Drawing 28/5

Screen Arts 28/5

World Animation 1920-1950

George Studdy was a UK pioneer in commercialisation of animation, created Bonzo the puppy during his stint making cartoon strips.

Fernand Leger from France used a technique of stopframe, live action and painting on film to create his avant-garde animations. Known for The Mechanical ballet(1924). Reminds me of Eadward Muybridges stuff.

Walter Ruttmann was a german creator that used abstract cinema for his art. Loved Hitler(what a dick) and died as a war photographer from wounds received. Worked with Lotte Reiniger on The Adventures of Prince Achmed(1925)

Lotte Reiniger is another german artist in the early 1920's. He created the first film that used a multiple plane camera to create a 2D animation with depth. His worked was destroyed in WWII, but a print later found and restored in 1970.

Hans Richter, friends with Viking Eggeling. Combined live action with animation and camera tricks to blur and create smears. Made minimalist, geometric abstract films in the 1920's.

Viking Eggeling worked in both Sweden and Germany producing both avante-garde films, and nazi propoganda in the 1930s-40s. He has a minor classic called Diagonal Symphony(1924).

Ladislaw Starewicz took 10yrs to make his first feature film The Tale of the Fox. Uses his signature animation style or humanised animals wearing clothes and standing upright. Used funding from Nazis  to create the soundtrack for the premier in 1937. Switched to a french soundtrack in 1941. Anti-Semitic, and based on Dutch and French folk tales.

Berthold Bartosch collab'ed with Lotte, Viking, Hans and Walter in Berlin. Moved to Paris in 1930. Used cutout drawings on glass layers to create his film The Idea based on a stylised woodcut book by Frans Masereel. His anti war film was destroyed in WWII ironically.

Alexandre Alexeieff and Claire Parker created the Pinscreen device to produce relief shadow images when side lit as a new method for animation. Made Night on Bald Mountain(1932) which may have influenced the 1940 version of Fantasia.

Anthony Gross and Hector Hoppin created La joie de vivre(the joy of living) in 1934. Was an escapist film created just before the war. Began to create Around the World in 80 Days until the footage was lost during WWII.

Aleksandr Ptushko made New Gulliver in 1935 as an adaptation of the original Gullivers Travels. using 3000 puppets. Russia at the time highly encouraged its film makers to create moralistic works, and inject pro soviet propaganda into kids films.

Ivan Ivanov-Vano created The Little Humpbacked Horse(1947) during the time of using Rotoscope to use live actors movements and translating it to animation(called the Eclair system). This system was abandoned in favour of cel animation.

Oskar Fishinger. In 1933 the Nazis banned "degenerate art"(modernist/abstract art). While most animators stopped working or left Germany, Fishinger continued, calling his work decorative to bypass the policy. Created tobacco commercials, and also spent time at Disney, Paramount and MGM studios.

Norman McLaren used different techniques, including the drawing on film technique that NZer Len Lye pioneered.

Halas & Batchelor were a married couple that contributed to the british war effort with propaganda films. Their studio experimented with all sorts of techniques ranging from paper cutouts to computer animation. Produced over 2000 films.

Larkins Studio, owned by Bill Larkins in 1940 to produce training films during WWII. His studio spearheaded the trend towards stylised, simplified animation. T for Teacher in 1947 was a film showing how to make a proper cup of tea using rations, in a progressive animation style for its time.

Wan Brothers created Chinas first animated short in 1924 called Uproar in the Studio. They produced several protest films when Japan invaded in 1937. The first animated feature film was Princess Iron Fan(1941) inspired by Snow White.

Kenzo Masaoka created the first Japanese animation with sound in 1933, and the first fully cel animation in 1934. Made The Spider and the Tulip in 1943, and got reprimanded because it contained no propaganda during WWII.

In 1936, Toy Box: Picture Book(also known as Momotaro vs Mickey Mouse) was part of a series of propaganda cartoons trying to motivate the Japan military resources against USA.

