Monday, January 29, 2007
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Wednesday Update
Aloha!
As you see below - I'VE STARTED ANIMATION!
It does have sound, so check it out! It's the first lip-sync peice I did for Bread.
Progress:
- 90% of film doped.
- 35 seconds animated so far.
- Only voice required to re-record is Toast Rack Guy.
- I'm back on schedule!
Today I will continue animating the sandwiches scene, which is by far the longest (23 seconds). It's wierd when you are animating sandwiches, looking forward to your lunch which is sandwiches and then return to animating sandwiches....
...but Helen and I are going out to dinner tonight with some friends, so that's OK! Nice couples night out while we raise some money for our Mission trip to Africa in April.
More animation soon!
~breadmaker
As you see below - I'VE STARTED ANIMATION!
It does have sound, so check it out! It's the first lip-sync peice I did for Bread.
Progress:
- 90% of film doped.
- 35 seconds animated so far.
- Only voice required to re-record is Toast Rack Guy.
- I'm back on schedule!
Today I will continue animating the sandwiches scene, which is by far the longest (23 seconds). It's wierd when you are animating sandwiches, looking forward to your lunch which is sandwiches and then return to animating sandwiches....
...but Helen and I are going out to dinner tonight with some friends, so that's OK! Nice couples night out while we raise some money for our Mission trip to Africa in April.
More animation soon!
~breadmaker
Tuesday, January 23, 2007
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Back to the Drawing Board
Aloha!
Or rather...Happy New year!
There's been a lot happening in Bread land this week. I've had to hit the ground running if I'm going to get this film made as best as I can.
After the critique, it was made clear that the script still wasn't good enough, so after enjoying my Christmas break with now work, a clear head and a good mood, I have completely re-worked the script. Only about 4 characters survived into the new draft - but here's some sketches I made while writing....
Trying to re-work the Toaster gags....this has since been scrapped.
The only frame kept is the top right. Except, now the lines read "I'm ready to come out now!" from a distressed, but still cooking peice of toast in its plea to be ejected before being burned.
The top left character, with the nose-like object, being made from the bag that he is wrapped in, is our opening character. Each character has much more unique design now.
The nose man and his wife again, stuck in a traffic jam (on a conveyer belt in a supermarket) and a new flirt, the guy on the toastrack.
Or rather...Happy New year!
There's been a lot happening in Bread land this week. I've had to hit the ground running if I'm going to get this film made as best as I can.
After the critique, it was made clear that the script still wasn't good enough, so after enjoying my Christmas break with now work, a clear head and a good mood, I have completely re-worked the script. Only about 4 characters survived into the new draft - but here's some sketches I made while writing....
Trying to re-work the Toaster gags....this has since been scrapped.
The only frame kept is the top right. Except, now the lines read "I'm ready to come out now!" from a distressed, but still cooking peice of toast in its plea to be ejected before being burned.
The top left character, with the nose-like object, being made from the bag that he is wrapped in, is our opening character. Each character has much more unique design now.
The nose man and his wife again, stuck in a traffic jam (on a conveyer belt in a supermarket) and a new flirt, the guy on the toastrack. Here's an extract from my Script Draft Analysis document:
Draft 6 – 8th-10th January, 2007
The most drastic change yet. In the last crit, it was made quite evident that the script still wasn’t working. The ideas were there, but not being executed effectively. So, I went for a radical change in all factors of the script. It couldn’t just be a matter of changing characters’ lines, as that is all I have really done so far. Instead, I wanted to start as if from scratch – to allow my mind to see how much further the idea of Bread could go. I thought about lots of different scenarios, about why bread is being interviewed, its reactions to a particular event and such like, before going back to its roots, and making it all about observational commentaries on human life through bread. I also kept a few drawings that appear like cartoons, just one drawing and a gag, which is how most of my better films have been created. Different shapes and characters grew from this and allowed me to have a far harder time with writing, and relaxed over 3 days. Just to make sure it is good. Most of the previous characters have changed, or been omitted. This draft is also shorter again, but if it means the film works better for not being slow, then I’ll take that any day. The scenes are shorter and more focused, and longer scenes have multiple characters so they can bounce off each other and keep the momentum going. The idea about the supermarket seemed the strongest idea of the new script and so used that as my lead story.
