with this one as it looks like the ball is alive and is making its own movements due to this i am going to create a new one taking more time checking each frame and taking more time to construct the ball.

This is the first task of animating a ball bouncing up and down to demonstrate squash and stretch.
its a crude animation just to demonstrate my understanding of the techniques involved, as i animate different motions and techniques i will add more colour, better designed objects after getting to grips with the techniques.

but i am also demonstrating my understanding of the graphs, if i ever need someone to finish off an animation i can identify the main key frames and pinpoint the fillers as points on the graph to show speed and motion.

photoshop shorts

After a few photoshop inductions we were tasked with producing a few short starter animations involving balls bouncing and pendulums swinging, all using photoshop frame animation!

I was a bit unsure about using photoshop for frame animation but after a few examples i really enjoyed it! its very efficient and the technology helps to create smooth animations but also a wide range of styles.

as seen here i have created a simple backdrop in my drawing style and putting the pendulum animation over the top. the only issue with this short is the fact its sped up due to the frame rate that i used to render the clip, but when i dropped the frame rate it appeared clunky and only showed 3 or 4 frames.

this is something i need to investigate to remedy.