As I've mentioned in the previous post, I am now going on a vacation to Thailand during the spring break. It might seem like a bad time to leave for a vacation but at the same time I think it will be good to charge the batteries. Since it is a long way to travel and I will be spending quite some time doing that, I will spend this time to work on my sketchbook as well as reading through some books related to this module.
See you after the break =)
Wednesday, 23 March 2011
Mime WIP
I wish I would have gotten more done with the mime by now, but a lot of time has been used on tweaking the rig and preparing it for this task as well as the last task.
The reason for this is because I am now leaving on a vacation during the spring break and I want to have everything as ready as possible so I can completely focus on animating when I get back.
The scenario I have chosen for the mime is Scenario 2B (He paints the door and ends up crossing through his invisible wall).
I have simplified the idea a little bit though. Instead of having a trunk in the scene, I'll just have him get his brush and brush palette from behind his back like you can see in most cartoons.
I have recorded a reference video which you can see here:
As I just mentioned earlier, I wish I would have been done with the storytelling block by now but I don't have the time to finish it right now and since I don't have a complete storytelling block I'll leave it for later to show once it's done, what I can leave you with is a screenshot from the scene and a thumbnail storyboard:
The reason for this is because I am now leaving on a vacation during the spring break and I want to have everything as ready as possible so I can completely focus on animating when I get back.
The scenario I have chosen for the mime is Scenario 2B (He paints the door and ends up crossing through his invisible wall).
I have simplified the idea a little bit though. Instead of having a trunk in the scene, I'll just have him get his brush and brush palette from behind his back like you can see in most cartoons.
I have recorded a reference video which you can see here:
As I just mentioned earlier, I wish I would have been done with the storytelling block by now but I don't have the time to finish it right now and since I don't have a complete storytelling block I'll leave it for later to show once it's done, what I can leave you with is a screenshot from the scene and a thumbnail storyboard:
Staircase WIPs
So it's been a bit quiet lately and I've kept things to myself without updating what's been going on.
After the feedback and some discussions with my tutors I decided to shorten the opening (tightening it) so now he reacts quicker and this is what I showed to my class:
People agreed that it was an improvement and i received some feedback about making the camera start moving later (as he takes his first step).
Also there were some feedback on why he would push the slinky over the edge since it was not in the way and finally I got a tip to try to make him turn around quicker in the end (turn around as he exhales)
With these things in mind, I addressed them in the next version as well as improving some of the timing:
Instead of moving the slinky, I decided to make him just kick it off the step without placing his foot there. The camera now does only start to move as he takes his first step on the staircase. The ending I'm not quite sure I want to do the changes suggested, since I want him to lead with the eyes but I guess I will figure it out better as I go along adding more frames.
Here is a refined version based on the previous block:
I'm still awaiting feedback on this one though. I have also started preparing for the mime task.
After the feedback and some discussions with my tutors I decided to shorten the opening (tightening it) so now he reacts quicker and this is what I showed to my class:
People agreed that it was an improvement and i received some feedback about making the camera start moving later (as he takes his first step).
Also there were some feedback on why he would push the slinky over the edge since it was not in the way and finally I got a tip to try to make him turn around quicker in the end (turn around as he exhales)
With these things in mind, I addressed them in the next version as well as improving some of the timing:
Instead of moving the slinky, I decided to make him just kick it off the step without placing his foot there. The camera now does only start to move as he takes his first step on the staircase. The ending I'm not quite sure I want to do the changes suggested, since I want him to lead with the eyes but I guess I will figure it out better as I go along adding more frames.
Here is a refined version based on the previous block:
I'm still awaiting feedback on this one though. I have also started preparing for the mime task.
Tuesday, 15 March 2011
Mime Ideas
Over the weekend and yesterday I have also worked on the script for my mime idea.
Using the same base idea I have now come up with 3 different scenarios where the first scenario is the original ending inspired by the scene from "A Goofy Movie".
When putting a trunk into the scene, I started thinking about various objects he could pull out of it to get him passed the invisible wall and I quickly realized I can come up with some quite interesting sketches but I also want to get started animating this ASAP so here are my Mime ideas:
Sketch
Goal: Get in touch with the audience
Obstacle: Invisible Wall
The mime artist is on stage, looks at the camera and starts waving. He starts to walk towards the camera (audience) but stops unexpectedly as he hits an invisible wall.
He walks from side to side searching for an opening or a way passed the wall without finding anything, his eye catches on an invisible trunk.
He goes over and opens the trunk.
