June 2nd

Today was the last day of my project. I finished various bits and pieces off in my sketchbook and also printed various stills of my final film for the show. I also finished planning my board ready for the final show and presentation. I also wrote my evaluation.

Now that i've pretty much finished my project I'm very pleased with the final outcome. I think that the film achieves exactly what i said i would create in my statement of intent. Also i am proud of the film as I'v put the most effort into it i could. I now am looking forward to seeing people's reactions once they have watched it. I think that is the best bit, seeing if people like it and entertaining people! 

June 1st

Today i made the final touches to the DVD by creating the dvd cover and the disk image. I then printed all this and put the DVD box together. I used a special printer that also printed on the disk so this looked really great once all put together.

I also planned my board for the college show. 

May 31st

Today I made my DVD menu screen. I did this using Nero DVD Creator which worked really well. I was able to import the 4 files that would be on the DVD, the film, the making of, cast interviews and deleted scene. I then played around with the layout and added in a background image that i made on Adobe Photoshop. I then burned the DVD. This looked really good and professional so I am very pleased with it. 

May 30th

Today i just worked on updating my sketchbook and recording what i had done in the past few days.  

May 29th

I still wasn't happy with the quality of the video. Therefore i went back to Premier Elements and re-exported it trying various different compression types. This made no difference. I then tried exporting it into the Microsoft AVI file. This worked perfectly and the video is much better quality. I think that this is because it doesn't compress the film in such a clever way. The different compression types of a Quicktime movie were to complicated and so they didn't work as well for what i wanted. I was pleased for it to work. The reason i had been using quicktime movies was so that they would work on college's Apple Macs. This was something that maybe i shouldn't have done from the start and just kept to one operating system. 

May 28th

Today i started on the extras of the DVD. I cut together and exported the cast interviews and the deleted scene which was really quick and simple to do. 

I then made a start on the Making Of section of the DVD. I made this on Premier Elements once more by importing various pictures and scans of my sketchbook along with clips of tests and inspirations. This was a long process and took me a while. Once i had all the video footage cut together i then recorded myself narrating about it. I did this simply on the sound recorder on the computer and used a microphone to record myself. This was odd speaking to a computer but worked really well. I then put all this narration onto the video and image clips and exported the whole file. 

May 27th

Today i added the glow to the final movie. I used Adobe After Effects to do this and a plug-in by sapphire. This plug-in allowed me to add the kind of glow that i wanted to add. I added the glow and this was really successful and made the film look a lot more professional and finished. I then exported this. However when i exported this i found that the quality was poor and a couple of the animations had the same problem that they had weeks ago! Therefore i imported the video back into Adobe Premier Elements and then cut out these two animations that were wrong. On After Effects i then added the same glow to just these two animation scenes and imported the new scenes back into Elements into the final cut. This worked well and solved the problem but was a long and frustrating process!

When i exported the video once more i really wasn't happy with the quality of it and also the tune at the end. Therefore i went in search of a new tune to put on the end credits. I found a tune on the Internet that was much better and so i used this instead for the credits. 

May 26th

I had a really productive day today. I re-recorded Grandpa narrating the last bit of the video. This was because the sound was really different and didnt work very well at all. Therefore I went to his house and we dubbed over the live action but this time with the camera the same distance from him as it had been for the rest of the narration. To do this i put the live action on the TV on DVD and muted it. I then recorded whilst playing the DVD and Grandpa spoke the narration in perfect lip sync to the video of himself. We had to do a few takes to get the lip sync correct but when i inserted the new audio over the old audio on the final cut it worked perfectly. This was a big problem that i had solved and although it took a lot of effort to do it was definately worth doing and has made a big difference to my videos audio.
I then worked on the title and end credits. I exported frames from the video as JPEG image files and then added the name of the cast member on top of it on Adobe Photoshop. I then added these images back into the final cut. This worked really well as credits. It is interesting and keeps the credits in the same theme as the video.
I also recorded some audio for the credits to play to. This was of an old piece of music that i borrowed from my Grandpa. I got my Mum to play it on the piano and recorded her using the sound recorder on the PC. In a audio editing software that i downloaded i got rid of the noise and put the audio into my final cut. This music still sounds very tinny and is poor quality though. I am also not 100% sure that it goes with the rest of the video. However it is definately better than the credits in silence so unless i can think of anything better i will keep the music as it is.
Now that i had the final video plus the credits i exported it as a Quicktime Animation. All i need to do now is to add the glow on After Effects and then its completed. I will add the glow tomorrow. I will also start and hopefully finish making the "making of" extra for my DVD.

May 25th

Today i spent more time updating my sketchbook and getting it all sorted. I also corrected one of the problems that i had with my first final cut. This was that scene 9c didnt work correctly. It jumped at the end of it and was noticable. Therefore to correct this problem i retraced my steps with it and found that the quicktime movie from Flash had the same problem. Therefore i re-exported it from Flash and this solved the problem. When i then put it back into my final cut it worked correctly.

