Bat flight test

So looks like a bat flying is almost like our backstroke except not upside down or in water....

I think it is not nessessarry to look exactly like this especially how the bones move and stuff as my bats hands fit differently but i will try get this kind of movement. I have also noticed that the feet move with the wings, this seems kind of crucial to staying in the air so i will try and incorporate this but we will see how it looks.

From this I have made a test of my bat flying. I have just done keyframes so far as it is just a test and i think it works well enough for that like this but for the real one i will add more frames in. This took me about 2 and a half hours which isn't bad but adding in betweens would probably make it about 6 hours at a guess. 
I think I will actually animate this in one place and use after effects to make it move across screen that might be best. Although it works fine as it is and you just have to duplicate the frames so I'm not really sure what would be easier? I think it will depend on context.

Mexican forest

Here are some images of forests in Mexico that will be used as reference for the opening scene where the camera pans through the forest to find the bat. 

There are often hidden cities within the forests so they will look like old ruins with lovely aztec patterns on them like this, i think that would be nice to incorporate to help set the scene.

I like the use of the red leaves in this to give it a more tropical feel.

I think having birds or something flying across the screen or sitting on trees would be really nice and add a bit of visual interest while the voice over is going. It also really brings us into their world.

This is a really nice clear image using depth of field, i like having things on different layers like foreground mid ground background and i think that will look really nice with the 2.5d after effects technique i intend to use.

This waterfall is lovely and if i can figure out how to make a waterfall look like its moving then i would like to have this in my forest even to just pan past as i think it will show how beautiful the forest is. I could even have a bird or something flying and slashing through it. Maybe I'm getting ahead of myself...

Theres also the river with trees and mountains which i would like to have as what you can see from the mountain but i need more of i horizon kind of shot.

This is just a really cool picture i love the layering of like foreground background and everything in between with the bear as the focus.

I like that this draws you into the centre and you can see through like you are going through it.

This is a nice image of the mountains, river and trees. I quite like this composition but I don't think it would work from above.

This would be good for like when the bat flies up really excited about his feathers.

I think this kind of thing would work better for a view from a mountain but less city, more trees and water.

This is just adorable. I may think about having a monkey on a branch somewhere.

So theres a think in mexico called the butterfly forest! thats pretty cool! We were talking yesterday saying how it might be nice to have butterflies flying across the screen and as they are a big thing in the forest i think i might actually do that!

Aztec temples

In aztec history, these temples were considered 'god houses' and people used to go and pray and sometimes bring offerings to keep the gods happy and still today, people visit them and pray to the gods or ask forgiveness.


"Often a whole area of a city would be dedicated to religious activities. Some monuments would be made to specific gods. Some were built for specific celebrations. The buildings you probably associate with the Aztec religion are the great pyramids. These were four sided, stable structures that can withstand the earthquakes that are common in the area. These would have stairs up one side, and a flat top, often with a shrine on the top."

For my animation I think it would be nice for Quetzalcoatl to sit a top his own temple only it could possibly be made of gold to show just how important he is. The stairs show that the bat could go up to see him but he doesn't because of the respect for him because he is a god. This shows status and power. It does however mean that there won't be any shots of the bat and quetzalcoatl together. 

This is how the temples look. they often have little statue faces up the side.

I really like how this sky looks, looks like the temple is in the clouds which i want it to be like in my animation. As you can see the colours are vivd and beautiful.

http://www.aztec-history.com/aztec-temples.html

Condor

I realise i need to find out what a condor looks like and double check it is native! Thankfully it is. 
They are pretty ugly and scary looking. Having just finished my dissertation about character design, looking at the condor makes me think he is evil. The colours are very dark, mostly black, with a big sharp beak and  the plumage around his neck is like malificents collar!Lots of dangerous looking spikes and n evil looking red around the eyes. This works really well for my story as he is the big bad bird that everyone is afraid of and he is the reason the bat loses his feathers because the condor throws him off the mountain.

Extended practice

For my extended practice module I intend to animate an existing story that i heard on a lantern walk around skipton woods. This will be aimed at children mostly. The story is about a bat who wanted to be a bird and basically tells the story of why the bat is now a nocturnal animal. I will hopefully design the characters as part of my context of practice module.
I have contacted 'the journeyman' who was the story teller asking permission to use his script and also asked if he would be interested in doing the voiceover for me. I hope he responds soon as I will have to come up with a different story to design my characters for COP on too.

Title sequence research

The incredibles is i brilliant title sequence, I like how it starts of with the normal family then the dad rips open his shirt to reveal the logo and then its all action from there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJtUdm3TLZ8&list=PLbEb562CLykF1DEw2z6aDdnMQ7SgowNxS&index=9

Unfortunately our title sequences aren't going to be long like this as that would be like the same length as the actual animation.

