Artefact 08

Artefact08 from Adam Weaver on Vimeo.


This is the final Artefact of the PGC. In this i have tied all of the separate elements together in one narrative to show how they can work. This is particularly relevant for the abstract manifestations of confusion. The artefacts where i have used animals as the foundation for creating gesture do not show confusion according to the feedback. However, within this storytelling context they work. This is important because it provides something internal for the audience to understand and can act as another form of information where a character lacks a face, and therefore becomes harder to read though process.

So in this storytelling context we have:

Non-abstract gestural character performance;

Abstract non-character performance (no personality);

Abstract character performance (with personality);

There are both linear and cyclical narrative forms manifested in different elements;

The rhythm is dictated through different techniques - video reference, audio and through my own interpretation; 

As highlighted in a previous post (here) we have music (sound) guiding action, Co-ordinated Action and Sound, and Music guiding Action.

Artefact 06 & 07

Artefact06 from Adam Weaver on Vimeo.

Artefact 07 from Adam Weaver on Vimeo.

Artefact 06 was another test using the animal characteristic method which is a result from the feedback from artefact 04 and the reference material. They feedback was that they wanted it to be slower. Artefact 07 was focused specifically on gesture and not trying to create a personality. It's purpose was to create the sense of being stuck through a singular action (which has been cycled). This worked well and although this isn't directly linked to performance in character terms, it applies itself to the rhythmic and narrative corners of the project.

The revised pieces (Artefact 05) still had issues which may be addressed if time permits but as they are smaller elements of a piece i want to produce for the PGC stage, they could also be addressed directly within the piece. The feedback was that the red ball that shrugs should remove the 't-shirt' (ball of the each shoulder) and focus on performance rather than shape. This asks an interesting question about at what point does an object stop being one and start to become another, and it seems to be that features that are not present in the primary form should either be their permanently or avoided full stop. 

My next step basically involves me drawing back all the information i have researched and experimented with in this initial stage and synthesis this into a piece of animation expressing confusion through performance, which will have a strong rhythm influence which will express character through abstract and non-abstract elements, whilst providing linear and cyclical narrative forms. This is quite a large experiment, but i hope to uncover the limitations of working relationships with all of these elements, and to see if both external and internal ideas can work together to improve storytelling.

MA Artefact 01

So here is the second pass at the scene i have been working from. As an artefact, this has been built up using the pipeline that is taught at animation mentor. The idea of this first artefact was use reference footage to improve timing and spacing of my animation. The feedback was that the resulting action spaced out effectively but was very pantomime in the gestures. There is quite a bit of over-action and not enough refinement or internal monologue coming from the character. Looking back over the other elements of the artefact highlighted issues with the character design and the reference material. The design of the character did not take into consideration both the aesthetic and movement required. This will no doubt be a result of the character being designed without a specific goal and prior to the narrative I had conceived. There were several issues i had during the generation of the two passes, mainly caused by the size of the hands. The pointing finger dominated much of the scene, which I think is why there is such feeling of over action, which isn't aided by the slight walks in each direction; the latter is a result of the reference footage shot. The footsteps timing was used as the foundation for the performances pacing. A positive offset of this was that the weighting felt much stronger than i have previously done. What was interesting was driving all of this was my own internal monologue; from character design and reference footage of myself.

The other issue i came across was the characters break for the thought process. I noticed while animating that it was far too quick but thought I’d run with it as it kept with the rhythm of the piece. This was noticed by my supervisors, which prompted a discussion regarding my interests. In truth i was waiting for the issue (of the thinking time) to be raised. At the time i knew it was wrong, but my own stimulation from watching it flow overrode (and it represents a good limitation of live-action reference). However, as discussed at the very start of the project that sounds influence on timing and spacing was my primary interest, and after revising it towards my longer-term aspirations, that of character performance, we established that it could actually could be the primary focus of the research, and the others - performance, timing and confusion as secondary purposes that ultimately feed the project. I feel it is good to have made this distinction because it helps build the context and direction towards what I am trying to achieve.

The narrative of the piece was a play on the virtual puppet being given constant (Rhythmic) instructions. Upon meeting the crossroads (A Glitch in the system) he suddenly has to think for himself, which creates the confusion. One question asked was, is the performance right for the story? By this, was the consistent rhythm right? To pull this back to the internal monologue, surely the reaction would be more reserved and frozen up upon reaching the glitch, which is true, I feel it would have been better in that regard also. To conclude, this artefact shows why reference material should be suitable for the narrative. It also signifies the importance of designing and producing a character fit for purpose. It has also highlighted that on some subconscious level I am stimulated and engaged through rhythm through other purposes than just storytelling in a large studio process.