May 24th

Today i mainly caught up with some sketchbook work that i have been a bit behind with as i have been working with the computers and away from my sketchbook for so long. I printed lots of screenshots and wrote in detail in my sketchbook what i had been doing which was actually helpful for me as i could get myself organised again as far as my sketchbook goes!

May 23rd

Today i started planning my final show. I wrote a quick list of ideas of things that i could put up and thought about how to present it.
Project wise i was mainly trying to solve the problem in my first final cut that it was quite cold. I wanted to find a glow effect that might make the video warmer and more interesting to look at. I played around with the effects of Adobe After Effects but the standard effects weren't really what i was looking for. Therfore i went on the Internet in search of a plug in for After Effects. I found a great plug in on the site - http://www.genarts.com/sapphire-ae.html. This allowed me a 30 day free trial which was enough for my poject as in 30 days i would have finished it. I downloaded and installed this plug-in for After Effects and it worked really well. I used one of the new features for glow and created a nice glow which i was pleased with. I will use this in my final movie.

May 22nd

Today i finished my movie! I finished editing all the scene together, i put the black and white filter on them and used the fade transition in various places. I also slowed scenes down slightly to fit to the narration etc and also played with the contrast of some scenes. In the end i am really happy with my final video. I think it is what i imagined and i am proud of it. There is still a lot to do though. I plan to make a whole DVD including "the making of" and deleted scenes as well as possibly a commentary by me. I also have to catch up in my sketchbook work to record how i edited it and various other bits. Therefore tomorrow i shall crack on with my sketchbook and DVD extras. I also have to plan my final display for the show which i will do.

May 21st

Today i really needed to crack on and edit the final cut of my video. Firstly i needed to film and animate the scene that was missing. This was a simple shot of a door closing which i filmed and captured using Windows Movie Maker and then animated using Flash just as i had done in all my other animations. Now i had all my animating done!
Next I wanted to start editing. I started using Adobe Premier and this was working fine. But then i started to use the same animated files and they still were odd and lagged a bit and the frames were all cut up. I thought that using a more basic software would be better as it was a complicated problem. I re-exported the files loads of times from Flash and they still didnt work. They worked fine in Quicktime but not in Premier. I spent ages trying to figure out the problem. In the end i found that it was probably that the frame rates were different and so it was getting confused. I sorted the problem and started editing. I got loads done in the end but it took all day and was extremely frustrating.

May 20th

Today i spent the whole day in the edit suite editing together my video. I have finally finished all my animating however there is still one more short scene that i have to film and animate which i hope to get done tomorow. I was in the edit suite all day today on Final Cut Pro. The editing started off really well and i was happy with what i was seeing. However as i started adding the scenes with animation i found that wierd things were happening with the animated parts. They were sort of lagging and very pixelated. This did not look good at all and really needed to be sorted. I didnt have much of an idea why this was doing this so i asked the IT technicians to help me. They didnt know what the problem was either! After a few hours of trial and error and changing settings we managed to figure that the sequence settings was trying to play the videos as PAL compression although they were actually animation compression. Also the sizes of the videos varied which may have been my mistake. Even now though they still did not work as they should. Final Cut is such a powerful and clever software that sometimes its too clever and spots things in files that we dont understant. This whole process and day was very very frustrating and meant that i felt that i had wasted my time as i had not got anything done. I decided to try using the software Adobe Premier to edit my video that i have at home.

May 19th

Today i really hoped that i would get all the animating finished so that i could start editing my video. However this has not happened and im still animating. Im not too worried though as as i said before i have allowed myself a whole week extra in my plan which i can use without worry. I have also cut a scene from my video as i felt that it was more work and in the storyline may have made the story a bit slower and possibly a bit boring. This also allows me more time to animate on the other parts. I have explained more about this in my sketchbook.

May 18th

Im getting towards the end of my animating now which is going to be great when its done. Im getting lots of positive feedback from people that have seen it so far which is really helpful and is spurring me on to complete it to the best of my ability.

May 17th

I continued to animate today! Im finding im getting a lot quicker at animating but its still taking a long time. According to my time plan i should have finished animating by today which hasnt happened. However i am confident that even though i will be a few days behind i have left enough time in my plan to finish what needs doing in time. I have not planned anything for the last week of my project so that if i needed extra time i would have it. This has proved to be very useful as i can be a bit late in finishing my video but still have plenty of time to catch up on sketchbook work and finish whatever else needs doing.

May 16th

I continued with animating once more. Today i did scene 6 and am now well on my way to finishing. I am using various frame rates at various times in the video clip. This is because when there isnt much movement of the character i can use a slower frame rate, however when its quick such as being picked up i often need to animate at either 12fps or even 24fps for it to look effective. I also uploaded a sample of one of my scenes onto this blog so that people could see it and say what they think!

