m15018liamarmstrong - Tumblr blog

[m15018liamarmstrong]

Animation Test:

[m15018liamarmstrong]

Animation Premise

You peek from behind bushes as a stickman wanders the wilderness, looking for a jewel which he then digs up. After, it starts glowing and creates a blinding flash and suddenly, he’s nowhere to be found.

[m15018liamarmstrong]

16/7/23

To-do List:

- Figure out the premise of my animation (a simple narrative to match the time constraints) - Practice animating stickmen (walk and run cycles using photographs as backgrounds)

[m15018liamarmstrong]

Re-Sit Work Above This Point

[m15018liamarmstrong]

Camera Basics:

White Balance/Colour Temp:

Setting white balance = showing the camera what white should be in the image

Different light sources require different white balances

Whites can appear very blue or orange (depending on light sources)

Setting the White Balance:

Most if not all typical cameras like those on phones automatically set the white balance, which is often wrong. 

Canon Camera White Balance Setup:

1. Put a pure white object up to the camera 2. Position the camera so that the light bounces off it and into the lens 3. Take a photo 4. Tell the camera to use that photo as the light balance

Exposure:

Exposure is how much the camera lens is exposed to the light, i.e. how open the lens is. Expose too much and the picture will be too bright, expose too little and it’ll be too dark.

^ ISO, Aperture and Shutter Speed

Shoot in Manual mode or the camera will automatically change the way the image appears via settings

In order to gain the correct exposure, balance these three settings until the indicator shows at the middle of the levels meter.

ISO (Film Speed)

ISO is the speed at which light is reacted to by to film stock.

ISO film (100) = bright sunshine

ISO film (200) = daylight

ISO film (400) = overcast

Digital cameras copy this system but allow for much higher ISO levels (3200 - 25,600) but at the cost of the image looking grainy. Images like this are able to be captured in low light with minimum flash.

Aperture:

Aperture is how much the camera lens widens to let the light in. They are measured with a function called “f stops”

- Low F stop (2.8) = aperture fully opened, lets in a lot of light and it’s easier to gain depth of field + higher shutter speeds can be utilized - High F stop (32) = aperture opened slightly, barely any light enters camera and depth of filed is not possible + low shutter speeds required

Shutter Speed:

Shutter speed tells us how long the shutters are open for before taking the picture, and are measured in fractions of a second.

Shutter Speed for Video: - 2x frame rate - 25fps = 1/50 of a second

Focal Length:

Distance between the lens and the sensor on the camera and is typically measured in mm. It’s important to note down what lens and focal lens that I have used in order to enter that data into Nuke. 

- 18mm = wide angle, takes in more of the scene within the frame, and no blur - 70mm = narrow angle, less of the scene is within frame and there’s a large contrast between foreground and background focus, combined with lower aperture an extreme depth of field can be achieved.

Camera Movement Notes:

- Keep movements small - No zoom - Storyboard affectively to avoid sloppy camera movements - Locked off shots make it easier to apply visual effects - Justify each camera movement - Mess around with the camera tripod, be creative

Recording Audio:

Use what equipment you have available to you, if you have an audio level control adjust the incoming sounds to be louder or quieter

[m15018liamarmstrong]

Animation Concept:

Inspired by early YouTube animations and live action content that contains digitally drawn elements or vice versa, I’d like to create a stickman animation interacting with the outside environment somewhere forested, perhaps he’s looking for something?   Furthermore I’d like to essentially draw over the footage and replace some live action elements in the “set” with drawings, perhaps also some visual effects.

Location Options:

In Newcastle, there are several green areas that would be perfect for this:

Heaton Park: This location seems to be quite a big green park and it’s not too far from where I live, so it would be quite convenient, that being said I can’t find any information that states that filming is permitted here, so I should look at other options.

Ouseburn Viaduct:

I’ve been to this before, it’s a small footpath passing around the Ouseburn Viaduct, which connects up to the City stadium and also goes down to the river. This is even closer and would suit my needs a lot more than the previous locations, as I know where abouts I would film. 

[m15018liamarmstrong]

Live-action + Animation: Analysis

The Enchanted Drawing:

The earliest recorded live-action footage featuring animation was The Enchanted Drawing, in which the idea that that frames painted on the using a sped-up technique that we now know as a time-lapse created the illusion of movement, which was almost magical and enchanted, hence the name.

What this immediately forces me to think of is the disparity between showing the process of animating within the animation (the man drawing the frames) and only showing the animation itself, there's a certain degree of experimentation that can be had by pulling back the curtain. In the times when this was created, this was a new concept and the rules were not yet established enough to break, but nowadays a technique like this could be explore to convey a certain feel within a production. 

