Production - Feedback Responce

The feedback provided by classmates and several other sources suggests that a firmer narrative be taken into consideration. Also, an additional scene should be added to give the project more clarity on the main character's intentions and goals.

The following needs to be taken into account, and processed in the present stage of production. Resulting in not only a new animatic, but also a more stable concept which may deter from the original inspirations of the piece of itself. Now taking on more of a life of its own, the piece should stand firmly on its own. That means that a solid stream of events needs to guide the viewer through the animation.

A) Break down the character thought processes and flesh them out more. Take into consideration how these characters will appear in the minds of the viewers. Some may easily misread the look of the main character if she looks far too ideal.

B) Remove the fictional depiction of the dragon. As suggested by Justin, a fallen angel may be a course to consider. Be sure to make a clear representation of the fallen aspect of the character, as to not make him appear as a guardian angel. Which is a strong possibility.

C) Detract more from the sense of time skipping too greatly. Perhaps making the end a conclusion, not the supposed beginning. It may be best to re-write the piece to ensure that it fits more in line with all of its messages and subtle symbolisms.

D) Ensure that there are key elements of the story which allow viewers to follow and relate, even if events still jump around from one point to another.

E) Continue to create paintings, be sure that two source images result. One with all layers, the other with production layers designed to be compositions in After Effects.

Final Project - Shades of Gray Breakdown

After much personal soul searching and effort, the project outline for Shades of Grey is near complete. Previously, the idea to create a stick man murder montage entitled "Stylized Destruction" was going to be my final project; however, the very thought of it left me empty inside. I found that I simply could not put my passion into something like that, which is supposed to be not only a final project, but also an Advanced Final Project. Now the newest problem is that even though my heart yearns to create a new project by title of "Shades of Gray", but few people understand the stance in why such a confusing number of images is the root of my artistic passion.

Shades of Gray is a project which best depicts what is inside of me, the artist. My desire is to strike emotion -- be it confusion, sadness, disgust, or even anger. That is largely based on the audience. I have no desire to explain what the project is "supposed" to mean within the project itself. As to me that defeats the purpose altogether. But what is the purpose? Again, to strike emotion. In order to help allow an audience to follow a story which makes no sense, the characters are going to follow more to a familiar color code. Also, the animation will be designed for an endless looping cycle.

These fundamental parts of the project will help to provide some stability, and hope that some in the audience see that the project is indeed about the human condition. Each image is not to be taken completely for what it is, as the project it not literal or narrative, it is in fact visual metaphor. We see elements of Cause and Effect, best seen in the form of the loop -- also beasts within ourselves, and for the blood of others which stance our flesh and hands. The single character that we follow along with throughout is placed in several situations. Many of these events do not happen in order, nor are they supposed to.

The first scene is "Present", followed by "Future", followed by "Past". In this formal the Present is driven forward by the Future, and the future is fulled by the past. The cycle will forever continue, and has throughout countless centuries. The character is ultimately not one person, but more of the representation of many. Each character is indeed a representation of more than they seem, and to know who they are is completely, and utterly, beside the point. It is all about emotion, cycle of time, and the human condition. Nothing more, nothing less.

Here we find an Animatic of this project, which will give more meaning to the words:



The vagueness of the Animatic will only be counter by the use of color in the final project. So much will rest upon the use of visual representation in subtle motion and the color which helps to strike a feeling or mood. A steady progression will be followed, moving from light to darkness and finally back to light once again. Though to project is estimated to be at about 3 Minutes and 40 seconds in duration – the project is not an impossibility despites it's epic scale.

On the contrary, the very size of the project will in turn aid to validate the fact that this is indeed “Advanced” work, using several tools learned over the course. We'll see the use basic animation, parenting, and even the puppet tool. Experiments have shown that the Puppet tool can be used successfully for not only facial animations, but also small segments of a piece. With this powerful tool, project time is lowered and quality is increased. Also with an estimation of 42 separate and individual paintings to help illustrate the piece, the project can be done within a month's time with properly planning and time management.

Because this is a visual representation of the passion's which drive the artist day by day, the enthusiasm will also provide a spectacular fuel to the flame the engine of of production. Size, image quality, length, and tool management, perhaps even minor use of Frame-By-Frame will all legitimize this is an Advanced Piece. There will be no solid montage of still images.

Project 5 - Fox and Hammer

During last week's class, we were to write 51 words which may be used to describe our Final Projects, then select four words from the list to create a sentence. I selected five: Hammer, Loathe, Fox, Crush, Blood. The sentence I created is as follows:

Hot blood flowed when the loathsome fox was crushed under a hammer.

