#(Hello! Not dead... just incredibly flat in terms of creativity

[gottawriteanegoortwo]

*wipes dust off*

Ahem.

Dilliam.

Mayor Attorney.

Marmien.

That is all.

[metalandmagi]

March Media Madness!

Hello and welcome to the post where I talk about all the movies, books, and TV I consumed this month in my seemingly never ending quest to shout my feelings into the void. And oh boy all the winter anime is ending so I feel dead inside.

*puts on sunglasses* Let’s do this.

Movies!

Bohemian Rhapsody: The one about Queen Freddie Mercury. And it’s pretty good. It’s a little weird seeing a biopic of a band with literally no struggles getting into the industry, and I wouldn’t say it does wonders for the negative stereotypes about bisexuals...but who cares because if you’re watching this movie, it’s because you just want to sing along to some Queen songs and see some big hair! 8/10

How to Train Your Dragon- The Hidden World: The third and final installment in the How to Train Your Dragon trilogy, in which Dreamworks pulls a Butterfree on us, but at least we get a happy ending. This franchise holds a special place in my heart for so many reasons, and I’m glad that this one stuck the landing. Each movie has its own specific feeling and message, and they all advance the story in unique ways. Apart from being beautifully animated and hilarious, it also packs the big emotional punch we all were expecting and ends on a satisfying note overall. But it’s still not perfect. The other riders are at their most useless by far, and this is coming from someone who never really minded them before. They’re a lot more irritating if you’ve watched the tv series and can see how they can be useful. And Astrid really only provides emotional support instead of her usual ass-kicking. The villain was...fine...but he didn’t really pack much of a punch. And I really wished they had kept some sort of continuity and embraced the television series (I NEED A DAGUR CAMEO)! But these are mostly small things. If you haven’t given this franchise a try yet, please give it a chance! 9/10

Ralph Breaks the Internet: The poorly named sequel to Wreck It Ralph, in which Ralph and Venelope must travel to the internet to save Sugar Rush and keep the game characters from becoming homeless. It’s a fine follow up, but it definitely doesn’t have the same impact the first one did. There’s a heck of a lot going on in this movie, and it feels like it tried to do too much in terms of plot and character arcs in favor of sacrificing the humor from the first movie. And I really miss Felix and Calhoun. But there are a lot of good things about it too. Everything the Disney princesses do is pure gold, Shank is amazing, and there is a ton of effort put into building the world of the internet. I’m sure it will be pretty dated in a couple years, but it’s not just a quick cash grab full of name dropping and references (even though Disney seems like it wants it to be). It’s still worth checking out. 7.5/10

A Quiet Place: A family must survive in a world where deadly alien monsters that are attracted to sound have invaded the planet. I am the world’s biggest wimp when it comes to scary movies, and even I was interested enough in the premise to want to see this movie. And yes it’s amazing! The performances are all incredibly moving and believable, we get good representation of a Deaf character, the sound design is so creative it should be used in film classes, and it tells a thrilling and heart wrenching family story in only an hour and a half. I think I liked it because the focus wasn’t on the monsters just going around killing people. It’s about a family and what parents will do for their children. People like to say there’s a ton of plot holes, but if you actually think about them for more than five seconds, you’ll see there’s really nothing to pick apart because their decisions all make sense in the end.

My only question is about the cochlear device the daughter (Regan) uses. Was the dad (Lee) trying to make a new cochlear implant? Did Regan already have the internal component implanted in her cochlea? Had she been using one since before the monsters came? Did it break earlier because of the monsters’ connection with electromagnetic waves? Because if not...CIs don’t really work like that. I’m just confused about that situation. But that’s kind of nitpicky when this movie is still amazing. Even if you hate horror movies, I’d highly suggest it simply because of how creative its production is. 9/10

Mary Poppins Returns: It’s exactly what it sounds like...Mary Poppins returns to help the now adult children of the Banks family with the help of Lin Manuel Miranda. It’s fun, but it definitely goes on too long. Though I appreciate Emily Blunt putting her own spin on the character. Odds are if you like the original, you’ll probably like this too. 8/10

