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Final Major Project : Promo Video

For my promo video it really made me think about what I want as my brand of making as well as how I want to present myself as a brand. As I really wanted to focus on what makes me passionate about making and creating which is story and character. How I make stories and how I direct is something I’ve really been trying to answer through out this process, and what kind of things I enjoy making and enjoy watching. 

This is something I really wanted to push, story as well as Drip, but drips main positives which is that is accessible to anyone, easy to understand, can be seen by all ages, but it is still modern, it’s still unique and odd. Having references in the film so people can grasp what it’s about with out giving too much away, especially because the film builds up to the end joke of act 2. In turn really wanted some aspects of the making of the film, from animatic to roughs to clean ups, as a viewer I really like watching, but also just shows a little bit of my thought process. 

As well, I wanted to come across as professional and focused, but not so much that Drip becomes viewed as an art film, which it isn’t, it’s kind of silly. As well as designing a brand around what kind of films I like making, how would my name look at the end credits as if a business card needing something that portrays my style and my way of working. 

From an editing perspective having some nice pick up shots allowing me to cut between both the straight to head and voice over, but also allowing me to cut between takes. Making sure that the voice is really clear, and easy to understand (even though I do struggle with the whole speaking to camera). Again wanted to give some things away with the short, but mainly focused on the first act of film, so nothing that give away about the overall plot.

The end credit sequence hopefully gives away a lot of my style, from the wobbly lettering with a scratchy overlay. Clear and obvious information, and with a little funny mascot on the top, this for me portrays my style, my professionalism, but also my sense of humour, it is serious but shows a lot of my personality and working. 

I believe I did what I set out to do, focusing on story and really pushing what I think makes Drip special.

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Forefront: Hot and Tasty by Laura Jayne Hodkin

This is a fantastic short by Laura Jayne Hodkin, incredibly funny with a brilliant aesthetic and script (not too mention really well voice acted). 

This is just a delightful short, the qualities of the modern day almost realistic dialogue mixed with the absurdity of the rest of the narrative works so well together. The interactions between the characters is real well realised, bouncing and jumping off each other, having a joy between the conversations almost as if it was recorded separately and superimposed into the film. The colour pallets with it’s almost neon bright colours work to get this bright lights of night time scene, with the gradients and shading stylistically to fit the backgrounds but also are very pleasing. 

The movements of all the animations are great, with the high use of character movements and lip sync, every word being drunkenly forced out. The reactions of each character and reactions and interactions with objects and backgrounds work to make a grounded real but surreal world. The comic poses and timing is a treat (something I really want to see in my own film), the little interactions between the birds and little eye movements. Smears and bouncy in and outs are all playfully placed in the film (something I also praised with Tuca and Bertie can see a few similarities with both works). 

The character designs are so fun, especially the birds, with there big boxy frames and really awkward movements really captures the humour of animals trying to be people. The dialogue working really well with the parallel story of the birds, really ramping up the stupidness and surrealness of the piece. The cuts between both sequences, little visual queues in the backgrounds work really well for the humour of the work. It’s an really brilliant animation, though sounding quite flat and uninspired, it’s just very funny and made me smile a lot.  

Jayne Hodkin, L. (2019). Hot and Tasty. [video] Available at: https://vimeo.com/348936749 [Accessed 13 Aug. 2019].

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Final Project : sound design

With this I am not going to be uploading the whole piece, as I want to leave it for premiering at festival purposes.

Sound design was a pretty simple concept, having some issues with music. Was planning to work with someone on the main music composition, though not working out and ending up going with my back up by Ray Davies, Raindrops and Rainbows 2. This music fits perfectly with the dream sequence, having a light and floaty feel very reminiscent of classic animations, full bad and attack added to the music. In addition this is played twice in the film, one in the dream sequence and at the end as the fish fall, this is to push the enjoyment of the end sequence and adds a nice joke with the whale falling and cutting out the music. 

The water sequence and enlarging of the ceiling works really well, the nice low from the balloon sfx to the build up of water works well. The cracking of wood, and pushing of metal works to really pushes the tension of the piece, making the swelling more and more ominous. 

As well as little touches the fish cutting sound adding a little bit more weight to each action. This is more shown in the movements of the main protagonist, in other scenes each movement is alongside with either a chair creaking or the sound of cloths moving, this is again to give more emphasis to each movement as well as breaking up the silence of the piece. 