I used this project to sort of get some practice in with the use of blood effects. This being a problematic field, as it is actually quite complicated to get some rather graphic blood splatter. More tracking options need to be looked into so that the final project can have some rather graphic scenes of violence.

Final Project - Extended Pitches

#1 Inverse Superiority

The larger boss machines exist only within one realm of the world, and in that realm the smaller machines beneath them are dumber, and are steadily losing their ability to evolve and grow. A dark shroud illustrates the bubble that is forming, separating the small machines form the rest of the world. Boss machines constantly emit more of this dark shroud, ultimately dooming the smaller machines who can not grow.

#2 Stylized Destruction

The popular favorite among the advanced students, this will illustrate a very blood, very violent demise to popular art styles. For example: Comic Hero, Anime, and even several classic starting styles like European High Art. Each style will meet a brutal end at the end of a massive hammer, yet each death will be unique. The who project will be smaller animations strung together to form a larger whole. In the end, the main character shoots himself in the head.

Project 4 - Experiments

Having a great biased of the sheer techincal aspects of a project's inner workers. I spent this week working trying more advanced uses of the Puppet Tool. Though the project may look simple in presentation, the goal was to mock an already pre-existing piece. In order to do so, I had to repaint the piece, cut it apart, and reanimate it from scratch in how I felt it was done. Though the result is a little rough around the edges, I feel that I may finally be making some headway with this tool.

The success of this project will determine its use in future works, such as the Final Project.

Final Project Idea Bin

Final Project Presentation Introduction:

The following are ideas to be pitched for my final project. I spent a lot of time considering what would be the best course of action for this project, considering the amount of time and effort that it will require -- I had no other choice than to find what I felt I would enjoy working on the most. Enjoying a project gives a great drive to help complete it, and no matter how complicated the project is -- there is a high possibility of getting it done as long as there are three requirements met.

Requirements:

A) Have the skills to do the project.
B) Really love the project idea, and know that is something you wouldn't mind doing for hours on end.
C) Have enough time to do it!

So here are my ideas:

Idea #1
Inverse Superiority

Theme: In a world of machines, many small machines grow and evolve. Becoming better and better, while one set of machines doesn't progress very much at all. Larger machines keep them separated from the rest of the world, while at the same time constantly boasting of their own self righteous superiority. The world keeps progressing, yet they alone do not.

Presentation: Black silhouette machines act out the theme, yet without the use of voices or text. Various uses of the Puppet Tool and Parenting.

Idea #2
Stylized Destruction

Theme: A mad scribbly stick man goes around with a large hammer and beats popular artistic styles to a bloody pulp. After his rampage, he realizes he too is a style and shoots himself in the head.

Presentation: A stick man figure with auto-wiggling kills styles in brief animations. Each animation will be strung together. Text will be used before each death to present which style is about to be destroyed. Various uses of the Puppet Tool, Parenting, and Wiggling Strokes.

Idea #3
There are no Good Guys – Nightmares, Animated Version

Theme: A disturbing look into the mind of a tortured woman after becoming victim to her own past. She is haunted by images, past mistakes long forgotten that have ultimately resulted in her present situation.

Presentation: Digital Painting montage with animated blood, fire, and crumbling objects. Use of Puppet Tool, Parenting, Blurring Effects, and Advanced Photoshop Integration.

Idea #4
Illustrated Chapter 1

Theme: An animatic style presentation of the first Chapter of Deren'Rylo Book 1.

Presentation: Digital Painting, Animated Rough Sketches Strung together, along with animated blood and moving figures. Use of Puppet Tool, Parenting, Blurring Effects, Advanced Photoshop Integration, and Hand-Drawn Animation.

Project 3 - Machine for the Ghost

While still pressing the idea and context explained in class, the project began to unfold as various forms of experimentation with After Effects. Tackling new tools and devices offered with CS3. 3D Environments can not be loosely created in Photoshop and transferred over into After Effects to create subject illusions of space and depth. Interested in testing the foundations of the tool, this was used in the project to help give more space to the machine. Turning it into more of an assembly line than a single, functioning organism of moving parts.

Still the machine takes the role of society for the modern American, but all simple devices such as direct images and text are not included: spare the Made in the USA text at the closing of the project. Parenting, Paint Tools, Cameras, Viewpoint, and new animation tools were practiced in this project. Hopefully having a good result, though basic and practice driven and shabby, but still good.