final major project (holub)

a blog for my final major project at camberwell, showing my process from start to finish (by iris hobson-mazur)

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editing:

So I edited my film my film on iMovie and it worked pretty well. I was able to put my photographs together to make the animation look streamlined. I learnt how to layer my clips to make editing easier and found the website FreeSounds to get extra foley from that I couldn’t make. Editing was a great experience and I really enjoyed adding to the visuals using sound and cuts. The next time I do editing however I would like to experiment with a more challenging and advanced software such as Adobe Premier Pro or After Effects. I think iMovie limited my in terms of having more interesting options for editing but overall it was very simple to use and is effective for editing my film.

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here are some of the intro shots using the multiplane, I found that I had to make sure the lighting was coming in from the side, not above as otherwise it would reflect in the glass. these photos were slightly before I graded the animation so they have a bit more of a warm tinge to them, I definitely keep this a bit but I wanted it to seem a little bit colder so that when the dream sequence happens its more of a contrast. These drawing were definitely inspired by Maxipes Fik as in one of his dreams he ends up in this weird sketch industrial city which had lots of building work and scraps around it, I wanted to channel that feeling of this scrapyard being like a city, a microcosm of society. 

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here are my pigeon puppets:

I have finished all of the backgrounds and puppets for the animation so I am ready to film. I have used pencil and shading for all the backgrounds with the pigeon being in more colour to make him stand out. I thought about having the pigeon be pencil as well but when I screen tested it it blended in too much and I think the jeans would be less obvious if they were drawn in pencil. I found that the textured backgrounds for the body that I had worked out before worked extremely successfully.

filming :

I have found effective lighting for my multiplane set up and worked out what setting works best. I’ve also ordered an anti reflective lens so that the reflection in the glass is minimised and also a bitten I can press to take a picture further away from the camera so you can’t see my hand in the reflection. I filmed the intro to the film and it worked very successfully I think. I used clay to make the title for the film, a nod to the claymation animations I love (Aardman, who had a series called creature comforts that inspired my anthropomorphic character but also the shape of the pigeon was very inspired by the penguin from ‘The Wrong Trousers’). The issues I came across with filming were lighting and way that I was going to capture the images but I managed to overcome these setbacks and make a set up that worked reasonably successfully. To improve my approach I would give myself more time to prepare for animating so that I would have to rush as much.

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the way that the setting looks through the plexiglass/multiplane set up is really effective (although I will be changing the sky colour + texture as it looks a bit dead). Adjusting this scene was particularly hard as I drew it a bit to big and so it barely fit into the flexiglass set up, however eventually it worked and I’ve draw the rest of my scenes to a smaller scale so that they will fit and look more effective. In the next day I will test out the set up of my camera and try to come to a conclusion as to how I’m going to film it so that I can begin making quick progress on the physical animation.

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camera set up :

I tried placing the glass on books however it was impossible to get straight and so I found these building blocks and stuck them together with sticky dots. I found a camera stand that would work for the animation where I could adjust the top of it to stand horizontally rather that vertically. This set up works well as the glass is quite secure although I will need to make sure not to knock the stand when I’m moving around it to animate.

I’m currently really struggling sorting out dragonframe as the version on my computer isn’t connecting to any of the cameras I try and connect it to. I’ve tried every technical route of trying to get it to work but nothing is working. I think I will have to download the new version of dragonframe and use that, even though it will leave a watermark on my work, I don’t really have any other option, otherwise I have no other software to use and will have to animate blindly with my camera, which can work but then I will have to place all the pictures into I movie which only really does a couple of frames per second. I am going to experiment with all the options I have and hopefully something will work.

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here are some of the designs of the puppet that I made as well as the final basic shape of the puppet, cut out on the textured paper that I planned to use. I decided to have the neck be moveable and exchangeable so that I could have more of the natural pigeon movement of the head moving backwards and forwards. I also thought it would be cool to have the head extend when the pigeon is reaching for something, with that I’m taking influence from Bretislav Pojar whose characters limbs would often extend and morph to give the characters this humorous movement to them. It also meant that he didn’t have to animate them walking everywhere which would save a great deal of time. I will create mor variations of the head, body and wings so that it can give a more streamlined appearance of movement instead of just using the shapes in the basic model of the puppet. It was very difficult basic A4 paper and so I made sure to print onto a thicker card so that when I’m animating nothing gets bent or ripped and the heavier paper keeps everything stable.

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Today I started experimenting with some textures for the pigeons body. I really liked the look of the texture of charcoal as it was rougher and gave a more organic look rather than just a flat colour, especially to fit in with the more dirty setting of the srap heap. To achieve the colour of the body of the pigeon, I edited the background colour of the charcoal test sheets to be grey and the actual pigment to also be a lighter colour (it was originally black). I liked the look of the grey paint in the first photo to possibly use for the sky, however I will need to make it darker as it cant blend in too much with the colour of the pigeon. 

I then tested what pencil will look like on the charcoal. It definitely works in term of giving texture and shading to the character however it doesn't come out super clearly for adding details so i think I will need to collage over the top to create the eyes and other details. I also then decided that I wanted to do the beak in an either muted orange or blue colour with the pink nose bit. 

I liked the orange beak and didn't feel like the extra bit on the nose was working, I will try again when i finish the final puppet. I created the wing by using another bit of textured paper and adding shading around the edges with pencil to make it stand out from the body of the pigeon. 