May 15th

Today i once again continued with my animating. I finished scene 5 which means im about half way! Its taking a long time but i will keep going.

Short video clip

Here is a short clip of one of my scenes. It's not black and white yet but has the animation. Hope you like it, please comment!

May 14th

Once again i continued to animate today. I animated all of scene 3 which i was aiming for by the end of the day so that i can start on scene 4 fresh tomorow morning. The animation is getting easier as im getting more used to it but it is beggining to take up a bit too much time. Im thinking of cutting a scene from my video but will give this further thought tomorow. I have showed a lot of people the various parts and they are all very positive about it. So much so that i now not only want to do the best for me but for the people that have helped me and spurred me on so much aswell. Although its not long until the finish i still have a lot to do so im not resting from it very much. Im cracking on with it!

May 13th

Im now rattling through my animating. Today i finished scene 2 and began on scene 3. I am constantly using my maquette to help me on angles which is proving very useful. I am really quick at using Flash now which is helping me to produce the animation quicker and better. Im enjoying the process but am aware of what little time i have to produce so much!

May 12th

Once again i continued to animate all day today. I animated mainly the start of scene 2 which has the character on a swing. This was long and difficult to animate as i needed to do it at 24 frames per second for the animation to match up with the live action well enough to be believable. I used Flash's capabilities of copying frames to enable me to copy frames as the clip is repetative. This was really useful and speeded the process up and is something that i would not have been able to do as simply if i had used paper.

May 11th

Today and for the next few days i will be animating everything! Its going to be a long process but i hope at the end it will be rewarding and something i will be proud of. I continued today animating the parts of scene one. Throughout the animation i change the frame rate that i animate at now and again. This is so that if the live action is fast the animation can keep up with it without it looking really jumpy. Its going well so far and i have had lots of positive feedback. I just need to keep going with it now.

May 10th

Today i showed a few people the rough cut of my video and they really liked it which has left me feeling very positive about the film.

I continued to try and solve the problem of the compositing animation with live action. I tried various file types to try and correct the problem. I found that it may not be keying the colour correctly because i am using bitmap graphics from Flash and not vector, meaning that there is a fade in the pixel colour between colours. I did find however that Flash enables me to import and export high quality videos so i might be able to just use Flash and not have to composite them seperately. Also i found out why the live action was so slow in my test on Flash. It was because i had set the video to 6fps but i should have left it at 24fps.

I also began the first bit of my animation today. Scene 1d is difficult as i have to change live action. I had to re-create the live action drawing as a digital drawing to enable me to manipulate it. I will talk more about this process in my sketchbook.

May 9th

Today i did the main bulk of my editing. I made a whole rough cut of my film to make sure i could fit the narration with the live action. This was really really useful as i was able to make changes that i needed to to the speed of files and video clips. At the end of it all i also got my first rough idea of how the film with the live action will look. I havent added any effects or animation to it at the moment but i like the way i have cut the film and i think it's going to work really well. My cinematography is varied which also makes it interesting to watch.

In the afternoon i spent a lot of time trying to get my animation test to composite with live action. I tried using a software called Adobe After Effects instead of Final Cut. This keyed the colour better but still not perfect. I will need to figure this out before i start the main bulk of my animating.

May 8th

Today i just caught up with some sketchbook work as my files are at college so i will use them tomorow when im at college. I now have the final edited narration audio file. The audio is 4 minutes 11 seconds which is a good time.

May 7th

This morning i finished my filming completely. I had to create the photos of the posters going up and down on the sisters' wall and film Grandpa for the very last verse of the poem. Once this was all done i then used Final Cut Pro to begin transffering the footage onto the computer and then start editing it. To enable me to animate each camera angles of each scene in Flash i needed to save each angle as a different movie file. Therefore on Final Cut i cut the footage up into scenes and angles and then saved them seperately as Quicktime Movie files. This took a long time to do but will be very useful when completed. The file names i used refer to the storyboard so again i can play it easier. I tried putting black and white filters on the footage and cutting piece together to see what it would look like and i am very pleased with it so far.
Once i have all the angles as seperate files i will then begin animating them angle by angle, scene by scene before then finally editing them together.

May 6th

Today during the day i continued to plan the rest of my filming in even more detail. I finished my storyboard and also designed the sister's character. I also made props such as the puzzle that i would need for filming that evening.
In the evening i then went straight to my cousins house to finish the shoot. This time i was in it as well as my sister and other cousin. This made planning even more useful as i knew exactly when i needed people and what i wanted them to do effeciently. I also used stop motion to create some of the effects.
I really enjoyed the filming even though it was very tirying. I think that it went as well as i had planned and i am excited about editing it. There are two more bits i need to film tomorow morning but this shouldnt be much problem. It went really well and i am very pleased with it all.
Im also ahead of schedule which i am pleased with.

