Wednesday, 18 December 2013

Bruno Mayor - Haribo.


Haribo.





"Haribo," is another animation created by Bruno Mayor. This style of animation is something I've never seen before, neither has it crossed my mind that animation could be created this way.The video depicts a strange man sitting on a bed or chair, discussing his vast addiction to caffeine, there isn't much sense to this animation, as another strange man bursts through the door, exclaiming that he must wake up, and then proceeds to blow fire out of his mouth and everything then blows up......
  There are a few ways I think this animation could have been created, either digitally or physically; Digitally this would be created probably through the means of something similar, if not, cinema 4D, where the shapes and colours would be put together on a computer, with camera angles being added . Physically, this could have been made using stop motion, where the fluorescent lights have been altered and created just for this purpose, then using photography, a field that mayor seems to specialise in, the images would be put together using animation software. Stop motion would also explain the slightly blurred lines, created when the characters are speaking and moving rather fast. I like this animation mainly for its lack of sense, there isn't really much of a storyline, and the length of the video means that it has ended pretty much before the viewer has any chance to take in what has happened. This is a very clever idea when it comes to things such as animations, as views are what makes it successful, so multiple viewers clicking the animation over and over again to try and make some sort of sense of it is a great way to achieve exposure and a video almost "Viral."

Sunday, 15 December 2013

Project 3: Week 6 Reflections. - END FOR CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS.

Week 6 Reflections.



Days:
Monday 9th
Tuesday 
10th
Wednesday 11th
Thursday 12th
Friday 
13th
Saturday
14th
Sunday 15th
Work to Complete
Continue drawing up all character assets for
SCENE 2
Begin drawing up scenery images and background pieces for SCENE 2
Mess with After Effects. Layering and puppet pins
Colour up digitally all character assets for
SCENE 2
CAD session 
- keep blog up to date. 

HOLIDAY
till the 7th of Jan
CONTINUE
WORK. 
Reflection


This week I began the process of drawing out all of the assets I needed for my second scene of my animated short. I went through the process of doing simple sketches and then cleaning them up digitally to look more professional.

Monday 9th December: I finished off my main assets and then started uploading images and their alpha channels to Cinema 4D! I don't plan on  animation just yet, as I can do that once I have come back from Christmas. 













Tuesday 10th December: I continued uploading pieces to Cinema 4D and started making an actual scene to film in. 


Wednesday 11th December: Had a look into After Effects to see if it was worth working with as well/ instead of Cinema 4D. 

Thursday 12th December: Completed more assets to be put into my scene in Cinema 4D - Rocks. 


Friday 13th December: CAD session and filled in blog!

Northumberland National Park Competition/ Evaluation.


Northumberland National Park. 




Whilst getting on with my animated short, I was also brought the opportunity to work on a character which would be used in signs and adverts for the Northumberland National Park. This competition was soon ending so I chose to take a few days off the animated short and concentrate on creating this piece ready for the deadline. 

The rules of this competition were that the character has to be a young child, possibly between the ages 5 - 10. I went for around the age of about 7 or 8, as the character would most likely be more independent at that age. 
The character also had to look confident and trust-worthy, as well as outdoors-y and rather adventurous. And I took these rules and put them into characteristics of the drawing. One example of this is her stance, she doesn't have too much of a stereotypically feminine posture, other than her feet turning inwards slightly.



Evaluation.
Creating this piece was a small challenge for me, as well as being something I really enjoyed doing! I took into account my last piece and how airbrushed I thought it was, and decided to go against that completely in this piece. I played around with brushes until I found a thick and contrasting brush setting which allowed me to blend and mould colours together rather than blurring them and taking away any texture. I also really enjoyed the fact I was drawing a little girl rather than a grown woman for a change, as this lead me onto research how a child’s bone structure is on their face, as a lot of children’s faces simply LOOK round and actually aren’t. I also feel as though I chose a rather contrasting colour scheme this time, as opposed to my last piece of personal work, and I think, especially on her face, those colours work really well. I'm rather pleased with how this character turned out, as I don't really focus on drawing children and had to take into account almost everything when I was drawing her. Everything from eye shape, to face shape, to teeth, hair ... everything! But I'm pleased she doesn't look too feminine, and hasn't really been assigned a strong gender role, as this makes her approachable by all ages and genders, and won't appeal to one side more than the other. 