In addition, the drip sound is a constant sound never changing tone, this is to push the repetitive qualities of the drip and the frustration of the main character. Again in this sequence a little bit more addition of the sounds, so cutlery falling again to give a bit more weight to the word and realism to the piece. 

Lastly the overall sound of the main scene to have the fan through out, this is to really push the mundanity of the piece as well as having something that isn’t just silence. Adding to the whole atmosphere of the piece and really adds to the tone and pushes the isolation of the main character. 

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Forefront : The Redness of Red by Emily Downe

Emily Downe has created a triumphant piece of experimental animation. The textures and different aesthetics of Downe’s work is exceptional, very well thought out and flow wonderfully through the film. 

The film itself a discussion on the progress of AI consciousness, is then posed next to the hand drawn, hand painted, hand crafted designs. It works exceptually well, with an almost cave painting like quality to the frames, mixed with impressionistic shots, and weeping perspectives and transitions. It works almost as a piece of structural life without need of narrative, though this does add to the overall piece.

Simular in the styles of working of  diyala muir (Blue Hands) and even Marcus Armitage (My Dad), there is a naivety to the work, a child like drawing, however this being portrayed almost creepy quality to it. This is very well realized with the use of colour, particular the red and purples of the town sequences. The paintings seems attacked, rushed, scratchy, which all plays with the unsettling themes. 

Intern there is a lovely sequence of breaking of animation, almost forth wall breaking, turning paper and pages for process. This is a wonderful addition, though not 100 percent sure what the purpose is after numerous viewings.

Again with a lot of the work I really enjoy there is again great detail to sound design, a low bassiness to the sound design adds to the technological themes and surprisingly works well within the context of the piece. 

A really interesting film, something that isn’t really my style of making and directing however a really good show of tone, animation and aesthetics.

Downe, E. (2019). The Redness of Red. [video] Available at: https://vimeo.com/346909805 [Accessed 7 Aug. 2019].

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Final Major Project : Drip title and transition AFTER EFFECTS.

At the last little bits of the film, very happy with how it’s been developing and almost at the last little hurdles.

Title sequences is something I don’t really think about that much, however with this project I really wanted to make something that fits nicely with the aesthetics and tone of the piece (something I’m very passionate about). With this I wanted the title to have the same hand drawn quality to the work, but also be somewhat impactful to the piece. 

Here are the finished title and end credits sequences. The white and green quality all link very well to the piece, this tone of green being the main colour of the entire piece. The wobble to the text matching that of the wobble of the backgrounds, the dots around the background again matching the movements of the backgrounds. It is not still or stationary, again something that is a common theme through out and though made in AE it still has a hand made quality to it. 

In turn I wanted the title card to be also part of the humour of the piece, the large quite dominating lettering lowering after a small drip of the floor. This gives the pretenses of power, or of importance as well as a slight over dramatization of the whole piece itself. Adding to this having the drip in lowercase rather then capitals as to this implication, the size makes it seem domineering but the lowercase fails to do this, there is a nice juxtaposition at play here, also this idea also adds to the mundanity of the piece. 

Again with the end credits keeping with the style of both the title and the rest of the piece. Possibly adding some comic timing to the edit as well, to end on a nice little joke. 

Bubble Transition 

This sequence was using a lot of After Effects tools, the parallax for starters (adding a little gap between the aquarium and room to add a little build up tension for the reveal). This is paced well and is long enough for the build and reveal as well as audience members to understand what is happening and the joke. 

In turn I wanted this sequence to have a little bit more of an impact at the end rather then being a straight cut. Adding in the bubbles as a nice transition to the work, and a way of reminding the audience the connection between the two scenes. In turn the bubbles are again, a little surreal and odd, quite a cartoony addition to the mundanity of the rest of the piece, this helps build up the surrealist qualities of the work, escalating it smoothly for the audience to the final reveal. 

This is also something I’ve never really done before, using After Effects and a particle simulations to create the bubbles movement, as I prefer doing most of it by hand. However, making and designing the particle myself and placing it within the after effects system, I was able to blend the AE digital style and my own hand drawn quality. 

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Forefront : Le Fils D’EKIA by Edern Van Hille

Le Fils D’EKIA (EKIA’s son), is a wonderful little short about an adult being told his parents are not his biological parents, instead being created by EKIA a clear parody of IKEA. Though short run time around 3 minutes it have a lovely aesthetic to it and a marvelous tone, though could be use a little bit more time to explore comedic themes and timing, pacing is a slight issue here. 

