#it gave me the tools to understand line of action and body language and posing

[bixels]

Sending you this ask solely cause listen bixels your art is great but I fear most people will hyperfocus on your design work (which is great, don't get me wrong) and not give you proper praise for the super clean way you do body language and action? So just, I'm telling you that I've been looking at that picture of Applejack on a horse for hours over here. It's so GOOD. The way you do movement in your art, the DYNAMISM of it all, the super clear grasp on anatomy -- it's super super good. Your fundamentals are so strong, I love your art so much.

Thank you! That’s genuinely really nice to hear.

[zak-animation]

Overview As I did previously, I wanted to put a focus on specific projects this week. My main aim was to complete the first draft of my essay in preparation for our individual tutorial and focus on my stop motion developments. Fortunately, I was able to do just this: completing the first draft of my essay over the weekend and hiring out the stop motion studio in my own time to produce a few stop motion tests. Like last week, though, this did mean that I was not able to make any real progress on the digital metamorphosis and animated sketchbook assignment. This was to be expected, as it has allowed me to be ahead of the curve regarding the essay, and given me the opportunity to develop my own stop motion animation sequences beyond the expectations of the brief.

Having completed all of the Digital 3D and stop motion tasks, my priority next week will be on catching up with my other assignments. My plan is to have completed editing my essay, finished my digital metamorphosis task up to a point that I am happy with it and filled a single sketchbook by the end of next week. Given the fact that we will be briefed on our next project, explore acting through a performance workshop and a storyboarding masterclass - this may be a difficult balance. However, we also are given another week before hand in, which will be another opportunity to catch up with these two projects.

Something I am looking forward to, however, is our mid-unit review. An individual tutorial spanning around fifteen minutes, this is an opportunity to me to receive individual feedback on my work and an overall reflection of my progress so far. Personally, I feel like I am putting in more effort and work into both my practical responses and blog maintenance in comparison to the first unit - and it will be interesting to see if my tutors agree. This will allow me points to develop and improve upon, and receive a general critique of my current working practice.

Narrative Research Having completed extensive research into my chosen film last week, this week I have been able to begin work on the drafting process. Over the span of two intensive days, I was able to complete a first draft of my essay in preparation for our individual tutorial. My initial draft, however, was ultimately too encompassing and broad: a five thousand word study into Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, exploring both the theoretical and practical approaches the filmmakers took to complete the final film. This was collating all of the research I’d found in the process, and from here my focus was on cutting down the word count to the required limit of 1500 words.

In the process, I ended up cutting the plot analysis of the film and my investigation into the idea of Spider-Man as a character. As a choice, the film offers a range of analytical discussion opportunities, but it’s important to remember to decide on a singular line of inquiry for this essay. With all my research mainly exploring the film’s experimental approach to CG animation, I shifted the focus of my investigation to purely looking at how the film presents its plot: how the creators adapted an alternative approach to animated filmmaking through graphic printing techniques and adding a hand-rendered touch to every frame.

My independent tutorial suggested that my writing was successful and engaging, however, it is seriously over the word count and, like last time, I need to focus on a more academic way of writing. The strength of my essay comes from the depth of detail in the film’s animation and visual language process, and use of academic ideas such as the ‘carnivalesque’ and the various writings of Paul Wells. With terms such as ‘takes the concept and runs with it’, however, my writing nature is much more suited to that of journalism or sensationalist writing styles. This was an area that I needed to improve upon, and whilst it is less prevalent in my newest essay - it’s still a problem. With this in mind, I’ve continued to edit my essay and taken away any superfluous words, exaggerated phrases, and an invasive journalistic tone. A major element of this was my initial question, describing the film’s visual language as ‘entirely new’. On my tutor’s advice, this has now changed to ‘alternative and experimental’ taking the academic language from the original questions outlined in the brief and applying it to my own investigation.

Having completed a draft of the essay, next week I will begin work on the citation and reference process. My essay benefits from a range of sources, and I will need to reference each of these properly to fulfill the requirements of the brief. I’m expecting this to be a time-consuming task and will continue to cut the word count down in the process. As a whole, I’m at a good point in the project with my essay and hope to complete the assignment with plenty of time before the submission date.

