i have finished all of my animations now. my time management was bad on this project and i spent a lot of time thinking of ideas and considering the looks and concepts of my projects so that when i came to produce them i didn't have time to realize and polish my ideas. Please watch in HD for the best quality.
the first animation
the 2nd animation
my final animation
i made an animatic to help me visualize what my 2nd animation will actually look like with the sound and concept.
ive been trying to work on my first animation but because my computer is not great it cant handle working at the large pixel sizes i need. I'm going into uni tomorrow to work on my animations so i will make the first animation a priority as i wont be able to work on it over the weekend.
for now though i'm going to start work on my 2nd animation which is the animation principle Motivation/anticipation and the theme of underwater.
i have had time to think about this animation while i've been working on the first animation and currently I'm really inspired by the anticipation caused by a literal countdown like seen in the first video I posted on my examples of simple shape animation post. we are not allowed to use numbers but I'm sure it can work by just having the simple load bar.
i already made a few notes on colours and music in a previous post, these where
Underwater is tranquil and will have a very emotive colour pallet i therefore think that this should be animated and have a soundtrack which reflects this so i will stay. initial ideas include Little dragon - Twice, Apparat- You Don't Know me
i think tranquil is a key work here for what i have in my mind about what i want to do with this animation. im only going to make this one 15seconds long because i don't intent for very much to happen in the piece and think i may be criticized for being boring. though it could just be boring im hoping that this will turn out to be a very atmospheric piece. for this to work i will need to build up a rich multi-layered piece in which there is a strong connection between the elements, music and style.
other songs that may work:
The Flashbulb - rain first 20seconds, not much happens though.
The Flashbulb - undiscovered colours i could use an arrangement from the build up at the beginning or 15 secs from 3:22
Hirasawa Susumu - A drop filled with memories first opening part of this i think is great.
im going to use Trichrome Blue as inspiration for my style developement on this animation
nothing in my animation should be stationary.
i could have underwater sound as well as soundtrack like in trichrome blue.
we have been given the dimensions that our projects should be displayed in. the dimensions are 1280px by 720px.
i have spoken to one of my lectures about how i can have my camera idea in after effect and i have watched some tutorial videos on Videocopilot. the best way for me to have this camera effect is to have a very large composition with my whole background in it and animate the balls going down the track. then make a second composition the size of my project and nest the large composition inside it. this will allow me to either move the position of my first composition and follow the balls down or make a camera and move that along the composition. having a camera would allow me to move around in 3D space which is more the effect that im after though this would take alot longer to do. so at the moment i will just do the first option and see if i have enough time to do the rest.
i need to work out the size that my background will be. i currently have 10 shots in my animation and each one needs to be below the others so i can find my minimum size by multiplying 720 by 10 which is 7200. as for the horizontal distance i will need to draw up some things in my sketch book to work out how they will be spaced.
for this first animation i am going to produce it in black and white. unlike the animatic that i posted though there will be a wide rage of grey tones in there. i have been inspired by the artwork of the game Limbo which makes strong use of silhouettes. see video below.
im going to have alot more geometrical shapes in there though in order to fit with the camera style that i want.
i am think about using red as a spot colour in certain parts but i do not want it to be overpowering.
the camera style that i am after (i mention a few posts back) is ment to make it look as though the action is happening on a 2D plane which is being filmed by a hand held camera. you can see the exact effect in the music video for Japayork's song Our Now.
i have chosen to make the camera like this as it allows me to have several location changes as straight cuts would feely jumpy and uneasy in such a short piece. i think it will also add to the dynamic feeling of the "race" and will allow me for to create some interesting animation. i have to be careful however not to over do the camera effect as it may be distracting the to core principles that i am trying to animate using.
seeing this video should help you visualise how the moving shots i mentioned would work, the camera will move to the next place of action and you will be able to see the balls moving as the camera pans.
you will notice that both of these videos have a darkened edge i intend to keep this element as i think it helps create an atmosphere which is fitting with my music, heavy metal.
i have made an animatic to test the shot durations i planed out in the previous post. though its just still shots at the moment and my really thing will have lots of movement it gives me a good look at how it could shape out.
currently some of the transition shots look a little fast but i think that when coupled with the camera movement and the real style on the elements they will fit in well.
i also think i many need to add a crash, cymbal or some similar sound at the end of the piece so it doesn't end so abruptly, though i can get this from part of the track.
i have established what i want to show in the first of my animations and i have the music track that will go along with it. now i'm going to create a very basic dope sheet on my blog here so that i can story board the scenes.
the action i am going to have in it, is as follows
Start - establishing the action
Jump - start showing the weight of the balls with the timing principle
Change of direction - explain how the balls can go from right to left or left to right
Detail - something interesting to keep audience engaged (i think this detail will be in the form of a turn style)
Jump/launcher - showing eight of the balls by launching them into a free-fall
Free-fall - more timing principle
Break/end - collision and a crash providing a dramatic ending
im going to do it in 20 seconds so giving each part equal timing would put it at just under 3 seconds per action. some will take longer than others so i am not going to fix the time which each of them is show for.
even with different timing there is a lot of action which is happening so it will be a very fast passed piece. therefore i have chosen the song Divinations - Mastodon Note: im going to use the video edit of the song as there is greater variation in the sound in this version. i will use the very start of the music from 7 seconds to 27 seconds. this section has a few interesting changes which i can animate to and will hopefully make my piece more interesting.
