Introduction
For my final major project production, Red Summit, I was responsible for the full production – excluding the music. This meant that I was in charge of the story, style and animation. Throughout this process, I kept track of the amount of work I did per week, and consistently counted down the weeks and days I had left to do each process. This was working great, however, due to personal circumstances leading up to the start of the year, the production required an extension to its deadline. Unfortunately, this also meant that the animation wasn’t as developed as intended, and some corners had to be cut. Despite this, the animation still turned out well, and with the final music track added, I believe it has potential.
Red Summit Story Description
Red Summit- A story illustrating care, self-sacrifice and determination. The story follows Ty as she is on a mission to rescue her girlfriend, Heidi, who has been confined in another dimension, due to an imbalance of nature caused by an ancient artefact. The only solution: to retrieve the artefact from enemy hands, and restore the land of Komai.
Style Guide
Targets for this project
My main goal for this project is to create a fully 2D animation that has a run time of approximately two minutes. I want to present it as a pilot episode or animated teaser for a possible series, and for dramatic effect, it will not have voice acting or sound effects. In theory, if this were to be continued as a series, it would lead up to a more sinister and in-depth antagonist and plot. Moreover, as I will be directing and animating this entirely by myself, I have decided that I will be outsourcing music either from working with an independent creator or using loyalty free soundtracks, this in turn will give me more time to work with.
My timetable for this project is detailed below, and I have given myself monthly goals to follow in time for my deadline.
The reason why I gave myself a month-to-month timetable is because I find it easier to aim to have certain tasks finished monthly. This works best for my learning style. Moreover, I decided to give the timetable a colour coding system to aid me in keeping track of what I have and haven’t done yet.
Below, I have detailed my processes throughout this pipeline and it starts with…
Pre-production
Initially, I began this project compiling ideas, and one of the main ways I did this was through the method of brainstorming. During this process, I started writing down my ideas on a blank canvas, then finalising the story and plot devices using Miro Board. Before I came up with the idea of Red Summit, I was in a team of three people. We had curated a variety of ideas collaboratively, but our creative visions ended up clashing. Some of the ideas that I came up during that project had inspired some of the world-building and creature designs that made my final project.
Original Team brainstorm
Branching off into individual project plans
Plot investigation
Refining the story
To begin finalising my story idea, I began researching how to make story-telling effective. I knew this was essential, as I don’t have experience with writing or scripting, as my expertise lies in character design and animation. I decided that learning the basics was the smartest move, as time would not permit becoming advanced in this one area. I executed this research through watching video-based content and reading into guides. These are documented below.
Reference one: How to Write a Short Story (for BEGINNERS) | 4 Easy Steps
Notes from this video:
Writing a short story can be broken down into four parts:
Character in predicament → Event that disrupts predicament→ event peaks and causes → A final revelation changes predicament
Character In Predicament
- Predicaments are conflicts
- Conflicts can be internal or external → Linked by theme
Definition of theme? The unspoken core idea your story explores. It is relevant to the change made by the protagonist at the end of your story.
Event that disrupts predicament
- Disrupting the event is also known as the inciting incident.
- This can also be internal, although it is often represented through external means.
Event Peaks
- Character predicament shifts due to disruption.
- It is the tipping point for the character and story.
Final revelation changes the predicament
- It signals to the reader what the story was about, the morals and influence the change has had on both the outcome of the story and present character’s stance.
In summary, I thought this video was very informative, and added to my knowledge about story-writing. By breaking down the important stages of a plot, it has made it far easier to understand for a beginner. I especially liked how the creator used examples for each stage, as this involved contextual explanation.
Reference two: How to Write a Short
Film in Three Acts | 7 core elements your film should have by Pietro Schito- PDF Form
Notes taken from this document:
There are three stages to consider when story-writing: setup, confrontation and resolution.
- Act One: Setup → Inciting Incident
- Act Two: Confrontation → The midpoint
- Act Three: Resolution → The climax
This document also details seven core elements to follow which link into these acts. They are further described as follows.
