The overall purpose of the
module was essentially to understand the 12 principles of animation and apply
them to my own practical work. Within the different tasks which were set, there
was also emphasis on learning to use these principles with a number of
materials. For example, plasticine could be used for stop-motion animations or
simple pen on paper could be used in the line tester. In relation to this,
inductions into programmes like photoshop and Premiere aided in making these
animations more smooth and professional. The styles of animation (for example
traditional animation or stop-motion) also come into the module and using a
range was also important for the module.
Within my set of practical
work, one which stood out to me was the 2D stop motion I did of a sea monster
and a character. For the first half I used pen and paper on the line tester and
proceeded to use plasticine for the second half. The film stood out to me
because it applied many of the principles of animation and it made me recognise
how things like anticipation can transmit the story I’m trying to tell
effectively to an audience.
AREAS OF SUCCESS:
·Use of lots of materials
·Many methods of animation used
·I acted on the mistakes I made in previous tasks
·Good sketchbook ideas
·12 principles are evident in work
AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT:
·Photoshop skills could be improved
·I could consider sketchbook drawings within the
context of animation
·Think about timing and pauses within my films
Within my practical tasks for
the module, I incorporated the 12 principles of animation into them and each
task was able to inform the next to make it better. However, when animating, my
tutors told me of the importance of communicating my ideas to an audience so
they see my work in the way I intend. For example, in the timing exercise where
I animated a rocking chair, I was unable to make my character move in symbiosis
with the chair to make it look realistic. However in future tasks like my
stop-motion with plasticine, I was able to make the boat rocking move in
accordance with my character’s movement. I have also learned how important
small movements are when incorporating principles like anticipation because in
this film, making my character blink a few times effectively built some
suspense and made the finished project more effective.
Within the pre-production element
of my work such as storyboarding, I have realised how important sequential
thinking is in keeping my projects organised and making sure they look like the
animation I intended to make. By mapping out storyboards and angles I was
immediately more able to translate my ideas into animation far more
effectively. For later storyboards, I was also told to incorporate things like
movement of characters and camera movement. Therefore, for future projects, I
realise the importance of communicating to an audience which are heavily aided
through the 12 principles of animation.
When watching animated public service announcements, I realised the applications of animation when informing the public of potential dangers. In the one about wearing sun protection, the animators depicted the sun as a giant monster which could send out beams of light to people who would proceed to get burns or grow enormous tumours. As public service announcements are essentially warnings about certain things, animation allows for them to be dramatised so certain aspects can be exaggerated to make this warning more poignant. Furthermore, as apposed to PSA's using actors, the animated aspect also can show these dangers in a public friendly way because it doesn't feature real people.
Through watching Documentaries of animators around the world, I have come to realise the power of it in informing audiences of real events in a debatably more effective way. For example, the documentary I found illustrating the war in New Zealand could convey the events which would not have had cameras to document them. In a way, the film demonstrates what happened in an accurate way because it is based off the journal entries of soldiers in the war. I found this interesting because the medium of animation enabled the documentary to be told in a way which could tell the story of what happened in a way which spoken word and images can't do.
Creating an animation with multiple moving parts presented me with some challenges. To animate this underwater scene, I had to consider the movement of water when my character jumps in and then the interaction between him and the fish I designed. drawing up a storyboard assisted me with this because I knew the angles and movements I intended for my characters to make. A challenge with this film was, as I animated with photoshop, each frame had to be drawn individually, making the end result play very fast. I overcame this by taking the file into Premiere and adjusting the speed of each scene to slow it down, add pauses and make it look more natural. An element I could have improved on was to add more dramatic arcs and squash and stretch the fish character to make it look more animated and give it more characteristics.
Within this picture, I see an element of nostalgia which exists within contemporary creatives. I personally find that making physical stop motion puppets rather than digitally rendered ones has a charm, especially when they are done using the facilities available now. For example, the armature in this photograph has clearly had silicone or a similar material moulded onto it and painted, making it an effective and realistic puppet for stop motion. The character's clothes and props were also clearly hand crafted and the end result is impressive.
