Animated Documenatry - Set inspiriation

 Before starting making sets, I looked online for some images that would heavily influence my design. I wanted to know what environments the animals lived in, what objects were in their environment and what colour and textures were there. 

These are the three images I sent to Ciara, to see it she would be happy for me to work from these images to create our sets, she was, so I go making.

Responsive - ticket/voucher/invite

After researching, I found these existing designs I really love.

The colours of white, black, gold and pale blue/green really stood out to me as profesional and sophistacated, and I think would go nice with Italian typography and patterns, as Italy to be is about fine food and wine, and gold shouts 'best' 

We'd talked about embossing and if we can incorporate this somehow it would add to the professional look, but even going back to the paper cut idea, a simple design as a strip on the vocher would work realky nice and atract attention because it's different. 

Responsive - box research

We'd also talked about creating a sort of pakaging for bulk tickets. 

As we's looked into paper cutting before, I thought it would be attractive to have some kind of cut out on the box the tickets are to be held in.

I found some research images I like and in differnt styles, and when we get further into the project and have our ticket design, I can maybe design and make the packaging using Italian patterns as a main inspirational cut.

I think we'd probably just have one coloured packaging and a simple version of an Italian styled pattern as we donmt want a too complicated cut out as it'll become fragile. Alhough the butterfly packaging is nice, I think that exta 3d would make it even more fragile and could be damaged so that may have to be rules out. But something like the pick packaing design, made into a more secure box could look very appealing to promote the new pape and space.

Responsive - ticket/voucher/invite

After meeting with Richelle, she had recently been given a vocher for a paper shop which inspired the idea to create a ticket/voucher like invitation to promote the new Fedrigoni space.

I really liked this idea, it was simple and if done well could be really appealing and and unique way to get information across, eg handed our in the street, posted to customers etc

We both then went off to research this further, as I don't really know a lot about type, Richelle will probably design the final outcome, but I'm helping with looking for fonts, colours and designs we can use on the ticket. 

As Fedrigoni is an Italian company, I'll be looking for inspiration from the Italian culture, looking at fonts and patters for our design.

Animated documentary - mouth test with some audio

I then wanted to do a little test to see if I could get the timings right for mouth animation and the audio. 

I think we'll definetly need to draw out and work out the timings for the audio in order to get the speech right, as I did have to add in a few extra frames in premier as I had missed some of the pause at the end, but it was easily fixed. having a timings sheet would just help to make sure I remember the pauses

I also animated the eyes, moving them around to add some realistic features like where your eyes look when thinking etc.

Animated documentary - eye blink

To make sure I created the right blink, I did a short test in plasticine to see how I should make the different eye pieces.

First off I tested with the half eyelid as the second frame, but to me this didn't look right, as I think that the action is fast at first so should go straight to closed eye.

I did the test again in the new sequence, and thought it worked alot better. 

Animated Documentary - character mouth/eye making

In the cirt it was suggested to us that in order to stop out characters from being squished etc, we should either add besswax to the pasticine or find an alternative to plasticine. Sculpey was then suggested to me, but because this doesn't come in a range of colour, I got some fimo which you can bake to harden. I'd used fimo before so was looking forward to using it again in this project.


Instead of doing the whole character in fimo, as we had originally planned, we would crete replacements mouths, so I made a series of mouth shapes, based on Aardman style and also created 3 lots of eyes so the character can blink.

I took lots of care when handling the different colours, washing my hand after using the black so I wouldn't change the colour of the white when creating the eyes. for the mouths I mixed to make grey, and made this a slightly lighter colour than the model so it stands out more.

I then baked the mouths in the oven at 110 degrees for 30min as it said on the website I bought it from. And I am really pleased with how they turned out, they look really neat and clean and fit perfectly with the plasticine look.

Animated Documentary - interview audio

Because it was said our audio sounded too scripted, me and Ciara went back and recorded new audio, this time asking questions such as: Do you think climate change exists?, Do you have extreme weather where you live? are you affected by it etc...