Though what I really enjoy about Le Fils D’EKIA is the way the piece has been put together. The world with it’s blue and yellow combo add a graphic quality to the art design and clearly illustrate the parody of the aforementioned EKIA. This works both stylistically and narrativly, as well as the wonderful pixelated art style using the two tone for great provision in illustrating light and shadow. 

The animation itself is stands out, somewhat janky reminding me of David Lynch’s flash animations for Dumbland, but also with well executed transition shots and framing that all push forward and escalate the story.The sound design really adds to the quality of the film, with a low tone beat, mixed with silence and foley. This really adds to both a mundanity to the film, but a palpable quality of the main characters anger within the piece. 

This again is pushed to the front, with a really nice simple character design, large eyes, paired with a rounded mouth, having a very classical animation feel with a more modern design. This is a very well created and designed piece of work, with nice pauses and a humourous moments throughout and a funny pay off. Taking some inspiration from this for maybe a future project, but seeing some similarities between my own work and this piece. 

Though pacing and story could be improved, we don’t really know much about this character, or how he functions. The story is almost dumped on us from the start without much exploration, though still succeeds to entertain. Again a really nice little short with a great eye for aesthetic and tone.

  Van Hille, E. (2019). Le Fils D’EKIA. [video] Available at: https://vimeo.com/349319882 [Accessed 9 Aug. 2019].

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Forefront : Animation in the age of streaming services.

Netflix and Amazon Prime the two major streaming companies have made a dramatic push for streaming animation shows on both of there platforms. This is mainly pushed for anime, as eastern animation is often easier and cheaper to acquire licensing, as western shows are often produced and commissioned by TV production companies like Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon. Though this push for anime and being able to easily access these shows, it’s not the main focus of this discussion. 

It’s been quite a few months since Netflix and Amazon (Los Angeles Times doing a great article on this) have both publicly announced this new push for animation and particularly their own platform exclusive shows, this including Castlevania, Big Mouth, Dead Space and even my beloved Tuca and Bertie. Though the production of children shows is becoming more and more prevalent. Shows like : 

She-Ra Princess of Power (Netflix)

A wonderful rebooting of the original series, really throwing itself into it’s queer origins. Improving and developing both the animation (though can look a little ropey now and again) which has a nice anime inspired design but more importantly developing character. There is a richness to the new cast, and a lovely portrayal of diversity (though the main protagonist having a more then slight airian quality about her). There is a real passion behind this show, and a really freshness in it’s embracement of camp and LGBTQ themes. Though having a quite roughness and cheapness about it, it is still enjoyable and has improved over a the last few series. 

Twelve Forever (Netflix)

Twelve Forever is a solid show, not drastically life changing but solid. Having a lovely depiction of growing up from child to teenager and openly talking about feminine issues surrounding it in a light and comical way (one episode the Mum giving the child a bra as a birthday present to her embarrassment). There is a wonderful quality of childhood in this, but also anxiety of fear for the future, fear of losing that adventure. Really odd and surreal elements with wonderful voice acting especially Matt Barry’s portrayal of Butt Witch (this sentence tells you a lot about the show). 

Costume Quest (Amazon)

This is the newest creation from one of my favourite studios Frederator. It sees a handful of kids being grated magic powers to change themselves to whatever costume they are wearing, whether magician or space ranger Abraham Lincoln. It is light and funny, with a nice darker quality to it, a lot removed from Frederator’s other shows like Bee and Puppy Cat and even adventure time. There’s a wonderful graphic style with thick black lines and shadow work in this program. Though it’s not massively bingable, (mention this later), doesn’t seem to have an over arching mystery a thread through the show, but still willing to watch more.

Danger & Eggs 

Danger & Eggs is very much dumb fun, super action backed, wearing it’s surreal unusualness on it’s sleeve. Very high energy, seeming to be inspired slightly by stuntmen and 90s skateboarding scene.  Lovely colour pallets that compliment the animation tone, and exceptionally fun through out. I think what real appeals to me with this one is the slightly unusual character design, linking something like Johnny Quest and mashed with Adventure Time again very much enjoyable. 

The thing with these shows and the almost strength that these shows have from traditional tv programming. Is firstly they seem to be able to push the boat out when it comes to LGBT and adult themes (particularly with Netflix), this is a real strength abling to tell more complex and compelling stories, relating to both kids who are going through these confusing times but also nostalgic adults. 

