Visual Language @mi4012meganfox - Tumblr Blog

Visual Language Evaluation

Beginning my research into Ouseburn, I decided to explore the theme of the Ouseburn wildlife, and further into how animals use Ouseburn for their own survival, specifically nocturnal animals as once people have retired to their homes during the evening, the animals return into the streets of Ouseburn and use it as their own, for hunting and shelter from the cold. Upon researching into Ouseburn, the main element perceived is its dense history, to bring this history into my animation, I chose to include the elements of Ouseburn such as the Byker Bridge and the Ouseburn river, as these are key elements into the village’s involvement during the industrialisation period.

Visiting Ouseburn, I captured many images of these landmarks, as well as some animals, residing in the Ouseburn Farm, also a landmark I tied into my storyboard, due to its connections with both my themes of Ouseburn and its animals.

Focusing on the appearance/aesthetics of the animation, I researched into an inverted colour palette with an ink/sketch style to this, as the inverted colours further imply the time of the animation setting to be at night, a technique also seen in the short animation Bridges I previously researched. Displaying that the animals shown within the animation are nocturnal.

Creating my Ouseburn Animation, I have placed many of my new skills into meeting the brief of this project; Focusing more on using shot types that best display the tone of a scene, I kept with interesting but calm angles, as I wished for my animation to follow in tone with the calm night atmosphere. Much of my animation was created in Procreate, allowing me to digitally hand draw these frames, which is currently my preferred mode of animating, as I feel it best allows me to draw these animals in a semi-realistic style within this sketch/ink appearance. I have blended this with elements of After Effects work, as this is an area I need to practise in as it is a new skill to me. The After Effects work in my animation pushed my work to a higher standard as it allowed me to create animated pieces that would be incredibly difficult and time consuming if hand drawn. Such as, creating the Parallax piece, I created this in Adobe Illustrator, before using After Effects to create the panning effect. Upon attempting to keep within my inverted style while still creating that layered background effect, I used different shades from grey to black, then using the stroke tool to add a white outline to each object, much like the appearance of the rest of the animation.

Upon analysing my finished piece, improvements I would focus on would be to pace my animation more, trying to fit too much into a short amount of time amounts to what appears to be scenes that are rushed, which I feel some of my scenes do move slightly too fast, however, I am satisfied with my final outcome as I achieved everything I had hoped to create.

Working from feedback I have improved my Three Little Pigs storyboard. Since I have had more practice with creating storyboards and focusing on creating more interesting shot types.

When creating the first storyboard, I didn’t take layout design into much consideration and most of the focus of each thumbnail was just placed in the center. Using the Rule of Thirds, I changed some of the thumbnails, such as the second image, I moved the house further to the left, so it fills up more of the frame, placing emphasis on the house and the effort the pig has gone to, to create his home. Changing the camera to create a more interesting view, I added more frames, such as the sixth frame where we are inside the pig’s home and we can almost view the situation from his perspective. Looking out into the field where we can see the wolf giving a cunning smile, making the pig even more fearful for his life. This view furthers this fearful tone.

Altering these images to create more thoughtful shot types and adding different perspectives, I feel have improved the quality of my storyboard, creating a more interesting visual story.

Check out my Premiere Pro Course: https://www.udemy.com/course/premiere-pro-course/?referralCode=AF659E18BEF06A7F4955Written Tutorial: http://adobemasters.ne...

When placing the audio for my scene where the hedgehog returns to his nest, I had an audio file of rustling leaves. The file was rather loud and grew louder to the end. As the scene after that is zooming out over a near silent Byker Bridge, the sudden jump in volume was very apparent. I had changed the volume of the audio already by turning the decimals down. However, this meant it was too quiet at the beginning of the audio.

I solved this by following this video, editing the sound to make the last end of the rustling noise fade out, which made the transition to the next scene much smoother.

Whenever you change the volume in Premiere Pro, these changes affect the amplitude. Amplitude is measured in decibels (dB). Unlike volume which can start at zero, amplitude is measured by a logarithmic scale.