Next step: I am going to produce some really short pieces of a character showing confusion. To increase productivity and to start thinking about how rhythm can be expressed with narrative.

A Lack of thought, communication, interaction and Empathy (Sir Billi)

Just checked out the trailer for the Scottish feature of Sir Billi and my first reaction was that this is one hell of an ugly film. This breaks one of the 12 fundamentals of animation - appeal. Once you get over the initial ugly nature - and this is a typical symptom of low budget productions, you realise this could be seen as thinking the biggest part of the iceberg is above the waterline. 


The approach seems to be a focus on producing a natural performance. It appears the whole production staff have only an understanding of the lead character. The affect of this focus has caused severe problems in this teaser (and I'm dreading the movie). 

Firstly, it is a sensitive memory sequence trying to communicate the fond memories of a loved one, so one has to anticipate the softer weighted movements in performance. However, it is apparent the movements have been timed to pace the music, or at least stretched out after the initial blocking passes, causing the movements to feel as though they are moving in slow motion. 

Secondly, the women that he so longs for is actually a puppet. Nope, that wasn't a spoiler! She lacks emotional thought or reaction, but not always, and not always in synch. The worst offending shot is the spaghetti shot. At two stages the male lead thinks and reacts to the situation, she on the other hand doesn't. She doesn't blink, her eyes are static, her eyelids contract, but you really have to pay attention to see this - and the action doesn't playout in a recommended speed to convey such a reaction (and especially one she didn't show any signs of thought about doing). This action has to be clear to the audience. They cannot see that she is as committed to him as he is to her. In the shot where they are looking over a crib there gestures communicate their attachment, their bond, and we can see they are thinking. This creates empathy. The last scene, with the titanic impersonation, (which contradicts what they are trying to convey in terms of narrative to the audience) it is clear they have not animated below the waist on her. Even when his big bulging hands grab her there is no influence and it stays completely static - there should be a pull back at the very least (an exchange of weight). When she opens her eyes surprised she doesn't look behind to acknowledge it is her loving partner and everything is safe. She assumes and casually falls back into him. It's the lack of communication between them in almost every shot that is creating the problems.

Thirdly, if we critique the piece from a narrative and cinematic perspective, we can see in the wider context of performance where these issues arise from. I would like you to watch this scene (if you haven't already) from Pixars UP.



First off the co-ordination and interaction between the characters is clear, concise and is meaningful. Sir Billie has taken popular ideas from successful films (lady and the tramp and titanic for example) and tried to use them in a satirical manner. The problem with this is that neither character acknowledges that they are doing it (satire). They act as though they are the first to do it - this makes it unfunny. It kills the humour. What would make it funny, in the lady and tramp scene for example (the spaghetti shot), would be if the spaghetti split half way through, and they acknowledged it. Lets use Up as an example as to explain why this would work. In Up, Carl is accident prone. When they experience an activity together as a couple (to become close in the initial stages), Carl exposes his flaws. Such as his hand print on the mailbox and the cart that floats away. They are both aware that something satirical has happened - if its real to them its real to us. She accepts him despite these accidents. This creates a bond.  The bond is not the humour itself but the acceptance of each others flaws. The acceptance of flaws creates empathy. This is why reflecting a cultural representation of love and repackaging it as satire does not work on it's own. They are not aware they are performing satire, there is no weakness exposed so no empathy can be gained from the audience. In Up the exposed flaws of Carl in a satirical manner allow the transition into a dramatical acceptance of Ellies flaw - she can't have children. That is the empathic and emotional hook that melts the audiences guts and creates a sense of loss that is the central driving force of the narrative - Carls reason for the journey. This does not happen in Sir Billi - we do not care about the reason for Sir Billi's journey because we do not empathise with their relationship. 

It is hard to make a full and conclusive comment without seeing the completed movie in its complete context. However, Up shows you can have satire and drama in the same sequence and make it progress the narrative, as well as creating empathy with the audience.

If this is a direct scene from the film then the blame surely lands at the feet of the director(s). If it was generated for PR purposes (which i doubt they would have the budget for anyway) they need to establish what they are trying to sell. Any film with a skateboarding Grandpa should surely be sold as a fun and engaging film. (if your read the websites synopsis [here], place that against the teaser and you'd think we are talking about separate films!) So if this has been made for PR purposes then the blames lies with them. However, the animated character performances are equally to blame. This film will be counter productive for British animation. Sylvan Chomets' comments regarding the poor quality in British animation certainly seem just at this moment in time if this is what other continents see as our export.

