Project 4: Week 3 - Creating Mock Stills of DCM idents.

Using the knowledge I gained by researching DCM’s 2013 ident, I went on to make up some of my own versions using images on the internet. I decided to choose two different emotions and project them into an image based on the stills I took from the ident. I used DCM’s official logo as a template, then used Adobe Illustrator to create an exact cut out version of this. I then put this image onto Photoshop where I was able to create an almost exact replica of DCM’s stills.

The first emotion I chose was that of anger, as I thought that there would be a larger collection of those kinds of images on the internet. I chose the background image because it was such a dynamic and striking photo that would grab a lot of attention, and almost fit the emotion I wanted to portray exactly. Because of the image on the background being so dark, I knew I wanted a bright, but still an equally striking photo to go inside of the logo. I found an image of a cracked mirror, which was brilliant white in colour, but had stark black lines where the cracks had appeared. I thought that this worked really well as it not only showed the vast contrast (in colour) of the two images but also linked them together through the cracks and the dark background blending together. Almost as though the cause of the cracked mirror was the man in the background, which tells a great story when it comes to advertising.

Once my first attempt at making a still logo, in my opinion, worked out very well, so I then went onto create a second logo. I wanted this one to be the exact opposite of the previous one. I began my search looking for a warm and happy image, I wanted the image to represent a comfortable and happy state of peace. I found this image of a candle burning, and because the picture was full of oranges, browns, reds and yellows, I definitely got that warm glow and relaxed feeling from it. Going on from the warm and colourful background, I knew I wanted to add in a bright and exciting image in order to make the concept of the image more exciting and dynamic. I ended up searching for fireworks and ended up with a Catherine wheel – like picture, and because of the bright golden colour of the wheel, it makes the image look so much less static and adds so much more excitement and life to the image. I thought this worked really well as a full image, as the vast amount of emotions given off are really useful and bound to attract attention when it comes to advertising.

Project 3: Research into Mixed Media Idents- MTV Poland

This ident was made to be broadcasted on MTV Poland. And it consists of a number of slow panning shots around a site in the country-side. It starts off with a CGI’d piece of plastic/fabric twisting and turning over the edge of a lake. It continues to transform until it turns into a set of speakers, obiously to relate back to the MTC company. As it is doing this, the water makes a small ripple, which escalates into a smal tidal wave.

There are a number of techniques thatused in this animation. One of those techniques is the effect of the water, and making it move and contort. The most popular way to do this would be to create a plane on cinema 4D or something similar, and editing that plane, being able to pull and twist the plane which can make a ripple/movement effect on the water. The way that the stereo would be created would be to make the stereo first, and the go to morph and change the look of it by adding effectors such as the twister tool, and then reversing the footage in order to make the morph turn back into the stereo.

This ident caught my attention imediately, for a different reason than a normal MTV advert would. The fact that this ident is rather tranquil and has a set colour scene rather than as many as one could possibly try and get, just makes the video stand out more against all the other idents, making it a very clever choice. There isnt too much to focus on in this ident, which can work very well in  its favour, as the animators can focus more attention on the remaining pieces of animation. Because of this, the animated counterparts are so crisp, clear and realistic and eye catching.  have been 

Project 4: Research into Mixed Media Idents - Sang Yup Kim

MTV – Sang Yup Kim

This ident, I thought was probably one of the more time consuming idents that I’d seen. I starts as what

 appears to be in the inside of a body, with organs and skin and cells all pulsing and moving around. The camera then zooms out of the inside of the body to show the audience what was on the outside. It shows this small, shiny and rather angry looking creature who resembles a heart. The heart promptly explodes after the camera has steadied for about half a second, to reveal the MVT logo inside of it.

I can tell straight away from this ident that it is in full 3D animation, and has had a lot of attention put purely on how this creature looks. The heart will have been sculpted probably from a simple sphere and can be torn apart easily from making the object editable. The background is also very simple, if it has been shot in live footage then I will just be a white screen backdrop used usually for photography. However, this kind of space can be created digitally too by making a plane and curving and shaping it until it resembled a ski slope like shape. Putting simple spot lights in front of the creature will also cast great shadows on the background and make it looks quite realistic.

I think this ident is great to attract attention from audiences of all ages. It’s got that half cute/half gross factor about it which is always appealing to users specifically on the internet. I love the detail and shine effect that the heart has and it also drops a big bomb on the audience when the little monster blows up. It’s also got a lot of humour placed in this ident as well as a little shock, as when the monster bursts, his teeth and eyes just fall onto the floor leaving the skin to blow away, which I think will engage the audience well. 

