Applied Animation// Research - Thundercats (1985)

This vintage opening is more like an introduction to the characters involved in the series rather then an introduction to the story. This title sequence clearly identifies important characters and settings - such as the main characters and the universe the series takes place. When it comes to making a title sequence, I think it would be more effective to make one that focuses on characters rather then plot..

Applied Animation// Changing Book!!! ''In Real Life''

The other day I was wondering around the comic book store when I really should of been buying important stuff - like food. But instead I happened to stumble across a comic book called 'In Real Life', a book I've wanted to pick up and read for awhile now but have always been dragged away from because of reasons.

I barely had the book for a weekend before I finished it and I absolutely loved it! Both the style and storyline are wonderful, an extremely enjoyable read. Cory Doctorow wrote the book and is  for the messages within the story about worker rights all the way to the dangers of the online world.

For two weeks now I've been reading over 'swans in space' and I haven't nearly enjoyed as much as this comic, in fact I've found the storyline boring to the point I've been struggling to finish the books.

So I've decided to use this book INSTEAD of 'swans in space'. I think I can do a lot more with this comic rather then the first series I stumbled across…

COP//Visual Response - Animatic

Applied Animation// Research - Tekkonkinkreet (2006)

Tekkonkinkreet is a japanese animated adaptation of the series of comics 'Black&White'. Since the very first time I saw the movie, back when I was studying for my GCSE art I've always loved the opening in particular. The animation focuses on the flight of a crow, over a vast decomposing city however it isn't a simple journey. The crow dips and dives, spins in the air and doing so displays the landscape beneath it to the viewer. The music also emphasise the experience of viewing the city in this way, a real rush of imagery.

I would really love to experiment with something similar, not only does this short intro introduce the two main characters but it also sets the scene well. I love how the curvature of the earth is seen from the birds eye view in the horizon, it really puts a different slant on setting the scene. This title also reminds me of the opening of 'Sweeny Todd' where the camera rushes through the streets of London. 

Using Maya//Modelling something else… 3DS

 I modelled something new on maya today and I have a lot more fun with modelling something besides a truck this time…
I modelled a 3DS, based on the one I had on me (3DSXL). I didn't find the process too hard, perhaps because I had already experimented with the software a few days ago. But this time I experimented with 'locking' items together and playing around with the rotation point.

 I had some help editing and locking items together, in this case I locked all the 'lid' together to the joint. Linking the rotation point to the joint I could then position the lid as if it was physically attached…

I wish I had made an turn table of this model but lost the project file before I knew how to do so.

Using Maya// Keep On Trucking

 Here are three rendered images taken from my first induction into using Maya; where I followed simple instructions to model a basic truck shape. This introduction to the software introduced me to basic model building.

I learnt how to craft basic 3D shapes and manipulate those basic shapes into different forms; such as smoothing out an edge or curving it.

I found the software difficult to understand and very frustrating at times.

But. Looking back on it? I'd quite like to use this software again. There are a lot of possibilities in what you can create and I really like that aspect of the software. That is the only reason I would want to use this software. Being someone who is a fan of hand draw animation and doing everything by hand, digital 3D animation doesn't really interest me right now… However I am proud of my little truck fella. I mean, he's adorable. Isn't he?

Applied Animation// Looking into Titles

Personally I think there are two types of Titles for a piece of film…

>A title to introduce the viewer into the mood/story of a movie
>A title to open each episode of a series

Each type is very similar, they both present the over all 'feel' of the film the viewer is about to watch and they both are generally presented in a style that is relevant to the storyline or theme. However where a Title sequence for a movie features introduces a storyline, a title sequence for a series does so but also introduces characters (this is the case with the marjory of examples I've stumbled across, with the exceptions of a few).

I still have yet to complete the three volumes I've bought of Swans In Space but I'm already getting the vibe to animate a title sequence as if it was an 'opening' for tv show or series. But I till have a lot of research to do, so who knows what I'll end up doing…

Sound Project// Presenting Animations (CRIT)

Today I presented my animations in a crit with my class…

 Most people liked the flash element and the pulsing. They felt like it worked well with the sound however besides the pulsing at the end, the 'background' doesn't move. They mentioned it would of been nice to have something else going on too, a little bit of a jiggle or wiggle.

 With this animation people commented that they liked how simplistic the animation was, they mentioned they liked the timing and felt it worked very well with the sound. however it would of been nice to be a little bit more 'messy'.

 This animation was commented to be too uniform and that the slime that dropped off didn't stretch and get slimmer before doing so; it gained in mass. It was also mentioned it would be nice to see this 'messier' too.

My class commented little, saying most they liked the animation and felt it fitted the sound well. However my teacher mentioned that he didn't like the faces… Which I sort of cheated with, after all we were told to avoid characters. And giving lines faces sort of gives them character, after all.

Over all it was peoples favourite one.

Little was said about this animation, besides that it would of been nice to have the static moving also rather then standing still in black.




It was also mentioned with all my animations that the colours were very ' me '.

Sound Project/// Animations

Applied Animation// Selecting A Book

Originally I really wanted to work with the series of children's books 'Hariy Maclary' however after looking into the books I experienced the horrible situation of stumbling across an animated adaptation of the books - I cried artistic tears from my creativity. I resorted to going to Amazon to randomly search around for popular books and not finding much besides soppy vampire stories and ovally complex fantasy stories; I desired to resort to my own bookshelf not really expecting to find anything that wasn't already from a movie. But to my surprise, I found a 3 part series of Japanese comics for children that I haven't read yet!

…Swans in space? Wait. When did I buy these?             I found three volume of the 2009 children's manga pushed aside on my bookshelf somehow with my collection of adventure time comics. It was only after a friend of mine reminded me that I remembered where I got them from. I bought all three books as a cluster from 'Forbidden Planet' in Leeds, a comic book store for £5.00. A real bargain but I haven't had the chance to read any yet, not even a page…  However flipping over the first volume, I instantly fell in love with the style and what seemed to be the storyline. The series sort of reminds me like The Powerpuff Girls in space…with a few japanese animation clichés added on for good measure.

And to my luck, after goggling up the series I couldn't even find a Wiki page on the series and nothing besides a few light reviews. So I'm confident about using this series of three books for this project!

-Molly (a very pleased animation student) x

Sound project// Sound Illustrations

Markers

Watercolor

Watercolor and Marker

Watercolor

Watered down acrylic

Markers

Watercolor

Watercolor and Marker

Markers

Markers

Markers

Acrylic Marker

Pen and Colored Pencils

Acrylic and Pen

Colored pencils and Pen

Watercolor Pencils

Pastels

Markers

Pen and Marker

Marker

Marker

Applied Animation//Thinking Of Ideas

Today we were briefed on our latest project, however before we even 'start' we have to choose between three briefs. The briefs animate either a title sequence, a 'sting' for a tv channel or a charity video… I've chosen the brief to animate a Title Sequence. I didn't want to choice the brief on a charity video because I felt I would be too confined with that brief and I didn't want to choice the 'string' for a tv channel because of the same reason…

''You have been selected to create an animated title sequence for a book to film adaptation, the crazy thing about this adaptation is that the producers would like you to choose the book and the starring actors! 

The producers have included a couple of caveats to this unusual request.....

• The book must not have previously been adapted for film or TV
• The title sequence must be exactly 30 seconds in length
• You must have permission, if required, to use any selected audio ''

Now I have to select which book I'm going to focus on…