https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UN3dpnGV9eMNAI_QCSoOs01k8YzeBTnevfV83UKPZlQ/edit?usp=sharing 

Above link is a document compiling all the information and progress throughout this project along with an in depth explanation to my choices made throughout.

Artist research, Writing and animation research can also be found in this document.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLnblFMhXmcfpr_QAqQJxf6OcnuCEaX1Qy 

Above link directs you to a YouTube playlist showing the progress of the animation and the final video. (individual links for all videos can be found in the document along with an analysis or explanation to my choices or my experience as I was working on that specific scene.)

Overall I found this project very fun and rewarding, Although I had a few difficulties throughout I am still very satisfied with the result. My biggest issue throughout and especially at the end was handling time, I struggled telling how long a specific seen should or would last meaning I added in a lot of scenes expecting them to only be a second or two long when in reality they may have been up to 10 seconds long, this means I did go over the 30 second mark by a lot and I I didn’t spend as much time on the final few scenes as I could have if I managed my time better.

I also struggled finding references for the animations and had to take a few videos myself to accurately portray the moments I wanted. Looking to make the process smoother and easier I would spend more time on the planning phase and show a bit more constraint when adding in new scenes, this would help with the hesitation of starting a new scene and would limit how much additional content I could add meaning it would be easier to stick to a specific time length.

Although I did encounter quite a lot of problems I  think I was able to competently tackle most of them and was able to include a good amount of techniques I had never used before and some difficult movements. The most difficult technique I tried was moving the background to make a character appear to be moving as it required a lot of timing precision and even when I did complete it I found it difficult to recognize if the movement was acceptable by myself.

Along with timing struggles I also found it hard to depict movement as scenes without showing the whole body or motion, this made animating more time consuming. I think with further knowledge on framing and cinematography I could improve this and hopefully be able to utilize short cuts a lot more to keep a high quality of work without having to spend hours on one scene.

The following are two videos I recorded of my cats to get a reference for a specific movement (cub jumping out of the den):

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UN3dpnGV9eMNAI_QCSoOs01k8YzeBTnevfV83UKPZlQ/edit?usp=sharing 

I updated the document to add an explanation to all the changes made between the different iterations of my animations and created all of scene 1.5  and began scene 2.

Scene 1.5 includes a new action, following a cockroach and jumping after it as a transition between scene 1 and scene 2.

(Process found in document)

beginning of scene 2. Continuation of scene 1.5, change of scenery.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UN3dpnGV9eMNAI_QCSoOs01k8YzeBTnevfV83UKPZlQ/edit# (Document with all my progress)

Storyboards + Ideas

Idea #1

Actions for fox and potential scenes (Screenshots In document)

I used the following videos to see fox behaviour and so inform what sort of scenes I could add;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrSdiqp0Dpk  

https://youtu.be/XiCdBFDfUTg 

https://youtu.be/kkLtGlENAeg 

I found clips of foxes sleeping, yawning, playing, ‘laughing’ and doing their signature ‘dive’. These videos greatly affected what actions the foxes are seen doing within the story. I wanted the fox to appear as cute and vulnerable as possible so that the viewers would sympathise and truly be upset at the ending in hopes that the message would get through to them and evoke a sense of duty to protect these creatures. 

1. Mother fox breathing 
2. Baby fox wiggles snout out 
3. Baby foxes head pops out (ears are follow through action) 
4. Baby fox wiggles legs out and rolls out from Mother fox.
5. B.Fox tumbles down and sits, tail wags 
6. New scene- B.Fox looks back to see M.Fox still sleeping but moving a bit
7. B.fox jumps out of den
8. B.fox lands on all four legs but looks a bit unbalanced, gives a shake 
9. New scene- Shot of forest and path 
10. B.Fox runs down path happily exploring 
11. M.Fox wakes up and slowly opens eyes (looks very tired and groggy) 
12. M.Fox realises that B.Fox is missing, she looks around panicked. 
13. M.Fox looks out the den cautiously 
14. M.Fox hears a sound, ears perk up and she looks to the right. 
15. She cautiously approaches a bush (a shotgun is seen hidden) 
16. First person POV, the guns barrel, finger can be seen pulling the trigger 
17. Black screen 
18. B.Fox is playing in a puddle or pulling a branch and is surprised by a loud noise

Finalised storyboard images in document

Feelings & Atmosphere: Initially cute, friendly, wholesome – midpoint, some actions a bit of suspense – endpoint, shock, sudden, tragic

Characters:fox Cub & fox Adult

Setting & Start of first part: starts in the den, mother fox is sleeping, cub pops out and runs out of the den.