Scenario 1
Inside the trunk, he finds a large and heavy hammer. He tries to pick it up but it's too heavy for him. He looks at the audience as he gets an idea. He uses his thumb against his mouth and blows himself up to become stronger and picks up the hammer quite easily this time with a satisfied look.
He moves over to the wall and hits it with his invisible hammer. To his surprise, the wall is actually now a breaking glass in front of him. The scene ends with his surprised facial expression.
Scenario 2
He picks up an invisible brush with a brush palette (of course illustrating what he is holding in his hands) and paints a teapot out of thin air (which becomes visible).
He looks at the audience as his eyebrows moves up and down and it is obvious he's got an idea.
He goes over to the wall and paints a door, puts down his painting equipment and walks through the door ending in a "TADA pose".
OR, TAKING THE IDEA EVEN FURTHER......
He tries to get through but the door won't open. He goes into a thinking pose which quickly changes to "another idea pose".
He picks back up his painting equipment and actually walks through the invisible wall to paint a doorknob on the other side. Satisfied, he walks back on his original side of the invisible wall, puts away his painting equipment and walks through the door ending in a "TADA pose"
Scenario 3
He picks up an invisible helmet. Puts it on his head. Rubs his hands as he gets into a starting pose for running.
He starts running towards the wall to break it down. The scene ends as he hits the wall and bounces back and falls on his back "unconscious"
OR
He starts running and the wall for some reason is gone and he simply runs off stage, crashing to the floor.
I will show these ideas to my tutor in class today and get some feedback on which on is the best.
Using the same base idea I have now come up with 3 different scenarios where the first scenario is the original ending inspired by the scene from "A Goofy Movie".
When putting a trunk into the scene, I started thinking about various objects he could pull out of it to get him passed the invisible wall and I quickly realized I can come up with some quite interesting sketches but I also want to get started animating this ASAP so here are my Mime ideas:
Sketch
Goal: Get in touch with the audience
Obstacle: Invisible Wall
The mime artist is on stage, looks at the camera and starts waving. He starts to walk towards the camera (audience) but stops unexpectedly as he hits an invisible wall.
He walks from side to side searching for an opening or a way passed the wall without finding anything, his eye catches on an invisible trunk.
He goes over and opens the trunk.
Scenario 1
Inside the trunk, he finds a large and heavy hammer. He tries to pick it up but it's too heavy for him. He looks at the audience as he gets an idea. He uses his thumb against his mouth and blows himself up to become stronger and picks up the hammer quite easily this time with a satisfied look.
He moves over to the wall and hits it with his invisible hammer. To his surprise, the wall is actually now a breaking glass in front of him. The scene ends with his surprised facial expression.
Scenario 2
He picks up an invisible brush with a brush palette (of course illustrating what he is holding in his hands) and paints a teapot out of thin air (which becomes visible).
He looks at the audience as his eyebrows moves up and down and it is obvious he's got an idea.
He goes over to the wall and paints a door, puts down his painting equipment and walks through the door ending in a "TADA pose".
OR, TAKING THE IDEA EVEN FURTHER......
He tries to get through but the door won't open. He goes into a thinking pose which quickly changes to "another idea pose".
He picks back up his painting equipment and actually walks through the invisible wall to paint a doorknob on the other side. Satisfied, he walks back on his original side of the invisible wall, puts away his painting equipment and walks through the door ending in a "TADA pose"
Scenario 3
He picks up an invisible helmet. Puts it on his head. Rubs his hands as he gets into a starting pose for running.
He starts running towards the wall to break it down. The scene ends as he hits the wall and bounces back and falls on his back "unconscious"
OR
He starts running and the wall for some reason is gone and he simply runs off stage, crashing to the floor.
I will show these ideas to my tutor in class today and get some feedback on which on is the best.
Staircase - Ed Hooks' Feedback
Yesterday I received Ed's feedback on my staircase animation and it was as follows:
Nice stuff, Remi. Two suggestions:
(1) Do not have him stop and think about things at the bottom of the stairs. It looks like maybe he is considering not taking his (wife?) breakfast in bed after all. Instead of that, have... him come out of the kitchen and head directly up the stairs. Not rushing, not running, just let his decision to go upstairs be made when he is still in the kitchen. We don’t need to see it.
(2) You have WAY too many little things blocking the stairs! That is a true obstacle course. With that many items on the stairs, it would make more sense that he put down the tray and clear the steps before heading up. Consider maybe having one fairly large object, like a big stuffed teddy bear or something like that, on the steps.
