Context of Practise 3: Mimo's Line Tests

Context of Practise 3
Mimo's Line Tests

• This week:
• I worked on the final animations for Bertie, Sal and Mimo.
• What went well:
• Whilst keeping in mind the improvements I needed to make for Bertie and Sal's animations, I decided to animate Mimos' final test as a full body, as this would be also more fitting for his character. Similarly to the process of the previous animations, I roughed out some initial keys to try and get an idea of the motion and acting of the character. As Mimo is very excitable and bubbly, I made sure to have their body language show this, such as using his wings to motion signals and keeping his timing quick and jumpy.

• Based on the previous work and what I had learnt, I found it much easier to animate Mimo's body language, especially since he's also expressive in the way he acts. I had the idea that the way he would react to a glass breaking would be to find a way to help out, so I had the intial reaction, him thinking, getting an idea, indicating that he would only be a moment and then flies back in to present a broom/brush to sweep up.
• I think that the expressions really work with this one and I kept in mind the pacing issues I'd noticed with Sal's animation, so to add variety there are pauses longer than others and faster movements between slower ones.

• One thing I had found from this module is that I had learnt a lot about using Toon Boom Harmony, using short-cuts, the colour layer, applying the linework to colour layer and effects layers. Because of this, I created a reflection of Mimo on the tiled flooring, to make him feel more a part of the scene. Similarly to the Bertie and Sal animations, the colouring and shading added a level of professionalism to the animation.

• What could be improved:
• There are some shakiness and fluidity issues with the linework, which comes with the lower frame-rate and not betweening as much, to focus on the acting. I had noted this before for Sal and Berties' animations, but I will make sure this is thought about for my Extended Practise work, as I need to think about the acting now, with fluid motions.
• I think Mimo could have been framed on the screen a bit more effectively, as the camera feels too close with how he is shot in the final animation.
• Next time:
• I will be producing a short analysis video of what I have learnt and how this project will help in my Extended Practise work.

Context of Practise 3: Sals Line Tests

 Context of Practise 3
Sal's Line Tests

• This week:
• I worked on the final test animations for Bertie, Sal and Mimo.
• What went well:
• My initial roughs for Sal didn't work exactly how I wanted them to, as it didn't portray her personality as well I wanted it to, therefore, I reworked them. I wanted to get her anxious personality across more, so I added small quirks, such as nibbling her paw and pushing her jumper up over her face, to hide herself and I think this worked much better.

Previous Test:

Improved Test:

• I found this easier to line her head movement then, as I had roughed out her ear movement and paw movement in the roughs, which were solidified for the final tests. This also worked really well as it was something I had explored as an idea in her body language tests and also feeds into my research of character quirks and acting, so her body language felt more believable, as a response to a glass shattering.
• I did find this more difficult than Berties', as it was harder to portray and anxious personality through her acting, however I think I was able to achieve this.

• Again, to add a level of professionalism, I coloured, shaded and added the background to Sal's animation. The sound effects were also added in post.

• What could be improved:
• I think that the pacing of the animation could've been timed a little bit better, as each movement feels like they're happening at the same amount of time, rather than having some variation. This would've been fixed if I had more time to plan and storyboard this, but this is information I can use for my Extended Practise, that the pacing of the movements affects the acting and believability of the character.
• I think that she would have benefitted from a full body movement, like I had previously noted with Berties. This is something I will now focus on for Mimo's animation.
• Similarly to Berties animation, I think this could have been in-betweened more, to make the movement smoother.
• Next time:
• I will be finishing the animation for Mimo!

Extended Practise: Giffgaff Brief - Visual Exploration

 Extended Practise
Giffgaff Brief - Visual Exploration

• This week:
• After creating the storyboard and character designs, I wanted to create a visual board to explore the colours and branding of the animation.
• What went well:
• I explored the colour palette, the line width and the use of the "digital noise" provided by giffgaff.
• I believe that the yellow background works really well and compliments the blue and white of the character. This allows the character to stand out more from the background, as the cool toned blue makes them pop. I additionally like the idea of using the green tone provided by giffgaff for the chair and table. I thought it worked well amongst the other colours, but I also believed it could play as a visual representation of the "green" ideology that giffgaff has in recycling your phones, or the idea that there is a lot of worth sitting around the desk, with the phones and gadgets. 
• Here are some of the explorations I made:

• I also considered using a "doodled" version of the website, as seen below and in the image at the top. As giffgaff has a strict policy on editing their logo, this could be a way to navigate around this. I will remove the "giffgaff" text from this logo, additionally, as the website layout is referenced from their website.

