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.