Study Task 3 - Research

Aesthetic

One of our first steps was to develop moodboards, or as O’Hailey (2010, p. 5) puts it - a ‘visual target’. We decided to go with a flat, cartoony art style to reflect childlike awe and bubbly aesthetic.

2D animation is more suitable aesthetically, since it is less likely to suffer from uncanny valley compared to 3D CGI. Uncanny valley is a phenomenon that makes viewers feel uncomfortable when looking at objects that closely resemble humans. Although first described by Masahiro Mori in the robotics field, it also applies to animation (see Fig 1 by (Engländer, 2014)).

Traditional 2D animation was considered for its textures (brushes, paper and other physical media), but digital 2D animation can also recreate these effects (to some degree) and for a fraction of the cost. Going digital meant we could animate faster using digital tweening, but this runs the risk of motion looking mechanical and unappealing.

Bibliography

• Engländer, F. (2014) The Uncanny Valley. Available at: https://www.animatorisland.com/the-uncanny-valley/?v=79cba1185463 (Accessed on 29 December 2018)
• O'Hailey, T. (2015) Hybrid Animation: Integrating 2D and 3D Assets. Second edition. Abingdon: Focal Press

Fig 1.

Study Task 3 - Research

Technique

Firstly, we needed an art style and medium that the team was comfortable with, that also matched the story. Meroz outlines that the main difference between 2D and 3D animation, is that 2D animation can have lower frame rates (as low as 12fps) compared to 3D CGI animation. 

It may seem that 2D animation is much less time consuming, but Kuperberg (2002, p. 11) states that “unlike 2D animation, once a character has been modelled in 3D, it can be viewed realistically from any angle.” This saves production time which might make up for the long pre-production stage. 

Since our team was predominantly 2D animators, we chose 2D. Going with 3D animation would mean extra time would have to be scheduled to train ourselves. Within 2D animation we decided to use 2D digital animation, since that would reduce our ‘line mileage', an important factor that O’Hailey (2015, p. 5) mentions when choosing a medium. Using digital tweens and virtual cameras meant that we could animate more efficiently, and also save time by skipping the scanning process.

Bibliography

• O'Hailey, T. (2015) Hybrid Animation: Integrating 2D and 3D Assets. Second edition. Abingdon: Focal Press
• Meroz, M. (no date) What is 3D Animation Compared to 2D Animation? The Core Differences. Available at: https://www.bloopanimation.com/what-is-3d-animation/ (Accessed 28 December 2018)
• Kuperberg, M. (2002) Guide to Computer Animation: For TV, Games, Multimedia and Web. Oxford: Focal Press

Telling Tales - Week 10

The feedback from last week was to work faster, since we were falling behind. I began to reassign scenes in hopes of getting them done faster, since not all of my team members worked at the same pace. I had done 9/10 of the scenes I assigned to myself, but still had to do the effects for other unfinished scenes.

Minor adjustments were also being made to details, to fix continuity errors. One such example was this shot, where the Hunter holds the sword in his right hand, but he holds it in his left hand the rest of the animation. A simple fix for this was to flip the scene horizontally.

What went well:

• Significant amount of progress made by the team this week,
• Adjustments were made to line thicknesses to keep the characters consistent.

What could be improved:

• Time management and workload assigning should've been adjusted much earlier in the production phase to prevent last minute panic,
• Having more peers critique the animation to find inconsistencies faster, would prevent needing to animate scenes again.

Telling tales - Week 9

This week we recorded the final audio.

Ava did the voice of Sally and R'Shaun did the voice of the Hunter.
I did the foley; pouring tea sounds and the Beast eating/gulping. I also recorded footsteps using a box filled with newspaper, but I struggled to get the pacing right.
We used freesound.org for the non-diegetic sounds since we were short on time.

Since my teammate still hadn't completed character turnarounds and expression sheets, some design aspects had to be explored afterwards. I designed and added in the scabbard into scenes with the Hunter to help reduce the workload.

What went well:

• Improvising to make sounds, such as using a can of soda for the kettle falling or a coat hanger to create whoosh sounds,
• Consistency among team is improved (e.g. now the sword and scabbard will always be drawn on the Hunter).

What could be improved:

• Quality of sound may not be the best since a cheaper microphone was used,
• Slow character design created a chain-effect that slowed down production, work should be re-assigned/re-distributed more efficiently to avoid this.
• Creating our own, or networking to find a musician to create the non-diegetic sounds.

Telling Tales - Week 8

I experimented on this special-effects-intensive scene:

My inspiration for this scene was the bubbly aesthetic of Steven Universe, so using it as reference, I created 'energy beams' to exaggerate the childlike wonder.

Steven Universe by Rebecca Sugar

The feedback received was that the sharp edges wouldn't match the soft art style. So I repainted the beams with a textured watercolour brush:

The sparkles, lighting overlays and multiply layers too were recreated in this style.

We created rules for the backgrounds and the characters, using colour palettes and specific brushes and brush widths.

