EXTENDED PRODUCTION

On this module I will be paying particular attention to timing  in Animation . I will be exploring timing in relation to walk cycles  and posture and lipsync .

Below is the simulation of  my character dancing and character walking, I would to  point out out these  two that video clips  represent  the whole process of timing in  relation to this module

THE FINAL PIECES FOR THIS MODULE IN RELATION TO TIMING

THE GORILLA DANCE WITH AN ELEMENT OF A HOLOGRAM
On this below video , I shot the film in stop motion on a green screen and thenI took the footage in after  effects where I tweaked added  colour and  light to bring in that Hologram feel to it.
The process wasn't smooth  sailing but in the end I enjoyed it.

Below is the footage after the green screen was keyed out.This  process was  more or  less an experimental one  whereby  thought of  shooting my character on a rig  behind a green screen.

GORILLA WALK
This was also done in stop motion and the  overall look of the  film was done in adobe effects. I struggled with timing and as like always ,I also got to understand more and more about how one needs to do to get that smooth animation especially when shooting at 24 frames per second.

THE FINAL SHOWREEL
In terms of the production of the below showreel,the process can be broken  down into  a stop motion animation film,some of the scene shot on green screen. The editing comprised of motion blur effect done in adobe premier and the hologram effect was done done in after effects.

Below are some of the  film clips I did as I was grappling with timing. I did various exercises  like hand gestures and face formations and mouth movements.

Face forming and mouth moving
This was done with  as a stop motion animation  film  where  by i  rolled up small pieces  of  clay  and  took one  frame at a time.

The keyed out footage with green screen taken out.

Hand gesture
This was also done in stop motion animation. The hand was  made of  clay. In essence the whole idea  was to simulate  a hand gesture and at the same time  pay particular attention to time too.

Personal statement in regards to the production of my film.

REFERENCING
My main character is a gorilla who is main goal is to find  freedom  and in-order to narrate the story  I have looked at various gorilla movements to help me define how my character will walk.I have looked at the movement of apes in films like Planet of the Apes, King Kong and generally footage of  gorillas in zoos.The below video clips will help as reference as part of the character development and timing simulation.

Below is Planet of the Apes clip showing determination and anger that will mirror my character's behaviour when he gets out of his enclosure.

                                       

A gorilla walk footage by a gorilla walk  called Ambam who has suddenly started to walk on two.

An  exaggerated  walk by  myself acting up ,  proved valuable  as I was trying to  simulate my character's walk.Although the  walk is nowhere near perfect, this simulation did help me in defining the physiology, the arcs, poses, anticipation as well as the overlapping when it comes to movement.I took this footage analysed it in an app called pausehouse where  I was able to view frame by frame and see the anatomy of body movement and the correlation of movement among different body parts.

Below is the acted out script  I will be using  as a reference when it comes  to arcs,poses  and increments

By doing so it helped visualise the the pose to pose movements. 

soon afterwards I took the  below footage into Dragon frame and rotoscoped it. This helped me in smoothening up the walk  and the whole process made my  production easier.

In-order  for me to  help the audience fully understand the narrative  I have  come up with the below  script

TIMING REFRENCING
What is timing?
Good timing can make a difference between a funny shot and a very funny shot or  between the character or object moving mechanically or fluidly( Speciss,M.p167) During this production I will be learning  to use holds, pauses and arcs to push the  narrative forward.

Referenced videos  of timing
Recently I have been  looking at the work of Jan Svankmayer who has this surrealistic approach  to  his story telling.This surrealistic approach in his film  especially Alice did influence  my decision of  creating a mysterious setting where there will be a reverse shot of the set props  just before my main character gets metarmophosed and turned into a hologram

The film Alice by Jan Svankmajer

Also I  have looked at these 12 principles of Animation by Labudinera, which  explain the difference  between movement and  animation. The breakdown  in this video helped me see the difference between robotic movements  and real movements. Also  I had to  learn  to in-corporate anticipation  in character movement  poses , arcs and inertia,centre of balance and exaggeration

Below  are some of the line tests I carried out I  whilst trying  simulate the  character movement,

poses and arcs. This below line  test was  shot on 24  frames per  second. I  decided  to use the skeletal armature so that i  will be able to see the difference  between animating a character  with clothes  and  without. At the moment I did  not have any challenges in moving the body parts because they are easily accessible  and I'm able to  get a good grip of  one part to the other .