Animator Vs Animation:

In the early days of video sharing, an animator by the name of Alan Becker pioneered a trend of animations that utilized compositing as a means to show a stick-figure character breaking the bonds of the animation software it was in and seemingly “coming to life” as a drawing, this series was known as Animator vs Animation and was a fond part of my childhood.

The process of which it took to make this involves taking the program that the drawings are made upon, and using it as a backdrop, while also cutting out and manipulating elements of it so it seems as though the character is interacting with the environment. I could take this into my own work by having a character of some kind break out of the animation software and into someplace else, and maybe break down the techniques Alan Becker used by attempting them for myself in animation tests.

Who Framed Rodger Rabbit:

Another facet of combining drawn and real life footage into the same composite is the lighting, shown here by this frame from Who Framed Rodger Rabbit. The highlights and shadow cell shading is done with the lighting of the actual scene in mind, and that is what I believe creates a convincing atmosphere where the cartoon characters seem to be present. The two characters look like they’re part of the same world, despite being so different from one another. 

With this in mind the character that I will ensure any drawn characters/assets and live action footage is correctly merged, so that the lighting looks the same. I also think I may use this traditional cartoony method of cell shading as it very much lends itself to my own personal style. 

The Lego Movie:

The majority of this movie is in stop motion, with a brief moment where the film plays around with the concept of having the main character break the fourth wall, but still stay within the confines of the diegesis in a very similar way that Animator vs Animation does, once the character breaks that fourth wall that narrative is then contained within another wall. It does this by including stop motion elements from the rest of the film and incorporating them into a live-action scene where the character is depicted interacting Will Farrell playing The Man Upstairs. In that aspect I suppose this film fuses ideas from both Who Framed Rodger Rabbit and Animator vs Animation, and is a prime example of how different film-makers can defy conventions to mess with the audience or create a certain feeling/effect. 

Summary:

I conclusion, I feel that a project that explores breaking the fourth-wall with drawn and live-action elements is what I’d like to pursue, following the brief this means I need to figure out the following:

- Invent a concept within the technical confines of brief - Pick a filming location  - Figure out how and where to add a tracked shot and at least one moving shot

[m15018liamarmstrong]

13/3/23

To-dos:

- Research live action film/animation that incorporates animated sequences  + The Enchanted Drawing  + Animator vs Animation  + Who Framed Rodger Rabbit  + The Lego Movie  - Come up with a premise for my animations - Take notes on camera basics - Touch bases with Gary and get a run-down of how 3D tracking works in nuke

[m15018liamarmstrong]

Lighting Conditions Study

Analysis:

Pictured above are photos I took from a local footpath near where I live, in Ouseburn. The lighting compared to from night to day seems extremely different, in the day the natural light makes everything clear and easy to make out, whereas at night the lack of light immediately makes the area seem more eerie, and have a lot more contrast when spots of light are introduced, such the street lamp. 

[m15018liamarmstrong]

The Toybox: Composite Analysis

Source Material:

Production Breakdown:

Frame Chosen:

Shot Analysis: The creative direction of this shot intended the footage to be displayed as though it was from an old-fashioned advertisement by the PlayTime Co company of the Poppy Playtime in-game world. In order for this to be the case, the set was built and separate footage of the dialogue was filmed, then the IRL footage was warped in post to fit the dimensions of the TV prop. Alongside that some colour correction, then grading was applied to amplify the lighting in the original footage, as well as a major adjustment to the contrast for a dramatic feel.  Perhaps I could record some of my own live footage to be edited and changed for my composite?  - Footage of an environment for use of a background - Footage of actors moving around the camera - Close up video footage to be used as an animated texture

[m15018liamarmstrong]

What is Compositing?

Source: CG Spectrum

Compositing in the general sense is taking one or more mediums/sources and modifying them so that they fit together. In animation we composite to be visually distinct, whereas in film, it is often done to bring to the screen what otherwise might not be possible. In essence, it is a combination of techniques that help a time-based production come to life. Composite as a word comes from Latin, it means ‘to bring together’

Compositing For Animation:

The role of a compositor in animation is to take all the bits and pieces at the end of production, and bring it all together cohesively into a moving picture, typically with VFX techniques and clean-up.

Research Sources:

https://filmlifestyle.com/what-is-compositing/

- Google

[m15018liamarmstrong]

12/2/23

To-dos:

Talk a bit about what compositing is and how its used in animation

Analyse shots in The Toybox music video by The Stupendium, to explore how it was composited

Post day and night images from Ouseburn, then comment on the difference