Extended Practice- Study task 1- Extended Brief- David and Alice Albright

Extended Brief- David and Alice Albright 

Colour Renders

As I had only done the character in blue and black, my peer needed a colour render to see what she needed to try and recreate. These are the two sketches of the characters to show their colour pallet and range. This also let the characters come to life more as they can look more realistic and lifelike. So in helping my puppet maker, I can help to see the personalities of my character more.

These are larger versions to see colour and detail more up close.

Extended Practice- Study task 1- Extended Brief-Replacement faces

Replacement faces

These were images I used to help research replacement faces and look at how it could be done, so I could plan my puppets and what they would be capable of doing.

Extended Practice- Study Task 2 - Portfolio Building- YCN- Frontier- Shot Tests& Poster

YCN- Frontier- 

Shot Tests & Poster

When coming to setting up the cliff and the puppet, she needed a way of staying on the rock. This is why I have also made her a harness. I made her this to look like the harnesses actual rock climbers use which let me have a reference when building. I used string to get the shape and tie around her legs to see if this would work, which it did.

Then I took it off and cut it to the correct length so the rope left over would reach the bottom of the cliff from where she was and higher. Then died the string so it was darker and looked more like the rope they use.

After it dried, I tied it around her to the correct position and glued it into place. 3 loops around the legs, 2 higher and around her crotch and hips, all looping around her belt hook before pulling it down to become the rope she has tied off for safety.

My partner is a climber so this really helped in making sure the cliff, harness and ideas for the character all look correct and work together on the rock. For safety pegs are needed to tie off the climber so if they fall they are caught by the pegs in the wall and are safe, I used dark blue pins for this as they could stab into the wall and actually 'pin' the rope to the wall to look realistic and as if she has shoved the pegs into the wall, which they have to do to make sure they are secure. 

This is before the pins just so I could see what the character would look like and how she looks when climbing and connecting to the cliff.

 

Once I was in the studio, I could also see how good the rock looked under lights and how the tones really come out to make it look real. Very proud of this and how it looks.

After conversing with my peer, we both designed some posters and designs to send in to give Fuller's an opportunity to see our ideas and see what we could accomplish with this idea.

Here is my poster, as well as a Facebook Page example and how we could design their idea and show people how it is a new drink, for new adventurous people.

Extended Practice- Study Task 2 - Portfolio Building- YCN- Frontier- Natural Colour & Texture

Portfolio Building- 

YCN- Frontier- 

Natural Colour & Texture

Now to get the canyon rock to look natural and textured, I added tables salt and rock salt to really get a gritty look from the different levels, as well as to fully get rid of the look of polystyrene. This was all held down by PVA glue so as much salt as possible could be held down and create the acquired lasting texture.

After this had dried, I started getting the colours together to create the base tones to build upon for this cliff. I went for a very bold red as the base, as this gave a good solid colour that the darker reds, browns and yellow tones could be added to for this effect. 

I also have a pressurised spray bottle as the salt at this stage would have come off if rubbed by a paint brush so this gave a nice, delicate and even coverage to add tones to. The struggle with this was that I spent about 8 hours doing this as the bottle was easy to block and the layers needed to cover thickly to get a good coating on the white background. So this took patience and time.

 

 This is how it started out, with a soft covering, but still some white in the grooves and layers. Tipping the board while spraying let me cover these gaps and get the colour to evenly cover and pick up on a little bit of the salt. This let me know it worked in adding a rough rock effect. 

As you can see this colour is way too bold at the moment so I now need a darker colour to add to the cracks, rougher patches so the light can pick up on the levels.

 

 It started out quite patchy as I needed to start at the sections that needed a darker tone the most, as well as getting the beginning of the uneven cliff face look. 

 After spraying more, you can see it start to blend in more so the colours can be picked up on and the texture is becoming more apparent. White is still showing on the right, as these are the areas that are hardest to cover as they are very rough.

 This is after adding darker brown colours, as well as a light washed down Yellow Ochre. At this point I am really happy about how it is coming along as the canyon rock look is much more realistic and really showing the colours and tones that a rock can hold. I still wasn't sure what needed to be added to get a rocky look but once I stood it up, the light from above really showed how the shades were coming on and picking up the colours.

As soon as I stood up the board it looked so much more like rock and how it looks like red canyon rock, as well as adding in all of the mid-tones to create a realistic rock effect. Below you can also see how much the salt has helped in adding to this look and where the different levels add to the cliff face as it looks more random in shape, as a rock would be.

 

 

Finally a white is added to just lift the rock at the tops of the pieces and bring more of the depth to light. This was a really good look that has been created after adding this and I couldn't be happier in how it turned out. While working on other projects I was good to find time to complete this rock face to this level too which I was proud of.

The next stage is to take this into uni and add the puppet, which is being built by a peer, as take images of her on the cliff.

Extended Practice- Study task 1- Extended Brief- Emotions Sheet

Extended Brief

- Emotions Sheet

This sheet is for the replacement faces being build for the puppets. They needed to show some of the emotions the characters needed to pull during the animation but not too in-depth as my peer wouldn't be able to make them all. This is why their are the basic emotions they will pull. I can now see more of how my characters can look too as their faces show the different personalities they are going to have.

