titmasjack

[titmasjack]

Puppet Production Continued

Spending another day dedicated to working on the production of my Stop-Motion puppet. I finalised my goals for the week in the hopes of finishing the base foundation of my design to give me the opportunity to skin and characterise my puppet over the course of the Easter break. To finish off the skeletal structure, the majority of the day was spent combining all of the loose and remaining components of my character. Ensuring that I had a strong and reliable core that would support the characters elongated limbs, as well as providing additional supports that would strengthen the tension caused by the loose and exposed wire of the joints.

Having the chance to once again work in direct correlation with Barry, he was able to provide a range of insight to how I could tackle each task and my approach to purchasing and using the range of ‘KNS’ pieces that act as my main support and joints for each component of the characters body, torso and head. 

Like I established in my previous blog post, we decided to explore the use of ‘KNS’ as an opportunity for me to best represent the characters figure in a much more reliable and consistent outcome. As we came to the conclusion that using the traditional wire armature wouldn't provide the needed support leaving the core too fragile and weak to handle the additional weight of the characters limbs.

KNS Skeleton

Building an armature from the inside out, after having previously this week made all of the components that make up the torso and head of my character out of hard foam. This lessons challenge was locking all the pieces together in a format in which gives them the largest range of motion and articulation whilst compensating for the additional limbs which will be reliant on the strength of the core. Alongside Barry’s guidance, I picked up a range of ‘KNS’ brass piping in a range of sizes to allow for each segment to easily slide into one another. In the hopes of building a tier-like system, with the largest ‘KNS’ piece on the bottom with the smaller sizings stacked upon one another. 

Alongside its use of acting as additional strengthening for the bare and exposed wire, the ‘KNS’ acts as a physical bone system that breaks down the long strands of wire into more practical and effective individual segments. Leading to  a more realistic range of motion, wrapping the ‘KNS’ around the wire restricts the bends and articulation of the wire to create a series of joints, a much more accurate representation of movement, doing this has one downside which puts a lot more stress on a single point within the wire itself, whereas the wire beforehand would have had a much larger surface area for the tension to spread, limiting the space of each bend causes a higher risk of tension and potential breakage in a quicker space of time. 

I was able to use this method for both the arms and legs, to reflect the elbow and knee joints on my character which are stylised to be highly exaggerated and disproportioned in comparison to his body size.

Practical Production

Well on my way to creating the final base skeleton for my puppet, I was able to make a large amount of leeway in the production of my armature throughout the course of the day. Having put together the individual core elements that I previously created, I now have the first iteration and base foundation for my character design. Although I have a long way to go in refining my output, having taken the core elements has allowed me to visualise and show how my ideas have developed and evolved from an original sketch to a three-dimensional character.

Securing the majority of my work with Araldite, I found that I had to end up using a two-part Epoxy Resin. Consisting of both a body and a catalyst that activates it, the 50/50 components creates a fast reacting resin that allows me to stick multiple materials and objects together and has been my main type of adhesive that I have been using throughout the duration of making my puppet so far. Used throughout the majority of every join and adhesion I’ve made, using Araldite has been my first experience with Epoxy Resin and I’ve come to quickly learn the importance of understanding and being able to dictate ratio to get the perfect mixture. With such a short work time of five minutes, working with Araldite was one of the many challenges I had to overcome as it would often appear that I would spend too much time mixing the resin for it to begin to harden and become much less malleable to work with.

Due to such the high volume of Araldite that I had to use, I quickly got used to the idea of curing times and was able to use and produce a range of quick and effective seals that solidified the foundation of my joints and individual pieces.

Reflection

So far I’ve really enjoyed all of the individual and unique processes I’ve had the opportunity to pursue whilst completing the fantastical creatures project in Stop-Motion. Having the opportunity to build a physical puppet has led to me understanding and being able to work on how I can best translate my sketches and designs within a three-dimensional workspace. Working with ‘KNS’ pieces has challenged me to think outside the box and figure out how I can best workaround building the structure of my character first and incorporating a skeletal structure in after. 

I’ve really enjoyed the level of production and amount of work I’ve been able to produce so far throughout the week. Having the chance to create a physical outcome has been a nice change of pace and has given me the opportunity to reflect on my process as a designer and sculptor in comparison to just as an animator. I feel that choosing to create my puppet in Stop-Motion instead of CG was still the best choice as it has given me the change to reflect on the roles of a puppet fabricator and designer within the Stop-Motion industry. 

To summarise;

Incorporated a ‘KNS’ skeletal structure to my puppet to add strong support to my armature.

Combined the majority of my individual elements to produce the first iteration of my character armature.

Reflected on the importance of the project and how I’ve been able to address and discuss industry roles.

Aim to have the majority of the puppets skeletal structure before the end of the week. 

[titmasjack]

Puppet Progression Workshop

Continuing to work on my creature character in today's workshop, I continued to set out the foundations and make some significant progress in building the base foundation for my skeletal armature. Although I know I have a long way to go, in this session I was able to not only make significant progress on the physicality of my puppet but began to consider the next range of steps and options I could take in the upcoming sessions and weeks to create the best possible outcome with the remaining time I have.

Spending the majority of the day translating my drawn designs into a reality, this session was focused on breaking down the key elements and body parts into more manageable portions to get the most from my character articulation, movement and representation of my original idea. 

This led me to face my first challenge to best understand the range of materials I would best off be working with. Knowing that I had to account for both a solid torso, head and separate limbs like arms and legs, I needed to create a strong supporting centre that would bind and house all the attaching limbs whilst giving room for any movement and articulation that the character addresses.

When discussing with Barry my action plan for my character, I found it extremely useful to receive his insight and opinions on how to approach the task and alternative routes and methods that I could consider that would allow me to create a much sleeker and professional finish to my puppet. Giving me the opportunity to refine and discuss my original intentions, talking with Barry helped me come up with a range of ideas that I could pursue that would not only make it easier for me to produce but best fit my original design. 

Creating a Skeleton

In comparison to the traditional methods that Peter introduced in our ‘Maquette’ workshop where we built a skeleton through wire armature and miliput. Due to my unique take on my creatures proportions Barry clearly explained that I would be making the process a lot harder for myself to explore this route at the torso of the main character would be too small and have a lack of support to hold the tension and articulation of the extended and exaggerated limbs. To work around this issue Barry suggested that rather working from the inside out, that it may be possible for me to work on the form of the character through a variety of foams then insert a skeletal support structure that could bear the load of the external limbs in a much more active fashion.

Almost working from the outside in, this meant that I had to break down my character into its key elements, splitting torso and limbs to ensure I could achieve as much range of emotion from my characters design as possible. Limited in his articulated capabilities due to his design alone, my character is restricted is the amount of movement it can achieve through the manipulation and torso alone. Without an actual neck and the head is directly attached via the top half of the chest, this would only allow for a series of rotations rather than movement on the x and y-axis.

Instead, using a series of ‘KRS’ supports throughout the main body of the character, this would allow me to ensure a strong inner core of the design, whilst attaching each limb together and offering points of contact to work off of and offer opportunities for additional adjustments and movements as I work more within the character.

Using this method instead of the traditional wiring sequence that most of my peers are using, has given me the chance to explore and look into alternative methods of puppet making and adjusting the production of my work to best suit the needs of my design. This is a great example of overcoming the challenges throughout my work, as I have had to move outside the box to work around my characters proportions to ensure I built a strong puppet that would withstand all of the rigorous handlings when working towards the final outcome. 

Practical Production

Creating the physical torso pieces and cutting the wire for my arms and legs to length. Today was about gathering, glueing, shaping and ensuring that I had all the necessary elements that I could eventually work on putting together and going onto the next stage of production. Having all of these materials and pieces to the same standard of production, I found it imperative that I didn’t work on a singular segment for too long and understand that I needed to keep all of my individual elements up to date with one another to ensure they worked in conjunction and in scale as I worked through the process.

Having had the chance to shape the torso, using both a knife, scissors and sandpaper, I initially found the task a lot more difficult as working within with 3D materials led to having to consider a lot more factors to ensure I achieved the required shape of my original design. I found that in comparison to my original sketch I ended up creating each element at a slightly larger scale. Not only to make it easier for the rest of production, but I also found that giving myself a slight amount of leeway ensured that I didn’t cut away or risk the loss of too much material when shaping each portion of the figure. 

This helped in giving me enough room to work around the spacing I will need in the future when installing and looking into how I can incorporate the ‘KNS’ system that Barry discussed with me earlier. 

Reflection

Overall I'm begining to be in a much more comfrotable state in terms of the production of my puppet. Although I wouldn’t say I’m completely caught up to speed I at least know the next stages of my production and feel confident that I can produce an effective outcome by the hand in date. 

Considering we have the next few weeks off for Easter I plan and hope to be able to produce the rest of my skeletal structure by the end of the week, to ensure that I only have to skin and add additional details to my character when I return. As this will most likely not be a project I will have the time and tools to pursue on my own over the course of the Easter Break.

To summarise;

Discussed with Barry the best approach to my puppet and how to create a strong skeletal structure for my character.

Produced the majority of the individual elements that build the foundation for my design.

Worked on combining my first few pieces via glue, discussing the use of ‘KNS’ supports.

By the end of the week have the majority of the skeletal structure complete for the Easter Holiday.

[titmasjack]

Helen Schroeder:

Starting a career, planning a career whilst still at university.

