End of year round up post. - 2D animation

Round up post

I haven't been keeping up my blog recently as I haven't really done a lot of work on the 2D till now. This is probably because I have too focused on stop motion and comic work (even though I did fully complete my comic in the end). However after doing all this work, I feel like 2D is probably my favorite type of animation I have attempted in this course, at least when I actual use a proper process. I should have also been blogging about the assignment more, but than just show how little work I got done over the last few months.

I feel like the two reasons I have fallen behind on this assignment was my poor animation process and my over ambition. I got a bit cocky with my success in previous assignments and thought I could pull off a Avatar the last air bender style of animation. What I didn't consider was that the style is not natural to me. I also wrote in movements into the story that were hard to animate, aka climbing. That was rather foolish of me.

I have been trying to get as much done as I can it the last week but I didn't lay a very good ground  work for my drawings. I should have used a setup similar to that described in the "AMB animation academy video - How to animate a head turn".What I have currently is just two layers, with very little work on the base layer which is below the main layer. Honestly I don't know what I was thinking, Doing all the fixing on one layer is just silly. I couldn't test the movement before refining details and the whole process was just sloppy. Probably my biggest misstep was my overconfidence and over compensation with drawing style. I got too carried away with making things look "realistic" that I didn't consider what I could actual do. I should have consider a simpler style to save time, or at least something like a Disney drawing style.

It's a shame that I have so royally screwed this up because as I mentioned before in this post I feel far more positive towards 2D computer drawing animation than to stop motion (which I spent more time on) because I have far more control over the 2D animation. I can totally understand if my poor performance in this assignment causes me to fail the paper causing me to repeat it next year, I should have balanced my time better between the various assignments, rather than spending most of it on one assignment.

I also encountered some technical issues with the program, where certain tools such as the selection tool didn't work properly. This was probably more due a computer issue than the program itself. The problems only occurred when I switched computers.

If nothing else I have learned a lot from my failure and it has definitely sparked a resolve to do better in the future. Should I need to redo the paper next year, there are a number of things I would do differently. Firstly I would fix my most inexcusable failings of a poor work process and I would dedicate more time to it as I now know it is something I have an interest in. I would also look at a bigger range of drawing styles that I could use, rather than setting the bar too high for myself like I did when I firmly decided that I was going to use the Avatar drawing style. In the future I need to think about how I will make something work rather than just deciding I can do it. I still think I can do the Avatar style but I also think I need to spend so long hours sat down with some examples and practice.

"Annie Mei" from the Annie Mei project Tumblr blog

This idea of practice is pretty much going to be my summer break, in between finding a part time job. I want to prove to myself that I can do a good job of a 2D animation, so I'm going to create several over the break. With few other pressures, there is really no excuse not to try. I really feel like I need ot make up for my poor performance on this assignment and with almost 3 months of free time, this is a good time to try and fix things. I will also probably post these animations on YouTube or some other website to get feedback.

There are a lot things that I have found recently that could help me improve over the break. The AMB animation academy videos are a good place to start for basic animation process. My personal reference achieve has grown a lot over the year, with many cool drawing styles for me to try out. One of my new favorite animations is by Australian animation studio "Mechanical Apple", a short animated film called "Sometimes the stars". The style in the video is simple but beautiful, something I need to learn. Another place I could learn is from classmates such as Brad. While I'm not sure where Brad is on completing the assignment, his natural drawing style seems to be interesting and gels well with 2D animation. Another artist and animation I am looking at for guidance is "Ctchrysler". He runs a Tumblr blog where he post pictures of "Annie Mei" a character which he uses to improve at drawing. The style he uses seems like it could be very useful to me. Another artist I will be looking at is Michelle Czajkowsk, writer and artist of the awesome web comic "Ava's Demon".

A shot from Mechanical Apple's "Sometimes the stars"

In summary, I understand that my performance on this one assignment has been less than great (which my tutor will probably argue to when he sees how little I have actual finished). Whether or not I need to redo the paper next year, I will be continuing with 2D in my own time as I feel like there is some interest there for me, unlike stop motion. I will be focusing on improving my processes and draw styles (as well my PS abilites and art portfolio). Hopeful I can make it right in my own mind for the failure that was my decision making and time management on this assignment. Untill next year, Au Revoir!

PS: Check out some the cool links below!

Ava's Demon - http://www.avasdemon.com/

Annie Mei project - http://anniemeiproject.tumblr.com/

Sometimes the stars video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQxPWT-ifyI

AMB -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLbqmyE8OvE&t=110s

After I pulled an all nighter to get the animatic done, I had some time to reflect on my work. I feel like I haven't captured the Avatar style very well. The lines are to thick and I haven't done a consistent job on the art work. I need to look up more examples of work similar to the art style of Avatar.

Having to draw every single frame is proving more time consuming than I thought, but my pride dictates that I need to keep going. I have almost finished my first shot but I have stopped working on it to make progress on the rest of the animation.

Week 3 - 5: Working on the proposal

The proposal is has been a bit of messy in it's construction. While the turnaround I made in Week 2 did help in the end, I couldn't help but feel like I had wasted that week as I should have been working on other things.