I still dont really understand the abstract animations. To me it just seems like they took a triple dose of LSD and dumped all their mental diarrhea out into film/animation and called it art. I most definitely prefer films/animations that have a clear idea/story behind them, maybe Im too logical to get it lol.

Screen Arts 28/5

How Aladdin Changed Animation (by Screwing Over Robin Williams)

A video essay essentially on how before Aladdin, animated movies were sold on their merits, storyline and characters. For Aladdin however, the writers created the personality of Genie based off of Robin Williams stand-up comedy act.  Robin agreed to voice him, with the proviso that he wasnt used as a merchandising tool to promote the movie. Unfortunately for him, he was the biggest star to voice a character to date, and so Disney worked the grey area to get around this proviso. Due to the success of Aladdin at the time, Disney cartoons became more about the big name stars they could attract, than the story itself. It took many many years and a dismissal to heal the rift, at which point Disney began to return to the original method of focusing more on the story/character than what A-List stars it could attract. Despite this being an opinion piece, I found it interesting to hear about the controversy behind this film from my childhood, and the effect it had on animations at the time.

Principles 27/5

catch up class today. time to get my walk cycles done! Doing the reverse of the first 4 frames is proving trickier than I thought originally. Something about the 3/4 perspective is just throwing me off. I think I need to try and find more examples to get a better understanding of what to do.

Research 27/5

How to Write a Literature Review in 30mins or less - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdJxY4w9XKY

Principles 23/5

4 frames of the 3/4 walk done. Ruby was right, the angled grid (in green) makes a huge difference in terms of foot placement and matching the angles. I ended up restarting due to my first attempt not having the perspective in the feet, and them all matching one single line. Should only take me a couple more hours to get the walk done, then onto line art with my character instead of sketch man. Amazing what a little bit of success does for the motivation!

Storyboard 22/5

Music and soundfx. Spent the whole class trying to find the sounds i want for my piece. I think Ive got most of the tracks i want, I just need to add them to the animatic to figure out the blank areas and what I could fill them with.

Digital 23/5

Catch up from missed classes

Corel

Make your final project kaleidoscopes 15 x 15cm at 300ppi

Maya Rendering

Arnold render, use the empty clapperboard to render, create a physical sky and adjust intensity to improve the lighting.

Quick concept sketch of what I had in mind for my chess piece. A kind of hybrid of the cow plant from The Sims, and the Foliaath monster from modded minecraft. Basically a fox head with a plant body, little shop of horrors style.

Progress so far in Maya, just easing my way back into the controls slowly.

Screen Arts 21/5

Italian Neorealism

Italy had been under the fascist regime of Mussolini since 1924. The Neorealist movement began at the end of WWII when Mussolini's government fell. This movement was the response to the great depression and sought to make everyone aware of the suffering and social problems in Italy due to the lack of social awareness. Neorealism portrays the view of society as ppl that are indifferent to the suffering of others.

White Telephone Films are a sub-genre of melodrama from the 1930's that showed the troubles in upper class Italy. They imitated american comedies of that era. These films provided a comedic relief to reality for italians, and a contrast to their predecessors. There were also a lot of unrealistic "italian life" american films imported at this time.

Form and Style

Italian realism has a distinct visual style that creates it realism.

• Preference for filming on location
• Using non-professional actors
• Preference for natural lighting style
• Documentary style of photography
• Avoidance of complex editing and post-production processes
• Stories were focused on the poor and working class

Luchino Visconti

Directed Ossessione (1943). The movie is based off the book The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain and is a story about a drifter who falls in love with a diner owner and plots with her to kill the husband. The movie went against the mussolini regime in that it showed Italy in a less than flattering view which is why is is not considered a full neorealist film. This was at the time that mussolini's government controlled how films showed Italy, and making sure it was never negative. 

Robert Rossellini

Produced the war trilogy Rome Open City(1945), Paisa (1946) and Germany year Zero (1948).