Fantastic Beasts- The Crimes of Grindelwald: The second movie in the Harry Potter prequel-verse, where Grindelwald basically becomes wizard Hitler and Newt is more concerned with winning Tina back then saving the world. Okay...this movie is not great. Structurally it’s a mess, the fun is being sucked out of the wizarding world, the characters make decisions that don’t align with previous behavior and make no logical sense, and there really is just the bare bones of a plot. There are also several characters that don’t need to be there and are just thrown in for fanservice (for now anyway). I found myself constantly saying how things don’t work like that and asking why things are happening. But even so, there are still good things about it. Visually it’s...fantastic. Jude Law makes a good young Dumbledore, and even Johnny Depp embodies what I always imagined Grindelwald at the height of his power would be like...I just wish it wasn’t Johnny Depp. I also wish it had more humor, because what was there was funny. It’s really just a transition film, which proves this franchise should never have been five movies, and Rowling should have focused on a Marauders era series or on young Dumbledore and Grindelwald. You just have to form your own opinion. 6.5/10

Maquia- When the Promised Flower Blooms: An immortal girl becomes a teen mom to an orphaned baby after her clan is killed. It’s basically a high fantasy version of Wolf Children. I honestly don’t know what to think about this movie. It does the family relationships so well and really drives home what it means to be a parent. However, its setting really throws me out of the movie because it tries to focus so much on the politics and background of this world without really succeeding. And because it is about a baby growing up, the pacing is so fast it will give you whiplash. But it is beautifully filmed and animated, and I would have bawled my eyes out at the ending if I wasn’t so distracted by how much I didn’t like the other characters and things that were happening at the castle. So...yeah, it’s a well animated, hard hitting movie that will probably mean more to parents overall. I just wish it was a TV series or a trilogy or something other than a two hour film. 7.5/10

Free Solo: A National Geographic documentary covering Alex Honnold, a man who is attempting to climb up the 900 meter side of El Capitan at Yosemite national park...without ropes or safety equipment. Yes, this is an incredible feat and the actual climbing portions are gripping and super intense. But personally, I found who Alex is as a person much more fascinating...and not necessarily in a positive way. Honestly, he can be a jerk. This sounds horrible to say considering he’s a real person and he’s doing something amazing, but seriously watch this movie and tell me this man is not one step away from being a sociopath. It’s completely understandable why he thinks the way he thinks, but it’s not exactly healthy for the other people in his life. I would be just as interested to see a two hour therapy session with him as I was with his climbing. Anyway, if you love gorgeous scenery and butt-clenching thrills with a side of psychologically interesting perspectives, watch this on the biggest screen possible. 8/10

The Matrix: REALITY IS AN ILLUSION, THE UNIVERSE IS A HOLOGRAM, BUY GOLD BYE

Yeah I’d never seen The Matrix, but I really didn’t expect it to be EXACTLY like the Oto arc in Tsubasa Chronicles. It’s too long, Neo’s an incredibly flat protagonist (but I feel like that’s on purpose to serve some sort of self-insert fantasy), and it seems like a YA dystopian fantasy series from 2013...but in an endearing sort of way. And hey it’s got a lot of cool slow motion fighting and neat body horror if you’re into that sort of thing. 7/10

Books!

Dry by Neal and Jarrod Shusterman: What happens when California literally just runs out of water one day? A group of teens go on an apocalyptic field trip to find some of course! I’ve only read one other Neal Shusterman series before, but I’m sensing a pattern of how well Shusterman can propose a theoretical question and then build an entire world around it. And this duo knows how to cover as many bases as possible because every time I ask a question about how something world work, the authors answer it almost immediately. This is a great story with very well written characters, and it even has a small hilarious twist in the end that makes you completely rethink everything about one of the characters. Most importantly it doesn’t follow the Scythe series’ formula of terribly written romance. However...it’s definitely a major bummer. It’s very interesting to think about, and it’s a roller coaster of a story...but the roller coaster only goes down and makes you want to scream all the time. If you like books that make you question human behavior and society, definitely check it out, but get ready to start hoarding all the water you own. 8/10

Jackass!: Okay this one’s a manga, but I’m still counting it. Honestly I don’t even know how to describe the plot...there’s two boys...there’s pantyhose...there’s a fun side character who is openly gay and doesn’t take shit from anyone...there’s introspection about how to deal with developing feelings and realizing you care about someone. It has the most awkward premise ever, but it’s unfairly good I promise. The less you know going in the better. 8.5/10

TV Shows!