----
The most drastic change yet. In the last crit, it was made quite evident that the script still wasn’t working. The ideas were there, but not being executed effectively. So, I went for a radical change in all factors of the script. It couldn’t just be a matter of changing characters’ lines, as that is all I have really done so far. Instead, I wanted to start as if from scratch – to allow my mind to see how much further the idea of Bread could go. I thought about lots of different scenarios, about why bread is being interviewed, its reactions to a particular event and such like, before going back to its roots, and making it all about observational commentaries on human life through bread. I also kept a few drawings that appear like cartoons, just one drawing and a gag, which is how most of my better films have been created. Different shapes and characters grew from this and allowed me to have a far harder time with writing, and relaxed over 3 days. Just to make sure it is good. Most of the previous characters have changed, or been omitted. This draft is also shorter again, but if it means the film works better for not being slow, then I’ll take that any day. The scenes are shorter and more focused, and longer scenes have multiple characters so they can bounce off each other and keep the momentum going. The idea about the supermarket seemed the strongest idea of the new script and so used that as my lead story.
----
So, a new animatic has just been rendered, and will be critiqued by next week hopefully. This does put me back at least one week on my schedule, but it will be worth it if the overall film is better. Cocordantly, the new animatic is only 2.05 seconds, which makes it far easier to produce in the timeframe i have.
I'll keep you posted!
~breadmaker.
~breadmaker.
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Feasibility Study
Aloha!
Well, the feaibility study critique was on Monday...havent had a chance to put in my thoughts, but here we go:
The presentation went well. The tutors were in a stiff stance, trying by fire every idea presented. They were hard, but fair. Still, the PowerPoint came across nicely and I talked openly and with detail...people seemed engaged [most importantly] and I was optimistic.
The film had problems with the sound; i.e. the room volume controls were on full-whack so everything peaked. This is not the case with the film, the speakers were just too loud. Watching people watching your film with fingers in their ears is not a nice experience.
But, I ventured on through, un-fazed, and accepted the critique given. Basically, the script still needs work and the visuals were questionned, but I don't think it's a big issue.
All in all, I came off a lot better than others, but there's still room for improvement.
Watch this space.
~breadmaker
Well, the feaibility study critique was on Monday...havent had a chance to put in my thoughts, but here we go:
The presentation went well. The tutors were in a stiff stance, trying by fire every idea presented. They were hard, but fair. Still, the PowerPoint came across nicely and I talked openly and with detail...people seemed engaged [most importantly] and I was optimistic.
The film had problems with the sound; i.e. the room volume controls were on full-whack so everything peaked. This is not the case with the film, the speakers were just too loud. Watching people watching your film with fingers in their ears is not a nice experience.
But, I ventured on through, un-fazed, and accepted the critique given. Basically, the script still needs work and the visuals were questionned, but I don't think it's a big issue.
All in all, I came off a lot better than others, but there's still room for improvement.
Watch this space.
~breadmaker
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Evaluation
Aloha!
Well, the deadline for all my pre-production is almost here, and I've been busy the last few days just pooling everything togetether into a presentable state. It's all going fine and I'm happy with what's come out so far.
I have a few more character designs (drafted) but blogger refuses to let me upload them today. So, what I will do instead is deliver a copy of my Evaluation here, finish up the presentation and DVD for Monday's Feasibility Study Critique...and I'll be back on here to offer my thoughts and direction after that!
EVALUATION:
I have continued with the same idea that was presented in my negotiated proposal. This idea was received very well and I was confident I could deliver what I had proposed. I talked this over with lecturers, and prepared for the initial Animatic critique.
I began by studying Cartoon Modern by Amid Amidi, a book concerning the styles of 1950’s animators, as recommended at my initial proposal. I also followed my proposed avenues of research, which is documented in my production sketchbook.
James Manning also proposed that I should try new characters and allow the Animatic at this stage to be much longer than intended, to get a good overall critique on my ideas.
The film was considered too long and slow, plus some voices were not as funny as others. In response to this, I recorded some new ‘scratch’ recordings and then trimmed the length of the Animatic. This was a significant edit, reducing the screen time from 4mins 15secs to 2:55. I achieved this by eliminating the characters that were found least funny by the audience, such as the French Stick and the Bread Roll, and edited out lines that were not required, thus tightening the script also. This was an imperative process and one that makes me feel a lot better about the film. I went and experimented, even though they did not work particularly well.