Extended Practice- Abobe Audition-Making Sound

Abobe Audition-

Making Sound

These Abobe Audition details, and effects are the main and most useful areas of the software that we will use and find useful.

When thinking about a scene, really look and understand what would make sound and the effects it would then create. Ambience, the character, the props and the effects. These all drastically change how the animation ends up looking and how the audience reacts to what is happening.

Finding sound online:

• Variety 
• Saves Time
• Its not unique- Music I used last year, came up on a Facebook video (Always think about who has access and where they might use it.)
• Using sound effects that aren't a good quality or not the best fit
• Copyright- Studios and Consumers want original work

Making Sound Yourself:

• Limited by skills and facilities
• Takes more time
• Always Original
• Don't need to settle
• All Copyright is yours

New Session information and Festival rates

Sample Rate: 44100Hz

Bit Depth: 16

Master: Stereo

Adding sound to a clip

This is the short clip we are adding sound to. This is an example of how sound can effect the animation in such large ways, even though you can simulate the motion of what is happening, to fully show the audience this is what is happening and how it sounds. 

The process of adding sound to this clip, made me realise how much sound there can be in one short scene. This is something I am going to have to keep looking at when I film each scene and what sounds to add in each section. It also let me see how Audition worked along side Premier to edit sound to fit the scene it is needed in.

Extended Practice- Study task 1- Extended Brief- Furniture Sketches

Extended Brief- 

Furniture Sketches

These were the first sketches I did a while back for the first two pieces of furniture I built. After this I sketched more of the furniture being built so I could see a reference when building, as well as design ideas that would look good. 

This was a much more complicated build so more more sketches were needed  to get a good understanding of the inside, arms, pull down top and different shape. This meant the sketch was used all throughout this process to get the final result.

This is the next unit that is a welsh dresser so needed more thought again as there were shelves as well as drawers. This was also another piece in the same set so each of these units will look the same as they are a linked set within his shop.

These are two more sketches done digitally using more colour. These are more units to bulk out the shop, but I am exited to build the woven front unit as this will show character, as well as the items inside through the slats. So this is one I will build soon and make it stand out.

 These are the final sketches of the units that I have set myself to build. These are more bulky units to fill with items to make the shop look full and more detailed. These will be in wood, whereas the items that are in the back or full of more props can be out of cardboard. These will be in the art-book to show the audience how I got to the final outcome and the process.

Extended Practice- Study task 1- Extended Brief- Father and Daughter Character Sheets

Extended Brief- 

Father and Daughter Character Sheets

This is another sheet done for the father character, like the daughter to further the details of the face and his features. This was so I could see the slight variations and how they could impact the face overall. The design in the lower right was the final design until I tested the moustache design. This furthered his impact and look so he stood out more and looked more unique. This was a point raised when talking to peers as they said to make the characters more unique.

This is the two character head turn-arounds showing different angles so when given to my peer for her to build, she can see the exact shape, proportions and features of the characters. Making the puppet more accurate when built. This also let me see what they will look like from different angles to see if any changes needed to be made or adjusted. 

After doing this I also felt happier about the characters I was creating as I could see them in more detail so this was really useful in choosing their final outcome.

This is the fathers character sheet showing his size at 19cm will removable hands and a foam body to bulk him out under his clothes while keeping him light. This is also what his features are like on the full body, so his head is large and blocky, as well as having a shorter torso and longer legs. He also has the signature glasses and large moustache and Victorian hair which makes him look more appropriate to the time and era.

This is the same character sheet but with the daughter who is much smaller than the father as she is only a 6 year old child, compared to the 35 year old father. This is to clearly show the age difference for the audience, she also has replacement hands and foam body so she should still be lighter than if made of a different material. She has a pony tail with a large bow too which will make it easier to animate and not disturb her hair rathe than if it was down.

This is the final character sheet for my peer for her to build the characters. This is to show the size comparison of the two characters and how they differ, yet look like they belong in the same world. This is so when she is building she can look at their comparisons so they match up as best as possible to the scale needed. Now I need to give them to my peer so she can go ahead to build them with a wire frame, foam bodies and replacement faces. I have asked for her help as time could be and issue if I had to build them, as well as her being much better with quality when building puppets.

Extended Practice- Study task 1- Extended Brief- Material Change over Time

Extended Brief- 

Material Change over Time

Originally the plan with my peer (who will be building the main 2 characters) will build the father out of Foam Latex as this will not ruin over time with filming and moving the character all the time, which materials like Plasticine defiantly would.

Foam Latex Puppets from Aardman's Pirates.

The daughter would have replacement faces as the expressions she is doing to pull, like wide smiles, run the risk of ripping the latex. This has not changed, yet when discussing, as the father has a large moustache, it would look better for him to be replacement face too but use the moustache to further the impact of his expressions, this is so he can look more unique and show more expressions. A replacement face is also easier to control as you choose the face that fits the movement or story development.

Face Replacement from Laika's Paranorman.

This is something I have been wanting to do for a while with good expressions so this animation should hopefully help me to further my skills and understanding of the dramatics of a performance.