As well, most streaming programs are binge worthy, meaning people will watch several episodes at a time, again this is where netflix succeeds. There is always a through line and a mystery to the works, always wanting to watch the next episode. This more me is a key aspect, and something I want to (and need to) incorporate into my TV shows and pitch ideas. How can we hook audiences to watch more then one episode at a time. The issue when this doesn’t happen is that you drop off and don’t go back to, especially with amazon’s weekly updates of the episodes fails to capture the audience.

Lastly and annoyingly, the way these platforms promote these shows is somewhat poor. Netflix from my experience promotes way more of their anime and adult animations, this may of course be just through their algorithms, but it is frustrating as a user. Worst though is amazon prime, where there is almost no advertisement what’s so ever, myself only knowing about Costume Quest through Frederator and seeking it out. This is incredibly frustrating as a viewer but someone who would love to use these platforms in the future and is really failing the creatives and artists hard work on these wonderful series. 

LA Times article

https://www.latimes.com/business/hollywood/la-fi-ct-animation-streaming-20181118-story.html 

References

Amazon Prime (2017). Danger & Eggs Trailer. [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3PQ67rwaCU [Accessed 9 Aug. 2019].

Cartoon Hangover (2019). Costume Quest Trailer. [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqDSMkgBHjk [Accessed 9 Aug. 2019].

Netflix (2019). She Ra Princess of Power Trailer. [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=apP5mZQMRHs [Accessed 9 Aug. 2019].

Netflix (2019). Twelve Forever Trailer. [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqDSMkgBHjk [Accessed 9 Aug. 2019].

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Toy Story 4 : Pinnacle of 3D animation

Seeing Toy Story 4 for the first time this week, though mildly apprehensive questioning the need for a 4th film in a very well constructed trilogy. 

Though not overall won over by the quality of story telling, finding elements enjoyable but the whole film being slightly disjointed and not cohesive. The most striking element of the film is the visual and realism of the cg. 

There is a lot of detail added to Toy Story 4, details of stratches, textures, aging of the characters, realistic fluff, all add a physical quality to the work. A known textural difference between the different characters, Bo Peeps shiny cracked china, compared to Woody’s cooler, plasticy features is an outstanding achievement. The little toughs of hair on Ducky’s head that move so fluidly and comically add a real quality of still tradition animation. The rain falling and pooling and being slightly absorbed by objects around it. The amazing neon lighting of the carnival, bouncing off the characters is outstanding.

Though there is still elements of tradition to the work, it is still cartoony, the movements of all the characters work in junction with traditional western cartoons with strong ins and outs and fluid movement. A praise on the original character design that they stand up to the realistic backgrounds, and work together having a wonderful fluidness between backdrop and charcters. As the backgrounds and characters have a lot of detail, is it still amazing to see that they work together within the film, nothing feels overtly realistic, overtly cartoony, but creates a wonderful world and universe within the work. As the somewhat indepth of how they work, working with the simulations, but having creative allowances with the sims and the physics of the work to create a lovely cartoon quality.

References

INSIDER (2019). How Pixar’s ‘Toy Story 4’ Was Animated | Movies Insider. [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fT_LdcWFHkA [Accessed 9 Aug. 2019].

Pixar (2019). Toy Story 4 | Official Trailer. [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmiIUN-7qhE [Accessed 9 Aug. 2019].

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Rough edits : no sound design

Rough edit one, this is using mostly the frame work with the original roughs, somewhat happy with the final piece, some shots add editing could be shorter and have a bit more of a rhythm of the work. Little tweeks of the actual animations, some clipping of layers and  not keyed correctly. As a rough it works well to illustrate what I wanted to achieve.

Rough edit 2, fixed all the layering issues and keying. Again pacing works very well. The animation is still the star of the show. Changed some editing spaces so it isn’t so harsh on the cuts. 

Dream sequence is a new addition within the work, very active and silly animation, the fish flowing and bouncing within the work. Again adds a lot of comic elements and a lot of silliness which will pair very well with the music and is very much juxtaposed with the dullness and mundane quality of the other shots.

In turn some elements, just moving around, especially cutting from frame close up of the drip. The dream sequence to thought bubble, and the end looking up, this just gives the work a bit more cohesion and not so dramatic cutting, easier to view as an audience member.