• What could be improved:
• As stated before, I will be removing the "giffgaff" text from the illustrated website, as it may infringe on their copy rules. I will have to double check their brief guidelines for this.
• I believe that the green used for the desk and monitor could be broken down a little bit, with an additional pink or white used for the chair. You are allowed up to three colours in a scene, not including the skin colour, or black and white, so this will be doable. I will discuss this with Joseph.
• Next week:
• I will begin the keyframing for the animation.

Context of Practise 3: Mimo References and Tests

  Context of Practise 3
Using References and Testing for Mimo

• This week:
• I worked on the rough animations for each of the characters, using reference footage.
• What went well:
• Mimo was the last character I produced rough tests for and after the practise of the other two characters, I found the workflow a little bit easier. Additionally, I wasn’t able to film any of my own footage of birds, so I used video footage on YouTube instead. I found a video which has two hours of footage of Lovebirds, so I used that for reference- however I focused more on the acting of the character this time, with reference footage there to help if needed.
• My first, very quick test with just keyframes, explored a wing-stretch of Mimo, however this felt more like a warm-up animation for body language, such as exploring how the wings could stretch, how their body might squash or move. This became just a starting point, before I moved onto another test.
• Here is the first test:

• The next test I animated mainly used my own knowledge of acting, of the character’s personality and movement and very limited amount of reference footage. From the references I had learnt the way the birds could walk and move, such as how they’d move side to side or forwards. They also have a “jumpier” feeling to the way they move, so I tried to incorporate this in the movement of Mimo. 
• Using a mirror for expressions, I wanted to illustrate the curiosity and excitement that Mimo feels after interacting with the ball. I animated him jumping from foot to foot in excitement, which is actually something that dogs do, but it felt quite fitting for his personality.
• I, also, coloured and shaded this test, to add a level of professionalism and refinement, as a final test animation I had created for all of these characters so far.

• What could be improved:
• There are some things with the timing which could be improved, as there could be more pauses, or he could take his time a little bit more after approaching the ball.
• Another way this could be improved is using his wings a little bit more to open his arms up and express himself - this is a quirk I had noted before, so it would be fitting to include that next time. 
• For the final animated test I need to consider his body movement more in terms of the Principles of animation, as he could be a little bit bouncier and squashed more, implying that I could try make him more malleable.
• Next time:
• I will be starting the final test animations for each of the characters and analysing them from the context of my essay.

Extended Practise: giffgaff brief Storyboard and Animatic

 Extended Practise
giffgaff Brief Storyboard, Animatic and Character Sheet

• This week:

• I produced a rough storyboard, animatic and explored character designs!
• What went well:
• I was finally able to decide on a story I wanted to follow, which was the idea of the character falling and the phone being packaged up. I had an idea to use the giffgaff Noise Texture in the background of this, to imply the connection between the customer and giffgaff, via online. Through these visuals, it can also imply the simplicity of recycling your old phones, which is something giffgaff wanted as part of their brief.
• I found that drawing the storyboards up roughly on paper was much quicker and easier, as I could cross out shots I might not like and see the story play-out on paper. I think this improved the visual storytelling much more than going straight onto a storyboard sheet.
• Here are the initial storyboards I explored:

Digital Storyboard:

• This translated well into an animatic! Although storyboarding and animatics aren't my specialist focus, I think I was able to produce a well illustrated story, which clearly indicates the character movement and timing. I found it particularly useful to look at LinkedIn Learning Courses, to understand the process a little bit better. On there, , which I followed before making the animatic. It also works perfectly with the 20 second time-limit for the advert, thus fitting within the brief restrictions.

