Unit BA1b Nathan Ramos

[nathanramosba1b]

Week 20

Fantastical Creatures

After consulting Barry, he suggested I took the helmet to the tech department where I finally managed to cut the plastic without it cracking. I was instructed to put a piece foam inside the bauble to absorb any pressure added onto it, meaning when I used the saw to cut it finally did not crack and it looked perfect on my puppet. I couldn’t be happier with the result.

Obviously, the main issue still is that the design has changed slightly since its concept but throughout my research that is something I’ve learned, the source material rarely stays the same, especially in stop motion. When certain ideas cannot be physically made. In my case I’m sure if I have more time and more money for different materials, I could’ve sculpted the body precisely the way I wanted and stuck with the human body design. However, this does not mean I’m upset with the result because I still think it looks great and much better than I anticipated. Even in the course of my first year I have had to change my ideas and concepts because they weren’t practical and I’m sure things like this will happen again in my career, so I’m pleased I can experience these obstacles now so I can learn from them.

I also took some pictures of my model in the studio, this is so I could create the turnaround and the composited images. Both turned out great and I really enjoyed photoshopping my model in those environments. I also enjoyed putting together the cast line up and seeing my groups characters come together. Even though some are 3D models it somehow fits in my eyes. It almost reminds me of The Amazing World of Gumball, with all the unique and different styles coming together. My group all kept promise to the underwater theme we decided on weeks ago, which was something I was happy about.

Lip Sync

I finished my lip sync short this week. I’m really content with how it turned out especially because it was my first-time doing lip syncing. There are changes I would have made if the deadline was longer and I could polish it it up because i really like what i’ve created, but just the rough sketch is fine for now, as I’m more pleased about how well it syncs. I also created my own mouth chart with all of the mouths I used in my animation and a few extras that could be helpful in the future. The chart looks great and I couldn’t be happier.

Show reel

The show reel turned out great, I managed to include all the work I’ve done this year that I’m most proud of. I did create it on iMovie because I missed the induction to premier. Despite this I still think it looks very professional and I’m actually glad to have used iMovie due to past experience using it. On the other hand, I wish I had more time, so I could’ve animated some transitions to give it some extra aesthetic.

Overall, I’m still proud of what I created and looking back through my work I definitely should not put myself down because I was starting to doubt myself thinking I did not progress enough this year. But once I had that reflecting, I realised I learned so many new things and created a lot of work, now it’s only a matter of time and effort to perfect these things I’ve learned throughout this year.

Media Industries: Roles and Practices

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Lip Sync Final

I finished my lip sync short this week. I’m really content with how it turned out especially because it was my first-time doing lip syncing. There are changes I would have made if the deadline was longer, but just the rough sketch is fine for now, as I’m more pleased about how well it syncs. 

I wish I had more time to polish it up but due to time constraints i was not able to refine my lines. Although, I’m happy with the animation I’ve created.

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Media Roles Presentation

https://onedrive.live.com/view.aspx?resid=859C32DA8FB8D7AB!3664&ithint=file%2cpptx&authkey=!AAHyJjPN7M9mCGE

Summary of my findings and what I learned 

When we were first put into groups for the media roles task, my group and I decided to look at stop motion since all chose it for the fantastical creatures’ task. I began looking at character design which was fairly fresh on my mind from unit 1 and I planned to use this to my advantage when researching ideas for my puppet. I found it noticeable how most tasks from year 1 overlapped with each other and the group presentation was no different, so I figured the presentation was platform to showcase some of the things learned throughout the year. I realised whilst conducting my research that I knew a lot of the things I was reading about due to unit 1, this will definitely make me constantly look back at my research and work as a way to further future projects and improve where once I might’ve been wrong.

I was also quite nervous when thinking about presenting my slides even though I consider myself to be quite articulate and confident, however I have little to no experience speaking to crowds. Positively, this will be good practise for the future considering it will most definitely not be the last time I’ll have to speak in front of a people.

