audreygallegoba2a

[audreygallegoba2a]

Ugh, the actual lip sync. I think it shows the very little time I had left to do it.

I believe the mouth is decent until he says ‘October’, after that the whole thing is a mess, however, I think I would be able to fix it if I kept tweaking it. The whole face features’ position is a bit inconsistent, the eyes get closer and further away which is distracting and doesn’t help much. And, about the eyebrows... how come such a simple and small thing can change so much everything else. They were the last thing I added, and I had this problem that the mouth was smiling slightly. Relaxed eyebrows would enhance the happiness which is not the right mood for this audio while angry ones just look too creepy. In the end, he somehow goes through being really angry, concerned, angry again, a bit sad, concerned again, and finally really sad within 12 seconds - which I personally find really funny because how dumb that is.

But, for better or worse, this is my final outcome for this project. I will only adjust the framing on it: zoom in and centre it. Other than that, as I stated before, it is a shame that I wasn’t able to keep up with it when I should have, and I am glad I went through this these last days anyway. 

[audreygallegoba2a]

Did you see that???? I actually deleted almost everything I had and loosened a bit my strokes, what is this??

I tried to separate his arms more from the body as well as have stronger poses. I also animated the head and torso moving more than before. I keep seeing a lot of mistakes and things to improve on, however, I am actually happy to see some progress. And yes, it is a shame that I didn’t go through to this a few weeks ago and I don't have any more time to keep working on this to make something much better and cleaner. 

[audreygallegoba2a]

Day 2 of this brief experience!

I must mention first that this is the worst. This is something that we should have been able to do it on Fridays, working on it for hours but also resting from it in between. I am having a lot of hours to work on it, however, I can’t afford to say ‘oh I don't feel like it now, I will continue later/tomorrow’, and so it is very tiring when I get really stuck with it. Moreover, my classmates are fished with their projects, and so I also lack that company, emotional support and the eventual constructive criticism.

Complaints aside, I... don’t know what to say about the animation. It is still quite stiff, though I added some more movements. The body doesn’t really move at all which is not convenient even if he’s just standing. About the mouth, it is just weird to look at - I am so sorry I can’t even express myself.

[audreygallegoba2a]

I am the worst at character design, so I must say that I referenced this whole scene on a random image that I found online as I don’t have much time left. I will not use this piece of animation for anything other than this hand in, so I believe it is ok.

Regarding today’s animation progress, there are some movements that I am ok with. However, the character feels really stiff and his attitude does not match with the emotion of his voice quite yet. I am also still unsure about what is he going to do in some bits such as ‘with peace and love’ or the listener's overall reaction.

[audreygallegoba2a]

Here goes nothing!

It is Monday and I am almost finished with my other two projects and that means that it is time to work on this until there’s no time left. Now there’s no excuse to avoid it, and I am sure I can at least do some scribbles in the course of 4 days.

I gave up with the audio that I was doing and decided to start fresh with another one. During Christmas, I had a go at the fire magic and didn’t quite like it. The one that I have been working on since then was the life one, which might be a bit too serious - I believe this makes it a bit more difficult as the pace is slower and shows deeper emotions. The time one it is just too long for me - I am a quite slow animator :(. And between the kung fu one and the too much to do, I choose the last one as I literally don’t understand half of what it’s being said on the other one.

I decided to use only one camera shot for the whole thing and have the two characters giving us their profile or 3/4. I spent some time searching online and seeing which one would be a good position and angle for both characters that would also make me the whole thing easier.

[audreygallegoba2a]

Weekly Summary- W18 17/02

Character Bestiary

This was quite the week. It’s been stressful, rewarding and everything that falls in between. It started off with me having some serious and dramatic technical problems - I wasn’t able to use anything from my uni computer profile for a whole day -, however, it quickly got better. That day, however, I was actually able to do, start to finish, the rough animation of the last sequence. Next day, I coloured it! And after that, I also finished painting the last one that was left colouring. I also put everything together, which was everything but easy, including sound design and fake camera effects. I also did the experimentation reel and finished adding the last details to the Character Bible! I focused the whole week mainly on this project, and I loved it!

Lip Sync

This week I had no progress on this project and only focused my time and effort in the other two projects. I went to talk to Peter as I had given up on this project almost completely. I expressed to him my feelings and thoughts about it as well as told him that I do have a few more days and time to do something about it nonetheless. He showed me some examples and advised and encouraged me to do as much as I can and submit the outcomes of it. I know for a fact that I will ‘fail’ on this project as I don’t have enough time to do anything decent, especially it being my weakest point. However, I will try to do something because I also don’t think to ignore it and not trying anymore; it’s the right thing to do. Once I finish with the rest of the projects, I will work on this, for about 3-4 days that I will have before hand-in. I must say that if on Monday I had 0% confidence in myself to do this, now I have 10% at most, so we will see. I hate sounding negative or like if I didn’t want to do something that I should just do, but I really feel a significant block in regards to this project.

