Editing Stuff

Some Drawings

Final Walk

More walking.

Ok so I did my new walk. It's not great but its better and it will do. I've also just had a little play with some more walks that I've taken more time with. Including a run. I've also incorporated the Sketchbook project to try and get some character into them because I'm going to guess that my actual walks aren't going to be amazingly accurate. I've also cut them out because I'm already getting bored with just standard drawing on paper so I'm going to try something different. (well, different for me)

Although I was just mucking about for 20 minutes It actually looks quite fun. I like my rough cutting out. This is actually because I am very bad at cutting. As my mum will testify. It was not a conscious aesthetic decision. It was a if-I-go-too-close-to-his-arm-I'm-going-to-cut-it-off-and-have-to-draw-it-all-over-again...decision.

Feedback

Just a quick one this.
To say that 2D walk was afwul. It looked ok last night but that's probably because I was tired. I saw it again today, and Andy was being very polite but It was appaling so I am re-doing it ontop of everything else. I've spent most of my spare time today drawing out 12 frames on scrap paper of a stick figure. Trying to get it to be ok.

Crucial things are, leaning forward. Almost ever single one of the poses are leaning quite a bit forward. I'm going to exaggerate this a lot because I actually drew the orginal leaning forward but it's so slight it doesnt show up on the video. So I think exageration is the key when drawing it, make it look over the top. I've also planned it a bit better so the arms don't confuse me, the head bobs are more extreme, and i've added 'floppy-feet'.

Hopefully this will be an improvement. But of course what I shall end up with is an over-exaggerated mental stick man but maybe that's a good thing...

More flamboyent anyway.

Walking

Ok so, walking. Might have missed a blog or two. Apologies.
Walking is bloody difficult. Not actually doing it. Animating it. I found it easier on the 3D one because you could reset things, play it back constantly, view it from different angles and fine-tune the movements easily. Whereas with 2D and drawing it, it is a pain in the neck because if you make a mistake that's fairly catastrophic you have to redraw the whole thing. And even with different coloured legs (so I knew which was left and right) I still confused myself and at one point had him moving just his right leg and the left leg going nowhere.

I also found it more difficult to get some hip movement on the 2D walk cycle. I have also given up on the arm movement for the time being because it has just proven too much to handle and I'd like to concentrate on the legs, hips and shoulder movements. So I may add them in later.

Burt was good fun (the 3D model). Because you could add a lot of character. I've played around with a few more, like a sneek walk, and it's amazing how much a walk changes depending on how to animate the feet. Whether they are pointing down or up, and by how much, completely changes the walk.

Really good fun though, will have to see tomorrow if I actually got any of it right though.
Will upload me walking later.

Money for Nothing

Haven't actually written in here recently. Woops. I have an excuse for this week though, maybe not strictly relevant, but I got mugged in Elephant and Castle on Sunday, at gunpoint I might add. Walking back from the Tube station to my friends flat. So I've been on and off the phone to the bank and police cancelling cards, re-itteratting statements, getting crime references and all that etc etc.

Still have no idea how to actually get my stuff onto this blog, so I have that to ask this week so apologies for the lack of evidence of work.

Most of my attempts at animation over the past 2 weeks have been hindered by my flounderings in front of a computer. I can't wait until I can just write a script and let someone else struggle with lineing up paper with pegs, getting frustrated with mayas frequent crashes and realise they're not that good at drawing circles.

So we did a 2D bouncing ball and a 3d one. my 3d one was better, just. mainly because the ball was consitantly spherical. Timing is a lot harder than it looks. I think I got there. Just. But I'm not worried as I am a complete novice and this is the first term so hopefully as time progresses so shall I.

I'm really enjoying the side project, Animal Heads, the sketchbook project. I find people take it quite personally when you give them, say, a Hippo head. (so I'm fat, like a hippo then?) I have to explain, no, today Is just Hippo head day. No you don't look like a rat sir, it's just my project.
They never look convinced however. My forms are still a bit rusty, but the life drawing on thursdays has really helped me shake of that rust and well, practice makes perfect I guess.

