myzoolucygathercole

[myzoolucygathercole]

Unfortunately I wasn’t able to add my completed, stop motion animation to my blog because of the current lockdown. However, once I gain access to it again, I will make sure to add it straight away.

[myzoolucygathercole]

This was the setup for my stop-motion animation. I originally did not have all of this equipment to use and would have never thought to do it this way. I had to try and work with/understand how to use everything as it was all new to me.

The process of moving the character and taking a picture is quite tedious, but I enjoyed it throughout. As this was all new to me and I wanted to try it out, I still had fun, even if I struggled at times. Especially as I did not have the higher quality, more film style equipment to make the animation with, that was also a slight problem as you know the end result won’t necessarily have the same effect. But I didn’t mind that, since it showed that I tried my best with what I was given and that I faced the challenges well.

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This was my second attempt at taking images of my model for my portfolio. I definitely think this colour scheme works more with the giraffe and helps to portray my view of the cartoon/childlike effect I was trying to achieve. The radiant and vibrant colours really can help to intrigue those particular audiences, mostly children and I feel the sense of fun and joy within my outcome supports that also.

I think for my portfolio, I will redo some of the images as I didn’t manage to create the overall result I wanted to. Using the leaves and the bucket on his head added to that childlike nature, which is what I wanted to illustrate in the first place. Along with this, all of my previous projects were always towards younger audiences and that’s the theme I have always stuck with. This is because I find my imagination flourishes more within this area and I have the most freedom to create what I love. Hence Greg’s uneven, exaggerated ears, big bulging eyes, his nostrils, the wonky mouth; representing him eating and for a little touch, just one tooth, instead of multiple.

[myzoolucygathercole]

This is my finished, complete model for my stop-motion animation. As you can see, I went for a very cartoon-ish approach of a giraffe, similar to Nick Parks work, but managed to make it my own. I tried my best to create something which would appeal to most people of all ages, but more specifically children. I have named him Greg, which also helps to attract a younger audience and I made sure to exaggerate all of his features.

I used a light box to take these pictures, using a white background. I’m not sure if I like this colour and I don’t feel it helps to bring out his character at all. I really wanted to retake these images after I had made the stop-motion, but he was fairly destroyed by this point, after the whole process!

I found it quite hard to take pictures of this model as I was very restricted with it’s movement and flexibility. With a still model; made of super sculpey, they are meant to stay in the same formation and you take photographs from various angles. However, the point of using plasticine is to give you the freedom and ability to create distinctive postures, to give your character a certain nature about them, depending on who or what the model is for. With that in mind, I unfortunately still struggled to do so with my giraffe.

Being limited when it came to the photography aspect of this project was quite tough, but I still managed to capture him in the best way I possibly could. Likewise, that’s where the stop-motion would come into play.

[myzoolucygathercole]

This was the setup for the photography part of my project. I used a light box, with various coloured backgrounds and two smaller ring lights either side. It does look quite strange from first glance and not very practical, but I tried my best with what I had.

As this was before I began my stop motion, I had to keep the model in the exact same state I needed it to be in. Meaning, the very long wire sticking out of its neck (which gives me full access to moving the model later on) and the piece of wood attached to it, had the stay there. Along with the g clamp that I used to secure the giraffe too so it wouldn’t fall over. Making it quite difficult to take quality images.

[myzoolucygathercole]

I did have footage of my practice stop motion which I tried before I even put plasticine on it, which was set up exactly like this. But I couldn’t access it when I needed to so I cannot show it. However, I did make sure I trialed it out before I properly started. It was all very rough and temporary. I taped a white piece of paper to the wall as a background, used a g clamp to make sure the model stayed in place and set up a tripod with a camera to actually make the stop motion on.

I then played around with moving the giraffe into different positions, seeing the transitions I could do and the various ways the model could be put in motion.

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This is the finished bucket that I made for my stop motion. I wanted it to look as realistic as possible, but still carry that childish effect I adore. 

I used a thin, metal piece of armature wire as the handle since I thought that would help to portray it as a food bucket for an animal in their enclosure. I tried to add finer lines and detail to help tell that story further on and obviously, as you can see, I made it purple. I thought that would help to attract a younger audience i.e children, which was my aim and felt it was different compared to what you see in real life.

[myzoolucygathercole]

This was the bucket I made for my giraffe in the stop motion animation. I originally was going to make a bucket like this and vacuum pack it, so it would actually look like a real bucket. I ran out of time for this, therefore wasn’t able to. But this was what I came up with in the end.

