Visual Language- Evaluation

Evaluation

This module as a whole has been are real learning curve for me as I was very inexperienced with many of the tasks I was set. This meant approaching each task being very experimental and having to learn along the way. This meant for each task I have gained knowledge I didn't have prior to the start. Yet as I was also new to many things this also meant I didn't do some tasks correctly or well as it was all about trial and error for some of the section. 

Set, series, Sequence was the first task were were set and was to see how we would deal with generating 24 images and then a story all from one word, which was banana. I did end up finding this rather difficult when i had done about 15 images of the 24 as it was hard to generate more ideas. This is why i liked this task, as it really made me consider what it would be like for a character designer or concept designer as they are given a small brief and have to design so many images from that. 

I did love that it gave me a real chance to draw again though because up until that point, it had been largely computer based, so this was a good change of scene. It meant i could experiment with colour, mediums and ideas of characters. I really want to carry on doing work like this as it gives me a chance to get more hands on with designs, so i will carry on doing the process work by hand and the production, to move into digital.

One of the points the tasks had, was to try to do sketchbook work outside of the tasks. I did this by sketching on the go and on transport when getting to different places. This was good as it let me get creative in places where i wouldn't normally draw.

Captain Character was a real learning task as i had never done anything like that or developed a character that much into poses or emotions, as i had only ever come up with designs, but not thought about their lives or different angles of seeing them. I tackled all of this in this task so it really let me see how much character designers have to bring their characters to life.

After this task i found i need to work on emotions, i was not able to do this for my character as they all looked slightly different which was a problem i found difficult to fix. This means i need to work on studying the human face more, but also designing a character that i know i will be able to visualise from every angle and perspective. I did like how the character turned out though and the amount of dynamic poses i was able to do for her. This meant the people looking at the character could imagine her in many different positions when fighting or in different stances.

For study task 3, i wasn't able to do the turn around so it was smooth. I really struggle to visualise each pose that was going to be the next on in the sequence. This meant her body moves around a lot when she spins, instead of keeping straight. I tried many times to fix this but i just couldn't get the poses to stay constant when she spun. I will be able to fix this next time if i pick a character that i understand more. As i have said, i found it hard to think about her in all of the positions of the spin and turn, so if i were to do it again, i will pick a character to design that i know will be smooth to turn, without too many components or clothing.

When building her, i found it incredibly enjoyable as i got to be very hands on and know how to build a character up from a simple wire frame to a full plasticine figure. This process took 2 days to complete for the character, so it didn't take too long but in the future i will spend more time getting the frame to the exact shape, as i thought if it was a a different shape, the plasticine will build it up, but i just ended up with a character that had a very thin torso and wide shoulders. So next time i attempt to do this process i will try to envision the character fully before building it straight away. This was a really useful stage as it gives you all the basics to start in stop motion, as i now know how to build a character, so i now need to learn how to think ahead to the final piece so the character looks more like my drawings. Although i did feel i worked well with improvising with the items i had, as i created the textured skirt with the end of the tool.

For the environmental storytelling brief i think i did really well. My drawings held a lot of detail of the scenes i was looking at and studying. I sketched bits and pieces from the scene beforehand so i could get a feel for the overall location and then did thumbnails so i could remember the perspectives i need and which parts of the building i want to use. I tried to use different mediums for each location as i wanted to see which could help me achieve different textures, shading effects and aesthetics. Overall i found i really enjoyed this task and i will make sure that in the future i will try to include drawn buildings in my backgrounds as i included a lot of detail and spent a lot of time making sure each on was to a high standard so this is something i found i could do really well, compared to some other tasks i didn't do as well at. After looking at each scene i found i was able to tell the story of how the character would move and flow through the scene, so i will defiantly think about this more in the future as it really helps people to understand the scene and also helps the overall look to be more interesting if the scene if moving and changing with your character as the audience is not just looking at the same thing, with a character moving flatly through it.

Form, flow and and force was really good as a task as it made me think about how the bodies are moving and flowing as to understand the human form more in the future when i animate. I liked they were also short tasks, because when your out in public, people move really fast so it is to teach you to see the basic flowing lines that the human form creates when in motion which is really important to learn. I then researched more artists that did work like this and found they work on tasks like this so it was a really good element of studying the human form that i had not considered before.

Overall i have found i have learned so much from this module that i will go ahead and use in the future to better my drawings. Each task was aimed at a different part of the animation industry and steps you need to know to draw better. This meant that by the end of each task i had researched into each element of animation that we studied and learned a more about who was in the industry at the moment and who's work i really loved and was inspired by. There are many things i would like to apply in the future from this so overall i believe i have come out of this module and term, being better than when i started.