Inciting Incident
- A huge disruption that impacts the protagonist’s life
- It can be positive or negative and caused or not caused by your character themselves
- The character will have to react
First Turning Point
- Should know more about character/s by now and have some sort of connection
- Most of the time, the first turning point will be forced upon the character
- It is a point of no return.
Midpoint
- Time for a bigger change. It can be a sudden defeat, victory or a big revelation.
- Character is forced into active mode.
Low point
- Odds are against character. An “all is lost” moment
- Conflict should lead character towards an epiphany
Second Turning point
- Another Twist
- Something unexpected, a challenge in the form of a big battle, or mental dilemma.
- Character has to act here and has to be based upon their low-point revelation.
Climax
- Everything collides. Protagonist vs. Antagonist. A moment of truth.
Resolution
- Gives a clear answer to question of dramatic question. Protagonist has discovered a new way of life or truth that they were not previously aware of.
- It shows the end of the journey. It is essential to keep this very brief, especially with a short film.
In conclusion, this document was quite helpful in breaking down important elements within a story, and how to use them. Although I enjoyed reading into this document, I feel as though it did get quite confusing. Perhaps this is due to my inexperience, but I found these sections to be a bit too much to grasp. In comparison to the previous source, breaking down the elements into stages that consist of smaller numbers had made it easier to understand more efficiently. Despite this, it gave me a better understanding that there is more to story-telling than I originally thought. I will take what I have learned here to aid me in developing my story further.
The Hero’s Journey
When researching into plot devices, one I kept coming across was the Hero’s Journey. At first, I felt like it was rather interesting, and further attempted to adapt my story around it’s narrative. However, I found that it ended up naturally lengthening the duration I was aiming for. As I had chosen an estimate of 2-3 minutes of animated content, I found that this format would not be suitable for such a short story of the theme I was going for. I decided in the end up not to use the Hero’s Journey template, but to go for a real-time story timeline structure, that included the three-act structure. This is a structure that suited my capability as an independent project. Though I decided not to use this rubric, I was inspired by some of the prompts such as assistance, trials and approach – which later made it into the final animation.
Image of Reference
Story Timelines: How To Structure Your Narrative – Jericho Writers
This article also inspired me to go the route of my storytelling timeline, merging real-time story timeline with aspects of the Hero’s Journey. This can be seen in the next section!
Final plot time-line and sequencing (inspired by Hero’s journey narrative)
This ended up being the final format for the animation to follow. Due to time constraints much of this was eventually changed in the final production. Scene 1 through to 4 remained somewhat consistent, however scene five was changed to accommodate these constraints and the rest of the scenes had to be withheld. Instead of the antagonist getting defeated, it turns into an unexpected battle, in which the injured protagonist jumps off the cliff out of fear, and it ends with the question of her survival. Despite this ultimately changing, the timeline diagram was followed as closely as possible, so it still remains to be interesting as a pilot “episode”.
Character/Creature designs and stylization
Here, I began to create the characters and creatures for my story. I started off with a different style that was translated through the first design draft of my main protagonist, Ty. As my ideas progressed, I came to the conclusion that I wanted to go with a more simplistic cartoon style, reminiscent of shows like Steven Universe but with more realistic proportions like She-Ra princesses of power.
Main Protagonist: Ty
Initial concept
Re-design
Final Design reference sheet
Truthfully, I hated the original artwork I made for Ty’s character design, and felt that the style, outfit and small details such as her hair colour were too much to look at. I therefore came to the conclusion that I didn’t just want to simplify her design, but NEEDED to due to the amount of work I was aiming for. Not just that, but her original design felt quite detached from the one I was imagining in my head. Therefore, I made the decision to scrap most of it, and start again. This worked in my favour, as I am very satisfied with her re-design. It feels as though her new design is more fluent and consistent to both her character and the fantasy world. As she is an avid explorer, I felt it was necessary that I suggest that through her design (e.g. the tool belt, dungarees and the leaf bandana). In summary, I will take this experience as a valuable reminder that it is okay to re-design characters when necessary and sometimes it works out better than expected.