• Along-side the storyboard and animatic, I explored a variety of ideas for potential characters. To make the pacing and timing feel better for a 20 second advert, I wanted to stick to just one character, who tells the story through their actions. The character design was the most difficult part as I wanted the character to feel relevant and relatable, but I needed to consider simplicity for animating and giffgaffs' colour scheme. 
• I greatly improved on my initial designs, as the final character sheet is much more fluid. I think the idea of her wearing Pyjamas works for the brief, again to emphasize the simplicity of recycling your phone from the comfort of your home.
• Here are the final developments and design:

• I took these and further simplified them:

• What could be improved:
• I still don't feel 100 per cent happy with the final character design, as I felt I could have made them more unique, if I could explore more concepts. Unfortunately, because of time, I wanted to focus more on the animation side, so I would have spent more time developing if I was less focused on the animation.
• There could have been better ways to indicate the environmental and eco-friendly part of the campaign, however giffgaff noted that they didn't want force this idea of being environmentally friendly onto their audience. They just wanted to show how easy it is to do and the benefits of doing so (earning money), but with the added bonus of environmentally friendly. I tried to show this with the less cluttered desk and cleanliness of their home environment at the end. There might have been easier or more helpful ways of doing this if further explored and analysed.
• Next week:
• Ill be concepting colour schemes and ideas and starting animation!

Context of Practise 3 - Sal Reference and Tests

Context of Practise 3
Using References and Testing for Sal

• This week:
• I worked on animating rough tests for each of the characters, using reference.
• What went well:
• Similarly to the references and tests I made for Bertie, I recorded some footage of my cat, Oscar, who is particularly an anxious, timid cat. I thought this would fit the personality of Sal well, so I was more hopeful for this test.
• The first test I did was similar to Berties’ where I followed the reference footage exactly, without thinking of the personality or acting of the character. One thing I noted from this, however, was the lip-lick that Oscar did- and usually does when he is nervous or in thought about something. I considered this as something Sal could do, as it was also something I had noted from my analysis of Dr Delbert Doppler- and something Sergio Pablos had pointed out.
• Here is the recorded footage (the footage is slightly sped up, for referencing, as it moved quite slow):

• From this footage, I followed the reference exactly and animated the lip-lick and a slight head tilt. Again, what I found from this was a lack of personality/acting because I had followed the footage exactly.
• Here is the first test:

• The next test I animated was Sal crouching down, as I had footage of Oscar crouching down and wrapping his tail around himself protectively. This fits Sal’s personality well, so the acting was much more effective here at portraying her personality. Again, similarly to Bertie’s tests, I was able to stray away from the footage a bit more, to consider the acting, so I only key-framed this using the reference footage and then I added breakdowns and betweens with my own knowledge of the movement and Principles of Animation. This made the movement feel much more fluid and life-like, which was what I was trying to achieve!
• Here is test two:

• After test two, I did a third and final test, which explored the idea of the character reacting to a ball, like with Bertie. To change this slightly, I had the ball on a string and Sal noticing it, prodding at it, like I had noted she would do, but when the string snaps and comes back, she gets frightened by it. I used the footage of Oscar being suddenly surprised by a noise happening downstairs, so this worked well with the character’s acting.
• I also coloured and fully inbetweened this test on 12fps. 
• Here is the third and final test:

• What could be improved:
• The acting still needs some improvement for my final rough line-test, however this works well as a starting point for Sal’s character animation. I still need to explore more character quirks and acting, without using as much reference footage, as the tests which use less and have a balance of both, work much better.
• Some thing I have noted is that I need to try stay more on-model with my animating, however this is something that will come with more practise.
• Next time:
• I will animate several tests for Mimo, using the same concept and idea.