Like this which is much shorter and cuter.It is still too long though

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpGLSR5AnIo

I think i might just have to have the title move across the page or something reeaaally simple.

A little more like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIjThYnXaP4

This one is really cool! Its an impressive use of motion and also the text is twisted and has a cool shine on it but i think what makes it is actually the music they use! its very powerful and dramatic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LzVfsNpDxc

This is really cool too but i think thats something to learn as a whole project not just for my title sequence as i dont have time!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jTwX8jz-44

A correlation i see between these posters is that they are all a bit dark, they feature a main character, 3 of which by a close up headshot. they all have the title on.some have more details like release date, some have actors names or "from the makers of" as this might sell the film. 
Now i don't have a main character, or famous actor or anything like that so I actually don't know what to do to make my poster look awesome>?

DVD cover research

 I quite like how in this DVD cover the front and back are linked together with nice bright colour and lines. I have noticed that there is a main image on the front and then 2 more images on the back to show what else is in the dvd. It all flows very nicely and I would quite like to do that with mine.





I  was thinking about using an image of the kitchen to spread across the whole thing but actually after seeing this I'm not so sure. This is a beautiful image so it works better but they have ruined it with the use of type I think. The two typefaces do not go together in my opinion and they just detract from the beautiful imagery. Type is definitely something I will have to take time to consider.

I quite like this cover. It's very simple and looks nice and clean. The spine where the title goes to see it on shelves is very clear unlike the previous one. There is also an extra image on the back of this one to show part of the film action. I very much like this but I don't think black and white would suit my film.






In hunger games, the main characters are on the front. The title on this isn't actually that clear but i think people just recognise it for the characters. I think it is important to have a clear title though. Again on the back there is some stills from the movie.







I also started looking at animated film covers. Wall E uses the more photographic scenes and has the main character on the front. It doesn't have the same image going through the whole thing but they do blend well together. On the back again we have extra images that show more about the story.

 In Darias box set cover it is very simple which suits the style of animation. it is very much like a comic book like on the back with the comic strip style images. It is very clear and again concentrates on the main character on the front.

 In toy story 2 the characters are again at the forefront of it all with very clear titles on the spine and the front with a shot from the movie on the back. The way the image on the front is it shows the mood of the film like its very fun and a bit silly.






Overall from this research I have learnt that the general dvd boxes have the main character/s on the front (which could be a problem as I don't really have any) , a clear title both on the spine and the front, and stills from the movie on the back. I want my box to look clean and simple with nice type and looks appealing so people want to look at it.

Bingomation

As i don't feel loop de loop is right for what i want this month i have decided to do a Bingomation which is almost the same thing but its not a competition. You have to claim a number and then you have to do a 5 second looped animation that shows the bingo call for the corresponding number. Im actually really excited!!
I think it will give me chance to do an animation that seems fun but has limitations that i need to work to i.e the short timeframe, the colour scheme, the size, the theme and deadline. Also its a collaborative project for anyone to get themselves involved with which means my work is going to get shown many places all across tumblr which will give me some publicity. 

"Bingomation is an online collaborative project aimed at showcasing inspiring work from brilliant illustrators, animators and designers around the globe. The challenge is to create a 5 second, looping GIF that visually connects the bingo call to the number in question.
Your GIF must be 500 x 500 pixels wide.

It must be 5 seconds or under.

It must loop.

Your GIF must include your chosen number, in the Patagonia font.

The number must be approximately the same size as it is on the website

You can download the font here:

http://www.fontsquirrel.com/fonts/Patagonia

Finally, It must use the colour palette provided although you can use a many of the colours as you want."

I have 1 month to do it from the time i ask for the number so mine is due on 13th may :) I plan to get it finished and submitted by the end of the week though. 

Drawing styles

 This is just the cutest picture ever. aw! I like the style though its nice and simple and i like the use of gradients in the colour.








 The next image i believe is by the same person as it uses the same style. I also like how where the grass is it comes from nowhere but it just gives that effect of ground so the frog isn't hovering in mid air. 

I really like the colour palate used in this image, I think it is really nice and soft and I think could look a bit more realistic on a photographic background than bright colours would. The drawing style is also very cute!! Im not really sure cute is what I am going for I don't really have any characters in my animation. I just like the softness.

I am finding it really difficult to actually find images of objects that are in a nice style that I am looking for. These seem a bit more 3D than I had thought of but I do like the simplicity. I like the shadows and highlights as it would maybe bring it into the right world but I think everything is just a bit too perfect and rounded.