The inspirations
Below are a list of some of the inspirations I had during this process. It was important to me that I looked into shows of a similar theme, and further investigate how they achieved a professional standard of character design. This research was integral to this design process, as it would allow me to understand what I wanted to achieve versus what I could achieve with the timespan I had to work with.
Amphibia
During the design process with Ty, I was inspired by multiple different characters and shows. The first one that grasped my attention was Amphibia. This was because the show had a lot in common with the fantasy world I wanted to create, as well as having effective character designs. Anne Boonchuy, the protagonist, was a huge influence towards the final design of Ty. Specific characteristics that I felt connected to included the bushy hair, the leaves and twigs in her hair, and lastly, her supernatural abilities. In general, her design felt very natural to the world of Amphibia, and this was something I also wanted to achieve with the design of Ty.
BNA: Brand New Animal
As none of the characters in this story are fully human, I wasn’t quite sure how to visualise this at first. At some point in my animation, I had a scene planned in my mind which Ty would lose control and go feral towards the antagonist, showing off more of her non-human characteristics. However, I had no idea how I would represent her before and after this change. In this moment, I took a lot of inspiration from the anime, Brand New Animal which has a similar setup in regards to how the characters are designed- as they also share DNA with animals. The main character, Michiru Kagemori, was particular inspiration for the representation of Ty as she is represented as being mostly human, with the exception of the ears, nose and tail of a Tanuki, and only releasing her full potential when provoked.
Naruto
With the expressions of Ty, particularly whenever she becomes more feral, I had in mind that she would have smaller pupils, sharper teeth and grow more fur to represent her animal form. I would compare it to how Naruto Uzumaki changes in expression and style when in dangerous scenarios. The anime does an amazing job at portraying his emotion in these scenes as not only does his sole appearance change, but his features such as his whiskers, teeth and finger nails all become exaggerated. This allows for a more dramatic expression of events, reflecting his anger and pent up rage in these desperate scenes. Ultimately, Naruto is a perfect example of the type of look I will aim towards during similar scenes of desperation. It invokes more anticipation and character motive during these types of scenes, providing more engagement and connection with the character. Not just that, but it also means I can have some experimentation with the style, making the experience more enjoyable to animate.
Second Protagonist and partner: Heidi
Initial Concept
Final Design reference sheet
With Heidi’s design, it was fairly straightforward in that I absolutely and immediately fell in love with her initial design. Not much was changed in the final version, but I did attempt to improve details such as her colour palette, clothes and facial features. These improvements made it so she was more consistent for the style I was aiming for. Not just that, but it has made her final design more effective in reflecting her interests. For instance, the wellington boots and gloves were purposed in the final design sheet to convey that she is a gardener and loves to work with plants.
Inspirations
With Heidi’s design, it was mostly influenced by one of the creatures I made for this project, the Sporet – a poisonous, frog-like, reptile creature, whom which she shares DNA with. This is incorporated into her design through the horns and ears she has, but also more subtly in other areas of her design such as her hair, eyes and gloves which share the same palette as the Sporet’s poisonous flower.
The Sporet
Poison Dart Frog
As unconventional as it sounds, the Poison Dart Frog had a massive impact on my creative decision towards the choices of Heidi’s outfit. This was reflected specifically in the colour palette of Heidi’s sweater and trousers. I was originally going to incorporate a similar pattern shown on the frogs back, however, I came to the conclusion that it would be ineffective and too detailed to animate. I had to take into consideration the amount of work that this would entail as a solo animator and project lead, thus these design choices were simplified to a striped pattern to be more animator-friendly. Despite this, the colour choices of the outfit have a decent usage of contrast and I feel as though it suits the character quite well.