Context of Practise 3 - Bertie Reference and Tests

 Context of Practise 3
Using References and Testing for Bertie

• This week:

• I started drawing rough tests for Berties' character animation
• What went well:
• After talking to Ben about my ideas and showing him my progress so far, he suggested I try filming animal references, to understand animal body language and how this could help my body language analysis. Furthermore, he noted about animators using actors as reference for animation, so I wanted to try doing this also, such as using a mirror whilst I animate to understand facial expressions and video reference.
• I had recorded some footage of my boyfriend’s Papillon, Luna, who served as a good reference point for a smaller dog, like Bertie. I started my tests by following the footage side-by-side with my animating, which I found helped with body movement and proportions quite well.
• Here is the recorded footage:

• I was able to take this footage to make an initial quick test, using Luna’s body movement as a guide. I used a lower framerate of 12fps to try focus more on the movement and posing, rather than the fluidity of the motion. This helped me think more about the acting.
• Here is the first test:

• I found that this first test felt quite stiff and didn’t really show much personality, as I was relying too much on the reference of Luna, who actually isn’t acting. It doesn’t make sense to completely use the footage frame-by-frame, so for the next test, I took the idea of Bertie reacting to a ball. I was able to use some of the footage of Luna to help with posing, but I found the acting to be more effective when I didn’t focus too much on the references.

• What could be improved:
• Despite these being just initial tests, I think that for my final rough I need to consider the acting more than focusing on the references. Whilst the references did help in understanding animal body language, these are specific characters with traits and personalities that might not be reflected in the references I take. This is something I will keep in mind in future tests and the final rough animations.
• Next time, I would try flesh out the posing more, and try making the movements a bit smoother, rather than just key-frames and breakdowns. This will help the acting and feel of the character a little bit more, however I will stick to using a low frame-rate as this forced me to think about the characters’ acting more than fluidity.
• Next time:
• I will follow this method of recording references and animate some tests for Sal and Mimo.

Context of Practise 3: Body Language Exploration Gestures

Context of Practise 3
Body Language Exploration Sketches

• This week:

• Before rough animations for each character, I wanted to create some body language explorations in my sketchbook to further understand their acting.
• What went well:
• Using these tests, it made me feel a lot more comfortable about drawing each of the characters and understand them better for when I animate. This also allowed me to practise trying to stay on model with them, and be more fluid with my drawing.
• I was able to determine a set of traits and quirks for each of the characters, which I could then refer to when I animate. This is something I had learnt initially from my research into acting and analysing the character performances of Delbert Doppler, Mabel Pines and Tiger. Each of them having their own quirks and mannerisms which fed into their performances. Here are my tests and analysis:

• For Bertie, I determined that:
• His facial expressions would usually consist of a frowned expression, furrowed brows and his eye movements contributing to a lot of his expression. Of all of the three characters, his facial body language is most important.
• He would always keep his chest puffed and his feet together as much as possible. The idea is that it makes him appear larger but also has arrogant connotations. This is also why I'd like to try add a stiffness to how he moves, like he always needs to keep his body up straight and head held high.

• For Sal, I determined that:
• As she an anxious, but inquisitive cat, I thought she would occasionally chew/nibble on her paw when she is thinking about something. She seems to be in thought often/in her own head.
• She is also a cat who is easily frightened. This could lead to interesting situations, with her curiosity, so she approaches things with caution, such as by tapping on objects to test what they are before playing/eating/interacting with them. 
• As she is a cat, her body language will also be shown through the body language of a cat - this is usually through the tail and ear movements. So, tail up is happy and inquisitive and tail down is anxious and afraid.

• For Mimo, I determined that:
• His very open and excitable personality means that he would have a lot of energy and enthusiasm in the way he moves, so uses his wings a lot to express himself.
• Similarly to Bertie, his facial expressions will be the centre point of his body language - using his eyes, brows and beak to show his thoughts and feelings.
• An interesting quirk I wanted to add was leg leaning/standing onto one leg a lot. This could also be used as a way to show he can't really sit still, he has a lot of energy and needs to keep moving, thus leaning either side on his legs.
• What could be improved:
• Whilst these expression and body language explorations do help me a lot for the animating process, I need to consider how it can be applied through motion and acting. What something looks like as a still may not work as effectively as an animated motion. I will have to interpret this as I animate, then.
• I think that some of the illustrations went a little bit off-model. As I had noted before, this is something I still need to practise, so I need to keep this in mind when I start my animation testing.
• Next time:
• I will start animating rough tests!