May 5th

I havent been able to leave comments for a while again as my Internet is still playing up and i have been very busy, not finishing work till late. It should be sorted now so i can get back on track!
Today I planned a lot of my storyboard. I decided to do this using seperate panels so that i could change the order around. I also divided the poem into scenes and shots that i can use for reference when working on my editing etc. I used research of cinematography and other videos i have watched to help with ideas for camera angles etc.
In the afternoon i started filming my final film. I chose a costume for my cousin to wear and used my storyboards to help to film it. I also used a CD recording of the narration to make sure that i got the timing right. I did various takes until i got the one that i thought would work well for what i wanted. I really tried to use a variety of shots and techniques as well as keeping the shots to the rthym of the poem. My cousin acted really well and i was really pleased to see that he enjoyed it. I took great care in making sure i kept some of the time period the same so i included no electric sockets or TVs etc in the shots.
I am really really pleased with the amount of filming i did today i will continue filming tomorow. I think that the amount of detailed planning i did both with my storyboard and narration have really helped my filming be succesfull.

May 3rd

Today i took some photos of where i will film the video. This is that start of my planning for the shoot. Using these photos i can create a storyboard and an animatic to enable me to really plan my video well so that i can start filming it next week. I have also mapped out some pages in my sketchbook of things that i need to do to help with my planning.

May 2nd

Today my aim was to combine animation with more movement in the live action. Also i wanted to experiment with hand drawn into Flash. I imported live action video footage into Flash. Using a graphics tablet i was then able to draw the animation straight ontop of the live action, ensuring that the animation matched up with the live action perfectly. This process was really succesful as i found that i was able to change my animation slightly if i needed to and copy, delete and edit frames. I then took the live action layer off and added a green layer behind the animtion. I then exported this and put it into Final Cut over the better quality live action file. The idea was that i could key the green colour out so's to have just the animation. For some reason this didnt work which was very annoying and frustrating. It seemed that a setting on Final Cut wasnt allowing me to key the colour correctly. I will try it again to try and get it to work.
The process of animation on Flash was succesful however and i think this will be how i animate my final video.

In the evening i recorded my Grandpa reading the story for the narration. I realised from research that it is easier to animate to sound rather than the other way round. i recorded his narration using my video camera and i can then take the sound off the video to use. The narration is great and i think its going to work really well.

April 30th

Firsty i havent been able to leave comments on here for a few days now because my Internet connection has been playing up at home. But now iv fixed it and am updating what iv been up to.

Today i made some further experiments of animating my character. I did another test of hand drawn animation. This was into live action footage. To do this i filmed a very short sequence of me with my hand out on a table. I would animate the character to walk across the table and jump onto my hand. I printed off a screenshot of my video footage. I animated it by hand over the top of this print out and then had to get all the frames onto the computer. I scanned each frame into the computer, opened it on Adobe Photoshop and deleted the background, then put them all onto FinalCut Pro. This was a very long process and the compositing took longer than the animating. I then tried to insert the video into FinalCut but i had saved it as a WMV format which wont work on Final Cut so for the test i used an image. In the end it has come out really well. However it is a very long process and one which i dont think i will have time to achieve. I like the hand animation look and the frame rate was ok. I found it tricky to time it well and sometimes i could do with adding an extra frame in certain places. On the computer would allow me to do this so i will next try using hand drawn into Flash to animate.

April 29th

Today i began by testing Flash animation. I created my character as a puppet in Flash and then animated very simply a wave. This was easy enough to animate, however im not a great fan of the very graphic and smooth style that flash gives. I also tried using a graphics tablet that allowed me to hand draw straight into Flash. This worked really well and would be quick. I will try this in more detail in the future. I also made another quick animation on paper just to get a feel for the character a bit more.

April 28th

I began by looking very breifly at computer animation that is very popular in the modern day filmmaking. I then decided that i would make a maquette of my character. This was to help me animate as i can use it for reference for angles when i animate. I made this out of cardboard close to life size. This will really help me when it comes to animating. I also looked briefly at Ratatouille. This film is part of the inspiration behind having a small character so i looked at various ways that that film uses the size difference between the human and small character. I then did a quick stop motion test to allow me to get reference photos of my maquette that i can later use in animating. I then made my first test in hand drawn animation. This was very simply a bit of a walk cycle. I tried it at both 6 frames and 12 frames per second. I decided that if i was to hand animate it then i would use a combination of these frames rates, depending on the animation needed.

April 27th

Today i began my research into all the various types of animation that there are. I looked in Roger Rabbit as that combines animation and live action and also the making of it to give me an idea into how they do it in the industry. I research traditional hand drawn animation, stop motion, keyframes and Flash animation.
This gave me a few ideas of how to animate my character and over the next week i will test various animation techniques.

