go on without me.

alright... i think it is a large possibility that i will not be finishing this animation by the 11 of November.. i wads told the dead line to have your films in to get them on the screening tape is around the 23rd... this might happen.. but its gonna be stretching it..
the reason for the film running behind schedule is due to the amount of hick ups i have had with lights and animation. i could handle a few et backs but they seem to just keep coming and coming.. so needless to say moral has dropped.
im happy with how the film look this far, its a little sad to think i will have to hand in a unfinished film but i would rather do that then rush it.

i spoke to andrew about having a extended loan on the lights and he said i could have them to early december, so at least i will be able to finish animating :O) i can submit the finished film to holmesglen for there archives in the new year..

good news is i did a recording with Darren for the narration last week, and it turned out really well, we will have to do some re-recording but overall i think it will turn out nice.

in terms of my sound track, my guy is working :) i heard a snippet the other day and im really happy with the direction. its going to put a cherry on top i think.

so jack, if you could fill me in on what i need for submission.. if its not a completed film that would be rad. thanks mate.


cheers

progress 32 :)

alrighty :) ive hit the 32 second mark! YAY..

i finished this shot today, it was a long and painful day... the first 4 frames of this shot were a nightmare!
it took me 3 hours to light and set the camera and character up.. and after another 5 hours of animating i still couldn't nut out the first 4 frames..

it just took for ever to get the angle of the hand right and a nice weight...
but now its all over, real happy :)

i just finished setting up my next shot for tomorrow morn.. so now im going to get some beauty sleep....
and do it all again tomorrow..

sweet dreams

up date

animation is coming along:) slow and steady,
i think its going to be a close finish..
ive had a few issues with the power isolator short circuting while im animating! it is over heating... i cant do anything about it.. its just a shit thing that is happening..

im hopeing over the weekend i can knock a few shots out, and ill post them up.

until then.

enjoy

first shot done :)

if i can get the film to look like this the entire way i will be a happy man.

animation

alright... flicker has been sorted, i purchased a isolator that cleared it up well enough to remove in post production...

ive started animation, had a little trouble getting the ball rolling.. i have currently animated two shots. this isnt ideal but it is coming along.

i only have two shots because i have struggled to make it look like i want.. but i think i have figured it out..
my first few attempts, i was trying to over complicate the animation, making it too complex.
i dont think there need to be heaps of animation.

i hope i can get another two shots done tomorrow and head into the new week wiht my head held high.


mrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Flicker with a vengence!!!!!

ok.... i started to animated last night... and boooooooom! the bomb is dropped.. flicker is back but not just, "hey how are you doing?" flicker, its " HEY HOW ARE YOU DOING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" flicker...

just in case you didnt get it its not good! not at all..

so what did i do?
first i purchased a power board with a EMI filter, this trys to stabilize the power flow to the lights to eliminate the problem.. its effect was minimal but some thing...

next i disconnected the lens slightly so the camera couldnt talk to the aperture, because some times when the shutter opens and closes the aperture eyes moves fractions of a millimeter..
this also had minimal effect..



so i tried just animating anyway and seeing how GB Deflicker plug-in would go.. the above shot has the Plugin on it and as you can see it did a pretty crap job..

after 17 hours of problem after problem, i came to the conclusion that i am not going to animate the film at all! if i cant fix the problem.. there is no point waiting hours/ days/ months animating if the end result provokes epilepsy..

it is cringe worthy to think that i wont have a film to submit, but i will just do something else to submit.. maybe shoot my character outside or something........................................................

before we go down that path there is one more beacon of hope.. tomorrow i am picking up a power cleanser device that attempts to stabilize the power that will flow into the lights..
the root of the problem is the power grid and the amount of power that is supplied to the lights. so fingers crossed that this works.. i should no by Monday..

so Jack, on Tuesday if i am in class................... i will not be bringing happy news..

