So like I said before, Assignment Two is to just continue working on stuff like Assignment One. So, to start off, I redid the kitchen scene... I went home this weekend, so I was a little less impacient when filming. I still used a tripod (and you can tell) because the movements are a little jerkey still, but compared to the first attempted it went a lot smoother. I had less extreme angles in the shot to try that out... it was easier to make the camera movements but I think visually I actually kind of like the angled look. Also, later on, I want to add sound to this piece. But here it it!:
* * *
Also, as far as for the next few weeks, I decided to start with redoing the penrose stairs shot from Inception. I have made some drawings and his week I hope to complete a foam core model to see about size, etc. Then I want to create a wood set. Just have to figure out how I want to show environment (build it, green screen, etc.)
Check out HERE for a nice rendering of the stairs from inception!
Hey guys! So I finally animated the kitchen scene (Project Eight). I see this animation as more of a draft. It is very jerky and I would not call this complete, however, the idea is there. While animating, I found out that using the 50 mm prime lens was not what I wanted. It made the close up scenes blurry. Luckily I had my 18-135mm Canon lens on hand and that gave me more of the look I wanted. Also, in the final, I would want him to have more red stuff on his fingers and face. But still check it out!
* * *
So on Monday I met with Ryan and he had a few suggestions for me. The most memorable one came at the end of our discussion when he suggested maybe taking iconic movies/scenes and recreating 10 second scenes from them. For some reason, I thought this could be very interesting, and would also get me away from trying to worry about coming up with creative narratives. Tim also thought this could be an interesting processes to go through and would also help me become more away of camera movements, etc. Some scenes that I have thought of are the shower scene from Psycho (obvious, i know, but I still love it), the rain/escape scene in Shawshank Redemption, and the Penrose step scene in Inception. I will continue to look at different scenes and maybe sketch out some ideas and story board sequences. Until Friday....
Hey boys and girls! So today, I finally (well, for the most part) finished the armature! Head and all!
Going into it, I wanted him to be a boy (around 12 years old) but while creating the head I realized I had no idea how I was going to achieve hair. So i went with something simple and a little more ambiguous for now..... we'll see how it goes. I'm still loving his hands!-So proud. Maybe for the next one, I will make a foam latext model. I do have a 101 DVD on it!
* * *
I also finished up another "scene" project. This was a fun excersise to see what I could create in a couple hours using the materials and tools I had. I created this bus stop scene and added a "kiosk" on the side to use as an establishing shot for a project in my Interactivity I class. I also think it could be fun to explore this kiosk idea for studio.
* * *
As for the final project I plan on creating that "comic"/story of pictures in the kitchen using the armature I made. Hopefully I will have that up by Monday..Hopefully. Wish me luck... we are in the Final Stretch!
So, finally finished the kitchen the other day. Thought I would post a photo of it. I think I followed my drawing (project four) very well.
As for project six, making the armature, it is coming along.. but I had some set backs. I had to remake a head as the other head I had for it was too small. Here is a photo of the hand (awesome right!) So much better than the first one I tried. I have the whole body complete, now I am making the cloths for it.
As far as sewing the cloths, I tried to make him PJs out of this plaid fabric, but it was fraying all over the place. So instead I am making them out of black felt. I felt like felt would be easier to handle. When I become more experienced, Ill start using more complex fabrics. I found a great pattern for the pants as well:
As far as the next couple projects, I decided to create a story board drawn out and then a "comic" (using photographs) instead of a full on stop motion as a way to speed up the process but still be able to use the final product as a study/research for the next Assignment, Assignment 2 (which is to complete one or more projects in a month). Hopefully I can finish the rest of the cloths and head by Friday morning! Until then....
Oh yea, check this out, this is the smallest stop motion.. the way they used the technology is very innovative and cleaver. Great solutions!
SOOOO... I know it has been a while since I last blogged-sorry guys. I have recently been working on finishing up two projects (project 5 and 6) simultaneously. I have been building a new armature and building the kitchen. The armature looks beautiful. Thanks to that youtube video posted a couple weeks ago, my hands look amazing! I know, so modest right. All that is left are the cloths and head. As far as the kitchen goes, all I need to do is put all the pieces together. I hope to have both pieces done by Wednesday so I can start shooting the short (project 7) by Wednesday night.
While I have been creating my armature, I have been thinking about different stylistic ideas. For example, many characters have skinny bodies, or big hands and feet, or a big head, etc. I watched James and the Giant Peach last weekend and really liked the "bigger head" look. I also like the idea of using black dots for eyes. I think stylistically it is simple and clean, and as far as animating, might be a little easier for now.
