The Day Before Hand In!

My final post! Just seems so weird, what now? have i truly finished? Yes i have, i have no more time left, i have a fully finished film, thats it...

Just feels so surreal, 3 years of university all to come to an end so quickly. Going out with a bang with my final short. I have enjoyed every minute of this process and will be sad to leave the studio for the last time.

I feel more inspired than ever though funnily enough, i thought i would be tired and fed up with any kind of animation but i want to get stuck in with a new project.

Hello Again

Oops,

So i haven't been updating for a while, but this is simply because I've been pushing forward with this project, and i think its going well.

I've had ups and downs with this project, but overall i think i'm doing well. Less than 3 weeks left (Holy Hell) and i'm almost at the finish line, which is both exciting and absolutely terrifying!!

I'm currently at the point of putting my animation together, hopefully I've shot all i need to and can just put it together easily... wait? EASILY? No really, i think?

I was slightly worried last week on the last day before we could get back into the studio during the Easter hols, I'm back in again tomorrow. Yes it was a dark time, i had trouble when looking at all my animations roughly put together in premiere pro (Uh oh) it looks rubbish i told myself, its doesn't flow together, IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE!!! So i decided to have time away from my project and try to forget about it for the first time in months. I then showed a clip of my puppet Nan to my Mother, which went down.. well? Almost making her cry! Oh dear!! It most definitely touched a soft spot, which gave me hope that i can make this work!!

I've been looking at making my cut outs 3D in after effects, which i practiced with one scene and it seemed to work pretty well, not sure if it will work on everything but i'm going to experiment tomorrow with the backgrounds. I still need to trace the backgrounds so i can create a boil effect to make it a bit more interesting.

Today I've been trying to put my puppet scenes together, and i think they worked well.

I can't wait to finish my film just so i can add sound!!!!

SOUND!!!!

I met with the sound guy today to talk music for my piece. Originally i wanted a musical piece and dialog spoken by a little girl, however i don't want to over kill with this and i know how effective a small bit of music can be,

My tutor for sound talked about create atmospheric stuff for my piece, maybe even experiment with different sounds and mix the sounds to what you actually see on screen, so creating another sense of place to what you see ( if that makes sense) which got me quite excited to get started with that! i'm thinking maybe give the dialog a miss, and experiment with sounds more and simple melodies and possible build up the film and create lots of emotion through it.

I mentioned Hans Zimmer as inspiration i know he's slightly other the top (but only slightly) but i do love his stuff and want to build up emotion with my piece like he does. He told me to listen to Max Richter and Clint Mansell which i'm currently doing, Rickter is awesome!! Almost perfect for what i want to create (some of his songs)

EXCITING!!!!!!

So Far...

I've not written on here for a while so i've kind of forgotten where i'm at, so i'm just going to update thus far.

The last week or so i've been practising with after effects, i used premiere pro the week before just to see how the piece is sowing together, but i'm preferring after effects at the moment as theres a lot more i can do with my cut outs.

The cut outs themselves are working really well, some minor problems and errors, for example not conforming from dragon frame then adding a image sequence only to play back and find dragon frame has kept all the deleted images i'd taken, so it jumped around, ALWAYS REMEMBER TO CONFORM!

I'd been worrying about backgrounds for a while, until i had an idea that i wasn't sure if would work or not? i've tried some test images, and i think they look quite nice, basic my image on the letter, after the first ones i did someone gave me the idea to zoom even more into the letter for the background so i tried that later.

I'm not too sure how the puppet will look on this background also, so i was thinking of having her immersed in blackness pretty much, with a spot light on her and the bed, then when the camera moves away from her it will fade into the letter backgrounds. 

In the most recent thing i've done i've put together the beginning shots and added a little fog effect and a background to see what it would turn out like

Here that is..

I need to double check i'm rendering right, or exporting etc, before doing any final pieces. i need to reopen a couple of my scenes to conform, try and somehow removed the number 2 from the bird scene in after effects and add more fog as its a bit too subtle. 