Second: Small cub adventure- cub sniffs plants, rolls around, plays in puddles etc, very carefree and happy, just exploring the world.

Third: Mother fox wakes up and realises cub is missing, she panics, looks around to find the cub and then leaves the den

Fourth: mother cautiously pops her head out of the den to locate her cub and hears some rustling in the bushes, she assumes this is her missing cub and approaches the bush.

Fifth: Mother fox is directly face to face with the bush, switches to first person POV, we see the barrel of a gun and the  screen cuts to black. (sound would be a loud bang the drags onto an echo for the next scene)

Sixth: Cub is spooked by the sound and looks confused, they run back to the front of their den and look around for their mum.

EndPoint: Cub sits down helplessly, cuts to backshot and the cub being enveloped in a large shadow, the cub looks back and the screen once again cuts to black 

Music: Will start as happy and childish and end as tense and scary.

Idea #2

Feelings & Atmosphere: Self-awareness, discomfort, psychological (if can) 

Wolf: Stereotypical wolf, dark fur but not too dark, sharp teeth and glowing eyes (Puss in boots as a reference for wolf) 

Sheep suit: Possibly demented/ ill fitting, draped, off and odd, covers him up but very clear something is wrong with this ‘sheep’, whether you can see the teeth through the snout or its very baggy, maybe stitches to sew multiple sheeps together 

Storyboard Images in document 

Setting & Start of first part: It starts off slightly backstage, right at the stairs at the stage, so the wolf is hidden away, whether he is in the sheeps clothing or not, he can’t be seen by anyone. (Possible way to add atmosphere is make it all black/white/grey and only colour stuff you wanna highlight (red eyes, blue eyes, the glow of the phone, the banner, etc) 

Second: Things he might do, wolf licking his lips, fixing his tie, fluffing up his fur, if he’s not in his sheep suit, doing up the zipper of his sheep suit 

Third: Heavy steps up the stairs, followed by creaks, three steps max, then finally walking up to the stage middle, where it zooms out, or maybe looks across and shows the sheep, then zooms in on the wolf smiling 

Fourth: Tapping mic, overlapping of wolf in sheep’s clothing (the audience), the wolf goes “bahhh” and everybody cheers 

Fifth: Zooms out with a projector that shows a slaughterhouse and a banner that maybe says vote ‘Happy sheep farm’ 

Sixth: Exits stage, zooms out, people might be clapping or looking at each other, happily, you can see the happy sheep farm banner, the banner swishing in the wind 

Seventh: He takes the sheep clothing off and if depending on if have time, he looks at his phone and books a visit to a restaurant that sells lamb

the end point: A lot of politicians are wolves in sheep’s clothing who will hide behind the same mask of those who look upon them in hopes of change, only to cause more damnation after promising something far better 

Also could make a second point that the majority are blind to things that are wrong when presented with the idea of something good. (Basically people are less likely to question odd things (like how the wolf looks) because they are being promised something good)) 

It also looks like he is only opening the slaughter house to fuel his own greed (hunger for lamb)

Digital (second iteration) Storyboard Images in document 

Main Idea 

Chosen Idea—The fox

Character: Fox cub

Feelings I want to communicate: Young, carefree, mischievous, cute

Location: Forrest, lively, mystical (after midpoint it becomes creepy, lonely, scary)

-References and research:

-overall mood board:

-Backgrounds/style mood board:

-Similar objects / creatures mood board:  (4 mood boards in document)

Shape language: Big eyes normally communicate cuteness, round shapes are friendly and non-threatening 

(In Character creation section in document)

-Character line up: 

-Character thumbnails / silhouettes: 

-Proportion shifts: 

-Turn around: 

To do list

Key:  (Colour-coded in document)

WIP

Done 

Needs more / finetuning 

Not started

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UN3dpnGV9eMNAI_QCSoOs01k8YzeBTnevfV83UKPZlQ/edit# (Document with progress & individual video links with screenshots in animating section)

Animating

Animation progress

Video 1: a quadruped practice walk cycle.

Video 2: Mother fox breathing, starting point of scene 1 .