SOlOMONS Head

finished painting up Solomons head today. Darran Lent me some high gloss paint for the eyes so the get a natural glint, it works really well.

for the head i decided not to make a moveable brow... this could be a mistake but my thoughts were that the will be a plasticine "brow" that will sit over the sculpy head and move back and forth revealing the sculpt brow underneath. i see the plasticine component as mor of an abstract form that moves around as solomon moves..

the stars in these shots i added in photoshop, just to get a feel for them.. im hoping that my lights come this week so i can get them rigged up.

over all im happy :) now i just have to add the plasticine outer body of solomon and build a few wind socks and i will be ready to start animating.
here is hoping..

lighting test/ Character armature hands

i made the armature for the hands today.. and set up a quick shot with lights..

my original thought was that i was going to have the moon in shot.. after trialing it, i think it is better without it.
if the moon is in shoot it is expected that that is the main light source.. as it isnt in my case it made and other lights i had look strange..
but im happy with progress.

the tree

here are a mid stage shot of the tree and the finished sculpt.

most has been completed :) i just have to finish up the paint job and add some plaster to simulate bark..

PAinting the sky

this is just the base colour, im going to as more depth with adding a range of light and dark colours

Solomon armature

se



as i said in pre production, i was going to use K&S tubing to create the armature so if in the likly event the wire snaps i can easily replace the a section and not having to re-sculpt parts of the character.. it has taken longer to create but in the long run it should save time :)

lighting tests

putting in some ground work

Too many hours and too many days.. but worth it in the end..

The beginning of the set

this is the hilltop set,
im happy with the size, its going to be interesting how much freedom i will have with my camera.

im going to start laying the clay ground on this weekend, the plaster tape i have coated the MDF surface with will provide a nice grip for the clay, otherwise it could just slide off.

Also the tree has been started, and im beginning to get my head around how that will be created.
its been a little slow to kick off the work at the start of the holidays, but i can feel the momentum starting to build.

lamb shanks.

Tracking document

alrighty...... in reflection of my Production pipe-line i have not yet started the majority of what i wrote in the document.
i haven't started because i have been doing pre-production.. but is the process of pre-pro i have some things to talk about.

Character Construction is an area i have addressed.
i haven't build the final armature but i have do an animation test that gave me a better understanding of how the final armature will have to be constructed.
in my first design Solomons shoulders did not have a whole lot of flexibility. after doing the animation test i found to be able to animate his arms to have weight i need the shoulders to be able to bend up past the head. this change does not create any problems in terms of technical construction (K&S joints, wire) it is more cosmetic, it comes down to how Solomons skeleton will look.

Set construction
i have not started making the set as yet, but have explored options for how it will be made. it has not changed from what i said in the Pipeline proof.
what has changed is the introduction of a Moon. in a perfect world, the moon will be a physical light. to have the moon in the REAL set works for two main reasons,
first ....if it is a real light then it will cast real shadows and through the lens could create lens flairs.
Second... is that i will not have to do and compositing, what you see is what you get :)
also if Solomon moves in front of the moon i will not have to do any Roto.

At the moment i do not have a exact method to create the moon, but i don't think it is out of my reach.
the plan is to use a light, could be a Dedo but i may be something more light a children's night light.. the type of light i use will just depend on what kind of light i want to have..
a Dedo will allow me to control the light level and use the moon in a more functional sense, and something like a night light will create more ambient light, that does not effect the character or environment much.
To create the moon design I'm thinking of something like painting on a globe or like the casing of a pool light.
im hoping that having the design painted on a something see through, will create a soft design, with the combination of light coming through the globe and dark shadows where the paint of the design is.
(i think that makes sense....)

a Awesome New development is my beautiful new Canon 7D :)
with camera i much more advanced than my previous one. having this camera will allow me to animate using live view!!! this is amazing because i can seen the frame i am about to take. this allows me to have much more control over how the animation flows and also speeds the process up quite a bit, because i don't have to take a frame..... check it..... if its not write, take it... check it..
this might not seem that amazing, but if your shooting on a shutter speed of 3-4 seconds, it might take me 5 to 6 times to get the frame right. ill be saving 10-20 seconds per frame.. potentially :)

everything else in my production pipeline is much the same.. but i wont no till i get to that stage.
i think i have a good understanding of what i have to do to get this film done.. its going to be a big old slog but lets look on the bright/ dark side.. it will all be over in 6 months..

thanks for coming
shanks

Cloud animation test

this test went well i think :)

when i have the camera linked to the computer i will be able to control the movements much more. but as a test i think this explores a range of shapes you can make.

i think in the film the animation wont be as chaotic.

over all i look forward to exploring it further but its nice too know that it will be possiable.