Animated Sketchbook This week, I put a major focus on other projects - taking the time to produce iterations and further develop on the other tasks. As a result, I didn’t really have time to make any significant progress or development in this project. However, in the following two weeks, I will be putting a focus on developing and completing this project.

Digital Principles This week, I put a major focus on other projects - taking the time to produce iterations and further develop on the other tasks. As a result, I didn’t really have time to make any significant progress or development in this project. However, in the following two weeks, I will be putting a focus on developing and completing this assignment.

Stop Motion In the last week of our stop motion exercises, we were asked to have a character walk on-screen, visibly change expression, and continue walking with this new emotion. Like last week, this began through an extensive preparation process, in which I produced a few storyboard iterations based on my own live-action reference of the task.

My first attempt at this stop motion exercise proved to be rather interesting, showing a successful and exaggerated change in emotion and expression through body language and timing. Where the character is walking with a fast, optimistic bounce to start with, the armature visibly holds a pose allowing the audience to understand that he’s seen something: a nasty surprise. 

With this initial test being much more successful than my previous attempts, I was inspired to continue this task in my own time: developing a few more iterations of this final stop motion exercise. These iterative tests demonstrated clarity of movement through a clear line of action, and gave me the opportunity to experiment and explore character performance in more depth, evoking emotion purely through the use of strong, dynamic posing and body language. I also took this chance to be experimental with the shot composition, having my characters run and lunge towards the camera in these sequences.

In comparison to last week’s stop motion endeavours, however, I can visibly see improvement and better understanding of not only posing but timing within the stop motion process. This is something that I’ve continued to struggle with, however the purpose of these iterations was to intentionally challenge and work on this area. Although each example presents a unique approach to the task, they all include differences in locomotive speed and intention. This was a large focus of the task as a whole, to present a visible and consistent contrast between the two emotional states, and how this affects the character’s movements.

With this, I’ve completed the stop motion animation tasks described in the project brief. I’m happy to say that I’ve completed each task up to a standard that I’m happy with, working in my own time to produce a series of iterations that work to move beyond the requirements of the brief. Stop motion is an animation technique that I really do have a passion for, and would like to continue exploring as I progress in the course. Next week, we are given our next project brief, and I’m hoping to explore the medium of stop motion animation in response to this new assignment, additionally to working within Maya.

Digital 3D In our final session introducing us to the basics of animation and modelling software Maya, we explored the ideas of 3D texturing: serving as an introduction to the UV editor and adding predefined 2D textures to 3D objects. To induct us into this process, our first task was to create a cereal box within the software. Using a simple cube, and editing it into the shape and size of a cereal box, the next step was to map the UV island to a flat map of a pre-made cereal box. After finding each face using the UV editor tools, I was able to create a 3D cereal box: with the correct design on each face.

This then allowed us to export the map as a flat PNG, to develop and edit in Photoshop. The process of texturing a 3D mapped object was more intuitive and straight-forward than I’d initially expected. I’ve somewhat struggled to keep up in the previous sessions, however this week proved to be much more enjoyable and simple in comparison. With this knowledge, I can now add my own textures to predefined 3D objects (such as cubes, spheres and cylinders).

Finally, our last task was to create and edit UV’s for a pre-made bird object, allowing us to project a 2D image to the 3D model’s surface for texture mapping. Whilst the actual process of creating and splitting the model into a series of separate UVs for each body part was time-consuming and difficult at first, I worked with a peer and we completed the task together. With the limited time remaining, I explored the use of painting within Maya. Whilst this is ultimately a limited function within the software, using the flood paint tool did allow me to block colour my model quickly. With this, I created a seagull design working within a limited monochrome palette.

With this, I’ve reached the end of our introductory Digital 3D sessions. Having covered some of the basics of Maya, it is now up to us to continue developing and working on our knowledge of the software independently. From these workshopped sessions, I’ve identified a range of animation potential to develop upon. For example, I’m interested in making the radio bounce to music, and explore the potential of animating this seagull model that I’ve painted in this session. It’s been somewhat of a struggle, but computer-generated animation is a technique that I want to continue to work on as an independent response to this brief. 

[quowreadspact]

Damages 2.2

I’d give three groups safe passage.  Somehow, with the how of it to be negotiated when I’d done more research.

I am sooo unsure about this whole idea. I feel like this won’t end well. Also why limit it to three? Any reason? 

