Trees

I need to choose and stick with an aesthetic in regards to my scenery for example the trees and forest. So i thought i would have a look at illustrations and drawings of trees and also videos of how they would blow in the wind.I want a tree that really looks strange and creepy to add to the overwhelmed feel to the animation. Also the first five images i found when i was looking for a symmetrical style scene to reflect the findings of Stanley Kubrick's use of symmetry within The Shining.

I found this on youtube with this information underneath it -

Minimalist film by artist/ filmmaker Jon Par (Jonathan Parisen) of a bare tree in Staten Island, New York being blown around in the wind. This is 858 of 1000 avant-garde films that Jon Par will make in 2009.

Resistance 3 - Intro and Trailer

I found this trailer for the game Resistance 3 and the reason i though it might be useful is the way in which the trees move framing the man walking down the train track is particuarly lovely. They move in a very strange way almost like human hands trying to grab the character not so much like branches moving in the wind, something like this could add to the overwhelming and lost feeling within my animation. The animation below called the passanger has a completely different aesthetic but the tree branches give a similar effect of framing the character like grabbing hands.

And most obviously the forest scene in Snow White.

I noticed that on the game Resistance 3 the intro for it wasn't in the typical game style it was almost like a dark comic book. The use of the dark outlines and dull colour pallet really help to connote the horror/action genre of the game and some of these elements could be included to help the audience get the right mise-en-scene for my short animation. The limited animation also adds to the mood of the animtion as in real life there always seems to be an element of movent within the backgroud. Also the use of limited animtion is all that seems to be nesessary to tell the story as that is the reason for the animation to give the gamers the story so far and the information needed.

I also like the use of the green tinge similar to that seen in horror movies another example of this is when the Harry Potter films become more intence and serious i noticed the change in colour.

Portfolio Visit 3 - McCann Manchester

My third portfolio visit was with Chris Beckles (digital creative director) at McCann Manchester situated in Addlington. Chris had mentioned that he had looked at some of my work on Vimeo (which is practically everything I have) but I showed him my showreel again so I could gain some advice in person. However we didn't really discuss how it could be improved he was more interested in talking to me about my future as I don't have long left on my course. We discussed how I could make my way into the industry by continuing portfolio visits and getting work experience to see where in the industry I fit best for example within advertising ect... We also discussed how to keep my portfolio going when i won't have work by continuing to add to it he mentioned finding bands on Myspace and asking to work with them to create music videos which i thought may be interesting. Following on from the Chris then thought it would be good for me to meet the animators that work for McCann Manchester to see if there would be any opportunity of getting a placement even if it was only for a couple of days to work along side the small animation team. The animation team consists of only 3 animations so a placement here would involve working very close to gain incite into how they use their time management and create a successful piece for a client. This i am really looking forward to! Chris also asked for an invite to the final major show and insisted that i create something exciting to draw my audience in, something relevant to my final piece. (The point being drag my audience in visually to make them want to know more and continue watching my work.) Again this has been another exciting and positive portfolio visit giving my confidence an extra boost towards my final major project. I feel like i have more knowledge and hold some great advise about taking my first steps into the industry and becoming noticed.

An afternoon at Kilogramme

I was invited by Claire Grey to spend the afternoon with her at Kilogramme to learn the basics of timing within animation. I mentioned in my portfolio visit that i loved 2D traditional animation but i wasn't great at the timing to create a realistic effect so Claire said she would help me. We started by placing the song that i am using for my FMP into Flash and using shapes i was trying to visually show the music much similar to that of Sarah's animation. This i found pretty easy as you can easily move frames to fit the sound waves of the music within the Flash layout much easier than after effects. The song for my FMP is very slow so Claire thought it would be good to do the same exercise but to a more upbeat song, this was a lot easier as it had more beats and melodies to play with than my FMP song. The final exercise Claire had for me was animating a ball bouncing, this was extremely difficult for me as i couldn't get the timings exactly right but the more i tried the better i got. I also got to have a quick look at an animatic they were working on for their easter card and i have realised that to get a better animatic that really nails the timing Flash would be the perfect programme as using after effects i never get the timing i want and it is extremely time consuming. I have learnt a lot from an afternoon with Claire and i feel it will effect the way in which i plan and begin the production of my final piece.