Shanks..

Concept Art and Solomons model sheet

500 Word Journal

500 Word Journal


Through the semester pre production has had its challenges. I first thought that writing the poem, the visuals will write themselves; which is true is some respects. The part where it gets confusing is the timing of shots Vs when the poem is delivered, and how it is delivered.
After weeks of stressing, I ended up drawing every shot that popped into my head, just to get my storyboard and Animatic to some state of completion. The Animatic and Storyboard I have at the moment is not quite what I envision the final animation to be. What I have done has been useful to make me realise what I do want.

The Animatic I have now is far too literal, and matches the words of the poem. I would like to visuals to be much more subtitle to allow the audience to process the words as apposed to trying to keep up with a racing edit. I see the final animation having longer shots and not as many cuts as my Animatic. I think that this will match the pace of the poem much better.
The initial Character design wasn’t a long process, but the way I want to animate him relies heavily on how he is constructed and how technical the sculpt is. The general idea for the character animation is to have hard areas on the character that look like wood and the soft plasticine over the top of that. When the character moves (eg: Pounds fist into the ground), the plasticine will tear off and expose the wood underneath.

The same principle will apply to the head. The bone structure of the head will have a angry expression that I cannot manipulate. A plasticine brow will cover the angry expression so I can show other expressions (eg, sad). When Solomon gets angry the plasticine will tear off to expose the angry expression. At the moment I am sculpting the head, it has been a slightly longer process then I first thought. I have to sculpt the scull, keeping in mind that a plasticine brow will sit over the top of it. It has started to work now so it should be done by the end of this week.
When I first wrote the story the clouds where not going to be a large component. As I developed it further I thought that the “weather” should have a face/ personality, this lead to creating the cloud monster.

Through the semester I have been looking for different materials to create the clouds. What I found to be the cheapest and the most accessible is teddy bear stuffing, I found a 1 kg bag for 12 dollars. The stuffing holds its shape really well, I think it will take time but animating it will work well.

Lighting for my film last year was a big drama. This year the school have organised Dedo lights that I can borrow for long periods of time. This is amazing! A kit comes with 3 lights in it witch I think will work for the most part. I have spoken to Andrew and he has said that it should not be a problem to borrow or than on kit, if they are available. This would allow me to have 6 lights, which will be more than enough.
i think im in a good position at the moment, i hope to have the Narration recorded and the base of the set built before we go into holidays.
Fingers crossed
Cheers

Just some inspirration ive seen around the traps

oh.......... and what my Grandma looks like with long blond hair :) enjoy

Solomon Animation test

i happy with how this test has gone :) i think i will explore more movements with the armature to get a better understanding of how i have to build the real one.

shanks...

a little catch up sesh

Ok its been a little while since i popped a post on here.. but here is where im at....

ive had alot of trouble with the animatic and storyboard. i think timing of editing and timing of the poem have held this process up, the Animatic is at a level where the story is relatively clear but still needs alot of work.. honestly the animatic i will hand in will be light years away from what i foresee the finished piece to be. once i have set the freedom to explore different shots is great.
i think i would be worried if my film looked like my animatic shot for shot..

as for other things.. ive started scuplting a head for Solomon, hoping it will be for the final character, but may not be because im not sure of the scale im going to use yet.

i also found a massive bag of teddy-bear stuffing at spotlight for 8 bucks!! wooooohoooooo! cheap as chips, and im thinking this will cover the majority of the clouds.
the stuffing holds its shape much better then cotton wool and i would have to try and stitch little balls together :)
the stuffing comes as one piece that you can add or subtract as much as you want. this will be handy for animation.

after im happy with the animatic im going to start making the set.. im hoping i can start that now and just chip away through the term and have it close to being done by the holidays..


all in all the project is moving forward, not as fast as i would have liked but i cant force the creative side..

Cheers

oh if your up for a little bit of genius check out this site..
so simple yet so hilarious.

http://garfieldminusgarfield.net/

enjoy

Sculpting Solomon

14 hours to sculpt him up..
im happy with how he looks, the next step is to trial colours on him in Photo Shop.