She pointed the gun at me.  I was so focused on the forces arrayed on the benches and around the edges of the room that it took me a moment to process what that meant.  A slight pull on the trigger, and I was gone.

And the next chapter is the epilogue! Or we switch POV to someone else. The next heir. I forget who. I know that won’t happen but goddamn that would be such a twist. 

I have help,” I said.  “Help my grandmother left me.”

I could see her eyes studying me.  Roving over my body, my clothes, and very pointed locations around me.

“Yes.  A companion.”

“A vestige,” Laird said.

Vestige?

“Of Rose?” the North End Sorcerer asked, his eyebrows raised.

“Yes,” Padraic spoke out loud, at the same Laird said, “I don’t think so.”

I guess they’d find out sooner than later. A vestige is interesting though. Rose I guess, was made from something left over. And she isn’t a vestige of Rose. At least not entirely. Maybe she is made of what many people left behind or something. 

“…I’m making one more offer.  An altered version of the deal I just gave you.  I’m willing to do what I can to protect you against any of my grandmother’s demons that happen to run rampant, and I’d still give you free reign to come after me.  I’ll protect an enemy, if my condition is met.  Identify the person responsible for my cousin’s death.  This deal, obviously, is off the table if you did it.”

Oh shit. Valuable information but that means he can never defend himself. Free reign is free reign. He worded it poorly. 

“Well,” he said.  “Let’s get this out of the way.  Who’s interested in taking the deal?”

Wait.  What?

“Not seeing any raised hands,” Laird said.  “It’ll be good if we get this out of the way, before it gets messy.”

Negotiating here?  Now?  I’d hoped for more backstabbing, a little more chaos.

And I have no idea why you thought that. They all hate you Blake. They already made their tenuous alliance. Anyways any backstabbing wouldn't happen in public. 

Laird drew in a deep breath, then told Maggie, “If it came down to it and Blake Thorburn sent something like that after my family, if I didn’t have measures in place, or if I didn’t feel my measures would hold, then I would use gun, knife, bludgeon, or whatever I had at my disposal to kill my family before that thing could reach them.  Because I love my family too much to do otherwise.”

Jesus. So Barb + other demons do some bad shit. Wonder what the other demon’s Granny captured are. Are there others? It seems to imply so. 

“It is,” Laird said.  “Primarily for Mr. Thorburn, removing all possible leverage he might hold.  I feel the risk to you if you take the deal is far smaller than if you don’t.”

“But it’s still a little trap for me.  For us,” Maggie said.  “And I’m betting that when all’s said and done, you come out ahead.”

“Yes.  Alongside the Duchamps, in keeping with our alliance.  But we’re all better off, Mr. Thorburn excepted, and he would be largely removed as a threat.”

Removed as a threat because one person could go after him with no fear? Yeah Blake not the smartest move. You better hope no one takes the deal. 

“A bit too steep of a price, I suspect.  You’re not paying attention to the context of this situation.  We need to drain the marshes to let the city expand, which is something we require to further all of our interests, yours included.”

“I am paying attention.  I don’t care,” the Briar Girl said.  The spirit’s beak was partially open still by her ear, serrated with sawlike teeth.  One of its large yellow eyes were fixated on Laird.  “The city will expand all the same, but it will expand slower.  More expensive for you.  It’ll still get where you want it to get.  When it does, I’ll have all those woods and marshes.  One way or another.”

They are all so greedy. Also I don’t understand how it would expand if they couldn’t clear the swamp. 

“My rose has done what she aimed to,” Padraic said.  “You’ve offended two of us, Aimon Behaim.  Johannes and me both.”

Yay Blake? Also interesting that Padraic considers Blake his. I don’t remember the reason for that if there is one. 

You’ve wounded me, ignoring me in this critical moment.  I have far more to lose than you, don’t I?  An immortal lifespan, against, what, thirty more of your years?  Twenty of your wife’s?  Sixty two of one daughter’s, fifty one of another, one of a son’s life?  Add them together for your family as they are now and you have, what?”

Oh. He knows how long everyone will live. Which son will only live one more year? Sad. 

“One of Laird’s generations.  Grandchildren, grand-nieces and nephews, and the children of his cousins.”

“That has the unfortunate consequence of ending his line.”

