Style Frame

This is what i keep seeing in my head for some strange reason ... yes a tractor i think it is from spending too much time in the countryside! So i thought of a way i could make it interesting and what better way to do it than to add some texture and pattern into the design. The hills are split into sections which is taken from my inspiration 'Tiny Wings' and as they use texture i have added pattern to make it slightly different and just as interesting and colourful. From my idea of using the 4 elements this one will symbolise earth as farmers literally live of the earth that is their source of income and how they survive. After i knew how i wanted my frames to look i thought of how i could portray the other elements and with a similar meaning to this i will use a fishing boat for water.
Note to self - these are not necessarily the final compositions as i need to play around with the colour/pattern and overall layout to make sure i portray the correct mise-en-scene to the audience. I still need to decide on what events will occur within each scene and that will then give me more of an incite into finding the correct colour scheme and composition.
(These are simply visuals that i keep imagining ... i wanted to make sure i documented them before i started my development.)

Even though they are just examples of what i want the final piece to look like i still haven't just placed different patterns and texture into my hand drawn images willy nilly i have tried to carefully consider the colour and the amount of pattern that goes into each individual section to make sure i get the hang of making sure the composition is clear and understandable to the audience. For example in the both of these style frames i have used pastel colours for a calm and relaxed vibe to portray a calm and peaceful environment.

Here is a quick test i am in the middle of developing in after effects of my rough thought process of how i want the animation to look, i want everything to be hand drawn in black Biro/ink, scanned in and then animated in after effects as i really want my after effects skills to improve! The test is currently only 2 seconds long and the movement of the boat is not great but i wanted to just make sure i would be able to animate successfully in after effects and i think the single splash i have created works successfully.

Henri Matisse and Picasso

After i realised what style i wanted to use i then wanted to look at line drawings by famous artists as all the components in my animation i shall hand draw by just using the outline and then later filling the spaces with wallpaper patterns and textures. I have mentioned Gustav Klimt already as he is one of my all time favorites and as i thinking about him i remembered some of the other artists i looked at in my first year of college in a life drawing lesson that i also really liked.
Similar to Klimt Matisse is another artist who used line drawings however they differ in the way that Matisse only uses one confident line to represent the shape of the female form. I think in this way the images are more simplistic and less realistic but again the movement, cures and grace are shown with just simple lines. But looking at the technique i want to use this style would be no use as there are too many gaps within the lines which gives an almost unfinished look and since i am adding detail into the spaces and shapes leaving gaps within the original drawing would make things a lot more difficult and messy.
Again this technique i wouldn't be able to use for the same reason as Matisse but i still wanted to mention Picasso's line drawings as again they are so very different. This time it is not a portrait, Picasso has looked at animals and used ONE line to create a shape that we as the audience would recognise. These images are so fantastic i think even though they are so unbelievably simple, they almost look like small illustrations for a children's story.

Ideas and Inspiration

Ok so i have realised i am into hand drawn/traditional animation but i don't think the frame by frame drawing is for me as i can't seem to get my head around it SO i thought about drawing the elements of my animation separately then scanning them into my mac and animating it in after effects rather than by hand but i am still using the hand drawn element. So my next step will be to test this! Another thing i have realised is i am not too good at drawing people and animating them correctly so i am going to try and steer clear of using characters within my animation until i feel confident enough to do so. (I am going to keep developing my life drawing skills throughout the year to see if i can crack it!).

INSPIRATION
I recently bought a game for my I phone and i love the graphics on it, the game is called Tiny Wings and here are some examples of a few of the levels.

I think the reason i like them is because the colour pallet within each level is very complimentary and very subtle, it all seems to feel peaceful and serene. For a game i think this is very unusual as you would expect the colours to be bright and bold. I also like the use of such simple shapes to portray the object within the game and you always know exactly what they are, its very abstract. This is the kind of look and feel i am going for.
Then i thought of what i could animate in this way and i thought of the 4 elements - water, earth, air, fire because i think this kind of feel would be most appropriate and as each level is a different colour scheme that is how i would show the elements. Over the summer i have spent a lot of time in wales and where better to collect bits and bobs from than the sea side! So i thought of representing Earth with a tractor and lots of fields in a similar style to 'Tiny wings' as they are almost like owners of the Earth, they live of it, its how they earn money to live. For water i took a photo at the start of the summer of a harbor at sunset with small fishing boats on it and again they are fishing for a living just like a farmer wood and it fits in with the whole peaceful and gracefulness of the animation. I am undecided about air and fire at the moment so i am going to test earth and water to see how it looks and then develop air and fire as i go along.