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Short : Negative Space by Tiny Inventions (Ru Kuwahata & Max Porter).

Short of the Week (2019). Negative Space | Oscar Nominated Stop-Motion Animation | Short of the Week. [image] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KI2lsdXJQ40 [Accessed 6 Aug. 2019]. Short of the Week (2019). Negative Space | Oscar Nominated Stop-Motion Animation | Short of the Week. [image] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KI2lsdXJQ40 [Accessed 6 Aug. 2019].

This is wonderful short, by Tiny Inventions, absolutely deserving the Oscar nod.  The quality of the stop motion is really wonderful, not clearly as polished as something like a Laika, but there’s still a beautiful hand crafted quality to the piece. With very playful animation, very smooth ins and outs, creative and fun movements particularly in the movement of the cloths and the packing of the bags. 

Set design and transition has a surrealist quality to the piece, which really works well to come transition, but adds both emotional weight with both comedic aspects and the emotional stability of the character. A quality of longing and memory, nostalgia follows the work through out, which is again highlighted by the end sequence. 

These surrealist qualities work in opposition to the mundanity of the work, (which is something obvious I’m looking for in my own final piece). The stillness and fixed camera shot of the mundane sequence parallels nicely with the quite active camera movement and editing of the surrealist elements. 

In junction with this, the quality of the colour pallets and colour grading of the final work, blues and greys used for the mundane work, warm oranges and yellows for the surreal flash backs. This pushes both aspects, the colder colours having a colder aspect and the warm oranges having a comforting and nostalgic quality. 

Lastly the story itself is overall very uniquely quirky, but relatable and emotionally impactful. Looking at the lose of the parent in a very different way.

Short of the Week (2019). Negative Space | Oscar Nominated Stop-Motion Animation | Short of the Week. [image] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KI2lsdXJQ40 [Accessed 6 Aug. 2019].

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Major Project : Ceiling expansion, first scene wides and wobble.

Most recent clean ups for the final piece.

This is the clean ups for scene one wide shots, bit longer then normal just to allow myself some editing room and space to edit around for the final post production. 

Very happy with the overall look and timing and particularly movement of the work. Still having this very nice bouncy quality to the piece, very fluid and very cartoony, but still having a mundane quality to the whole thing. 

End of the sequence changed from original roughs, instead of just climbing the ladder having him being caught of the ceiling fan. This one allows me to have more space while editing, but also has a much funnier and engaging ending. In addition allows me to save some frames of animating, through the looping of the movement, as well as working around the fan being on (not having to slow down and stop). This new addition to the work allows it to be both functional for the final edit, but also adds another comical layer to the piece of work. 

Lastly I made the decision to remove the wobble between pauses of the characters movement. This was for two main reasons, one so the characters pauses are more pronounced and with the wobble there would still be a continuous awkward movement, which I find appealing would lesson the comic pause. As well there’s a nice juxtaposition between the continuous movement of the background and the stillness of the character, they still have space and aesthetic cohesion, but work as two separate characters in the work. The almost anxious space with the wobbles, and the stillness and mundanity of the character himself. 

Ending ceiling expansion and movement. Again very simple, like the spend of the two seperate entities. The expansion moving exceptionally quickly and the characters slow appreciation as he is about to consume is very nice and all builds tension within the piece of work. 

Close up of the consumption, again works really well, the slow movement and pausing of the character with the quick expansion of the ceiling, ominous. The panic and movement of the character works very well and is drawn very well, again with this jumpy bouncy animation style. In turn a little more dynamic and wobbly movement on the fish one adds a nice bit of action to the work, but also brings a focus point to the work itself. 

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Forefront : Disney live action reboots, translation and character design.

The recent addition to the Disney catalogues has been a slew of live action remakes of the old classic animation films. These though highly profitable (possibly the only reasoning for them actually being made), have failed to achieve what the previous films have and failed to elevate the work into an more interesting realm. Only exceptions to this is possibly Maleficent, taking the villainous Maleficent character developing her further and adding a quality of depth due to the sexual abuse symbolism used in the cutting of wings. And of also of Dumbo, which takes a strange tangent into a more political artist vs corporations and franchises, especially coming out of Disney itself but fails to entertain and the character of Dumbo is almost an after thought. 

The major failings of the Disney reboots is the translation from animation to live action has lost many of the aspects of what makes animation so unique as a medium  of film making. Disney’s animation style is often quite realisitic in movements compared to that of the Warner Bros animation department such as Looney Tunes, so this aspect of translating is not to horrendous. Though the aspect of character design, colours and landscapes are completely lost within this translation.