My stop motion puppet of the Grandma... what can i say about that? Well, for starters some of the compositions i've been using on some of the shots work brilliantly, more than just to cover bits that are wrong, just to add more to the final output and emotion i think. 

Sadly as i watch my stop motion animating with the puppet i see more and more thats wrong with it, and i know i can do a lot better!! So as of next week i shall be re shooting my puppet, hopefully with more smoother actions, i really need to take my time with each individual shot.

Green screening is going well, removing isn't a problem, the reflection on the metal isn't too bad either, which is something less to worry about! 

The background i'm still unsure if its too dull? or it needs something more? an effect? border? what else could i do to push it? maybe do some more research into this, possibly add a stroke on the animation cut outs?

MORE TESTS AND EXPERIMENTS!! yey me...

On a more personal level, i'm finding this process extremely emotionally draining!! Simple because of the story behind my project and the hours being put in to create such scenes, i'm enjoying every minute of it though, its tough at times but things seems to work out really well. I keep going from it looks awful, to it looks brilliant, so i'm not sure if i'm maybe being too harsh on myself, or simply know when something isn't working.

Only 1 week till easter, oh man oh man!!

Testing a scene

Yup, that's right! after 2 weeks of shootings I'm seeing what they could look like when put together, so I opened up premiere pro and began...

Some of the shots work really well, others I'm not too sure yet. Whether I'm being to picky or they simply don't work I'm also not sure.

Yeh it's pretty bad I think, but just for a test it gives me a good idea on what I'm going to be ending up with in the end.

I think the hands close up and the close up of her face when she has her hands on her face works really well, the more wider shots of the full bed seem a bit odd for some reason and I'm not too sure why yet.

Puppet animation so far...

So I've been animating my puppet for the past week and its had its ups and downs. I feel like im starting to get to know my puppet and animating is slowly becoming... not easier because its a difficult process but definitely more easier to get stuck into? are those the words I'm looking for?

Anyways, yesterday I did a really good few seconds of animation, well I think so need to get someone to check it out. The only issues I've had are the materials on the puppet. I'm learning that with a puppet the movements have to be ridiculously miniscule to look right on camera. The quilt and her gown are becoming a slight problem, but if I keep focused when animating a shot I can generally get away with these tiny errors, for example, if I accidentally move the quilt I will move her hands so it appears like a secondary motion of the hands moving onto the bed, which is working thus far... PHEW! Sadly though when you change something too much, there's no going back, I hate that jumpiness of the materials, so I need to be sooooooo careful when altering my puppet for the next shot!

So far its been the full shot of my puppet in the bed, so I'm thinking of trying some different angles today to see what I can do and really push the composition, may make it that more interesting to view.

Close up of the eyes, moving and blinking
The hands moving
back of head shot (which I need anyways)

I'm quite excited to see what happens this morning.

Animating Puppets!

So today I planned a full sess of animating my puppet, sadly though I completely forgot that I had a full day of classes..

Freelance talk this afternoon, shortly followed by a 2 hour presenting class thing for the 1st and 2nd years, which was quite enjoyable actually.

So when I finally got to shoot something in the studio at 8pm at night, I learnt quite a bit.

The pillows and the mattress i've made doesn't really work, but I ended up using the mattress as a suspension for the quilt so it stayed up and didn't flop inside the frame for the mo.

I need to fix my puppet somehow, move the bed more into the centre so there are no shadows behind her and possible fill the bed sheet so its a bit more poofy.

Animating!!

I began animating yesterday after tragically trying to produce some backgrounds for my final piece. Yes i almost had yet another break down.

I've found something that i'm not good at or enjoy within animation... BACKGROUNDS

So whats a girl to do when she can't do backgrounds (or at least something she is happy with). I'd been thinking about it all night last night, to the point where i could have probably put my socks in the toaster this morning rather than my crumpets and not have even noticed!.. Yup it really is that bad at the minute.

I'd seen some pretty cool images on placing cello tape on the inside of a book then peeling it back off to create a.. page like... partly there, partly not... thing. Here i'll just show you.

Ok so just before i show you that i have an idea...

How to incorporate the little girls voice...

