Dialogue animation.
(production diary under the cut)
PRODUCTION DIARY
I was quite looking forward the dialogue animation as it was something I wanted to experiment with as soon a we got introduced to lip sync. After listening to the audio files, my main focus was to decide if I wanted to do an “exaggerated” dialogue where I could work on extreme poses/animation or to do something more subtle where my attention would be onto making the animation look alive and natural while keeping it small and discreet. I decided to go with the latter and picked the audio from the film Erin Brockovich.
I knew I wanted to use 3D and use professional rigs but I didn't want to entirely miss out on the character design so I sketched a few ideas for the two characters as well as an environment that would fit what I thought the situation of the audio was. My first idea was an office but I thought it'd be too formal considering the exchange. I then changed it into some sort of private library/office for a more personal feeling.
From that, I started modelling the environment, and choosing the rigs.
I made the office quite clean, with not much lying around beside piles of files to push forward the feeling of “busy man” I was getting from the male character.
I added some details such as the half empty coffee cup, pushed on the end of the desk, to emphasize that.
I wanted him to be very detached, closed off, completely uninterested by the conversation while the woman seemed to be quite forward, clearly annoyed and very confrontational.
The opposition made me want to give out a very close, intimate, almost suffocating vibe which I tried to do with both their placement, the camera work and the lighting.
I did not want the man to look at her once until the very end of the audio, showing his determination to dismiss her as much as he could. Although she is standing in front of him, she is slightly off so he can look up without seeing her.
From there, I started the animation itself. The challenge to me was to keep the actual movements to a minimum considering the conversation happening while not having it looking stiff or lacking natural. The references got ready handy and I slowly built up the animation. The lack of life between sentences bothered me still, until I started adding a layer of animation on the man's shoulder to mimic breathing. It was better but it still looks like the arms were the only things moving, so I added a bit on movement on the spine. It looked better to me although the issue was harder to fix on the women.
By that point, I started struggling with the camera work. I liked the composition I had but realized I broke the 180 rule repeatedly. I tried keeping it on one side but ended up losing most of my composition. So I swapped it all the other way around and worked on that. The other bothering issue was the similarities between the shots. It didn't look like it was going anywhere when the dialogue clearly showed a change in position of force between the characters. I tried to fix that by bringing the camera closer to the back of the woman throughout the animation, giving a feeling of closing off and intensity.
After that I realized I didn't pay much attention to how the camera framed the characters, beyond the composition. To me, the man was is position of power at first; being dismissive, in control and the situation indicating that she was the one interrupting. But as the woman answered “so by that standard, I should assume that you never get laid”, she took the control back and forced him to aknowledge her.
Therefore I changed the angles of the camera to position his shape “above” her until her answer, where it reverses it.
When it came to the light, I struggled a lot, not so much with deciding what kind of lighting I wanted, but with placing it effectively. I wanted complementary colours, showing the strong opposition between the characters. His detachment and coldness backed up by a strong blue light coming from behind the window; and her confrontational and fiery behaviour supported by a diffuse orange light.
There's a lot of work that would still need to be done for me to be satisfied with the animation, particularly with the animation of the woman. I fought a lot with the rig and didn't manage to quite get the natural feeling out of it. But I really enjoyed the experience and the process and the satisfaction of seeing a “usable” piece of animation.
references : https://youtu.be/yhsTcXl6PD0