I wished to add the sounds I had spoke about for each scene in my storyboard, we looked upon this briefly when practicing in Premiere with the car chase scene.

I used the website FreeSounds, which allowed me to search for the different sounds I wished to have in each scene. I found specific sounds relating to the animals, such as the quiet squeak you often hear bats make, as well as an owl hooting. I looked for a quiet but apparent wind noise to have as a general background noise, I then layered some louder wind noises over the top for the occasions where I wished the wind to be louder. I used the splice tool to cut the audio to the correct time length I needed it for and timed it to the scene. For example, I had a rustling noise in place, which was needed for the scene in which the hedgehog returns to the bush it had made a nest in, as this scene is only short, the splice tool allowed me to cut the audio to the exact time frame of this scene.

Final Ouseburn Animation-

Continuing from creating my first scene, I followed the same steps, referring to my Premiere document and working out how many frames I needed to fill the exact time a lot I had created for that scene, therefore in Procreate, I could use this to work on my animation fully in this software, simply exporting it to Adobe Premiere once I was finished.

For the fourth scene, we view the Byker Bridge as we zoom out after seeing the hedgehog crawl into a bush underneath it. To create a smooth zooming out, I created a larger canvas than the original 1920 x 1080, so that when the scene is still zoomed in on the bush, the scene isn’t blurry. I imported this into After effects and key frames the position and used this tool to create my 3 second zoom out. This proved much smoother and much more effective than I could’ve done myself hand drawn in Procreate.

To add the bat over my Parallax, I simply drew the 10 frames of the bat flying in Procreate, making the canvas 1920 x 1080 as well as making the backgrounds transparent so that I could view my parallax underneath the bat animation. I used the Compositing demonstrations Chloe had posted on YouTube as a guide for this.

Here is my first 3 second scene. This took rather longer than I expected as it took a lot of trial and error.

The main mistake I made was that I moved the background too low in each frame which made the background move way too fast for the speed of the animal, as of course a hedgehog is a very small mammal with very small legs, therefore it’s walking pace is slow. I then went back and edited a few frames before realising it still looked too fast, as if the hedgehog was running. So I deleted all of the backgrounds in each frame and just kept the hedgehogs movements and added a new slower background. This pace is definitely more suited than my first attempt.

When animating the hedgehog I used the video reference in my previous post to follow. Each step I moved the body of the hedgehog to tilt slightly, depending which leg it was placing the most weight on. I felt this added more of a natural bounce/movement to its a walk. I’m so far happy with how this is coming along, I’ll be adding half a second more to this animation befor moving onto the next scene in which the hedgehog walks towards the Byker Bridge.

Ouseburn Visit

My Ouseburn visit as postponed by my own isolation period and being at home during lockdown. I managed to visit Ouseburn for the morning and took these images as part of my primary research.

There’s a lot of signs around the village, speaking of the historical elements of this village. Walking around Ouseburn, already having my idea for my animation, it was clear what parts of Ouseburn fit my animation and how my research has created an idea for an animation that encompasses the quaint and unique parts if this place. I took lots of images of Byker Bridge as this is a main element of my animation, it features as a small hedgehog uses a bush underneath this bridge as a salvage from the cold. I took many images of this and the Ouseburn farm in front as this also features in my animation idea as well as being a place that ties together my two themes of animals and Ouseburn. I also saw some farm animals despite the farm being closed and I took some images of those, as a sheep features asleep in the field of the farm in my animation.

I’m glad I got to visit Ouseburn, as the street art is unique, especially the large mural under the bridge, I feel I could feature this in the part of my animation where we see the under side of Byker Bridge.

Searching for references to use while I’m animating, I came across this video of a hedgehog walking through grass. I needed this specified angle from behind the hedgehog, as this is the angle I’ve chosen for my storyboard as I feel the low angle shows the minute size of the animal, displaying its vulnerability. This close up angle also allows the audience to see how the hedgehog moves, as from a further away angle it’s not clear, but from this angle you can see the bounce in its step and how high it lifts its leg up to walk, as to lift itself over the high grass in comparison to its little body.