So i've had a idea of using some kind of text int the background (from a book or something) then i thought what if i get so many people to write a letter to their Grandmas then use the little girl to read out some of the parts of each letter?! AND the hand written letters in the background!!!!!

That then ties everything together, its relates to more stories than just my own!! and it will be pretty effective i think...

#INSPIRED haha!!

Ok so i was about to show you what i mean when i say use some kind of text in the background...

Here are some of the bits I've been animating over the past few days...

Stresssssssssssssssssssssss

Right so i had a minor break down earlier today!!, well a pretty bad one, but i needed it to move on from the sheer panic of actually animating!!

I need to pull myself together! get my stuff ready for tomorrow and head into the studio and start friggin shooting!!!

I had 2 weeks in the safe zone! and now i'm here! stuck at the very core of panic and poopy pants galore!!!

So, how did i pull myself out and become excited again you ask?!!

1. Well to start with i was worried about my walk cycle, which i simple redrawn the legs but as separate body parts rather than full legs that i will replace, sorted... (hopefully)
2. I went onto pininterest to look back at the images i collected over the past year to do with my project, feeling inspired and seen something that has given me an idea for the little girl in the red coat.. i was cutting out full shots of the little girl with a head and hair etc then i was wondering how the hell i was going to incorporate the red coat (as she was all in black) SHIT! i may have to animate each part of the little girl moving!! double SHIT! BUT!!.. I've found a way... 

HOW BLEEDIN SIMPLE!!!! i seem to have a way in which i make everything over complicated for myself... this stops today!! its all there in this image! my answer! Basic shapes of the coat for the entire girl! no stupid portfolios of a child, hair that moves and no complicated movements of arms and legs! 

If i cut all the shapes that make up the little girls coat i can move them in one go!!

I'm so happy right now...

Told Lass Development

Making the head for the Grandma, i created a mold from plaster of paris, i then placed thin wire around the outside of the face (front of the face) then a wire around the mouth, then poured latex mixed with white paint over the top so it kept the wire inside.

Here is inside the final head, i thought i'd need a movable wire inside the head so i can tilt it, then a K&S wire through the neck so i can attach to the shoulders of the rest of the puppet, sadly this didnt work, as it was too long to be covered. I simply pushed the neck from the head part onto the wire from the puppet and it works quite well, because of the latex it sticks in place when you turn the head. 

I then put sponge inside the head to bulk it out and so it would keep its lightness. then glued the back and front of the head together. 

I then had a base to add detail to the face. 

Originally i was going to paint the face to add a bit of depth, but i did that on a previous face and it looked awful! so i decided to keep it as it is. 

I added hair, movable eyebrows and teeth which really gave character to this face (yes we all had a giggle once the teeth were in) 

I used a ball of string to make the hair, i curl them then stuck on the head with a glue gun

The eyebrows i used the same material, but i stuck a short piece onto a thin wire that i pushed into the head so it was movable. 

Then simply popped the eyeballs in..

The problem i uncounted then!!.. (because nothing is ever simple) the mouth and face wasn't moving as good as i'd had before! on my final puppet!! that looked great!! so what do i do???

Messing around i added an eyelid on top of the eyeball with clay, then added small flicks to make her look more feminine which looked surprisingly good.

I then though what if i used clay for lips??... Result!!

It was great!! it covered the teeth so she could speak and not look odd.. (or even more odd) it also brings the face together with the eyelids brilliantly! 

Its a bit of a trout pout at the minute but this was just me trying out.. don't worry. 

More testing in dragon frame with cut outs

So today gave me a good idea on what i need to do to make sure I'm fully prepared to start animating, and i need to start thinking about getting stuck in next week!!

Most of the cut outs worked really well, i still need to work on the walk cycle and the little girl, the 2 most difficult animation parts... great!

So heres the clips i did today that went really well, (or ok).

The feather worked brilliantly!! i'm very pleased with that, and with an extra bit of time spent on this i could make it quite beautiful.

Above are the tests that worked ok, still maybe need a slight tweaking, but if the shots are short enough they maybe ok for what i need. 

This was the worst!! i did the movements too fast, so on the next one i just tried the legs and replaced them less frequently which worked a lot better yet the legs are still not right. 