Removing some of the obstacles is of course no problem as all the boxes are just placeholders and I was thinking of adding some larger things instead as I get them modeled.
When it comes to the opening however, I'm not so sure that's what I will want to do as the opening with him reacting to the mess is a key moment in the scene, at least for me.
I know about the term "Kill your darlings" but this one is hard to completely kill. After all, it seems like Ed must have misunderstood what I'm trying to convey with that part of the scene. It's not a matter of the character deciding to go up the stairs or not. He is simply disappointed and irritated at his kids for not cleaning up their mess.
We have been told by Ed to think of the scene as one scene in a longer film and with this in mind, I believe the audience would understand that the character is irritated as I have written in the script that he has already told his kids to clean up the mess (which would have been an earlier scene if it was a film)
I could of course do what Ed suggests and make the character just walk straight to the staircase but then it really doesn't seem like he is reacting to the mess (considering he is expecting the staircase to be empty)
So through the day that has been, I have been emailing with my tutor, Siobhan Fenton and asked her what she thinks herself. The first email I got, she replied that she also likes what I've done with the beginning of the scene but would look more at it later and get back to me.
Today I received her email and she wrote the following:
Hi Remi
Just been watching your film a few times in relation to Eds notes and been looking at the camera for the lecture today. Here are some thoughts:
1. I think the initial fed up expression at the beginning works well [as you do] but your animations would benefit from us seeing that then getting on quicker - just to make it a little snappier and don't let us spend too much time .....
Have him walking through the door, looking at the tray smiling, but that have his eyes see the mess much sooner AS he is walking in, REACT then step forward and CUT.
2. The timing on the negotiating over the obstacles works v well and yes you could take some of the obstacles away for him to get through, maybe that was too many!
3. I am going to mention this in the session this afternoon but it relates to [1]. You need to cut on the action in your first edit. He isn't moving in the first shot but he is in the second. Get him moving / stepping forward in the first shot THEN cut as he is moving. The edit will be smoother then AND it means we are not spending too much time with him at the beginning.
4. Finally - if you get time, consider having the camera reveal what he is fed up with sooner maybe having that first cut a little sooner [again this is related to point 3.
This is much stronger work by the way, I am just trying to get you to improve even more and there are times when you spend too much time on the poses so it appears quite slow. There are times when you need to do this but just look at that beginning and end sequence and think about making it a bit tighter.
To me it all seems like a good idea about the start and I will definitely tweak that. The stuff about the camera however is correct already. The camera DOES cut on action but since this is such a rough block, one can't see the character is moving.
Nice stuff, Remi. Two suggestions:
(1) Do not have him stop and think about things at the bottom of the stairs. It looks like maybe he is considering not taking his (wife?) breakfast in bed after all. Instead of that, have... him come out of the kitchen and head directly up the stairs. Not rushing, not running, just let his decision to go upstairs be made when he is still in the kitchen. We don’t need to see it.
(2) You have WAY too many little things blocking the stairs! That is a true obstacle course. With that many items on the stairs, it would make more sense that he put down the tray and clear the steps before heading up. Consider maybe having one fairly large object, like a big stuffed teddy bear or something like that, on the steps.
Removing some of the obstacles is of course no problem as all the boxes are just placeholders and I was thinking of adding some larger things instead as I get them modeled.
When it comes to the opening however, I'm not so sure that's what I will want to do as the opening with him reacting to the mess is a key moment in the scene, at least for me.
I know about the term "Kill your darlings" but this one is hard to completely kill. After all, it seems like Ed must have misunderstood what I'm trying to convey with that part of the scene. It's not a matter of the character deciding to go up the stairs or not. He is simply disappointed and irritated at his kids for not cleaning up their mess.
We have been told by Ed to think of the scene as one scene in a longer film and with this in mind, I believe the audience would understand that the character is irritated as I have written in the script that he has already told his kids to clean up the mess (which would have been an earlier scene if it was a film)
I could of course do what Ed suggests and make the character just walk straight to the staircase but then it really doesn't seem like he is reacting to the mess (considering he is expecting the staircase to be empty)
So through the day that has been, I have been emailing with my tutor, Siobhan Fenton and asked her what she thinks herself. The first email I got, she replied that she also likes what I've done with the beginning of the scene but would look more at it later and get back to me.
Today I received her email and she wrote the following:
Hi Remi
Just been watching your film a few times in relation to Eds notes and been looking at the camera for the lecture today. Here are some thoughts:
1. I think the initial fed up expression at the beginning works well [as you do] but your animations would benefit from us seeing that then getting on quicker - just to make it a little snappier and don't let us spend too much time .....