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/16958936071676523/
Star vs the Forces of Evil- Star
Although Heidi doesn’t make an appearance in the short aside from a brief photo, I like to imagine her personality being close to that of Star- bubbly, energetic and lovable. When drawing up my first concept drafts I made reference of the different facial expressions that Star presented in the show and noticed that she is almost always presented smiling or being joyful even in the most darkest moments.
These positive reinforcements with Heidi’s character will convey how important she is to Ty and the story of Red Summit, that she has a major role in the plot. In juxtaposition to a character who has more of a pessimistic attitude, I feel that the audience will be able to understand fairly quickly that Heidi’s rescue is the main motive of the plot.
Companion Character: Doughy
With Doughy’s design, I wanted to convey his silly, “no thoughts behind those eyes” type of energy, and I feel like this is heavily suggested in his final design. As written in the inspiration section, his colour palette was inspired heavily by the ponies in the My Little Pony universe, with fun, upbeat and energetic colours such as the purples, pastel greens and yellows in his design. Using this as a main inspiration for his palette really emphasises his childish, yet silly nature. In conclusion, I adore how his design turned out, and feel as though he fits right in with the universe and other characters in the short. If I were to go back and improve anything with this design process, I most likely would revisit different palettes and experiment with different tones. This is something I didn’t do as I was limited in time and had more priority with more important characters such as Ty (protagonist) and the Kroxin monster (antagonist).
Inspirations
Morel Orel: Doughy Latchkey
I named Doughy after the Moral Orel character of the same name (pictured on the left). As a character, he is optimistic, naïve, kind-hearted, and he is often quite silly around his friends. These are traits that I love about this character, and what inspired me give Doughy his name.
My Little Pony
Doughy is a creature best described as a mix between a horse and dinosaur and serves as an aid for Ty in the story. His design was mostly inspired by the style and colours used in the TV series, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic. I adored the simple stylised hooves and bright colours used in the show, and incorporated similar traits into Doughy’s design as a result. The bright colours not only reflect his friendly demeanour, but also represent his childish, goofy personality whilst standing out as an important character in the plot.
Princess Mononoke
During this time, I was watching a lot of Studio Ghibli, and I felt quite connected to the friendship that both Ashitaka and Yakul have in Princess Mononoke. It is a strong bond that reflects through the body language of the characters, not one reliant on words alone. This was a great influence on Doughy’s role in the story and a great way to practice non-verbal communication in animation, conveying the strong bond between him and the main protagonist. Ultimately, this reference is an extremely valuable source to understand how to visualise and animate this type of bond.
Creature designs
The Kroxin
Initial concepts
Re-designed and finalised
Starting off with the very first concept of the Kroxin, it was much too detailed for the resources I was able to provide. I re-designed the creature to make it more animator-friendly, but it left a lot to be desired. As the creature was meant to be scary and jarring, like the antagonist I set it up to be, once it was simplified it lost these key elements. This was backed up by some feedback I got from my tutors for my pre-production presentation, in which I received constructive criticism for the design. I was further given advice on how to amplify the core elements I aiming for, to make it more intimidating. Some main points of feedback were to experiment with the eye size, to sharpen the teeth on the monster, and to play about with the body shape as it presented more like a dinosaur used for travelling on. Immediately, I got to work, and experimented a lot with the Kroxin’s body features. I began looking into real-life creatures that are creepy, and one of those included the anglerfish – with its long, sharp teeth, dead eyes and their prey-attracting esca (glowing light). I ended up loving the idea of basing the Kroxin off of this creature, and so it had a significant influence on the final design. As the creature lurks in dark places such as cave systems, I felt that it was even more perfect.
After this was set in stone, I worked on the scale of the creature. Before, the previous concept made the creature look small, and easily defeated. I theorise that this was due to the proportions of the creature with its thin legs, smaller tail and its body shape having a lot of rounded linework. To improve this, I experimented with the proportions, making the legs and feet bigger in width, making the head smaller, as well as the arms and further sharpening the linework for a more intimidating appearance. I also decided to change the colour palette to darker red hues to emphasise danger and the sinister nature of the character. In comparison, I feel as though the updated design of this creature has already made a huge difference towards the plot. Not just that, but it has made me feel more confident that the new design will be more than effective due to the improved shape language and colour usage.