After talking with some of my class mates I feel like I might be hurting my own chances of passing and creating a good quality 2D animation. While the Avatar style is very beautiful and interesting, I'm not confident in my ability to use it. This may pass with practice but it is a concern at the present moment.

Some of the shot in my storyboard didn't turn out the way I had hoped as they are of very poor quality and create little interest. Although I have used these in my proposal, I will probably try to redraw these scenes to make them more interesting. Some could be improved just by zooming in, other might need an entirely new POV.

The current name of the story is "Hanging stone". Not a great name, but I really don't have any better ideas at the current time so it will have to do.

Week 2: Character design and script writing

Week 2: Character design and script writing

I have been working on the character design of my protagonist, using images from the steampunk genre and the Avatar series. I have also been writing the story in "Writersduet" in script format. I didn't include any dialogue in script because the only lines that spoken are from the men dumping a body from the top of the cliff. Their dialogue is pretty unimportant to the actual story, so it can probably be improvised.

===============================================

When designing my protagonist, Kyla, I wanted her to look like someone who is a bit rough and has be fending for themselves for a while. While I want a bit of a steampunk aesthetic to the story, I realized that it was probably important to Kyla's character that she be shown as someone who is traveling light. As such I cut back on some of the heavier parts of a steampunk design, removing heavy clothing, corsets and excessive use of belts (She only has the one, common steampunk design has a lot of them). Another group of designs I have found helpful have the concepts for Korra from Avatar: Legend of Korra, particularly the design for Korra's self exile into the earth kingdom in season 4. Korra is very much fending for herself at that point in the series and her outfit reflects that.

One thing I have learned from Korra's design is that giving a character a stockier lower body and legs makes them seem stronger and more capable. As a result I have given Kyla rather large baggy pants that go into slightly more slender boots. It is possible that I will replace the wraps around Kyla's hands with leather gloves or something similar, as I feel that my current design is still a little too similar to Korra's design from "Avatar: Legend of Korra" season 4.

I did two quick drawings of Kyla on paper last week, but I didn't look at them very much as I didn't like the design of either of the drawings. I have posted the better of the two below. (This is an unfinished Photoshop fix up of the original pencil drawing.)

 While I like this design, I'm not sure it is what I want or should attempt it. It is a little more complex than the design used in my turnaround. Still I want to keep it in mind as I might decide to use this head and neck area in the final product instead of the one I came up for the turnaround.

This turn around is incomplete, I will try to complete the turnaround soon but I have other things I need to worry about.

Week 1: Research and Concept Development

Week 1: Research and Concept Development 

We have been given the task of creating a 1 minute - 1:30 minute from start to finish. The proposal is due in on August 5 and requires characters, story, art style and storyboards done by then. Due to the strict time limit, I am going to try my best to keep the story simple but interesting.

I have been looking at several possible animation styles including that of  Full Metal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Avatar: The Legend of Korra and 2D Disney films. Some other simpler styles that could possibly be a inspiration are those of Carbot Animation and Gravity Falls.

I like the more complex styles of Avatar: The Legend of Korra, FMAB and Disney's 2D work because of the interesting images they produce using only lines and a two/three color shading system. While it might be a bit more complex and harder to pull off than the styles of Gravity falls and Carbot animation, I think the art style of Avatar would be better for the serious story I would like to tell in this assignment.

My main influence for this assignment will be Nickelodeon's Avatar series. Can't help it, I'm bias.

Art/Animation Style Examples

AVATAR: LEGEND OF KORRA

FULL METAL ALCHEIST: BROTHERHOOD

DISNEY

Story Ideas

I currently have two ideas for the story of my 2D animation. One follows an explorer as she travels a harsh, hot and rocky landscape while running low on water. The other follows a lone wanderer traveling through a forest.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
I like the idea of the solo person vs. a harsh environment more so I am going to expand on that idea. I think I would like to use a steampunk atheistic in a cold (tundra) or hot (desert) environment.

The fugitive is climbing a vertical sandstone cliff, using dual climb picks to climb up and create footholds. The sandstone cliff stretches for miles in both directions. The harsh wind blows sand and loose rock around the cliff face. In the sand dunes below, skeletons lie half buried in the sand.

When she is attacked by a vulture, the fugitive pull out a pistol and fires it into the air to scare off the bird. The vulture lands on  a nearby preach and mocks the woman by try to shit on her. Enraged the fugitive trys to shoot the bird only to find that the gun is out of ammo. Instead the woman settles for tossing the empty fire arm at the bird, causing the vulture to flee.

Farther up the cliff, the fugitive is forced to hide when a patrol passes by as they do their rounds.

When the fugitive finally gets to the top of the cliff she is exhausted, crawling over the edge, lying down and breathing heavily. After a few moments she sits up and looks around, making sure the patrol isn't coming back around. In front of her, far in the distance are green hills and mountains. The moment of relief and glory is ruined when the vulture which is sitting next to the fugitive off screen, lets out a loud squawk. The fugitive gives the vulture the evil eye before blowing raspberries at the bird. The vulture squawks again then flies off. The fugitive then gets up and continue to walk forwards.