603 Weekly Update (Week Commencing: 23/11/20)

I spent the start of this week converting my notes from last week into a Gantt chart for Stacey's project, as she hopes to have pre-production wrapped up by February.

Link to Pre-Production Chart (Stacey)

As I'm working on two projects at once, especially considering they have the same deadline, this was becoming difficult to manage. So inspired by my Thor production chart, I made a similar Gantt chart for the Christmas card competition.

Link to Christmas Card Gantt Chart

I spent this week adding colour to the Thor animation, as well as editing everything together. I did ask one of my classmates to provide some sound effects, as one of his focuses is voice acting. However, I couldn't find any booking sheets for the sound booths and after enquiring about them, I was told that as they aren't Covid-secure, they weren't available to book. Turns out, one of my flatmates has a mic so, we recorded them after all. I did my best to remove any background noises, as the bedrooms aren't soundproof, and I'm happy with the results.

Link to Thor Animation (Colour)

I struggled with the compositing as the way I had animated the character meant the background didn't work. Due to running out of time, I had to leave it as it is however, if I had the time, I would design a less complicated background as this way, I could have the character turn and the audience wouldn't notice it didn't line up as much. At the moment, the markings on the floor are giving it away.

Link to Thor (Final Outcome)

I'm working on Rhys' project as a character designer and animator however, he also asked if I could help produce his animation. As I have several projects on the go, I said I didn't want all of the responsibility as I was worried I would get too overwhelmed so, I'm now co-producing alongside him. The first task I did was create this Gantt chart for pre-production.

Link to Pre-Production Chart (Rhys)

At the end of the week, I finished the Christmas card animation, ready to submit.

Link to Animated Christmas Card

I'm not happy with the timing, or the overall character designs however, I need to prioritise COP3 as the deadline is now less than a fortnight away. This means, unfortunately, I don't have the time to fix it. 

601 Weekly Update (Week Commencing: 16/11/20)

Link to Weekly Update (16/11)

MAF began this week, so I've been attending seminars and lectures, to see if anything will help me towards writing my essay, as well as watching the collection of films.

As I am still awaiting feedback for my essay, I haven't written anything this week however, as I am well over the word count, I'm not that worried. Once I have the feedback, I will go about refining what I have and then all that's left would be the chapter on my personal practice and the conclusion.

I've also been working on some character bios this week however, as I'm having to illustrate so many, this is taking much longer than anticipated. Alongside MAF, I'm struggling to find time to finish it this week however I'm still not worried, as I have another two and half weeks until the deadline.

Link to Animation Outcome

I finally finished my short looping animation.

What Went Well?

- I'm happy with the character designs. I feel both characters each have their own unique identities that embody their personalities. Yet, the designs are similar enough that they both look as though they come from the same cartoon.

- I'm aware that backgrounds aren't my strong suit, so rather than struggle and attempt to design the background myself, I recruited someone who was better equipped for the job. I think it's important to spot your own strengths and weaknesses and act accordingly.

- I put a lot of thought into the colour palettes by doing a series of tests regarding the colours, saturation and vibrancy of the clothes. I also added a poll to my Instagram to get other people's opinions too. 

Where to Improve?

- Sophie's arm movements are very jittery and unnatural. If I had more time, I would go back and make them smoother however, Extended Practice is taking up a lot of my time at the moment as I have two deadlines in this month alone, so I don't think I'll be able to fit this in.

603 Weekly Update (Week Commencing: 16/11/20)

A few weeks ago, I posted a To-Do list for Stacey's project. However, due to the second lockdown, this messed the with the flow of the timeline, as Kimberly had to prioritise her business which meant us character designers no longer needed to hit that deadline, due to the meeting being cancelled. However, to make sure we stay on track, we had group session this week to discuss new deadlines and everyone's overall progress.

Link to Group Session Notes

Leeds Arts University announced another Christmas card competition however, this one could be animated, as the format is different this year due to Covid-19. 

Link to Rough Animation

I began by roughing out my concept in TVPaint, and I'm planning to work on this alongside COP3, as the deadline is the end of November. Below, is the refined background. Next week I will get on with the animation!

Link to Background

I also made a series of backgrounds for another competition I'm entering this month which I discovered through Instagram. The theme for this month is 'Thor'. As the project was quite ambitious, I decided to make a Gantt chart so I wouldn't fall behind.

Link to Thor Gantt Chart

Alongside these, I began animating the scene. I have eight seconds maximum to explore this theme. After I roughed out a fight scene between Thor and Hulk, inspired by 'Thor: Ragnarok' (2017) I began outlining each frame and adding in-betweens. This took a while, which meant I started to get stressed as I have less than a month now to wrap COP3 up, and I was worried this was eating into my time too much.

Link to Thor Animation (Outline Only)

601 Weekly Update (Week Commencing: 09/11/20)

Link to Weekly Update (09/11)

I spent the first half of the week writing some more towards my essay, ready for the hand-in on Thursday. To gather some primary research for this particular paragraph, I made a poll on Twitter regarding recent events. 

Link to Triangulation Exercise

Then, I went back over the previous exercises and began knitting them together to form the body of my essay. For the paragraphs I haven't got yet, I made a list of bullet points of what I want to cover over this month. However, I currently have nearly 6,000 words so I might not be able to explore these points.