Vittorio De Sica

Had a career of 55yrs. He directed 35 films and acted in more than 150. He is responsible for The Bicycle Thief (1948) which is considered an Italian Neorealism masterpiece and listed as one of the greatest films of all time in many places. He used location shooting and non-professional lead actors to show the themes of unemployment and effect of post war conditions.

The Bicycle Thief

 I dont agree that it is one of the greatest films of all time. I understand it fit the era, but I consider The Shawshank Redemption as more appropriate for those lists. The non-professional actors definitely lent a realistic feel to the movie, making it easier for the viewer to empathise with the characters. The bike represents the fathers hopes of escaping poverty to me, a symbol of wealth that gets ripped out from under him the day after he gets it back. He goes from indifference, to hopeful and excited, then beings to spiral down into into the dark side of the law using manipulation and bullying to try and get his bike back due to desperation. His son starts off idolising his father, even dressing like him, but over time becomes more and more disillusioned until the father takes them to a restaurant and blows his money trying to forget their problems for a moment. 

Overall the movie is an interesting portrayal of poverty and struggle during the depression. The desperate measures someone will go to, to cling to that little piece of hope at all costs even if it means compromising your morals. The whole movie showed a great contrast between upper and lower class as it progressed, the great divide so to speak. There was no happy ending either which differs from todays movies, but is a more realistic portrayal of life at the time. After watching the entire film, I still dont think it should be considered one of the greatest of all time, but I can see why it struck a chord with the ppl at the time and potentially skewed everyones opinions due to the strong association with their lifestyle. This in turn would help lift its ratings as a movie.

Screen Arts 21/5/19

Joe Cartoon

Another internet cartoon artist from the early 2000's that has made the shift to youtube with the evolving technology. His speciality was interactive flash cartoons, in which you click buttons to advance the cartoon. The big ones that became popular was the Supahfly series, all starting with Stoned Flies.

Principles 20/5

3/4 walk cycle frames reference. This one is definitely tricky for me, but nothing some practice wont help with I suppose. Im finding currently my perspective either shifts too much to a front walk or too much to a side walk, finding that in between is what I need to do. Low overall motivation is a big hindrance in my classes too.

Research 20/5

Spent class trying to find more resources today, definitely having to keep my search terms broad to find anything even remotely useful but thats ok. Ive added the ones ive found today to my original list a couple of posts back so they are all in one spot.

Principles 16/5

Front and side walk cycles. Got the general gist of it, just need to translate it to my character now which shouldnt be too hard now that ive got the foundations down.

Drawing 14/5

First time playing with ink as a medium. Took a bit to get used to, Ive never really used watercolours either, but I imagine it would be a similar principle in regards to layering. Shading is something that I still havent got the hang of yet, too used to pencil/drawing shading that doesnt require the layering. I do like how the final picture turned out mostly. Better than I originally thought i was gonna look like, as long as u look at it from a distance lol.

Storyboard 15/5

Room mockup I have made in Sims 4 for my background designs and angles. The only thing I can see potentially being an issue is the dynamic FOV, so i might see if theres a setting I can change with that for future reference pics.

Storyboard 15/5

Hold alt to adjust panel timing without affecting any other shot in storyboard. Making slow progress, but its still progress! I think it could be because Im doing the animating parts as im going for some reasons. Dont ask me why! lol

Playing around with movement lines on the glass. I think going all out cartoon could help with the comedy side of my animation.

Screen Arts 14/5

Singing in the Rain

This is the first time watching this movie, and it is hilarious, with some really catchy music. The dancing is a great addition too. There is a lot of crazy colours too which helps with the fun atmosphere in this piece.Adding in the surrealistic departures from reality just add the to the fun. I actually really enjoyed this movie, despite my initial reservations.


Finally got the essay handed in, unsure whether I actually got the requirements or not, will find out when I get the marks back.

Principles 13/5

Walking is a process of falling, and catching yourself over and over. All walks are different, defined by age, gender, state of health, mood and confidence.

