LAUAN503 - Weekly 11

Tale Telling

This week we are continuing shooting. Issues occurred were when we wanted to borrow some equipment from the Photography or AV suite because of the Christmas loans that were already in place.

Other obstacle was that Zhama and I both have job outside of the University what did not help with the CoP intern deadline and pressure of finishing the Stop Motion by the end of this week.

However, we did our best to distribute the scenes so that we could be shooting 'non-stop'. :)

We had to adjust some scenes because of the limitations of the equipment and the puppet, as well as time. Also we left the blood scene to be the last as the paint imitating the blood would stay permanently on the set.

When I was finishing off one of the scenes animating, for the sake of time efficiency I also set up the next scene for the next day that was Zhama's to animate. Yet we did not have the Interviewer puppet that was going to show in the shot. So I made this tripod-puppet. Because when I made a rough head and tried positioning it within the set, it was too close and obstructing the scene and I was not sure how to hold it in place. Using the tripod allowed me to move it around and adjust the height. Also it was flexible for Zhama to move it around if he needed in the next scene.

Tripod-puppet mock-up

Tripod puppet mock-up

In the end, we finished shooting before the Christmas break in just under a week time. :)
Zhama will be doing the post production editing and sound and I will be focusing on the production log. 

LAUAN503 - Weekly 10

 Tale Telling

During Saturday last week and Monday this week I have finished off effects on the walls (Thanks Damian for introducing me to the technique of how to do this) and made the burger and posters.

Foam for the sandwich

Finished sandwich made out of foam, plasticine, hot glue gun and acrylic paints. Napkin made out of tissue paper with wire armature. 

Painting the posters. 

Dry brush technique with acrylic paint and streaks with wash paint.

I feel extremely stressed out as we are already super behind and the 2nd remake of the puppet that we tested against the set did not have enough motion in it because of the bulkiness of silicone.

Testing spotlight

However, finally I could test some spot lighting on the set with the puppet. What made me realise that we will need couple of filler lights and really good position of the lights overall to avoid unwanted shadows because of the scale lights vs. set.

Harsh shadows and over-exposed parts on the puppet - one light

Bad shadow on the piano keys and shadow casted by the puppet - one light

However, Zhama was very swift and remade the puppet in plasticine in only one day. I mean well done! :)

That meant I could finally set up the camera and lights on Thursday and we could start shooting the first scene on the same day.

The issues that we faced during the set up were mainly the position of the table so that we could access the set from all required angles and distances with our camera. We moved around every piece of equipment away from its original place before we found the perfect layout. Second issue was that the cable that connected the live view from the camera had to reach the PC. So we ended up moving the table with the PC to suit the position of the camera.

Also some of the equipment did not worked as I hoped. We ended up lending extra light and 2 light stands to provide enough filler lights. Also, the camera that we were using had poor contact with the lens and crushed us several times in the middle and at the beginning of shooting a scene. We managed to get a new lens which was also a zoom lens - that made some scenes easier to shoot for sure. 

Testing different camera angles and the lights.

With the main studio light on.

The final set up of the lights was like a tight spiderweb. Too tight to fall if tripped over but hard to move or adjust. since we had at least 3 lights and a camera tripod packed in such a small space at the same time. 

Me setting up the lights

Set, camera, lights, animator, story boards on the wall for reference :)

Set up of the lights and detachable wall taken off to allow for the first scene and animator's access to the puppet. 

LAUAN503 - Weekly 9

Tale telling

This week we are meant to start shooting. I still have to make the props and finish off the set.
I have finished painting all the tiles, and using glossy lacquer to finish it off with more gloss for reflection.

The floor and piano making in progress

I glued all the lolli sticks and used emulsion paint to paint the walls and gouache paint for the wooden floor.

Making the piano keys

I have finally decided how to make the piano keys, using milliput and black & white glass paint.

Piano legs

I have made the piano legs that can be screwed onto the piano with adjustable hight. To make it fit the puppet perfectly. However, due to the nature of the material used for the base (thick mount card) it was bending a little making the piano stand not straight. So I had to hot glue gun the legs at the desired height. The legs are made of combination of milliput, wooden sticks and screws. filled down to shape and painted with brown glass paint.

Work in progress with a little helper

I have also made the chair and found out that the glass paint works well as a wood stain effect too - saved me buying one.

Set at the Stop Motion studio space

I moved the set to University on the 5th, rescheduled starting date for shooting. mainly so that we can start setting up the lights and equipment while the wall effects (as highlighted at the students presentations that there is a big need for this) and rest of the props can be finished.

The silicone puppet was taken out of the mould on this day. However, Zhama chose to remake the puppet for a good reason - better functionality and aesthetics. We did not get to test this puppet against the set on this occassion. So I am continuing on improving the set and props for Tuesday when the second puppet should be ready.

