Timing

This week we had to create 3 animations: one of our character simply blinking as a line test, and then two of our storyboard (the first with excessive timing and the last edited to be more effective). The first of the second animation had to be held to 12 frames per frame. Then we had to use a technique called 'fudging' to delete frames to make a smoother animation.




I am happy with how my animations came out but I think that using TV Paint made it more difficult for me as I didn't know the software well. On the other hand, I now feel more comfortable in that software and want to explore it more.
I think I need to improve my consistency in drawing as well as mentally breaking down a movement. While I am happy with the end product, the foot step still looks unnatural. In future, I will recreate the action i want to draw and record it so I can play it back and better understand the frame by frame movement.

After completing this task, I went back to my first animation and refined. I focused on keeping consistent line work and upping the quality by colouring it. I feel that I have improved in quality but I still need to correct my understanding of movement and standard of production.

Who Am I?

Why do you chose to study this course?

• To become specialised in a challenging skill. 
• Animation clarifies possible carer goals for me. 
• To be surrounded by people learning the same skills as me who can give me criticism and different views on my work and style.
• To build a diverse portfolio using different animation types that I can learn.
• To gain contacts that may later help me network within the industry.

What do you want to learn during your time on the course?

• How to use different softwares.
• The different roles within an animation team and what they do.
• How to create an effective animation portfolio.
• The foundational skills of becoming a decent animator.
• The history of the industry and the new possible applications for animation (e.g oculus rift, etc).

What skills do you think are strengths?

• Research and evaluations of progress .
• Visualising scenes and frames that are striking.
• Having a cinematic look to my composition.
• Being able to work in a group and build a concept together.
• Being experimental with style and mediums as it allows for more growth and diversity in my work.

What things would you like to improve?

• Feeling comfortable using softwares and technology.
• Creating smooth, professional level animation.
• Creating a style
• Networking within the industry/creating my own opportunity
• Knowledge of animation history, studios, etc.

What ways will you evaluate your progress? 

• Through this blog, I can record the experience and opinion of my work.
• Sketchbooks can show a development in process.
• Listening to peers advice and criticism.
• Comparing each project against each other to examine improvements.
• Evaluating my work as I go.

Storyboard

Using the character I developed earlier in the week, I created a storyboard focusing mainly on camera shots and colour to direct the viewers attention. The first panel shows a static shot from the floor of a pair of trainers stepping in as the doors slide open. The outside is brighter as the character steps into the shadowed foreground, creating mystery. I wanted to use cool tones to emphasise a change in mood later in the scene. Next the viewer is pushed back behind and above the character as the step into the store is repeated. The lighting creates dramatic shadows that hide parts of the character while other visual information is revealed. Suspense is created by prolonging the reveal of the character and the use of a high angle. The camera slides diagonally in the same direction of the breeze, pulling the viewer in the opposite direction of the doors. The third panel reveals the character and zooms into her face to focus on her flat expression and piercings. Switching view to her line of sight, the colour palette of the scene warms, emitting from a stuffed toy on the shelf and contrasting with the cool lighting of the overhead lighting. The next dynamic shot starts front he back of the characters head (with the bear still in frame) and swoops round to her changing expression. the final shot is of her eyes widening and a warmer palette.

The aim of these six panels was to set up an expectation of the character and then contrast that by introducing her motive for the end goal of the scene: shoplifting. I have learnt how to use camera angles, lighting and colour to communicate the narrative without sound of text. I feel I successfully kept the story clear by keeping the eye-line of the character in mind so the shots are laid out with a flow of front to back viewpoints. I wanted to use the movement of the camera shot and consistency in lighting to create an environment that made sense to the viewer as the character moved through.

To improve my storyboard I would use shape more purposefully. In my character design, I focused on strong angles that could have played off the box-y nature of the aisle and contrast with the soft shape of the bear. Instead of utilising that to produce compelling visuals, I feel I have lost impact as the contrast between the tomboyish rebellious character and the teddy bear is not as aesthetically strong.

I would also match the colour of the arrows to the intended captions as, in the industry, this would be intended as instructions for someone else and not notes for myself.

Character Development

In this module, I have developed an original character through using a character development sheet, creating a full character turn around and producing a dynamic pose reference sheet.Through doing this, I have fleshed out a full design and concept of a character that I can use in my storyboard and future animation projects.

Before getting to the finished product, I started by sketching various features in different styles (ears, mouths, noses, etc). Then, I jumped into making vague drawings involving my favourite features from the page. The most inconsistent part of the design so far was the hair and body which was my next focus. Finally, I moved on to colour concepts, details and finalising the design. I think this helped a lot in becoming more comfortable with the characters shape and applying a personality to go along with the design.



The character fell into the rebel archetype easily and the clothes and hairstyle lent themselves to an athletic character trait which added to the development of her background and personality. The colour palette I chose was earthy, dark and masculine. By using giant round ears and different angles in her body and clothing, her silhouette is distinguishable but simple.



Overall, I think that the character designing process went well as the different elements of the design reflect the personality and archetype of the character. The red hair and piercings are intended to signify typical rebellion while the green colours laced throughout the design hint at a more mellow attitude. However, if i was going to design this character again, I think i would use a different medium to draw her with as the lines are inconsistently thick. I would also be more experimental with exaggerated expressions as it could bring more liveliness to the design.

The biggest issue I have is keeping a consistent volume of form in the turn around sheet. I will be aiming to improve this in future tasks.

Solid Drawing

The first task was to produce twenty figure drawings focused on motion or action. To start with, I sketched ten two-minute poses with gestural lines and little detail to get down the core shapes and proportions. I found that these were a little too tight and lacked movement so I also filled a page with quicker sketches of dancers, allowing myself to play with more angular lines and exaggerated proportions. After that, I made five fleshed out sketches that have more details and stronger lines. The first held more energy as the looser texturised lines helped break up the permanence of the pose but as my sketches became more defined and detailed they lost the sense of movement and strong line of action. With the two black and white watercolour drawings, I used texture and direction of my brush strokes to help show the action. I also wanted the hands to be more blurred as they are caught mid swing in both poses. Looking back on my five fleshed out sketches, I picked two to experiment with; using spot colouring, I broke up the solidness of the form to show where the body moves to (particularly focusing on the hair). Finally, I painted a fully rendered pose.

I think that my overall figure studies have good proportions and stylisation. With the use of texture and loose lines, the motion of the pose is clearer as the sketch becomes more dynamic and gestural. I liked the use of clean, angular lines that retain the motion by being exaggerated. I think that the final sketch is the least successful. Similar to the last fleshed out sketch, the pose lacks motion which would be fixed by an exaggerated line of motion like in the early dance class figure studies. To improve I am going to keep using gestural lines and stylised proportions to give my poses energy and maintain a strong line of motion.

Welcome

Over the next three years, I will be using this blog to archive and record my progress throughout the Leeds Arts University Animation course. I hope there will be visible improvement and am excited to use this blog as motivation to challenge myself. I might use this blog to show prospect employers.🌝🌚🔱