This audio sounded so much better, it sounded natural and genuine.

I first selected parts of the audio I like from what we had recorded, and tried them in different positions to see if they flowed nicely together. I wasn't entirely happy with the end and search for another section of audio that would bring the animation to a nice close.

This is what I'm happy with now, I like the layout and the sections I've chose to include and I think each bit carries on in a way from the previous, giveing another point or opinion on the matter. and I think it closes as a nice conclusion for the male character in his rant.

Lip sync workshop

Today we nada tutorial on lip sync which was really useful. We looked at the shapes needed for each sound and then had a ago at putting the shapes in a sequence to our own sound.

I did find this a bit of a challenge as it was difficult for me to pick out when the shape should be with the audio, and I found myself speaking along with the audio best I could to find when the shape of th mouth changed.

My first test was with the female voice,this voice was spoke slower and was better for me to hear where the shapes should be.

My second test was done with a faster voice and it was a lot more difficult to place the shapes. I ended up placing the ones I could here clearly and using me mouthing the words to help which where the others shapes should be.

I do think it was a beneficial lesson, although going through how to do the time sheets could have been some help too.

Responsive - stop motion origami

I chose a simple origami pattern to test out how making an unfold stop motion would look. 

I create a paper plane with the intention of unfolding it bit by bit to make it look like it was unraveling.

When it got the the bit where the plane needed to be turned over, I struggled to do this. So I tried again this time starting with the unfolded paper and making it up. This way was easier but still the plane needed to be flipped over, and I tried to role it, but I need wire or something to prop it while I do so.

plane test 1

plane test 2

I think with more practice I'll get there, as I don't think it's looking to bad at this stage.

I also need to consider timings, I want it all to be the same speed to need to move it aprox the same about each time.

Responsive - origami

We'd talked about paper cutting, and cutting a pattern into an envelope and potentially sending it out the existing clients to inform them about the new individual paper selection.
We'd also talked about a flip book, to attract attention, and cut a patter that moves when flipped through.

Both these ideas lead me on to think about folding, and with the aspect of animation been talked about I remembered a video I saw of animated origami made with tissues.

I really like the transformation made between each animal and I found it really engaging. 

I searched for more stop motion origami videos, to see how others have created theirs. I showed the video the Richelle and we both liked how the Rhino opened back out to a flat sheet of paper, where Richelle suggested that when it opens out, this is where the information about the new space and individual paper can go.

Animated Documentary - further advice

Ciara had spoke to Sara after the crit about how we can do our script/audio now the it sounds too scripted. She suggested that we either re record our dialoge or ask questions to our voice overs so it sounds natural. After change our script from the last feedback, it might be best to come up with a few questions so Ciara doesn't have to re-do the script again, as I know she struggled with it.

She also advised on the models we had made. we did present our presentation with final models, made of plasticine as we wanted to make it oldschool claymation. But Sara worried that the detail would be squished, so suggested mixing with beeswax.

I got in contact with my friend who creates a range of sculptures with different materials, and asked what kind of material he would use alternatively to plasticine for animation. he suggested that we were better off purchasing some scuply and recreating the models, in seperate parts and bake then so they're solid.

My friend did also suggest creating 12-13 casts of the head and adjust to different expressions, but this would be time consuming as we have a lot to think about after all these changes. 

We were already going to use replaceable mouths, and I think the best way now to move forward is to choose which parts of the animal will be still, the body, mouth pieces, eyes and create these with scuplty as advised. And create the rest with plastic so it's moveable, like the legs, head and hands.

He send me this link to show how Aardman go about creating their puppets, and I know that if we had the time and materials to do that kind of thing I would. But it's a good video to take tips from. 

Responsive - paper samples

After recieving the paper samples form Fedrigoni (4 sheets), I didn't think the flip book idea would work, as the papers are differnts weights and colours, and there's not enough, even though the brief does say you don't have to use their paper, I think it would be nice to use theirs even if it is as the top layer.