Have him walking through the door, looking at the tray smiling, but that have his eyes see the mess much sooner AS he is walking in, REACT then step forward and CUT.
2. The timing on the negotiating over the obstacles works v well and yes you could take some of the obstacles away for him to get through, maybe that was too many!
3. I am going to mention this in the session this afternoon but it relates to [1]. You need to cut on the action in your first edit. He isn't moving in the first shot but he is in the second. Get him moving / stepping forward in the first shot THEN cut as he is moving. The edit will be smoother then AND it means we are not spending too much time with him at the beginning.
4. Finally - if you get time, consider having the camera reveal what he is fed up with sooner maybe having that first cut a little sooner [again this is related to point 3.
This is much stronger work by the way, I am just trying to get you to improve even more and there are times when you spend too much time on the poses so it appears quite slow. There are times when you need to do this but just look at that beginning and end sequence and think about making it a bit tighter.
To me it all seems like a good idea about the start and I will definitely tweak that. The stuff about the camera however is correct already. The camera DOES cut on action but since this is such a rough block, one can't see the character is moving.
Saturday, 12 March 2011
Staircase task - WIP3
Even though I was supposed to send the previous version to Ed, there has been some emailing back and forth between me and my tutor about the camera move at the end.
As this does not make sense from a storytelling point of view, I have now kept the camera still and instead I fade to black.
I have also added more "stuff" in the scene to make it look even more messy. All the boxes in the staircase are placeholders for toys that I will be modeling later on.
So unless it is too late for it, this is the version I will send to Ed for some feedback:
As this does not make sense from a storytelling point of view, I have now kept the camera still and instead I fade to black.
I have also added more "stuff" in the scene to make it look even more messy. All the boxes in the staircase are placeholders for toys that I will be modeling later on.
So unless it is too late for it, this is the version I will send to Ed for some feedback:
Friday, 11 March 2011
Staircase task - WIP2
Based on the feedback I got, I have now addressed the changes I was suggested.
I got rid of the opening camera move as well as changing the first camera to a closer shot. I also made the camera follow the character more slowly up the staircase so the audience has a better chance of seeing him kicking the slinky over the edge.
Also I have tried to speed up the animation in some areas, working on the timing. But still I will have to add more animation to further enhance the timing as it can be close to 100 frames between the storytelling poses due to the character standing still and balancing the tray before moving on.
Based on my reference I noticed this big gap between my storytelling poses, which is the reason why I have decided to keep most of my timings until I have more animation to work with.
The most obvious changes to the timing is speeding up the head shake in the beginning and the turn around to continue walking up the stairs in the end after he has passed his obstacles.
As you might have noticed, I have also added more stuff to his tray so it now looks like he is doing a surprise breakfast on the bed.
The boxes in the staircase are placeholders for toys that I will be modeling later on.
With these changes, this is the version I will be sending to Ed Hooks for more feedback and I will start working on my mime task while waiting for his feedback.
I got rid of the opening camera move as well as changing the first camera to a closer shot. I also made the camera follow the character more slowly up the staircase so the audience has a better chance of seeing him kicking the slinky over the edge.
Also I have tried to speed up the animation in some areas, working on the timing. But still I will have to add more animation to further enhance the timing as it can be close to 100 frames between the storytelling poses due to the character standing still and balancing the tray before moving on.
Based on my reference I noticed this big gap between my storytelling poses, which is the reason why I have decided to keep most of my timings until I have more animation to work with.
The most obvious changes to the timing is speeding up the head shake in the beginning and the turn around to continue walking up the stairs in the end after he has passed his obstacles.
As you might have noticed, I have also added more stuff to his tray so it now looks like he is doing a surprise breakfast on the bed.
The boxes in the staircase are placeholders for toys that I will be modeling later on.
With these changes, this is the version I will be sending to Ed Hooks for more feedback and I will start working on my mime task while waiting for his feedback.
Thursday, 10 March 2011
Staircase task - WIP1 Feedback
I just came back from class and luckily they liked my animation.
I did get feedback about removing the cameramove on the opening which I will remove before sending the clip to Ed.
I also got some feedback on the timing might being a bit slow so I will look into that as well and try and tweak it.
I did get feedback about removing the cameramove on the opening which I will remove before sending the clip to Ed.
I also got some feedback on the timing might being a bit slow so I will look into that as well and try and tweak it.