I’ve created my test animation including the thumbnails from my storyboard. I’m focusing on the last part of my animation as I feel this gives me the best challenge for animating in that the last scene I have created using both Adobe Illustrator and Adobe After Effects. I will also be using these softwares further as I add a hand drawn bat to this scene, flying over the Ouseburn Barrage. I’ve began my animation from the scene that focuses on the hedgehog as a small vulnerable animal, we see it make its path through the crisp, cold night to its small home, created under Byker Bridge, using the famous and historical landmarks of Ouseburn to keep safe and warm. This short animation encompasses the main theme of my full storyboard.

Updating my Ouseburn Storyboard, I have inputted sound as well as shot and action. As moving forth into the next semester, our new module will be looking further into Sound and editing, therefore, I thought it to be good practise to include it now as to get used to thinking about sound within my work.

As my scene is the village of Ouseburn at night, as well as I hope for my scene to have a calm atmosphere, I have chosen for there to be no loud shocking sounds. Only quiet, calm whistling winds in the crisp night air, accompanied by the gentle rustle of the trees and the leaves. As my animation appears at night, there will be a lack of the usual noise of everyday hustle and bustle. The noise of cars going by, people shouting and music blasting. At night only the calm winds can be heard, followed by the quiet noise of the animals moving through their home of Ouseburn

Feedback/Tutorial 14/12

After not being able to find a solution on why After Effects wont display all of the layers correctly. It will most likely be quicker to start the After Effects file again and re-import everything.

My pitch document was satisfactory with what was needed, I will be uploading the pitch documents I used for research and as examples when creating my own work, as to show my process through creating this. I have also edited some of the text as to make it appear more professional.

From this tutorial, I have also, as requested, uploaded some videos and images I used for referencing when beginning my hand drawn 2D animation of scene 1 in Procreate. I will be piecing each scene together in Premiere, and possibly look at Sound Design. As this will be an upcoming module, it would be a good idea to get some practise with that in my current work. From this, I have updated my Ouseburn Storyboard to include the sounds I would image hearing in each scene.

As suggested by Chloe, I hope to add more research of other animations that are also in a nocturnal theme, as to widen my research in this area.

Research into the movement of Bats

I have included two seperate images which include different stills of bats flying. From this I learnt how the bats wings appear when they are in flight.

Most British bats are rather small with wingspans shorter than that of a sparrow. However the largest bat in the uk has a wingspan of up to 50cm.

Daubenton’s bats, are the species which feature in my animation as they can often be found near water. Daubenton’s bats have adapted to hunt for aquatic insects, by trawling across the surface of the water with their feet, using them to scoop up insects. Another reason my bat would be most likely to be a Daubenton’s bat, is they stay close to where they hunt by the water and a lot of these bats make roosts under bridges. Daubenton’s are usually small with a head and body length of 5cm and a wingspan of 26cm.

A common mistake in the animation of bats is to draw them just as you would a bird flying. However, bats fly very different to birds. The movement of bird wings when flying is much stiffer. Bats have a lot more flexibility, as the video below indicates. They have hands in their wings, they change the shape of their wings to keep them up in the air, they are able to flick their wings upwards, unlike birds, to keep themselves in the air. Making it easier for bats to be more agile and manoeuvrable. Unlike birds, bats have developed a twisting wing path that increases their lift during the upstroke. These facts are important when animating bats as to not copy the movement of birds, bats can move in a sharper manner.

#Youtube #bats #daubentonsbat #animationresearch #nocturnal animals #animal

Beginning my hand drawn animation I have created the first second of my storyboard in order to have an experiment practise with the style and just get a feel of how my animation will appear. The first scene of the storyboard is a birds eye view of going over Ouseburn which then is interrupted by the known UK bat, the Daubenton’s bat, which is known to stay close to water when hunting at night. This was slightly challenging to create the wings flapping, as all references I could find are from a side view, however these were still helpful as a side view still allowed me to understand how this would then appear from above. This research and experimentation will come in handy as I will be animationing the last segment of my animation which has the bat flying over the Ouseburn Barrage.