Final Evaluation

A few weeks ago i went in to show Rick what i had done so far and we had a chat about things that i could improve on and things i needed to change.

So the first thing i changed was i made the video widescreen before i started to do anything else and then i sat down and watched what i had and made a note of what i needed to change to get the animation just right.

So the next thing i decided to change was the type at the end of the animation so i had a look at the type used in the actual game and game promotion and in the end i decided to go for the Sonic title font. The reason for this is because i felt it would be the most recognisable to the audience also its bold and chunky so it is very easy to read and so it went nicely with the Sega logo i made the other type the same colour.

One thing i was really struggling with was the tagline i have tried to develop it a million times but it is not my strongest point so in the end i decided to use '20 years of sonic' (to make sure i was promoting the anniversary since that is what the brief has asked) 'Relive the adventure' (the only worry i have with this though is it only really grabs one of the target audiences, the people who have already played the game. However i then realised what it will do is make people want to pick up the game again and start playing or even make those new, younger members of the target audience think they may be missing out and want to start their adventure.)

Then what i needed to do was find a song that would fit really well, i was going to use the original sonic theme tune on the first game but i find it too obvious and very annoying so i looked into other options. I knew i wanted to use a song from one of the sonic games to keep it as close to the game as possible and i did find a song on youtube but i am unsure of which game it is from but it defiantly sounds a lot better than the original song i had chosen. The song i did choose was from Sonic the Hedgehog 2 'The chemical plant zone' and i just think its slightly different from the 'green hill zone' music which was very cliche but still gives the same feel its just slightly more edgy and feels new and fresh.

After this i then studied the game a bit more looking at the pace of it and what happens to sonic when he hits an obstacle or enemy and tried to replicate this the best i could. From the beginning i couldn't get it right it was always to fast or just looked a bit odd but after looking and playing the game myself i think i have managed to make it look very similar and now people who i have shown my work to have been able to understand what is going on.

The next thing i wanted to do was play with the composition of the shots to see if i could make them more exciting, i tried making the images bigger cutting off sections in the shot and making some of the images smaller to fit more of the surroundings in.

Overall the animation has really developed from when i went in to talk to Rick and i now finally feel happy with the end result and i also feel more confident with working in after effects and the quality of the video when it is exported is so much better of that in premier. If i was to do this project over again from the very beginning i would of worked this way from the start but i still feel that getting a second chance to re do the project has really helped the way i work develop so i feel prepared for my next project and i know i will finish it successfully and on time!

Niki Pilkington email reply

In response to your questions:



What inspires your illustrations?

It may sound obvious, but the person I'm drawing is the biggest

inspiration on what I'm drawing. Whether I'm working from found images, or

on personal commissions, for me, the most important part of my work is

that I portray certain personality traits of the girl that I'm drawing and

allow the viewer to get an insight of what she's all about. I draw these

girls because they lure me in for some reason, and I want the person

looking at the picture to feel the same way. If you're going to tell a

story, I believe you should tell it right.



...the use of the pencil drawings with the coloured cut outs and coloured

sections what made you decide to do this?

It's just a style which has evolved over time I guess. I've always wanted

to find new ways to try to bring my pictures to life and I feel like this

is the best way for me to do that. I like combining the different

dimensions - it's fun to make and hopefully fun to look at too. I don't

take my work too seriously, which makes mixing my detailed pencil drawings

and all these childlike materials and techniques easy.