Staircase task - WIP1
I thought the dance from AP2 was a challenge, it seems like I have given myself quite a challenge this time as well. Here is the storytelling block of the staircase task:
I'm not 100% sure the timing is spot on yet as well as the camera move in the opening. I will have to wait for the feedback from my class as well as Ed.
From the last module I also concluded with that I from now on would try and block the facial animation as well and now I definitely see the huge advantage of doing this. It is not just more fun to animate, but it also helps me avoid doing over-animated scenes and especially helps me to get into the same emotional state as my character to portray his feelings and thoughts on the screen even better than before.
I know that it would be optimal to have the mime sketch ready as well but because of the work with the rig and delays with the feedback on task 1 (and me not being smart enough to spend that time starting on task 2) I have now prioritized to get this storytelling block finished for the show and tell in the class as well as having it ready for Ed to look at it so I can now focus on finishing the sketch for the mime animation and work with it over the weekend.
I'm not 100% sure the timing is spot on yet as well as the camera move in the opening. I will have to wait for the feedback from my class as well as Ed.
From the last module I also concluded with that I from now on would try and block the facial animation as well and now I definitely see the huge advantage of doing this. It is not just more fun to animate, but it also helps me avoid doing over-animated scenes and especially helps me to get into the same emotional state as my character to portray his feelings and thoughts on the screen even better than before.
I know that it would be optimal to have the mime sketch ready as well but because of the work with the rig and delays with the feedback on task 1 (and me not being smart enough to spend that time starting on task 2) I have now prioritized to get this storytelling block finished for the show and tell in the class as well as having it ready for Ed to look at it so I can now focus on finishing the sketch for the mime animation and work with it over the weekend.
Wednesday, 9 March 2011
Staircase storyboard thumbnail sketches
Even though I have already filmed the reference video, I also made some sketches based on the story so I can sketch down some storytelling poses/ideas:
Tuesday, 8 March 2011
Rigs for 3Ds Max
Even though I really enjoy working with 3Ds Max and I'm very comfortable with this software there is one thing that absolutely sucks with the software. It is not the most used software in the industry when it comes to animation and because of this there are barely any cool and appealing rigs for Max. All the good rigs are for Maya and unfortunately for me, I don't know this software and I don't have the time to start learning it now.
During the weekend, I browsed CreativeCrash for some rigs for my new tasks as using the Max rig is completely out of the question as I simply hate the way it is constructed when it comes to the facial animation as well as all the gimbal problems all over the body.
Not surprisingly, there were extremely few FREE rigs for 3Ds Max that were usable, appealing and generic at the same time. I did come across a couple of really appealing and cool rigs but they can't be used as they are not bipedal and not generic enough.
Just for "fun" i decided to browse through the Maya rigs on the same page and vóla, 13 full pages of FREE rigs for Maya and most of them appealing and full of cool features.
When it comes to using rigs for 3Ds Max, I have usually ended up with two alternatives: The Max Rig and Dee by Manuel Sierra.
I prefer the Dee character as a rig but I don't like the looks of the rig because it looks like an alien and it is just not appealing.
As I browse through the Maya rigs I come across an interesting rig, "New Dee Rig for Maya"
Of course this rig looks SOOOOO MUCH more appealing than what we have for 3Ds Max and I got to admit I got kind of angry and jealous looking at what Maya users get which we Max users don't. So after seeing this I decided to start modifying the looks of the Dee rig for Max to make it look more like the version for Maya.
I do realize that I should be working with my animation but I simply can't start doing that before I have a proper rig which is why I've been working on this rig and it is about finished, just working on the final tweaks to make it fully functional after modifying it's looks:
Looks a lot more appealing, doesn't it? At least now he looks more human and I feel ready to start working on my animation.
During the weekend, I browsed CreativeCrash for some rigs for my new tasks as using the Max rig is completely out of the question as I simply hate the way it is constructed when it comes to the facial animation as well as all the gimbal problems all over the body.
Not surprisingly, there were extremely few FREE rigs for 3Ds Max that were usable, appealing and generic at the same time. I did come across a couple of really appealing and cool rigs but they can't be used as they are not bipedal and not generic enough.
Just for "fun" i decided to browse through the Maya rigs on the same page and vóla, 13 full pages of FREE rigs for Maya and most of them appealing and full of cool features.
When it comes to using rigs for 3Ds Max, I have usually ended up with two alternatives: The Max Rig and Dee by Manuel Sierra.
I prefer the Dee character as a rig but I don't like the looks of the rig because it looks like an alien and it is just not appealing.