Project 3: Research into Mixed Media Idents - Digital Cinema Media

To begin my project I went to look at a number of previous versions, created by and for the company. There were a number of still images that were used in the 2013 ident which really caught my eye, a few of them being very abstract. The overall feeling that I got from this advert wasn’t necessarily a range of emotions, but one rather fierce emotion. Throughout the entire advert I got the feeling of awe, excitement, serenity and pride, which, as a marketing technique, appeared to be very effective! In all of the mini-scenes, the two elements of the scenes are very contrasting, both in colour and content. This adds such a dynamic feel to the ident, like literally send shivers up the spine and goose bumps up my arms. This shows that the content has been very carefully chosen;

Although the mini-scenes only last maybe 2 – 3 seconds each, the viewers get a good glimpse of what’s going on. In this scene, the background is a time lapsed view of a mountain range, complete with cloud coverage. The clouds have a flowing and blustery motion which sets the direction and speed of the scene. The scene within the logo has therefore got something to be timed to, the choice of footage was smart because it contrasts visually with the other footage, both in colour and content. The footage of the grass blowing in wind matches the background footage, and it is generally at the same speed that the clouds are moving as well. The overall tone of the scene is quite peaceful looking, but also has a rather majestic feel to it from the scene of the mountains, the blustery wind, and the paling shot of the grass.

Another scene in the ident which caught my eye was this one. My eyes were immediately drawn to the burst of lava, contrasting against the stark background of the globe which, in turn, morphed into what looked like a control centre on a spaceship. Environmentally, the two pieces are linked through the topic of science and exploration, but also give off the emotions of panic, excitement, power and awe, which relates well to the previous scene. The colours in this scene are really my favourite part of it. With the pale background from the earth, and the dark sky in space, which goes so well to push and emphasise the lava bursting out from the logo. There isn’t as much cohesion with the technicality of the camera, as the globe is turning one way, at a pretty consistent speed, and the lava erupts into the other direction, which throws off the attention of the audience. I think this technique works well though, as it fully puts the attention on the lava.

This frame is my all-time favourite of the whole ident. The scene is probably the least contrasting of all, but still has so much effect on the audience, and is definitely what puts the audience at peace, possibly relating to the “Happy Ending,” of a film. The scene shows the tranquil and serene footage in both the background and the logo, linking them perfectly to the emotion being emitted. The background shows the movement of jellyfish, which slowly bob and flow across the screen, which are so contrasting against the pure black backdrop given that it is very deep in the ocean. I think this works amazingly and the footage is so crystal clear it doesn’t even look real. Inside the logo is footage of the sky being shot out of what I can only assume to be an aeroplane? The sky, like the jellyfish, look so serene and easy going that it definitely brings a sense of calm to the ident. I think there is obviously a lot of technical dedication has gone into this, as underwater and 30,000 foot shots would not be hard to come by. 

Project 3: Week 8 - Finalising my Animations.

Finalising my Animations.

 This week both at home and at college I was finishing up with my third scene from my animation. Now that I knew what to expect from After Effects, I was quite confident in producing more work in a shorter space of time, and focused on getting the loops of animation as smooth as possible. 

Before that though, I started off by creating PNG files of pieces of scenery in my third scene, that was so that I could take those pieces and just put them straight away into my animation scene and not worry about having to cover pieces up or cutting out any white space. I did this with pathways, stones, trees and grass, and it saved a lot of time when putting all of my pieces together. 

I then focused on making my little fawn character, who meets an awful end towards the end of the animation. I made a small loop of her blinking and eating grass. And then made a 3 frame animation of her getting scared and jumping up to see what's behind her. I took time making this piece of animation because I wanted to emphasise just how timid she is and how reluctant she will be to go on this quest with the raccoon.
I'll also admit I surprised myself with how well she came out, I love how cute she is and how very Bambi-like she seems, which is what I was aiming for.

This is the final product of my work from this week. I got the scene just to how I wanted it and I think it looks cute as hell. I liked the way the colour scheme came out and how everything blends together well. I didn't want this scene to be too bright, put rather pastel and delicate looking, which I think is apparent here. 

Unfortunately, when it came to rendering, one of the files was missing from the animation folder, as I must have saved it onto the computer instead of my hard drive, and this animation didn't get fully rendered, I did, however, hand in everything I'd done for it. 

Project 3: Week 7 - Filming my Animations.

 Filming my Animations. 

After having a bit of trouble with time when trying to film my animation with cinema 4D, I ended up giving After effects a go to see if it would fair any better. And truth be told I wish I had used this in the first place!

I found that using After Effects was just as complicated if you haven't used it before, but once I got the basic grasp of using the layers and merging folders together I absolutely loved using it. I found that my artwork could be seen more clearly and could be fully appreciated without me having to put in artificial lighting in the backgrounds.



I also found that using After Effects was a lot like Photoshop, as I should have sooner since their made by the same company. But using the camera tool was completely different and I think suited me much better, as all I needed to do was alter the image and record that movement as a keyframe on the timeline, instead of having to actually whop out a camera tool. 
I could also go back and edit mistakes easily, take out any random points I had made, or adjust any assets more easily in a 2 dimensional space and a 3 dimensional one. 
This is the set up of my second scene. I found that the colour scheme can be appreciated more in this set up and all of the colours, as well as the assets works really well this way.

