https://vimeo.com/189224988

This is my forth experimentation in the stop motion room. Instead of focusing on a single animation principal, for this one I incorporated what I learned from all of the previous animations into creating a pendulum movement. The main principal that I had to take into consideration was the ‘Slow in, Slow out’ principal, as that was essential for giving the movement a lot more of a realistic feel in terms of physics. The slow in and out was emphasised even more in this animation, in order to really emphasise the swing. The only issue I have with the final product, is the fact that the final few swings I feel are a little bit too quick, as in reality the swings may take a longer amount of time, but I feel as though the mistake is subtle enough to not be instantly recognisable, however if I ever need to incorporate a pendulum animation again (not only via stop motion), I will take this into account. I feel as though the main reason for me not fully succeeding in this experiment, is the fact that I didn't follow my bar sheet accurately, and instead only utilised it as a base to understand the motion. I produced this bar sheet digitally to get a more accurate diagram.

https://vimeo.com/188211848

My Maya spaceship exercise. This exercise was set to introduce us to all the different kinds of motions and speeds that we can produce within Maya, relating back to the 'Slow in, slow out' and 'timing' animation principals. Each spaceship takes the same amount of time to come to a stop as eachother, however due to the altered paths from Maya's graph editor, they all seem to be going at different speeds, and each say something different about the spaceship. The top spaceship shows a simple 'Slow in, slow out' motion, and is possibly the most natural movement of the three, and would most likely be used in normal animation for someone walking at a normal pace or a sliding object. The second spaceship shows a constant speed from start to finish, which is hardly ever seen in real life, as due to the laws of momentum, an object would have to have some form of a build up and a slow down when in motion, so this speed would be best used for when you're not focused on capturing realism, such as in 'motion graphics'. The final spaceship has a similar motion to the first spaceship, however the is a much larger build up, and it takes a lot longer to reach its top speed, making the slow down a lot more abrupt, this type of motion would be best used in instances such as; a person quickly running, a fast car, or a falling object. Though I wasn't really challenged much in this exercise, it has caused me to grow a lot more familiar with the graph editor, and I think I have gained a better understanding of when to use certain motions.

This is my bar sheet for the following animation. Due to the slightly increased complexity of the animation principal that I will be dealing with, this was the first time that I saw the true importance of a bar sheet, and despite the fact that the final product doesn't exactly follow the plan, this still proved very helpful.

https://vimeo.com/188069156

This is my third experimentation in the stop motion room. This time I am considering rule 2# of the 12 principals of animation, which is known as ‘Anticipation’. This was used to prepare the audience for an action therefore making the action appear more realistic. This was shown in my animation by having the block move and tilt backwards before the main, much quicker motion occurs. Rule 5# was also taken into account within this animation, this rule is known as ‘Follow through and overlapping action’, and means that certain parts of the moving object should keep moving after it has come to a stop before being pulled back to the desired stop.  This is also shown in my animation, as the block tilts forward after stopping, and then wobbles backwards. I feel that I pulled of the effect well, and I think that I have given the block a lot more character and life through the animation. On my previous animation, I stated in my evaluation that I wish I had made the starting movements a lot more subtle, therefore making the slow in more evident, which I feel as though I have improved in this version, as when the block takes off and even in the anticipation itself, the slow in is a lot more subtle, but not so much so that it becomes unnoticeable.

Intro to Creative Play - Week 3

My team's tower, which was made for the purpose of supporting an egg without it falling and also being as tall as possible, and made using only very basic materials. There were many different ideas coming from each of our team members, most of which were all combined within the final product, thus showing how many creative minds can come together to produce better outcomes, as our tower held the egg successfully and was also the highest, therefore winning.

 The previous task was created for us to introduce us to 'Rapid Prototyping', which is where a range of techniques are used to quickly produce a product. For the second task, we were tasked to take what we learned from the previous task (which in my case was to combine all our best ideas) and apply it to a task which allowed a lot more planning, preparing and creating. Above are the sketches which we made when coming up with ideas for how to make an egg safely land from a three story drop (our task).

 This was my main contribution to the ideas generating stage. I had an idea to keep the egg suspended via elastic bands inside a box, therefore preventing it from making impact with the ground as the box hits it. However, we decided to leave this idea as we didn't think the box would be sustainable. Unfortunately, another team had the same idea and went through with it right up to the production and building stages, and it succeeded with protecting the egg. 

 This was our backup idea, where the egg (stylised as Spiderman) was simply lowered down via a string, as there was nothing strictly in the rules which went against that. Despite the almost 'cheating' approach, it was dropped to early and the egg was smashed.

Above is the drop which the eggs had to endure and the aftermath on the idea that we settled on (the initial sketches of which can be seen further up), which involved many cones inside one another in hopes of absorbing the impact. However, perhaps due to the fact that not all of our teams contributions were considered, the final product was not successful, however at least managed to contain most of the spillage.

'Making of' - Week 3

My second 'Making of' map

After producing my first 'Map' of Media City in 'Intro to Making Of' we were then tasked to create an alternative map in a completely different style. This time around, I decided to think of alternative ways that you could map out an area, and think of a map in a less conventional way. 