Link to First Essay Draft

Last week I did a series of colour tests, however I couldn't decided between two of them. So, I put it to a vote on my Instagram story. 

Above are the two tests I was stuck between. Once again, I had some issues with the saturation as the colours my laptop displays are far less saturated than those through my phone screen. Similarly to the project I completed for 603 last month, I decided to also do some saturation tests with the image that got the most votes through the Instagram poll.

Link to Saturation Tests

The second piece won overall. Once I was happy with the tones, I began to colour my animation. I may refine this piece further however, that completely depends on the time I have left alongside finishing my essay and painting my visual journal. Next week, I will add the background.

Link to Colour Clip

I also refined my turn-arounds by adding colour and the background.

Link to Turn-Arounds (Refined)

603 Weekly Update (Week Commencing: 09/11/20)

The COP3 deadline is fast approaching so I've mainly been focused on that module this week. I have however, entered another live brief. Last Monday, the Eastenders website announced they are hosting a Christmas card competition. The brief was to create a card that celebrated both: Walford and Christmas. I was initially intending on drawing some of the characters, as one of my focuses is character design however, I also want to improve my backgrounds, and felt this was the perfect opportunity to do so.

Below is my entry for this year.

Link to Eastenders Christmas Card

601 Weekly Update (Week Commencing: 02/11/20)

Link to Weekly Update (02/11)

We have a deadline next week to submit the first draft of our essays. So, I got to work writing some more towards it. I'm really going to push myself this week to see how much I can get done ready for the deadline. I also have a tutorial this week where I can discuss what I have so far.

Link to Triangulation Exercise

I've also been outlining my rough animation as I want this to be a refined outcome by the deadline. As I haven't used TVPaint for a while, I'm also hoping that by working on it regularly, I can build up my confidence again, ready for January when the final films start to get going.

Link to Animation (Outline Only)

I'm not the best at backgrounds, so as I'm after a finished animation, I messaged my classmate Joseph, and asked if he could design the background. I communicated what I was after, and we both made sure to keep the other up to date whilst working on this project together. Once I was happy with his background, I started doing some colour tests with my turn-arounds.

Link to COP3 Colour Tests

603 Weekly Update (Week Commencing: 02/11/20)

Due to the lockdown, we've ran into a few issues within Stacey's group as we are now unable to meet up with the client. However, this is completely understandable considering the circumstances, and seeing as pre-production isn't expected until January, I've had a word with Stacey and we aren't worried. My checklist last week was hopeful. Meaning, if we are able to hit the targets, then brilliant! However if not, no worries yet!

Link to Protagonist Concepts (Khoa)

This week, I began working on some designs for Khoa's project. Alongside my role as producer, I've also been given the jobs of character designer, and key-framer. Inspired by Golden Axe, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, The Witcher game series and RuneScape, I got to work designing some potential protagonists. I wanted to make sure I got the proportions of the dwarf correct, so I used plenty of references, including a tutorial from 'DragonArt'.

What Went Well?

- This time, I was more ambitious with the colour palette. The characters seem to have a bit more life in them as the tones are brighter and more appealing.

Where to Improve?

- I kept getting headaches throughout the week as I would work on these concepts for hours and hours at a time. I need to learn to take regular breaks and relax a little, as I'm not doing my eyes, or mental state, any good.

601 Weekly Update (Week Commencing: 26/10/20)

Link to Weekly Update (26/10)

At the start of the week, I had an idea for a short animation that centered around the characters I designed. I had no intentions of creating an animation using these characters however, I still wrote the script just incase as I may end up pitching this idea for 603. I also thought I could animate one of the scenes for COP3 as while my main focus is character design, character animation is also a great way to explore this. I will only do this however if I have time.

Link to "Hello, Pumpkin" Script (Draft 1)

I also continued to work on my essay. I feel as though I'm ahead of schedule however I still want to write at least 500 words per week to ensure I don't fall behind.

Link to Triangulation Exercise

I'm worried my visual journal isn't going to be finished in time as I'm having to apply layer after layer of paint which is incredibly tedious and then wait for each layer to dry, which is really time consuming. Even though I'm working hard, I've already given myself several headaches due to stressing over this aspect. 

Link to Rough Animation

603 Weekly Update (Week Commencing: 26/10/20)

At the end of last week and beginning of this week, Stacey and I discussed the plans for her animation. As I'm producer, and she wants to get to work on this project as soon as possible, I made a quick checklist of tasks the team must complete between now and December. As pre-production isn't expected to start until January, this timetable is very basic. Once we enter January, I will make a more professional Gantt chart. But for now, I believe this is acceptable.

Link to Pre-Production Checklist

One of the other projects I'm hoping to work on this year is Rhys' demonic take on a western. So, I designed some background characters/animals and weapons based on the ideas he presented in his initial pitch. The main inspirations are: Attack On Titan, Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare and Castlevania. During the week, we are planning to watch A Fistful of Dollars together for more inspiration.

Link to Character Concepts - Page 1 (Rhys)

What Went Well?

- I'm really pleased with how these concepts came out. I think the style is the kind that Rhys was after, and I'm excited to design some more.

Where to Improve?

- The colour palette is a bit dull. I feel I'm not very good with colour theory, so I'm playing it too safe and the designs look a bit boring because of it. Arguably however, this does fit the tone of Rhys' concept, as westerns usually feature a quite muted and muddy colour palette.