Working in the animation industry, developing and maintaining a multifaceted animation practice. Not just a one trick act, done lots of things in the industry and can jump between disciplines, a generalist. Different to knuckling down and focusing on one thing, not changing their goal, which is also an approach to a career.

Put all your eggs in one basket, all studying animation, but very unlikely we’ll all be character animators. It means we might find out we enjoy doing something else more, once we break into the industry. Every time in her creative development, she learns more about the way she works and the kind of jobs she gets on with well. 

Liked to work in bigger project arcs, not working daily but over a longer span of time. Not a natural way for her to work, whilst the principle was great it wasn’t something that suited her personality. 

Pretty much 10 years shes have been in the animation industry, meandering past and the decisions that go into creating an animation career for yourself. Be positive, open-minded, opportunistic.

Developing a career, stop motion animation, fell in love with the Aardman Output, making sure that in her studies she worked in stop-motion as much as she could. Stop-frame you don't have to re-draw every panel liked to have a physical model there to manipulate. As for everyone else you start your career with what you leave the art school with, a degree film. 

Not hired for animation, working on props and sets, offer of an internship with a model-making specialism in a professional production. Offered to make a safety film for a company, making a commission as a filmmaker. A fork in the road, people will want to take advantage, going onto production, learnt about the professional production floor and production line. Started out creating props and sets for a stop-motion TV Short. Pulled onto the model making aspect, into the next step of production, learning lots about materials, process and techniques. 

Went onto sets, got the attention of the production manager on the floor, off the back of taking her own initiative. Made it into an animation intern, meeting Tina Kluth. Off the back of that, got commissioned to Freelance Animator and Model Maker. If I had been completely opportunistic she could have gone down the route of model making, as she had more opportunities doing that as animation jobs were few and far between. Weigh it up between opportunism and pursuing her personal goals.

On the back of this, Helen received the opportunity to go onto an Aardman Storyboarding course. Stop-motion animation is an incredibly mobile industry, unlike CG where you can hop from one studio and project to another. Went off her good memory, taking a foot in the door to make connections at Aardman. Training her specifically to work on Arthur Christmas, getting a good rapport with the Director, working with her embodiment of the character, not wanting to lose the Arthur expert on the project. Working on tiny little scenes with Arthur. Ending up with another personal stocktake in a personal way, a co-production with Sony Animation, from the UK industry it's easy to hop the pond and access international animation opportunities. 

Generally keeping herself busy and waiting for the opportunities to come back and get into the industry. From 2013, teaching at NUA alongside storyboarding on freelance projects. Working on TV Series for Hurst Animation, client: Cosgrove Hall Films. Paid per scene. But it was part of the job, never knew what she was typically earning a month to month. 

Working on Flora Campaign with Loose Moose / Catfish Collective 2013

Lucky enough to work on remote feature work, was on the show for the early stages, but when they started crewing up and properly going she couldn't make the move. The location will always be an issue, a lot of work going on in London which she couldn't pursue. Watership down was looking at storyboarders with feature experience. Having some leeway negotiating to make them an offer, briefing and pitching sequences. Bit of a drag doing the commute but three years on she’s still doing it. 

10 Years on, Locksmith Animation. The contract now extends past the project she's working on at the moment. The forks in the road are getting fewer, it’s unlikely she’ll be a professional animator at this point, that door has kind of closed, but she doesn’t miss it. Found that storyboarding was the avenue she ended up pursuing. Pre-production is a great area to work in, a great influence on the beginnings of a project. 

Where her career took her, and how it changed and evolved once she started working. Got her internship taking any opportunity to get my foot in the door of the industry I want to work within. Don’t set too much stock in our degree, anything we can learn here, absorb it all, but its a very competitive industry and people will assume we know nothing. Very few people get hired out of the gate to work where they want. Developing those craft skills to a specific level to achieve a junior position, but its all luck on what the industry needs. Advice looking for sideways entry into the industry, moving into different areas of production through proving yourself. Finding out stuff about ourselves that we didn't know before.

Summary;

Having a goal... but being opportunistic, finding out what my strengths are, knowing myself. The balance between optimism and serious play, conscious choices and the level of being pro-active. 

Maintaining a career;

Professionalism, starting to develop that professional attitude I will need, taking responsibility for my work, the promises I make and my attitude towards a project. Professionalism will be the main thing that will keep me afloat, being adaptable. Every project will have its own challenges and dynamic, the people who shape the project if I adapt my skills and my attitude towards the project to see what I can learn from it and take from the project. Having a learning attitude no matter what the project is. If you’re in a professional context you’ll be able to take something away. Find ways to slot my skills in, if you’re multi-faceted in the industry you’ll be able to move sideways and carve out a niche and bring benefits to the company they didn't have before. 

If you’ve made a commitment, take the job seriously, it’ll be over at some point, keeping your promises, positively and reliably. Taking integrity for your work, jobs may clash, but there must be a level of giving and take, but as a rule, the memory of you to be left behind is someone who stands by their commitments and is reliable and loyal. 

Problem-solving attitude, finding out what you can do with what you have, have a plan B, find a plan B. Appropriate behaviour. Feature animation is a very hierarchy driven industry, and they matter.  Try to enjoy the work you do, even if its not the best project in the world. 

If you're able to select your jobs carefully, you have a right to be there and your skills bring something to the table. As long as it doesn't come across as arrogant or cocky. Time management, work-life balance. The industry can really be exploitative, putting a lot more in that they're paid for, working on the assumption that you’ll do overtime for free. 

Runner in the entryway into most graduates to work their way up. Most runners are creatives. Positive, pro-active, reliable, happy to slot in to learn to departments of production. Just as a way of getting experience, most of the people who work their way up in terms of production usually start out running.

[titmasjack]

Show Reel Brief

Show reel brief BA1b part of our Unit,

Project overview, what makes a good showreel, and a task

Project overview, avsailable on the VLE after the session, main premise of the project, create an edited showreel, to a soundtrack showcasing my first year work.

Showreel needs to be between 75-90 seconds duration, has to be within that timeframe for the project, this will be an introduciton to post-production process. Looking at editing and the use of music, we will be using adobe premier to edit my showreel together, with an introduction to premiere to show how we can clip them together.

Using and choosing a suitable soundtrack to my showreel, considering any issues that may be associated with clearances of using copyrighted sound or images. Additional spot sound effects may also bne used where appropriate.

Research Portfolio, I will be asked to review three successful and three unsuccessful professional industry standard animation showreels. I will be required to reflect on my personal learning experience in order to develop specific areas of interest within my studies. Talking about the work I’ve enjoyed and where I might want to pursue and specialise in the upcoming year.

Elizabeth Fijalkawski - First Year Showreel 2017, a now 3rd-year student, created this in her 1st year. Looking at how shes edited them to the music, compiled all the project. 

Few things might have noticed, a title card for the first-year showreel, starting to think about personal branding. How I'm going to promote me as an industry. Changing my branding as I go through

Emma Niemis - First Year Showreel 2017

Few things to notice, titles for each of the projects, something I can consider doing if I’d like too. Not something I personally enjoy, storyboards, work in progress for the mystery box projects. Character designs, static images, perfectly acceptable to include in my projects so far. Animatics, and tests that we’ve done. 

Intro / Outro Cards, something we would like us to do

Name,

Title: NUA First Year Showcase / Showreel 2019

Contact Details: Email / Blog / Website

Logo: Optional

Job Title: Animator

Thinking about fonts we’re going to use, our style, might want to put these out on social media. Considering using and including our personal address. Using different soundtracks gives clear different tones AVOID BLACK BARS

Alwin Ediagbonya Showreel - 3rd Year Student

Things to note, intro and outro for his showreel, lead in with the character, fits the beats of the music. Gets you excited to watch the showreel- trying to hold the audiences attention. Continuously show them good work and devices to keep the attention of the viewer. A collaboration project, noting what they did and their role within the work. 

75-90 Seconds, Less is More, curating to show my best work. 

What to include in my showreel, my best work, first impressions count, starting strong with one of the best pieces. Start strong, end strong, try not to overly repeat, quality over quantity. Generally spekaing, less is more, absilutely title the projects if I want too, good practice to get into to have a go at understanding font and typeface.

Amael Isnard, repition in parts of the projects. Cutting to the beat of the music, keeping the audience engaged whilst we’re watching it.

Hilde Buiter, fast paced energetic showreel

Bianca Ansems 2014 Showreel, completely different tone, each clip faded into one another. Bit more meditative, attention to detail to suit and complete the tone.

Stephen Anderson, CG Modeller example, going through the different stages of modelling. 

MUSIC

Only use music that you have permission to use, be aware of copyright, there are free music sits, bensound.com / kevin macleod free music archive. Make sure that you credit the artist, think about the music that best reflects my work, and reflects my style. Be considerate and think is someone going to enjoy this music, if I choose music that has lyrics, check the lyrics. Think about cutting the beat, in tersm of making the showreel different in lengths of the clips. Think about how the showreel should finish, nothing worse than a showreel suddenly ending.

EDITING

Using premiere Pro, checking the aspect ratios of my clips, how they ripple and work together. Intro and Outro cards needs to check spelling and typos, destroying professional clarity if theres a type. Get and be open to critical feedback from others, taking a fresh pair of eyes to our work. What works best, what doesn’t.