The Umbrella Academy: A family of seven children with super powers who were “adopted” by an eccentric billionaire become child superheroes. So naturally, they all grow into jaded adults who are now tasked with saving the world from the inevitable apocalypse. And it’s...amazing. Like, this should be the new Stranger Things amazing. It’s a Netflix original based off the Dark Horse comic series, and it has one of the most binge worthy plots I’ve ever seen. It is capable of pulling off some very weird things because it just leans into it. The setting and aesthetic is very similar to A Series of Unfortunate Events where different time periods seem to collide, and it works pretty well. It has (mostly) likable characters, interesting and/or empathetic villains, great use of music and editing, and Emmy worthy performances. The only thing I don’t like (aside from them killing off a perfectly interesting character for no reason at the beginning of the show) is the romantic relationship between two of the siblings. Because naturally they had to put a romance in it, and it just sort of conforms to the idea of “adopted siblings aren’t related so it’s not weird.” But even they have some great scenes together so I can’t be too annoyed. It’s amazing. Please watch it. 10/10

Ducktales (2017): The reboot of Ducktales, in which the three nephews of Donald Duck go on mysterious adventures with their obscenely wealthy uncle. I’m pretty sure we all know this as the cartoon where Scrooge McDuck swims in his giant pool of money. It took me a long time to get to, but I like it! Webby is an amazing character, and even though the boys can be annoying, at least they all have their own personalities. I just wish Launchpad was a little less...stereotypically clueless. I’ve never seen the original series, so I can’t compare them, but I’d recommend it for everyone who likes Gravity Falls style mysteries and satisfying story arcs. 8.5/10

Carmen Sandiego (2019): The Netflix original animated series that focuses on a master thief who travels the world stealing important artifacts before an evil organization can get to them first...AND HOLY CRAP WHY IS NO ONE TALKING ABOUT THIS!? I don’t know anything about the original Carmen Sandiego franchise, but dang this revamp is awesome. Carmen is a great character who banters enough to be a Marvel protagonist, there’s unique animation, some mystery, and its own twists. The side characters may not be for everyone, but I like them...well, most of them. Apparently the purpose of the original franchise was to be educational, so they do sound like they’re reading the Wikipedia page for every new place they visit in the beginning of each episode, but at least the cultural things they mention always come back into play later. If you liked the new She-Ra or shows with great heroines, PLEASE WATCH IT! 9/10

Queer Eye (season 3): The third season of the ridiculous makeover show where five fabulous gay men rocket into people’s lives to boost their self confidence and keep them from living in filth. I hate that I love this show so much. I don’t like things that try to be overly emotional, but dang it, this show will just make you feel happy...and then sad...and then happy again. 10/10

Honorable Mentions

THE LAST SEASON OF STAR VS THE FORCES OF EVIL IS AIRING! Stop sleeping on this gem people!

Netflix finally released the rest of Arrested Development season 5

I started watching Yu Yu Hakusho because it’s a classic and the dub is hilarious.

I also started watching The Librarians. It’s...something that’s for sure.

And I’m currently reading Reign the Earth which is basically Avatar the Last Airbender set all in the desert.

[zak-graphicarts]

Developments with Adobe Character Animator

In this post, I’m discussing my developments with the animation software Character Animator, producing a walk cycle with an original character design.

In the last post, I discussed my introduction to the software Character Animator, and established the potential for the program in terms of a way to produce animations with a quick work flow. The final animation I produced was successful, and the various feedback I’ve had from friends and my audience online also suggests this. My major criticism with the piece was how devoid of originality the character design was - just your cliche zombie.

As a way to evidence a range of animation processes, I wanted to create a refined animation using the software - based on my own character designs. For me, this meant producing a series of character drawings in my sketchbook, which I could then develop digitally using Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator.

The process of creating the final animation was split into three main parts - designing the character, digitising the character and then finally, animating. I’ll be diving into my thought process of each in this post, looking at my experiments and final piece and reflecting on the successes and failures - and where I can go from here.

Step 1 - ‘Character Designer’

My initial sketches were inspired by own primary research, drawing from the several walk cycles I’d already collected for reference. Using coloured pencils, I created a handful of different designs - working quickly to produce a series of initial drawings and ideas that I would then develop further.

As you can see, the idea of a long-haired teenage character soon arises, with a sharp chin, long bushy hair and a permentantly annoyed expression. Just with these quick sketches, I was beginning to develop a character with tall, lanky body shapes that seemed quite interesting and engaging to me.

I also experimented with this design, exploring several variations of the face and different body shapes and sizes. The skinny structure and crazy hair kept bringing me back to my original concept, however, and after filling half a dozen pages of my sketchbook with drawings, I settled on a design.

An IT technician, Michael works from home and in isolation. His best friend is his dog, but his love of computers is beginning to fade.