As I browse through the Maya rigs I come across an interesting rig, "New Dee Rig for Maya"
Of course this rig looks SOOOOO MUCH more appealing than what we have for 3Ds Max and I got to admit I got kind of angry and jealous looking at what Maya users get which we Max users don't. So after seeing this I decided to start modifying the looks of the Dee rig for Max to make it look more like the version for Maya.
I do realize that I should be working with my animation but I simply can't start doing that before I have a proper rig which is why I've been working on this rig and it is about finished, just working on the final tweaks to make it fully functional after modifying it's looks:
Looks a lot more appealing, doesn't it? At least now he looks more human and I feel ready to start working on my animation.
Monday, 7 March 2011
Rango
I watched Rango in the cinema this evening. Based on what I've seen in the trailer, I thought it was going to be a good movie but unfortunately I had to leave the screen disappointed.
Despite the movie having beautiful renders, it is just not enough when the story isn't good enough. Story is KING.
Since I felt the story wasn't as good as it could have been and I didn't enjoy the movie as much, I started noticing several small "story faults" as well as weird character behaviors. By this I mean how the main character made his choices and how he acted based on what type of person he is.
In some cases he did things that didn't seem natural to his profile at all.
The movie was a standard 1,5 hour long film but it felt more like 2 hours and that's not a good sign.
Tangled in comparison is night and day. Tangled was over too quick I felt. Of course because it was such a great movie on all points.
Rango isn't the worst I've seen but neither a movie that will get stuck in my memory.
Despite the movie having beautiful renders, it is just not enough when the story isn't good enough. Story is KING.
Since I felt the story wasn't as good as it could have been and I didn't enjoy the movie as much, I started noticing several small "story faults" as well as weird character behaviors. By this I mean how the main character made his choices and how he acted based on what type of person he is.
In some cases he did things that didn't seem natural to his profile at all.
The movie was a standard 1,5 hour long film but it felt more like 2 hours and that's not a good sign.
Tangled in comparison is night and day. Tangled was over too quick I felt. Of course because it was such a great movie on all points.
Rango isn't the worst I've seen but neither a movie that will get stuck in my memory.
Video surfing - Sintel
Many years ago when I was trying to get into 3D by myself I tried various softwares and among those were Blender, a completely free, open source 3D package. I remember trying to learn the program back then without much success and the program still suffers from the same thing today as before. An absolutely HORRIBLE user interface that looks nothing like any other 3D package I've had my hands on.
Anyway, I thought I'd check in to look around and see what's new as I do know the software is getting better and better with new features all the time like any other software and hopefully they will do something about that UI of theirs someday.
Looking around on the webpage, I looked through the gallery of movies which are made using the software and I come over a movie called Sintel.
I know it's not a new movie but I have just never sat down to actually watch it before and I was stunned by what I saw.
I've seen other movies made with Blender before and no one seemed to impress me on all points. Sure, Big Buck Bunny was eye candy all over on the visuals but I think it had a poor story and the animation could have been so much better. What really bugged me with the whole movie was the characters goals and motivations that simply did not make any sense to me.
Anyway, after watching Sintel, I was impressed by how beautiful the movie looked like visually as well as the story being quite solid to my taste and what impressed me most of all was the quality of the animation. For a completely independent movie project made with only free software I was impressed and this is definitely a movie worth seeing if you haven't seen it yet:
Anyway, I thought I'd check in to look around and see what's new as I do know the software is getting better and better with new features all the time like any other software and hopefully they will do something about that UI of theirs someday.
Looking around on the webpage, I looked through the gallery of movies which are made using the software and I come over a movie called Sintel.
I know it's not a new movie but I have just never sat down to actually watch it before and I was stunned by what I saw.
I've seen other movies made with Blender before and no one seemed to impress me on all points. Sure, Big Buck Bunny was eye candy all over on the visuals but I think it had a poor story and the animation could have been so much better. What really bugged me with the whole movie was the characters goals and motivations that simply did not make any sense to me.
Anyway, after watching Sintel, I was impressed by how beautiful the movie looked like visually as well as the story being quite solid to my taste and what impressed me most of all was the quality of the animation. For a completely independent movie project made with only free software I was impressed and this is definitely a movie worth seeing if you haven't seen it yet:
Friday, 4 March 2011
The mime idea
As I mentioned some time ago I have been thinking about my Mime task and what I have been thinking is a short piece where the character giving a performance to an audience gets a big surprise himself.