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT WORK TO INCLUDE

Don't feel that im constraint just to animation, can also include, life drawing, concept art, character designs, storyboards. 

Neerachar Sophol (Unsuccessful example) To much information presented all at once, no clairty with any of images, no understanding of how they relate. Doesn’t take into consideration the time the audience will need to process the images.

Have a critical eye when looking at 3 effective and ineffective animation showreels. Casting the net wide, looking at individual freelancers, collectives and production companies. Analysing the format and presentation of each showreel, including choice of soundtrack.

[titmasjack]

Weekly Summary

This week consisted of not only continuing with the previous two projects that had previously been introduced. But the introduction of a third project where we once again had the flexibility to choose and explore a CG or Stop-Motion specialism. In an attempt to balance the introduction of new projects I primarily focused on setting a strong foundation of blog posts that covered my response to the brief as well as a detailed insight into what we achieved throughout the first week. Whilst the production of other projects may have taken a hit, I was able to work on them in my spare time, making tweaks and alterations to my animations as well as finding the time to meet with my peers to discuss and reflect on the progression of our collaborative project. 

Feeling the stress of the final deadline for the first year approaching, now more than ever I’ve got to get my head back in the game in an attempt to catch up, produce and keep up with the range of work that is continuing to be pumped out each week. With new workshops, briefs and classes being introduced, I need to ensure that I get my priorities straight and try and produce the best range of work possible in the hopes of achieving a first for my overall grade.

Happy with the range of work I was able to produce, I felt the most stress in regards to my blog this week, whilst I was able to initially catch up I feel there is room for improvement in how I approach the reflection of my work and as I begin to backtrack and ensure I’m all caught up from previous weeks.

Mystery Box

Not the primary focus of my work this week, I spent the majority of my time focusing on new briefs that were introduced. Leaving unfortunately little room for me to adapt, reflect and revise the progression of my ‘Mystery Box’ outcome, I feel that the majority of my Easter break will be spent on creating and refining this animated piece to try and ensure the best-animated piece possible. Spending limited time on the production of this piece of work, I was only able to make a few alterations based on feedback I have received from both peers and Jon.

Having now set up a clear blocking pass that showcased my timing, I feel confident that I can begin to create a variety of iterations that slowly introduces the use inbetweens to create a more organic and better representation of my character movement. To introduce more secondary actions and easing in and outs to create a more believable and realistic series of movements. I’m happy with the stage I’m at and whilst I believe I may be a bit more behind in this project than I originally intended I still feel I have enough time to make up for the introduction of additional projects to catch up and produce an effective outcome. 

I hope that in the upcoming week I will be able to redirect more focus back into this project and return to character animation as it is a project I have clearly enjoyed producing and talking about on my blog. 

Fantasmical Creatures

Introduced to the Fantasmical Creatures brief the majority of my time this week was directed into ensuring I set myself up with a solid foundation of preliminary research and resources that would best support my exploration and experimentation with the project. Looking at not only primary and secondary research but taking the time to experiment with a variety of sketchbook work, I was happy with the amount of work I was able to produce in regards to the new project and am enthusiastic to explore a range of new processes and techniques available to me.

Having chosen to pursue this project using Stop-Motion I’m very eager to begin creating a physical puppet developing the skills Peter introduced to us when creating a maquette, and although I feel my designs may change over time to accommodate for the armatures and skill level of the work I will end up producing. I’m eager to start working with physical materials in contrast to the ‘Mystery Box’ project in which I decided to specialise in CG. 

I felt that taking this more generalist approach in the first year would ensure that I had the opportunity to try and experiment with every aspect of animation. And whilst it may end up that I don’t like producing and working with Physical puppetry I’m intrigued and excited to give it a good go. Alongside working with a new tutor for the brief, I’m excited to explore and experiment with the range of transferable and practical skills that I will learn when using new materials and techniques I haven't had the opportunity to play with before. 

Media Industries: Roles and Practices

Coming off of our second week of the project, I feel that we as a group have been able to make a great amount of leeway in the production of our collaborative presentation. Although we’re still within the pre-production stage and gathering a range of information, we have a clear definition of our roles within the group and know the series of information that we will each individually be pursuing to best accommodate the range of topics we want to explore under our umbrella topic of ‘Gravity Falls’.

Having taken the initiative to meet up and keep on top of one another's workload, I feel confident in the production of our groups work and feel that we will be able to have a rough draft of our presentation before we break up for the holidays. With enough planning in advance, I think that if we stick to the plan we have produced in terms of workload and production schedule we as a group will be able to clearly produce a range of work that best reflects our individual capabilities as students and working as a group in a collaborative setting.

To summarise;

Try and redirect my focus back onto the ‘Mystery Box’ project to geta. more fluid series of passes before Easter break.

Produced a key series of work to build a foundation for the Fantasmical Creatures project.

Focus on managing my time to balance the production of work versus blog posts.

Focus on getting the rest of my information together for my collaborative group work by the end of next week.

[titmasjack]

Reaching Out to Industry Professionals

As part of the criteria for our ‘Media Industries: Roles and Practices’ brief is expected to try and get in contact with a range of artists and industry professionals who work with animation in the hopes of getting a response in regards to working in the industry and their personal experience. To talk to and get a deeper understanding of the difference in working with animation as professional practice. Getting in contact with industry professionals will give me the opportunity and chance to reflect and respond to the differences and how the university will help set me up with the professional practices I need to pursue animation as a future career path. 

To reach out to artist and industry professionals that fulfil the same roles that I potentially want to pursue as a career. This brief pushes me to ask a range of questions to animators who work within the potential career paths I have considered throughout the course of the year so far. To pursue something that has a personal interest to me, this opportunity will allow me to reflect on my initial ideas to working within the industry and allow me to discuss the difference and similarities to the careers I was hoping to pursue and explore as an animator. 

In direct correlation to the project and research, we have been competing for our collaborative group presentation. With someone already having been assigned the objective to pursue and explore industry professionals within the umbrella topic we chose for our presentation. This time gives me a much more personal opportunity to pursue and explore artists and animators within the field that caters more towards my personal ambitions. Although definitely helping out alongside the production of our presentation, this will showcase how I have not only pursued animators and other creatives who work within the industry under our project of ‘Gravity Falls’ but show that I have taken an initiative to personally explore my own interests specifically in animation.

Industry Professionals

Gathering a range of industry professionals who I would potentially want to talk to, the first guy that came to mind was Frank Abney, a character animator who has worked on productions such as ‘Kung Fu Panda’ and ‘Frozen’. A predominantly CG animator, I’ve had the opportunity to talk and discuss his work before and having the opportunity to review his process is what sparked my initial interest in his career. The clarity he provided in his videos breaking down his process is what I would love to have the chance to discuss with him. Reflecting on his time with a variety of studios and how his experience has differed from project to project.

Not only solely discussing the animation side of his work, but I also would like to address his personal experience with the animation itself, talking about his interest in animation and whether pursuing a career in character animation was always his first choice? I found it interesting when talking with peers that a lot of their focus was on the now of an artist and I think that an alternative take on the opportunity to talk with an animator would be discussing how they pursued their career to get to the point where they are now. In the hopes that I would be able to best reflect this on my options as a student studying an animation degree.

Having the opportunity to talk with Frank, best reflects my personal interests in the hopes of becoming a character animator. Having really enjoyed the production of the ‘Mystery Box’ project thus far, I feel that having something to present to him in the hopes of a critique would give me the opportunity for professional industry led feedback that goes beyond the constructive criticism of my peers and tutors. Having this chance will allow me to discuss beyond his response to animation and his process but his approach to animation and a project when working in the industry. I think it would be interesting to pursue and discuss a range of his background work to best reflect how I can incorporate those same methodologies and ideas into my own work as I go on to earn my degree.

Not only focusing on the production of his animations, but I would also like to pursue the idea of his role within a production. Looking and asking about the flexibility and limitations of working on a larger scale budget production. Whether there are any leniency and exploration in terms of creativity for him as an animation. And whether he feels that the avenue he pursued as a character animation has left his feeling limited or restricted when working on larger bigger budget productions? And most importantly, if he enjoys what he does. This is a key thing, even though small, I think I should cover as the importance of understanding his love for his career and the frustrations he may possibly put up with is something I want to know beforehand before dedicating my life to a degree I have to enjoy. 

Reflection

I'm excited in the hopes of a response from Frank Abney and hope to have a series of conversations that reflect what I have had the opportunity to discuss and talk about in my blog post today. Although he may not respond and I may not get the opportunity to talk to him I hope this acts as a fair assumption for the points I have considered and hoped to have discussed with him if he doesn’t get back. Although being quite active and present on his social media, I hold out quite a positive bit of hope in the fact that he may reply, and if not will be happy to pursue and explore alternative animators that I have previously researched. 

Although Frank Abney is something I have discussed before on my blog and in my work, I feel like he is the perfect opportunity for me to have a conversation with as I feel confident with the range of work he has produced over the course of his career and feel that his personality shines through. A great example of something who is excited to work within the creative industry and reflect upon his experiences as both an artist and animator.

To summarise;

Reflected on the importance of getting in contact with Industry Professionals.

Explored a range of animators and influencers who I believe would best benefit me in contact.

Established a range of preliminary questions and topics I hope to discuss with them in more depth.

Talked about how this supports the brief in terms of both my collaborative project and personal development as an animator.