With that simple premise, I had developed a character ready for digital development. Already, this is looking more promising and original than my zombie walk, which was inspired mostly by my own cliche image of the walking dead.

The skinny neck and lanky body shapes of the design result in a visually pleasing character, and it’s a design which would also translate well to a stop motion puppet thanks to the long sleeved clothes and jeans. This way, I would only need to sculpt a head and neck piece for my character, and simply dress the armature. 

Step 2: ‘Character Illustrator’

Working with in the same process as the zombie puppet, my next move was to create a digital version of my design in Adobe Illustrator. I found the clean, minimal vector-graphic aesthetic to be very interesting, and pose a challenge to my normally line-heavy approach to illustrations.

This approach was largely inspired by the contemporary works of illustrators such as Luke Pierce and Oliver Jefferson, but also influenced by the London animation studio Animade - who produce smooth motion graphics and animations in the same clean style - using simple shapes and muted colours to build characters. 

International Day of Families. (2018). Animade TV.

Their focus is on making exciting animations that move in an entertaining way, with a crisp and trendy minimalist aesthetic that’s making waves in the animation industry, with recent examples like the recent East Anglia animated advertisement being a prime example of this new movement into flat character designs and animation.

Animade’s work is incredibly exciting and fluid, with most of their output having an understated appeal. They aren’t producing animations with chaotic, loud movements - they are more quiet, endlessly creative commercial indents that show a love for motion and movement - short, sweet and thus perfect for sharing on social media sites like Instagram and Twitter.

Hello again, world! (2018). Animade TV.

It’s this clean, geometric-based aesethic and ‘quiet’ motions that I’m responding to with my illustration and animation. Just like the zombie example, I built my character using the shape and line tools, creating shadows and more complex shapes using the eraser tool to create the exact shape I was going for, resulting in a smooth finish.

For my character, I made sure to use shapes with a circular edge - to remove any sharp points and give the overall design an appealing round visual style.

The main problem to solve in this part of the process was making the design more visually pleasing than my zombie puppet - which lacked any visual flair. This primarily came through adding a heavy head of hair with subtle highlights and adding shadows to the body, giving a touch that adds volumes to the piece. It was also through doing this that I’ve developed a confidence in using Adobe Illustrator, having produced several designs using the software through this project. It’s a programme that I’ll be needing to use in industry, so getting to grips with it now allows me to have a head-start on the competition.

Having completed the illustrator file, with the character built in the correct labelled layers, I moved to Character Animator to bring Michael to life.

Step 3: ‘Character Animator’

In this final stage, I was able to play around with Character Animator more - develop my understanding of the software and solve some more problems.

The process was largely the same as my zombie example, adding the correct handles to the respective body parts, adding ‘bones’ through a click and drag rigging system and adding the walk behaviour.

Originally, my character’s arms swung back and forth - but I wanted his hands in his pockets. This, and the one piece hair was the main problem to solve here. As I’m adding all the relevant handles, Character Animator identifies Michael’s hands - and so applies a traditional walk to the puppet, where our arms swing in rhythm with our pace.

Like my zombie example, my first attempt feels quite light-footed - as if my character is walking on a feather.

His body was too upright, also - if we look at my initial sketches, there’s a slump to the character which gives that personality and tells the audience all they need to know - he’s not a happy guy. Having identified this, I worked back into Illustrator and slanted the body parts in order to give Michael a subtle slouch.

I was able to keep the character’s hands in the pockets through removing the arm handles all together, so the software sees the arms as one piece, along with the torso. In order to create a more realistic and exaggerated feeling of weight, I added more bones to the legs of the puppet, and slowed the step speed down in order to emphasise each movement. The final sequence looks as if it’s an effort for Michael to take each step, as I had originally intended.

His hair pieces bounce separately, thanks to the dangle tool and once more gives the animation a subtle secondary movement that adds to the success of the piece.

The bobbing up and down of the body works well, accurately representing a walk cycle that’s smooth and visually pleasing in it’s execution. The flat muted aesthetic plays a large role in the animation’s visual flair, with subtle shadows and highlights. The appeal of the design lies in it’s simplicity, and the complimentary muted palette of blues, oranges and greys work well.

The character’s rather melancholic expression is conveyed well through the walk, I think, as I’m taking the ideas learnt through exploring Richard Williams’ teaching into the digital realm. Looking back at my sketches, I think I was able to produce a successful translation of Michael to Character Animator, and the sequence works on the ideas of quiet motion and understated animation from london studio Animade in a way that moves past mimicry, and explores what makes the studio successful and engaging to an audience.

