Tuesday 29 April 2014
Monday 28 April 2014
Action Analysis - Flying Bird and Quadruped
Below is my research on two different animals, a seagull (flying bird) and a cat (quadruped). This was a research task given to us to help us further our understanding of the motion of two completely different animals mobility, body structure and characteristics.
Seagull (Flying)
A seagull is a scavenger bird mostly seen near the coast and harbour. I could see from the way they fly that their wings made mostly smooth curves, not bending when moving, although I can assume there are bones that are bending to flap the wings.
Above is a Muybridge styled image of a seagull in flight. From the image, it almost looks like that the seagull wings are making smooth curves on the wings.
Above are two videos I recorded at Bower Ashton campus one day of a seagull taking off and landing in far distance. When i looked back at the first video, I examined how the seagull took off. The seagull appeared to have been taking a slight running start to aide in its forward momentum in the air.
When the seagull flapped its wings to took off, the wings started to rapidly flap in order to help him stay afloat as he kept his balance in the air. I also observed what I could guess were the bones in the bird's wings. The diagram below shows what I think is the best description of how the bird flaps its wings in taking off.
This video I found on YouTube provides a better visual to help me explain the movements of the birds body as it took off. Straight away, I noticed that instead of getting a running start, the seagull leaped forward into the air and started flapping its wings rapidly in order to accelerate in the air. One second into the video, the footage slowed down, and I could see a big difference in the shape of the seagull's neck compared to when it is on the land. The seagull extends its neck when it gets off the air, but the result means that the head becomes lower when it is in flight, and the seagull almost takes shape of an airplane when it is in the air. I think this observation was made through the colour.
In the video, I also noticed that when the seagull took off, its tail feather would spread out, possibly to help it catch the wind to help it stay afloat. The wings seem to spread like a peacock's tail feather, and by doing so it looks like it is almost connected to the wings even though it is not.
Then, I watched the seagull land, and I could see that both seagulls in the video curved their bodies in a way so that both the head and the legs were going downwards. I would automatically assume that the seagull does this to help itself land. Just before the seagull landed, it extended its legs in order to touch the ground of where it is trying to land, making it easier to descend down once contact is made with the ground.
Below is a detail visual of how I could see the shapes making up the body, and the distinctive differences between both.
From my observation, I was amazed by how much subtle movements is within a seagull, as I had not noticed that there was more to a seagull's movement when it is flying, as well as walking, showing that the bird has some very quick characteristics.
Below is an image of a bird's anatomy
(http://www.evidencesofcreation.com/nature03.htm)
Cat (Quadruped)
Above is a Muybridge styled image of a cats different walk cycles, including walking, lurking and a running cycle. Already, I can identify that the cat has a very morphable body, adapting to its different cycles of mobility.
I decided to record video footage of my cat, Smithy. Recording footage of my cat would mean that I was able to observe, from primary research, the characteristics of my cat. Below, I have analysed what I have picked up from the video I have caught.
I noticed that from the back, I could see my cat extending his legs far when he walked. Whether or not this was due to the angle I was recording from, I could see that the leg was mostly very straight when he walked, and appeared to be extended far back when he moved forward.
Another thing I picked up on from the video is how my cat's legs were very uniform when standing.
Seagull (Flying)
A seagull is a scavenger bird mostly seen near the coast and harbour. I could see from the way they fly that their wings made mostly smooth curves, not bending when moving, although I can assume there are bones that are bending to flap the wings.
(http://images.fineartamerica.com/images-medium-large-5/bird-in-flight-eadwerd-muybridge.jpg)
Above is a Muybridge styled image of a seagull in flight. From the image, it almost looks like that the seagull wings are making smooth curves on the wings.
Above are two videos I recorded at Bower Ashton campus one day of a seagull taking off and landing in far distance. When i looked back at the first video, I examined how the seagull took off. The seagull appeared to have been taking a slight running start to aide in its forward momentum in the air.