When evaluating this piece, I found a few strengths and weaknesses in my work that I should bring to attention: One of my main strengths in this piece was most definitely my colour and shading, as I felt those aspects were a lot stronger this time around, and they worked well together as both an all-round image and in their individual pieces.  One weakness I found with this image is that although it was to be submitted with just a simple white background, I feel as though I could have done more to this version to make her fit in slightly better with the background, either by just adding a shadow around her feet or back just to make her feel a part of the piece. In the future I think I’ll take this point into consideration when thinking that my image is finished when it may well not be! Even if just adding a shadow, or a source of light could make a big difference to the whole outcome. 




















Friday, 13 December 2013

Paul Insect; Who to Believe (2007.)

Another one of Insect’s pieces that stood out to me was his 2007 piece, entitled “Who to Believe,” which was a twist on the lovable Disney character, Pinocchio.
This piece, I feel, would be very successful because of it’s association with Disney. It would reach out to a wide variety of ages ranging from ages 5+, which makes it a social hive. That, combined with the state that the image is in will make it a very successful piece for both good and bad reasons.

The concept of the piece, I feel, is showing possible correspondences between children’s entertainment and secret government forces and facilities. There has been a tone of speculation about whether or not Disney was fueling fascist projects and societies, and this piece clearly indicates some form of injustice, with the character’s nose morphed into a missile, cigarettes and cards poking out from his hat (indication of gambling and drugs.) along with blood dripping from his hands which indicates the possible loss of lives that America is responsible for.

The style of this piece is very simple, it is in the style of the Disney Studios which consists of thick lines and simple, non-blended shading. However, Insect has made this his own with adding a number of pieces to the image to make it much less child friendly. The splatters of blood and dripping paint give the image a much darker and street art feel about it, making the image much more serious and diabolical.
The techniques used in this piece are very subtle until closer inspection. They revolve around drips of paint falling either by accident or on purpose, giving the image an eerie effect and the splashes of paint coming off his fingertips adds to that effect, which I think is a fantastic looking effect.


I think this image would inspire me to create pieces of work on a larger scale, and not just use paper and pens. It makes me want to use large backdrops and use a range of materials to create an image just as serious as this. I also feel that Disney is a great and patriotic style of art, particularly in America and the UK. And drawing something now that I used to draw as a four year old and looking at the difference is an experience I would like to happen.

Wednesday, 11 December 2013

Paul Insect: Butterfly Face Hoodie (2012.)


One of Paul Insect’s pieces that stood out to me straight away was the “Butterfly Face Hoodie.” This piece is extremely eye-catching in terms of colour, and I feel that is also something to do with the purpose of the piece.
The purpose of this piece, I think, is a spoof/mockup of contemporary fashion illustrations, mixed in with a street art style. I feel as though this is a rebellious piece, aimed to humiliate the rather eccentric styles usually found in the fashion (recently turned “Grunge,”) culture. I feel as though the purpose of this piece of art would influence my work highly, as far as ideas go, I’ve very much kept within the lines of controversy and have never even thought to make something in protest before. And I also feel that expressing anger visually is much better than what I usually see, where “Artists,” take stereotypically pretty pictures and write vulgar language over them.

The style of the piece is very peculiar, the medium seems to be spray paint/ acrylic paint on a piece of wooden grain. This gives a very independent vibe and a resourceful/thoughtful process when it comes to use of materials, which I think is a very inspiring aspect. The use of spray paint (reminding me of Banksy,) also implies an almost propaganda fueled piece.
The techniques used in this piece are rather simple, even upon first glance. This is because of the simple black and white, photograph type print that has taken the form of a hoodie, showing an immense amount of texture on the piece. Another technique used in this piece is detailed acrylic painting; this technique is very effective because it is such a contrast to the other technique. This way is colourful, bright and detailed, where the other is stark, bold and simple.


