2d, 3d Collaboration

2D,3D collaboration on Vimeo
Wassup people. Started my final term last week. To ease us into what will be 2 months of stress we were given this assignment. To team up with one of the 3d students and do a short animation based on a piece of dialogue which was provided by our lecturer; Parents making a statement about their kids with the child in the background contradicting or reinforcing the statement. Eg: The parent could say something like, he’s really quiet and the child could be making a racket behind them. The idea was inspired by Nick Parks Creature Comforts.
After picking our partners, dialogue and tasks out of a hat (envelope) we got down to it. My partner was Emma (I forgot her last name, will edit it in later). She animated the parent, I did the child. The dialogue was: “We’re all a slave to her allergies.” (I personally think it sound more like, “We’re all a slave to allergies”) Our idea was to have a child itching and sneezing due to an allergic reaction to the cat she’s holding. Obviously, the cat’s no good for her, but she’s a brat, you know how some kids can be.  Steve Roberts (our lecturer) advised us to use flash as it would be easier to composite. Traditional methods would have taken to much time. I was a bit reluctant to use flash as I prefer the freedom and expressiveness of pencil and paper but our lectures are always saying, there is more flash work out there than traditional animation, so I got off my high horse  and decided to give it a go. In short, I learnt so much this week, took a while getting use to flash, I was doing everything really slowly, but I’m pleased with the results. It’s a very simple animation using lots cycles, symbols and other flash jargon, but I think flash caters for this style of movement (that’s not strictly true, I’ve seen some amazing flash work that looks like hand drawn animation). There is more I wanted to do to it like when she turns her head back after the sneeze, there’s no follow through or smear. I also wanted the snot to hit the dads shoe and drip slightly. In addition, I would have liked to have added more shadows to make her feel like she’s part of the space. The 3d element also needs to be fully rendered. And the colour changed so that that the 2d fits with the 3d better. We tried cell shading it but it didn’t come out right. If I was working by myself, I would have tried to push it to increase my understanding, but I wouldn’t have met the deadline and when I’m working with someone, I feel like I don’t want to let them down so my main concern was getting it finished. Hopefully I’ll have time to tweak it later.

And Again….
Wes
Ps I’m gonna start posting roughs for my finals, watch this space….please 

Dash

At the beginning of the my course I did an older Dash in flash (no "rhyme" intended) run cycle. I did the above sketch the other week because I heard Pixar are making a Toy Story 3, TOY STORY 3??!!!! WHY?? I'd prefer and Incredibles 2. Everyones older, Violet engaged, Jack Jack learning his powers, Dash at Uni, Frozone with his first daughter or son (Ok, that might sound corny but I'm no writer). I think you could do more with the Incredibles than another Toy Story, then again, Pixar haven't messed up yet right. Lets see how it goes. Didn't wanna post old animation but what the hell. Check below.

And Again....
Wes

Ps: As usual, there's a lot I'd change about this. I'm gonna do another run in flash using symbols, same amount of frames, different character.




The Dash on Vimeo

Bruce Lee's Advice to Animators

Bruce Lee, Speaks On Animation.... on Vimeo

Wassup people. Haven't blogged properly in a while. Really sorry, just had so much going on. Come April 16th, I begin my final term in St Martins. Got a lot to do. I'm off for 2 more weeks so I'm working on some things from last term as well as some experiments so, I’ll post it as soon as. In the mean time here is my second lip synch task. I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand I feel really happy with it because of how much I learnt. On the other, I feel disappointed because it’s not the animation or result I see in my head. I did this in about 6 days (conception to realisation) but I know if I had more time, it could have been better. It would take me longer than a professional to do it, weeks longer, due to lack of experience, but this animation has convinced me that I could be a decent animator. Why not right? I’m really frustrated at the moment because I have so many unanswered questions, questions that can only be answered by me. My own journey of constant practice and trial & error. But my course will be over come June and I’m worried that I won’t have the creative freedom I have now in a working environment. I feel like I’m under achieving. I guess my final film will be the make or break.

This piece is just like all the animation I’ve done, I see nothing but areas I want to improve. Acting, arcs, design, drawings the list is long, and the explanation is longer so I won’t go into it, but if you wanna know what I think, let me know. And let me know what you think and how I can improve it.

And Again….

Wes

Following is some of the development work i did.

Naked Animation

Seeing some Prince of Egypt Model sheets supplied by Paul Stone (resident animator and another teacher) gave me the idea of animating the form first. My anatomy isn't great, but it did give me some understanding of whats going on underneath. Next time, I won't do it so detailed.

Bruce Lee, Speaks On Animation....phase 02 on Vimeo

Sketches

Martial Artists Always have powerful hands so i thought it'd be a good idea to do some hand studies. I don't think I did them to well in the animation, but I'll keep at it. The first set were done from memory, the second from life.



The Master..Bruce Lee...
Jump
While I'm here, might as well tell you of the show I went to see last wednesday. Jump, Peacock Theatre in Holborn. If you like martial arts, comedy and animation, yes animation, go see this. I was so inspired, i'm gonna attempt an animated walk from the show, pics below.


Ok, I'm done now. :)