Production PLan Banga Tron

One Tree - Production Plan

This project is going to be a stop motion animation.

Production Tasks

· Set building -

§ Sky Construction

- Acrylic paints

- It wont be animated

- SIZE - 4 metres L, 2 meters W

§ Hill Construction

- Basic hill form will be MDF wood, covered with a material then water putter to create a hard surface to sculpt on.

- The ground/ earth will be sculpted form earth clay

- Tie downs for the characters will be in-between the cracks in the earth.

- There will be two hills both with the same construction as above.

- 1^st will be for long shots, more of a cartoon shape. Steeper slope

- 2^nd will be for close in shots, this is where 90% of the animation will take place. This 2^nd set has less of a slope it’s more just the peak.

§ Tree construction

- The materials are not final, but options are:

- Sculpy

- Real tree branches

- Plaster

- Wire

- Foil

- Paint

- Paper (for leaves)

· Character building –

§ Armature construction

- Aluminium wire

- Knead it

- K&S tubing

- The wire will be 3 twists, with Knead it to hold the sections of the wire together. The K&S tube will be used so I can create individual sections eg. Arms, Legs, Spine and head. All the sections can be easily replaced it the wire breaks when I’m animating

§ Character Sculpt/paint

- Sculpy

- Plasticine

- Acrylic Paint

- The body will be divided into sections. Solid sections will be Scuply, eg. Fore-arms, stomach, chest.

The Joints will be plasticine so they can bend.

The plasticine will be colour matched to the paint on the sculpy, to make a seamless connection.

· Lighting-

§ Lights

- Thankfully Holmesglen will be providing me with a set of Dedo Lights, and I can hire the lights for an extended period of time.

- Dedo lights have a halogen globes. Naturally this will create a warm colour of light. The film is going to take place in the night so I will use gels that will change the colour of the light.

- I haven’t finalised the colour I wont, I’m thinking a cold blue or magenta.

§ Light set up

- The Dedo’s come in a set of three.

- I’m planning to use a lot of silhouettes so the lights will differ from the classic three-point lighting.

- To create a silhouette you need to back light the character. For those shots the majority of the light will be reflection off the “sky light”.

- For the other lighting I want it wont be fairly stylized, harsh shadows etc… I should only need one light on the character for this, but this I’m not sure about; some testing will need to happen.

· Camera/ software-

§ Camera

- Canon 400D DSLR

- Lens will range from a 50mm to 28mm.

- 50mm lens is used for close ups

- 28mm is a wider lens for long shots

- The 400D is the camera I own, but I am looking to purchase a Canon 7D. This camera is a higher quality, and has a feature called live view. Live view allows you to see what your about to shoot, it is an handy feature to have when your animating.

§ Software

- Dragon stop motion (animation)

- Final Cut Pro (Editing)

- After Effects (Compositing)

- Pro Tools (Sound)

Data Management

This will be my basic file structure. Inside both the After Effects folder and Dragon Stop Motion, will be scene folders.

Within the scene folders there will be shot folders and with that will be either the frames of the animation, or the after effects file.

§ The file name for a shot will be – OT_sc1sh1_take1.drg

§ The file name for a frame of animation will be – OT_sc1sh1_take1_001.jpg

Within the Final cut folder will be a running edit folder, containing the progressive versions of the edit.

Then when editing the final, I will have an offline edit, this contains files that are copressed so render times are less.

When the offline edit is complete I will replace the offline files with online files.

Online files are full resolution (1920x1080).

Back-up Plan

After a day of shooting my computer will run a routine Time Machine back up, this will update an external hard drive with the current files I have on my computer.

As well as that I will have another hard drive, that I will also copy the new files of that shoot. This hard drive will be kept separate form my computer room.

Depending on cost, I will have an online back up server that I can store files on.

Having these three back ups should keep me safe form any disaster that may occur.

some images that got my ball rolling

first comment

Ok... here is where im at.
i have written the script and now designing the character. there have been no technical problems as yet to be able to achieve the film. a few things need to be tested, like....

character animation and armature design

Clouds..

and the wind socks

for all of these things i have solutions they just need to be tested.

blog blog blog
yarda yarda yarda..

ill be back soon.
cheers