The way in which I accomplished this, was to treat it as a comic strip with a narrative, therefore still identifying key aspects of the journey portrayed, but also guiding the observer through the area. This was again produced digitally, however there was more sketching beforehand to decide on how the design will be laid out. As for the characters in the comic, I decided to do focus on two characters from a very modern and contemporary cartoon, therefore linking them to Media City. These two characters were Rick and Morty from 'Rick and Morty', and I tried to incorporate their characters from the show into their personalities and dialogue portrayed within the comic, as well as references to the show, such as the statue of Pudsy in Media City resembling a character from the show known as 'Mr. Meeseeks'. 

(From left to right) Pudsey statue as seen at Media City, Mr. Meeseeks from 'Rick and Morty', and my interpretation of Pudsey in the Rick and Morty style

This is a lot less cryptic and symbolic than my previous map, and is instead a lot more representational, using clearly recognisable locations and objects. All the characters were based from their orignial designs, but redrawn by me in each panel in the desired pose. I am again pleased with the final look, as the premise gave me freedom to add humour and charm to the map, however I feel as though I should attempt to move away from digital design in order to broaden my abilities. It was interesting to attempt to make a comic strip, as although they are something that I am interested in, I haven't recently made any of my own, so even though the medium may be the same, the style, context and platform are vastly different from this one to the previous one. However, if I had to choose which of my designs I prefer, I would say the first one, as I admire the simplicity and the fact that it is my own style as appose to me imitating another designers style. I would like to experiment further with comic strip design, but with my own characters and style. 

After a discussion with a classmate, I was made aware of the fact the the backgrounds in my comic can seen rather dull at times, and as I am meant to be clearly documenting key areas of Media City, this causes a huge problem. It is also unlike the style of Rick and Morty, where there is a lot of time and consideration put into the backgrounds and locations. Next time, I will assure to put as much effort into the characters as I do to their surroundings, like I did with the 'BBC' building, as I feel that is a fairly decent rendition.

Since starting these tasks, I have noticed a link to between the concept of 'making of' and these 'mapping' exercises, as in a typical 'making of' video, the journey of production is attempting to be communicated, such as a map attempts to communicate a journey from point A to point B. This has made me think that perhaps such as with these simplistic maps, maybe there are also many ways in which a 'making of' documentary can be presented, as they both aim to do similar things.

Animation Context - Week 3
Image Association

In 'Animation Context' we were focusing on 'learning how to learn', the notes from which, I have included below -

We were also tasked to associate four different images of craft-related items with a Film, Musician and an Animation, and explain the reasoning of the choice. I enjoyed this task as it got me thinking about the many different ways that an inanimate object could relate to other things, and as most of the forms of media that I choose I have a strong opinion on (Both positive and negative), this list is quite personal.

The sheet that we were given

Feathers

Animation - South Park

Both can make you laugh historically (in the feathers case, being tickeled by one, in South Park's, through its humour), however it may be irritating depending on the context (In South Park's case, a controversial episode, in the Feathers, continuous tickling.)

Musician - Christina Perri

Majestic, calming and relaxing

Film - Forrest Gump

Obvious reasons

Christina Perri

Sticky Notes

Animation - Simpsons

There's loads of them, and can be easily forgotten about (In Simpson's case, watching the newer episodes, and in Sticky Note's, simply screwing up the note and disposing of it.)

Musician - Nicki Manaj

Mainly used with the main concern being look and aesthetic as appose to usefulness.

Film - This is England

Can be informative, but also visually appealing

This is England

Glitter

Animation - Don't Hug Me I'm Scared

Harmless fun to begin with, but quickly takes a turn for the worse (In DHMIS's case, the subject matter of the short, and in Glitter's case, it will start appearing everywhere and become annoying.)

Musician - Kesha

Again, obvious reasons

Film - Minions

Entertains kids, but for adults they can't escape them after exposing them to their kids. There's also a lot of them and they're tiny.

Don't Hug Me I'm Scared

Pipe Cleaners

Animation - Rick and Morty

Both have a slightly rough style

Musician - PSY 

Like pipe's, PSY used to be very popular, but now he is never or rarely seen.

Film - Green Mile

They're both long... That's it..

Rick and Morty

https://vimeo.com/187225418

This is my second experimentation in the stop motion room. This is similar to the previous experiment, however the movement of the block in this animation follows rule 6# of the 12 principals of animation, which is known as 'Slow in Slow out'. This was used to make the movement appear more natural and realistic, as in reality the object would need time to accelerate and slow down. Even though I have only been in the stop motion room once prior to this experiment, the process came a lot more naturally to me and I feel as though I am fully familiar with the stop motion room. There are several improvements which were made after learning from the first attempt, for example I feel the lighting and angle is much better, thus showing that I am slowly improving with the stop motion process. I feel that I pulled of the effect reasonably well, though I wish I would have made the starting movements a lot more subtle, therefore making the slow in more evident, which I will keep in mind next time that I utilise this principal. Below is the bar sheet which I created for this animation.