The basic idea is to use the well known "glass box" trick and kind of end the scene with the mime artist trying to break out using an invisible hammer or some tool and to his big surprise REAL glass shatters in front of his eyes.
The inspiration to this idea comes from Disney's "A Goofy Movie" where there is a scene when Max and Goofy meets a mime artist holding an invisible rope and Goofy clips off the rope using his fingers as scissors, resulting in a piano falling on the mime artist.
You can see this scene in the video below. The exact scene I'm talking about starts at 9,5 minute in:
There is still missing a beginning and middle of the scene and this is the part of the sketch I'm still spinning some ideas about in my head.
The basic idea is to use the well known "glass box" trick and kind of end the scene with the mime artist trying to break out using an invisible hammer or some tool and to his big surprise REAL glass shatters in front of his eyes.
The inspiration to this idea comes from Disney's "A Goofy Movie" where there is a scene when Max and Goofy meets a mime artist holding an invisible rope and Goofy clips off the rope using his fingers as scissors, resulting in a piano falling on the mime artist.
You can see this scene in the video below. The exact scene I'm talking about starts at 9,5 minute in:
There is still missing a beginning and middle of the scene and this is the part of the sketch I'm still spinning some ideas about in my head.
Wednesday, 2 March 2011
Tuesday, 1 March 2011
New reference filming and feedback from Ed
During the filming today I also finally received my feedback from Ed about my story and his notes were the following:
You crack me up, Remi. Cholesterol! Growling stomachs!
Domineering spouse! LOL! I want to party with you. But, listen the exercise is for a character to go up the stairs, not down them. You are giving yourself far too many things to worry about. If you want to have him sneaking some place in the house in order to do something he does not want his wife to know about, try imagining that he is an alcoholic and has a bottle of whiskey hidden in the dirty clothes hamper in the upstairs bedroom. (One of my many fathers actually did that!) We want to keep the focus on the guy climbing the stairs. You are doing a good job of evoking an emotion in the character, it is just too complex, that's all.
Not too bad I must say. But as I suspected, Ed did care about the fact that he was going down the stairs. He did have some interesting ideas though but as interesting as it would be to animate a drunk, I feel I have a big enough challenge already as it is so animating an alcoholic is kind of out of the question for me at this point. Another thing I reacted on was his suggestion to the character going upstairs to get his bottle of whiskey hidden in the dirty clothes hamper IN THE BEDROOM. I have absolutely no idea how I can communicate to the audience WHAT he is going upstairs for in this scene if that was his ultimate goal.
I discussed this with my tutor as well as mentioning the idea about the surprise breakfast and my tutor liked the idea so I decided to go for that and film my reference footage for it. I have also rewritten the scene to fit this new story:
BREAKFAST SURPRISE (THE NIGHT SNACK RE-WRITE)
It is mother's day and Lars has gotten up early this morning to surprise his wife with breakfast on the bed. Before heading to the kitchen to prepare the breakfast, he has stopped by his two children's rooms and asked them to clean up their mess and remove their toys from the staircase while he makes the breakfast.
After spending almost 1 hour in the kitchen preparing a delicious breakfast, he heads for the bedroom upstairs.
The scene starts with Lars exiting the kitchen with a tray coming around the corner to the staircase.
As Lars walks around the corner, he has an excited smile on his face which quickly changes to a disappointed expression as he stops in front of the staircase.
He shakes his head slowly and sighs and takes the first step carefully placing his feet to avoid the toys still laying in the staircase. He makes his way up the staircase carefully balancing his tray as he avoids the toys and shovels some of them away using his feet.
As he has gotten past the worst mess he stops and sighs relieved, smiles and heads for the bedroom.
ALTERNATE ENDING
As he has gotten past the worst mess he stops and sighs relieved, smiles and heads for the bedroom still looking the same direction as he takes the first step and therefore stepping on a toy car. The scene cuts to black as he starts his fall while sound effects reveal what's happening.
With this new story I have also tried to put together a character profile:
Name: Lars
Age: 31
Gender: Male
Health: Good
Physical Appearance: Slim, athletic, straight posture, blue eyes, short and brown hair.
Job: Currently a Bookseller but wants to be a writer.
Education: High school and a Bachelor in literature.
Cultural Background: American
Intelligence: Just above average.
Hygiene: Takes good care of himself, uses cologne almost daily.
Diet: Normal, balanced between junk food and healthy.
General Psychology:
Approachable, but not the type of person who is going out very often as he enjoys spending time reading a good book at home. Very kind person who always stands up for his friends and helping people around him. Observant to the people around him.