I quite like this style, I like the hand drawn aspect and it still had shadows and highlights in it but in a more natural way. I think this kind of style possibly mixed with the colours and softness in the characters above could look really nice. 

 I think this style is quite nice and simplistic but still has a bit of realism in it however i think its a little bit too flat maybe? and seems to be quite a bright colour palette.

I really like this. Its cartoony mixed with realism with some movement in it and it doesn't look flat its got lots of natural looking highlights and shadows. I think this could look quite nice as my animation style. I think it would fit quite well with photography. I would obviously have to make sure the images don't sink into the background but i obviously want them to match the right kind of tones. 

test 2 responsive

Today I went to and After effects lesson and i came away with what i think is a better way of doing our WWF animation. Before, my technique was to draw out the whole thing and then frame by frame use the eraser tool and make it look like its been drawn on photoshop using the video timeline. However this new way I believe will be more than twice as fast and so much simpler. Its on after effects. There is a brush tool which allows you to draw free hand, then down on the bottom right, there is a 'write on' option and basically this puts your brush strokes on a timeline so just records what you have just drawn! so it does what i was trying to do without all the erasing and frame by frame nonsense! I am so glad I found this I think it is going to make this project a million times easier! I do however need to figure out how to get an image that I can trace over so I get nice clean images that are how they are supposed to look for example, to make them look like Aggies drawings. Im sure I can just go down to the AV suite and ask Matt for a hand on that though. 
Im quite excited now! here is just a very simple test animation so show the result that I made in literally 5 minutes as apposed to the hours that the previous one took. 

examples of documentary aniamtion

1) This documentary animation is about human right in Zimbabwe. It tells a story through a womans perspective that actually went through it, using her own voice. I think this makes us have more empathy because its like we are there. The simple images work well with the voice over as she describes what happened and the images just back it up. There is no need to show graphic details as it is hard hitting enough without being grousome. Doing an interview with the person who's story you want to tell and recording them is a very good way of getting factual information. It comes straight from the source and you can't stray from what they have said. This reminds me of a visiting speaker we had who showed us their animations from the holocaust using real peoples voices and animating their story. I think this is a fabulous way of evoking empathy and sharing a story.

2)This documentary also has a voice over. It is very clear using language that everybody can understand. This time, we see animated diagrams to back up and explain what they voice is saying. This really helps let what he is telling you sink in and you are more likely to understand it. The pace is very slow and peaceful with nice music playing quietly in the background. I found this very interesting and i think the use of diagrams is a very good way of explaining information given orally.

3)This is an inforgraphic/ motion graphic. It uses type and diagrams to put forward facts and information. There is no voice over on this one but it has a music track with no words. Personally i like the visual style of this animation as it moves nicely and looks clean and is something I would like to learn however I found it difficult for the information to sink in in this format because there appears to be a lot going on sometimes. With this style you would have to guide the readers eye to where you want them to be looking and reading. I think this is something to consider for the future but not for this project.

examples

Some examples of using 2D animation with live action footage include who framed roger rabbit (1988), and space jam(1996). 2 very successful, very popular movies. I think the secret to making the two things look like they interact if probably the use of shadow and reflection, making it look like the animated thing is actually there. Also the acting of the characters is obviously very important, having the correct eye line. Another factor would probably be lighting. If a scene is set in a low light situation and the live action stuff is really dull, then you don't want your animated characters looking like they are in full sunlight.

test for applied animation

I decided to do a tester for my animation technique. I think I can get away with just photography in the background because from this test I can see that I can make my animation interact with the photography. I can do a really wide photograph and pan across it giving it the illusion of being a video! This means I don't have to worry about the fact I have never done film before, I can just use my photography skills. Here is my quick tester animation. I actually quite like it!

Idea generation

Who is my audience?
People that don't know about food waste and where food actually comes from

What do i want to tell people?
I want to tell people that when they throw food away, they are wasting more than just that piece of food. we are just buying food to throw it away which makes suppliers think that we need the food so they produce more meaning there is a strain on resources and more energy and water etc is used to produce all these things that just go in the bin. I also want to show them exactly what goes into making one thing like a sandwich and how much stuff your throwing away.

What style do i want to use?
I want to try and do a hybrid style of film/photography mixed with 2D animation


Why?
Because I am interested in photography and I think it gives it a nice aesthetic when you mix the two. I think this will also show that this is a real life situation because I'm using a real life background. I want the 2D to interact with the background too. I think I might be able to do this with just photography but that all depends on my idea.

Research

This animation is pretty cool. It's a documentary about basically peoples views on food. But they voices are dubbed over animated food so it looks like the food is talking. I think thats a pretty cool way to go about it. It makes it sort of an interview process but it's actually just animation.