[titmasjack]

Maquette Workshop with Peter

After having generated a range of ideas in preparation for today's workshop with Peter, we set out to create a 10-15cm Maquette of our character designs with the challenge of translating a once two-dimensional character into a three-dimensional space. To emphasise the helpfulness of a maquette in terms of animation, this project workshop gave us an opportunity to visualise a character in a three-dimensional mock-up, used by animators as a chance to visualise a character in a 3D space from all angles, it gives me the opportunity to improve and iterate the design before the production stage of animating. 

A great reference for all animators, working from a Maquette gives the animator the chance to work out what physically possible with a character in terms of animation and shouldn’t be limited to just stop-motion alone. The use of Maquettes is even used in the production of both traditional and CG animation as a guide and reference to ensure the opportunity for all animators and artists working on the production to have a clear visual reference of a character from a variety of angles. 

Stages of Maquette Making

As a brief introduction to the variety of stages needed when creating a fully fledged physical puppet, Peter briefly went over the key components and materials that are used to make up a three-dimensional maquette. From building a wire-frame skeleton taken from an orthographic drawing of our character to bulking out the design and physically sculpting with Super Sculpey. Peter used the time to step by step introduce and showcase how each process helps build the fundamental skeletal foundation to work off and produce the best physical representation of our initial ideas. 

Based off of the range of drawings I had previously completed in preparation for today's workshop, Peter established that we would need to create a final flat perspective drawing of our chosen character design to best showcase the characters proportions and skeletal structure that would act as a guide when creating a wired armature for the maquette. Using the drawing as a baseline, this allowed me to simply trace the drawing using aluminium wire to create a skeletal portrayal of the design that I could then bulk out and expand upon. 

Spending the most time to tweak and manipulate the wire to fit the form just right. Peter emphasised the importance of making sure the foundation of the skeletal form was correct, as adjusting and tweaking the physical form of the maquette would be a lot harder to change once we had already started sculpting on top of the wire armature itself. Taking this into consideration, I would say that I spent the majority of the session working on the foundational layers of the maquette to ensure I could achieve the best representation of my character from all perspectives. I initially found it quite difficult to translate my design into a 3D space as I quickly found that a lot of my perspective drawings didn’t accommodate for the width of the character, leading me to have to take an initiative in deciding the characters width in terms of leg space and rig cage.

Creating the primary of the bulk of the character from the wire, tin foil and tape alone, it was crucial to build a solid form and not rely on the weight of the clay to bring the character to life. Almost acting as a skeletal and muscular structure of the animal, the clay should act as a basic skin layer that wraps around and determines the physical detailing features of the characters design.

Working with Super Sculpey

Defining my character traits using clay, once I felt that I had built a solid foundation using wire and tin foil I set out to define my character with additional details using ‘Super Sculpey’. A polymer based clay that doesn’t air dry, ‘Super Sculpey’ provides the best of both worlds as its malleable enough to be easily kneaded and sculpted to any desired shape whilst holding up enough integrity to produce more detailed designs and sculpts. Having had the opportunity to work with the material before I felt confident in being able to successfully produce an effective outcome that showed a variety of texture, design and depth through the use of the clay itself. 

Ensuring that I didn’t pile on the clay too thick, as a bakable clay it was important that my clay was kept around 5mm thick to ensure that it wouldn’t burn when baked. The professional grade material allows me to produce and create solid outcomes that can be refined and detailed through sanding to get an additional level of detail and finish to my creature design. 

A technique I can continue to revisit and take forward in the upcoming years, working with ‘Super Sculpey’ to create my maquette gave me the necessary flexibility when manipulating, making changes and iterating my design over the course of the next couple of weeks. 

Reflection

Although I still need to finish and work on my maquette over the next couple of weeks, I feel that I was able to set a solid foundation for my ideas and use the techniques that Peter introduced to my best advantage in replicating my original design. I feel confident that I will be able to take my original design and sketches and translate them with a keen sense of detail and consideration for elements such as texture which can be achieved through the use of working with the Sculpey itself. 

Even though at this point I have only built up the foundation of the form, I believe that I’m at a stage where I can begin to work off of what I have learnt in today's session to create the best representation possible of my original design. Although this may not be the final character design that I end up using for the purpose of the project, this has given me the opportunity to showcase how I have interpreted and engaged in a range of new processes that I haven't had the chance to explore before. Over the course of the next few weeks, I hope to be able to focus and refine on the balance of my maquette and consider elements such as posing to bring a sense of liveliness and character to my sculpt. 

To summarise;

In today's workshop, Peter introduced a range of new techniques to help create our own maquette based off of our character sketches.

Built an armature using wire to represent the skeletal structure of our character designs. 

Discussed the use of a maquette in the industry and how they are used to support artists and animators on a production.

Reflected and discussed how I could take my work further outside of timetabled lessons.

[titmasjack]

How are Maquettes Used in Industry?

When it comes to character design, the pre-production stage of the animation pipeline probably has the biggest drawing requirement of all. If a character is too be animated, it has to be made clear that a representation of the character needs to be made and recreated in a digital three-dimensional form. To provide as a physical point of reference for animators and the rest of the production team, sometimes having a character drawn from all angles, so that every aspect and viewpoint can be defined and understood isn’t enough. 

Providing numerous views of the character traditionally conveyed through the kind of model sheets that are created for 2D animation. Sometimes every conceivable angle doesn’t provide the animator with enough information with how the character could be portrayed and used in a particular pose. To ensure that the animator provides an accurate and consistent representation of the character in every frame in terms of size, shape and volume. To give a true representation of the character from all angles. 

An even better way of achieving an entirely comprehensive representation of a character is to create a ‘Maquette’ as a term of physical reference, building a maquette is the process of conventionally or digitally modelling design to produce a three-dimensional rendition of a character. Typically a hand-crafted 3D model that animators use and reference when animating a character, a maquette helps bring consistency, alongside the use of model sheets and among the drawings of the same character by different animators.

In the hopes of providing enough reference material as possible, using a maquette adds another layer of security in the clarity of the work and how the character will be best represented by a team of animators. 

Practical uses of Maquettes

Not only limited to the production of animations, but the practical uses of maquettes also expand way beyond the needs of animators alone. Most apparent when a commissioned work or sculpture is involved. Maquettes are used in traditional art forms if a particularly large of the expensive sculpture is planned. Using a maquette to help show how a piece will fit into its potential display space, and allow the person or group commissioning the work to get a three-dimensional glimpse of what they’re paying for. It gives the client a brief representation of the end product, giving a cheap beginning alternative that can be tweaked to fit the desired needs of the client. 

With the same process being used in animation, creating Maquettes is typically the first physical rendition of a character. Giving the director their first look at the physical style and view of design to discuss and reflect on any visual changes that would need tweaking. In particular for stop-motion animation, this process will be used when looking at the flexibility and articulation of a puppet to reflect and review the necessary requirements of a puppet and its needs within the narrative. Each used as a form of preliminary investigation and a stepping stone between the production stages of character design and animation. It’s within these final moments of pre-production where directors get to see a physical manifestation of their works intentions.

Using a Maquette is used across all animation platforms and not limited to more recent digital CG animation. Providing a three-dimensional physical rendition of a character can help animators have a sense of weight and mass to the character when animating. Supporting the style of motion and movement that the director intends for each character to have. 

Maquettes in Industry

Maquettes were first seen used by Disney animators in the late 1930′s; serving as a range of important reference to keep the appearance of a hand-drawn character consistent through various animators. Using a maquette allowed artists and animators to study a range of various angles of a singular character when animating and drawing each individual frame.

A prominent figure in the industry of building Maquettes, Tony Cipriano has created a range of sculpture for both film and collectable industries for over 25 years. Not only working for Disney alone, but his work in sculpting has also been lent to Marvel Entertainment, Warner Brothers Studios, Nickelodeon, Hasbro Toys and even creating prototypes for DC Entertainment.

Beginning his career with Walt Disney Feature Animation Studios, Tony has worked as an animation artist and a sculptor on several of Disney’s most popular film, using his sculpting to translate iconic designs into a three-dimensional space to give reference for animators all throughout some of the classic era’s of Disney’s first few animated feature films. Most notably producing work for Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, Hunchback of Notre Dame, Pocahontas, Tarzan, Mulan and Brother Bear. Lending his talents have arguably provided some of the most recognisable characters in Disney’s animation history, influencing and translating series of designs and references into more manageable and realistic physical manifestations. 

Reflection

Researching into the use of Maquettes and their role within the industry has given me first-hand insight on their importance as a point of reference when animating. Useful for me as a physical representation of character design, learning this skills will help me best understand how I can translate my characters into three-dimensional space and utilise and change their designs to best suit the medium I’m working within.

Using my designs and newfound knowledge, I hope to use this basic understanding as a foundation for my workshop with Peter on Thursday where I will begin to translate my own designs into a Maquette. Understanding how I can convey a sense of scale, weight and mass to my designs whilst showcasing believable and realistic poses. Having had the brief opportunity to look at the work of Tony Cipriano, I can begin to think about how I can successfully use his techniques to translate my own designs. Although new to me, I’m intrigued by the use of sculpting and look forward to challenging myself to translate my ideas and designs to a new medium. 

If all goes well, I hope to produce a range of Maquettes in the future, just like I intend to continue to use TVPaint, I can recognise the importance of a Maquette and the impact it can have when directly animating as a result of relaying my designs into a 3D environment.