When the seagull flapped its wings to took off, the wings started to rapidly flap in order to help him stay afloat as he kept his balance in the air. I also observed what I could guess were the bones in the bird's wings. The diagram below shows what I think is the best description of how the bird flaps its wings in taking off.
I also thought it would be useful to look at the dynamics of a seagull's walking cycle. I observed how the seagull walked, and saw that it keeps its legs straight as it lifted each leg forward in front of the other in a constant motion. I also noticed at the end of the clip (1:30 - 1:35) that its tail feathers were slightly swaying in correlation to which leg was back.
As the seagull has only two legs, I can only assume that it waves its tail feathers forward and back as a way to keep its balance on the floor since the rest of the body seems to stay still, with the exception of the head and neck, which have fast movements, which I think are to help the seagull look for food.
This video I found on YouTube provides a better visual to help me explain the movements of the birds body as it took off. Straight away, I noticed that instead of getting a running start, the seagull leaped forward into the air and started flapping its wings rapidly in order to accelerate in the air. One second into the video, the footage slowed down, and I could see a big difference in the shape of the seagull's neck compared to when it is on the land. The seagull extends its neck when it gets off the air, but the result means that the head becomes lower when it is in flight, and the seagull almost takes shape of an airplane when it is in the air. I think this observation was made through the colour.
In the video, I also noticed that when the seagull took off, its tail feather would spread out, possibly to help it catch the wind to help it stay afloat. The wings seem to spread like a peacock's tail feather, and by doing so it looks like it is almost connected to the wings even though it is not.
Then, I watched the seagull land, and I could see that both seagulls in the video curved their bodies in a way so that both the head and the legs were going downwards. I would automatically assume that the seagull does this to help itself land. Just before the seagull landed, it extended its legs in order to touch the ground of where it is trying to land, making it easier to descend down once contact is made with the ground.
Below is a detail visual of how I could see the shapes making up the body, and the distinctive differences between both.
Image links: (http://andrewchen.co/2013/01/14/confessions-of-a-startup-seagull/)
(http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Seagull_6037.jpg)From my observation, I was amazed by how much subtle movements is within a seagull, as I had not noticed that there was more to a seagull's movement when it is flying, as well as walking, showing that the bird has some very quick characteristics.
Below is an image of a bird's anatomy
A cat is a four legged house pet that belongs to the same family of lions and tigers. Their body shapes are very flexible and their leg movements have definitive personality. When I saw cats like these, I was always fascinated by how fast their movements are and how sneaky they appear to walk.
The cat is a cursorial quadrupeds, which means they stand in an upright position with legs straight, which would normally be larger, so much like the lion, which is in the cat family.
(https://www.flickr.com/photos/seriykotik/8082420511/)
Above is a Muybridge styled image of a cats different walk cycles, including walking, lurking and a running cycle. Already, I can identify that the cat has a very morphable body, adapting to its different cycles of mobility.
I decided to record video footage of my cat, Smithy. Recording footage of my cat would mean that I was able to observe, from primary research, the characteristics of my cat. Below, I have analysed what I have picked up from the video I have caught.
I noticed that from the back, I could see my cat extending his legs far when he walked. Whether or not this was due to the angle I was recording from, I could see that the leg was mostly very straight when he walked, and appeared to be extended far back when he moved forward.
Another thing I picked up on from the video is how my cat's legs were very uniform when standing.
After I did some primary research, I moved on to secondary research and looked at other sources of video, The video above shows another cat walking along a wall. When I looked at the tape between 0:12 and 0:16, I could see that the cats back legs were kicking forward, and as the cat was placing a left back leg down to move forward, it landed very close to the right front paw. I am unsure why it does this, but it almost looks like the back leg is kicking the front paw forward.
This is a slow motion video captured of a cat running across a driveway in America. When slowed down, you can see the cat taking a leap in the air as it is running, extending its paws forward. This type of run, from my viewpoint, is almost very similar to the gallop of a horse, where the horse is in the air for a second. The only difference is that the cat is kicking its back legs forward as the front paws are lifting off the ground, whereas the horse pushes its front hooves forward with its hind legs in the air.