Inspirations
Primal: horned T-Rex
To aid me in creating the Kroxin monster, I did research into other creations that featured antagonistic dinosaurs. The first one I looked at was the horned T-rex from Genndy Tartakovsky’s Primal. I felt as though this representation was executed brilliantly, and it was a huge inspiration for the Kroxin’s finalised colour palette. I feel as though the darker red hues on this dinosaur is what made it the most threatening, in comparison to its other features. That as well as the zig-zag like patterns that run along its back and tail – these almost feel reminiscent of more teeth, giving the dino a threatening demeanour. Ultimately, I am glad that I took this show into consideration as a source, because it made me realise how important the colour palette actually is when creating a monster that is meant to be scary. Without it, I probably wouldn’t have re-considered the colour palette of the Kroxin – this further highlights how important it is to have references during this concept stage.
Land Before Time: Sharp-tooth
In addition to Primal, I also looked into how The Land Before Time portrays its antagonist characters. As shown above, the carnivorous dinosaurs, the sharp tooth’s, are all represented with sharp, long teeth, huge claws and darker colour palettes. I also noticed that all of these villians have dark Sclerae. Alike most wild animals, this suggests that they are dangerous, in comparison to domesticated species. Additionally, the most intimidating shown here have smaller pupils, which remove any sense of conscious, like you would expect a sinister beast to lack. Ultimately, this research here inspired me to completely remove the pupils in the final design, and it ended up making the Kroxin look even more soulless in a way.
Deep Ocean creature: Angler Fish
https://www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/1266706129502340/
During this research, I looked into photographs of angler fish for reference. I really like this photo in particular as it highlights how creepy and unsettling these fish are. The tiny, eyes matched with the sharp, thin teeth and large underbite is the stuff of nightmares. These unnerving features were a huge inspiration for the Kroxin’s final attributes.
Importance of exaggeration: Finding Nemo
Most often cartoons, both movies and shows will exaggerate an animal or creature in the sake of the style. Sometimes this results in the creature looking very different than its real-life counterpart. As I am creating a fictional species, it was almost necessary to see what features were often most exaggerated with the angler fish. One main association I have with this creature is Finding Nemo, when Marlin and Dory are tricked by its glowing esca. I specifically find it interesting how they made the teeth longer, thinner and the eyes bulge, as this makes for a look that is unnerving to say the least. Nonetheless, this was a great inspiration for my incorporation of these features. It has taught me that exaggeration can be ground-breaking in relation to character and creature design, as often it can drastically alter the emotions behind a design- so long as it stays true to the style, that is.
The Tyreptil
Initial concept
Final design
This creature, known as the Tyreptil is best described as a mixture between a raptor, ant and frog. It is a creature that is known to travel in packs, and scavenge off of the less fortunate. It serves as part of an introductory chase scene, as they travel in a pack to hunt down the protagonist. This design initially took the form of an eastern dragon, however, I radically changed it to be bipedal, due to animation restraints. Not just that, but I wasn’t too fond of the design itself. Ultimately, it then progressed into what is shown here. I am quite happy at how this turned out, as it has an effective, yet simple design for what it is made for – being a menace.
Sporet
The Sporet, a creature that dwells in the swamp-like terrain of Komai. It is known to be a herbivore that, when provoked or disturbed, will release a deadly toxin that has hallucinogenic effects. This creature doesn’t show up in the animation, however, it is here as reference to Heidi’s design, as she shares the DNA with the creature. Overall, I really like how this design turned out as it looks exactly like how I originally pictured it in my head.
Pokémon: Bulbasaur
With the Sporet’s flower, I was quite inspired by the design of Bulbasaur from Pokémon. This is because of the placement of the flower. It also inspired me to add the dots on the Sporet’s back for extra contrast.
