Moving on

First pass storyboards have been completed, with some guidance from my tutor Huni. We discussed building some more rivalry between the Sheppard and his Sheep, considering in the end the Sheppard clearly loses, we’d need to make sure the audience accepted his fate as deserving. We concluded that cutting the ‘trap making’ scene and replacing it with already established traps was wise. Replacing this scene with some more banter between the Sheppard and Sheep, wherein the Sheppard attempts to entrap the sheep by luring it with a sense of teamwork. This complexity all comes down to character acting, so video blocking will be of significant importance. Either that or very well drawn keys.

Facial expressions are getting locked off, and thanks to Li’s correction of typology issues, I can move onto to blend shapes and facial rigs to get the Sheppard’s complete range of expressions down pat by the end of the holidays.

Sad news is that the Sheep needs to be remodelled with a neck, for better expression. Pencil testing will commence this week, to flesh out keys for character acting and timing. I look forward to some wholesome 2d animating, but as I am itching to begin production I cannot allow myself to be to finicky with the tests.

First pass Storyboards

Completed layout for Li

Character sheets

Artwork by Yen
Marcus Binge

Colour scheme

Li layouts

Layout 3

Layout 2

Layouts

Multi tasking team work

I occasionally felt a pang of sadness when I made the leap from traditional art to digital, and similarly the students doing 2d have felt the same vice versa, feeling as if computer generated imagery is something they did not want to miss out on.

We are all training for an industry that favours masters and specialists, where as jack of all trades are looked over, unless their broad talents are undeniable, one who doesn’t have the self discipline to focus on a key discipline will usually struggle to find work I assume.

I’ve enjoyed the pre-production process, because it has given me an excuse to continue developing my traditional skills, bolstered of course by Photoshop and other programs I cheekily use to touch up art works. I’ve been working furiously on some set design and layouts, trying to find a good scheme that works well for something that is quite scary and quite funny at the same time. I’ll have to find references for movies and clips that work on tension and release by the way.

One of my teachers in fact once said; “Jeez those screen kids sure do like their dark depressing and deep films.” His point was that, an audience who has sat down and watched heavy material for hours is well and truly ready for a laugh. Tension and release is something intrinsically and atheistically pleasing to humans across all cultures. A joke following suit after an awkward silence is almost sure to get a laugh. This must be applied.

I have received a lot of feedback from my traditional work, which I have taken care of constantly throughout my life, making sure I nurture an array of styles so as not to get trapped. I have volunteered to do layouts and storyboards for both Li and Kavina, two 3d students. Cunning was my choice, as their skills in the modelling realm far exceed mine, and the help they give me on my project will be extremely welcomed. Things have slowed down though, as other students are working on their character designs and expression sheets, which i need to get my hands on first so I can familiarise myself with the characters basic shapes and emotions in order to translate it effectively to the storyboards.

The thumbnails I’ve received are quite complex, with a lot of unnecessary shots which I think should be removed, but I can’t wrestle creative control off the director, so I’ll have to talk to both of them, and perhaps some teachers to see what we need, and what we don’t.

Li is fixing the typology for one of my characters facial meshes for better deformation, and has recommended using zbrush to pull and form facial expressions into blend shapes. Hopefully he can complete this tedious and generous task this week, as the concept of passing time is giving me itchy feet, so to speak.

It's good to see all the students helping each other out on the projects, for one the broad range of skills within the class are being put to a more controlled use. Secondly the fact that others take an active interest in your projects keeps you enthused and confident. Also assuming some of us land jobs after we graduate, working in teams, receiving constructive criticisms and other people skills will be quite useful, especially considering that most animation geeks do not have well polished social skills.