Below is the crow test, which was again awful, i need to use full cut outs and replace for a better look. 

So, i kind of know what i need to do to get stuck in with my cut outs. 

And then start testing with my main puppet... oh please god work!!!!

Heads, Coats and a walk cycle

Below are scans of the drawings i did when thinking about my cut outs and poses etc. How the head should look and the coat, as well as a walk cycle from behind.

 Above are 3/4 turns and profile drawings, i struggled with the profile and the nose, but i'm happy with the final result.

Below was looking slightly into the coat and hair, and possibly a hint of light on the face so you can see features. 

Below, walk cycle and legs, this was sooooooo hard to get into and get my head around!! So all i did that day was these 2 sheets, i wasnt happy with the legs i'd done, bit on the chubby side and really small feet, i knew i needed to work on this but i was struggling at the time.

Here i felt i was really successful with my walk cycle, very simple and only a few poses for each leg, but i need to see if it works on camera, and if it doesn't i can simply make an extra couple legs. 

These drawings below are of the little girl, i was hoping to experiment with this scene rather than animate every single frame of the little girl moving around on screen. i'm thinking of just making a still background of people in the underground bar then have these images (cutouts) move around slightly or in some way in front of them. 

i was also going to use red material for the red coat of the little girl. I made one, but i'm not sure if it looks any good, again i need to try it out on the camera. or figure out some other way to include the red coat, its something that needs to be included in the final film. 

 

Stop motion and cut outs

Right today was the day i was going to try out some of my stop motion cut out pieces, sadly i was not really prepared to do this.
I need something to hold them down and A LOT more materials and cut out pieces.
I also recently bought some see through fabric that i thought would look really cool, but it didn't!

Oh Dear!

So i need to do some serious research and look more into how to create what i want to create. The aim is to get something like the tale of the three brothers but with stop motion and cut outs. using the fabric to create the material look within that short. but it just looks odd and out of place and is very difficult to move the way i'd like to.

maybe use a different fabric? a more darker fabric so it blends with the black cut outs better? maybe look at making the cut out protrude slightly so i can put the fabrics behind them to blend in. or is this possible to blend them in after effects?

I think for today i will look at doing some backgrounds in photoshop (to keep my mind off of panicking that today didn't work out very well)

And i seriously need to get a move on with cutting out if thats what i still plan to do.

Here's the movie file that i did whilst messing about today...

Let the bodies hit the floor!!

Next up, BODIES!!!!
My puppet needs to be reallly slim and fragile looking, and i only need to build the top half of her body so that's good!
So far here are my experiments...

Lots of fingers!

My first attempt at an armature, bit too bulky

Covering my other armatures in latex

 Trying out hands, needs to be so much smaller.. oh dear

 Keep it as thin as possible!!

 Not too bad..

 

This final image was using supersculpy to create a mold, however the puppet never made it out of the plaster alive.. it was a sad day for all!

Practice with clay, molds and latex

 

Ok so i practiced with building, molding and baking faces! Using clay i molded just the basic face shape, i know i want this character to have a very long and gaunt face, the nose i wasn't sure on whether to make big or small, but i originally started quite big as you can see. the next image was the results to my faces. the bottom face is just clay, the middle 3 art latex. I created clay faces, made a mold from them using plaster of paris, then filled that mold with latex. the top 3 are what i molded in supersculpy then baked in the oven, i looked briefly into replacement animation, but for my piece it wasn't necessary. 

Again using supersculpy i had the idea of using an inside face (skeleton) then applying a latex or silicon face over the top, i made holes in the mold before baking so i could attach wires for the nose ears and mouth, sadly that didn't work, the wires just kept falling out of the supersculpy, even with glue!  I also looked into how to make realistic teeth for the puppet, i tried out acrylic nails that worked pretty well, but i could also use supersculpy which maybe easier to mold to the correct shape. 

Above is the more detailed face made from clay. i then created a mold with plaster of paris, i'm currently waiting to add latex and wire to the mold, and hopefully have a movable mouth. Trial and Error!!