Alligator snapping turtle
https://biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/endangered-species-protection-proposed-for-alligator-snapping-turtle-2021-11-08/
I used the snapping turtle as a reference for the mouth of the Sporet. I knew I wanted something reptile-like, but I didn’t want to make another creature that looked like just another dinosaur. I then investigated different types of animals until I came across this animal.
Alternative antagonist: The Trickster
Initial concepts
Final design sheet
Originally, my short was meant to have more lore but I decided to cut it short due to realistic standards and time constraints. The main antagonist of the story is this creature, known as the Trickster. It is an ethereal being that was born from an unrested soul – Heidi’s younger brother. He died from the perspective that Heidi betrayed him, and came back to cause havoc and revenge. It is later found out that he possessed the Kroxin and was the one responsible for Heidi being stuck in the amulet. Furthermore, I know the design and lore behind the trickster is effective, but admittedly I am disappointed that I will be unable to show these in the short, as it adds much more context to the story and more drama to the plot. Perhaps after college, I will be able to continue or even improve on the project.
Inspirations
The Owl House: The collector
With the tricksters initial concepts, I found myself being rather inspired by the Collector’s design from The Owl House. I liked the simplicity with his shapes, along with the shadow-like silhouette. What I liked most was how mysterious the character was, and the cunning nature behind it. This was perhaps what I found most inspiring for my character.
Gravity Falls: Bill Cipher
Bill Cipher is another example of a character trait I was heavily inspired by. The ethereal, supernatural being and the powers that he possesses is another similarity that the trickster would have. One observation that I found with both of the main character inspirations is that they are often depicted as being simple-looking characters until given power. I thought this was quite interesting.
The amulet
During the creation of the amulet, I used many sources of references to aid me with my creative journey. I mostly looked into concept art of other artifacts featured in games and shows, two of which that are shown below belong to Darksiders (top) and CentaurWorld (Bottom). Looking at a range of different concepts by other artists really helped this process, as I was able to get a good grasp on form, functionality and aesthetics. Mostly, it made me question – how does this item actually work?
I then thought about the functionality of the artefact from Red Summit and really thought in-depth about how this one item possesses the ability to destroy or restore the balance of this world, based entirely on the user’s intention. This intention is detected by the amulet, responding by glowing if its in the hands of good, that or it turns red which results in destruction and immense power. Additionally, as the diagram shows, it harnesses the ability to check the DNA of the user, to ensure that they are from the universe the artefact originates from.
Storyboarding
Below, I began the storyboarding process with both potential backgrounds/important scenes and the animatic sequence itself.
Important scenes & Background ideas
Ty’s home: Treehouse from the inside
Here, I began to draw out some artwork that I had ideas for the animatic. These consisted of both possible scenes and backgrounds that would then be used in the animatic. Doing this activity was surprisingly helpful, as it made me think more about key moments in the animation. Not just that, but it was a huge help towards understanding perspective and compositions that I may end up further developing.
Storyboarding
During this process, I started to think more in depth about the start, middle and ending of the animatic, and what I wanted to show in the story. It was important in this moment to portray the main motives and plot of the story. As my characters won’t be talking in the animation, I had to really think about how I would convey the plot. One of the ways I decided to do this, was by giving the character a corkboard, filled with imagery of upcoming events and notes that tell the audience what she will be doing – saving Heidi and fighting the Kroxin monster.
The Animatic
After completing the storyboards, I popped the individual sketches into Procreate, and set it to 1fps, as I didn’t have enough in-betweens – this would have been much too fast to comprehend. A major point that was made from my tutors as feedback, was that it was too long and probably would be more interesting if it started from the travelling sequence instead. This made much more sense, as it did seem lacklustre for the main character to start and then end in the same location. To improve on this, I began reworking previous storyboard sketches…
Revision of storyboard sequences
Here, I began reworking the first half of the storyboard sketches that I had previously done. I wanted to make the intro of the animation to be more interesting and attention-grabbing, and therefore decided to add in a chase scene between the Tyreptil and both Ty and Doughy. This would, in comparison, be more energetic and engaging than the previous concepts.