I also looked at the work of Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas, two of Disneys finest ever animators. Their work really inspires me to animate.

April 26th

Today i finished my final character design and drew this design from various angles. I then created my first test in compositing the character hand drawn into live action. I did this by printing off the photo of me then on tracing paper drawing the character over the top. I then scanned this into the computer and composited them together. This has worked really well and im very pleased with the outcome. If i can get my animation to look like this i will be very pleased but it is a long process. I will test animation over the next week to find out how to animate my character most succesfully.

April 25th

Now that i had my first design of my final character i decided to create a digital version. To do this i scanned in my page of designs into the computer and imported it into Adobe Illustrator. I then used the Live Trace "Comic Art" function to turn the image into simple black and white. Then on a new layer i used the brush tool to trace over the outline of my character. I did this to create a childlike freehand feel to the image. Then on a new layer i roughly painted behind the lines, purposely not colouring in the lines perfectly, again to give a childlike quality. I was quite pleased with the final image and think that it is a success.

I then went on to create a page of variations on the design that were made on Illustrator. These were then commented on by several people. These comments will help me to create a final design for my character.

Once i have a final design i will then think about turning my character 3D and creating designs from various angles.

April 24th

Today i continued with my character design. I looked at my favourite characters from my initial sketches and began to develop both a square and a circle character. I tried various different features and angles to get some more developed ideas onto paper. I annotated all of these to find out what i really liked about them. I then used this to go on to develop 4 more characters, using the features that i liked. I chose one that i liked the most and drew this slightly different again.

This whole process left me with various designs of the character i liked and also allowed me to develop some other characters that may appear in my story at the end. The development process meant that i am now left with a character that really works for what i want.

April 23rd

I have finally finished my story which is now all on this blog for people to see. I am quite pleased with the final story and poem. It took longer than expected and this may have a knock on effect with my character design but i think it was worth it. I will just try and be quicker at doing other parts of my project to keep on schedule.
I also drew many more characters so that i am now in the position of starting to develop a few before selecting the final design.
This evening i visited my cousins. They are both girls of ages 7 and 9. I asked them to draw a few drawings for me so i had more studies into how children draw, what they draw and how it looks. Im finding interesting stuff about the way they draw, things like arms not symmetrical. These are things that as an adult you do automatically so this is really helpful to my design.
I will develop my character more tomorow. Tomorow is also my deadline for character design but i dont think that i will make it. I will look at my plan and make sure i dont fall too far behind it.

Story Completed

A long time ago, when I was a lad,

I had a small friend, just like everyone had.

It all began on a dull rainy day,

When it was far too wet to go out and play.

I sat on my own, at the dining room table,

And drew as good as I could, the best I was able.

Alone with some paper, a pencil and pen,

I drew a small character who smiled, and then,

He came to life to my shock and surprise!

I couldn’t believe what was before my eyes.

For there stood my drawing with as much life as me,

A fun little friend, for my company.

We waved at each other and then we both knew,

We could have lots of fun together, just us two.

 

We would swing on the swing, for hours on end,

Just him and I, just me and my friend.

One day, when he’d been swinging higher than high,

He let slip of the chain and flew through the sky.

For such a small fellow it was a hugely big leap,

Yet to my surprise he hit the ground on his feet.

 

I’d play his favourite tunes for ages,

And he’d help by turning the pages.

In all the time we spent together,

My parents, aunts and uncles never,

Seemed to see the friend that was mine,

I’d find out why, all in good time.

 

On my toy cars I was too big to sit,

But my small friend was the right size to fit.

How long we spent playing I couldn’t say,

But we became better friends day by day.

At school I discovered, much to my glee,

That every child had a little friend just like me.

 

When playing with a puzzle he always knew,

What piece would work, which piece would do.

He’d use all his might to push it towards me,

Then once completed I’d lift him high to see.

 

Like all children my sister had one as well,

She loved it to bits, from what I could tell.

She played with it as much as I did mine,

She wasn’t to know she’d loose hers over time.

 

I kept playing with my friend but my sister did not,

She grew up too quickly and completely forgot.

She forgot about her friend and never saw her again,

Why couldn’t she see her? I thought, and then,

I realised that you’re not a child for long,

Some people grow up too quickly and then it’s all gone.

So then I decided that I never would end,

The fun and friendship I had, with my little friend.

 

We drew closer together, as my adulthood neared,

Then without warning he suddenly disappeared.

I looked everywhere for him, high and low,

But with no such luck, where did he go?

I kept on looking, not wanting to fail,

I looked for days but to no prevail.

In the end I had to admit defeat,

For my best friend I thought I’d never again meet.

Not wanting or realising I thought I’d grown out of childhood,

Just like my sister and friends, as I said I never would.

 

Some days later I heard a tiny knock at the door,

I wandered over and answered it and was relieved at what I saw.