Portfolio Visit 2 - Kilogramme

My second portfolio visit of the year was at Kilogramme with Jon Turner and Claire Grey. Before i went for my portfolio visit they had been looking at my vimeo page and really liked the style of my rotoscoping especially my flower tests. As my showreel wasn't on my vimeo at the time i started my portfolio visit my showing Jon for some advise again on what to change and how to improve it. Similarly to The Neighbourhood Jon said to take out my 3D work as it wasn't too great and i mentioned that Stuart had said my timing wasn't quite right and Jon agreed and over hearing our conversation Claire Grey invited me in to Kilogramme for an afternoon to help me get better at my animation timing. After this we then discussed the ideas for my final major project, i played Jon the song i had chosen and he liked it but he felt that i didn't need to animate the whole 3 minutes just choose an interesting section where in which i could spend more time creating something visually interesting. I hadn't thought of cutting down the music as i thought it would ruin the animation however i feel the song is very slow paced people may get bored of watching it and move on. Jon then said to me if i can get an animatic that works with the music i shouldn't have a problem in creating the final piece with nice timing changed ect... Overall this portfolio visit has been extremely helpful Jon and Claire have given me so great advise to take on board and i can't wait to spend an afternoon with them learning how to use flash to create my animatic.

Portfolio Visit 1 - The Neighbourhood

My first portfolio visit of the year was with Chris and Stuart at the Neighborhood. I started by showing them my showreel and asking how it could be improved, they suggested adding more of the 'making of' elements to show in detail how much work goes into each piece especially the 'feel good' brief. They suggested showing the making of by playing the actual film clip followed by adding the acetate on top then removing the film from underneath to leave the finished product. There was one question in particular that I wanted to ask Chris and Stuart and it was what is the most prominent form of animation within the industry and the moment, what are clients asking for. They did mention that 3D is a very popular form on animation as its more modern looking but if my ink rotoscoping is my style then to keep at it but try and get some 3D software experience behind me so that it my skills aren’t limited when looking for a job within the industry. To help with this Stuart showed me a website called the 11 second club where every month an 11 second sound clip is available for you to create a character and a short narrative to go with it. He suggested taking the sound clip and creating different visual outcomes for it so using the same character but animating/modeling/drawing it in multiple ways to gain more variety within my showreel. One bit of critism given to me was that my 3D animation timing was a bit out and if i wasn't confident with the piece i should take it out of my showreel as it would give the wrong impression to a client that i can use 3D animation software.

Rotoscoping - Jeff Scher

Jef Scher - New York based animator and painter

‘as an underground filmmaker, Scher uses lights, abstractions and visual effects all paired with music to create experimental short films. His films have been described as animated still life as they are made from various drawings in which the images change to trigger responses within the human mind.'

'Scher’s abstract films are all approximately two and a half minutes long. He feels that this amount of time is more than enough to allow the viewer to become engaged' - This quote has made me feel more confident in my decision to cut the music into a shorter section. I strongly agree with this quote as I feel a short piece that has been executed beautifully is something so much better than a longer piece that appears ok and won't hold the attention of the audience throughout the entire piece.

I have noticed while looking at his work that when he is rotoscoping he is using different mediums such as ink, paint, collage ect to suit that particular piece of music. The use of a multitude of mediums conveys the excited, upbeat tempo of the music. Reflecting on this i am thinking that i could show the music change by adding to the chosen medium of ink by possibly adding colour as suggested earlier in the project. I could add colour slightly to the background sliding from top to bottom to visual describe the sliding effect of the dreary sounds?