This translation of character design, is most apparent within the animal characters of Disney’s collection. Alladin (2019) in particular and the new upcoming Lion King movie fail to understand the empathetic realtionship between audience and design, this is due to translation of animated and more human animal designs to that of a realistic animal. Movements and ability for expression is lost, the stretching of eyes, the movements of the mouth, the pushing of reactions are all lost by the limitation for aspiring for realism. Though this isn’t to take anything away from the animators who craft these, more an oversight and misunderstanding of the medium (though I do believe Disney are fully aware of this and choose to ignore for profit.) 

If we take for example Abu from the original Alladin, he is of course a monkey.

The character design is simple and very much Disney, wide eyed and appealing. He is clearly signified as a monkey, though with a bit more humanised and simplified features. This allows the animators to have a much more expressive reactions and movements to the Abu’s movements. 

As we can see in this one sequence, Abu changes quickly from joy in seeing his friend, to anger, to comical female parody to anger. All these emotions are clear and clearly related to the audience through the animation. Abu also has a clear character through out the film and is a large player, he is cheeky, easy to anger, self centred and this is all expressed through the use of this character design. 

However, in the translation  from the animation to live action the character is lost Abu is replaced with a monkey a realistic monkey. The empathetic notions are lost, the character reactions are reduced, the character is also reduced, he is just monkey. This is in turn reflected by the film that removes most of all Abu’s scenes and Abu is almost an after thought, the relationship between Abu and Alladin is lessened significantly  and almost none existent. 

This same ideas of character design is also found within the newest Lion King film, all character’s and design being replaced with lions, interchangeable lions. Characters and design have been removed, the semiotic relationship between shapes and design is lost, and replaced with naturalistic creatures. 

We can clearly see this in the designs of Alladin, each individual character having a unique shape and style. This also gives short hand of what the character is supposed to be, we understand that Jafar is the villain instantly, through his tall over powering position, pointed shapes, triangle like structure. The sultan, is jolly, happy, (little naive), this is short handed with the rounded figure, circular body. These are very simplistic character design choices that clearly state the characters positions and archetypes to the audiences. This is again lost in the live action, and having to be shown or told the characters positions, or just through are own knowledge of the characters themselves. Though failing to understand what makes the characters joyous in the first place, simple example Alladin stealing jewels instead of bread, this makes his character more immoral and questioned though we are told to root for him. 

This is also lessened by the qualities of animation itself, which I’m going to take a lot of inspiration from Maureen Furniss Art in Motion. This is to say that animation works within two aspects the abstract and the mimesis (the imitating of the real world), this aspect leaves the audience themselves in my own opinion between these two aspects. The real world is reflected within the movements, and physics of the worlds, character designs and landscapes references to the real world. But within the confides of the animations, the details are then simpfied and abstracted, all details cannot be shown,full textures cannot be detailed so we abstract them into shapes. This is turn is taken to character design, using the language of shape, we abstract the characters from the real world to create the characters archetypes (circular aspects of the sultan for example). This is not only useful for the animators, but for the audience, also given the short hand, the audience are allowed to interpret the abstracted qualities more subjectively. The audience fills in the blanks, how does the course is the sand in Alladin, how does Abu relate to myself, it is more in kind of given a book to read and create are own imagery. We as audience members have to but our own subjectivity in the film, we have to translate the animation for ourselves. 

This is no more apparent then in Ponyo, the ramen scene. In this sequence, the children are presented with a bowl of ramen in this almost ritualistic preparation of food. The lid is lifted and we are presented with a bowl of ramen, the kids rejoice. Within this scene I believe portrays the real essence of animation, the ramen is of course not ramen but shapes illustrating it. However, when it appears we are allowed to create our own world around the food, how it feels how it looks, how it smells. It looks not only like a bowl of ramen but within this scene I react in the same way as a children do, this is wonderful, the best bowl of soup I could ever ask for. Were this filmed live action, the bowl would like ramen, realistic ramen, but there is no room for interpretation, it would just be ramen nice ramen but would never have the weight of the animation does. 