Because there stood my friend, his smile beaming wide,

But not only him, there were six more by his side.

I hadn’t grown too old, he’d just gone away,

To find forgotten childhoods, and bring them back to stay.

 

Now I’ve reached 74, an age old and grand,

I still have all 7 friends, too many to fit in my hand.

They’ve been faithful and kind, and I never will end,

The fun and friendship I have, with my little friend.

Comment please, let me know what you think. I think it tells the story well and will work even better when narrated and put to video.

 

 

April 22nd

Today i began by drawing some really simple ideas for my character. I took reference from the childrens drawings i had collected and research that i have done. Tomorrow i hope to create more ideas and begin to start narrowing down some that will work best.
I also looked at a music video by Blur called "Coffe and TV". Watch it HERE. The video is animation integrated into live action which is another reference to what i am doing. Also the character is kind of similar to the one that i might design so this video is quite useful for me.
This evening i wrote a lot more of my story/poem. I now have only a couple of sentences left just to finish it off so i hope to do this tomorrow. I will then have my story finished. However i am aware that this story might change when the filming begins and i will be ready to change it if need be. I am quite pleased with the story and the poem and think that it is going to work really well in the final video.

April 21st

I continued to research into characters by looking at the children's author Quentin Blake. 

I also looked at the film Drop Dead Fish and the Abba to Zappa advert. 

I wanted to collect some original drawings by people of how they imagined my character to look when they thought of a small children's character. I asked some 18/19 year olds to draw their ideas. I also asked a few of Mum's Brownie pack to draw some of their characters. These girls aged from 7 to 10. This gave me really great results as i can see how children draw and get ideas from them. Also the boy in my video is the same age as the girls who did these drawings. 

My favourite drawing - 

I think this drawing by a 9 year old is fantastic. It is quite comical and simple and has features that would be recognisable. 

April 20th

I had a much more productive day today. I continued with more research into characters. I looked at characters found in adverts which are often very simple. I also looked at the characters used in the Modern Toss videos. These are very simple black and white characters. They are simple as they are animated on Flash and so cannot be too complicated. I think that the simplicity adds to the quirkiness of the videos and works really well. I also looked again at the character design of Little Howard. This design i think is fantastic. It is very simple and sort of rought around the edges. This gives it a childlike quality which i think my character will need as it has been drawn by a child. I continued by looking at the Mr Men childrens books series. I loved this series as a child and now love them just as much. They are very very simple and work perfectly to attract children. They are made of basic shapes which allows many to be created that look like the same series but different characters. I will really use the Mr Men as a big influence in my design.

April 19th

Today i began on the research of my character. I looked at some of the most recognisable characters in film and in animated Disney films. I also looked at the design process of Mufasa, a character from the Lion King. Also I read a book called "The Making of Ratatouille" to see how Pixar designed their characters for the film Ratatouille. This was helpful for me to see how professionals add character to the design of their characters. Tommorow i hope to continue with more research to give me lots of ideas and reference for designing my own character.

April 18th

Today i had a very difficult day. After writing about half of my story i realised that the story was lacking something. I realised that the story had a begginning and an end but not really a middle. Nothing really happened. After looking back at other films and shorts i had researched i found that they lead somewhere. For inspiration on what to do i turned to watching the making of The Incredibles on DVD, in particulaly the story making part. Brad Bird of Pixar said that a story must be flexible and able to be changed throughout the film making process. Also he said that no matter how much you like a scene or a storyline if you don't feel that it will work then you have to be prepared to take it out. Therefore i decided to take this advise and have taken out parts of my story that i didnt think were really working or added anything to the story. This left me in the position of thinking of a new idea for my story. I had run out of ideas for today and need to take a step back from the story and come back to it. Therefore i have decided to continue with the character design and come back to the story at a later date when i can look at it fresh.
This was a big decision but one that i think will pay off and allow me to step back from the story in order to think of a new imporoved one.

Story (about half of it)

This is my story/poem so far. It's about half way and im stuck on the rest so im having a break before continuing it! What you think?