[audreygallegoba2a]

Bambú: final animation?

Here is the final animation for the Bestiary project!

I decided to put the three animations together first and then add the sound design for them as a whole. I also included the fake handheld camera movement to each sequence with slightly different settings before putting them together.

Sadly, I am not too proud of the sound design. I wanted to actually go out and record some sound effects myself, or create some foley making use of the sound studio. However, and mostly due to time, I went for the quickest solution and didn’t use much time to work on it. I got both the sound effects and music online.

I wasn’t sure about having too many sound effects on these sequences as it could get ‘busy’(?). So I kept it quite simple. For the second sequence, for instance, there’s only a couple of sounds: when he presses the spacebar and the music that the character plays. There's a constant ambience sound - nature and birds chirping mostly - through the whole video, from title card to credits, I only tweaked the level of it to adjust it to each scenario. I think it makes it feel the whole animation a bit more together.

Other things worth mentioning... I did the title card animation while my classmates were submitting on Friday, which was one of the most stressful situations of the trimester. It is quite simple, however, I like the touch it gives to the whole thing.

This might be a bit unrelated but, since I posted this online, it is having more views and engagement than other animation of mine, I believe because of its cover and title card - including the sound -. I didn’t think before such things could make such a difference. Another lesson learned, for my following animations, I will give the title card and cover more important since the beginning of the production.

For the experimentation reel, not much to say other than I did it the following day, on Saturday, in a completely empty Media Lab. And I am mentioning this because I think it actually shows my mood while I was composing it - in contrast with the anxiety from the previous day -. I like to put some kind of music to my experimentation reels as I think they are a bit nices, especially when posting it online, however, this one is a bit more special and has an actual ambience sound. The audio track is the same one I also used through the whole final animation, a random person decided one day to record the nature and birds chirping for almost an hour and publish it on the internet, and I am grateful for that.

[audreygallegoba2a]

*warning: high sound levels*

Soooo... yeah. I thought it could be funny to do something like this but I also quickly realised that... not really. And so I am posting it here to show some iterations and process. But it is pretty bad.

I will do the right thing next time and give him some music that fits his looks and movements. I am sure I can find something, I am particularly thinking about some song from https://www.purple-planet.com as they are quite cute.

[audreygallegoba2a]

And the last one - even tho this was supposed to be the first one - is finished too! This one was quite easy to layer: background, character and a cropped bit from the vehicle.

An idea that I had in the beginning, and that I would try to carry out if this was a different project, was to crop out the car and make it bounce a bit when the character falls on it. Though, for this project, let’s just say that Bambú happens to be really lightweight and wouldn’t produce such follow through.

Next thing I have to do with this sequence is to add sound design and some fake camera movements, however, I plan to also zoom in quite a bit as now - after cropping part of the animation from the beginning - there is no need to have such a wide angle.

[audreygallegoba2a]

Not much to say about this one, as it went pretty ok - thank God.

The loop in the begging I actually drew it in TVPaint, but the one at the end was left to create it out of the already existing one in postproduction. And it worked... ish.

It did work, but I must say I don’t love the fact the string doesn’t move anymore in that final bit. Which is also something that I am ok with as it is supposed to be ‘fine’ as if he won’t run out of ‘available’ string to use (?). I really don’t know how to phrase this, but I would say that it is something that if I knew of before I would have done something about, however, I can’t really complain about the outcome anyway.

Other than that, only the fake camera handhold is left to be added as well as the sound design. Pretty close to the end!

[audreygallegoba2a]

I was going to post this here with the caption of it being ready for the final touches, but it is not quite yet.

I had loads of problems with the layer here. In the end, I exported the character by parts: head, right wing, body, and left wing. And that was supposed to be the solutions to all my problems, but not really: the wings are behind the table in some frames while in others are over it, however, if in those last ones I just crop that layer, the body would show underneath. And, one of the wings is supposed to be underneath the body. Plus the shadows...

So, in the end, the easiest way to fix all the problems to me was to make use of some simple substractions masking.

Layers (from bottom to top):

Background - everything but Bambú

Left wing

Body

Table and computer + animated mask for the left wing

Table and computer from the belly area to the right + animated mask for the right wing

Right wing

Head

And, in between of those many others for the looping bit at the end. Plus, of course, the shadows, which I did with the help of some masking too as well as keeping in mind the order of the layers in after effects while doing it in after effects. In the end, I put the shadows just below the head.

But yeah, this is still not the last exported version cause I clearly got wrong something with the left wing. It is minimal - the left wing does not go over the table for that very little amount of frames that are supposed to -, but it has to be fixed. 

[audreygallegoba2a]

Today I finished colouring another sequence!

