References

Used to as a reference for character 1 in the storyboard.

The Animator's Survival Kit by Richard Williams: Used for animation understanding.

referencereference.com : Used for facial expressions reference.

Spirited Away, Studio Ghibli: Inspiration.

Final Project Blog

      My interpretation of the script was two college aged boys babysitting and trying to pass time by messing around with the baby. When reading the script I pictured two people sarcastically playing with an object that doesn't really do anything. Just them exaggerating the situation. In the end, when the baby fell asleep, the second object was the grandfather that had been sitting in the room the whole time.

      Of the 12 principles of animation, in this project I focussed on learning more of secondary actions. Between the two characters I tried to keep them moving as much as I could within my time limitations. Whether it blinking, nodding, or hand movements, they both had portrayed secondary actions. Another principle used was exaggeration. This principle was easily found in the fast movements when I used a motion blur in order to exaggerate the speed that the character was moving. I also used follow through for character two's hair. When he was moving his hair continued to move shortly after he had already stopped.

      I feel that I've grown stylistically as well as giving characters more expression. Throughout the year I've had trouble maintaining both style and animation simultaneously but now I feel I've been able to balance out the two. I'm glad to see the style improvements between my first short to this one.

      In the animation I felt that it was strongest in the middle of the short. In the beginning you can tell I was still trying to get comfortable with the animation and style and near the end you can see it gradually becoming more rushed as I reached my deadline. In the future I'd like to take time to figure out my style and figuring out how each character moves and looks at different angles. I'd also like to continue to learn better time management, but I'm realizing that this is something I could always improve on even when I'm in the field.

      I was disappointed that I wasn't able to finish on time and couldn't get the ending how I wanted it, but overall I was happy with how it turned out. I think that next time I'll focus on laying down each keyframe first instead of almost blindly diving in, besides already having a storyboard. I feel like I've improved a lot with this project alone and hopefully after this class I'll continue to improve just as well.

Weekly Comments

This week was nothing but pushing to finish the final project. I was focussing too much on making it look nice and having more movement than getting it done so sadly I don't expect to meet the deadline with it finished. I hope to learn later on how to better manage my time while still producing something that reflects what I originally wanted. 

This link is a trailer along with a brief article of a South African animated short called Kariba based on a modern African fairy tail. 

http://www.cartoonbrew.com/feature-film/south-african-artists-are-drawing-attention-with-kariba-proof-of-concept-trailer-113129.html

Weekly Comments

   I think this week was pretty productive. Monday I finished my 3D short. I'm definitely not happy with it and I messed up a few things near the end, but that's probably because I'm a naturally confused person. I chose the abstract animation for the independent study and I'm having a hard time planning ahead for it. 

   I wasn't exactly frustrated with returning to animate pro, but it took me a bit to get used to the controls again. After a bit of playing around it all came back to me. I'm pretty happy to return to 2D and saying goodbye to 3D for as long as I can. 

This is some blast from the past I stumbled upon! An early test of computer animation after the movie Tron. 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LvIDRoO8KnM

Weekly Comments

   I think this week was pretty productive. Monday I finished my 3D short. I'm definitely not happy with it and I messed up a few things near the end, but that's probably because I'm a naturally confused person. I chose the abstract animation for the independent study and I'm having a hard time planning ahead for it. 

   I wasn't exactly frustrated with returning to animate pro, but it took me a bit to get used to the controls again. After a bit of playing around it all came back to me. I'm pretty happy to return to 2D and saying goodbye to 3D for as long as I can. 

This is some blast from the past I stumbled upon! An early test of computer animation after the movie Tron. 

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LvIDRoO8KnM

Weekly Comments

   This week was mostly trees, trees, and more trees. I did finish my campground, though. I definietly wasn't thinking when I put a campfire in my story. I might have to go back and change my storyboard. 

   I would like to learn how to make fire in the future, but I don't want to focus on it and run out of time. I might look up some tutorials at home though. Maybe I'll need to make a fire later on. 

I was definitely frustrated with finding a nice bark texture. I spent most of a day looking for textures and I'm just glad I found decent ones. 

Here's a list of some animated shorts. I don't think anyone needs them as inspiration but they're still nice to watch. 

http://www.creativebloq.com/3d/best-3d-shorts-2013-9134548

Having a Diverse Demo Reel

   Animator Shawn Kelly writes how to make your demo reel more appealing and why you should aim for multiple studios. He gives three reasons why to make your demo reel with more variety in animation styles. Kelly compares animators to bakers and how limiting yourself to learn how to 'bake' one thing will also limit your job oportunities. In order to get to your goal you will need to step out of your comfort zone and climb your way to it. 

   I agree that we should learn as many skills as we can and apply them to what we are most interested in. It was interesting to see that he doesn't put animators into categories. I think that that's a good way to keep your mind open to doing more styles and jobs in the future.