Overall what the movie lacks on every level from director, producer, animator and the action, narrative and characters themselves are thought, communication, interaction and empathy, and i don't shed a tear!

A coversation with Simon Eltz

Having previously posted (available here) about the music video for the song Superfan Unknown by Goodrun. It was created by Simon Eltz and I had asked some brief questions regarding the piece. Here is the resulting conversation...


Firstly, What was the inspiration behind the piece?

The name of the song is "superfan unknown". So I thought I can show a variety of charakters, anyone could be a "superfan" of the band. This worked nicely together with an Idea I had of those Childrenbooks, where you can mix Bodyparts together and make funny characters. I wanted to try something similar but with moving characters. Those were the main Ideas I had in the beginning. Then came also some economic thoughts, the good reusability of the walkcycles, how to fill the minutes in an interesting way, but with not too much effort behind.

Was the concept of the video your sole creation or did you have input from the band?

I developed the whole concept and asked from time to time the band if its ok.

The characters move to the same beat, except where there are scenes with multiple characters (where there has been a slight offset). Was this a conscious decision?

Yes, I didn't want them to be too much like Robots, to give it a more natural look.

There is no linear narrative structure in the work, what was the decision behind this?

I like music videos as a field for experimenting, where you can leave some rules behind you. Well, this video is not very experimental, but I was working with visual Ideas (including Ideas about different characters etc..), and not with narrative thoughts. I tried to develop something that is fun or interesting to watch, that could catch the interest for this short amount of time. 

Could you tell me more about the character who hit's his stomach?

There is the hand of the Illustrator that draws all the characters, but he hasn't everything under controll and doesnt always achieve what he wants. Also I was searching for different ways of interacting with the Hand, I wanted to do alway something slightly different. So I had the Idea of complete changing the style of the drawing, after three unsucsessfull attempts of the illustrator to make a motivated young female superfan. I wanted to make a complete different style of character, children's drawing like, with a silly attitude. But.. also a real superfan of the Band. Well the belly hitting is just another visual Idea. In german you can say "timbal" (if its the right word in english) for a huge belly, so he just hits the rhythm on his timbal.. look at the attached image to see which instrument I mean :) By the way, hitting the "timbal"- is some kind of german expression, leo.org translates it with "to paint the town red"

Final Thoughts

I am in the process of completing a rationale for the relationship between audio and narrative that is due to be published on this blog at some point this week. It highlights 3 different stages that can be applied to the synchronisation process. This concept of the video is music led (the third stage) and this is an obvious statement to be making because of the nature of product. The idea that this area can be used as an experimental playing field is not a new one - this was central to the philosophy of the silly symphonies (see Animation Aesthetics by Maureen Furniss). This area can also be used in terms of practical practice and for expressing non-linear narrative structures. 

Although there is a lack of linear narrative the piece is broken down through a series of alternative actions that conceive the creation of different characters. This is needed because for 3 minutes of continuous walking would see the audience switch off, and this action forms the narrative structure that is guided by the music. Simon talks about wanting keeping a natural look and avoiding mechanical movement, and for this to work there has to be a reserved use for how much influence the music has over the actions - in other words by avoiding Micky Mousing! 

I'd like to say thanks for Simon Eltz for taking the time to answer the questions and for having patients through the language barrier. 

Group Tutorial: Things I don't like

On Thursday we had to present things we either liked or disliked. I came prepared with two things i didn't like, they were quite specific compared to others, so here they are with a rationale...

In the Corpse Bride intro, as the hand writes there is absolutely no weight or pressure being applied to any of the movements. No pressure or muscle movement from within the hand itself makes it look dead, and causes one to question what is the driving force? The elbow appears to be the top of the chain. The wrist only articulates any movement when easing in and out to the page. On has to assume that as a stop motion that they did not 'animate' the whole of the physiology. 

Animating the whole physiology, even when not in shot, is important. All movements force is driven primarily from the trunk and without consideration can cause performances to look off. This can be seen below in my Viva Voca posted below, and was also established in a workshop i attended last year about Laban movement theory held by Elisza Ribeiro.