Padraic smiled.  “I could return them, more or less in one piece.  Let them age up to twenty or so, educate them.  It would be novel, and if we kept some in reserve and staggered out when and how we returned them, we could amuse ourselves for hundreds of years.”

How would he use a whole generation of people? God this is so fucked up. 

“Perhaps,” Sandra Duchamp said.  “That would be dangerous for my family.  I was thinking of maintaining some connection to the courts, in a peripheral manner.”

“Nonetheless, I’m pacified.  I no longer feel slighted.”

“Then,” Sandra Duchamp said, “Thorburn’s offer remains open, I will know who accepts it, if anyone does.  Let’s set that matter aside so we’re free to move on.   The murder of Molly Walker?”

Damn. Blake didn’t accomplish much. But what is this about Molly? Is he gonna get some hints on who killed her anyways? 

Laird responded without standing, “It’s largely under wraps.  The investigation will hit a dead end on its own.”

Oh. Never mind. Lame. I’m sure we will find out eventually, not that it matters too much. 

“Next order of business.  I’m obligated to call it to a vote.  Flagrant use of one’s practice in public, acting against the local powers.  Maggie Holt.”

What did she do in public? Ugh I feel like I’m missing things. 

Nobody else in the room raised their implements.  Not even the woman who called the vote.  What was the proper course of action if we didn’t have implements to raise?  Raising our hands?  Or were we not allowed to vote?

Maybe this will spark him to get his implement first. 

“Something else we need to talk about,” I said, “Is this vestige thing.  It’s the… second or third time I’ve heard it, and I’m pretty sure you referenced it, one of those times.”

“Talking to yourself, Mr. Thorburn?”

I wheeled around.  Rather than stop, I kept walking backwards.

Good thing to discuss. But oh shit be careful. Also turning around to walk backgrounds is a funny mental image. 

“Yes.  You are,” Johnannes said.  “I’m liking how quickly you’re picking this up.  The language, turns of phrase used to redirect, to mislead.  You’re talking to your companion, yes, but you’re not denying that you’re talking to yourself.”

He knew?  Even Laird hadn’t made any obvious connections.

“You’ve been watching?” I asked.

“Yes.  Everyone has, to some degree.”

Shouldn't be too hard to pick up, though I do wonder how they found out. 

“If-” a voice started behind me.  It cut off when I turned.  Rose.  “If the execution was only stayed today because of the promise he made, what’s stopping him from doing it next month?”

“A very good question, miss…?” Johannes let the question hang.

“I don’t know if I should answer that.”

“Miss Mirror.  A good question,” Johannes said.  “The obvious answer is that he won’t call for an execution if you’re useful to him.  He can use the threat you pose as a distraction or a tool, apparently.  He’s not worried, because he seems to think he has an answer to whatever you might send his way.  How is that?  How would he know what you have at your disposal and how to respond?”

But they don’t know her name? I guess they don’t know too much then. I like the name Miss Mirror. But yes best to stay useful. Sucks that they have to, it is very limiting. 

I said, “That means I’d have to find his place.  If I disposed of the safeguards and prevented him from erecting any more, he loses his bargaining chip.”

“That would be the natural conclusion,” Johannes said.  “Getting into his place to do anything would be the real difficulty.  His home is his demesnes, and any protections he has against demons, devils and infernal things might be supplemented with protection against the practitioner that might command them.”

That... sounds very difficult. Tread carefully. Poor Blake can’t do shit. 

“If the danger is a vote of execution,” I said, “We could theoretically win over enough people that they couldn’t get the majority.”

“Do all members of the family count?” Rose asked.  “There’s no way, if they do.”

“The senior member of each family unit gets one vote,” Johannes said.  “All put together, that is three from the Duchamps, and four from the Behaims.”

“Seven,” I said.

“Myself, Maggie, The Briar Girl, Mara, Padraic, two Others, at a minimum,” Johannes said.  “You might want more, in case any Others decide to vote against you.  A slim chance, but you have one month.”

Honestly this almost sounds harder. Even if he can’t leave the house, maybe he can send messengers? 

Oh.  She was talking about what I’d brought up at the meeting.  I’d been talking about Rose, but I’d let them think I was talking about something else.  Something that could release the barber if I was hurt or killed.

Would fear work?