This is the main issue when translating animations, animation itself is a more subjective form of making. We as artist are allowed to subjective and try and translate this to the audience members, this is through every detail and abstract shape of the work. Live action film is more objective, we are told, we are shown, there is nothing to really interpret from the images (except lighting choices, camera shots and so on, which is also found in animation as well.) This is the issue in the translation, you are translating something more subjective to objective, like translating a book into film, you are changing the space in which the audience observe the work. You lose the subjectivity, you lose the character designs, Abu turns into a monkey and a bowl of ramen is just a bowl of ramen. 

References

Alladin. (1992). [film] Directed by R. Clements and J. Musker. Disney.

Alladin. (2019). [film] Directed by G. Ritchie. Disney.

Disney Clips (n.d.). Abu. [image] Available at: https://www.disneyclips.com/images/images/abu.gif [Accessed 16 Jul. 2019].

Disney (n.d.). Alladin cartoon. [image] Available at: http://livlily.blogspot.com/2010/11/aladdin-1992.html [Accessed 16 Jul. 2019].

Dumbo. (2019). [film] Directed by T. Burton. Disney.

Lion King. (1994). [film] Directed by R. Minkoff and R. Allers. Disney.

Lion King. (2019). [film] Directed by J. Favreau. 2019.

Maleficent. (2014). [film] Directed by R. Stromberg. Disney.

Ponyo. (2008). [film] Directed by H. Miyazaki. Studio Ghibli.

Studio Ghibli (2019). Ponyo Ramen scene. [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1x7crUbZKLQ [Accessed 16 Jul. 2019].

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Major Project Close ups and waterfall neats

Polishing up some clean ups for the close up animations. These I am doing first as there’s a few elements that need to be added such as little assets, such as the cutlery plate and backgrounds. 

Hands of the fish opening is very nice, decided to go a little bit rougher then previous clean ups, this one will allow me to work a bit quicker, but also allows me to keep that rough wobble quality that adds a lot of atmosphere to the work. This wobble as I’ve said before adds a nice anxious quality to the work, an unstable quality to the life on the screen.  

The DRIP, clean ups again are solid (does move a little towards the left oddly may sort this out if I have time). Again with this a couple of things I’ve added to separate it from the rest of the piece. First is the more 3D style of the animation, adding this shadows and lights, secondly animating pretty much in 1s. This is to create this as a out of world antagonist (the other if you will), something invading the flat space of the guy. Again solid animation, may slow it down a tad as it will be cutting between that shot and another. 

The fall, again really like it, seems a little too flat maybe for the piece. But the speed is good especially towards the end, definitely speeds up and is surprising to the audiences. It’s a wee bit too wobbly maybe, but again something I can clean up for last details. 

Water fall animation is so much better then I thought it would be, The movement flows really nicely. Has a wonderful level of action to it, moves well and quickly but doesn’t lose impact and pace or just disappear. The whirl pool section is super nice and adds a lot to the silly comedy elements of the work. Still need to add the door and maybe some little bits of debris flying at the camera (not totally necessary but would add a bit more visceral qualities to the work.) The character animation is very solid and works really well in the scene, again this works so much better with the new character design adds a lot of entertainment and goofy fun to the work. 

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Forefront : Albatross Soup Directed by Winnie Cheung 2019

Albatross Soup is a wonderful animation directed by Winnie Cheung, the concept itself being really interesting to work with in animation. This idea of the collective progress through an idea and discover matching really well with the fluid quite comical animation style. The collective ideas coming in and out of creation and the gathering of new information is wonderful to see (working in much the same way as my poetry film). The use of psychedelic colours and abstract shapes really add to this creation of ideas and building, especially with the use of the transitional shots. 

The comedy elements are really well constructed within the animation, letting the “players” enjoy the work and the ideas which really creates a nice casual idea of play and gaming which is really lovely to watch. This is slightly lacking within the rest of the animation, though there are some comedic beats within the animation itself the tone has a lot more of a darker feel but the creativity of the movements really helps this idea of play. 

I think whats really remarkable of this work is the collaboration involved in the making of this work is whats really striking to me. Winnie Cheung more of live action director, this being her first animation project. With the combination psychedelically illustrations by Fiona Smyth, and animations by Masa Nakamura. Smyth work being very abstract and surreal using very almost organic mixed with odd proportions and inorganic objects, all that fits the idea of animation really well, with Nakamura’s work being very flowly and action packed with a lot of smooth transitions all work amazingly well together. Both adding to this floaty and dark qualities to the work which propel both artworks. 