I think the style and technique of this piece could influence me a lot, as when I am doing art by hand I tend to be rather detailed, and this is not so apparent when I am doing digital work, and I feel I could combine this kind of technique to my style of both kinds of art to create a truly great effect.

Bruno Mayor - Infinito +3

Bruno Mayor.

Infinito+3.



This video was created as part of a show, by Bruno Mayor. It is a clever and accurately timed animation, which depicts various landscapes, coming in a range of shapes, sizes, destinations, and formats.  The animation itself starts off as normal, viewing the various landscapes, which alone are beautiful to look at, and then the screen simply blows up with a mash of colour and vibrancy as the song continues.
The timing in this animation is the key to it's success, as the sequences of images seem to change slightly when the beats emit from the music. The video is also clever when it comes to timing, as when the style of music changes, so does the specific landscape that's in shot at that time. This reminds me of previous search I have done where the animator has scratched or inked an impression of the music onto film and timed it out to the very second, making the illustrations show up on the film with the same exact timing of the music. I think I could learn from this kind of animation, because it would help me incredibly with my timing, if I ever decided to use music with my animations, I would use key parts of the music, or drastic changes to signify the importance or change in something to do with the animation. A change/improvement I would make on this animation would be to maybe add some sort of illustration in it, to mess things up or enhance the viewers attention to other things on the images.

Monday, 9 December 2013

Project 3: Week 6 Plan - 09/12/13

Project 3: Digital Skills Application.
For this project I have been given the task of showcasing my digital skills by making an animated short, along with any other digital work that I feel shows my skills to their full potential. 

Monday, 9th of December:
This week I will be beginning stages of creating the artwork for my animation. I will begin by doing this scene by scene, creating the characters, walk cycles and scenery that's needed. 


Days:
Monday 9th
Tuesday 
10th
Wednesday 11th
Thursday 12th
Friday 
13th
Saturday
14th
Sunday 15th
Work to Complete
Continue drawing up all character assets for
SCENE 2
Begin drawing up scenery images and background pieces for SCENE 2
Mess with After Effects. Layering and puppet pins
Colour up digitally all character assets for
SCENE 2
CAD session 
- keep blog up to date. 

HOLIDAY
till the 7th of Jan
CONTINUE
WORK. 
Reflection

Sunday, 8 December 2013

Project 3: Week 5 Reflections.

Week 5 Reflections.


Days:
Monday 2nd
Tuesday 
3rd
Wednesday 4th
Thursday 5th
Friday 
6th
Saturday
7th
Sunday 8th
Work to Complete
Make alpha channels for pieces of work going on Cinema
4D
SCENE 1
Start drawing up character movements and walk cycles
SCENE 2
SORT FILES IN ORDER!!

IMPORTANT
Colour up digitally all character assets for
SCENE 2
CAD session 
- keep blog up to date. 

 Documentation.   + Hand in to LoopDeLoop
Reflection


This week I began the process of drawing out all of the assets I needed for my second scene of my animated short. I went through the process of doing simple sketches and then cleaning them up digitally to look more professional.

Monday 2nd December: I finished off remaining artwork for my first scene and then went on to create alpha channels for the assets, as this scene is going to be shot in Cinema 4D.


Tuesday 3rd December: I began to sketch out the starting assets for the second scene of my animation, starting with the characters and walk cycles. 


Wednesday 4th December: Managed to re-arrange and sort out all of my folders, as everything was becoming a mess. 


Thursday 5th December: Began to colour up the digital images for scene 2 on SAI. 


Friday 6th December: CAD session and filled in blog!

Friday, 6 December 2013

Saiman Chow - Whiskey.


Whiskey.













