P&P Schedule

[Dates May Change]

28th November
- List films/fight scenes for reference [+possible sketches?]
- Tai Chi, Kung Fu etc notes + how it was used in ATLA/Korra - Sketches/Diagrams
- Waterbending Scrolls - how they add bending to fighting moves [sketches]
- Sketches of Korra etc bending and turn some normal moves into bending

5th December [4 Days]
- Own Character Dev [Baharie, Lawson, Torres etc] + Char 2
- Character Bending [sketches]

- Style + BG Experiments

9th December [Digital] [6 Days]
- Storyboards

15th December [23 Days]
- Start Animation

13th January [6 Days]
- Begin Animation Colour

19th January
- Finish Animation

Process + Production Planning

Earth, Water, Fire, Air - Does it have to be original? Fanimations of Avatar or Pokemon?
OCs or real characters? (No main ATLA chars - chars from other shows? Live Action characters? What style would work easiest for this and what characters would work in these styles?)

Story Influences

Style Influences

Young Avengers

Pokemon

Avatar: Korra

Teen Titans Go

Teen Titans Go

Solid Ideas + Decisions
Fight scene, tribal dance, fan competition


Storyboard Research

Kraak & Smaak - Flipbook Music Video

This music video has such a good use of flipbooks, and I think it is absolutely great. The typography at the start reading 'Squeeze Me' moving from one size font to another to give the illusion of squeezing is extremely clever. I also love the usage of video and flipbooks, and how well everything matches up. I would have never though to do something so complex with them, but it works really well to make an exciting video.

Charlie Teh Unicron

This is Charlie Teh Unicron - a spoof of the popular Youtube series Charlie the Unicorn. It is made by the creator of Charlie the Unicorn himself, but instead of using the exact style used in the original, a much more simpler, childike style is used, including for voice acting. I actually find it a lot funnier than the original, and though the original didn't take itself too seriously, this doesn't in the slightest. I find this to have much funnier dialogue and movement of the characters, just from the stupidity of it, and I think if the original hadn't been posted on Youtube, this could still gain a decent following itself.
The animation is frame by frame, but uses some video in the background for parts of it, like for the effect of fire. This makes it seem almost crudely made, which actually works really well with this style.

Faith

This documentary is about "the relationship between a boy and the memory's he have about his grandfather", using a mix of 2D and 3D animation He talks in detail about his grandfather's faith - in science, and evolution. As the boy describes the evolution of their relationship, he is talking about his grandfather's thoughts on how the world around them evolves. The animation itself moves from simple 2D animation to 3D - further using the theme of evolution to demonstrate his point. I also like the religious imagery at the end, showing a sharp contrast between science and religion, and using the word religion to describe his grandfather's faith in science is a very nice addition.

Funky Chicken (Minecraft)

This is a machinima using the game Minecraft. Machinima use real time graphics, so I'm surprised that this does look as good as it does. There are some great angles, and some very nice slow motion going on in it that is pleasantly surprising. The voice acting works well with it, as does the music; it makes a very entertaining video that fits together very well. It makes me want to try some myself, if I had the tools to do it. This would usually be a lot less time demanding than traditional animation, if you have the knowledge for this, and knew the right camera programs and had good mods for the game (none of which are applicable to me, unfortunately).

Dragon Age Inquisition Trailer

Dragon Age Inquisition is a game coming out for consoles in 2014, and this is the trailer released this summer at E3. The graphics are amazing, and the sounds effects and voice over make the trailer feel almost epic. The pause and sudden silence at the end makes it that much more intense, and overall I think it feels like a trailer you would find more at the cinema rather than for a video game. The scale feels huge, and the key scenes from the game make me really want to play it, or even just watch it all, with how dramatic it feels already. I think it does an excellent job of showing the design of the game and the sort of world you would find, but less so of how the game looks inside - where the Kara development trailer used real time rendering in the game, this does not, and is purely for cinematic effect. Kara serves more as an entertaining short, to make you think whereas this is purely to show epic scenes to raise excitement for the new game, which it does well.

Apply; 5-10 Second Animation

For Apply , I decided to go for some frame-by-frame photoshop animation. Part of this was because I'm very confident with Photoshop, but also because I like having complete control of all parts of my animation; even with a lot of planning, if I'd've done a pixilation or a hand drawn one with a light box, I'd be paranoid of it not coming out right, or that I would have to change a few frames, which I didn't know if I would have time to do later on - at least with Photoshop, I can keep editing all the time, which I did extensively.