I also experimented with Keyframe Caddy for lip-syncing.

What could be improved:

• I could get a broader understanding of special effects for art styles by looking at other animators' works too,
• I could make more variations on how the 'beams' look.

Telling Tales - Week 7

This week we shot reference videos for some of our more difficult scenes.

Initially, shooting reference was amusing, but I learnt that it's really useful and that there are many different ways to do something,

Turning around

I also used an interesting (maybe overcomplicated) method to anchor the Hunter and Beast in a 3D space.

Using Maya as a pre-vis tool helped visualise the ground as the Hunter rushes the Beast. 

I also began doing the rough animations for other scenes.

What could be improved:

•  Finding actors/using props so the reference could be more similar to the characters.

Telling Tales - Week 6

We had MAF this week, so progress was slow. However, I did prepare for the Weekly 2 presentation. The feedback received confirmed that we were on track; our story was far more streamlined and the light-hearted. bubbly aesthetic worked well.

The scenes were labelled and allocated; I got my first taste of being a producer, and it was right up my alley! I enjoy organising and spreadsheets, so I created this:

I learnt about rough pass and tie-downs at MAF so I implemented that into our project.


What went well:

• even distribution of work was priority,
• clear, elaborate plan,
• sorting of scenes based on animation level, made it easy to organise ourselves individually.

What could be improved:

• only short term deadlines have been set, further planning is required,
• character designs are pending, so tie-down stage could be delayed, however, I'll work on rough animation and blocking (and Ava on backgrounds) while that is done,
• scenes could be labelled more efficiently.

Study Task 2 - Talk this Way

Lip-Syncing

I chose Sound 3, where the monotonous HAL 9000 expresses its awe. 

I created a fish character with luscious lips and a fin-mustache:

Using the dope sheet, I was able to map out which lip shape was needed on each frame (mostly worked on twos):

I then experimented with After Effects, using layer modes and the Wave Warp effect:

What went well:

• The monotonous voice fit well with the almost expressionless character,
• The fin mustache highlighted the lip movement,

What could be improved:

• The lips shape is slightly narrow and there needs to be more variation between the moth shapes
• Tweening the mouth shapes would make the visuals flow better

I also researched other methods of lip syncing and one I found quite interesting was the use of KeyframeCaddy, a plugin for Adobe Animate that streamlines lip syncing.

Telling Tales - Week 5

Weekly 1 Presentation

After the presentation we realised the story was too long and that we were falling behind. I needed to trust the team more with specialised roles, so we could progress faster. I also learnt more about my directorial/producer duties; organising a schedule and motivating team members to meet deadlines.

The animatic was also completed:

What went well:

• Feedback received was helpful, and the required actions were realistic and achievable,
• Communication among the team was efficient - we are on the same page!
• Roles have been assigned; 
• Background and prop design - Ava
• Character design - R'Shaun
• Animatic and Sound - Prathik

What could be improved:

• We could have been more prepared for the presentation, (I've added a preparation/practice time to the group calendar),
• Deadlines need to be met.

Telling Tales - Week 4

Storyboard refinement

At this stage, even though we had made quick progress in the pre-production stage, there were many questions and plotholes in our story - events that didn't make sense. This was because the initial script was quite loose and undefined.

What went well:

• Communication among the team was swift and efficient, problems were quickly resolved
• The story became stronger and easier to understand, getting rid of the cheap trick and loopholes.

What could be improved:

• As a director, I realised that the roles hadn't been assigned efficiently; instead of assigning everyone the same jobs then choosing the best aspects of it I should've assigned more specific roles and trusted that the team would be happy with the outcome.

Telling Tales - Week 3

Storyboarding

I had been drawing storyboard panels since Week 1 since I'm a "visual script-writer", and by Week 3 we each had a rough version of a storyboard.

We had slightly different views on shot progression, camera angles etc, but we mixed the panels and used the best parts.

Reflecting upon what I learnt last year during storyboarding, I made my storyboard assets on different layers. I feel my organisation skills have improved since.

What went well:

• Storyboarding drafts separately brought new angles and ideas.
• Separating assets to layer will make animatic easier.

What could improve:

• My storyboards were excessively detailed need to simplify them to only show motion and lighting, 
• The script could've been clearer to make storyboarding easier.

Telling Tales - Week 2

Character Design

This week we designed a character each, in an Adventure time/Steven Universe style.

I designed the Beast;

Upon feedback from my teammates, I finalised this:

What worked well:

• Consulting my teammates before finalising the design meant I could make it match the art style and complement other characters,
• The character development sheet helped us know the Beast's motivations, even though the story barely highlights any of it's backstory.

What could be improved:

• Characters have similar shapes, forms could've been exaggerated to create more diversity,
• The colour schemes of the characters weren't complementary, assigning the role of character design to one person would yield designs that fit better.