Yes, I cut the begging of it, the walking bit, as it was just not doing it for me. The sketch of this animation was the first one I did, and so since then, I got better with the character’s proportions and movements - which is actually good to see. It looked really stiff on that beginning part, and it was just a simple walk cycle that didn’t really say much about the character. I was going to spend too much time and effort making it work for it to not be that necessary for the piece anyways.

I also believe that it also looks interesting if it feels like he’s flying and stops just for sleeping in there, instead of having the intention to get there since the very beginning.

Not going to lie, it was also a matter of time. Because of the sequence is a bit shorter now, I was able to finish the production of it today. Luckily, one of the last things I did before today’s progress was to really focus on the flying part and, plus some refining today, now it is looking really good - in my opinion anyways.

So, overall, now I am happy with the flying, landing and snuggling. I am happy with this whole sequence and looking forward to adding some sound design to it.

[audreygallegoba2a]

Fake Handheld Camera Movements

I knew I wanted my three shots to feel as real as possible as if someone was actually filming it. So, I was definitely going to do some editing afterwards in order to fake handheld footage.

I was thinking about doing it in After Effects rather than on Premiere, however, and just in case, I researched how can that be done in both software:

I will do it in After Effects as I feel like it is much more straightforward and I am more used to do all my effects in there.

The person in the Ae tutorial did it using the position’s expression bar of the footage. The bit of coding that he uses is: wiggle(1,35). The first number is the amount of times a wiggle is executed per second, while the second is the number of pixels it will be wiggled in any direction. The example that he shows fist, 35 pixels once a second, looks really good for a static shot. And so this is probably the formula I will be using, or at least the one I will use first to see how it looks and if needed, I know which factors and how I can change to adjust it, as he shows some other examples too.

[audreygallegoba2a]

Cast Progress

Speaking of the cast, it is a bit random to mention it now, but I believe I haven’t been posting here the uncountable times I tried to do Bambú’s cast.

So, while putting the Bible together, I came across some - not all at all - tries I had started from before Christmas:

↑ This one was still with one of the firsts variations of Bambú, when it was just ‘Bambi’, in fact. Here I also still didn’t have the final backstory about ‘alter egos’ yet. Here, the idea was something like him being a mix of different animals, and so the rest of the cast was going to be the same. It was something more sci-fi then, now it is rather fantastic.

↑ Here, I had my final design, though not his name or backstory yet. So I followed almost literally the formula of bird+deer/mammal with horns/antlers. I tried changing up a bit the proportions and colours to give them variety. However, it is not that interesting or works that well, and I don’t see how Bambú is any different than the rest, and so they don’t do that good for them.

↑ Here is my last attempt where I went for a random mix of at least a couple of cute animals each. I kept the story of the alter egos in mind to do this, and it is indeed still a work in progress. However, I think this already works a bit better. It is more varied, a bit more exciting and works well with the backstory. 

[audreygallegoba2a]

Bmabú’s Bible

I am pretty happy with how my Character Bible is going. 

And so what I need to do and add for me to call it to finish is:

Add another style frame - have a couple to choose from in the uni computers

Finish designing the cast:

Line-up

Illustration together maybe?

Add a couple of poses more to the character sheet - almost finished

Colour palette - i just realised that all my sheets are in b&w and the colour in my character is really important too

These past days I did some poses/reactions of Bambú for his backstory etc. and I am liking how it is looking. Also, on similar lines, I reduced a bit the length of his story and kept it straight to the point. So yeah, looking good so far!

And that will be it! Next time I mention the character bible, I hope is to say it is finally finished!

[audreygallegoba2a]

Alba’s Thoughts

Links

I definitely may have gone too excited and mentioned way too many things like links or references to the original book. However, what I probably meant is that some of them were rather inspirational for me to write my story. For instance, the main event, I got the idea of the dinner with this three characters while reading and thinking about the last dinner they had together on the book, but later my intentions really weren’t to reflect that original scene.

I was highly influenced by the book by some dialogues or Utterson’s thoughts that I tried to keep as untouched in words or meaning as possible. Some examples of this are:

when Gabriel talks about the two doors: 'two doors from one corner’

Gabriel’s and Hastie as Poole’s conversation:

Hastie: But he doesn’t like any song that I perform. But now… he doesn’t even want to eat or go out or eat anymore.

Gabriel: Do you have any of these papers? And, can I see you in action?

Hastie: Sure you do.

In both of these examples, I didn’t do my best job.

First one, I thought that I could keep it as it is with the excuse of being a surreal screenplay as well as with the thought of keeping it as a direct reference to the book. However, I see how this can be and is confusing and can be indeed phrased differently.

As for the second one, I did an awful job wording it. And got a bit into a mess when trying to keep it as the original, but adapted, but with the surreal ‘jokes’, etc. Too many things just don’t work well together. I will probably synthesise the ideas and try a better wording for them too.