A long time ago, when I was a lad,
I had a small friend, just like everyone had.
It all began on a dull rainy day,
When it was far too wet to go out and play.
I sat on my own, at the dining room table,
And drew as good as I could, the best I was able.
Alone with some paper, a pencil and pen,
I drew a small character who smiled, and then,
He came to life to my shock and surprise!
I couldn’t believe what was before my eyes.
For there stood my drawing with as much life as me,
A fun little friend, for my company.
We waved at each other and then we both knew,
We could have lots of fun together, just us two.
We would swing on the swing, for hours on end,
Just him and I, just me and my friend.
One day, when he’d been swinging higher than high,
He let slip of the chain and flew through the sky.
For such a small fellow it was a hugely big leap,
Yet to my surprise he hit the ground on his feet.
I’d play his favourite tunes for ages,
And he’d help by turning the pages.
In all the time we spent together,
My parents, aunts and uncles never,
Seemed to see the friend that was mine,
I’d find out why, all in good time.
On my toy cars I was too big to sit,
But my small friend was the right size to fit.
How long we spent playing I couldn’t say,
But we became better friends day by day.
At school I discovered, much to my glee,
That every child had a little friend just like me.
When playing with a puzzle he always knew,
What piece would work, which piece would do.
He’d use all his might to push it towards me,
Then once completed I’d lift him high to see.
(verse not yet written)
I kept playing with my friend but my sister did not,
She grew up too quickly and completely forgot.
She forgot about her friend and never saw her again,
Why couldn’t she see her? I thought, and then,
I realised that you’re not a child for long,
Some people grow up too quickly and then it’s all gone.
So then I decided that I never would end,
The fun and friendship I had, with my little friend.

April 17th

Today i spent all day writing my story poem. I wrote down a couple more ideas and plot lines that i could use to help me develop my story further. I found it difficult to write the poem as it's not easy to think of rhymes all the time. However when i got stuck i always looked back at my inspirations of The Grinch, The Night Before Christmas, and Vincent. This then gave me some more ideas and i could get back into the rhythm of writing.

It's getting there slowly but surely. It's coming on well and i am pleased with the progress that i have made so far. Also comments on my blog tell me that people like the beggining and that it will work for my target audience so this is good.

I will continue writing it. Hopefully it will be finished by the end of Friday 18th so that i am not too far behind on my character design.

The Poem so far

This is the first part of my poem that i have written so far -

A long time ago, when i was a lad,
I had a small friend, just like everyone had.
It all began on a dull rainy day,
When it was far to wet to go out and play.
I sat on my own, at the dining room table,
And drew as good as i could, the best i was able.
Alone with some paper, a pencil and pen,
I drew a small character who smiled, and then,
He came to life to my shock and surprise,
I couldn't believe what was before my eyes.
For there stood my drawing with as much life as me,
A fun little friend, for my company.
We waved at each other and then we both knew,
We could have lots of fun together, just us two.



let me know what you think so far!

April 16th

I continued today with the developing of my story. I briefly looked at how i will show that the live action actors are the same character by looking at The Royal Tenenbaums to see how Wes Anderson does this. I then went onto quite scrappily jot down ideas and thoughts about the story that i had floating around in my head. This then enabled me to begin making a plot outine of the story. I then began writing the beggining of the stories' narrated poem using the rhythm that is used in Dr Seuss's The Grinch and Tim Burtons "Vincent".

I had a lot of trouble when creating the story ideas and plot outline. This is because it forced me to think a lot about the shooting of the footage and scenes. When i wrote a story part i needed to make sure that i would be able to animate it and film it succesfully. I had planned to do this mostly in the planning of the filming much later on in my project. However now i have kind of been forced to do it now i am behind in the writing of my story. I hope to write the story and complete it in the next few days so that i do not fall behind too far on my character design.

April 15th

Today i continued to develop ideas for my story. I continued to create a wide range of ideas and then looked at the strengths and weaknesses of those ideas. I decided to ask various people what they thought of three of my favourite ideas. I did this by making a questionaire and giving it to a selection of people and also creating a facebook group asking people to comment on my blog about the stories. After looking at the responses i recieved i decided to continue with the story about the character that is drawn and comes to life.

I then began developing this story using my various ideas and also using the research i have done on childrens stories. I also decided to narrate my story over the top of the video as a poem much like those by Dr Seuss as i think that they will give the story a quirky feel.

I will continue to develop, plan and write the story.

Story Ideas

These are some ideas for my short video story. They are all aimed at children and the family. They are all working ideas but it would be great if you could read the three ideas and leave a comment telling me what you think about them and which idea you like the best. You can comment by clicking on the comment link under this post. You don't have to register and log in or anything. Thanks!

Idea 1 - Childs drawn character

This is a story about a child (maybe 8ish) that draws a simple character only to find that it comes to life. He then plays with this small character that kind of sits in his hand etc. Then the child grows up. (this is where the story has various routes that i could use)

He grows up and forgets about the friend and then when he's older realises that he wished he hadnt stopped playing with him as he cant find the little friend now.

or

the character is recycled or rubbed out and so that child has to re-draw the character for it to come back to life.

or (this is my favourite)

every child has a small friend but as you grow up and stop playing with it the friend dissapears (the friend represents childhood). But this child doesnt want to loose his friend so he keeps playing with it and now even at 70 years old(ish) he still has his little friend even though all other adults have forgotten them and lost them.

Idea 2 - The Toothbrush

An old toothbrush is happily used by a child every day. He sits on the shelf in the bathroom on his own but he is happy because he is always used. Then one day he is not used and instead is replaced by a new young snobish toothbrush. He is told he is too old to clean teeth now and has been replaced by someone younger. The old toothbrush is sad until the child then uses him to clean boots and hes happy again.