Both artists which I tried to contact for my presentation failed to reply so I took it upon myself to research Luis Grane and study some of his interviews, where he gives some very valuable advice about not only becoming a character designer but also entering the creative industry as a whole. He fits my group’s theme perfectly because he has worked with both stop motion features such as Boxtrolls and even 2d aminations like Prince of Egypt. Judging Grane’s career it is safe to say that character design is a very competitive role in the industry, and you must jump onto any opportunity that comes your way. Even when he worked for DreamWorks, he still had many side projects with other studios. The creative industry is not like others, as in most cases you cannot simply follow a straight path into a professional job. However, you can do the right things to get yourself in beneficial situations that can further your career.

On the day of the presentation I prepared a small flash cards with the different points I had to make because I didn’t want to just read off my slides. At the start of my turn I personally thought I was doing quite well, however at one point my brain just blanked and I physically could not speak, and when I looked at my slides for help, the written work was way too long so I really couldn’t find my place. I tried my best to regain composure and wrapped up what I had to say.

I obviously left thinking it was a disaster, however after thinking about it I want to give it another try. There are multiple reasons why I couldn’t speak, maybe I didn’t practise enough, or I just wasn’t as invested in what I was saying. Nonetheless, this was a huge step in being able into speaking in front of crowds.

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Showreel Final

The show reel turned out great, I managed to include all the work I’ve done this year that I’m most proud of. I did create it on iMovie because I missed the induction to premier. Despite this I still think it looks very professional and I’m actually glad to have used iMovie due to past experience using it. On the other hand, I wish I had more time, so I could’ve animated some transitions to give it some extra aesthetic.

[nathanramosba1b]

Lip Sync Mouth Chart

This is my own mouth chart with all of the mouths I’m currently using in my animation and a few extras that could be helpful in the future. The chart looks great and I couldn’t be happier.

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Fantastical Creatures Cast Lineup

After putting together the cast lineup, I was very happy with the outcome. Even though some are 3D models it somehow fits in my eyes. It almost reminds me of The Amazing World of Gumball, with all the unique and different styles coming together. My group all kept promise to the underwater theme we decided on weeks ago, which was something I was happy about.

[nathanramosba1b]

Fantastical Creatures Composited Images

I obviously chose all the sea/water themed images to compliment my character’s design. The result was great and i think he really fits the chosen backgrounds. I wouldn’t say there’s any improvements to these edits because i did the best I could and I had a lot of fun photoshopping them.

[nathanramosba1b]

Fantastical Creatures Turnaround

I’m very pleased with how the turnaround came out. However It would’ve been better if the stand wasn’t there and I haven’t got much time to edit it out. also the puppet almost feel halfway through but it’s not too noticeable. Overall it looks really good and so does the puppet.

[nathanramosba1b]

Fantastical Creatures Evaluation

After consulting Barry, he suggested I took the helmet to the tech department where I finally managed to cut the plastic without it cracking. I was instructed to put a piece foam inside the bauble to absorb any pressure added onto it, meaning when I used the saw to cut it finally did not crack and it looked perfect on my puppet. I couldn’t be happier with the result.

Obviously, the main issue still is that the design has changed slightly since its concept but throughout my research that is something I’ve learned, the source material rarely stays the same, especially in stop motion. When certain ideas cannot be physically made. In my case I’m sure if I have more time and more money for different materials, I could’ve sculpted the body precisely the way I wanted and stuck with the human body design. However, this does not mean I’m upset with the result because I still think it looks great and much better than I anticipated. Even in the course of my first year I have had to change my ideas and concepts because they weren’t practical and I’m sure things like this will happen again in my career, so I’m pleased I can experience these obstacles now so I can learn from them.

[nathanramosba1b]

Week 17,18,19

I’m going to be as transparent as I can and admit the fact, I did not do much work during the Easter break, most of it included finishing off the puppet’s head and doing additional research for my presentation. I have been feeling fairly stressed out by the amount of work that has been given my way and most of it is not as appealing as I initially imagined it to be. 

I understand these tasks are to help us become more confident with different mediums - they definitely have been intuitive, but the fact the choices for this unit were between stop motion and 3D animation was quite disheartening. This is because I really struggled getting the hang of Maya and as much as I admire the work in stop motion, it is not something I see myself doing in the future. I am confident that I will complete all my tasks, although I feel like because I’m not overly motivated towards this project it may not be to the highest standard that I know I’m capable of.