However, having never worked with stop-motion i'm not fully aware of the technical capabilities. Although, i am aware to produce a model with such flexible hand movement could have adverse affects regarding control. This would surely make it far-less cost effective, and is the most probable cause. This brings me to the aesthetic of the work. Compare it to Nightmare Before Christmas, it appears CG, whereas NBC is clearly stop-motion. However innovative NBC was, we can feel the textures, this sets context. The Corpse Bride however, at the benefit of technological capability, has an ambiguous context. This ambiguousness causes the conflict in shots such as the writing hand in my opinion (because in CG it is entirely possible to general such movement). 

Further on in the scene, the towns folk all follow the beat of the music, which is accompanied by a tick. This breaks the rules for creating performance but is acceptable as its function is to set the context - a boring, monotonous and repetitive life that the protagonist (not bound by such conditions) needs to escape. We did highlight however the larger characters lacked weight in their walks. 

This was not however the worst example i could find. Roll on DFS, and their Arthur Christmas endorsed ad.

There are many fundamentals wrong with this characters performance it's difficult to decide where to start. Firstly, in gestural terms, his trunk and legs are not synchronised with the hands and head. In animated performance, it is never advisable to separate a bodies movement into two actions that do not influence each other. A coherent performance will be difficult to produce for 8 seconds of animation, due to lack of thinking time, but it clearly does not work having both separate parts running constantly, with no structural narrative purpose. The second aspect that doesn't work is the expressions. They neither have storytelling purpose nor any emotional value. The character is dead behind the eyes. A reason for this might be a poor designed character that was suitable for the limited emotional value they provided for the original feature film. (One thinks to Studio AKAs lead in Lost and Found, but they had more time for better timing and spacing, and relied on gesture over expression, and aided by an narrater. Remember the design principle, Form follows Function?)

I can hear you say well the dialogue doesn't offer much so how do we convey an engaging performance with a limited character?

This can be difficult, but the answer is simple: planning.

They had not established 2 things: Storytelling poses and the major/minor emphasis points. What it appears they did do was produce a walk cycle that would composite with the length of the distance to the door in 8 seconds and bake gestures on top. I have no conclusive evidence of this, but based on experience this is my prediction. [I am in the process of finding out who produced the ad to find this information out, i have contacted VTR North and Ink Films who worked together to produce the 2011 ads]

This draws me back to my comments regarding Corspe Bride above. All movement starts from the trunk. We have two performances in the DFS advert between the physiology causing a conflict. The problem essentially starts where they have used the walk cycle as the storytelling pose - this is okay - but it doesn't deviate. It's mechanical. The upper body doesn't move on the major emphasis points. This is a must to work with the excited tone in the voice, and ad purpose to the dialogue.

Major emphasis points = whole body

Minor emphasis points = arms + head

The storytelling poses tend to be most appropriate for Major emphasis points - a significant moment. The minor emphasis points are ideal for the transitional period.

This brings us back to the face. It makes it difficult to comment again because i have not seen the rig set up. In the discussion we agreed that the poor emotional expressions could be down to a poor rig. To really find out the answer we would need to find out if they used a character that was produced for the film. In the clip below, watch from about 1.15 in, the performance provided here shows what can be achieved if a rig from the film was used. This also raises the question of if it is from the film, what was its role in the film? was it a primary/secondary or background character? 

Once i have a response from my initial enquiry i shall be asking these questions (if applicable). The above clip is important because it expresses storytelling significance, and uses major and minor emphasis points as well as using expression. The character appears to be thinking, something that is clearly missing from the DFS advertisement. 

Check out the link below for more examples of how the character (if from the film and fully rigged) can move in terms of physiology. This is surely evidence enough to place blame at a poorly planned scene. 

http://youtu.be/g3JI0ZcONkU

http://youtu.be/dYgM6WpjCy8

When i have a response i shall update on another post.

Where will my masters sit within my subject?

With my masters degree set to start next week after this last weeks introductory period, i'm taking the time now to establish with the audience of this blog where my research has previously been and where it is going. 

To start, please watch my final presentation from my BA. Although almost 20 minutes in duration, it is a complete summation of the project, meaning it moves through the experiments and the findings, and the overall narrative arc quite quickly. 

During the initial introductory lecture, Frank Abbot asked us to think about where our MA research will sit in context to our subject. He said it should be on the periphery of our subject as opposed to being central. In other words, having been central to our subjects during our BAs, we should be seeking to enter new, less established ground. The below graph visually represents where i intend my research to sit in relation to my subject.

Sitting between animation and character performance, my research concerns itself with the relationship between Timing & Spacing and sound.