I went through a few ideas first, and I considered doing something based off of a show or game that I liked, but eventually I decided to do something original since we're still at the start of the course, and I'm not (or at least I wasn't) sure how long something of this size would take, or the process.

I went for 'surprise' - something that would have an element of fun with it. I thought of a few different ideas, but eventually settled for a cat getting surprised (or scared - this would work for fear as well). I then looked up some cat videos and some diagrams of animal movement and decided that it looked like a fun thing to do.

I looked at a lot of different cartoons and famous cat characters for ideas of how to draw my cat, but eventually I went for a slightly more realistic style (at least for the body) so that I could learn a little more about cat anatomy, which helped me get the animation a lot more accurate. I might try a more stylised approach in the future, but for now I think I made the right choice.

Research

Research

Storyboard

It took a long time, but eventually using only Photoshop, I got the animation finished, with around 90 frames. Timing was the hardest part to get right in the end, but after lots and lots of trial and error I finally managed. I'm happy with how my animation came out, although next time I hope to have enough time to add some colour, as well.

A History of Evil

A History of evil goes through time, showing us how 'evil' has evolved and changed. The simple style is easy to understand and eye catching, with some very nice movements (i.e things like cogs and machinery) and also very nice camera movement.  I love however how this moves from monsters in tales to people, demonstration how greed and the like is a type of evil, the burning of women accused of witchcraft just because they don't act a certain way they are expected, and nuclear weapons used on one another. I really like this commentary, and how it shows us that evil is a concept that could apply to our own race even much, if not more, than those monsters we find in myths.

Looney Tunes

Looney Tunes is a show I used to watch when I was younger, and something I've always enjoyed. I didn't realise that there were episodes still being made, but the one above was only aired two years ago. Looney Tunes uses both straight ahead and pose to pose animation, depending on the scene; a lot of comedic scenes with a lot more action would be straight ahead, to give the animators a chance to see what they could do, and also to make the animation flow, and head in it's own direction. Some scenes like this would be a lot more planned out, so they would use pose to pose to get it just right.

Dumb Ways To Die

Dumb Ways To Die looks like a cute little animation at first glance, but it's only after watching all of it that you understand what it's really about. It's actually a warning video, for safety in subways and around trains. It takes a humorous approach on the whole situation, using an eye catching style to draw people in and a catchy song, to make it more memorable. It comes across as much less serious at first, and there could almost be a risk of people not really realising how serious the message is, until the little voice over at the end specifically telling you to be safe around trains.

I think this is a very good advert; it's eye catching, catchy, simple enough with its 2D animation and overall something you would remember, and hopefully it's something you would remember around trains as well.

Shine Lawyers Adverts

This is an advert for a law firm in Australia. I really love the simplicity of the style, and how it shows a clear change between moods just with two sets of colours - red and black at the start, for the darker, negative part and then orange and white, showing a brighter side, and the positive place you would be in with Shine Lawyers.

I really like the use of typography - at first with the word 'crushed', for their target viewers to relate to, and then on 'easy' for emphasis of how well things work with their company. Both pieces of text stand out, using interesting textures. They are still simple enough to fit in with the rest of the ad, which uses a kind of before and after technique to demonstrate what they aim to do with their company, taking you from that 'crushed' feeling, to being 'back on track'. I think this is an effective advert, with enough content to relate to and enough of an idea of what you would get out of the firm's services.

Carn

Carn - Jeff Le Bars from Jeff Le Bars on Vimeo.

Carn is an animation I absolutely love, and wish I'd've found sooner. It has a mix of animation; 2D for the background (with extremely nice textures) and 3D for the characters. The movement of the animals work so well, so much smoother than the clumsy boy with the clumsy actions. The colours also work great, with the wolf and area around the wolf cubs being warmer and much more red colours - red for danger, which is exactly what the boy is lead into.