[nathanramosba1b]

Week 16 Summary

Fantastical Creatures

I began to create the body for my puppet, I started to cut and sand a large chunk of foam for his limbs and upper body. This was much harder than anticipated, although I settled for a more cartoon aesthetic which I did predict would happen due to my lack of skill. Despite this, the look is still of high quality in my opinion, especially the hands, boots and clothing. Some I done with sculpey and the shorts with the t-shirt I purchased in a charity shop. As for his head it was essentially a repeat of the maquette, so I was very comfortable doing this.

Later in the week I had painted his head after multiple coats of acrylic and glued all the body parts. I could not be happier with his shape and especially how well the harness looked considering it was created with an old belt.

Although, I do now have some dilemmas to deal with. After buying two sets of fabric I simply could not glue on to his body so I think the realistic human body will have to be scrapped. Instead I bought some fake feathers to stick onto his body. Also, the helmet arrived, which was originally clear Christmas baubles. Another issue is that I do not know how I’m going to cut it, as I have already broken two trying cut a hole in it. This is definitely something I’ll have to bring up with Barry.

Lip Sync

I looked at a couple examples on YouTube of lip sync and how to make it more believable. To my surprise many animators still use the 12 principles even when it comes to animating a mouth. However, it is important to remember that many famous animations use very simplistic mouth movements in which they follow off a mouth chart. For example, Adventure time and a few other modern Cartoon Network shows use this method and it saves them a lot of time and as we know adventure time is probably one pf the biggest animation in the last decade. So basically, it does depend on what sort of aesthetic you’re trying to achieve. Personally, it depends how much time I have to animate it, but I think I’m going to try to combine both and keep it simple whilst trying to engage the viewers with an interesting aesthetic.

Media Industries: Roles and Practices

Both artists which I tried to contact for my presentation failed to reply so I took it upon myself to research Luis Grane and study some of his interviews, where he gives some very valuable advice about not only becoming a character designer but also entering the creative industry as a whole. He fits my group’s theme perfectly because he has worked with both stop motion features such as Boxtrolls and even 2d aminations like Prince of Egypt. Judging  Grane’s career it is safe to say that character design is a very competitive role in the industry, and you must jump onto any opportunity that comes your way. Even when he worked for DreamWorks, he still had many side projects with other studios.

[nathanramosba1b]

Fantastical Creatures: Puppet Progress

Later in the week I had painted his head after multiple coats of acrylic and glued all the body parts. I could not be happier with his shape and especially how well the harness looked considering it was created with an old belt.

Although, I do now have some dilemmas to deal with. After buying two sets of fabric I simply could not glue on to his body so I think the realistic human body will have to be scrapped. Instead I bought some fake feathers to stick onto his body. Also, the helmet arrived, which was originally clear Christmas baubles. Another issue is that I do not know how I’m going to cut it, as I have already broken two trying cut a hole in it. This is definitely something I’ll have to bring up with Barry.

[nathanramosba1b]

Research Media Roles

How to break into character design

Obviously this is not a step by step guide into becoming a character designer because everyone makes their own path and encounters their own opportunities. The creative industry is not like others, as in most cases you cannot simply follow a straight path into a professional job. However, you can do the right tings to get yourself in beneficial situations that can further your career.

Luis Grane

•After two failed attempts at contacting character designers on social media. I decided to research Luis Grane, a character designer who has worked in animated films including Prince of Egypt,  Hotel Transylvania, Ratatouille, and Boxtrolls. I wanted to find out his work and how he broke into the industry.  

•Grane began by creating comic strips in Argentina later he moved to London to work on commercial animation. However he was not fully content doing this so he began to study at Sheridan College in Canada and from there he got hired by DreamWorks. Whilst at DreamWorks he began to focus on doing character design and worked in various projects in studios like Pixar, Sony, Laika, Digital Domain, Warners, Disney and Aardman.

•Judging by Grane’s career it is safe to say that character design is a very competitive role in the industry and you must jump onto any opportunity that comes your way. Even when he worked for DreamWorks he still had many side projects with other studios. Also it does not seem to matter what animation style the project Is, as Grane as worked in both Boxtrolls and Prince of Egypt. One being a stop motion film and the other a 2D animated film.