Further use of this sense of nostalgia especially within film can be seen with Directors like Wes Anderson, whose stop motion films make the audience embrace the medium rather than make these animations look as realistic as possible. Therefore, despite the rapidly growing facilities in computer animation, people still look back at the old ways of doing things because they have a very distinctive aesthetic which some would prefer to modern methods.
Making a story which started with one medium and finished with a different one aided in me becoming more accomplished in anticipation and follow through as principles of animation. The first video applies anticipation through the wave pushing the character's boat, which I think worked well. I also applied it subtly through him blinking, looking around, and then looking down before the camera zooms out revealing the monster. This could have been improved on because the pauses where I have the character looking around look ever so slightly jolted.
The second video applies the principle of follow through with various aspects of the animation, such as the boat sinking, the characters hat floating and the movement of the creature. Using 2D stop motion animation worked well for this one and I found it easier to visualise what was going to happen with this medium.
The applications for animation in the advertising industry are endless. What I found striking about these ads was how each company utilises different methods of animation to make it their own. For example, the PES adverts use stop motion to create coordinated and complex animation. The sound effects they use are very distinctive and striking. This has made me realise that sound is just as important as the visual element of animation because it gives extra emphasis on what the viewer is watching. It is also interesting to see mediums like traditional animation and stop motion being used in modern television like the John Lewis and Sainsbury's Christmas adverts.
'traditional animation and computer animation should exist side by side. 'The tiger featured in the movie, Life of Pi, is an example. That tiger was the star of the show yet generated by software programs and computer-generated animation.' Computer generated characters which can evoke genuine emotions from an audience and even potentially upstage real life actors.
'The task in post-production is always going to be that ability to take the actor’s performance and actually interpolate that performance, while also retaining it but also putting it onto the physiognomy of an ape.' -Andy Serkis
'although the essence of the performance may belong to Serkis, the final character and performance that appears onscreen represents the creative contributions of dozens of digital artists and animators.' With new technologies involve the collaboration of multiple people to make a finished product.
New technologies include things like replacement animation and making complex silicone casts for stop motion.
ANIMATION FOR FANTASTIC MR FOX
'he made us challenge all our preconceptions about what stop-motion puppets are.' -Peter Saunders, puppet maker for Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr Fox.
New technologies for animation come down to individual pieces of fur. Allowing for animators to go from traditional animation but presenting new challenges.
With even stop-motion creating new and innovative ways to create realistic performance using real life references.
An idea that new techniques for animation has influenced the actual storytelling process writers create. It says they have gone from damsels in distress type stories with a fairytale background to rebellious characters changing a seemingly perfect society. (seems to be with Disney films in particular).
Technology for animation has applications in more than just film, with uses in military simulations and related delicate subjects like surgery.
VIRTUAL/AUGMENTED REALITY
technology allowing realistic 3D environments. People are also working on environments to interact with in real time
NOSTALGIA
'Millennials grew up in the Disney Renaissance (1989-1999)'
'Animation subsequently carried Millennials into their adolescence and early adulthood. Many simply cannot remember life before "The Simpsons" and "South Park". This has fuelled a massive adult 2D animation industry, with channels like Adult Swim, Fox and Netflix leading the pack.'
'For “Isle of Dogs,” Wes Anderson created an epic love letter to Japanese cinema of the ’60s wrapped in a canine buddy movie. And like “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” the quirky, detail-oriented director once again embraced the old-school roots of stop-motion animation, luxuriating in its crude, analog charms (the antithesis of Laika’s acclaimed polish).'
Directors like Wes Anderson demand that audiences take on the medium of stop motion contrary to industries which would make these films as smooth as possible.
'I feel like i'm sculpting a performance. It's what kids do when they're playing.'