“I do,” I said.  “I’m not really a fan of any option that works only after I get brutally murdered.”

Leading Johannes and Maggie to believe that there was a safeguard in place.  But the truth was, I wasn’t a fan of that sort of option.  Generally speaking.

Hey man why not. Make it easier for the next heir. It’d be funny. 

“Good company?” Rose asked.

“You’re an Other,” Maggie said.  “That place is like an Other’s amusement park.  There, it’s like the old days, before the Seal of Solomon.  Before humans were really able to fend for themselves.”

“This is sanctioned?” I asked.  Hard to imagine there hadn’t been a vote against Johannes.

“No,” Maggie said.  “What does it matter?  The area is his.  Purely his.  The only person who gets a say is him.”

So Rose is considered an Other? Interesting. But ugh this is so weird Rose doesn’t LIKE what other Others do so it wouldn't be much of an amusement park for her. 

“What do you want?” she asked.

I thought back to the oath I’d made while awakening.  “Freedom, safety, I want to help my family, past, present and future.  I want to help my… companion here.”

“Yeah?” Maggie asked.  “Huh.”

“What do you want?” Rose asked.

“I can’t put it to words.  I feel dumb if I say it out loud.  But power helps everything.  Knowledge is power.  I want knowledge and power.”

Interesting. Maggie could make a good ally. Blake has plenty of info. 

“That’s pushing the definition,” I said.

“So is Laird!  You want my answer, on why he’d call me that?  There you go.”

I frowned.

Why does it matter why she is a terrorist anyways. You have to be very careful with her either way. 

“You’re leaving me hanging?”  Maggie asked.  “If I could say anything crude, I’d say it now.  I… can’t even allude to it.  Blue.  You’re leaving me blue.”

“Sad?” Rose asked.

Wait why can’t they say crude things? Something about not lying?  Anyways omg Rose are you sheltered or what. 

“I’m not sure how to answer that,” she said.  “Generally?  No.  I don’t think we’re okay at all.  We’re probably going to die.”

“You know what I mean.”

“Are you okay?  No.  Am I okay?  No.”

“Now you’re intentionally misunderstanding me,” I said.  I added a quick, “I think.”

“I am.  Are we okay as a pair?  No.  We aren’t.”

I mean, true. I don’t think Blake is ok in any sense of the word. 

“Fit somewhere in the middle.  A flawed simulacrum, or a ghost that left a deep enough impression in reality that you can use that impression as a mold.  Memories, complex thought, they’re flexible.  There’s a book on vestiges in the library.  They’re interesting to work with because they can be altered.  Strong enough that you can mold them, without them being too rigid.”

So this is what she is. Awful. I wonder what the limitations are. Blake read the damn book thanks. 

But Vestiges were impermanent.  Sand castles.  Given time, given external pressures, they started to degrade.  Over time, the degradation got worse, to the point that it took more and more effort and energy to keep them intact.

What was the power source that was driving her?

How much time did she have?

Yup here it is. Rose will fade away. She draws power from something granny left behind, so unless Blake figures out what it is and... I don’t know.. refreshes its energy she is so fucked. 

“I’m here for a purpose, Blake,” Rose said.  “And I’m only here for a little while.  We need to figure out what that purpose is.”

“Fuck that,” I said.  “I made a promise I’d help you.  That doesn’t mean using you and throwing you away to fall apart.”

I guess she was made for a specific reason. Ah this is all so interesting I hope we aren’t left in the dark for too long. 

“Tell me how this sounds.  If you like the idea, we’re going to hit the books, and we’re going to make sure it won’t come back to bite us in the ass.  Dear Mr. RCMP Officer, you should know that Laird Behaim was at a function at the church last night.  He has admitted in earshot of several people that he knows something about who murdered Molly Walker and how.”

I like it. But won’t won’t Blake get accused of trying to reveal magical stuff to normal people? Or won’t Blake get questioned himself? I don’t think it will work. 

“Kids,” Rose said.  “Get the kids in that interrogation room somehow.  They won’t be as savvy.  They’ll let something slip.”

I thought of how the Behaim kids had done a poor job of concealing their fear and surprise.

“It’s dirty,” I said.  I smiled some.  “Dirty is good.”

Smart smart. Or stupid stupid. Hard to say. I don’t see how it could work, but if it could it’d be amazing.