RUSHERS
Below are some of the rushers I created  as  I grapple  with  timing
The below rushers shows  body postures and movement .

Also below I have rotoscoped the above  video with the help of this you tube tutorial from Omid. I did find the rigging easy  but I  did struggle with the whole idea of  getting a  smooth movement from my character. Below is the tutorial  videos and the  clips I  have filmed  with the help of it.

Below are some of the  creations I did in relation to mastering  timing.

I have been always fascinated with creations that  has some surreal element in them and for that reason I have  animated  few  clips ising stop motion , green screen and then  a  bit of editing in Adobe premier. Below are some of the  examples I have done.

Whilst I was working on timing I also  tried to simulate certain movements of liquids 

Below  is the  water simulation i carried out using gel. I  basically scooped jelly out and used  a  paint  brush to spread it across. The effect doesn't look great  but the intended out come does show.

Below is a simulation of a creature movement in a  water tank.

With this below video, I was interested in simulating  creature movements and to see if  Icould  drive a narrative using hand and rod puppets.This is one area  I will like to pay attention to especially the animatronics side of animation in the near future because I found this kind of animation fascinating and intriguing.

Below is a recording I have done  with leaves trying to simulate some mystery with  leaves flying away from a seemingly burning  environment.The reverse effect on the leaves were done in Adobe premier.

Part of the pre production process.

I will be carrying out line tests on walk cycles where i will simulate a big stride. So far I have  measured a big stride out and found out that it is 80mm in  length  and  since I will  be  shooting the walk in 20 frames per second and in order to determine the increment I have divided the 80mm stride  with 20 frames giving me 4mm  ,meaning I will be moving my character's leg at 4mm increments. .In all this, I will also in cooperate anticipation , helping me  to cue the audience  into the movement before the actual movement by moving  armature  in small  increment My  character  has focus aimed at , one   direction and his  head movement will always adjust itself to  the original point of focus regardless of the torso’s position

I will also pay attention to the  character’s center  point which is the waist line and  move the  body parts  in tandem with more or stationery waist line.

Good  timing helps  the audience interpret  the  narrative to  create a natural movement. Below  is a line  test I have done  using a ball of  clay. I have  used  acceleration, deceleration, overlapping and  follow through  to  tell an audience a story

CAMERA SETTING
 I have used a 200mm lens during the shooting to increase the quality  of the film and did set  t my Camera lens to 32, with an  exposure of  f22  for a  great  depth of field and  a shutter  speed ½ a second  to  avoid  capturing a lot of light  and minimise the jerky movement. What I sort of realised as well was that I always had light flickering in my finished shotss o had to set the camera  to manual setting. The shutter speed was between 1/4 and 1/10 with an ISO of 100  to 400 .

TECHNICALITIES  OF THE PROCESS
The whole process of   creating the  set for the film has been a bit tricky in the  sense that even drilling the holes where the character's  legs will be fixed.  I drilled  holes  at first that were too far apart from each other and  and then I later realised that  the  holes where too far  apart  so I had to  drill some holes in between.Also what I have realised  is that I should have used a table with a thin  top layer , why because that would  help in deciding the character's stride and the up and down movement of the torso.I had  to make the  depth  of the holes  where the tie downs will  go through  shallower.

I have also made sure that I didn't put lot of props along the way of my character so  that they did not interfere with my character's walk.Then another aspect I had to take into consideration was  where to place the camera angle .

Below is a rough set up of where and how I will shoot the film.