LAUAN503 - Weekly 8

Tale Telling

One other decision I was facing was the material for the walls. The stables/ barns I have been to, usually had stone or brick walls. Whereas typical symbolic barn would look something like a red house with white support cladding. I was for long tempted to have white, plastered walls but I could not quite imagine what material would be suitable with the short time left for any tests. It should not be too porous, to be painted. Etc.

In the end I decided that recycling old boxes into the walls will be sufficient with some extra support. So I ordered the lolli sticks to use as cladding. I had issues with payment details I weren't aware of at first and so it took a few tries ordering until it came through couple of days delayed. In the meantime I found some lolli sticks in a shop in the city that allowed me to test the technique.

I ended up glueing down over 1000 lolli sticks on the walls and the floor, clipping off both ends of each so that it would not be round.

As I tested last week, the tiles itself took the paint nicely. The glass paint has the advantage that it blends the brush marks before it dries as well as being glossy. Two layers of paint are sufficient to cover the surface nicely :).

However making the tiles itself was complicated. The flat I live in is naturally cold and does not heat up well. So I opted to use the radiator for fast drying. This shrank and curled up the tiles a little and that is the main reason I had to sand down the imperfections. However it was still more time efficient then letting these dry naturally in such a cold place.

Adding walls to the piano armature

Fitting the tiles, ready to be taken off and painted white.

Glueing down the tiles and painting over these with glass paint

Sanding down tiles to fit the gaps

Lolli sticks on cardboard walls and trimmings, 

LAUAN503 - Weekly 7

Tale Telling

This week, I was working on the scale and testing out the materials. The group has fallen behind on time target already since the change of the script and MAF week, what reflects at the group presentations. We have only just shown the 2D section of Briony's animatic to the class with a first draft of the sound that I put together. We still need to put together the Stop Motion animatic but with all the catching up and the other modules it is being pushed aside. Although it being Stop Motion, with the clear storyboards we have, I think we can get away with it for now as long as the set and puppet are being build and we have something to animate :).

At the moment I am counting on a quick shoot once the set, props and puppet are done. Finally, I had a chance to see the first mock-up of the puppet what set my mind to peace about the scale of the set and the piano that will stand grand in the middle. Originally I have booked the Stop Motion studio from the 3rd December for 2 weeks. But that has changed now for the 5th December. That is only just over a week away. I hope I can charge my batteries and make the set happen in the short time. 

Working out the scale of the set.

Rolling the clay for a test batch of tiles.

My dog's har got about everywhere, probably would not recommend to build the set in the same room.

Test tiles and piano armature tested against the first puppet mock-up in the scale. 

Figuring out the height of the piano to fit the size of the puppet.

Glueing the tiles and sanding down any bigger imperfections. 

Research 2

Stop Motion - dealing with limitations of the technique

Appropriate size

The size of a set is important not only so that it can fit into the room. But also, the set up of lighting, camera access and access of the animator to all moving parts is crucial. At the Manchester Animation Festival 2018, Barry Purves has shared several amusing stories from his experience as an animator with various sets.

At MAF 2018 Tim Allen, Key Animator for the Isle of Dogs &  Roy Bell, Head of Painting department, also explained how the perspective was used to trick the scale of the set in this film. By manipulating the size of texture and tricking the viewer to see bigger scape. This technique can be seen at 1:30 min.

Whilst also showing that if something is not in the shot it does not have to be done/made. For example, no point of making a roof in a room if it will not be in the shot, will restrict camera/lights. But the shadows a ceiling would naturally cast on the walls must be considered as important or if no importance to the story aesthetics.

For my set, I want to have detachable walls. Not only as I will be likely building the set at home where I can work until late hours and to allow transportation of finished piece. But also to allow camera access from all required angles as well as the lighting access. Since the set is not going to be big enough to contain the lights, or the camera in itself.

In the future I would like to try the perspective tricks, considering the size of our Stop Motion studios it seems handy. :)

LAUAN503 - Weekly 6

Tale Telling
.
Manchester Animation Festival week

 I was making some air drying clay 'Business Cards' for MAF and it occurs to me, I can use it in the set build if I go for the tiled floor. Pixel was keeping an eye on me.

This week was a little different to the previous ones. 

• Monday started with my intern. as usual. 
• Tuesday - Thursday I were away at the Manchester Animation Festival. 
• Friday was a presentations & feedback day with nothing new to show from my side in compare to previous' week's work.

This whole time we could not have a solid group meeting due to 2 of us being away at the MAF and that did not move the group forward. 

At MAF on the other hand, I was going to various talks and tried to gain information to help me out with this group project and myself as a starting professional. My favourite was the Making of - Ile Of Dogs, as it exposed the audience to so much knowledge about making Stop Motion in that particular style with hints and tips that can be applied accross other styles too. 

Research 1

Stop Motion - Aesthetics and Materials

'This Magnificent Cake' by the Beast Animation is a good example of materials' textures creating working aesthetics for a set. Where materials to create certain look may have nothing in common with what the materials would be in real life. Yet, the world they created feels so real. It is using the texture in appropriate scale to the object far from its original purpose.