#hand drawn animation #2d animation

DRAFT - Pitch Document

Reviewing the task from the Blackboard instructions, as well as looking over the two examples given. I have created a first draft of a pitch document. Speaking of an overall view of the intent of my animation. Speaking of my style and including an element of my research. Displaying my initial mood boards, concept art to my final storyboard, giving a clear focus of my animation. I will be showcasing this in my next feedback session, in order to gain feedback on this task and add the needed improvements to my work.

Improvements from One to One Tutorial-

Although I was happy with my overall creation of my Ouseburn Landscape in Adobe Illustrator. Once I placed this together in the Ouseburn Test/Animatic, and spoken to Chloe about, it was clear that I had focused too much on creating this landscape that I moved way from my colour palette. My palette used was way too light, making it appear as if its daytime, as well as lacking the inverted colour aesthetic. Therefore, seemed completely out of place when placed together in Premier with the hand drawn thumbnails.

I went back into Illustrator and darkened the colours. Using shades of black and dark grey, still having the lighter colours towards the back as to create depth. I also used the stroke tool to create the harsh white inverted lines that can be seen in my mood board and in my sketches. I’m much happier with this outcome as if flows more seamlessly from the hand drawn Procreate animation to the After Effects animation. Whereas previously, the drastic difference in colour palette was almost jarring.

L’Ogre -

In a lecture, thinking about composition, we looked at this short animation and it’s effectiveness of its shot types.

The first shot is of the character, however, using as little space as possible, to bring focus onto the taxi driver. The viewer is peering over the shoulder of the main character, as if we are almost in the car in the scene. This shot allows the animation to transition between us looking at the main character to looking at the taxi driver and his response to the main character.

The next shot, then moves back to the main character, using the rule of thirds, the character takes up the 2/3 of the screen, leaving the last 1/3 to still include the taxi driver in the front seat. The use of this rule of thirds also reinforces the size of the character, showing to the audience that he is a large character and is uncomfortably squeezed in the back of the car.

As the scene moves inside to the building, the animators need to visualise how the character is unique in size, in comparison to the other people around. This is achieved by placing the camera angle at just below normal eye level. Making it appear as if we are are in the crowd. As well as creating depth by placing two characters either side of the main character in the foreground. We can view the main character in the background, still towering over the sea of people, although, still having to crouch down as to not hit their head on the ceiling.

Lastly, the final screen grab I have chosen, the scene has moved to where the character has abruptly increased in scale, to where they have ripped from their clothes. The camera angle accentuates the growth of the character as the shot type is changed to a low angle pointing upwards, as well as the rule of thirds once again being used, as the character takes up 2/3 of the screen, reiterating the colossal size of the character by visualising how they have almost filled up the whole frame.

Bridges is a 24 minute Animation piece exhibiting the North of England. I feel this piece ties in well with my own hope for my animation outcomes. Here, I have included two screen grabs from the animation. The colour palette is inverted, much like my own, using this tool to imply the darkness of night. As the light on the boat reinforces that the animation is placed at night. As I am looking into Ouseburn in a nocturnal fashion, as to showcase the nocturnal animals, using an inverted colour palette myself is an efficient way to get this across to the audience. All the blank space is black, with any buildings/objects outlines in white to draw attention to these structures. I feel using this form of palette helps develop the visual language skills of this animation, not sticking with a normal colour palette, rather, using something slightly unorthodox, adding an interesting angle to the aesthetics of my animation. Not only does the colour palette link to that of my own animation, but the location too. As Bridges, focuses on the many bridges of the north, and in my own animation we can view the Ouseburn Barrage and the Byker Bridge, as my own animation looks at the historical structures of Ouseburn, however tying them in with how the local wildlife uses these structures to their advantage.

https://novak.uk/work/bridges/

Trending Blogs

Recently Viewed Blogs

Visual Language