For this assignment, the brief was to create a short animation anywhere from 8-11 seconds in 3D or 2D. Since I had been focused on 3D heavily this semester with other projects I wanted to do this assignment in 2D. The assessment criteria involved using audio to help with the performance. I knew I wanted the audio to be focused on music, specifically singing and my favourite band is Queen, so I started looking at their live performances online and any of their music videos. After spending some time watching their music videos, I decided ultimately to look at just live performances, as this was when Freddie was most energetic and used a lot of body movements to express the vocals. I wanted my reference of Freddie to be full of over the top movements and gestures so I could best try to replicate his personality and show it through my animation. I chose to reference the famous Live Aid concert, specifically their song ‘Hammer to Fall’. I chose this segment of the concert because Freddie starts the song off with his signature dancing and holding of the mic stand, before bursting into vocals. I felt like if I could incorporate this into my animation it would perfectly reflect his personality and help me develop my animation also.
I edited the performance down to about 9 seconds, so only focusing on the part I wanted to animate. I also downloaded the audio and cut it down to the length needed. In premiere I put the audio and video together again and exported it ready to bring into Adobe animate. Once I imported it into Animate I started to do the rough pass.
This is the edited clip I used as my main reference.
In the rough pass I wasn’t too worried about the details of the fingers, clothing accessories or facial features. I mainly wanted to get the body shape, the arm and leg movements and the head shape done properly. I went through adding the frames of Freddie dancing and swinging the mic stand, carefully trying to get the body shape consistent with his. I added more in between frames for the arm and leg movements so they seem more fluid in movement. Towards the end of the clip where Freddie starts to sing, I change it up by doing a close up shot of is face. The reason for this was so I could show his mouth and eyes more clearly and the viewer would be able to see the audio syncing with the mouth easier.
My ultimate focus was on the timing of the movements. I knew if I had an accurate rough pass, then my main attempt would be considerably easier for me. Occasionally Freddie would swing his arms and throw them with the beat, this is something I wanted to make sure I could show in my animation. He would also turn and swing is head with the music and dance. The dance was a little difficult as his feet moved really fast during it. I did the main key frames and then added the in between to help combat this. The last part of my rough is more detailed because I wanted to try and start adding his facial features for the audio timing. These facial features would be prominently shown in a close up for my animation. I could have left this for the main animation but I thought it would be good to have a go in the rough pass as well. It was a little harder than expected as Freddie’s mouth moves extremely quick in some of the words. The live version of the song is a little quicker than the studio version so that would explain it. As it was only rough I didn’t get too bogged down and just focused on basic rough mouth movements. Below is the rough pass.
After the rough pass, I went in to add the final drawings and details. I studied the reference video to add in any clothing details or props that should be with Freddie. For Freddie’s face I found it a bit difficult to get his likeness at first. In the reference video it is hard to see his facial features accurately as the camera is far from his face for the most part. Adding in his trademark mustache was the easiest part but I went online and searched more images of his face. With these additional face references I was able to get more of a likeness by accurately drawing his eyes and face structure. I was able to get his hairline from these additional references, therefore helping me portray a more accurate likeness. These additional facial references were very important for the last part of my animation were I change to a close up for his vocals. The original reference video doesn’t have a close up at the end so these references were essential.
https://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2018/11/opinions/queen-live-aid-cnnphotos/
https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/how-freddie-mercurys-trick-won-21290739
For some of the scenes where I could not find a suitable reference, I would take a picture of my own face, particularly my mouth to see how the lips and mouth would look pronouncing some of the words that Freddie sings near the end. In the video his face is hard to make out and the mouth is difficult to follow, so looking at my own mouth and what it looked like pronouncing some words really helped me.
During the final drawings, I had to go back and redo some scenes. Alec had reminded me that I must ensure to keep the size of Freddie’s arm consistent throughout, as some of the frames I had done had Freddie’s arms looking bigger and smaller in some frames. In some other parts of the animation I was also advised to add a couple more in-between key frames. Some frames I had done were going too quick, or the arm movements were moving too far without an in between to make it seem more natural. I addressed this issue and added more in-between frames, which I feel make the animation look and feel more fluid. Below is the final animation;
Overall I’m really happy with how this animation came out. There were some difficulties in getting Freddie’s facial features accurate for the close up near the end, however more references of his face were helpful for this. Also references of my own mouth while singing some of the words really helped me get the shape of the mouth accurately. The tips that Alec gave me to brush up the animation were also a great help and I think they made the animation feel more natural.