I've missed 2 lectures this week and feel really bad. The reason being last tuesday I was horribly ill and yesturday was as I said before, bank and police chit chat day. So I'm grateful for the notes on moodle and will obviously have to catch up a bit.

Anyhow, still enjoying the course. My favourite bit at the minute is actually the alternative animation. Derriks choice of films are pretty good. I especially liked Neighbours (last week) and the one about the Northern bloke trying not to go to hell.
I'm guessing in 2D and 3D it's just learning the trade at the minute and probably for the rest of the term which is well, great because I know nothing. Well, I know something but not enough to make a film I mean.

So yeah this week might actually turn into a bit of a write-off. I've got my quota of animal-head sketches to do this week. I'm trying to expand into different styles. I got stuck into a bit of the Quentin Blake type illustration style, and got told to try different things, which I found qutie Ironic because the stuff she described to try was actually how I normally draw, bold and expressive. the Quentin Blake style was actually me trying something different. So yes I shall start to don the charcoal and graphite and get a bit messy now.

The Ideal Height

Right, so, I don't really do this a lot so this very surreal...typing to myself, but to other people, it's like talking to yourself in your head but everybody can just pop in and take a good long look.
Before doing this I've taken a look at other peoples' blogs just to get a swig of what this is all about.

Anyway, Just come back from our err..sketchbook seminar. I always find it funny when I Introduce myself, because I find myself giving out a life explanation of my familys history. Paddy, is that short for...Patrick, oh Irish? Yes, southern or northern? Belfast, ohh right... Then cue the poorly executed Limerick (spelling? :P) accent, (tirty tirty top of thee mornin' to ya) or an observation of my flatline english accent and the fact I live in Wales. (Cue sheep jokes) So let's get this out of the way,
My dad left Ireland when he was 18, to study in Scotland (he thought St.Andrews was in S.England though...ha!), met my mother, moved to Monmouth in Wales for the Waitrose and the School. So ...
Right back to the point,

First task, something I'm familiar with, 2d animation.
I did a lot of it during my Foundation course (also at falmouth) last year. I am aware Sian was on the same course, and if you're reading this sian sorry I never actually talked to you much but, and this might sound lame, I overreached myself last year and, well long story short, overworked myself and spent a lot of time with a stomach virus and food poisoning. I actually had to re-do and work more of it over the summer to eventually pass just before comming here.

Anyway what I did was this little superdog, i don't have it on this computer so I can't upload it, although it is on my facebook page, which ill link to now ;
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/video/video.php?v=91408008654

if you can't view it then...erm, I don't know. The Music is 'New Slang' by the Shins.
I drew enough for 5 minutes of animation but due to the uh, sicknesses, theres only 1m30 on there, which is kind of...frustrating but thats what it is.

I'm actually a fine art Painter by trade (i do sell a few now and then) so over summer that's what I was up to, I did do one 10 second animation for Channel 4's E-Stings competition for the chance to win £5000. No Idea if it won or got anything yet. I actually missread the deadline and only had 4 days to do it so that's why its a bit...iffy.






Still no idea what to do for this Circle thing. I've thought of whole Films I could do and other things I can't fit into 3 seconds. I've gone from poo (don't ask why) to balls of string, so some kind of transforming robot death killer back to a kitten... etc. I going to do it today though, so I shall get back to this with that.
For the most part my insperation comes from Music, or Rythme. If I listen to a song I can think of something to fit that song. And I'm very interested in quite old animation where they animation in rythme, and something I find facsinating (having read the Animators Survival Guide by Richard Williams) is how the 'old masters' of animation could tap their pencils in time, and flick paper in time and relate feet to seconds and do it all perfectly.

That said I'm not that into music videos. I'm into morphing things into other things and using that to tell stories and doing it to co-incide with music. To the most part that's what I did with my superdog thing.

Anyway at the risk of dragging this on and on I think I shall stop ohh...right about...now.