The Pond

http://www.thepondstudio.com/

The Pond Studio - CG animation studio based in Wilmslow (very local)
The Pond's creative team have experience in all areas of 3d and in a range of media. They have worked on projects for the BBC, Discovery Channel, ITV as well as feature films.

I love some of the work they do however it is all CG and 3D which i am not too great at. I like the fact they are so local too! I was going to ask them for a portfolio visit but what stopped me was the fact my work is varied so i'm not too sure it would be the place to go.

Frog Maya Test

Needs a bit of tweaking and it shall be round but i think progress so far is ok!

Bloody Splash

I can't for the life of me figure out how to animate thissplash! I have tried in photoshop and flash and i can't do it!

I want to try using black card and scan it into the computer and keep cutting it down until its disappears then reverse it to portray a splash?

Failed attempt

Composition

Before i start animating i need to finalise the compostition of where i want my frog to enter and exit the screen...i don't want him dead central because it is slightly boring and predictable i want to use the whole screen to invite the audience. However i can place him right in the corners of the screen because depending on what TV settings you may have it may be cut off! I need to play around with the composition maybe placing him slightly higher or lower on the screen and slight left or right of the centre.

I had a quick look at some advise on compostition i thought this might be helpful ...

'Except possibly for people looking directly at the camera, it's often best to place the center of interest near one of the points indicated by the rule of thirds.

In the rule of thirds the total image area is divided vertically and horizontally into three equal sections.

Although it's often desirable to place the center of interest somewhere along the two horizontal and two vertical lines, generally composition is even stronger if the center of interest falls near one of the four cross-points illustrated in the photo on the right below.

A few still cameras even have the rule of thirds guidelines visible in their viewfinders.

But, remember, we are speaking of a rule of thirds, not law of thirds. The rule of thirds is only a guideline — something that should be considered while composing a scene. Although composition is often stronger using the rule of thirds, many scenes (see below) "work" that do not follow this guideline.' (Television Production:Elements of compostition - www.cybercollege.com)

Another Water Splash in Super Slow Motion

I found this one the most helpful because of the red food colouring i can see exactly which bits of the water go where and where the centre is that the object has been dropped into.

Water Splashes

Trying to figure out how to animate a splash I looked at real splashes and also 2D and 3D animated ones as well.

Tree Frog

Animal Photos

Henry Horenstein - Animalia

I found these while i was looking for frog pictures ... there are a range of photos with odd compositions. (I think this is why i like them) I may us them maybe in the future.

London!

I found that there is a lot of time spent looking at the animatic ... the animatics i saw were amazing and if you have an animatic to a good standard your final piece will benefit.

Tandem

I loved the layout and feel to their work environment ... it was light at open giving a better work experience. There is not hierarchy as everyone works on the same floor fairly close to each other. I also liked the fact the employes/freelance did there own work as well and the company supported it.

Nexus

I didn't really like the work they produced however the freelancer that working the attic like area was really interesting.

Cinesite

This company was massive! Even though they are producing special effects for major hollywood films it was very calm and relaxed. I found the business side of things a lot more prominent within in this company that is what they talked most about (The money). Which fair enough for most companies working within hollywood is their main goal! Unlike smaller companies such as Tandem will focus as a small team on their work more than money (thats the impression i got any way).

After visiting these 3 companies i am fairly scared about heading into the world of industry especially as you never tend to stay in one place for too long. I gathered that the majority of people i met are freelance and work with companies and continue to do their own work on the side. You also need to keep your showreel fresh you constantly need to up date it as the industry progresses throughout the future.

Animatics

These are a few of my rough ideas so far ...

Help me animate!

This video has been really helpful to me as it shows extremely slowly the movement of a frog at the start and in the middle of the jump .... I am a bit gutted there isn't an end to the jump so i will need to study the landing separately.

Looking at the movement of water.

I looked at these to see how the water would move when my frog jumps into it and this is what i could find that might help me!
Movement of water when something jumps/is dropped in .

Looking at the movement of a frog.

I wanted to look a bit more closely at the movement of the frog before trying to animate ....

Frog jumping a long distance, a jump in slow motion, frog walking in snow and a frog eating a bug .

Charlie Chaplin - The Great Dictator!

I saw this while at the Film museum in london and thought it was pretty funny! I have never really looked at Charlie chaplin before but after watching clips from his films i want to see more! :D

Frog Test

I made a quick animatic in flash to show what my first idea is roughly going to look like...

Nat Geo Wild Current Idents

Click here to watch the ident

Sound in the ident creates a kind of rainforest ambience. Really creates the feel that you are surrounded by nature in your living room. calming and

Nat Geo Wild

I have chosen to change my channel still stickingwith animals but i am going to use ...

This logo is a lot nicer than the Animal Planet Logo and i wanted to concentrate more on wildlife rather than pets so i think its more appropriate.

Human Connection with Animals

'Its new strategy is to build series around the connection people feel with animals with storylines in which the people become as important or more important than the animals.' Media Life Magazine

Useful?

Animal’s target is viewers 18-49 and 25-54, but it’s looking to build up its audience among women in those demos, who are most likely to be drawn to shows with emotional storylines. Media Life Magazine

Animal Planet - Why a change of logo?

On February 3, 2008, Animal Planet "relaunched" itself under a new image that "sheds its soft and furry side for programming and an image with more bite." As part of the relaunch, Animal Planet replaced their elephant and spinning globe logo for a starker text image that allows more flexibility in its usage.