Meeting a new character

Right now there is not much information, other than the given by tone in the dialogues, of when is this screenplay set. And, even though I tried to be a bit more descriptive with the surrounding of the characters, I was definitely not descriptive enough. This was probably since I didn’t have yet my character well defined and decided.

I will decide on the time as well as develop their personal profiles, and I will come back to the screenplay and will be a bit more descriptive on their introductions. As graphic as I was with Hastie’s costumes *wink*.

Control + D

I do agree that the first sequence has very little or nothing to offer as nothing special happens in it. The way I wrote this screenplay was almost completely starting from the beginning to the end of the story. And so this first scene was written basically for me to set the characters, place and my mood to write in the screenplay format. But reading it with critical thinking, there is no need for it.

As for the title, I again took inspiration from the book and reused the chapter’s title where the mentioned dinner and Lanyon's death happen. However, it is true that if the story is somewhat surreal, the title would be a convenient way of informing/warning it. I will give it a good thought and see what I can come up with. I liked were Lynsey was going with ‘The Remarkable Incident of Señor Eduardo and the Spanish Ham’, though I may try to get a bit less literal/more abstract.

About ‘Poole’ Reginald, the reason for this name was cause I was avoiding to use the main names used in the novella. However, changing his name and making a joke related to his original name, maybe not the smartest move. I tried to keep it subtle, but that may be too much. Poole will be.

‘The vomiting is a bit shocking – could he vomit something bizarre’. I have to admit I didn’t think of that at all and it is actually genius. Especially when the script mentions the first vomit just before falling asleep, they are still in the drunkenness and surreal world.

Thought, next thing she mentions is the change of tone in the ending. 'It suddenly seems to go dark and serious', there was a reason for it, it was a way of saying this was cause they were drunk. However, I must admit that I was also really unsure about it and wrote in a different time and send it to her before even finish it. What I mean by that is that it also didn't quite work for me. And, now that I am typing this, I actually now realise that I use an awful technique, the 'everything was a dream' but, instead of a dream, they were just drunk. So, 'is there a more surreal way to finish?' I am sure there is, and I will go for that.

Additional changes

I may add some brief angles and scene transitions that I already have some idea of. But, to be honest, this will be the last this I will probably add and only if I am sure that the word count allows me to do it. Right now, I am over the word limit and so I will like to prioritise that.

Research and Essay

Lynsey mentioned that the bit when they swim through the streets reminded her of the Gabriel García Márquez ‘La luz es como el agua’ (Light is Like Water) which I believe I have read or at least study at some point before when I was in Spain. I will do some further research on it and maybe include it in my essay - I am assuming that she mentioned because it would be a good idea to do it.

I think I covered everything that Lynsey mentioned in her email and reflected what I will do next. So... sorry for this long-ass post. I will stop typing now.

[audreygallegoba2a]

Lynsey’s Feedback

I didn't make all the links you mentioned in your blog (didn't really connect that it was the dinner party from the book for instance).

You'll have plenty to write about in your essay too: not only the links to the book but Surrealism, dream logic, Freud etc. 

The bit when they swim through the streets I particularly like (it reminds me of the Gabriel Garcia Marquez story 'Light is Like Water' which I may have mentioned in your tutorial? If not, you can find it online).

When we first meet a new character can you very briefly describe them (e.g. 'late twenties, smartly dressed') as this really helps us picture the scene. Are the men dressed like Victorians at the start or something more modern? A few small details would help.

Also, I don't think the title is right: I think the title should reference food and Spain and be more surreal. Something like Señor Eduardo and the Spanish Ham :-) Or maybe The Remarkable Incident of Señor Eduardo and the Spanish Ham...!

The first scene doesn't quite work for me: better, I think, to just start with them half-drunk around the dining table.

I like the weird way the doors suddenly appear when Gabriel talks about them but 'two doors from one corner' is a bit confusing: could he phrase it differently instead?

I'm not 100% sure about calling 'Poole' Reginald: why not just Poole? Then the armbands etc seem funnier to me.

I don't really get this bit (see below):

But he doesn't           like any song that I perform.           But now... he doesn't even want to           eat or go out or eat anymore.                      GABRIEL           Do you have any of these papers?           And, can I see you in action?                      HASTIE/REGINALD           Sure you do. They both look at a frame hanged on a wall.

The vomiting is a bit shocking – could he vomit something bizarre (rather than actual vomit??)... But in actual fact... I'm not sure I like the ending: it suddenly seems to go dark and serious – is there a more surreal way to finish? Something more theatrical? It feels like the tone changes a bit, and I don't really want it to!

In your blog, you mentioned wanting to write in the scene transitions, etc. You could add some brief angles/transitions if you would like to?