Similarly, the cling film water or the cotton clouds in fight scene in Isle of Dogs feature animation described in depth at the Manchester Animation Festival 2018 at the talk by Tim Allen and and Roy Bell, are rather nice scenes to watch.

What it means is that in animation the maker has to create an illusion of something that cannot be physically there in a frame-by-frame shot. Because the real life object cannot be manipulated frame by frame, it has to be a substitute that will create the illusion or will carry the same meaning through visual expression. Often the makes have to experiment to find the right solution.

<https://filmmakermagazine.com/105130-cotton-balls-cling-film-and-unashamed-composites-dp-tristan-oliver-on-isle-of-dogs/#.XDVz7FX7TIU>

<http://www.beastanimation.com/what-we-do/>

LAUAN503 - Weekly 5

Tale Telling

Ceramics Workshop continues...

I am putting together initial ideas for textures and materials as I still feel uncertain about the scale.

Figure 1. - textures/materials ideas

Figure 2. - pose/scale ideas

Feedback from the group - the floor and walls to be wooden. Further research into that will be done. I can also see potential in symbolism on this set, e.g. checquered floor to add the barn a bit of luxury/evil feel - such floor would not be normally found in a barn.

Figure 3. - scale tests/brain storm

Decided to start a shared group Google Drive, hoping it will encourage access to all stages of making for everyone to everything.

LAUAN503 - Weekly 4

Tale Telling

Figure 1. Ceramics Workshop, Photo by me

This week was Ceramics Casting Workshop which was good in a way as it provided some space to breathe, expand my skills as a professional and it was fun.

I was feeling pretty lost with the project. My overthinking mind switched on and was holding me back from getting on with initial ideas for the set.

I knew the set was in a barn but I felt like the atmosphere & lighting directions were not there even though it should come from me at this stage. This would determine the use of windows on the set's walls etc. . I found myself loosing hold of things since the idea we went for was not my vision, nor was solidified down in a script for everyone to work from.

Figure 2. Initial idea for set construction - removable walls to allow camera access and shooting from different angles. 

Also, I keep worrying about how the puppet and set will click together. Understandably, I do not want to remake the set or have to have the puppet re-scaled. I was given rough measurements for the puppet now. So I am choosing to focus on the scale of the set and do the props. once the puppet's scale is final.

LAUAN503 - Weekly 3

Tale Telling

Figure 1. Groups's contribution in creating Storyboard draft

Having some time to sink the idea in our heads and highlight the flaws, this week Briony and Zhama came to me with a brand new idea. It was clear that this idea had a good flow. It offered smashing implicit narrative on top of the more obvious story. Therefore we decided to bring it forward. 

Figure 2. Initial Story board

The group was keen on trying different media and so we decided to use the structure of the story to do Stop motion and 2D Digital Animation broadening everyone's skills within the group.

LAUAN503 - Weekly 2

Tale Telling

This week we had 3 meetings. 

Figure 1. - My mood board 

From the previous week, we all worked on script drafts and mood boards so we met to work on finalisation of this.

Figure 1. - My edited-after-group-meeting script idea

It was challenging to be able to compromise and let go of own ideas. I also found it hard to present my idea to the group in a way that they could pick the right elements from it (e.g. scene selection, mood, actual story etc.).

However we worked through this, taking turns in explaining our ideas and why we think it is the right one until we got a fair mix from each:

• Initial idea on soundtrack that would drive the whole story style - Zhama
• Finalising Script draft - my script idea was brought forward and edited 
• Character themes ideas - Briony had some strong ideas in her mood boards and so we started thinking about character design.

Figure 2. - Character development aimed at creating audience's empathy for our characters.

Then course lecture sparked new ideas and our team got spontaneously together to discuss our project. Learning the importance of 7 new principles that we needed to consider when planning the storyboards and character design - 7 principles of acting.  This information will potentially be very useful for my CoP research this year too, so that made me happy. :) 

LAUAN503 - Weekly 1

Tale Telling

Figure 1. - Dices

To be put into a group in random, I was quite nervous; not knowing how I will be able to compromise when it comes to selection of animation technique & medium choices for the group project. 

Figure 2. - My short story idea

Creative dice were rolled Figure 1. I found this a useful process to kick-start a story and maybe will be adding the dice on my Christmas list. :)

Based on these, I created a short story. I got nervous presenting it to the class Figure 2 but I noticed an improvement. speaking in front of people. Zhama and Briony, my team, were my competition at this stage as only one story idea was chosen but it did not seem to create any disagreements. So after the vote count, Briony's idea went forward. It is about 'The Complicated Life of a Cannibal'.

At this stage, I was chosen to be the director of our team, It will be a challenge and I know I need to keep very organised for this one, especially as I struggled to keep on top of everything last year.