This is another GIF image or loop that Chow has created named Whiskey. I was drawn to this image immediately because of is relevance  and association to Disney.The image is rather quick, as if is only a GIF image there isn't a lot to it, but it seems to depict a Disney character at a bar, receiving multiple glasses of whiskey.
 The traditional white glove gives the subtle impassion of Mickey/Minnie Mouse, or Goofy, who are all very distinguished Disney characters. This relates to be project I am undertaking now, as I am planning on producing a Disney "spoof" as my animation. The fact that the Disney glove is on the receiving end of a bartender, pouring whiskey into a shot glass, which makes the theme much more adult, the same idea I have with my animation. The image itself is rather smooth and subtle, which differs to Chow's other pieces of work, such as "Art," because they are usually rather sketchy and blurred, not so defined. I believe this animation could be produced in a wide variety of programs used to make vector images. Either in photoshop, After Effects, an other similar programs  I have nothing to add to this loop animation, as it gives off enough of the statement that it's trying to make, rather well. And it serves a purpose as well as gaining interest because of the character that's used in the loop.

Project 3: Creating my Characters and assets for Scene 2.

Drawing Out Characters.




I started out in this part of the project by sketching out ways in which I thought my character would look when he was sitting and walking, particularly from multiple views. 
I soon realised, as you can see from this image, that drawing something coming at you head on isn't as easy as one would think, and I took a good four or five attempts at it before I got anywhere near what I was looking for. 


I also had a crack at drawing my little raccoon character in a sitting position and see if I could draw him, stage by stage, getting up and into a walk cycle. 

I found this task rather daunting, as there was no denying it would take a long time, and instead made his legs a lot smaller and decided that sitting could well be just standing if drawn right. 

Once I had his sideways poses sorted, I then went on to try and tackle his front walk cycle. I looked through a few sources on the internet designed to help with walk cycles from al perspectives, and I eventually found one which helped!

 This tutorial stated that from a front walk cycle, if one wanted to, they could keep the characters body at a stand still and only move their legs, and when crouches and lunges were made, just lower the height of the body.

I tried this out and was over the moon when it worked! not only was it so much more simple to do, but it looked so much smoother as well! And as with all the walk cycles I'm doing, I have created them using multiple frames on Photoshop's animation timeline. 

I also realised that I could simply re-use assets that I had made in scene 1, such as the trees, rocks and skulls, so that it would appear to be the same forest! 



Monday, 2 December 2013

Project 3: Week 5 Plan - 02/12/13

Project 3: Digital Skills Application.
For this project I have been given the task of showcasing my digital skills by making an animated short, along with any other digital work that I feel shows my skills to their full potential. 

Monday, 2nd of December:
This week I will be beginning stages of creating the artwork for my animation. I will begin by doing this scene by scene, creating the characters, walk cycles and scenery that's needed. 


Days:
Monday 2nd
Tuesday 
3rd
Wednesday 4th
Thursday 5th
Friday 
6th
Saturday
7th
Sunday 8th
Work to Complete
Make alpha channels for pieces of work going on Cinema
4D
SCENE 1
Start drawing up character movements and walk cycles
SCENE 2
SORT FILES IN ORDER!!

IMPORTANT
Colour up digitally all character assets for
SCENE 2
CAD session 
- keep blog up to date. 

 Documentation.   + Hand in to LoopDeLoop
Reflection

Sunday, 1 December 2013

Project 3: Week 4 Reflections.

Week 4 Reflections. 



Days:
Monday 25th
Tuesday 
26th
Wednesday 27th
Thursday 28th
Friday 
29th
Saturday
30th
Sunday 1st
Work to Complete
Start sketches of characters in new walk cycles, and frames.
SCENE 1
Continue with drawing up characters and put them into digital format.
SCENE 1
Finish off digital images and walk cycles of characters
SCENE 1
Start drawing up scenery in sketches 
SCENE 1
CAD session 
- keep blog up to date. 

 Documentation.   + Hand in to LoopDeLoop
Reflection


This week I began the process of drawing out all of the assets I needed for my first scene of my animated short. I went through the process of doing simple sketches and then cleaning them up digitally to look more professional.

Monday 25th November: I started to sketch out rough drawings of my character and the walk cycles and movements he would be doing throughout this scene. 


Tuesday 26th November: I finished off the sketches and put them all into a digital format. I also was able to re-use one of my walk cycles that i created in an earlier project. 


Wednesday 27th November: Finished my walk cycles for my character and saved with alpha channels. 


Thursday 28th November: began having a look at drawing scenery. 

Friday 29thNovember: CAD session and filled in blog!