To summarise;

I looked into the use of Maquettes in the industry and their role within the production line of animation.

Researched industry examples like Tony Cipriano who has worked for a vast array of companies over the span of his career.

Discussed the best approach I could take to Maquette making to create the best possible outcome.

Reflected on my findings and how I can adapt my work to fit the workshop we’ll be doing with Peter.

[titmasjack]

Maquette Workshop Task Preparation

In preparation for Thursday’s maquette workshop with Peter, between our first introductory workshop and now I decided I wanted to further explore my ideas to get myself in a much more grounded position that I can use to support my work later this week. With the opportunity to expand upon my original ideas and explore new ones, my intention was to create a range of small sketchbook pages that gave me the chance to explore my creative side and produce a series of outcomes that led me to a final idea that I could use to guide my work in the upcoming workshop. 

With the hopes of coming up with a final design, I wanted to consider how my character would relate in a three-dimensional space. Considering the range of angles my character would be looked at to try and best determine the possibilities and extent of my ideas, to see what would be creatively possible when considering the weight and dimensions of my character.

Not creating anything too intensive, I wanted to let my brain run wild with the number of ideas that came to my head. Whilst I primarily stuck to the one idea that received the most amount of feedback from Tuesday's preliminary session, I ran with the idea of my character, exploring elements such as scale, proportion and alternate designs which I could have ultimately explored in tomorrows session. 

Character Iterations

Playing around with my Chicken hybrid! The majority of my sketches focused on the variation and alterations I could make to my Chicken creature, looking at not only the Chicken in his single stage of life. My series of experimentation led to me look at how age would determine the look and development of the creature. To really attribute to the whacky, collaborative aesthetic of the animal, I wanted to incorporate both organic and man-made elements, adding a few digital and physical attributes making him more cybernetic. I added these elements in particular as an opportunity when sculpting, as a challenge to think about different and various materials I could attempt to include alongside just clay alone. And if not this would lead me to explore alternate approaches when sculpting, as I wouldn’t be creating just organic elements alone.

Having the chance to play around with creature design as a whole was a nice change of pace and gave me the creative freedom where I didn’t feel the need to be pressured in producing a refined outcome. I found this task most beneficial as I had taken the time to set the groundwork for my designs in the previous lesson. Having the chance to work off of existing designs rather than creating new ones took a significant amount of weight off my shoulders leading me to produce a much more relaxed series of characters that benefited from already having a foundation to work off of.

Alongside character design alone, I challenged myself in terms of perspective in the hopes of showcasing my character at a range of angles. To understand the character in a three-dimensional space, I wanted to determine the shape and weight of the character from various angles, to take away from the flat two-dimensionality of my original design and bring my character to life. Having the opportunity to see my character in a three-dimensional environment like this, is one of the first stages where I was able to clearly see and determine the faults and issues of my designs. 

This challenge led me to understand the possible issues with my character and the significant amount of stress may be put in the top-heavy design. When moving on with my ideas and beginning to translate them into a 3D environment using clay, this is something I’ll have to consider as the posing of my character may affect the weight and balance to something that isn't achievable in real life. Although this is something I tried to express in my own drawings, I experimented with a range of poses in an attempt to push the boundaries of my character and experiment with the emotional range my disturbed Chicken could create. I was pleasantly surprised that without any truly functioning limbs for expression purposes like hands, I was able to convey a range of emotion through my understanding of character shapes and how I could use his body alone to convey a range of emotional value to the character. 

Reflection

Having the opportunity to once again revert back to my sketchbook for designing characters was a great change for me to get back into the swing of things for this new project. Challenging me in new and exciting ways, I was happy that I was able to approach the task with a fresh mindset and take on drawing since working on both the sketchbook projects beforehand. Considering elements of perspective, age and overall design I wouldn’t have previously considered, working on this character has given me the chance to showcase how my thought process has developed as an artist and how my expansive understanding of character designing has developed to best benefit me in the upcoming weeks. 

I hope to be able to actively apply what I’ve produced today in our upcoming Maquette session with Peter to best replicate and translate my designs into a 3D space, using a range of new techniques that will be introduced to me in the session. The purpose of these drawings and sketches, was not only for me to get a better understanding of the character I hope to create, but as a frame of reference when producing my Maquette, to give me a better understanding of my original intentions with the character and how I can best use my drawings alongside me sculpting to create the best outcome possible. 

I hope to get back into the trend of sketching to go alongside my work, to ensure that I keep a visual diary of my ideas as well as all the work I produce on my blog, all to ensure I best showcase my developmental evolution as an artist.

To summarise;

I produced a range of character sketches and ideas based upon my original work in Jon’s session.

Discussed the importance of perspective and establishing a character in a 3D space.

Talked about how I could best use my sketches to further my work in the upcoming Maquette workshop.

Talked about my approach to sketching and how working on sketchbook projects has changed my approach to the task.

[titmasjack]

Introductory Research Presentation

Having taken the time to put together a basic presentation of our ideas in preparation for this weeks task. We compiled all of our ideas and roles within the group to create a short three slide presentation that clearly establishes our intentions for the project and how we aim to approach the upcoming weeks to create a fulfilling and productive outcome. Best representing our individual intentions, the research presentation gave a brief detailing of our unique approach to the task and how we aim to use ‘Gravity Falls’ as an umbrella to each study a segment of the production pipeline. To research and explore individual elements we are each interested in, this gave us the opportunity and chance to give a brief description of our reasoning and choice of what we hope to pursue over the rest of the project.

Answering the four bullet points set out by Helen as a guideline for our presentations, we based our short piece around these four individual statements giving us a clear direction to take our answers and cater our research around. As an overall opportunity to set a foundation for our project, working in this manner gave us as a group the chance to reflect and respond to our ideas to set the groundwork for our upcoming research in the next few weeks.

Individually presenting our ideas to the class, the purpose of this weeks lesson was to present our findings and ideas in a semi-formal format to have a brief introduction to the concept of public speaking and how we would be expected to present our findings on the 30th of April. With 12 groups to get through we were expected to create a short presentation no longer than five minutes that clearly detailed our ideas and purpose as a group.

Personal Experience

Personally feeling confident in being able to speak in front of an audience, I felt that our group was able to confidently speak about their ideas in a professional and concise manner. One of the few teams to present a finalised and polished presentation, I felt like we had a clear advantage of having met up and discussed our ideas prior to the presentations on Tuesday. Giving us the chance to meet and discuss as a group, working in a productive environment definitely gave me a confidence boost when talking about and discussing my work amongst my peers.

With Tyra leading the charge on our formal presentation, as a group, I felt that we conveyed a great sense of confidence in what we were suggesting what we wanted to do as a group and the individual roles we wanted to pursue throughout the project.

In comparison to many other presentations, I feel that we produced a much more refined and formal range of ideas which had been thought out and worked out amongst ourselves. When reviewing other peoples presentation and work I felt a certain amount of lacklustre towards the project and could clearly identify where some groups had significantly less communication throughout the progress and time we had leading up to these presentations. With every group presenting it was a great opportunity to receive feedback from not only our peers but with Helen as well who offered a short discussion in response to our ideas and how we could potentially push and drive them further to question our abilities and get us outside of our comfort zone. 

Reflecting on the feedback that we received, the overall tone was relatively positive. Helen emphasised the importance of gathering a range of individual artists and people who work within the production line of our specialist chosen area in the hopes of being able to have a critical discussion with someone already I the industry. As a part of our brief requirements, she suggested that although it was Beth who wanted to pursue this in regards to the group, it would be beneficial for us to each individually pursue an artist, even if it was outside our role and umbrella topic of ‘Gravity Falls’ to ensure we had the opportunity to discuss and talk about working in an industry we were fond of. 

Reflecting on this feedback, I can definitely see the educational advantage of both assigning the role of getting in contact with industry professionals to Beth as well as taking the opportunity to pursue my own individual needs as an animator. As I would be able to show the diverse range of differences in my own needs as a student, giving me the chance to have feedback and a conversation with someone who works within the field of animation I hope to pursue. Although a response is never guaranteed, taking this dive and initiative will showcase how I have attempted to get in contact with industry professionals in a formal manner to further my own education. 

Reflection

I'm really happy with how Tuesday's presentations came out, although I may not have had the speaking role I may have wanted. It gave me the confidence and opportunity to be on stage in front of my peers and deliver my ideas of what I want to pursue. An opportunity to test the waters for our end product on the 30th of April, I feel confident that we as a group will be able to work together and produce a range of content that sufficiently covers the topics we each individually wanted to pursue. Although at first, I was originally sceptical about working and researching a singular tv show, I feel that this works as a great umbrella for us to each pursue our individual needs as artists and research the necessary production points of how to best benefit each member. 

Having gotten the feedback we received from both our peers and Helen I feel that our course of action as a group will be to spend the time together to reflect on any changes we need and discuss any key points of interest that were brought up. But overall I feel that we are each in a strong position to begin production on our final outcome to a standard that reflects the presentation we showcased in today's session. 

To summarise;

As a group, we presented our initial ideas and breakdown of what we intend to explore and research for our final presentation.

Presented our ideas in a formal manner in front of our Tutors and Peers.

Built upon our initial ideas as a group presenting our findings in a concise and short 5-minute presentation.

Had an opportunity to reflect with our Tutor on how we could pursue our ideas for our final presentation. 