Walk beats:
4 frames = a very fast run (6 steps a second)
6 frames = a run or fast walk (4 steps a second)
8 frames = slow run or cartoon walk (3 steps a second)
12 frames = brisk business like walk(2 steps a second)
16 frames = strolling walk (2/3 of a second per step)
20 frames = elderly or tired person (almost 1 sec per step)
24 frames = slow step (1 step per second)\
32 frames = "show me the way......to go home"

Research 13/5

I need to refine my essay topic. Currently I am interested with the monomyth/heros journey option, Im just uncertain as to how much further down I should refine it. If I continue using my angel girl character, I could use the heroine journey adaptation to help develop my characters backstory, and figure out why she is the way she is etc. Alternatively I could explore the comparisions between the monomyth and religion and the controversy it raised. Im not sure how to tie it in to my project next semester either. Alternatively i could look at the subversion of the monomyth in modern day.

After talking to Bex, I agree that narrowing the focus to the female/christian conflict with the monomyth would be a good way to go and to tie into my future projects. The use of angels/archangels in my fantasy world basically necessitates the consideration of christianity research for my review.

Dunedin Trip Review 13/5

After a bit of a rough trip up for some of us, we arrived to fairly decent weather in Dunedin. Most of my class ended up going with Chris and Bex to the museum for an intro to the planetarium, a tour of the museum and a tour of an art gallery. The planetarium was really cool, up until we got shifted to the front and had to break our necks to see anything! lol. It was fascinating to hear about the process of creating the film, then splitting it and overlapping to create a seamless dome. The software run through downstairs afterwards was great to see, a reminder that even the "big wigs" use software that we have access to everyday through SIT. The idea of an internship interested me as well as a future goal. 

The next activity was a rush tour through some of the museum, which I had already been through fairly frequently due to living in Dunedin for half my life. The extra information from the guide was new, if not relevant to animation in any way at all. Maybe more time for a tour next year would help it feel more like a fun class event? 

The art gallery tour to me was not really of interest at all. The gallery director speeding through a description of the authors isnt really something that I found relevant to my studies either, or interesting for my personal life. I can see the benefits for Visual art students, but again there was no tie in to animation/gaming for me. The gaming choice was my top choice until I found out that due to limited numbers, it would be an entire day of film companies and only 1hr of a game centric activity. 

For a first trip I think it went good, and i hope that with time it gets refined into something that is beneficial for all the students with lots of cool options to visit.

Storyboarding 8/5

I like the mirroring in this sequence between simba and ghosties expressions, hinting at the battle of wills thats about to happen between them. It was unintentional, but a happy accident that I am going to keep. I think I nearly have all my shots drawn for the first time, so the rest of the story should be a bit quicker to finish thumbnailing due to copy paste etc. 5 weeks to go...

Principles 6/5

Last fridays event has thrown everything for a loop. Due to spending time grieving, I did not end up working on my animation idles. I now need to make extra time to catch back up especially due to the short length of time left until this is due. Tonights goal is working out a new personal schedule to stick to so that Im not pulling all-nighters in the final week.


Using smears to reduce frames needed for transitions.

Something appearing fast is seen in less detail and smeared. Used to convey intense speed, or simulate actual human vision. Fills gaps between frames creating more fluid animations with less frames. Keep most key frames, especially the first and last ones in the movement untouched, then estimate the movement inbetween.

Colour Smudge or Stretch frame

The one frame between key frames is a blur of all the frames that would have been there, only keeping the outlines of the first and last key frames. Speed lines are effective in this style of smear.

Duplication

This style involves multiple limbs/appendages on a single frame. This type maintains the complexity of your movement without sacrificing the desired speed.

Tail

This smear is only used in a situation where there is a big difference in the start and end of a movement, using a tail from the first position to the current.

Smear frames allow for more "errors" and loss of detail, providing the movement/fluidity of your overall animation still looks good at 25fps.

Breaking the body is a technique that conveys movement and fluidity by making the character overly flexible to the point of unrealistic. This bending, twisting and over extending bones adds to the illusion of continuous movement, and can insulate against obvious mistakes.