Extended Practise: Giffgaff Brief - More Visual Research

 Extended Practise
Giffgaff Brief - More Visual Research

• This week:
• I worked on designing a final character for the giffgaff brief, whilst looking at their previous styles and campaigns.
• What went well:
• I explored giffgaff's previous campaigns and looked over their branding booklet, which is provided through the D&AD competition. I was able to note visual styles which they had used before and to help expand my own ideas.
• In order to explore giffgaff's branding and previous campaigns, I made a short document, which explores some inspiration for the project.

• This small part of visual research will help me to develop character ideas and a storyboard. I felt that this research was necessary to understand the brand's image and reputation, whilst also exploring something new. In order to understand what the brand hadn't done yet, I needed to know what it had already explored and published. 
• I liked the idea of using the digital noise aesthetic as part of the background, which might work when I develop the storyboard and animatic.
• What could be improved:
• A lot of the brand's animated projects have been typography and motion graphics-based. This is something I need to keep in mind when developing my visual ideas, such as trying to stay with a more graphic-based style or try to incorporate more of their branding to explore this.
• In order to understand what I need to produce visually, I will need to start developing characters and colour tests once the storyboards and animatic are completed.
• Next week:
• I will be developing characters and the storyboards.

Context of Practise 3: Model Sheets

 Context of Practise 3

Model Sheets

• This week:
• I finished some model sheets for Bertie, Sal and Mimo.

• What went well:
• I produced three model sheets, which allowed me to explore posing and character personalities, based upon my research looking at the model sheets for Mickey Mouse, Dr Delbert Doppler and Mabel Pines. Each of these model sheets were able to convey the character traits through posing and the line of action, therefore I wanted to approach this for the characters I had created.
• I think that I explored each of the characters effectively for their traits and species. For example, using the eyebrows and ears of Bertie, I was able to convey a much more arrogant and crankier personality, whereas with Mimo, I posed him with his wings out-stretched or exposing his belly, in much less serious poses. I believe that I was also able to capture Sal's personality, as timid and shy, such as with the top pose of her being surprised by something and the bottom right pose of her crouching, looking around. The bottom left pose was meaning to illustrate her waving her paw, as though correcting someone- which was intended to convey her intelligent and inquisitive personality.
• Here are the three sheets:

• What could be improved:
• I need to illustrate more poses to fully understand the character and explore the ways in-which they might move and express themselves. I will do this as a collection of sketches, prior to animating them. 
• I additionally believe that it would be best for me to make a video or process video explaining my thoughts and reasoning behind animation choices. This will be something to think about in the next few weeks, similarly to the video essay I produced for COP last year.
• Next week:
• I will be continuing testing and producing animated roughs for each of the characters. 
• I will record some references to help with the rough animations!

Extended Practise - giffgaff Brief Initial Ideas

 Extended Practise
giffgaff D&AD Brief Initial Ideas

• This week:
• I developed concepts and ideas for the giffgaff Brief for the D&AD competition
• What went well:
• I created a mind-map exploring initial ideas and concepts for how I could develop and illustrate this brief. They are asking for a 20 second TV Spot, a series of Instagram posts and a banner for the advertising campaign. They would like an animation showing how easy it is to sell your old phone through giffgaff, whilst also helping the environment. Some initial ideas I came up with are:
• An advert set in space, with the earth sad, being piled up with phones
• A neighbourhood, with people in their homes throwing their phones out onto a pile
• Character types at computer and falls back through the floor, into a void, where they post the phones and fall back into their chair.
• Here is my initial research and ideas:

• As the ad is very short and the campaign is quite small, I needed to explore the best possible way to show their brand without producing too much. The 20 second advert is the most difficult part of this, however I did come up with some ideas:

• What could be improved:
• I need to understand how the branding and colour schemes would fit into the idea. I need to look over the brief again and reflect on whether this final idea best fits or whether I need to develop more.
• I need to develop some visual concepts which would fit into the briefs' requirements.
• Next week:
• I'll be developing a script, storyboard and character concepts for this brief.

