Duration: 12 weeks
Deadline: 02/02/2011
An Introduction - (Week 1)
The first week consisted of a few lectures/overview sessions given to us by our tutors. They told us what to expect from our course this year. Handbooks and readers were given out to get everyone prepared for the work ahead.
In this blog/work log, I will be presenting my work over the "specialist option" module set in our first semester here on my second-year Animation course.
Specialist Option:
We have been asked this year to choose an "option" to follow for the rest of our degree course.
So we had to choose one out of these three options:
-CG (Maya-based work)
-3D Stop-motion
-2D Hand-drawn
As we have already done a lot of 2D hand-drawn animation last year, our tutors thought it best if we were given taster sessions in only CG and 3D Stopmotion.
Option 1: CG-Maya Taster Session!
The first session was with James Manning on Monday 18th October.
We were first introduced to the main functions and tools in Maya; a huge piece of software used extensively in the animation industry; from "Pixar" to "The Moving Picture Company" (cartoon/stylised to photo-realism), the software is massively versatile for each area of film which makes it invaluable to modern-day practises in animation, both commercial and experimental.
After getting used to the main controls and commands in Maya, we then started to attempt the "bouncing ball" exercise in the programme. We were looking at function graphs, and how to command them in different ways. However, by this time I was utterly lost! I'm not a 'computer whizz', I never have been. I like to take my time when given something new to decipher. And so as the exercise picked up the pace, I became utterly lost and couldn't keep up with the rest of the class.
It's slightly disappointing, as I was eager to start learning it, seeing as the animation industry as we know it is currently all but obsessed with the form...but I really don't think it the right choice for me.
I still completely respect and admire (probably even more so, now!) the work created in Maya. It really is amazing, and I am absolutely intrigued by the work produced. But I am not excited by it. Excitement in anything fuels interest and passion, and I do not feel this for CG at this stage.
I believe I will try Maya again in the future, definitely. But for now, I'd much rather spend time getting used to the Adobe software prgrammes and with more traditional methods of art and animation, and trying to see where these will take me in my development of style and finding my "voice".
Option 2: 3D - Stopmotion!
We were introduced to the 3D Stop-motion option by our tutor, Leonie Sharrock.
After a brief introduction from Leonie, we were split into two groups to go and do separate tasks. The first group (which I was part of) were asked to go outside and try and make our own stopmotion film with anything we could find around the uni campus. I had brought my digital camera, so myself, Claire and Bry went outside and started to think what we could do.
We decided to use ourselves as the characters, so we played around with trying to find a good effect that would work in "pixelation" form.
Our first idea was to try and show Bry doing a 'cartwheel' in stop-motion form. Bry lay on the floor and I stood on a bench so I could get the impression of a "bird's-eye view". Here are a few stills we captured:
After this we had the idea of a sort of "car-chase" between Claire and Bry. The sat down on the ground in an "imaginary" car. We did a 360 degrees rotational sequence (mimicking many racing game/films) and then I filmed them racing against each other. The final look was fun and quite successful, though I still need to properly put it together into a short film. For now, I will post some stills to give you an idea of what it looks like:
We then did some shadow-play 'pixelation' as well. Trying to act out a scene where Claire and Bry are fighting. It reminded me of shadow puppetry often told with foreign fables and tales. The elongated shadowns were quite dynamic, though the final film didn't work as well as it could have. Here again, I will post some stills:
After this task we returned to E4 (the animation room) where Leonie had another task set for us to do. We were split into pairs and then had to choose a random (inanimate) object from a bag (without looking!). Claire chose a square piece of transparent pink plastic and I chose a piece of tring whch had several wooden beads attached. We then had to pick an "emotion" for our objects to portray. The piece of plastic had to be "nonchalent", the beads on string had to be "happy" and then the scenario given to us was "attraction". We were then asked to go away to the linetesters and animate our objects to the chosen emotions and scenarios.
After everyone had completed them, we had a mini-screening of everyone's animations. Leonie didn't seem much impressed by myself and Claire's final piece, deeming it "too obvious". Though to be honest, we weren't much into the task, so that was bound to happen.
The taster was a bit of a disappointment to be fair. I understand and respect the principles that Leonie was trying to encourage, but I was expecting it to be a bit more interactive in the "model-making" aspect. I can see the benefit of the tasks though, definitely.
Despite it being something I wasn't quite anticipating, I still want to continue attending the 3D Stop-motion lectures/sessions throughout the year. I'm particularly interested in the model-making side of production for stop-motion, having always loved and appreciated the details always shown in many films/TV programmes (etc).
Overall:
I have decided not to attend the CG - Maya sessions. I believe I can not apply myself to the discipline, and I have no passion to drive myself into learning it at this time. Therefore, I will be attending the 3D Stopmotion sessions instead. I will be writing about both stopmotion and 2D hand-drawn in this work log. Though, as the weeks go on, I may only have time to do my fully chosen subject, which is, primarily, 2D hand-drawn.
I believe I am most passionate about 2D hand-drawn animation. I thoroughly enjoyed the tasks set last year, especially in the 'character performance' module, and I want to develop my practise in character performance this year too. I believe that also attending 3D stopmotion sessions is the right choice for me too; as a lover of all the more "tradional" methods and exploration in animation and art. This I feel, will be the best path to take in developing and finding my true voice and style in animation.
---jkl---
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