Fundamentals

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WEEK 4- HALLOWEEN LOOP

For my two- second Halloween loop, I decided to do one based off of LAIKA’S Coraline. This was a really enjoyable mini- project to do as I got to experiment with tracing in After Effects as well as create 3D elements, in this case, the eyeballs. I am extremely proud of this, but through out the two weeks off I want to make other Halloween and Christmas loops to make sure I remember how the software works and to become more confident in order to create work with more complicated assets.

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Final Reel (SOUND ON)

This is my final reel of my After Effects project. I am really proud of what I have achieved over this unit and have definitely improved over the last weeks. Music is one of my other passions so I thought I would produce a soundtrack for my reel.

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FINAL OUTCOME

I am really pleased with my final outcome only using one big object, in my opinion, works well especially in this composition. If I added more it would have over done it. Considering I do not know Photoshop to an advanced standard, the outcome to me surprised me and has given me confidence when creating on Photoshop and in general.

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These were my Photoshop drafts before moving on to my final outcome. The Lindt bunny was fun to photoshop as it is larger than usual. I also experimented with a big chocolate bar, the space theme and candy floss clouds. In the end I used the candy floss clouds as I believed space and a big chocolate bar would not work in my final outcome and mess up the composition. I kept to the idea of focusing on one big object instead.

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I experimented with different themes in order to discover the the right one for the project. In ‘Personal Experiments’, I listed my theme ideas and sketched some of them as well as different colour gradients that I wanted to use. The gothic genre is one of my specialties so I decided to do a theme that was the polar opposite to that. The Easter theme, in my opinion, was a good choice and I wanted to use a pink/ purple gradient. The theme in general was a good concept to get me out of my comfort zone and to challenge my artistic skill set throughout different genres.

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WEEK 3- Joint and balloon re- adjustment

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In today’s drawing lesson, we dove deeper into the land of perspective practicing one- point, two- point and three- point. This was really insightful and I learnt tips and tricks that I didn’t know prior. As the weeks progress, I believe my drawing has improved a significantly. Before University, I had trouble with drawing in three- point perspective but now I know how to do it better than before. Again I adore the mid- tone sketchbook as it allows highlights to pop and creates depth.

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The 12 Principles of Animation

SQUASH AND STRETCH: Helps to reinforce gravity and other laws of physics acting on an object. It is also used to strengthen visual aesthetic- for example, Roger Rabbit squashes and stretches significantly in order to create humour.

ANTICIPATION: Helps to show the viewer what is about to happen- for example, a character bending backwards before shooting forwards.

STAGING: Similar to the concept of composition- focusing on the significant things in a scene and using motion to guide the viewers. For example, if a character has an idea a light bulb will appear above his head.

STRAIGHT AHEAD AND POSE TO POSE: The two ways of taking on drawing animation: Straight ahead is frame by frame through out, whereas pose to pose is drawing the first and last frame then the in betweens.

FOLLOW THROUGH AND OVERLAPPING ACTION: Different parts of an object move at different speeds- this helps to portray that. For example a character starts to run but half of their body is left behind and when they come to a sudden halt half of their body jolts forwards.

SLOW IN AND SLOW OUT: Gives characters and objects life- adding more frames at the beginning and at the end of an action helps to create a smooth path.

ARC: Majority of actions follow an arc so this principle helps the action/ object to abide by the laws of Physics.

SECONDARY ACTION: Can create more dimension in a scene when other actions are involved and can be used to reinforce the main action.

TIMING: Using timing helps to control the characters, atmoshphere etc in a scene that has realistic physics.

EXAGGERATION: Exaggeration helps animation to appear more dynamic and exciting- without it characters such as Roger Rabbit would be lifeless.

SOLID DRAWING: This is the understanding of three- dimensional world- adds different perspectives, tones, shadows and highlights rather than flat surfaces and objects.

APPEAL: For example, appeal is very important for character design specifically. Making a character that has a simple but effective design and personality is more appealing and easy to analyse rather than a design that is vice- versa.

(Bibliography: https://www.facebook.com/CreativeBloQ (2018). Understand Disney’s 12 principles of animation. [online] Creative Bloq. Available at: https://www.creativebloq.com/advice/understand-the-12-principles-of-animation.)

Creative Bloq

Creative Bloq, Bath, United Kingdom. 362K likes. Daily inspiration for creative people. Fresh thinking, expert tips and tutorials to superch

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WEEK 3 ADJUSTED I re- adjusted the helicopter using a video for reference. I definitely prefer how this version as it is more realistic- I used the graph editor more to smoothe out the landing.