Context of Practise 3 - Character Improvements

 Context of Practise 3
Character Improvements

• This week:
• I made some improvements on the quick turnarounds of both Bertie and Sally (chihuahua and sphynx cat).
• What went well:
• After some initial feedback, I found that the turnarounds for Bertie and Sally felt too stiff and didn't completely feel on-model with how I wanted them to look. I additionally thought that Berties' design wasn't balanced enough and felt a little bit dis-proportionate. Here were the initial designs:

• Above, Berties' design wasn't proportionate from the front and side views, as the body feels square from the side and slimmer in the front.

• Again, Sallys' design felt too stiff, although the line-weights work really well. I decided to continue with this line-weight and fluidity, but then adjust the posing to feel more in-character and more fluid. After my analysis of the appeal of Dr Delbert Doppler, Mickey Mouse, Chihiro (Spirited Away) and Mabel Pines (Gravity Falls), which can be seen in my previous blog post, aided in making the characters feel more fluid and appealing. 
• In addition to this, "The Illusion of Life" by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston provides a detailed idea of how to create appealing designs.  Here are the improved designs;

• Overall, I believe that the designs feel more fluid and I think that the line-weights work better in these redesigns. Additionally, I adjusted the character expressions, making them feel more related to their personalities: cranky, stubborn and anxious, timid. 

• What could be improved:
• If I were to continue developing these, I would experiment with more shapes and colour schemes, to fully explore how to create differing personalities based on body types and shapes.
• Next week:
• I will begin animating the roughs for each of the characters.

Context of Practise 3 - Further Character Analysis and Essay Plans

 Context of Practise 3
Further Character Analysis

• This week:
• I started writing my essay and needed to do some further research for my character analysis section.
• What went well:
• I sent my essay plan and first drafted paragraphs to Mike, who provided some feedback. He liked that I had planned out each section in great detail, which gives a good overview of what I plan to explore and what further research needs to be done. Here is the initial plan which I had sent to him:

• However, despite this, I still needed to conduct further research from the small mind-maps I produced last week. I wanted to find some more books explaining body language in a more general day-to-day scenario and I found this book called "Understanding Body Language" by communication Studies Specialist, Gordon Wainwright. I also found this interesting read by former FBI Special Agent, Joe Navarro, called "The Dictionary of Body Language," which both provided a lot of research for further analysis. 
• I was able to effectively analyse characters easier, with this additional knowledge and created this small research booklet on my general ideas:

• What could be improved:
• My essay phrasing and style needs improvement, as it is coming across much more informal. I explained to Mike that I prefer writing to just get my ideas down, initially, before going back over my work to re-phrase and re-draft so it sounds less like a conversation. This is something I will keep in mind, however when I continue drafting.
• Next week:
• I will be submitting the first 2,500 words of the essay, starting animating of my characters and continuing drafting the second half of the essay.

Extended Practise: Character Development for Khoa and Amy

 Extended Practise
Character Development for Khoa and Amy

• This week:
• I started producing a series of character and creature concepts for Khoa and Amy's project.
• What went well:
• Using the character and creature concept document that Khoa and Amy had made, I explored some initial creature ideas which would fit into their world.
• They had some specific criteria such as, each of the characters needed to wear masks, they needed to be simpler and smaller than the "large boss creature" designs, which Harry was doing and they needed to fit within the world.
• I did struggle initially, as a script and concepts hadn't been started yet, however I was able to produce some design ideas with the document they gave me. I found designing creatures to fit within the world quite difficult, so I had a look at Steven Universes' Art Book, as they included a page on creature designs, which fit in the gem world. I found this really useful to design my own creatures, as I could explore the way the masks fit into the designs, similarly to how the gems are used in the Gem creatures.

Gem Creature Concepts from Steven Universe: Art and Origins:

Khoa and Amy's Concept Document:

My series of designs:

• With the initial ideas, I think these work really well and show a wide range of creatures, shapes and sizes. This also allows Amy and Khoa to choose designs I can explore further and designs they might like to adjust.
• What could be improved:
• I think a lot of the designs use elements of animals and already existing creatures and I could explore them further by thinking more creatively about how I design them.
• I need to consider how they fit into a video-game world and more specifically, the one Amy and Khoa are trying to create. I will need to consider this when I develop them further.
• Next time:
• I will be developing these designs further, after receiving feedback from them both. I will also start on environment concepts.