The changes in music happen at (starting at 7seconds)
3 seconds in
10 seconds in
17 sconds in
i will have the first jump coinside with the change in music at 3 seconds in. i will time it so the change happens just as the first ball goes off the jump as this will give me more time to establish whats going on and also fit with the music.
ive got a problem here because i want the free-fall to happen at the 17 second change and as the freefall the last break and the final jump are one event really. it means i only have 2 sections to fill about 10 seconds.
i could work around this by showing additional very short 1-2 second glimpses of the balls rolling down the tracks at different parts as the camera moves to the next point of interest. (i will explain how i want the camera in a different post.)
currently the timing goes as follows.
Start: 0 - 2.5
Jump: 2.5 - 5.5
moving shot: 5.5 - 6.5
Change of direction: 6.5 - 9.5
moving shot (i can add in a booster that increases the speed of the balls hitting on the 10seconds): 9.5 - 11.5
Detail: 11.5 -15
moving shot: 15 - 16
Jump/launcher: 16 - 17
Free-fall: 17 - 19
Break/end: 19 - 20
i think i will make a rough animatic to test the timing of this as it seams very fast to me.
i was talking to my tutor and i have agreed that having a theme to go along with my narrative idea will create a strong and interesting piece. Space and Underwater are my post interesting themes as they will change the physics of the animation and make it more visually interesting.
key themes i have chosen are, Space, Underwater and Maps & arial views. i have chosen maps and arial views because although it dose not have any physics changes it gives me very simple stylistic elements to play with and the simple nature of it means that it will not detract from the shapes i use.
key ideas i have so far.
Timing, balls of different weight racing on lines like a rollercoster (more like this game line rider). this is the only idea i have for timing as i really want to do it.
Squash & Stretch, objects colliding into circles and them bursting or bouncing the object away, pinball, paintballs, exploding when pressure is reached. i need more thought about this animation
Motivation & anticipation, magnet pulling shapes toward it then falling as it gains wait, actions happening on a countdown or load bar (like the first embedded video on my Examples of simple shape animation post)
i have not put much thought into the music that i want to use. my taste in music is very board though and i can think of quite a few tracks which i would like to animate to.
Space is silent so i would like to have a very subtle track however i could also have something quite electronic and futuristic. a piece of classical music could also be very cool, like Kubrinks use of classical in 2001 a Space Odyssey or this piece Masako Hayashi - Mother sea.
Underwater is tranquil and will have a very emotive colour pallet i therefore think that this should be animated and have a soundtrack which reflects this so i will stay. initial ideas include Little dragon - Twice, Apparat- You Don't Know me
Timing pace is going to be a key part of my timing animation so i need something fast but simple enough not to detract from the music. something like Apparat - Arcadia Breakbeat Era - Ultra Obscene or Omni Trio - Higher Ground.
at the moment i want to have the following combinations of themes and Principles
Timing - Maps & Arial drawing - balls racing on line
Motivation/Anticipation - Underwater
Squash & Squeeze - Space
quick note: i'm currently undecided as to wether to work on each project simultaneously, so that they can inspire each other, or do them individually, where i can learn from the mistakes i make.
- Timing
- Squash and stretch
- Motivation/Anticipation
i have chosen these because i think that they are the most visually obvious and i will be able to convincingly apply things to these principles. below are the ideas i came up with earler in the project for animation that i could do to each of these principles
Timing
- heavy objects chasing lighter objects
- merging objects of different densities
- giving weight to textured objects
- subvert the weight and make things that should be light heavy to give a surreal feeling
Squash & Stretch
- i could center an animation around this principle very easily by exaggerating the squash and squeezes
- object bursting under pressure
- 5 ball pendulum
Motivation/Anticipation
- breaking objects
- collisions
- explosions
- an incoming disaster which influences the objects on screen (TNT plunger being pressed)
i'm trying to visualize how these ideas can fit within the time limit which i have and whether they will need padding out with additional stuff. to help me visualize i'm using this 20second click of a black screen on youtube (found here) and imagining different things happening.
From looking at the books on motion graphics which i got out from the library i have come up with another key principle of motion graphic design, Space.
Space deals with 2D, 3D and depth. even though the pieces are restricted (well not any more thanks to 3D technologies) to being displayed in 2D there will still be a sense of depth which is developed using things such as perspective, blur and colour.
There are four conceptually driven elemets of space that it i beneficial for the graphic designer to have a clear understanding of when designing for the screen: point, line, plane, and volume.Pointa point indicates a position in space and occurs at each end of a single line. a point can also be found where lines intersect, and where lines meet at the corner of a plane.LineAs a point moves, its path maps out a line. a line is defined by at least two points in space. a line has a position and direction, defines the edge of a plane, and exists where two planes intersect or join.PlaneAs a line moves in a direction other than its own inherent direction, its path maps out a plane. a plane is defined by at least one line. a plane, bound by lines, defines the external limits of a volume.VolumeAs a plane moves in a direction other than its own inherent direction, its path maps out a volume. Volume defines the space contained within it of displaced by it.
taken from Motion Design - Moving graphics for television, music video, cinema, and digital interfaces by Matt Wollman.
with that in mind i think i will take the approach of choosing a principle to heavily portray in the animations first, then apply themes and locations that would be relevant to that principle. i would then choose a fitting soundtrack and then finally storyboard with the sound in mind to hopefully create a piece which successfully combines all the elements.
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