This was an emotional short, and not just once. The ending was something I really did not see coming, and I actually had to sit back and take a second to register what happened in it. The storytelling is excellent, even more so the parts without dialogue, and it almost makes me wish there was a longer version to watch, just so that I could have more of it - but since it's pretty much as close to perfect as a short could be, I'm happy with it the way it is.

asdfmovie

asdfmovie is a very simple but effective animation using 2D animation all done digitally, and frame by frame. It uses very short but humorous scenes which are clearly effective; the video was uploaded to Youtube in 2008 and has gained popularity, with about 45 million views right now on the first episode alone. Maybe it's that the simple style doesn't take away from the humor, or maybe it's that it's a silly humor that you can enjoy at whatever age, but it has been a huge hit inspiring a lot of other videos like it, especially with how simple it is to make videos like this with programs such as Photoshop now.

How to create an Animated Infographic

I love how this is an animated infographics to show you how to make an animated infographic. The style is really fun and simple, as is the music, and that's probably the exact point of this video. It wants you to feel like making an infographic is fun and simple, while still giving you all of the information to do it. If the element of fun wasn't there, then the process would probably sound much more boring and tedious. Even the font adds to this - instead of using something simple like Helvetica, it's a much more fun, quirky kind of font, and that helps to make this something you would remember a little bit more.

David Tart - The Story of Animation

The Story of Animation

This short is by David Tart, who was worked on animations like Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo, A Bug's Life and Toy Story among others, all of which were 3D animations, so this is an interesting change. The animation is by Tumblehead Studios who make Ron 'N' Ron, and The Walking Dead video game.

The animation is quite autobiographical, coming from experience with clients who think that animation is a lot simpler and easier than it actually is. This documents the career of a potential animator, using Tart's and The Animation Workshop's students' own experiences. I think that this would give clients a lot better an idea about the process of animation, and how much work they are paying for.

This animation uses pose to pose animation and the style reminds me of Fairly Odd Parents (and another cartoon I can't quite place) - the backgrounds and adult characters are quite similar in style, but maybe just a little curvier.

DC Nation Shorts - Claymation

Above is a claymation short from the DC Nation programming block, aired in the ad break of saturday morning cartoons. The animation uses popular characters from DC comics giving them new designs, and voice acted by children. I think that the aim of these shorts are to make popular heroes more child friendly - there are already plenty of 2D animated series about them for kids, but this one turns them into children, giving the viewers something more to identify with.
The designs exaggerate a few key parts of each hero's costume, and then simplifies them down, making them look a lot more like the kind of superhero halloween costumes and pyjamas that parents buy for their children.
There's less action and actual 'superheroing' in this than in the shows; the heroes talk about normal every day things for children to identify with, and make them seem a lot more human. The animation style using clay makes it even more child friendly, and a bit of a change from most of the 2D and 3D animation of the cartoons on either side of the adverts.

Petr Jindra Flipbook

Flipbook - Petr Jindra

This is a really cute little animation. Though it could stand to be a little bit longer, it's drawn really well, and the round, fluid movement works really well; the frog looks very squishy and liquidy, adding to the humor. I like the subtle changes in his expression as well - it adds a slight bit of depth to the characters and makes it look a little bit more alive. The lines are consistant, and a good size for the frog to stand out, but small enough not to take away from the movement of the animation itself.

My Happy End - Paper

My Happy End from Talking Animals on Vimeo.

This is such a cute video. I really love the use of the looping paper to show the dog chasing its tail, and the tail's response and own characterisation is lovely. The lighting in the animation is really interesting too, with very defined shadows, both in the fore and background.
The animation is made with a mixture of 2D and 3D; the 3D is a little easier to notice on the kennel and some parts of the background, but it's a combination that works really. The concept of the dog making friends with its tail, then losing its tail and gaining a friend is a strange but funny one, and its definitely a short that will make you laugh - as intended.

Dev. Test - Kara

Kara is a short film using PS3's newest (at the time) game engine and motion capture software. Everything is rendered in real time, showing just how powerful the new engine was. The end product is beautiful, and if they were to turn this into an actual game, I'd have to play it just for the graphics.

That isn't the only thing good about this short though; there's an element of social commentary to it, not just with the loss or lack of free will, but also sexism - the whole 'you're not supposed to think' and 'do what you are told' has been a problem, and still is across the world for women. With parents like the creator of the Kara robot here, and children brought up as robots, to do everything their parents say and to be exactly what is expected of them and nothing else conveys a really clear image, to me. This along with the stunning graphics is what makes Kara one of my favorite shorts.