Visual Language- Study Task 2 - Captain Character- Making a Puppet

Character Puppet

To test out other ways to make out characters, we tried puppets. These were made of wood and were held together with wire so it could stand and be bent at the joints. This is another way to make a character other than using wire as it is harder and can be built on faster. You can then cover it like a character or use it for poses, or even just to build your characters clothes on so they can be the correct size before breaking the easily made puppet so the clothes are the completely right shape and can then be built onto your other models.

This was after i had fully built my model as i had a basic human shape to cut out which made the process very easy to complete. I have experience working with wood so i knew how to use the machines and get the correct shapes so i did this all completely independently. I do think if i had more than a day to complete this puppet i would have done it in 3D, this would have involved carving and sculpting my character, which would have been very hard and advanced but would have been interesting to try out.

The wood we were using was prone to splitting so when drilling, it split. This happened easily when i was drilling the hands and other small features on this model but even on the legs and arms, i found it started cracking in half, to fix this i added glue and then held it together with masking tape so it glued tight. I used quite a good amount of glue as this type of wood tends to soak it up so this means it is now reinforced and stronger.

As i had extra time at the end the tutor said i could do a round base, this was done on one of the new machines i had not come across that slowly cut the wood while you turned it in a circle so it didn't split and made a nice clean sharp cut. This machine also made sure the wood stayed completely centred so the circle was exactly round and in the same place.

This is my character fully on the board so she is standing and can spin and move her limbs. Overall though, i would improve this design as she is such a basic shape that it doesn't look very good overall. Next time i will defiantly make sure to do her 3D with her body built up and her legs thick and all making her look like the character i designed, not just a basic human form.

Even though i knew how to use the drills, machines and sanders, i had never attempted to make a puppet so this was a good learning experience as i had never made something so small out of wood as i'm used to making desks and much larger designs so this is why i struggled so much. Next time if i'm chiseling i think it will be hard to think of the design so you dont chisel off too much but it will make a much more realistic finished design. I will make these changes next time to get a better result i can be more proud of.

Visual Language- Study Task 2 - Captain Character- Building the character

Building my Character

After designing my character i then built it up from an armature to a plasticine model. Here are the stages it took to build her fully.

First i did a rough sketch of my character to the scale i needed to build her as. I then drew the skeleton where the metal was going to be, leaving sections longer as they were to be tied around the spine, hips and shoulders. 

I then did an extra drawing of where the muscle of my character was and where i needed to build her up from. I have done these to show where the milliput needs to go as it gets hard and makes joints and sections bendable. It is also used so the feet are hard when holding the bolts to keep the character on the base.

This is the wire frame i have built up so i can use it to build my character on. I started by simply twisting two pieces of metal together so it is thicker for me to use and is less likely to snap. I then cut the lengths of my legs using my scale model. Then curled the feet around making sue a bolt will securely hold in place with the milliput. I then spun the spin onto the legs so it is held in place before then making the arms and hands. Then lastly was curling the head into the correct shape. This was all very simple but it took time as i was using a think metal so it made the bending of metal harder to do. I didn't snap the metal as i was gentle with it and took my time making sure it was precise.

This was just after i put milliput on my model. The feet are now holding the bolts to attach to the board so now once it has dried i can make my model secure. I have also placed it on the joints and hands so when bending, it bends at the joints and not at any point on the arms. 

Now i have to wait for it to dry which takes a few hours before i can build on it as i need it to dry hard.

I have spent a lot of time building this up as it is so hard to get the character to look smooth. I then added the boots and skirt so it looks loosley like my character so far. I have only added the nose so far but even that was tricky as it is so small and my hands became very unsteady so adding the details were harder.

This is my final character fully covered in plasticine. I found this whole process very enjoyable but it was very hard and i dont like how my character turned out as she doesn't look enough like the character i draw and is too flat. I didn't do well with creating a character that was fully 3D as she still looks rather flat on the face and skirt so i would try to make her fully 3D next time i try to use this medium.

I am happy to to have a completed character and for my first time using this i was happy to be able to know how to use it in the future. For the shoes, skirt and armour, i mixed my own colours as i did not like any of the basic shades that were available. I am happy with how the hair turned out as it is small rolls and small thin strips that come down as the hair coming out of the ponytail so it looks very effective as the hair. I also like the belt as the buckle looks quite like an actual buckle so that section looks good, its just the torso that is too small so it throws off the whole look as the shoulders then look way too big and bulky. The eyes took me a while as they were to small. The pupils needed to be straight so this took time and effort trying to get them looking exactly on the right point of the eye.

Overall i am happy to have it completed but there's many things i would like to change in the future so i would add all these aspects to the next character that i design if i were to build them again for any stop motion. This was a helpful experience as i got to know the stages that needed to be done when building and i now know what to apply as improvements for my next plasticine model.