I made a ball of purple plasticine, which I had to make myself as I didn’t have the right shade I needed. I did this by adding black and a lighter shade of purple to each other, creating this. I felt the colour I created and the giraffe really contrasted together quite nicely and wouldn’t clash.

I started with a ball of this plasticine, dug my thumb into it and made it into a bowl type shape. I then refined it more by making it deeper and more bucket like. Then, to add extra detail I rolled and cut out a thin strip of the plasticine to wrap around the top, creating a more defined edge. Adding to the ‘realism’.

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These are the ball stylus tools I used to create the indentations into my models head, for the various eyeballs to be placed in securely.

I have always struggled with eyes. The shape, the size and the scale. But I felt with my giraffe I didn’t do too bad at creating them. It was a bit difficult especially as the plasticine isn’t as soft as super sculpey, but I managed. Also, following the cartoon type route I always go down, helps as it doesn’t really matter if some features aren’t equal. That’s what makes it fun!

[myzoolucygathercole]

This was the general shape that I ended up with for the head of my giraffe. I wanted his features to be quite accentuated and cartoonish.

The spherical indentations on the face is where his eyes are going to go. I made two sets of eyes. One pair open and the other one closed. Therefore, when it came to making the stop motion, it would make him appear to be blinking.

All his other features and details like his horns, ears, nose and tooth I think give him so much personality and character. Especially his uneven patches all over his body and face. They make him appear younger, as a baby giraffe instead of a more mature animal.

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This was the foliage I made for my giraffe to eat. I wanted this part of the model to look the most realistic you could say, but also have that hint of a childlike nature to it.

It was very very miniature and was quite fiddly to make. The leaves kept falling off and as I wanted quite a lot of leaves on it, as if he had just pulled it off a tree, I struggled to actually fit it into the giraffes mouth. Meaning, I was forced to remove most of the leaves and have mostly the branch exposed.

I think it was better this way in the end, because it would have looked too excessive and would distract you from the actual animation.

[myzoolucygathercole]

Overall shape of my giraffe before I added any facial features whatsoever onto it and during the process of attaching the various sized patches to his body.

You can see he is slowly coming together at this point and is gaining a lot more character. Especially if you look at his mouth in the right picture. He looks as if he is smiling, eating or laughing in a way, which I love.

[myzoolucygathercole]

This was my trial for the giraffes bucket I wanted to include in my stop motion. I wasn’t sure of the best approach to go about this, but I started with what I know. Armature wire.

As you can see, it didn’t really go to plan. The whole shape was off, the wires were too thick and weren’t staying in place where I need them to be. The general idea was lacking for me at this point, so I didn’t use it and had to try a new idea.

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This was the tools I used to attempt to make a bucket for my animation. I need plyers for shaping and adjusting the wires together, various thicknesses of wire incase of sizing issues and a reference to look at.

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Finished shake of the giraffe skull I came up with. I wanted it to look like a real giraffe of course and for my audience to be able to understand what it is.

However, my favourite style of art is cartoon. I adore the cartoonish, childlike style, so I always make sure to include that in my work. I think I tried my best to do that and keep in mind when I made this.

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This was my process of forming the nostrils. I had a bit of trouble with this as I didn’t have the mouth made yet, let alone attached to the head. 
 I wanted the exaggerated look but yet a small hint of realism, so it didn’t look like anything other than a giraffe. I definitely didn’t like the way these nostrils came out, as they were too pig like and it didn’t feel like I was creating a giraffe anymore. More like a cow or a horse!

So I decided to scrap them and finish the mouth first.

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I then began to add his patches. That’s one reason why I love giraffes and chose to make one for this project. I love how unique and different every animals patterns are, as it gives them their own distinctive personality’s and makes them individual.

I really wanted to portray and show that off in my model. So that’s why I did. I rolled out a certain shade of brown plasticine I had made and cut out so many different, varied sizes and shapes. Some triangular, rectangular, some square and some random.

Then, I attached each individual one to the giraffes neck, placing them randomly and some in a particular place. I wanted it to be erratic, not perfectIy done.

The spots looked quite boring just flat, so I decided to add some texture. By using rocks or certain tools to create mark and indentations into the patches. I even used the chipped edge of a table at one point. This really helped to achieve a more interesting effect.