[titmasjack]

Character Collaboration Task

Reflecting on our first interaction with the brief, we had a collaborative task in which we were introduced to the idea of character and creature manipulation in the hopes of generating a series of designs that we could use as a foundation for our developing task on Thursday. Split into groups that respectively wanted to choose and dive into the same medium for the project, we had to come up with a range of character designs that fit an ecocentric ideal. Exploring our creativity by producing a series of mix and match creatures that brought life through new designs in a realistic and believable sense.

Considering the complexity of our characters, working in groups led us to more managing our expectations on what we expected to be able to produce both if we were exploring the CG of Stop-Motion route. Sticking to a more simplistic series of designs, we ensured that whilst working as a group we used the peer reflection to the best of our opportunities to constantly judge, critic and elaborate on designs that were and weren't working. This gave us the best opportunity for feedback as we established flow and style of design we hoped to each individually pursues. 

Working in this manner for our first task, gave me the chance to bounce off of the ideas of the peers in my group. And didn’t leave any of us with no ideas, ensuring we all had a starting point for us to pursue and use as a stepping stone in preparation for Thursday's task with Peter.

Character Designs

Personally creating a series of five characters in the timespan we were given, I was focused on the dynamic split of the character and how they would use their limbs as a practical tool in interesting and engaging ways. Considering the posing and power of the character, I wanted to explore and incorporate the use of silhouettes and ended up creating a range of much rough and loose designs in comparison to the rest of my group.

In the hopes of engaging the dynamics of each design, I wanted the reader to be able to clearly establish how the character would shift and use their weight. Creating a naturally balanced position that renders the design in a relaxed posture. From my drawings I wanted to tell and get a basic grasp on how the characters would walk, whether they were very leg or arm dominant, I wasn’t afraid of using alternate limbs such as the characters hefty arms to pull the character along, rather than focusing on using the legs as the key driving force. 

This was the level of diversity I was hoping to achieve in my designs, messing around with the expectations of the audience to introduce something that not only looked out of the ordinary but would move in an interesting way that would grab the viewers attention.

Not focusing on the realism of my designs, a lot of my creations had a simplified characteristic to their appeal, demonstrated through the key use of shape I hoped to exaggerate through my ideas how my understanding of shape theory and silhouette theory had become a key part in the process and development of my idea and is something I hope to continue to use as I develop my ideas further as we pursue the physicality of my designs down the line. 

Reviewing Peers Work

In contrast to a lot of the work I saw when reviewing other peers work around the class, I felt like I was one of the few students that embraced the mix and match quality of the brief. Experimenting with unique designs and combinations that challenged the animals that I received all elements from. Although I felt that lots of the designs were spontaneous I feel that they could be explored a lot further and developed with much more refinement. In comparison to my own work, I felt that I conveyed a sense of clarity and continuity throughout each respective designs, feeling that the designs could be seen as a unified whole and fit the cast like element that we have to produce as a response to one of the brief requirements.

Whilst there was certainly a lot of work I liked, I enjoyed the opportunity to go round and highlight my favourite element of each individual work. Discussing and reflecting on what worked and what could be improved. I found this to be beneficial as it gave me the opportunity to receive feedback on my own designs coming to the consensus that my shrimp-like, monkey-chicken was the most interesting and appealing design that I could pursue further and consider drawing more to come to a more refined conclusion. Whilst the others I had drawn brought something to the table with many of them receiving feedback, this was the clear design that attracted the most attention due to its creativity and diversity of influence. 

Being my own favourite design, I was happy to see that a general audience agreed with my opinion and believed I should take this further to explore and push the design to explore alternate avenues and opportunities of the character.

Reflection

This task acted as a solid foundation to go hand in hand with the briefing of the ‘Fantasmical Creatures’ project. Giving me a better understanding of how I can approach the brief and the importance of working in a collaborative state with my peers to reflect and work upon the feedback I have been given. Working on this task has set me up with a range of character designs, that I can explore in my own time, taking the time to develop, expand and reflect on my ideas in preparation for our sculpting workshop with Peter on Thursday. I'm excited to see how I can approach to translating my idea, by bringing my character to life in a three-dimensional space. 

Having the chance to work in a group, allowed me to specify my ideas and bounce off of the collaborative feedback of creating a range of designs that fit into an established and approved ecocentric idea. 

To summarise;

In today's workshop, we began designing a range of characters that reflected the needs of the brief.

We worked in a collaborative setting to get peer feedback on our original ideas.

Considering what we had learnt previously when designing characters, I applied these same attributes when designing my new ones.

Discussed my enthusiasm to independently pursue my ideas further in preparation for Thursday's developments on the project.

[titmasjack]

Group Collaboration and Ideas: Meet-Up 2

Having previously chosen to work on and research the pre-production, production and post-production of ‘Gravity Falls’, in preparation for Tuesday's introductory presentation where we highlight what we hope to achieve and gain from our research when presenting later in April we had an evening meet up where we had an opportunity to discuss and reflect on our group intentions for the project and as individuals. In the hopes of best tackling the project and breaking it down into more manageable segments that best represent the capabilities and interests of our group.

In preparation for our short three slide presentation tomorrow, this time together gave us the opportunity to reflect and discuss our initial ideas and finally as a group highlight the areas of interest we wanted to pursue. 

Bringing a range of initial research to the table, in preparation for our meet up we thought it would be best to discuss and reflect a range of blind research that we had sourced from both the internet and the library. To see if we had found any glaring points of interest around the show that we feel we would need to address, this gave me an opportunity to not only get an initial background history of the show and its thematic style and audience, but gave me the first point of discussion that I felt had enough relevance and importance that I could flesh out into a further idea.

Seeing the same enthusiasm from everyone else in my group was surprising, I was pleased to see that everyone had something to bring to the table. Although some brought more than others, it was great to see that everyone had taken this project seriously in the hopes of producing an effective and grounding outcome that spoke about the diversity of the show. 

Identifying Roles

Our main hopes of tonight's meeting were being able to clearly establish the roles everyone wanted to take in the production of the powerpoint. Talking about what everyone hoped to discuss, it was to my surprise that there was never really a clash of ideas, and everyone within the group systematically provided a range of key points and ideas they wanted to pursue which we as a group worked well in the support and established in discussing the production of ‘Gravity Falls’. Not only looking directly as the conceptual visual style of the show we discussed the importance of looking at and establishing a strong foundation of the shows core concepts and values that brought so much popularity and a cult following. 

We wanted to ensure we had a strong balance of the two and that one didn’t outweigh the other. Whilst the visual discussion would be classed as a bit more basic, I really enjoyed hearing about and discussing the influence of the director's work and the impact it had on a variety of audiences and feel this will definitely be one of the stronger core aspects of our work as we develop.

I myself decided to take direct control in looking at the animation aspect of the show itself, directly taken out of house. I wanted to discuss the animation in relation to the production line and the impact of using out of house studios as a result in the industry. I feel like this gives me a range of discuss to talk about as I get to not only discuss the out of house use of studio participation in relation to ‘Gravity Falls’ but can begin to explore and discuss the impact and use of a large brand house name such as Disney using out of house studios when producing a range of their TV Shows.

I'm fond of the controversial aspect of the discussion that I could bring up, and the importance of the role of animation in terms of the show if it can be shipped off to an outhouse studio. This point of interest will most likely drive my discussion over the course of my time in the presentation as an opportunity to argue for and against the importance of the role of animation in terms of the production line in ‘Gravity Falls’ and many other TV Shows that fall within that category.

Putting together a Presentation

In preparation for tomorrow, we spend the majority of the evening ensuring that all the requirements were met via the information we were provided last week. Making sure that we covered all the necessary points to give a detailed yet concise explanation of everyone's roles within the project and how we aim to pursue the project over the new upcoming weeks in preparation for the final delivery of our project at the end of April. 

The job role you are profiling (this can include the profile of a specific individual)

Name of the production / studio you are focusing on

Phase of the production the role is in (pre-production / production / post?)

What animation discipline is it in?

Taken directly from Helen's presentation, as a foundation we worked through these bullet points as a group, ensuring we provided the necessary details and information that gave a brief understanding of our intentions with the project. To ensure we didn’t give away too much detail, we wanted to stay reserved with our answers to ensure we had more than enough material to discuss and reflect throughout our actual presentation. 

Overall I think we all benefitted from our meeting today and gained a greater understanding of our intentions for the project and how we plan to collaborate with one another to produce the best outcome. Having already set up another meeting in the hopes of having taken the feedback from this meeting to begin producing more relevant research and slides to the relevant aspects of our work. I feel we are in a confident position where we can begin to explore our own portions of the presentation and reflect on our ideas as we come back for another meeting in a fortnights time, this should give us ample opportunity to explore, research and refine our ideas so that we can think about the collation of our slides before the break up for Easter. 

To summarise;

We worked in a collaborative setting to break down our understanding of the project brief.

Highlighted everyone's individual interests and aspirations to pursue in terms of ‘Gravity Falls’.

Considered what we could achieve in the time frame and set a series of deadlines to best benefit our own productions.

We discussed our beliefs of the project and what angle we hope to pursue and research further for the best outcome.