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Research on how the Animation principles can be used in order to portray a character’s personality and backstory

Hazbin Hotel (2019)- Vivziepop

As well as reinforcing applied natural physics and visual aesthetics, the twelve principles also provide back bone to a character’s persona and backstory. For this independent research investigation I have chosen to work from Vivziepop’s Hazbin Hotel. More specifically, I have picked out two characters of whom are polar opposites regarding their personality: Sir Pentious and Alastor the Radio Demon.

For context, Hazbin Hotel is set in Hell- The princess of Hell plans on creating a hotel were sinners go to redeem themselves in order to go to Heaven but she is unsuccessful as her demon citizens think otherwise of her aspirations. Within the story we meet Sir Pentious; a flamboyant, eccentric snake demon who died in the Victorian era (1888). When he was alive he was an inventor and a supervillain much like his demon form. Many refer to him as ‘the embarrasing dad character’ or reminiscent to a character from Scooby- Doo in the sense that he is very exaggerated and child- like. As shown in the video, we first meet him on his evil blimp laughing maniacally. During this scene, his body stretches and arcs back and forth and his eyes pop out of his head. The use of squash and stretch, arcs, anticipation and follow through reinforces his ‘bad villain’ persona as he proceeds to praise himself, “The power of my machines are unmatched! No other demon can compare to the likes of I”. His narcissism is ironic as he is not powerful at all. Being a snake demon also helps to achieve the extreme, exaggerated movements he makes. The principles used portays his character as ‘trying to hard to be a villain to the point where he is only present for comic purposes’. Appeal and secondary action strengthens this; his character design is not as sharp as Alastor’s. To expand, Sir Pentious is made up of mostly squares and circles so he appears less threatening than Alastor. Secondary action however comes down to his top hat. His hat replicates Sir Pentious’ mood at any given time. This helps to make his persona and character design more dynamic whereas Alastor is the complete opposite.

On the other end of the spectrum, Alastor the Radio Demon (and serial killer in the human realm) died in 1933 and is one of the most powerful demons in Hell. Much like his occupation as a Radio host on Earth, he wields a microphone and possesses a radio static voice. Coincidentally both characters wield objects that are in a sense ‘alive’. Alastor’s microphone talks to him through a radio- this secondary action is more stationary and static than Sir Pentious’ top hat- which is dynamic just like him. Compared to the snake demon, The cannibal is not animated with the same amount of squash and stretch ecetera. This is most likely because it portrays his dark, manipulative side. Although many fans and the creator herself calls him ‘charming’, he is a sadistic serial killer and his plans for the hotel are a mystery for now. His ‘charming’ side is either legitimate or a metaphorical mask to manipulate those around him. His character design (appeal) as mentioned, is made up of triangles. The sharpness of his design immediately tells the audience that he is powerful and villain like. His voice however distinguishes his occupation on Earth before he died, a Radio Host. Whereas the only clue Sir Pentious was from the Victorian era is the top hat as that was an item of Victorian fashion. There are not really any direct hints that Sir Pentious was and is still indeed an inventor.

In conclusion, the principles are extremely important for physics and visual aesthetics. But these components can aid in portraying a character’s personality as well as their intentions (for example, Alastor’s manipulative side).

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Snowboarding reference

I made sure I analysed the way the flip takes it’s path throughout the air before doing it in After Effects. Using this reference really helped in animating it.

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Helicopter reference

I found this helicopter reference that I could somewhat replicate on After Effects. I did not want to do something overly complicated as I wanted to nail the basics of a helicopter landing sequence.

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30/09/2020- 7/10/2020

I picked out some of my favourite life drawings I did throughout the two week span. Considering I have had major issues with drawing anatomy in general, I am happy to say that I have definitely improved. In the past I have participated in life drawing but only objects or scenery, so this was an entire new exciting experience for me. The grey sketchbook has really helped improve my tonal value- most of the time I shade too dark so having the grey transition shade helps me not to go too dark and reminds me to add highlights.

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15/10/2020

WEEK 3 REEL

Week three pushed me out of my comfort zone but I am glad it did. I never would have thought I would be animating a car or a helicopter in the third week of learning After Effects. We also discovered easier ways to create a loop and rotations on a slope using a null object. Although I did have some problems- I want to go back and change the helicopter especially. But other than that I am pleased of what I achieved to make.

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8/10/2020

WEEK 2 REEL

I really enjoyed doing week two- learning the graph editor makes using After Effects easier especially for easing in and easing out. On the other hand I would like to come back to this reel and adjust the animation with the joints and change the way the bowling ball crashes down the stairs. Apart from that I am very pleased with the outcome.