How Does the Character Feel about him/herself? He looks at himself as any average person and does not like to think highly of himself.
What Makes The Character Unique/Describe The Character In Short Words:
He's a hopeless romantic, does not stay angry for a long amount of time and usually deals with it in that moment instead of keeping it in. Very caring to people around him and always go by the phrase "The biggest joy one can have is to give joy to others"
There are still some missing rooms of some common attributes from the profile such as, Mannerisms, Strength/Weaknesses and what animal would fit to describe the character.
What bugs me is that almost every time, these point leave me with nothing more than a blank paper so it will just have to stay blank for now and maybe I will find something to fill in later on.
You crack me up, Remi. Cholesterol! Growling stomachs!
Domineering spouse! LOL! I want to party with you. But, listen the exercise is for a character to go up the stairs, not down them. You are giving yourself far too many things to worry about. If you want to have him sneaking some place in the house in order to do something he does not want his wife to know about, try imagining that he is an alcoholic and has a bottle of whiskey hidden in the dirty clothes hamper in the upstairs bedroom. (One of my many fathers actually did that!) We want to keep the focus on the guy climbing the stairs. You are doing a good job of evoking an emotion in the character, it is just too complex, that's all.
Not too bad I must say. But as I suspected, Ed did care about the fact that he was going down the stairs. He did have some interesting ideas though but as interesting as it would be to animate a drunk, I feel I have a big enough challenge already as it is so animating an alcoholic is kind of out of the question for me at this point. Another thing I reacted on was his suggestion to the character going upstairs to get his bottle of whiskey hidden in the dirty clothes hamper IN THE BEDROOM. I have absolutely no idea how I can communicate to the audience WHAT he is going upstairs for in this scene if that was his ultimate goal.
I discussed this with my tutor as well as mentioning the idea about the surprise breakfast and my tutor liked the idea so I decided to go for that and film my reference footage for it. I have also rewritten the scene to fit this new story:
BREAKFAST SURPRISE (THE NIGHT SNACK RE-WRITE)
It is mother's day and Lars has gotten up early this morning to surprise his wife with breakfast on the bed. Before heading to the kitchen to prepare the breakfast, he has stopped by his two children's rooms and asked them to clean up their mess and remove their toys from the staircase while he makes the breakfast.
After spending almost 1 hour in the kitchen preparing a delicious breakfast, he heads for the bedroom upstairs.
The scene starts with Lars exiting the kitchen with a tray coming around the corner to the staircase.
As Lars walks around the corner, he has an excited smile on his face which quickly changes to a disappointed expression as he stops in front of the staircase.
He shakes his head slowly and sighs and takes the first step carefully placing his feet to avoid the toys still laying in the staircase. He makes his way up the staircase carefully balancing his tray as he avoids the toys and shovels some of them away using his feet.
As he has gotten past the worst mess he stops and sighs relieved, smiles and heads for the bedroom.
ALTERNATE ENDING
As he has gotten past the worst mess he stops and sighs relieved, smiles and heads for the bedroom still looking the same direction as he takes the first step and therefore stepping on a toy car. The scene cuts to black as he starts his fall while sound effects reveal what's happening.
With this new story I have also tried to put together a character profile:
Name: Lars
Age: 31
Gender: Male
Health: Good
Physical Appearance: Slim, athletic, straight posture, blue eyes, short and brown hair.
Job: Currently a Bookseller but wants to be a writer.
Education: High school and a Bachelor in literature.
Cultural Background: American
Intelligence: Just above average.
Hygiene: Takes good care of himself, uses cologne almost daily.
Diet: Normal, balanced between junk food and healthy.
General Psychology:
Approachable, but not the type of person who is going out very often as he enjoys spending time reading a good book at home. Very kind person who always stands up for his friends and helping people around him. Observant to the people around him.
How Does the Character Feel about him/herself? He looks at himself as any average person and does not like to think highly of himself.
What Makes The Character Unique/Describe The Character In Short Words:
He's a hopeless romantic, does not stay angry for a long amount of time and usually deals with it in that moment instead of keeping it in. Very caring to people around him and always go by the phrase "The biggest joy one can have is to give joy to others"
There are still some missing rooms of some common attributes from the profile such as, Mannerisms, Strength/Weaknesses and what animal would fit to describe the character.
What bugs me is that almost every time, these point leave me with nothing more than a blank paper so it will just have to stay blank for now and maybe I will find something to fill in later on.
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