[titmasjack]

Choosing a Specialism: Stop-Motion

With the freedom and independence to choose our specialism for this project, much like the ‘Mystery Box’ project I want to push myself outside of my comfort zone to learn new skills, try new products and explore new software. With the option of both CG and stop-motion again, I decided to flip it on its head and have a go at Stop-Motion. And although we would be physically animating the character in any way, to translate my ideas in physical space using stop-motion will give me the chance to play around with a new set of tools and skills I haven’t fully pursued before in the past.

Having only played with clay and Sculpey in the past to create a series of human heads and the odd hand. It’s an odd passion for me that I found quite relaxing and tranquil. Having to evaluate and consider a three-dimensional space is definitely a challenge and I hope that my secret passion for the craft brings a level on ingenuity and creativity that CG otherwise wouldn't bring me. To generalise myself as an artist, I feel that I would benefit more as a first-year student to widen the mediums I work within to get a better understanding and grasp of the variety of skill sets available to me as an animator. To understand and differentiate the difference and importance of a character creator in the animation pipeline. 

To expand my skills as an artist, I hope that going back to the physicality will introduce me to a different approach to character design. Considering the limitations of a real life puppet, I think it’ll be fun to encounter the challenges of what I want to produce versus what I can produce. Considering what limitations may hold me back and how I can push beyond them in the hopes to bring an exciting and creative outcome to the light of day.

Existing Examples

Puppet building has always been an aspect of the production pipeline I’ve always been interested in. I found that when working within stop-motion that I was always much more interested in the pre-production elements of the task than the animation at hand. Taking a step back to appreciate the steps that go towards, sculpting, moulding, casting and all the steps in between to achieve a physical representation of what once was a sketch on paper. 

That initial translation, and how we perceive our designs in a 3D space, has always captivated me and influenced the progression of my work. A key process even on the production lines of traditional and CG animated films, it amazed me to see how sculpting a character could be used not only to translate the character to a 3D space but guide animators as a point of reference and the production as a whole. The opportunity for the creative team to see a physical embodiment of their character, this stage of production gives the team an opportunity to really embrace the characters flaws and change and tweak the necessary elements of the design to best suit and adapt the work to the needs of the narrative. 

An opportunity to really see the character in its full light, I’ve always considered Modelling in the production line of an animation as a tool that supports the team down the line in terms of reference. I'm excited to learn the difference in which how sculpting and modelling are used in terms of stop-motion and how I would need to cater my ideas towards a physical puppet that needs to be articulated and move to a sense of degree that could bring life. Considering the range of joints and posable limbs I’ll need to produce to create a character that embraces a sense of believability to a level of degree. 

The Stop-Motion Process

Unlike CG, there's a range of core steps that need to be taken into consideration when producing an articulated puppet. In comparison to CG in which you build the character and place the rig after, the stop-motion process encapsulates those skills into the character as the process begins. Acting as a skeletal structure and foundation for our design, we’ll be working in a range of materials over the course of the next few weeks and we create a range of iterations of our designs that best fit the appropriate mediums within stop-motion. 

Most likely working with materials such as foam and fabric, not a particular skill I’m extremely confident within. I'm excited to work with textiles as its something I’ve always hoped to pursue and would provide as a tedious physical challenge to bring my character to life consider the range of materials I could incorporate throughout my work and my designs. Alongside this, unlike CG I’m limited to the real world applications of weight and balance and will have to take these into consideration within my design, as I don’t want a character that ends up being too top heavy to support its own weight. These are the challenges I’ll need to consider when designing my characters and as I begin my research to understand the capabilities of character design in stop motion in the upcoming weeks. 

Specialism Reflection

I’m hoping that picking stop-motion will give me enough of a challenge whilst introducing me to a series of new tools and processes that expand my capabilities as an animator. To grow and understand the limitations of the process, I feel that this generalist mentality now will help me when pursuing and deciding upon a specialism I hope to pursue down the line and in the upcoming years. 

As per usual I hope to use this brief to my full advantage and go beyond the expectations by creating something of a professional outcome that uses all the tools and skills accessible to me to my full advantage to produce the best outcome possible. I'm excited to be one again working with Helen and be introduced to working with Barry Leith and the range of industry practice, skill and knowledge he has under his belt. 

To summarise;

I decided on pursuing stop-motion as my chosen specialism for the ‘Fantasmical Creatures’ brief.

I broke down my familiarity with the medium and how I expect us to be using it. 

Built upon my initial ideas and how I can use the medium in a reflection of the brief to best create my outcome.

Discussed my enthusiasm to be introduced to a new course tutor and to be back working with Helen.

[titmasjack]

Reflection of the Brief

Continuing alongside the progression of my ‘Mystery Box’ project, this morning we were introduced to the ‘Fantasmical Creatures’ brief, in which we will have the opportunities to learn the fundamentals of modelling and the importance of extending our knowledge of the character design process to benefit ourselves down the line and throughout the years.

With the goal of combining both of the animation and character creation elements in the future, this project acts as a foundational stepping stone in understanding how one process amalgamates with the other in the animation pipeline. And how either process is used to help support one another when animating or designing characters. 

To tackle the fundamentals of modelling in either CG or Stop Motion, the aim of this project is to produce and show the development of my own creature designs underpinned by taught sessions, independent research and relevant sources of information. The mash-up of creatures, our fantasmical creatures rather than being made up out of the blue, challenges us to incorporate elements from a variety of animals in the hopes of creating a new inter-species mix of disaster in the hopes of creating an aesthetically appealing and stylised interpretation of our own unique character design. 

With the option to once again choose our own specialism, this level of independence gives me the opportunity to pursue and challenge myself as an animator to work in mediums and software that push my learning and creativity throughout the weeks that we work upon the project.

Creature Design

With the world of animation being full of awe-inspiring character design, I’ll have to investigate how I can create not only a ‘realisitic’ and ‘believable’ outcome but something that reflects my own stylisation as an artist. Never producing fully true to life piece, I want to embrace the characterised appeal I typically have to my drawings and focus on how I can translate this effectively and truly into a three-dimensional format. 

Primarily working as an individual for the project, there will be a single submission deliverable in which we work in groups to compile and contrast and characters against one another. To work in a team to fit my character into a collaborative ‘ecosystem’ it’s important that I consider this into the design of my character to best suit the style and my surrounding cast. With the ability to compare and contrast our work against peers, this will enable me to share many of the processes and research sources that I have found useful to benefit both myself and peers. Discussing how individually, our influences have helped grow, evolve and develop our ideas over time. 

Instigating a methodology of sharing, having to come together in groups gives me the incentive and opportunity to reflect on my outcome with my peers. To discuss and reflect on the end of the project in the hopes of beneficial feedback that would help me develop and expand my project further. Having that constant opportunity for communication will guide me towards producing a better outcome when I’ve considered, challenged and reflected on each step of my process for the best possible outcome.

Overview and Outcomes

Having to create a range of submission deliverables for the end of the project, the main outcome being the three-dimensional maquette, whether that's in stop-motion or digital 3D. We’ll need to produce a turntable of the model which will be showcased as a series of designs stills and an animated turnaround. Much like the turnaround in our first unit, we’ll be expected to showcase the character from a 360-degree perspective to give a physical depth and life to the character. 

Composited photographs of our characters, using images selected from a batch of photographs that will be provided. I’ll have to show my character in a range of environments edited using the Adobe software and Adobe Photoshop. To explore the background of my character, this will give a level of authenticity to how well they fit into a pre-existing environment and showcase the true level quality in my outcome to see how well I can amalgamate the two pre-existing elements to best support one another.

And a complete cast sheet, this will test the ecocentric designs of our characters as we compare and contrast our work against peers in the hopes of creating a fluent cast that mesh well together through their design, aesthetic, appeal and stylisation.

With only a few things for hand in, it would be fun if I could also showcase the development of my character through a drawing portfolio that I could submit, that showcases the characters evolution and variety of designs I create to support and evolve my work based on the influencers I research in response to the project. As well as a physical turnaround I think it would be nice to see a digital turnaround of my initial character concept in the hopes of contrasting and showcasing my original intentions and ideas compared against what I was able to produce in a three-dimensional space.

Specialisms

Having the freedom to choose our specialism once again as the ‘Mystery Box’ project, I’m very much leaning towards mixing it up and trying stop-motion in the hopes of creating a physical puppet. To become a generalist, I think it’s too early days to dive into one specific medium and leave me without the critical knowledge and foundation of working in alternate mediums within the study of animation alone. 

In the hopes of creating something physical towards the end, I want to challenge myself in showing how I can best translate my two-dimensional designs into a three-dimensional workspace, considering how the character would change and have to be adapted to fit the qualities of a physical puppet. Sculpting has always been a big part of growing up for me, and I feel that exploring more traditional roles of the animation pipeline in producing physical maquettes and figures will benefit me a lot more than reflecting my designs into a CG workspace. 

This is something I’ll have to consider as I move throughout the project, and begin to cater my designs and work towards either a CG and Stop-Motion based outcome. Overall I’m really excited to start this brief and get back on board with character designs and see how I can best translate my ideas from one medium to another. I hope to challenge myself by producing and going beyond the needs of the brief and showing an extensive range of background research to support my ideas. 

To summarise;

I broke down the briefs outcomes and how I aim to tackle each part for submission.

I’ve considered a range of research I could explore that would best support my work. 

Begun to consider which specialism I hope to pursue with the project that would best benefit me as an artist.

I highlighted my approach to the project and how I aim to take the necessary steps in setting a solid foundation for the project.