Another different way of showing food wastage is this animation:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioCzxxqgLf0

It uses a story line to get its message across which I think is actually a really good idea. It makes it relatable and engaging and actually less fast paced so the information actually goes in and makes you think about what you are doing. This makes you think about the simple waste of 1 beef sandwich and what went into it to make it and how much waste has come from leaving just this 1 sandwich. I really like this idea and I think I might use it. Possibly not the story idea but the taking one simple thing and dissecting what has gone into producing it.

Research

I like how this video ends with ideas on how we can make the world better: reduce waste, reuse leftovers, redistribute surplus.

I also like the way this video ends. It tells us that the amount of food the first world wastes, is enough to feed the third world. Now thats crazy and it almost makes you feel like its our fault that the third world hasn't got enough food!! I also like the simplistic design of this how its just 2 colours. And i am a big fan of when you zoom out it makes a picture though I felt it was a bit obvious in this and it kept panning between lots of different parts of the image rather than naturally progressing like the RSA on I have seen.

This video is also saying about how we could help the 3rd world. I think it is a very good point. Why don't we figure out how much food we need minus it from what we actually produce and give the left overs to a third world country. Ship it straight there for free as we would have been throwing it away anyway. This would end world hunger surely? But it wouldn't stop the drain on the resources of our earth though...

Class research

animateddocs.wordpress.com

poetic mode- subjective interpretations to the subject- little dialogue
expository mode- the voice over/authoritative voice, rhetoric
observational mode- simply observing, not interpreting, fly on the wall
reflexive mode- the documentary aware of itself or process-like a hand drawing it
personative mode- the director is in the middle of the subject- the thing is experienced by the director


The first ever documentary was The sinking of Lusitinia by Windsor McCay. They had to explain at the beginning of the film that this was not real it was just a recount of something that had happened in the past.

A is for atom- an educational style of animation.

victory through airpower-

Teeny little super guy- this is a crazy little animation I would never thought of rawing a guy on a see through cup! so clever!

charlie says- extremely creepy but this was used to inform children of dangers

every mothers nightmare
cant find the video but it was weird about a baby falling out of its pushchair, its pretty creepy.
rail safety- dumb ways to die- informs about railway safety in a fun way

did i say hairdressing? i meant astrophysics
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIcWzLQW004
war story- Ardman- still technically a documentary but this is done from the first personas perspective

studio  aka- they do lots of different animations but the link is to one about meth use. I think this series of them is really hard hitting and clever but done in a poetic way.
http://www.studioaka.co.uk/OurWork/themethprojectcampaign
story corps- nature of war- a very fun flash based but documentary animation

creature comforts- not actually strictly documentary as nothing said is very factual. 

sensory overload- I really like this how its shown how this kid is feeling. I actually got that he was autistic without being told which proves its good.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEg6uFMy_RQ
waltz with Bashir- a feature length animated movie about a man who tries to find out who he is.

Research

I found a website that explains some food wastage but its a lot of words making very little sense.

http://www.fao.org/docrep/018/i3347e/i3347e.pdf



Luckily I found an animated version by the same people! So much easier to digest! Which shows the need for these kinds of animation. I like how this animation flows and is simple and to the point. There are also some good facts on there that I could use in mine for example: Wasted food emits 3.300.00.00 giggatonnes of green house gasses. If this were a country, It would represent the third largest emitting country in the world.

Luckily I found an animated version by the same people! So much easier to digest! Which shows the need for these kinds of animation. I like how this animation flows and is simple and to the point. There are also some good facts on there that I could use in mine for example: Wasted food emits 3.300.00.00 giggatonnes of green house gasses. If this were a country, It would represent the third largest emitting country in the world.

This video is a sequel to the first and actually is more relevant to what I want to talk about. In fact it talked about EXACTLY what I want to say. In this video they used money to show wastage. I don't think i will do that to the extent they have but I think i will throw it in there somewhere.

Some facts I took from this were:

30% of global food production is lots after harvest or wasted in shops house holds of catering services, which represents $750,000,000,000 worth of food every year. in retail that number is $1,000,000,000,000

Research

I put together a Spider diagram of ideas to help me get thinking about what I want to do my animation on. 

I think I would quite like to do something on the purple bit what is like substanance and how much we actually need to eat in comparison to what we actually eat because there is a lot of wastage and that isnt just a bad thing because people all over the world are starving and cant afford food but because we are killing these animals to use as food and then they just get thrown away, meaning we killed them for absolutely no reason. Also that means we have to create new life to replace the animals that have been killed for food which costs money to feed them and look after them and it just seems a bit of an expensive way of doing it.