I have also produced both of my current Stop-Motion exercises within Maya.

'Making Of'  - Week 2

During 'Intro to Making Of' we were tasked to create a map of Media City of any area which we desire. For my map, I decided to produce it digitally, as that is the area of design that I am most competent with, but the final design of the characters that I drew is heavily influenced by more traditional methods, as they are stylised like stencil art, and are inspired by the work of the graphic deisgner, Gary Taxali, whose style is often referred to as “reinvented pop art”. Taxali works on a range of surfaces, textures and fabrics, which he often illustrates his signature cartoon drawings and styles onto, however in this instance, I have just stylised my digital method of illustration to resemble his.

An example of Gary Taxali's art

I thought that this style created some contrast between the modern look of Media City compared to the traditional look of stencil art. My map spreads across the Cbeebies studio, the BBC studios and the ITV studios, and each building is represented by a character from the individual studios, as the Cbeebies is represented with the yellow blobs that are considered to be the mascots of the channel, the BBC studios is represented by my drawing of David Brent dancing, which is an iconic moment from an iconic show, and finally Jeremy Kyle for the ITV studios. I am pleased with the final look, as it isn't obvious where the map is showing, but not impossible to figure out as it is quite cryptic, and I also like the cartoonish and humorous designs of the characters which I made, however next time I would like to experiment with alternate methods of design.

My first 'Making Of' map

I really enjoyed the second week of our 'Creative Play' course, as I felt it gave us a really good chance to display some creativity. My favourate of all the tasks was the one where we had to create our own animals using the same cutouts, as we got to see how even by using the same assets, each member of our team managed to produce something brilliantly unique. As I was cutting out pieces which at first I intended to use for a certain body part, as I stuck them down I realised that they could instead be used in a much more humorous way as an alternative body part, such as the Emu head used as a tail, or the Camel humps used as an open mouth, which I think has resulted in a unique outcome, if a bit messy and unpolished.

During this session, we're also tasked to redesign the male and female toilet signs and adapt them to represent a movie of our choice, here are my two contributions -

The first one that I drew was of Shaun and Liz from the British film 'Shaun of the Dead'. I chosen these two because they come from one of my favourate movies, and one that has a widespread popularity, therefore should be easily recognizable. However, I didn't like the fact that I had to only colour in little details instead of making it a silhouette as toilet signs often are, regardless of how necessary they were. Despite that, I really liked the outcome.

After learning from my previous idea, I was able to make these two a lot more simplistic, due to the iconic features that these two characters have, therefore I didn't need to go into a lot of detail. In case you couldn't tell, they're Homer and Marge from 'The Simpsons Movie'.

This activity has increased my interest in minimalist art, which is something that as a graphic designer, I enjoy producing a lot.

https://vimeo.com/186176254

This is my first ever Maya animation, so for that reason I decided to keep it as simple as I possibly could. Despite how excited I was to use this programme, it was much more of a problem to wrap my head around it than I thought it would be. Next I will attempt to produce some 3D models using tutorials on Lynda.com, as I am excited about mastering this software.

Animation Context - Week 2

During this session we were tasked to go an look for a job role that we would like to occupy in the future.

Animator (2D computer animation)

After looking through all of the job roles relating to animation in the http://creativeskillset.org/ website, I decided that the job role which personally appealed to me the most was 2D computer animation. The reason for this, is that my work is mostly produced digitally using programs such as Photoshop and Serif Draw Plus, as I find it easier to add a layer of polish to anything I produce, and I have grown fond of these specific programs, despite nearly all of my final outcomes being influenced by or developed from many original sketches. 2D animation is also my favourite form of animation, as I have been influenced by classic American animation such as 'Looney Tunes' and 'Tom and Jerry', through their very quirky designs and slapstick humour, and also more modern cartoons such as 'Rick and Morty'. I have picked three qualities that the website listed that are beneficial for this role, and I will decide upon a way to develop my skills in these areas.

• have animation and acting skills, combined with a good sense of graphic design - I will continue producing my works of graphic design for my facebook page, in order to further develop my sense of graphic design, and before animating any complex action for a character, may film myself or another person acting out the motion, in order to get a better idea of how the action looks whilst being performed, thus creating a more realistic looking outcome.
• have a good level of computer literacy - I will familiarise myself with a wider variety of computer based animation programs, such as Maya.
• be able to take direction and willing to address constructive feedback - I will start to ask for feedback on anything I produce more regularly, hoping for a constructive comment or comments, and work on any complaints which will be addressed. This will help me to become more reflective of my own work, and may also help me to give honest feedback on other peoples work.

(Left) Notes from this session (Right) Tom & Jerry

https://vimeo.com/185639897

My first professional Stop-Frame animation. I thoroughly enjoyed performing the task set on this brief, as it got me excited about what I could make later when I develop my skills, and though I was disappointed that I wasn't able to get some of my own personality or uniqueness through this very simple experiment, I realise that it was essential for getting to know how everything worked, and I think that the final product came out very smoothly. Below is the bar sheet which I used to assist me during the animation process.