Tests and Development

Ok so this is another test i did to in after effects, i have made the video into widescreen like is should be and i have played around with the part where sonic falls into the water. I watched someone play the original sonic game on youtube and i have noticed that when sonic hits his enemy/obstacle/water he flashes for about 2 seconds whilst your still moving him. So what i have done differently in this one is as soon as he hits the water he flashes and he continues to flash as he starts rolling again. I think this represents the game so much better and i showed one of my friends this video and she even said 'awww he is flashing like in the game' so i think i have finally cracked that! Also just to mention i haven't yet added the start and correct finish to the animation i am just focusing on the original footage that i have so i can plan properly how long i have to add them in.

I wanted to keep playing with the tests so i played around with the positioning of the images in shot and the timing of the type at the end. I do like the text and the way it appears on screen but i still think it is too slow it needs to be constant, sharp and snappy just like the animation and the game would be. Also after i had exported the movie i have realised that some of the shots sonic is completely cut off and it is just close ups of the floor/object he is suppose to roll across so i need to go back and re look at this.

Still not beginning but what i haven't mentioned is that after the first test i removed "remember me" for the tagline as i don't think it fits so at the moment it is just "20 years of sonic, relive the adventure' this still needs some work i think so i am going to keep playing with this but use it for now just to map out where it should be and the speed of its appearance. I still have managed to get the speed right i still think it is very slow but i think the rest of the animation is working maybe just need to try moving things around to see if there are any other options to make it more exciting.

Ok now i have added the beginning and the end, i have tried to create a sense of enigma at the beginning of the animation and i have certainly done that as the clips are way too fast that you can't even tell whats going on! So these now need to be slowed down so that they fit nicely with the rest of the animation. At the end of the animation i have still used a clip of sonic walking towards the camera but this time i have added a wink at the end just to show of sonics cheeky persona and i feel that it is an end to the animation not just cutting out into type but like the beginning it needs to be slowed down.

I have tried messing around with the beginning of this test and i have made a few mistakes and its all over the place and one of the clips sonic is cut off again so i need to revisit this. I feel that the type at the end is getting there, the speed it almost perfect and i defiantly like the fact each word comes up individually because it makes it more legible the audience are more likely to pay attention when they aren't over faced by text. So its slowly getting there!

I added sound to this one and i thought i had faded in and out but i haven't and it sounds terrible! I want to experiment with the soundtrack too, this one is the most obvious but will help the audience understand but i am going to try a few tracks all from the sonic games but maybe a bit less obvious and less annoying! I also made the speed of the video faster and i think it works better but the bit where he falls into the water needs to go back to the speed i have had it as i think its too fast now.

I tried another song and i think i prefer this, i am not too sure which Sonic game it is from but its different and has a bit more of a beat. This animation overall is by far the best just a few more tweaks here and there to make sure everything is perfect but hopefully it will finally be complete!!!

Soundtrack?

Now i need to find a song that will fit nicely with my animation so i started off by typing 'sonic soundtracks' into you tube to see what i could find and the first one i came across was The sonic 'green hill zone' which is one of the original and most famous soundtracks of the game. I am going to try this over the animation on one of my tests to see if it will fit as i think it will probably be the most popular and recognisable.

Then i looked at loads more but i don't think they will fit as the tempo and overall feel will not suit the overall mise-en-scene of my piece. Here are a few more examples of songs i looked at.

The 'Marble zone' music was a bit too slow for the pace of my animation and a bit too deep, its not exciting enough so i kept on looking.

I then stepped away from the first Sonic the Hedgehog and looked at ones from Sonic the Hedgehog 2 but again it was too deep and not exciting enough for the pace of my animation and i didn't want to steer to far away from the original game which is most likely for people to pick up the music from.

So again i reverted back to the original Sonic the Hedgehog 1 but this one is far too slow and has a very, very relaxed feel to it and i want my piece to be a bit mental and a lot faster so i continued my search for the right soundtrack.

Then i came across this soundtrack from Sonic the Hedgehog 2 'The chemical plant zone' which i love ... it still sounds like a sega made sonic theme tune but feels a lot newer a lot more exciting than something people are going to expect to hear. It also gives a small enigma to the piece but not enough so to not realise what it is!

So i then found another song but again was too slow so i know i am defiantly going to try the original 'green hill zone' and 'The chemical plant zone' from Sonic 2 and see how i get along with putting them over the animation to then make my final decision.