Hi! I’m Louise Steers! I am a student at Ulster University currently studying Animation. I am only a first-year student, but I have compiled many different concepts, inspirations and animations on this blog.
The first week of Ulster University began with induction and simply getting to know the tutors and students. I was put in with 4 other members of my group to discuss and create a small unmarked group project where we had to create a 7 second intro for Toody Threedy, a monthly event which was about to restart operation. The names of my group were Jack, Oisin, Sweeny and Amy. We talked about ideas of characters to use for this project of ours.
Eventually it was settled that we would use one of Jack’s characters. Thanks to some advice from the tutors to make them more distinctive, we had a good character to use for our project.
Next, we decided on how we could incorporate the 2D and 3D aspects of the event. Only Oisin had any experience in 3D whereas the rest of us did’nt. So it was eventually settled that four of us would animate them in 2D while Oisin made a 3D background.
I participated in an icebreaker that involved taking pictures of several different things from around the university, and also contributed several things of my own from my own computer. I went outside with my group to take pictures of architecture around the University, such as the play park. I also got to know the members of my group, such as Lee, Luca, Cate, Scott and Shan. They were very helpful and took pictures of some of my contributions for use as part of the icebreaker. They even allowed me to send them contributions from my own laptop.
We then jotted down 100 ideas for a world we were going to build as part of our coursework. I put down most of the ideas and also got some suggestions from the others. We then chose 5 ideas from the list that we liked and put them down on a sticky note.
The day previously, I finished and posted art of three different characters from three different intellectual properties.
The first is Rainbow Dash, a very famous character from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.
Rainbow Dash is one of the main Protagonists of the G4 My Little Pony series. I chose her as part of my homework due to an interest in giving her a dynamic pose and through watching fan music about her reciprocating a crush on Rarity by Vylet Pony. She is representative of the element of Loyalty in the series, and a highly competitive and self-confident Pegasus who wouldn’t give up on her friends for her heart’s desire, unlike some dumb old cowboy doll…
Rainbow Dash Best Moments Season 1-3 – YouTube
Rainbow Dash Takes Scootaloo Under Her Wing (Sleepless in Ponyville) | MLP: FiM [HD] – YouTube
The second choice for my work is a Pokémon called Blacephalon.
A fire/ghost type Ultra Beast formerly exclusive to Pokemon Ultra Sun, it slithers up on unsuspecting people and surprises them by blasting its own head into an explosion of colour. Then it steals off with their vitality. Described as being stage players who love performing, it uses its own head as the basis for its performances, though it uses a lot of its own vitality in the process. Regardless, this makes them known for their love of dynamic poses.
I chose this Pokémon due to its playful and performance focused competitive nature, and due to a recent fixation on Pokemon GO, right around the time they were advertising Ultra Beasts.
Shiny Blacephalon Using Mind Blown in Sword & Shield! – YouTube
Blacephalon vs Xurkitree-Blacephalon Performance! – Pokémon Episode 78 – YouTube
The last choice for my work is the Earthen Heart Shifu, from a very old game called LIVE A LIVE.
The Earthen Heart Shifu is a very old master hailing from Imperial China, who at the start of his chapter is desperate to look for a new student to pass down his teachings. He finds on this journey a kind-hearted and intelligent boy named Yun Jou, a brash and hot-headed girl named Lei Kugo, and a fat simple minded man named Hong Hakka.
LIVE A LIVE – Imperial China Full Walkthrough Gameplay Nintendo Switch No Commentary – YouTube
I chose the Earthen Heart Shifu as part of my assignment as the shifu being a martial artist means he has many combat ready poses to choose, on top on I having recently played LIVE A LIVE and completed all of its chapters. LIVE A LIVE has the distinction of also being distributed on SNES with a fan translation.
Each of the characters poses follow a line of action that makes their poses more distinguishable. Their forms are then overlayed on these line of actions, and then they are coloured and rendered in turn.
This process first shows the line of action, then the forms, and then the forms overlayed with the line of action.
I then broke down each of their poses into their respective shapes and models.