[titmasjack]

[titmasjack]

Group Collaboration and Ideas: Meet-Up 1

Having had a chance to reflect on the needs of the brief, we decided that as a group it would best to call our first meeting to discuss and go over the brief with one another to ensure we all had a deep understanding of what the brief entailed and how we could approach the tasks at hand. With the intention of breaking down our individual approaches to the topic, the group came prepared with a series of ideas and opportunities that we could further develop and explore. To try and grasp a general consensus of the groups overall thoughts and experiences of the project at hand. 

Although I was ill and wasn’t able to attend our first meeting, my team ensured to keep me up to speed with the decisions they made in regards to make a kick start on the project. Without me in the picture and unable to physically attend the meeting, in preparation I tried to provide the group with a series of my own ideas that they could deliberate with one another, to ensure that I had some form of input upon the projects development and their initial ideas. I wanted to ensure that I could provide a sense of commitment to the group although I wasn't able to attend.

Having this first meeting not only gave us a chance to talk about the project at hand but acted as an introduction between us as although we have worked together as peers previously, reviewing and reflecting one another's work. I'm certain this is the first time in which any of us have worked together in a collaborative capacity and took the opportunity to introduce ourselves to one another and get to know who we would be working with for the upcoming month and a half. 

Project General Consensus 

The main role of this meeting was to provide insight into everyone's initial thoughts of the brief. To introduce a range of ideas that everyone wanted to pursue, this time acted as an opportunity to explore and discuss the potential avenues we could explore in terms of research and influences that inspired us. In the hopes of finding a common theme, it came apparent through the research people in our group had initially provided to the meeting. That there was a general love for the show ‘Gravity Falls’ with three out of the five members in our group showing an initial interest and presenting a range of details upon the shows production line. It seemed like the prominent choice of discussion and heavily led to the influence of the first meeting.

Wanting to tie down an idea to delve into the research and contextual opportunities, we as a group made an executive decision to look at the production line of ‘Gravity Falls’ as a TV Show, taking interest in not only its visual design aspects, through theming and character, but the shows role in terms of audience relation and it’s unique style of production that many of the same genres of TV Show follow. 

With a variety of content to dive into, the group decided on this over-arching title as an umbrella opportunity for us to freely explore the aspects that each individually peak our interests. Looking at both the pre-production, production and post-production, at this stage we didn’t want to limit ourselves on the stages at which we explore, giving us free-reign to come back and discuss our ideas in further depth when coming back for a second meeting. 

With an idea set in place, we split ways with the intention of focusing our primary research into ‘Gravity Falls’ as a subject matter, giving me the chance to reflect on my personal experiences with the show and look into any specific elements that shout out to me directly. 

Collaborative Experience

Being my first experience to work in a collaborative setting whilst on the course, I was glad to see that everyone wanted a voice to be heard and no one felt the need to feel detracted from the group. Although new, I was surprised by how supportive everyone one was of their ideas and the level of quality we all hope to produce at the end of the project in terms of the presentation we have to present. I'm happy that we were able to discuss a range of ideas that highlighted everyone's best interest. 

I was glad that everyone seemed to be mature about the situation, whilst new and fresh and I'm sure not everyone would want to do it. Everyone in the group understands the importance of the brief in terms of the grading and everyone seems mature enough to get on with the work. It was a pleasant surprise to see that everyone had something to bring to the table, although it was only the first meeting, it was nice to see that everyone put some form of effort in towards benefitting and developing the progression of our ideas. This is something I hope we continue over the course of the next few weeks. 

I feel that the general consensus of our group is that everyone feels that we can smash out this project before we break up for Easter. To not have to focus on producing as much work over the course of the break and have the majority of the framework out of the way before we leave.

Overall I feel as an initial meeting we’re on our way to making a great head start on the production of our work and have a strong foundation of ideas that we can individually spiral off of and work towards in the hopes of getting a range of topics to discuss in the upcoming weeks. We’ve already planned on a secondary meeting to come back and reflect on our developing ideas and hope we can make some leeway on the production of our preliminary presentation we have to create and present to our peers to showcase the work that we want to explore over the next few weeks.

To summarise;

Our group met up in a collaborative setting to set the foundations for our presentation project.

Highlighted everyone's individual aspirations and hopes for the brief and what they hope to achieve from the project.

Considered a variety of avenues we could explore in regards to our presentation.

We discussed in detail how we could approach the task and the importance of meeting up with each other.

[titmasjack]

Reflection of the Brief

With the primary focus of this week introducing the second brief of our BA1b Part two, this project relies on a collaborative element in which I work with peers to produce a group presentation of a range of findings and research and explores the roles and practices within the animation media industry. Primarily focusing on the group based perspective, this project relies on my accountability to work with others, to assign roles and produce a range of research that explores the potential job roles available to me within the animation industry. 

A highly collaborative project, this will give us the opportunity to pursue and explore how different factors and elements such as studios, production, practitioners and techniques all play a role within the production of animation. Deciding as a group on the routes and angles we want to pursue, the creative freedom to explore our research gives me hope that working in a collaborative setting won’t end up being restrictive or feel claustrophobic.

Alongside the collaborative elements, I will need to produce a series of outcomes working individually. Such as a research blog that evidences a range of self-directed research into my chosen aspect of the presentation project. As contextual support for the production of my team project, all of this information will be used to reflect on my research and discuss what I have discovered alongside my group. In which we are expected to produce and present a 10-minute group presentation towards the end of the unit. 

Confident in my ability to speak aloud and in front of others, my initial thoughts for the project are inherently positive, as it would be fun to create and work in a collaborative setting without the worry or stress of producing a physical animation or artistic outcome. This opportunity to present and reflect research will give me the chance to work on my speaking skills and focus on creating a refined discussion on my outcomes.

Project Deliverables

Needing to produce a series of outcomes for this project, both collaboratively and individually, the main outcome we will be focused on producing is our 10-minute group presentation which amalgamates the range of research we have produced as a team. With until the 30th of April to conclude our presentation, we as a group came to the initial conclusion that we feel that we can easily get the project done beforehand and feel that this approach to get it out the way will save us unnecessary stress in the long run. Whilst, in the end, we are only expected to produce a verbal presentation, it would be nice to see how it could be accompanied by a visual aid using ‘PowerPoint’ or ‘Google Slides’, utilising images, short video clips and supporting texts.

With everyone in the group needing to present their own findings during the presentations, this takes away from the issues of leaving one person to do all the work and ensures that every participating member has a role to play in the production of the presentation. 

Alongside this primary outcome, I’ll be expected to showcase my preliminary research and keeping track of our group's production via my blog. As an opportunity to clearly highlight the production and evolution of our ideas, the blog gives me a voice to reflect on our choices as a group and how I keep up to date with the production of not only my work by my team's effort and incorporation to the project. 

I can use all of this information when amalgamating my 500-word project statement that summarises my research findings across the duration of the project. Helpful to the final stages of production for our presentation this statement will help me conclude my final ideas and beliefs towards my chosen subject of study and would help as a guide of reference when actually presenting my segment of the presentation in front of the class. Although there is no need for weekly summaries in terms of this project, this is something I will most likely continue to do as it gives me a personal opportunity to reflect on my thoughts and opinions outside of the projects purely academic research, giving me a chance to discuss my personal reflection to the brief, I hope that I continue the weekly summaries as an opportunity to bring a grounded sense of reality to my work. 

Project Aims

At the centre of the project, the brief revolves around employability, looking at the range of jobs available within the animation industry alone. By taking these first steps into researching the animation industry and its structures and practices, it will give me a chance to familiarise myself with the job roles available to me. Using my areas of interest as a starting point, I can begin to locate my creative practice within the wider context of the industry and focus upon the creative steps and opportunities that are available for me in the roles and practices I hope to one day pursue. 

Having been put into our groups during the briefing, I'll be having the opportunity to work alongside Tyra Iton, Chee Chong, Beth Murcott and Layth Rose. Whilst it’s not people I’ve typically associated with myself before or had the opportunity to work with, having reviewed their work as peers in sessions has showcased to me their capabilities as artists and I look forward to working with them in a creative setting. I'm definitely interested in what they could bring to the table and ultimately the direction we hope to choose to pursue the project in further down the line. 

Reflection

Moving forward to get a good grip on the project, I feel that we as a group need to deliberate and discuss and initial intentions and reflections of the brief. Taking the opportunity and time to ensure everyone has a basic understanding of the project and the direction we want to take it in. With the hopes of producing a short 5-minute 3 slide presentation profiling our chosen subject area of discussion by next week. We have come to the conclusion that it would be best o meet up outside of timetable to discuss our options and how we plan on moving forward with the production of the presentation.

With a final deadline for the 30th of April, we came to the conclusion that we wanted to have a solid understanding for the project by Easter Break, giving us enough time to clearly refine and reflect our ideas to a standard of production in which we can begin amalgamating our portions of the presentation together. 

Overall, I feel quite confident in the production of this brief and I hope that my team holds up well and can equally produce their content to a high enough standard.

To summarise;

I highlighted the project aims and deliverables in an extensive manner of understanding. 

As a group, we’ve considered our next stages of action, to best reflect and generate a range of ideas. 

Begun to consider how we can approach the presentation task and when we next plan to meet up.

I highlighted my opinions on the project, discussing my worries, concerns and positives to working in a collaborative environment.