Now that the Animatic had confirmed which characters I would be further developing, I took to making more designs and using textures of real bread, instead of block colour. This was also suggested by James early on. This approach seemed daunting at first, but I have managed to create a compromise of my cartoony-style, mixed with real-life textures. Against the 1950’s style backgrounds, the characters sometimes seem disjointed, but I am blending them to make them work.
My tests have received good comments overall, after being made available on YouTube and my blog. These tests proved how subtle the animation in this production needs to be, and although there are mistakes in both, they work well enough for me to feel positive I can achieve what I have set out to do. I have not received many comments on my blog since the first few weeks, but hope that it will be more vital next semester.
I am confident that this film can function well in entertaining an audience, due to the response to my Animatic thus far. I feel that I can direct the voice actors well enough to get their best performance from them and bring the characters to life. The animation for the Ice Cream film was achieved in under 2 weeks (ahead of schedule) and was some of the most difficult, but effective animation I’ve ever done. I am sure I can also complete this film to such a high standard. My compositing abilities and technical knowledge will not cause me problems in post production either. Until now, my weakness has rested in music. I love music, performing and listening, yet it has never quite been done correctly in my films, so I will not have any, except in the title screen, which has already been recorded to my satisfaction.
Andrew S. Gordon
December 4th 2006
Well, the deadline for all my pre-production is almost here, and I've been busy the last few days just pooling everything togetether into a presentable state. It's all going fine and I'm happy with what's come out so far.
I have a few more character designs (drafted) but blogger refuses to let me upload them today. So, what I will do instead is deliver a copy of my Evaluation here, finish up the presentation and DVD for Monday's Feasibility Study Critique...and I'll be back on here to offer my thoughts and direction after that!
EVALUATION:
I have continued with the same idea that was presented in my negotiated proposal. This idea was received very well and I was confident I could deliver what I had proposed. I talked this over with lecturers, and prepared for the initial Animatic critique.
I began by studying Cartoon Modern by Amid Amidi, a book concerning the styles of 1950’s animators, as recommended at my initial proposal. I also followed my proposed avenues of research, which is documented in my production sketchbook.
James Manning also proposed that I should try new characters and allow the Animatic at this stage to be much longer than intended, to get a good overall critique on my ideas.
The film was considered too long and slow, plus some voices were not as funny as others. In response to this, I recorded some new ‘scratch’ recordings and then trimmed the length of the Animatic. This was a significant edit, reducing the screen time from 4mins 15secs to 2:55. I achieved this by eliminating the characters that were found least funny by the audience, such as the French Stick and the Bread Roll, and edited out lines that were not required, thus tightening the script also. This was an imperative process and one that makes me feel a lot better about the film. I went and experimented, even though they did not work particularly well.
Now that the Animatic had confirmed which characters I would be further developing, I took to making more designs and using textures of real bread, instead of block colour. This was also suggested by James early on. This approach seemed daunting at first, but I have managed to create a compromise of my cartoony-style, mixed with real-life textures. Against the 1950’s style backgrounds, the characters sometimes seem disjointed, but I am blending them to make them work.
My tests have received good comments overall, after being made available on YouTube and my blog. These tests proved how subtle the animation in this production needs to be, and although there are mistakes in both, they work well enough for me to feel positive I can achieve what I have set out to do. I have not received many comments on my blog since the first few weeks, but hope that it will be more vital next semester.
I am confident that this film can function well in entertaining an audience, due to the response to my Animatic thus far. I feel that I can direct the voice actors well enough to get their best performance from them and bring the characters to life. The animation for the Ice Cream film was achieved in under 2 weeks (ahead of schedule) and was some of the most difficult, but effective animation I’ve ever done. I am sure I can also complete this film to such a high standard. My compositing abilities and technical knowledge will not cause me problems in post production either. Until now, my weakness has rested in music. I love music, performing and listening, yet it has never quite been done correctly in my films, so I will not have any, except in the title screen, which has already been recorded to my satisfaction.
Andrew S. Gordon
December 4th 2006
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