Cheung though having no animation directing experience clearly has an eye and an understanding of how animation works and flows. Using the medium to both push the purpose of the short, tone, narrative and the ideas into this wonderful piece of work. 

References

Cheung, W. (2019). Albatross Soup. [video] Available at: https://vimeo.com/333439719 [Accessed 9 Jul. 2019].

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Major Project : Finished Roughs and starting neats

Finished last scenes of the rough work, very happy with the end results. Like the slow movement of the cutting of the fish (could be a little more force as if he was actually cutting, might make those changes for the final line work). Cutting on the movement, and holding on the last close up shot a lot. Very happy with the movement in general, just holding on some of the shots and cutting on the action. And the build of the water is also fine, again cutting on the action to the wide. 

First clean up done, close up of the fish (no hands yet). Having to change the location of the fish and the colouring just to stand out. The wobble and movement is really nice, wanting to have no really wobble for the  fish itself, keeping it to an obvious dead unmoving lifeless object contrasting to the wobble of everything else. Making the colours brighter and more contrast make it stand out more and parallels the colours of the dream sequence. 

Dream cloud and close up, again very happy again. Looks clean and neat needs a little pop of colour. But the line work is very nicely smooth, almost too smooth, maybe need to rush a bit more, a need to push the wobble a bit more and this will speed up the process of the clean up a bit more. 

Overall very happy with the movement and flow of the work and the line work, just need to speed up (but this will come quicker after a couple of takes.)

[jakemansbridge-blog]

Major Project : roughs 3

Roughs 3, almost finished pretty much finished. Very happy again, especially with the new addition of a scene 2 minute 10 mark. This really pushes the tension of the work, also gives a close ness to the character which we haven’t seen before in the film (though maybe more scenes could be added at a later date). Also makes him a lot more goofy and silly adding the the comedy and with a lot more accomplished reaction shots. 

Fish falling test looks very nice, will add more in final clean ups as the are repeating assets, in addition adding layers that just build and build. The whale having a solid impact, and movement, again adding to the humour of the piece, maybe adding some fish jumping from the impact of the whale. Overall again very happy with the piece so far little things to learn from next time like adding more close up reactions and really pushing the movements of the character. 

[jakemansbridge-blog]

Forefront: remaking a classic

Warner Bros have recently started producing new Looney Tunes shorts, this for them being a departure away from remakes of the classic show with a more classic shorts and cartoonist-driven making. 

This for me is great, as many of my inspirations especially for this project has come from these kind of shorts. Though I am disappointed with the quality of the short that has been released.

Everything about this animation is pretty spot on with the odd aesthetics of the traditional Looney Tunes cartoons, though clearly digitally animated they managed to recreate a lot of the same smearing techniques, colour palette, movement and character designs. The applications of these movements and flow of the animation is really spot on and the illogical and abstract qualities (bugs getting into a plane, pulling dynamite out of nowhere). This is all reminiscent of the Warner Bros cartoons, but still it falls short. 

This is not due to the animation quality but of timing and character. The pace of the short is extreme, with no set up or pay off, we do not know why Elmer Fudd is chasing after Bugs (except being Elmer Fudd of course). The movement and reactions don’t allow the work to pause and react to the situation, and allow the audience to understand what the dynamics of these characters are. Bugs himself has no character (not even talking in this short), is he antagonist or protagonist, there is no logic. 

As I’ve mentioned before pausing and reactions (in my opinion) are what makes Looney Tunes and other shorts of that era so compelling and where the humour comes from. In turn the breaking of the forth wall is also something that is so iconic to a Looney Tunes short and is missing in this. For comparison looking at an old road runner cartoon.

Though this short is way longer then newer one, though the sequences themselves are a lot shorter. However, this still has a high intensity of pace, each sequence sets up the dynamic of the short, allows set up, then pay off, with a quick intense mid point. This lets the short breath and have time and makes the pay off way more fulfilling, also letting the reactions to be the punch line. There isn’t anything more enjoyable then the coyote looking at the audience and gulping before his plummet to the ground. This is so key in making humorous and funny pieces of short comedy and animation, which unfortunately the new one fails at, it is simply not that fun or funny.  

References

IndiaForever (2019). Road Runner - - Episode 43. [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdKkI1vGsmE [Accessed 13 Aug. 2019].

Warners Bros.TV (2019). Looney Tunes Cartoons: Dynamite Dance. [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KK541L5x_IY [Accessed 13 Jul. 2019].