Video 3: combination of M.Fox breathing and the cub popping out from M.fox’s tail.

Video 4: Layout and general idea for cub rolling out and falling to the ground, very rough.

Video 5: Rolling animation is cleaned up (both the actual images and intersecting lines) but the image is too close to the bottom of the screen cutting of the rest of the action.

Video 6: Rolling animation is further polished and the subject is moved back to give more room. end of animation is changed from the cub going ‘splat’ then standing up to the cub falling and finishing the roll on a sit.

Video 7: finished the roll animation and added some secondary actions (blink and ear flop) to create a more lively creature, to avoid mirroring I had the paws land at different times, this also made the action more lifelike and less robotic.

Video 8: Animation remains the same but a background is add (the foxes den).

Animation research

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujr3OVgKK8Q  Animals animation by “TheAliveful” 

This short animation made by “TheAliveful” demonstrates wildlife from all eras interacting with each other. I like the animation style as it is similar to my own and could be used as a guide. It has rough, sketchy line art mixed with a water-colour styled colouring. I enjoy the simple backgrounds as they highlight the animals as the main subjects. The animation focuses on the movements and fluidity of animals and  transitions, the transitions make the whole video look smooth and the connection between scenes with separate animals appear natural.  

Although not within the brief of my assignment, I find that music elevates animations, bringing them to life and making scenes more impactful. 

I love the movement of the animals and their transitions, they are av

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9dZQelULDk&t=5s  Happiness by Steve Cutts

Happiness is a short animated film by Steve Cutts, it mirrors our society and the pursuit of happiness in misplaced interests. It represents our society through rats and constant advertising that leads to consumerism. Every time the rats give into the ads and buy products they get more and more unhappy, they are betrayed by the messages in the ads. The message is very direct but somewhat concealed by the replacement of humans with animals. I like the storytelling and the ability to communicate a narrative through animals and actions.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vppaBE1GBKw The Dog by ARA studios

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6V4Lf1V1130  The Dog- Draft 

The Dog is a short animated film that depicts a Dog with a purpose. The film is in black and white which would save a lot of time but still maintains a clean polished look. I feel that the narrative of this story is quite similar to one of my ideas and the tragic ending evokes strong emotions in the viewer. I think this would be very beneficial in a video for a cause as it creates a very memorable experience and long lasting effect. 

I like the sound effects in this film as it feels like it is from the dog’s perspective, you can hear the tone of the people but the words are incomprehensible, through sound and visuals we are put in the dogs position, the dog is clearly distressed but unable to communicate adding to the distress. 

I found the draft for this animated film which shows the storyboarding phase and the rough outline for the animation. This video simplifies the animation greatly and exposes the keyframes. I will be using this as a template for laying out my own storyboards. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pIH02B1bfo Old fur new teeth by Hannah Stevens

Storyboarding research

In the exposition stage, the characters, location and situation are set up, this stage provides the viewer with the necessary information to engage in the story. The second stage is the confrontational stage, the characters face a dilemma, challenge or complication which they have to overcome. The end of stage two is the climax, the characters are faced with a crisis, this marks the turning point for the series. The third stage is the falling action, the crisis is resolved, the story goes down, the audience’s mood calms down and the story finally concludes.   

Animation Techniques

1. Squash and stretch
2. Anticipation
3. Staging
4. Straight-ahead action and pose-to-pose
5. Follow through and overlapping action
6. Slow in and slow out
7. Arc
8. Secondary action
9. Timing
10. Exaggeration
11. Solid drawing
12. Appeal

Frames

Eadweard Muybridge was an English photographer, best known for his pioneering work in photographic studies of motion. He created an animation of a galloping horse by setting up multiple cameras to capture the different positions in the stride. Muybridge’s animal locomotion is made up of 12 still images shown in rapid succession, this  is the basis of animation and frames. Looking into Muybridge helped me understand the concept of animation as a whole and how to effectively use frames. 

References

https://academicjournals.org/journal/ERR/article-full-text-pdf/209F39A6605 

http://barrypomeroy.com/blog/consumer-misery-in-steve-cutts-happiness/ (Happiness analysis) 

https://lesley.edu/article/the-12-principles-of-animation 12 principles of animation

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1UN3dpnGV9eMNAI_QCSoOs01k8YzeBTnevfV83UKPZlQ/edit?usp=sharing (document with all my progress)

Week one

Week two

(Warm-up)