Production of the Animation
With the production of the animation itself, I split it up into several sections to make it easier to keep track of my progress. I began sketching out the animation, and perfecting the frames until I was satisfied, then continued until I had all five scenes fully sketched out. After this, I took them into Krita, completed the line art and then coloured in the individual frames. Before I did this, however, I illustrated the backgrounds in advance. This helped to simplify the workflow and reduce the possibility of complications down the line, therefore allowing me to focus solely on the animation.
The background artwork
These were created in Procreate, later transferred into Krita.
Process Videos
Animation progress
Here are a sequence of different videos showcasing my animation progress. These videos include the progress from the sketch to the fully rendered scenes for comparison.
Scene One
Sketch
Linework clean-up
Final Render
Scene Two
Sketch
Linework clean-up
Final Render
Scene Three
sketch
Linework clean-up
Scene Four
Sketch
Linework clean-up
Final render
Scene Five
Sketch
Linework clean-up
Final render
In summary, these clips show a huge jump in progress in comparison from when I first began the animation in its sketch stage. The main difference with these clips is how the timing is majorly different, to the point that the fully finished scenes are further behind in time than the sketched versions. This is due to the addition of more in-betweens, as well as some scenes being more fleshed out – e.g. the walk from the bush in scene one. Overall, it was interesting keeping a log of this progress, as it has made it clear that the work and the study is completely worth it for the final product.
References used for this process…
Used for Ty
Walking sequences
Turning around
Images by Eadweard Muybridge
Searching for book
Getting hit by the “book”
Opening the book
Lying down
Self-recorded content
Hit on the head
6AF5755B-05AF-425E-A8D4-B6549B65A80E
Pick up book
Put on necklace
Used for Doughy
Jumping
Image by Eadweard Muybridge
Running/trotting
Images by Eadweard Muybridge
In conclusion, these references all served a vital part of the animation, as they allowed me to visualise not only the movement of my animation, but the weight as well. With Ty, there were a few scenes I acted out, in order to understand at a much more intricate level than the visual observation of second hand film/imagery alone- I had to understand how it physically felt. Acting out some of these actions, presented me with the understanding of how the body works, for example, when I acted out getting hit on the head by a book (a safe substitute, of course) my natural reflex was to jolt. Although this was common knowledge to react in such a way, it was quite difficult to picture this, let alone animate this from my mind alone. Getting this information was game-changing and I feel that the utilization of these references made the process a lot more stream-lined and easier on the workload.
Throughout this process, I also looked at some imagery by Eadweard Muybridge for his walking, running and jumping sequences. His work was extremely beneficial whenever it came to Doughy’s animations as I did not have first-hand access to horses that I could observe. Not only that, but his frame-to-frame style of photography allows for the analysation of how these body parts move and work alongside one another to form a run, walk or jump. In conclusion, gathering these first hand and second hand resources have reinforced the importance of doing visual research.
Post-Production
With my animation, there weren’t a lot of post-production efforts required, as I decided not to include voicelines or sound effects. However, I did want to source music, and later was able to find someone to volunteer to do the tracks for me. Below, I have the final animation without sound, versus it with sound and later, post-added filters, blood and glow effects.
Final Animation excluding sound/effects
Final Animation – with Music and effects
Conclusion
Whilst I’ve had my struggles during this year of college, I felt that the entire journey was worth sticking through. This project in particular has not only improved my skills as an artist and animator, it has given me the experience of being an independent creator. Admittedly, this was a tough process, and at times I thought I may not be able to complete it, but I would recommend it to any beginner animator. It places a solid expectation of what it will be like in the industry as an animator without the possibility of actual consequence – which is a valuable experience to have. I will continue looking forward, and continue honing my skills even further – hopefully in an industry funded project next!