As you can see from the image of Muybridge's horse above, there is a distinctive difference from the video.
Below is an image of what I believe to be the shapes that build up the anatomy of a cat, using images from the internet, and how different they look from sitting to walking.
Image links: (http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/01916/pet-subjects-cat_1916982b.jpg)
(http://hagiographic.com/cat-coloring-pages/cat-coloring-pages-print-image-search-results-62752/)
From observing my cat and other cat videos, I was able to see how quick the cats movements are. I also feel that I have been able to see clearly how sleak a cat is when it moves.
Below is the anatomy of a cat.
(http://kids.britannica.com/comptons/art-53055/The-anatomy-of-a-cat)
Animatic Practice
One lecture, John Parry taught us about scripting, and he told us about making an animatic, which is a moving storyboard. I was teamed with Shannon and Snej for this project. We all worked to make a 30 second animatic with two characters.
The first task we were given was to listen to some soundtracks and try to draw characters in the quickest time we could. I felt this was good practice because it make me think of what the characters would look like from the sound of audio.
Rehtt and Link road trip
Downtown - SUperdee VS Blackrat
Guns n Roses - Paradise City
Sewer pipes
Martin Denny - Misirlou
When we finished and were given our chosen songs, we chose two characters. We agreed to go with Shannon and Snej's characters because they would look as if to work off each other better.
I was asked to draw some backgrounds for the outside of the shed setting where the characters meet.
I thought of a basic, clean field where the flowers are smiling and happy, with garden gnomes and birds flying around. This would fit for our music change. The idea of the happy gnomes and birds would be more symbolic of the character's new relationship as compared to the dark, scary, threatening shed.
The first task we were given was to listen to some soundtracks and try to draw characters in the quickest time we could. I felt this was good practice because it make me think of what the characters would look like from the sound of audio.
Rehtt and Link road trip
Downtown - SUperdee VS Blackrat
Guns n Roses - Paradise City
Sewer pipes
Martin Denny - Misirlou
When we finished and were given our chosen songs, we chose two characters. We agreed to go with Shannon and Snej's characters because they would look as if to work off each other better.
I was asked to draw some backgrounds for the outside of the shed setting where the characters meet.
I thought of a basic, clean field where the flowers are smiling and happy, with garden gnomes and birds flying around. This would fit for our music change. The idea of the happy gnomes and birds would be more symbolic of the character's new relationship as compared to the dark, scary, threatening shed.
Artist Sketchbook
My sketchbook where I draw cartoon images, practice some character design concepts and draw from my mind.
Technical Sketchbook
A sketchbook where I draw from observation, practice types of drawing and practice with my pencil.
Sunday 27 April 2014
Background Testing
I also removed the discarded pizza box as it was a distracting piece in the foreground that had no purpose of being there. I also felt that the deer spoke for himself in the animatic.
The Reverse Animal Cleanliness Calamity (Working Title) - Storyboard and Script
This project is going to have the characters interacting with their voices, so unlike my first project, I would have to try and come up with a script. I felt this wouldn't be too hard to do, since both characters have definitive personalities, but when I started, I needed some sort of inspiration to help me get an idea of how to make these characters interact and make it funny.
When I got stuck, I turned to SpongeBob SquarePants for help. I watched the episode "The Battle of Bikini Bottom", where Spongebob and Patrick were in battle against each other. SpongeBob tried to clean his best friend Patrick, and Patrick tried to make SpongeBob dirty. I thought this was a hilariously charming episode and thought I could apply this to my animation, although both characters would not have such hostility towards each other.
When I wrote my first script, I printed it out and looked over it. I started making my animatic from this, but when I got stuck, I revised my script.
Above is the scanned script with the changes.
Above is my final script, which I used to finish my storyboard, shown below.
The above images are thumbnails (click to make larger) of a draft storyboard. The script made it easier to visualise the animation in my head and put it into comic form.
I was happy with how the draft came out, so I drew up a working storyboard, making it neater for me to see how the characters would move, interact and look.