Idea 3 - Naughty Character

This could be a life size character that hides in places around the house or a school. He plays practical jokes on people. But then he is caught and something happens that makes him not be mean anymore and he is then nice and helps people.


What do you think? I personally think the top one with the third ending where the character represents childhood but please let me know what you think. Thank you :D

April 10th

Today i came up with a few different ideas that i could use for my final. These were using the themes that i found in the narratives that i researched. I've got a few to work with so i will develop them to see which will work. I am on holiday for the next few days but i will take my sketchbook so that if i have any ideas i can note them down before i forget them.

April 8th

This morning i had a reply on Youtube from the television advert creator Matt Oxborrow. He explains that everyone has inspiration inside of them and we just need to get it down onto paper. Check out his youtube page with some of his adverts on HERE.

I continued with researching into other short stories. To do this i looked at childrens books that me and my sisters had when we were younger. This game me lots of ideas and helped me to find out things that may make a good childrens/family story. I will now come up with various ideas and i can then start narrowing them down and developing a final idea.

April 7th

This morning i recieved an email reply from Pixar animator Victor Navone explaining about his processes and where he gets inspiration from. This is really useful for me and great that i got a reply so quickly.

I've began creating my story. I've looked into Biblical stories and parables and into poems by Spike Milligan. These have given me several types of stories that i could use to create my own. Iv also written a bit more of an idea for my story which i will develop. Im going to look at childrens books and stories to find more simple short stories that i could use.

I am constantly thinking of more ideas and write them down on my phone if my sketchbook is not near by so that i dont forget them.

April 6th

Began looking at old fables and stories that may help me to write my own story. Also looked at Disney films that include morals or subjects that i may be able to include in my video. Just trying to get inspiration for my story.

April 5th

This morning i had a reply from Howard, the creator of Little Howard Big Howard. This was a great email explaining how we gets inspiration for his animation and how he animates the character.

I then went to the Arnolfini Gallery in Bristol. Here i saw the short video Magnetic Movie. I also saw another video by Semiconductor called Brilliant Noise, which was old footage of the suns solar flares. Both videos were really interesting and it was definately worth going to see. The exhibition is there for the next week. Click HERE for the Arnolfini website.

4th April

This morning i had another reply from Modern Toss telling me that they animated the short "Alan" by importing the live action into Flash and then animating directly over the top of it.

I also researched a couple of television adverts that use animation or a short story. I emailed Matt Oxborrow on youtube asking him about his animations for Paramount Comedy 1's Idents.

I also looked at Little Howard Big Howard, a stand up comedy act between real life and a cartoon which i think is fantastic. I emailed the creator asking how they animated the character Little Howard.

I also looked at Wallace and Gromit and breifly touched on stop motion animation which i will re-visit later in my project.

3rd April

Today I made a list of a few ideas for my story just to get the ideas out of my head and onto paper! One idea is -

1.child draws a cartoon character
2.it comes to life.
3.child plays with it.
4.then it gets lost or rubbed out or something.
5.he re-draws it and gets his friend back. (story based upon red balloon and the snowman)

I also looked at a couple of Pixar animators websites, Victor Navone and Carlos Baena. I have emailed both of these people asking various questions about their animations. Am awaiting a reply now.

I also found a really interesting website called http://www.11secondclub.com/ which has all sorts of short 11 second character animations and also many tips left by people of advise on how to make a good animation. may come in useful later in my project.

Update

This evening I got a reply from Modern Toss explaining that they used Flash to animate and After Effects or Final Cut Pro to composite when making their animation "Alan". I have emailed them back asking for more details on the matching of the animation and live action. Awaiting reply.

2nd April

Today i continued with my research into short videos that can help with the making of mine.

I found that an exhibition at the Arnolfini will have a video installation that will be useful for me to see so i will go next week sometime. Its called "Magnetic Movie" by Semiconductor.

I also found a video that is very useful in the series Modern Toss. For Alan Animation click here.

I also made a much more in-depth plan to help me organise my project.

I love the short film The Red Balloon

I have emailed the makers of Modern Toss asking about how they made the Alan video. I am awaiting a reply now.

1st April

Today i began the initial research into short videos. I decided to look at a few particular videos that i have seen that have inspired me in the past.

Pixar website - www.pixar.com
Pixars "For The Birds" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMmVXOWe5o0
Pixars "Boundin" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcyUORPpBnM
Pixars "Lifted" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=911hp-YbfHc
Tim Burtons "Vincent" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxQcBKUPm8o
Winsor McCays "Gertie the Dinosaur" - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UY40DHs9vc4&feature=related

These short videos are ones that particulaly inspired me when thinking of my final major project.