The sequence I’ve made is ripe for sharing on social media - it’s short, sweet and visually exciting - sure to generate some buzz once posted.

The animation I’ve produced is an exciting one, I think. The character design and added element of hands in pockets elevates this sequence from my initial zombie test - demonstrating a further development in my knowledge of both Illustrator and Character Animator. With the zombie animation, I was learning the software - with this example, I’m developing from these initial experiments into something more refined, possessing a personality and up to more of an industry standard.

As a criticism of the work, I would argue that the actual placement of the feet in the animation could be improved. There’s undoubtedly a weight to the sequence, but it’s as if the character is walking on a tight-rope and not a stable floor. Perhaps I could play around with this further, embrace this aesthetic and produce an animation of a tight-rope walking character? It would be relatively simple, just creating a new puppet and designing a green screen background with a chattering white line.

Also, I would want to exaggerate the character’s movements more. He’s sad, so make him shuffle, drag his legs and droop the shoulders even more as if he’s got the weight on the world on them! A key principle in animation is exaggeration - and it’s something that I’ll take in mind as I continue to produce more animations in the coming weeks.

As a way to put more value on my work, I want to compare this walk cycle with my digitally drawn rotoscope animation, Walker.

Although I would say the Character Animator example, Michael, is more successful and visually engaging - there is value in the rotoscoped piece. This mostly comes from the hand-drawn aesthetic, and smooth, graceful movements. Michael is is visually more exciting and appealing, I think - with a complimentary colour palette and interesting character design - but the actual animation is quite understated - quiet. Walker, however, showcases a slow and graceful movement not achievable through predetermined ‘behaviours’ - only through drawing frame by frame.

They’re two differing animation techniques, and both work well in their own right. Rotoscoping is an intensive process, but results in beautiful results with smooth, slow and rich animation. Compare this to the revolutionary Character Animator, which effectively halves the workload - and you get a visually pleasing sequence with a quick animation - but the passion and love of animation doesn’t translate as well. Despite the fact that rotoscope is considered to be ‘cheating’ amongst some the animation community, it doesn’t change the fact that it is animation at it’s purest form. There’s always going to be an appeal in that, and I think that’s what’s missing in Character Animator - a visual love for the craft.

As a commercial outcome, however, I have to say that Michael is the most successful and appealing to a wide audience. As I’ve discussed already, the recent trend of vector-graphic styled animations and characters is taking the graphic arts world by storm - and that’s the main reason why my Character Animator piece would result in a better audience reaction, I think. The clean, polished nature of Character Animator results in more professional quality work, animations that are up to an industry standard and with a work flow that’s unrivalled by any other animation process.

My experiments in Adobe Character Animator and Illustrator provide me with an alternative approach to animation and illustration, as I explore a range of new processes and techniques around the theme of a walk. The purpose of these tests was to evidence a new way of working, and learn a new animation process unlike anything I’ve really worked with before.

It’s a process that takes the focus away from animation and more on puppet construction and acting, Character Animator allows artists to produce exciting animations and motion graphics with a light work flow and impressive results. It’s quite a refreshing system in that I don’t need to create a frame by frame animation - infact, it’s quite original in it’s approach to animation - using a multi-track recording system that’s more like live action film than an actual animation. Rather than manipulating a puppet frame by frame, I’m essentially just recording my puppet move by itself - through the behaviour animation tools. 

I’ve been able to use the program to create some exciting sequences that engage audiences through smooth motion and simplistic, clean graphics. Despite the fact that I’ll be exploring a range of processes, I will likely return to Character Animator in the future, for lip-synching and more walk cycles.

Next, I want to explore the economic approach to animation from classic 16 bit style retro video games. It’s a rich and visually interesting aesthetic that contrasts nicely to the sharp and clean qualities of these Character Animator sequences. I think looking at a pixelated visual style and restricted, limited approach to movement would result in an exciting sequence that provides a welcoming contrast to the smooth motions of more traditional and digital approaches to animation.

Developing on from this character, I will be taking the design I’ve created here and apply it to 3D, using my character Michael the IT Guy as a foundation to build a stop motion model. Working in three dimensions will be a challenge, but I want to explore stop motion as a process and welcome the challenge in order to grow as an animator.

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Create a 16-bit style walking animation, exploring how examples from retro video games approached movement and character design in a minimalist and economical manner