Above is a presentation appropriate storyboard with colours, text below to help explain the camera shots and the action in the screen.
I could tell that there was a huge difference in the creation of my storyboard, as this time, I had the help of a script to make the images come onto paper. I could tell that when my first animation (Thermostat) had a Tom & Jerry appeal to it, this animation would take a different direction and still succeed in its goal of explaining the point to the audience.
Project 2 - The Reverse Animal Cleanliness Calamity (Working Title) - Character Design and Scene Layout
As part of applying what we learned from Term 2, we were asked to make a completely new 30 second animation involving two completely different characters. I thought this would be interesting to see if anything I apply differs from my previous work I have carried out, so I got straight into designing two different characters.
I tried to focus on two complete opposites again. This time, instead of focusing on an argument, I would focus on the characteristics of the characters and see where I go from there. I decided I would focus on cleanliness and dirtiness as this opens up many gates for an interesting story.
I came up with a deer, and a pig, but i decided to swap around their characteristics, since pigs are usually regarded as dirty, rolling around in mud and being covered in dirt, and deers are never seen as particularly filthy, and I could think of distinguishable personalities for the characters to work off each other.
First, I felt it would be useful to draw the animals from existing art styles, and see if I could morph them together into one.
The first drawing of the pig (on the far-left) resembles the design of Peppa Pig. I felt this was appropriate as this was a simple design, and our task was to try and keep the animation simple.
The second drawing of the pig (mid-left) resembles the character design of Spanky Ham from the animation "Drawn Together". This character is supposed to be a crass impression of South Park characters, and I felt that the simple design was good enough to help me make my character.
The first reindeer drawing (mid-right) was drawn to resemble a 2D cartoon style of Rankin & Bass' popular 'Rudolph the Red nose Reindeer' stop motion, which is my favourite Christmas story. I felt that the simple shapes used to make the character would also translate well onto paper, and although I do have a good idea of how it would look in 2D, I felt that maybe it would be difficult to animate a quadruped on four legs, so I tried to find something else.
The second reindeer drawing (far-right) was drawn of an image I found on Google from a website that provides vectors. I thought this was much more appropriate, and I found that in drawing it, I drew it slightly different to the image, so I went with this image as my initial reindeer reference.
When I was happy with what I had got, I drew out the characters above a possible background for the characters to be set in.
I finally scanned it into Photoshop and drew the characters with colour and different clothes. The suit and overalls seemed too much for these characters, as the suit would make the pig seem too much like a business man when I just want him to be a high society, relaxed pig, and the deer's overalls didn't appeal to me, so on a separate layer, I drew completely different costumes and was happy with what final results.
Originally, the background setting I had in mind for the setting would be red, and I felt that the pigs robe would blend with the background, so I made it Yellow. I think this fits more as it seems to work with his skin and trousers.
Above is a 360 turn of both characters in their final form. Doing a 360 helps me decide the shape of both characters from different shots I would have them in.
I am happy with my character design progression because I have taken a totally different approach to the work and have come out with a quicker result than the last animation.
Finally, when the characters were finalized, I decided to get a head start on making the backgrounds. To keep the theme simple, I thought it would be useful to try and keep the background simple.
I took inspiration from the online animated series, Eddsworld, to help me get a good idea on simplistic backgrounds, and I noticed that the background images had no outline, except for the foreground, making the foreground much more visible. I thought I would try and replicate this myself.
Much like the last project, I wondered if putting the characters in completely different settings would help to add to their personalities. When I drew two different designs, I took them into Photoshop to add colour and see if they would work.
For the top background, i thought it would be good to see if I could make a simple background out of an outside environment, but when I added colour, it became apparent to me that it would be very distracting for the characters. The fence would get in the way, and I wasn't sure how I could make a short yet funny scenario out of this setting.
The botton background came out looking much better. The inside living room setting definitely is the best environment for my characters. I wasn't particularly happy with this design though, so I redrew the background.
My final background ended up coming out like this. This is a simple, yet effective background with the appropriate foreground objects, background colours and enough life in the living room for it to look like a realistic setting.
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