Becuase the papers are to be sold as inviduals, I though we could work with the slogan 'indervidual paper for indivudiual projects' and that a cut out or some kind would really work.

I found somes images of styles I liked and thought would be do able for the project. 

 

I like the cut outs with a few colours as it stands out with the shadows, and has nice curved edges, but it's really simplistic. The use of bright paper could make a certain piece of clothing stand out, ephasising the indivuial's uniqueness.

I'm not sure how this could be displayed, maybe as a series or within a book? 

But I'll present this idea to Richelle, to find out her opinion, and hopefully we can take bits from eachothers ideas, and agree on a final idea and start moving forward with the project.

Animated Documentary - Crit feedback

The main feedback we got was for our Audio 

It was said that some points sounded too scripted, they said the newts and sheep didn't sound genuine, where as I thought they (the sheep espesially) were perfect, the newt sounding relaxed. My concern was the bird, as I wanted to re do this anyway. 

They asked if we would have music, but then it was said that with music it would sound too busy, didn't need it, the sound effects we have now is fine.

Using beads for eyes would make life so much easier for us 

We couldn't find right size so said we would just created a few and replace them like the mouths, but we could also then create with some milliput or something and use that.

I think we may need to just go over some parts of the script,we were discussing earlier that becuase we recored in the sudio, and some at home on our phone, we both thought the recording boot audio sounded too sharp and clear, we both prefered the phone recordings as it's more realistic that we recored them in their own envioment of their home.

So now, becuase it sounded too scripted, we're going adjust the script slightly to the persons speach, 

For example

Ciara's mum wouln't say "yeah that’s the one, climate change. all of this happens because of that, all of these floods and stuff. pretty bad aint it? can’t image the world in a hundred years, ey, can you?"

But would say it like this

Yeah that’s the one, climate change. it's because of that, all of these floods and storms. ah sure, what can you do?can’t image the world in a hundred years, can you?

And with Declan he'd say 

"(Yawning) pff, bit hot int it love?" 

"Mmm I like it though, relaxing"

And 'Mmm oright love. All these rising temperatures though, it's all true, but it does mean we don't 'ave to travel down south for the heat, ha, can just stay ere!"

So hopefully not it's sound more relaxed and off the tounge 

Animated Documentary - set design

Just for the crit I took each scene and coloured it in colours we would use, and wrote a little about how I could create them, just to give the kind of idea of what we're aiming for.

I think to make the muddy ground, papier mache would work best and paint it in a dull or shinny wet muddy colour for empasie of the conditions. Fence posts can be made of ply wood or lolly pop sticks and paitined, this is a simple way of creating this part.

For water I'd have to consider what would look best for a shiny surface, In my research I found mirrors were use or another reflective surface.

And for the background we could simply paint on some fields or use blurred out photographs takes.

Because Ciara said she felt I'd be better at actually making the set, I'm now going to leave her to do any work on the design side if she feels they need any, maybe a change of colour to fit more with the characters etc.

 

Animated Documantary - Audio and new animatic

Me and Ciara booked out the recording booth, to get the voices for our script. I also asked my boyfriend to voice, and it was really good to have an extra person to be in the room with us, because it's another person to get feedback on if we weren't speaking the line right.

We read over each line at a time and recorded each line 2-4 times depending on how well we preformed it.

Here are all the successful voice recordings I like. 
I really like the posh sounding Newt voice (Declan 3/4), it doesn't sound as scripted and gives more character to the newt.
Me and Ciara swapped lines, as I could deliver a more sad tone for the birds and she read out the female newt, which goes as she has a posher voice if you like, then me. 

Ciara put together the audio to match the timings of the script and then I put it to the animatic. I had to adjust some timings, and space out some of the audio to allow for a reasonable establishing time in some scenes.

the animatic is shorter than what we had planned in the timings of the script. So hopfully when animating I've now allowed space for longer pauses.

I also really like the background noises Ciara had added in. like water spashes and sheep barring, it really gives the atmosphere of the farm.

