For the PGD stage of the MA i intend to answer the following Question, 'How can you design confusion?'. Having looked at audio and narrative structures in the PGC stage, i intend to focus more on the performance and aesthetic elements. My starting point for this was to take a brief overview of some 'how to' texts and highlight what they perceive as being essential for creating mainstream production animation.
Ideas for the Animated Short by Alexander, Schumer and Sullivan contains chapters on the following topics: (I have highlighted the chapters i feel will be significant)
- Story background and theory
- Building better content
- Acting: Exploring the human condition
- Building Character and Location
- Building Story
- The purpose of dialogue
- Storyboarding
- Staging
Character Mentor by Tom Brancroft
- Now What? Drawing basics for posing and expression
- The face: Breaking down the elements of expression
- Posing your character: What are you trying to communicate?
- Acting: Characters acting and reacting the way you want them to
- Staging your scene: using the elements of your scene to create a composition
- Leading the eye: prioritizing by design
- Putting it in action: Create a character-driven illustration from start to finish
I have also purchased the first volume of Drawn to Life (many [100s] of small chapters) so i won't be listing them here and will probably be read through gradually due to the nature in length.
From these and the other texts i have, it is easy to see two elements that combine in producing animation. These are:
- Design of character and location aesthetically (see previous post), and
- Design of movement and action.
So my starting point will be to explore how confusion could be presented in each type, gradually forming synthesis in order to produce some findings about the relationship between them.
I have come across Jason Ryan Animation who provides tutorials (for a fee) by animators such as Ken Fountain who has worked at major movie studios, the excerpt below looks like it could be a valuable asset. I shall purchase a little later on when I look into the design of movement and action.
"Attitudes & Acting Beats" Sample Clip (10 min) from Ken Fountain on Vimeo.
Showing posts with label Movement. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Movement. Show all posts
Sunday, 3 February 2013
Tuesday, 29 January 2013
The next stage
For the PGD stage of the project i am going to investigate character design and how it can be used to aid longer narratives and investigate how these techniques can be applied to confusion. I also intend to investigate expression, which is an extension of character design.
http://www.3dtotal.com/index_tutorial_detailed.php?id=1408#.UQggxbvKCkS
The process shown on the link shows the technique of designing a character to a brief and incorporating 3D models into a 2D image. The character design choices were based on requirements of client and their narrative purpose is limited to the context. The reason i am mentioning this here is because this breakdown provides us with the key decisions made on the characters whilst providing technical insight. However, applying this to animation will require slightly more considerations, such as movement, gesture and emotion. While shape and form share similar considerations between 2D and 3D, shape and form in 2D and 3D applied with the fourth dimension, time, change. Movement should aid narrative (pretty obvious), but how they move spatially is significantly different, and thus, have to be designed to accommodate this.
http://www.3dtotal.com/index_tutorial_detailed.php?id=1408#.UQggxbvKCkS
The process shown on the link shows the technique of designing a character to a brief and incorporating 3D models into a 2D image. The character design choices were based on requirements of client and their narrative purpose is limited to the context. The reason i am mentioning this here is because this breakdown provides us with the key decisions made on the characters whilst providing technical insight. However, applying this to animation will require slightly more considerations, such as movement, gesture and emotion. While shape and form share similar considerations between 2D and 3D, shape and form in 2D and 3D applied with the fourth dimension, time, change. Movement should aid narrative (pretty obvious), but how they move spatially is significantly different, and thus, have to be designed to accommodate this.
Friday, 14 December 2012
Duck Reference
For the next animal i am going to try and communicate a Duck through a sphere. I have found these references:
Real ducks moving step by step. Take note of the subtle weight drop on the down which allows the rear to twist left and right with more emphasis.
Donald Duck also does this movement when he moves, this is most notable through the presence of the tail. Notice at the beginning when he is moving left to right between the signs, his feet rotate around the ball of the rear as if he was in water, they moving like mechanical rudders. I'm not quite sure if this can be interpreted into a single sphere but i will give it a go.
Please see from 4.21 for about 5 seconds! I know, not much, but look how the ducks move. There is a real emphasis on the squash a stretch (only mute, but in comparison) which is more probable for how it will be best to conceive this gesture.
Real ducks moving step by step. Take note of the subtle weight drop on the down which allows the rear to twist left and right with more emphasis.
Donald Duck also does this movement when he moves, this is most notable through the presence of the tail. Notice at the beginning when he is moving left to right between the signs, his feet rotate around the ball of the rear as if he was in water, they moving like mechanical rudders. I'm not quite sure if this can be interpreted into a single sphere but i will give it a go.
Please see from 4.21 for about 5 seconds! I know, not much, but look how the ducks move. There is a real emphasis on the squash a stretch (only mute, but in comparison) which is more probable for how it will be best to conceive this gesture.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)