Telling Tales - Week 1

Story Pitching & Script Development

We pitched stories (that were based on rolling themed die) to the class:

I pitched:

This is the story of a little girl and her friendship with an ancient beast. Unknowingly, their fun causes chaos in the town. Will their friendship survive under the iron fist of the warrior king? Will the true beast finally be revealed?

After discussion with my team, the story is now:

• in perspective of the king, 
• a mythical twist to the story of Gelert.

What went well:

• Input from team members provided new, interesting perspectives, 
• Story had defined structure; beginning, middle and end.

What could be improved:

• Audience and genre needed to be outlined earlier,
• Scripts got too confusing and longer than the limit, needed to be more concise,
• Due to need for a plot twist, antagonist and protagonist characters weren't decided.

Final Submission - Week 12

After the interim submissions I focused on the multiple walk cycles involved in the story.



These walk cycles were clunky,  zombie-like, and in perspective.

What went well:

• The zombie motion allows for clunky animation
• The swaying side to side of characters

What could be better:

• The rate at which the zombies seem to grow as they come closer (perspective).

Study Task 10 - Week 11

 After presenting my work for D&AD to my peers, I received feedback on what worked well, and what could be improved. 

 I found that my use of multiple software (Adobe Animate, Adobe After Effects and Adobe Premiere Pro), although laborious, works in making the scene immersive.

I also found that the scary baby, might not be as inappropriate for the audience as I thought.

My peers also confirmed with me that the angry pacing to and fro looks fine as it is, but might need improving if I have time.

I have also reconsidered how effective the name "Hugathon" is in conveying it's message. "Hug day" and "Hug Festival" have been suggested.

2D Walk Cycles - Week 10

Made this 8 step walk cycle with Rhys. We then added extra appendages to experiment with follow through to further emphasise the bounciness of the walk.


I then made another walk cycle using traditional animation methods:

Things I liked:

• The lumbering feel of the walk accentuated by the snout swaying and how it makes it feel 3D
• The fluidity of doing it at 24fps on ones

Things that could be improved:

• The shoulder placement is not constant/doesn't follow an arc
• The snout's perspective messes with its length

Although this walk cycles seems to work, I am not happy with it...


I then used Adobe Animate and After Effects to make this:

Things I liked:

• The timing of the walk (the slowing down of the arms in the in-between pose) gives it a low gravity feel
• The lankiness of the limbs emphasises the relaxed walk

Things that could be improved:

• The background and walking speeds don't match perfectly
• The neck's length changes slightly

3D walk cycle

Experimental Moom walk-cycle

I tried to make an angry stomp on Maya using Moom.

Things I liked:

• the camera angle,
• the stretch of the legs

Things I feel need more work:

• The weight as the foot hits the ground

This was made before the walk-cycle session, so the next step is to incorporate what I learnt into this

Speeding up Rendering Time

After reading a few tutorials online I tried rendering out an improved walk cycle on two computers; 50 frames on each, to speed up rendering time. I didn't add cameras in my project so the outputs had different perspectives. It resulted in this zooming in and out:

Finally I made:

Animatic Submission for D&AD - Week 9

My submission for D&AD;

What worked well:

• The pacing and timing of the action
• The slapstick comedy

What could be improved: 

• The angry pacing walk cycle doesn't bounce enough/ the legs change length

After the submission, I learnt how to make scenes come to life, using lighting. I learnt how to make overlay and multiply layers. This complicated my process, but I feel the outcome was worth it. 

I created backgrounds in Adobe Photoshop and the character animation in Adobe Animate CC which I'm fairly comfortable using.

The two were put together in Adobe After Effects, which helped with camera transitions and movements, and the sound was added in Adobe Premiere Pro. These two I'm not so comfortable with. 

I like this workflow pattern, as there is consistency and cross-program compatibility, which made organising it easier. 

Lip Sync - Week 8

At the end of my animatic, Ivy says "Need a hug?". It's one of the only words spoken, so I attempted some lip syncing using this guide:

This lip sync worked better compared to the others:
The zombies said words like "hugs" and "itchy"

I wasn't sure if I should give them sharp teeth or keep them normal to make it clear what they are saying, I experimented and found sharp teeth works better:

Normal teeth

Sharp teeth

I also kept in mind what their mood was (happy/sad) while speaking, hence the "ITCHY" is  portrayed as sad/uncomfortable:

Hug Zombie Character Design - Week 7

I doodled some ideas for other characters to become Hug Zombies.
They were meant to be regular characters, friends of Ivy's who live in the same neighbourhood.

Initially the Hug Zombie hoard was going to be the average adult. I reduced their age to be Ivy's age to make it less inappropriate.

What I liked:

• The art style is a slightly more stylistic than my usual style; I'm am trying to develop a more consistent style
• Each character has a basic shape for their heads and bodies, creating a range of unique characters.

What I didn't like:

• How easily the characters fell into stereotypes

Storyboards - Week 6

What I liked:

• The change in colour scheme as the story progressed
• The transition from close up shots to long shots 

What could've worked better:

• The ending might've been a bit too rushed
• The close ups may be cliché