* * *
I also met with Tim last week and he told me that working on my technical skills is a good idea, but he will be pushing my creative side-why am I making what I am making. What does it mean? What am I trying to say with the materials I am using. We started talking about my interests outside of the art realm-ultimate frisbee, cooking, etc. I really like the idea of trying to marriage these two things together-stop motion with my interests/hobbies. It got me thinking about a stop motion animation I saw last year called Western Spegetti, which marriages cooking/food with stop motion that almost only could be done through that process/material. I hope to find some solutions/stories that are similar to that.
I am excited for where future projects will take me because I have a feeling that there are so many possibilities, however, I have no idea where I will go from here. Hopefully I will have more pictures of my projects up by the end of the week. Until then...
So I went with the kitchen photograph. For the next couple of projects I will be working up to creating a stop motion that takes place in this space-the creepy kitchen. I based my design on the first one I made (the one from the photograph), however, I added a few more things like a refrigerator, oven/stove, and sink. I looked up standard sizes of all the appliances and cabinets and created the drawing according so. Check it out! Next step/project is to build the thing!
Also, below is my first sketch to try and figure out the right width of the cabinets. I read that they come in increments of 3 inches.. so 9, 12, 15, etc. Below is having them be 12 inches wide, but that was way too skinny. Above is 21 inches wide.
So I was having a hard time brain storming different scene ideas. Then....EUERKA!!! I started to think about things I have created in the past and realized I have a lot to work with! Above are some photographs I created while in Photography I (OSU)-the ark- and Photography II (U of I)-the cat scene and the kitchen scene. It makes me excited to see that I have a lot of material to work with as inspiration and that I do not have to come up with completely new ideas. Lets see how I can reword some of these previous projects into a finished project!
And no, I am not talking about the snow storm from this week.
Erica (the TA for this studio), showed me the artists Walter Martin and Paloma Muñoz. They create these crazy snow globes with interesting settings/narratives in them, while creating beautiful colors, etc. They all have a little humor to them too. I thought maybe these scenes could be inspirational for my next project-creating environments to animation. I like the idea of having some kind of crazy narrative or something like the above example. How did that guy get stuck? How did the boat get out of the water like that? What's on the ground? I think it is interesting how I can create my own narrative by answering these questions for myself.. and how every viewers interpretation will be different.
So I used a reference video for this one as a guide (the same reference video from Project Two). Some movements I had to change because the armature could not handle certain movements. Overall, I think my movement of the figure (weight change, etc.) looks better. However, there was a few times that I accidentally hit the camera and you can see the change. If I were to redue this, I would tape down everything and make sure I did not hit the backdrop, light, camera, etc. I also wish my armature's feet laid flat. Lastly, I would try for maybe 15 frames for second (ideally 24 frames per second but I do not have the time for that for now). This piece was done at 10 frames per second.
* * *
After talking with Ryan (one of my instructors/guides) for this studio, I kind of want to explore environments- creating an environment/scene and maybe just animate small things (like leaves on the tree or maybe a character could be in it but doing something minimal). I am also awaiting for more aluminum wire so I can make a complete armature. Let's see what I can come up with for the next couple projects...
So two days ago, a friend of mine showed me "Everything Will Be Okay" from Don Hertzfeldt. I have already seen his "Rejected" series and thought they were hilarious. I was very intrigued by this animation, especially because I watched it while in the middle of creating Project Two-where I was drawing stick figures, frame by frame. Though, my animation does not carry nearly as much depth (haha). Check it out. It is more than just a simple story about a stick character. I especially enjoy the added photo montage and attention to detail. Enjoy!
So I took video of myself going through the motions of bouncing a ball. I did not have a ball around that was the size that I wanted but I did have an orange around, so the reference video still is not as accurate and realistic as I would have probably liked. For the bouncing of the ball, I had to kind of test out where it looked like it should be. Then I brought the movie into photoshop and had photoshop create a 3 frames for every second roughly and then I went through each frame, tracing the body (in stick figure form). This "exercise" was meant to be a study-to pay attention especially to weight shifting and little movements that maybe I would not have noticed that I do if I had not had to trace 150 frames. At the end of the day, this took plus seven hours of work, and I think I would have learned more from just reanimating the first project blind five times. But I guess we will see the difference between project one and when I complete project three before I speak too soon!
