Experimentation

Did some experimenting with various types of animation today. Had a quick go with Sand animation, which I really enjoyed, and Pixilation which was fun too. Unfortunately, the sand animation is rather rushed because I wasn't the only one wanting to use it. The pixilation one wasn't too good, because I did it while locked out of the flat, on the landing, but it turned out okay, and makes a good test. In future, I need the camera higher up, and a sheet or something white on the floor to act as a backdrop. I got the idea for using clothes from last weeks Osbert Parker lecture, which was really interesting.

My Hat :]

Made another quick pixilation video. unfortunately, because the camera is full of pictures (I really need to buy one of my own) then I have a limited amount of frames I can shoot, so this time I just reversed the frames and stuck them on the end of the originally so it goes back again. Enjoy:

An Entire Face!

I modelled my face again yesterday, but this time I did the whole thing at once:

 

Also, I have some drawings to upload from yesterdays life drawing. The model didnt show though, so we drew each other:

Getting All Experimental

So we had a look at a few experimental animations from last years 1st year students, because this semester we have tom make one. This basically means we shouldn't really use computers, except to edit the animation together. We are going to be trying out various techniques, like Sand animation (putting sand on glass, with a light underneath, and moving the sand and taking photos), Paint on glass animation (like the sand animation, but with paint) and Pixilation (stop-motion of people and objects.)
heres some awesome video examples of some experimental stuff.
This guys is a 2nd year on my course (http://timwheatleydigitalanimation.blogspot.com/), amazing what you can do with a bike wheel:

 

Heres a lovely bit of sand animation I found on Youtube:

 

This is a brief bit of paint on glass animation:

 

And here is an awesome music video with lots of pixilation:

I had a really quick go at some basic pixilation earlier with my flatmate's camera (Thanks Alex) to see what its like. It was rally fun, though you need space and need to be careful what you move. So here's my first experiment with some Uno cards:

The Many Pases of Funny Faces...

Modelled the other half of my face in Maya, and this one went better, the nose came out much better than last time. The cheek bone comes out a bit too far this time though. Enjoy:

And if you want to compare, both together, though they don't quite match up.

Building a Whole New Face

Its the new Semester! So a whole new load of works gonna be heading our way. Had our first 3D Environment lecture today, and basically learnt all about modelling. Had mug shots taken of us and then had to model from it, and its surprising how unsymmetrical peoples faces are. To prove this we took half our faces and briefly flipped them in Photoshop and found how weird our faces look.. I got rather lost at one point, bu I asked Georg and then it was clear, though I didn't get a chance to properly have a go until I got home. Only modelled half the face, because it takes some time and Maya confused me a lot. Anyways, here is the mug shots and the result I got.

A Film, about Books

I was just shown a stunning Animated Short, called The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmorem, a wonderful film, with a beautiful narrative. Their use of colour in the film is done really well, and in certain parts reminds me a lot of Pixar's Up. Without further adue, the link :

http://www.theatlantic.com/video/archive/2012/02/the-fantastic-flying-books-of-mr-morris-lessmore/252703/ 

It was created by Moonbot Studios, who's website you can visit Here.

A Showreel and Some Pretty Lights.

So, this week I managed to build my show-reel of animations so far to hand in to Georg, though that was earlier this week, just took a while to post it, due to that horrible pain: The Essay. Still, I think its going alright, though the library books I'm using for research are annoyingly hard to decipher, why do they have to write in such a complex cryptic way? Still, it looks like I shall manage it. I'm looking at Stereotyping and Representation (Making reference to critical texts, their authors and theories, and using examples - discuss the issues relating to representation and stereotypes. Consider the aspects of representation and
stereotypes that are specific to animation and explore this concept in relation to a recent
animated film or body of films.) in Disney films. I'd be lying if i said it was fun, but it is a little interesting and rather necessary.

So, show-reel:

The other thing I thought I would throw out there is this lovely piece on lighting, courtesy of course-mate Yasmin (Her blog: http://gashumonsata.tumblr.com And her old blog [thought I'd put it up just in case] http://ydanimation.blogspot.com) Its some basic but useful lighting tips from a guy who heard a talk by a guy from Dreamworks, and I thought it was good.
Have a look if you wish. http://blackpassion777.deviantart.com/journal/Interested-in-Dreamworks-Lighting-Resource-283032819

Finally, after the realisation that I'm really bad at the whole draw an hour a day thing, I made a new album on facebook on Wednesday, determined to upload a drawing a day, and although its a little late, it appears that the accountability is working, and I have all 4 days so far uploaded. Its easy enough to find, but in case you cant, here is a link http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.340748079280048.80661.100000345772328&type=3 . If you don't know me I'm afraid you may not be able to see it, and I apologise, but maybe at the end of the year I'll post it all on here.