The appeal of nostalgia clearly comes from each creative person's mind, stretching from the animators working on the film to directors like Wes Anderson.
Hand made faces and 'Lipsync' faces for dogs.
Where many elements of animated films can be achieved through technology, film makers still use techniques like knitting to create the clothes for stop motion because it gives it an aesthetic that couldn't be achieved on a computer.
A hand drawn/made style always seems to have an appeal to it. Even if it doesn't seem the smoothest it could be, a hand crafted piece of work is appreciated.
The 2018 Lion King trailer seems to pay homage to its traditional version from 1994. It is debatable and would vary among individuals which style is better but the question of these live action remakes is whether they are necessary. Also whether companies are doing it for money.
There is charm in the old ways of doing things. This zoetrope is an example of the old ways being renewed with 3D modelling, rather than flat illustrations.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Banerjee, Souvik. “How Are New Technologies Improving the Creation of Animation Films?” RS Web Solutions, 9 Oct. 2017, www.rswebsols.com/tutorials/technology/technologies-creation-animation-films.
Amidi, et al. “This Award Season, Andy Serkis Has Found New Ways To Disrespect Animators.” Cartoon Brew, 3 Nov. 2017, www.cartoonbrew.com/ideas-commentary/award-season-andy-serkis-found-new-ways-disrespect-animators-154385.html.
WIRED. “Andy Serkis Breaks Down His Motion Capture Performances | WIRED.” YouTube, YouTube, 24 Oct. 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=116&v=DpRLTfVEhMk.
eOnefilms. “ParaNorman Featurette: Making Norman.” YouTube, YouTube, 2 Aug. 2012, www.youtube.com/watch?v=FlUxuAG2Ac8.
Sancton, Julian. “How the Puppets from Fantastic Mr. Fox Were Made [Slide Show].” The Hive, Vanity Fair, 31 Jan. 2015, www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2009/11/how-the-puppets-from-fantastic-mr-fox-were-made-slideshow.
Studios, LAIKA. “INSIDE LAIKA | Jason Stalman, The Boxtrolls.” YouTube, YouTube, 15 Oct. 2018, www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaH4859JX3Q.
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Holmes, Kevin. “4-Mation Carousel 1: Jumping Frogs - a 3D Zoetrope.” YouTube, YouTube, 28 Sept. 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_-j9uuaDOQ.
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In-text Citation
Desowitz, Bill. “'Isle of Dogs': How Team Wes Anderson Created a Stop-Motion Love Letter to Japanese Cinema.” IndieWire, IndieWire, 23 Mar. 2018, www.indiewire.com/2018/03/isle-of-dogs-wes-anderson-stop-motion-animation-japanese-cinema-1201942149/.
Mak, Philip. “#ThrowBackThursday: How Nostalgic Millennials Are Influencing 2D Animation.” Toon Boom Blog, blog.toonboom.com/storytelling/throwbackthursday-how-nostalgic-millennials-are-influencing-2d-animation.
The series of films I made to sum up the principles of animation went relatively well although I think I will learn more from my mistakes in this case. With the first, each frame was individually drawn but I hadn't considered the layers when colouring my animation so there was lots of room for improvement. The second and third films experimented with arcs and using key frames to make an object move. With the film depicting whale like creatures, I didn't pay attention to the frame rate that I rendered my film at so it was much more jumpy and faster than I had expected. The Astronaut helped me to understand how the key frames on photoshop work. Overall I was satisfied with the aesthetic of my films but I need to pay more attention to technical details, especially when working on photoshop.
The Animator survival kit - Richard Williams
Timing for Animation - Harold Whitaker
Simplified Drawing: For Planning Animation - Wayne Gilbert
The Wes Anderson clooection: Isle of Dogs - Lauren Wilford
Stop Motion Puppet Sculpting - Tom Brierton
3 Places
Manchester animation festival
Animation 2018 - London BFI
Laika studios- Portland, Oregon