The feet are usually pink so I think I will do them in a muted pink colour. 

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Design for the background of one of the scenes, will have the sky in the background and the rest in the foreground, I also might add hills of trash mid way on the multi plane to make the trash heap seem vaster and larger. Currently I am working on finishing all of my preparation work for the animation, the next step being designing and creating the puppets+sets so that I can do some test animating to show to my tutor. I will have to do a lot of trial and error with my puppets as Im unsure how they will appear on screen especially as I’m using such a limited colour palate. The backgrounds I will have to develop by sketching out designs and deciding which elements I will want in the background and foreground. I’ve also been thinking of using a light box at the back of the multilane set up so that I can poke holes in the windows of the flat and have the light shit through. So far the project is on track although I definitely need to press on with making the puppets and sets so that I can try out what the animation will look like before I begin shooting. 

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Beginning of my animatic - I still need to work on the ending as I haven't  figured out exactly what direction I want to take the film in, but after making this I have definitely started to mould what I want the feel of the film to be like. Adding music and other sounds allowed me to see what the final product will look like and what sounds I need to record that don't exist online. I think I am considering recording the pigeons voice as a human sound, as I will be able to manipulate it more. My next steps after this are probably beginning to work out the puppets/props/sets I will need for each scene and the different phases of movement I will need to have for the pigeon (these will be individual bits of paper). 

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character designs for the pigeon, front view, side view and back view. I will create some more sheets after this with various other movements that take place in the animation so I can wok out what different phases of movement I need to make the puppet in. The design of the pigeon originally didn't have the little nub on the pigeons beak but I realised that it would make the character more distinct, so it wasn't just a bird, but specifically a pigeon. I’ll need to add some colour to these also to create some more texture in my design. 

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some frames from my storyboard. Ive finished the storyboard as well as beginning to work on my animatic. I’ve found music online (old czech songs including ‘modliba pro mart’ and ‘krajina posedla tmou’) to go in the film as well as a good place to find sound effects, although I will try and make some myself as well. I have also finished making character sheets for the pigeon as well as carrying on background design. This week I am going to try and sort out all of the materials/puppets I need to create as well as creating a set up that will work.

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some rough storyboarding for my project. I’ve started adapting the script that I’ve made into visuals so that I can start thinking about the set that I need to make and design. Once I’ve finished I will then fill in a proper storyboard and make an animator to get a feeling of the peice in general.

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I’ve decided to use paper cut outs on a flat plane for my animation (using the multi-plane animation technique).I was originally going to do 3D puppet animation but quickly realised that i wouldn't have enough time to create the sets an puppets to the quality I would want in the time that I have. Using multilane set up will allow me to achieve a 3D quality while needing to spend a lot less time on making backgrounds. I will have 3 sheets of plexiglass to create four layers (one will lie at the very back)  I will take inspiration from Bretislav Polar’s animations , ‘pojt the pane budeme si hrat’ and also ‘zahrada’ ( pictured above). He uses paper cut outs exchanging them for other pieces when there is movement. The images with the more flat animation with the old man and the fish is how I would like my animation to look, relatively flat nut with elements to make it 3D, using perspective ect. I also love his use of colour and texture in these scenes as the colours aren't flat but have a grain to them as if they have been painted. To experiment with this I think I will paint on some paper, giving them water colour washes and then photocopy them so they are flatter but still have the grain to them that I want. The other frames from the animation that are more 3D are where he uses a blend of multiplane animation, using half 3d puppets with flat backs so that they appear like stood up puppets (even though they are on a horizontal surface) and normal standing up puppet animation. I will use this technique also and probably add in 3D textures; for the plastic bag floating in the wind and some of the scraps of rubbish around the scrap heap. 

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a bit of background/setting design for the scrap heap. I like the scratchy nature of the drawing and hope to keep that texture in my animation. I have been working on creating and developing the characters and places this week so that I can fully develop my storyboards. I am also hoping to build a multi plane animation stand next week so I am going to collect the resources and material this week hopefully :)

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In terms of my illustrative style I would like to draw inspiration from the Czech series ‘Maxipes Fik’ written by Rudolf Čechura and animated by Jiří Šalamoun. I enjoy how the lines are very loose and scratchy and would like to keep this looseness in my drawings. I love the weirdness of the show, some of the episodes enter the dogs dreams and mix absurdity with reality, which adds to the unique comedy of the show. I am going to take inspiration from the show in the style of my drawing and the interesting backgrounds and perspectives that are used. In the image above in the train carriage you can see how the artist has created an interesting perspective with a foreground and background and although they haven’t used a multiplane it creates a very dynamic and rich picture making the world more believable. I will also take inspiration from the movement of the characters for my own as the animators have created dynamic movement without using a lot of frames, I know that in my animation I won’t have time to do 24 frames per second so I will use a similar technique. In the gif of Maxipes Fik in the aeroplane you can see how their heads switch back and forth without any inbetweens, an effective shortcut which makes the animators life a lot easier but also doesn’t look bad as these movements are quick anyway so it isn’t too extreme of a movement.

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brainstorming some more ideas, thought about an alternative character, lightly based on the security rat from ‘fantastic mr fox’

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the beginnings of some concept designs after watching the Czech series ‘vyprávej’ which is set in the Czech Republic during the communist regime and follows a family through there experience of the time.