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. 

Storyboards/ Explanation/ Evaluation.

Creating and finalising my Storyboards;

 My storyboards depict the travels of a small Raccoon named Archie, who goes on an adventure to find the delicious pie, who's enticing scent makes Archie go against his better judgement, and goes exploring in search of the source of the smell. 




He begins by going to find his close friend Lola, a fawn, who is confined to the "daytime" forest, and tries to encourage her to join him on his travels. And against their better judgement, they travel into the nocturnal forest alone together. 
During their journey, a set of thorns catch onto the skin of Lola, who, as a "daytime animal" will react badly to that.



As they continue their journey, the camera focuses more on Archie, where he begins to hear strange noises. After a while he turns around to address Lola, when he's met with a gruesome sight;
Lola has become putrid and disfigured, a reaction cause by the catch of thorns.
It is then ambiguous as to what happens to Archie and Lola, as the camera pans up towards the top of the trees, where "The End" title appears. This leaves an open ending and plenty of options for the audience.

Evaluation.
 Over all I am rather pleased with how my storyboards have turned out. I completed these storyboards straight away digitally, and that is something I haven't tried before, as usually I have sketches them out by hand first. I did come into some problems whilst creating these storyboards, mainly because of the size of the panels, and my inability to let myself draw something small and less detailed than it needs to be. I did overcome these issues however, especially with the trees in the forest. I was able to make them look rather detailed but maintain a decent size to them as well. I am particularly pleased with the colour scheme I chose for this animation too, as it is out of my usually comfort zone with keeping things simple and rather plain looking, as well as my lack of outline on the scenery, which is something I have never attempted...ever!
So over all I'm happy with the out-come of this part of my project, although I think if I have time, I will create a slightly higher quality version of them, just to make them more professional looking.

Project 2: Week 1 Relfections.

Week 1 Reflections.

Days:	Monday 14th	Tuesday  15th	Wednesday 16th	Thursday 17th	Friday  18th	Saturday 19th	Sunday 20th
Work to Complete	Begin research on animal based animations.	Look at independent animations from smaller companies. Also look at all genres, not just animals.	Pick between 5 - 10 animations that relate to what I'm going for.	Look into more comedic roles in characters such as Carrot and Stick - Joel Trussel	CAD Session & more research for blog alone.	Documentation.	Reflection.

This week, I assigned myself to the researching of different animations, and letting them influence my character's initial sketches of it's walk cycle. 

Monday 14th October: I researched into mainly animal based animations, and found myself rather limited, as a lot of animations on animals were rather long and not focusing mainly on the character's movement. Although, "The First Time I Ran Away." did prove helpful with regards to four legged animals. 

Tuesday 15th October: I started to look into smaller animation companies, to try and see how lower budget companies would animate a characters walk cycle and what route they would take. I also spread out my research to all genres, not just animal based ones. 

Wednesday 16th October: I picked about 6 animations to research at that time, as I felt I found a good selection of smaller business animations, mostly from music videos. Fluorescent Hill proved to be a winner with its 3D and 2D dimensional sketchy music videos.

Thursday 17th October: I also looked into Joel Trussel's work, where I found "Carrot and Stick." This animation caught my attention immediately because the way it had been filmed and edited was completely different from the rest. 

Friday 18th October: Had CAD session where I was able to put together the research to be ready for hand in, as well as noting specific websites for more independent animation companies. 

Advertising Research;

The Evolution of Beauty - Dove

This advert caught my eye immediately because it uses a unique feature found in very few advertisements. It uses time lapse, making the video go exceedingly fast but still manages to be coherent, not being too fast for anyone to make sense of it. The animation has been made using live action footage that has been sped up, the image that the company chooses is then put onto Photoshop and edited. This is when the film becomes a speed paint, almost like a tutorial piece which will then engage the audience to see how the model changes and how. Although I don’t agree with the processes in this advert, I think the process itself is very, very effective! This has also inspired me to try making an animation using the time-lapse tool so that I can do a lot more within the time space of 10 seconds.




Go Compare Silent Film.


This advert, as annoying as it can be to other people, is one of my all time favourites. It consists of a comedy/drama style short through the means of a silent film, and I feel as though this has been applied because of the number of people who complain about the advert and the singer himself. The music was specially created in order to portray the well known jingle that is one of the most defining points of the advertisements, along with subtitles underneath for people to read. 
This highly influenced my ideas (changed them entirely,) and made me want to produce a silent film with a Charlie Chaplin styled advert. This with the aspect of time-lapsing, would work really well to accompany the E4 logo. The effects of the silent film would be easy to apply once I had shot the film as well, along with ornate frames and jumpy gaps in the film.