Inspirational Quotes 

‘I have a studio in downtown LA where I divided my time working in commercial projects for advertising and film productions and doing my own personal work in visual arts, video projections, video installations, and paintings.’

‘I will not deny that strong drawing skills will help in this process, but throughout my career I’ve seen many artists that are technically outstanding but their designs lack appeal and charm. On the other hand, many artists with limited skills have a powerful sense of design so they are able to produce characters that immediately connect with the audience.’

‘Likewise, I think luck exists, but it has to find you working. I don’t like the concept of luck, I prefer to think of chance because, throughout your career, you get your chances.’

‘draw less, think more’

The art of The Incredibles

In the book ‘The art of the Incredibles’ production designer Lou Romano mentions that Mr. Incredibles design was very close to his earliest as from the start they had a very clear image of what they wanted. They wanted him to look like an ageing football player, past his prime. This small trait gives so much personality to the character that the audience begins to automatically fill in the gaps and familiarize themselves to cast. 

As for his outfit, it was very basic. He would dress like a regular dad, it didn’t matter if he was a superhero this made him relatable to people both children with fathers like Mr. incredible and dads themselves, it also humanizes the character. This brings us back to Luis Grane who talked about the fact characters should not always be complex but filled with personality. Mr. incredible is made of very based shapes but this is what makes him so relatable and recognizable.

[nathanramosba1b]

Fantastical Creatures: Puppet Making

I began to create the body for my puppet, I started to cut and sand a large chunk of foam for his limbs and upper body. This was much harder than anticipated, although I settled for a more cartoon aesthetic which I did predict would happen due to my lack of skill. Despite this, the look is still of high quality in my opinion, especially the hands, boots and clothing. Some I done with sculpey and the shorts with the t-shirt I purchased in a charity shop. As for his head it was essentially a repeat of the maquette, so I was very comfortable doing this.

[nathanramosba1b]

Week 15 Summary

Fantastical Creatures

I chose to go ahead with a stop motion puppet because I’m not confident with maya at all. I understand that I would have learned more about maya if I chose to do the 3D model, however I know that close to submission I’ll start to stress out more and I don’t particularly want to be really behind around that time, plus I can always bring my puppet home to work on it. I also take we’ll most likely learn more in year 2.

I had fun creating the  skeleton for my puppet which was quite easy considering his human body. In relation to other models I saw in today’s session my skeleton was probably one of the easiest. I see this as a positive because I don’t have to waste time trying to figure out how my limbs would work etc. I can just begin sculpting. I bought a few materials to help me work at home. Most importantly I bought sculpey and impact glue which I’ll probably use the most. I also bought a red t-shirt and a belt from a charity shop for his shorts and harness.

Lip Sync

This week was my first attempt at lip sync, and I’m pleased with how it looks. It definitely can be better however it’s just an initial test to try and align the audio with the movement of the mouth. Personally, in that aspect I think I did a great job. The mouth syncs up great with the dialogue and for a first try, I actually don’t see much room for improvement.

Maybe you can argue the mouth moves slightly to the right, but it’s not really that noticeable and again it’s just a rough attempt in trying to sync the audio, so there is room for mistakes like that.

Show reel

I found that looking at professional show reels definitely gave me some guidance on what to do and what not to do. However, I’m not really going to focus on the show too much now as there’s other tasks I want to finish first, and I can’t really start my show reel until I have my future work done.

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Showreel Analysis

successful 

successful 

unsuccessful

unsuccessful 

[nathanramosba1b]

Lip Sync Project Test 1

This is my first attempt at lip sync, and I’m pleased with how it looks. It definitely can be better however it’s just an initial test to try and align the audio with the movement of the mouth. Personally, in that aspect I think I did a great job. The mouth syncs up great with the dialogue and for a first try, I actually don’t see much room for improvement.

Maybe you can argue the mouth moves slightly to the right, but it’s not really that noticeable and again it’s just a rough attempt in trying to sync the audio, so there is room for mistakes like that.