Resonsive - Onform Sketches

I decided to join in with Onform Sketches, I saw a few people already doing this and it looked a fun task to do. 

I simply downloaded the shapes provided, and tried to get into the mindset of drawing the first thing that came into my head when looking at the shape. 

As this is a quick task, I aim to do a few, and/or continue to do this as a quick drawing exercise to help my drawing skills.

Responsive - project prpopsal (Onform Sketches)

Onform sketches

The problems I aim to solve are...

- This brief is more a challenge, where a shape is given and it's up to the artist to draw what they see.

In order to solve these problems I will....

- Challenge myself buy drawing the first thing that 
- Work with the shape given
- Use the spesific colours stated in the rules

I will be aiming to communicate (3 specific messages,ideas,moods etc)...

-Quick thinking
- Following rules
- Creative thinking

To an audience of...

- Other artists taking part in the project
- People who enjoy illustations

Animated Documentary - new script and storyboard

After our feedback from tutors, we set out to cut out some characters, as we were told we had too many. We decided to cut the farmer chickens and cow as it was said the farmer wasn't needed and the animals didn't have a lot to say further.

Ciara went off to do the new script and I would then do the new storyboard. After the script was done, we recored the voice over, so that I could add the pauses etc into the storyboard. 

When recording, we had our actors and ourselves read out the script line by line, as it's easier to take out pauses than put them in. We also tried to read it slightly different each time, or if we could't get it right, do it until it was. So we have 2-4 recording of each line to pick from.

Now I need to put the speach and storyboard images into an animatic for crit on Monday.

Responsive - ideas

Because the breif is wanting introduce customers to theirindividual paper, I liked the idea of having the paper and apply it in a way that shout out individual. This could be like clothing of an individual person, showing off there style (paper pattern) as their dress or something.

 

I looked at existing fedrigoni work, and the idea of clothing had already been done. But we could still creat something to do with the word 'individual'

I met with Richelle,and discussed ideas had come up with already. 
Richelle had the idea putting the paper samples in a type of book,like a flip book. 

I showed her this video of a flip book created with punching holes in paper to make it move. It's a really simple idea, but it really fascinating. We both really liked this idea of cutting into paper making it move in some way.

we also came up with an idea of cut out clothing, and Richelle had also looked at Fedrigonis 3d paper clothing, this was another idea to look further into, using clothing style to attract the individual paper to be sold.

 

Animated Documentary - Feedback

Today in lesson we showed our process to Martin and Sara for feed back. 

Their suggestions were that: 

- We didn't need the intro bit - just have a sign introducing the farm. I was quite happy to cut this bit as he open diolog lasted 15 seconds and we were stuggling to think of ways for the animation to last that long.

- Too many characters. Do we need the farmer? - They thought we had planned too much for ourselves as we had over 10 characters, they say cut it down to 3 animals. We initionally had the farmer to introduce the problem, and the animals to talk a little extra to how it effects them. But Sara said to have the chracter so that with sopmething like 'oh it's a bit hot...' 'I remmeber when all this was grassy fields...'

- Establish the environment for the characters - a few seconds of the characters before they speak, will introduce the audience to the characters.

- Do they have to be on a farm? - I quite like that they are on the farm, because it means we don't have to create several sets, I did like the suggestion of an animal being in a rubber ring floating in a pool, but this can be set in a puddle in the warm weather.

- Voice over - it's best to bullet point the sentances so we get the pauses, because as Martin said, it's eaiser to get rid of a pause than add on in. also have a run through before hand so you can give direction to voice actor if needed.

- script - Have a begining, middle and end, and have more action to support script. 

- animation - mbp, it's more believable if u blink and by delaying the audio by 2 frames creates better lip sinc


All of this was really helpfull feed back, and we straight away decided on what characters we thought would be best for the script (Sheep, Birds and Newts) and started deviding speech up into a beginning, middle and ending. Ciara is now going to go and write up the new script and from this I'll create a storyboard, and we also plan to get audio this wee to work with the storyboard/animatic.